The only upcoming event that was somewhat of interest to him was the actual elimination tournament - where the cultivators would fight in no-holds combat! This event was one that always occurred each time the tournament was held, and was also always the final event.
At least, that's what he initially thought that it would like.
The fights were a lot more structured than what he would've expected - and certain moves were off-limits. The fights occurred in rectangular arenas, and being thrown out of the arena was an instant loss.
The fights were also not as flashy as Tang Ze had expected - then again, even at the Qi Refinement realm, there weren't that many strange abilities or moves that you could use. Perhaps someone with a bloodline talent or someone who was exceptionally talented could do something truly eye-catching, but even then, most of the fights were basically just fist fights.
'If I got to see the Golden Core fighting tournament, it would've been far more impressive than this. This is closer to Wuxia than Xianxia at this level.' - Tang Ze thought. A Qi Refinement cultivator at the final minor realm got a strength multiplier of around twenty times, which was huge no doubt, but not extraordinarily so.
It wasn't like the fights were completely boring, but with his abilities, what looked like fast-paced fighting looked more like people trying to move through jelo.
There were three people who he saw who he thought were somewhat interesting. There was a girl from the Golden Sun sect who did not have any special abilities, but from what he could hear from the crowd, could imbue her hits with Qi energy. Tang Ze could do so only to a small extent - it was one of the things that the martial arts instructor had told him would make it much easier to injure other cultivators, but Tang Ze was only at a rudimentary stage of that.
This girl though, could target pressure points and strike with lithe precision, jumping and leaping like an acrobat, oftentimes knocking down much larger foes by striking just a few spots and disabling their peripheral nervous systems.
The second person of note was someone who looked like they were half-mermaid, and had likely come from the coast as their mermen-like features were somewhat different from what Tang Ze had seen back in that lake. It was likely from this kind of bloodline that he was able to use a special kind of soundwave to attack. These soundwaves could confuse and cause intense pain to enemies - some of whom started bleeding from their ears when struck by the attack.
The third person of interest was a man who had mastered a technique that let him channel his Qi into a lance. Weapons were not allowed in these fights - it was a rule he was sure that the Swift Sword sect hated, but at the same time didn't complain about so they couldn't be accused of stepping out of their lane. The Qi lance was something made in battle and so was allowed, and was able to pierce opponents regardless of their defensive abilities - and this was a weapon that Tang Ze felt could give even him trouble.
Other than that though, he inwardly thought after having seen all of this, that he might be able to make it quite far in this kind of fighting, and maybe even win.
The next day there was a closing ceremony, and to his chagrin, the victors of each event were invited to dine with the third prince in the evening.
Tang Ze guessed that this was meant to be some kind of reward, though he dreaded it. Knowing his luck he would end up saying something dumb and getting executed.
The Rising Phoenix sect had done quite well, having won three of the events, and as such was at the top of the list of sects. However, success also brought its own problems as there were no doubt people who were jealous of both him and his sect.
There were a total of twelve events, and eight sects which were participating. Dividing the two meant that each sect would be expected to win 1.25 events - though of course you couldn't win a fraction of an event. That meant that if a sect won a single event, that was to be expected. If they won two (save for the Swift Sword sect) that meant that they had punched above their weight. A sect winning three or more was even more than twice as successful as you'd expect.
Two sects had not won a single event - the Golden Sun sect and the Astral Winds sect. This was a terrible performance. And given that this event had actual stakes in affecting how the Imperial Family would distribute certain resources to the sects, it wasn't just a matter of saving face, though that was a portion of it, but obtaining actual benefits as well.
And when it came to cultivation, resources were extraordinarily important.
Being deprived of the same couldn't possibly feel good.
That said, as could be imagined, there was a big celebration at the Rising Phoenix sect's camp before Tang Ze was sent off towards where the third prince was living.
There were seats for twelve people at the banquet, however, since Tang Ze had won three rounds, only ten people were there. The Jasmine Dragon sect, the Emerald Floral sect, the Silver Moon sect, and the Swift Sword sect had all won two events, but the winners were different people.
Tang Ze got lukewarm stares from the others, unsure of what they thought of him. He really wanted this whole thing to be over, and to finally be back home with the rest of his friends.
Part of his plan for surviving this evening was to speak to the third prince as little as possible.
However, this idea quickly went out the window as when the third prince walked in, he smiled, pointed at Tang Ze and said, "Look! Our guest of honor." He then looked at the other nine winners. "As well as the other winners."
