Chapter 17: JSMC 1, Talking to Parents and Start of Fights (edited)

Chapter 17: JSMC 1, Talking to Parents and Start of Fights (edited)

Original word count = 1687 on 6/27/2023

New word count = 1879 on 8/12/2023

Xue Tie reunites with his parents on friendly terms while wandering out just the day before the competition starts. He is embraced by his mother while his father scrutinizes him.

"You've grown. More mature and in height. Good work. How is your progress?" Xue Mao asks his son, getting straight to it with a smile.

"Hehe, I have 3 spirit rings. I decided I didn't like the whirlpool ability from the guide. So I replaced it with a similar technique as the 8th ability. I have a plan and will come home to get my 4th spirit ring once I'm at that level. Only level 32 right now. My progress has slowed down recently. I've only gained 2 levels in 8 months." Xue Tie laments in sadness until he gets smacked upside the head by his father.

"You complain about 2 levels every 8 months. If everyone had that speed all the time then all spirit masters would be cultivators at Titled DouLuo before 30." He says in annoyance. But then says.

"So you still want the blood trace ability?" Xue Tie nods In response and adds. "I wish the age on my rings was bit higher too, at least the third, it's much lower than my limit but there is little i can do since the 'corruption' already increases it for me but my third ring and likely the 4th will also be lower end which means ill have to delay getting a black ring further. As for the blood trace ability."

"Having an extra sense against fast opponents or ones who use control abilities to confuse me would be useful. Especially if I find a beast that can replace the guide's 5th ability. I have a plan." He says with confidence.

"Kid, ill hit you again if you keep talking like that. As if Black rings aren't already a rarity amongst regular spirit masters" His father threatens when he hears the level of audacity is son is speaking

His mother only nods at their son's ideas at least until she changes the conversation so her husband is not angered further by his words. "Right, what's this I hear about you starting a business? Why did we never receive anything about it? We had to buy some of the gummies like anyone else."

Xue Tie is shivering in fear at his mother's words and tries to speak up but his tongue has long stopped working as it slides down his threat. Blocking any sound from passing through. Xue Tie can only take the natural route after thoughtful care.

"You think any old gummies are worthy of my parents? I made a giant one as part of the prize for the competition. Once I win, I'll be sharing a big piece with you both before giving out the rest as a gesture of goodwill to all the participants and even the audience. Ill have a pass be made so that you can only get how many you want without problem" his words placate his mother.

What his parents don't know is that the giant sculpture is what he spent the last few months on. If they knew he grew 2 levels in 4 months he would probably get hit harder. Stowing away his thoughts. His mother nods in a better mood.

"So make sure you win. Go prepare. You only have 1 day left before it starts, better not lose." She says threateningly and Xue Tie nods his head like a duck toy dipping its head into a cup of water. He runs off to make final preparations which is mostly making sure his spirit power is stable and testing out his abilities in private to make sure nothing is going wrong.

The next day arrives and trumpets play in the distance. Celebration erupts as the competition starts. It will progress for a few days with the individual competition going first then the group competition. Registration was done long ago but group registration was allowed until the last day of the group competition.

The individual competition begins with an elimination round that doesn't stop until a certain number of spirit masters are left. It was decided to be 30 on both the girl and boy sides. There are fewer girls so the competition is easier.

Xue Tie and Bibi Dong are seeded contestants and already hold the 30th position. So only 29 others are allowed through. Bibi Dong got through because she is the holy lady and has reached level 30 as well as her third spirit ring while Xue Tie is naturally known to be level 30 and made a subtle threat about not being able to 'accidentally' kill the others if they all focused on eliminating him.

But Spirit Hall publicly announced that they had accepted him as a newly created title of Holy Guardian. A figure that can be considered the closest aide to the Holy Lady. Finally granting him an official status as the one closest to the newest pope once Qian Xunji steps down.

With such a status, there was no argument over why he didn't participate. Thus, both Xue Tie and Bibi Dong are in the audience panel of the Spirit Hall. Along with a few of the Spirit Douluo elders and naturally Qian Xunji himself to welcome everyone in his speech as well as start off the first round of the competition. 2 sizable arenas have been set up to house the male and female combatants. With little anticipation, the female fight ended quickly as some sort of agreement was made ahead of time and only the weakest were knocked out of the arena.

The male fight was lots more intense as there are plenty of bull-headed guys amongst them, not including the ones who actually have bulls as their martial spirit, who simply charge forward and attempted to knock out anyone they could regardless of who it is.Yet this also ends with them getting assaulted from all angles as they are regarded as annoying.

On the other hand Yu Xiaogang is sitting off in the corner, moving around in a way that ensures he is not considered a threat to anyone and easily wins the first round once it ends with only 29 people left. Agility type Spirit masters from Spirit Hall moved to collect anyone who is too hurt or was knocked off the ring.

There were many cheers from the voices of the audience as they welcomed the brutal showing from spirit masters. This is especially true for people who can't cultivate as they rarely see such fights in rural areas or ones where the Spirit Hall keeps a tight grip on such as the region around the entrance to Great Star Dou Forest, The Frozen North and the Fiery East

(A/N: yes I made another region since it makes no sense that there is no region for volcanoes in the entire Douluo Continent, especially with the knowledge that there is a school in canon that is the fire school but fire beasts are in a FOREST of all places. Nah, also had to make it east since the south was already taken by the Great Luo Forest. The alternative would have been putting a region in Star Luo but they are already the superior group on the continent).

Clans and the Empires have priority in entering these locations. Due to this rarity is the reason for the fervent cheers from the crowd.

After an hour of rest, where the rules of how the next step in the competition will occur. Everyone learns that everyone will face a round robin style fight. All 30 contestants of the will be assigned a random number and face off against another random number. It's a random paper pull to decide one's number. Bibi Dong and Xue Tie had long come down to draw their numbers as well. Bibi Dong got the number 17 and according to the chart, she faces off against number 12 of the female group. Xue Tie got number 1 and is facing off against number 19 of the male group.

Low grade medicine is provided for anyone who got injured in the previous round. Then the first round starts off with Xue Tie going first of the male group. The rounds alternate with 1 boy, then girl, etc. This provides a longer break for anyone who needs it.

Especially since this is the last round for today. Xue Tie steps up to the arena and his opponent lands on the arena after making a big jump. He summons out an ape type martial spirit. It's a Boulder breaker Ape martial spirit. Known for its powerful hands that serve as an antithesis to defensive martial spirits or artifacts. This naturally gives away the spirit masters system of power as a Power type system.

The man named Ko Sym gets possessed by his ape and charges at Xue Tie. Who by the way, summons his trident martial spirit. Everyone amongst the youngsters is confused by the lack of spirit rings while Xue Tie has a smile on his face over his practical joke reaching its peak as he side steps the charge while swinging his spear with a long spin straight into the face of the ape.

The ape is smacked and falls over in a borderline backflip as its momentum brings it to the edge of the arena. Ko Sym is sweating bullets over already being knocked out of the competition. It stops messing around and activates his 2nd martial skill which increases his size twice fold. This naturally applies to his strength as well except he gets no use out of it as he simply gets the boot to the face from Xue Tie. Tipping Ko Sym over and out of the arena.

Xue Tie is announced the winner and Ko Sym walks away discouraged over not even being able to figure out what happened to Xue Tie's spirit rings. An elder has been serving as an announcer for fun and has been explaining the details of the fight and how things work. The elder didn't step forward due to too many things to focus on. It would have only confused people if he tried to narrate. Even though the elder knows about Xue Tie's twin martial spirits, he doesnt reveal it as it's not his place. Once Xue Tie steps off the field, the girls take the stage but it's a while before Bibi Dong steps up. Her match ends quickly as she simply uses her first martial skill to set up multiple sticky spider webs that trap her opponent who is an agility focused spirit master. Any jumping with too much speed would have simply knocked her out of the ring or made her a prime target to get netted. They were able to make a breakthrough in intellect by using a dashing ability from their first spirit skill to redirect themselves in mid air but with the entire arena covered in ends. They only ended up getting caught and eliminated.

The rest of the fights continue and day one ends.