Tang Ze didn't want to talk too much to the third prince, but unfortunately the third prince was very interested in speaking to Tang Ze.
"Ah, the chief victor of our tournament," he began. "To begin this night, a toast to our greatest winner!"
He toasted Tang Ze, and the other nine victors did as well, and while their words of praise sounded genuine - even those from the Diamond Dust sect, even someone like Tang Ze who had little social awareness could tell that their hearts were likely filled to the brim with venom.
"Ah, I looked into the records," the third prince explained. "It's been seventeen thousand years since the last time a single person won three events on their own. Quite a feat I must say - say, which village are you from? I'm sure your sect will shower you with rewards, but let me do something for where you came from."
"Honestly, it was nothing... and my village no longer exists," Tang Ze said awkwardly. However, a thought suddenly struck him. "But, there is a village that I think of as home, if you want to shower your kindness upon them, this junior would be truly grateful." He gave them the name of Zhang Long's village.
"Ahaha, certainly, if these villagers are beholden to you, they shall be richly rewarded," the third prince said.
The others sitting there felt that Tang Ze was being far too forward - he should've declined the reward at least three times before reluctantly accepting it. That was how etiquette dictated that someone should behave in the presence of royalty!
'This Tang Ze is far too inexperienced when it came to these matters,' - was the thought going through all of ther heads.
The third prince also realized this, and sensed that Tang Ze was a rookie when it came to politics. But he didn't mind - he had wanted to get to know this person better, and he had succeeded somewhat through this maneuver. As for rewarding the village, it was a tiny matter - with the amount the crown spent on him in a single day a normal village could feed itself for ten years.
If Tang Ze was a greenhorn when it came to politics, it would just make the third prince's aim of needling information out of him all the easier.
Overseeing the Novice Tournament was a boring job, normally speaking - unlike the Advanced Tournament, and the third prince had somewhat resented that he had been chosen for it.
However, something quite interesting had happened - which had been Tang Ze's victories. And the more the third prince probed into his background, he found that despite the Imperial Family's vast intelligence network, there was little to be found about the man. But what he found out was quite shocking - particularly Tang Ze's victory over Ling Kuan.
"Ah, my attendant here will write that name down," the third prince said, as someone standing behind him wrote down the name in a small book. "Though, before I forget - I wished to apologize to you."
"Apologize?"
"On behalf of my family," the third prince said, frowning. "They barred you from entering the fighting event, didn't they? Because the Astral Winds sect complained of you being too powerful... hmph!" He scoffed at that, as if the notion was ridiculous. "In the end, all that matters is power. Why should you be barred from showing it? If it were up to me, you would've been able to enter that event as well - heh, you might've become the first person in history to have won four of the events on your lonesome!"
The third prince then contemplated something for a second before extending his hand towards Tang Ze. "Ah, I forgot - I wanted to shake hand with you, though that slipped my mind when we first met."
Tang Ze knew that that reasoning was nonsense, though he didn't refuse the handshake.
The third prince squeezed Tang Ze's hand tightly. It was a bit uncomfortable - and left Tang Ze wondering why he was doing something like that.
"Yes," the third prince said, finally releasing his grip, mouth smirking. "You are strong. Quite strong."
It then hit Tang Ze- the third prince was at the final minor realm of Golden Core cultivation. The gap between Tang Ze and a Qi Condensation cultivator was immense, no, forget that.
The gap between him and someone who had just started out at the Golden Core realm was more than thirteen times, as a single minor realm at the Golden Core realm was a compounded thirty percent increase in strength! If it had been someone else in Tang Ze's place, they would've had their hand crushed. And yet, Tang Ze had withstood the full force of his grip.
The third prince had wanted to know his strength. He had acted earlier by rigging the boulder that Tang Ze had been handed. The Golden Sun sect had tried to bribe some of the organizers, which was of course brought to him.
Had he wanted to, he could've brought the ax down upon the Golden Sun sect right then and there. Instead, he had done exactly what the Golden Sun sect's elders wanted, to see just how good Tang Ze was. When Tang Ze had cleared that test, this was the next one the third prince had thought of.
"It is good to be strong - that's what matters most," the third prince continued, while looking over the other victors. "I see the weaklings from the Astral Winds sect who had complained so much like tiny children have not won a single event." He scoffed, though after this his interest in Tang Ze seemed to wane as he had extracted what he wanted.
Tang Ze then got to relax a little as the conversation moved on to less weighty topics, and the others started speaking up, giving him a reprieve.