Chapter 660: The Day.

All the participants from every corner of the Khan Empire who survived through the qualifiers finally gathered at the massive courtyard that soon would be used as the arena for the tournament. There were old faces, the ones who managed to reach the big fifty, the big twenty, and even those who managed to reach the quarter-finals. This time, the newer generation also joined the tournament that soon would compete with the older generations to see which generation was the best.

All the Zeniths sat on the stage with Ogun that sat next to Ma’s chair. They observed everyone’s participants, and they were excited to find their future disciples. They couldn’t wait to see what the newer generation could offer them.

"First of all, we welcome you to the Immortal Mountain and to congratulate you for reaching this far in the tournament. You have proven yourself that you’re among the best martial artists in the whole empire," Ma spoke on stage, using his enhanced voice that echoed throughout the mountain. "However, the path as a martial artist has no ends. All of you are climbing toward the peak but the peak isn’t the end because there’s still the sky to reach. And even once you reached the sky, there’s still the heaven that you need to climb, and only a handful of people that have reached high enough to see a glimpse what kind of realm of the heaven was. But nobody has managed to step into the heaven," his voice was quiet and gentle, yet it reached everyone’s ear and even the sky began to listen to his words.

Most of the participants lifted their heads and stared at the sky, realizing that the sky still looked down upon them. It gave them the drive to climb higher, and the first step to prove that their resolve was to win this tournament.

"This tournament isn’t to determine that you have reached the peak, it’s merely to test your resolve to keep climbing. Do not take this tournament as a prove of your ability, take this tournament as the stepping stone whether you want to keep climbing or decide that by looking down you, you realized that you have reached far enough. There’s no shame in wanting to rest, there’s no superiority in wanting to climb higher, this tournament’s purpoise is to finally have a moment to speak within oneself, to be true to oneself," Ma pointed out and stared at each participant in the eyes.

The Zeniths listened to Ma’s speech and they began to close their eyes, asking themselves whether the path they took was enough or whether they still had the desire to climb higher. It wasn’t that they had never thought about it, but the atmosphere, the speech, the silence gave them a desire to look into oneself, not alone, but together and ask the same question.

"Did Alliance Leader Ma prepare his speech this time?" Zenith Jin, spoke to Ogun quietly.

"It seems the Alliance Leader is in a good mood as well," Zenith Yuna looked at Jin with a soft smile on her face.

"This tournament always brought Alliance Leader joy, perhaps he wants to express it this time," Zenith Sunni spoke as she stared at Ma.

Ogun decided to stay quiet and didn’t want to reveal that Ma had met Rasmus and spoke with him to the Zeniths. He believed that Ma wanted that moment to be kept a secret for now, something that only Ma wanted to cherish alone and not share it with others.

"With that being said, my dear participants. Let the tournament begin!" Ma said as he spread his arms with a huge smile on his face.

The guests that watched from the sides and all the participants in front of the stage began to give Ma the salutation in unison. However, that was when they heard footsteps coming from the far back. Ma, Ogun, and the Zeniths stared at the woman with wary expression, and then the others began to turn their heads to see Anastasha walking with Aris’ clone and Rullein’s clone walking beside her. Anastasha’s entrance was seen as disrespectful, but she was an Asghar and there was nobody daring to utter their disapproval of her rudeness.

Ogun was expecting Anastasha to do something like this, to make her presence known, to be the center of attention. He watched Anastasha walk casually toward the area where the guests were and ignored the gazes pointed at her. However, Ogun’s eyes widened when he noticed someone at the entrance and immediately stood up like a spring.

"The Imperial Chariot of the Princess has arrived!" A high-pitched voice was heard and echoed throughout the courtyard like thunder.

Everyone immediately kowtowed with their heads flat on the ground and hands cupped the ground above their heads. Ma, Ogun, and the Zeniths lowered their heads because their status was slightly lower than the imperial family due to their agreement of status and duty. The ones who didn’t even lower their heads were no other than Anastasha, Aris’ clone and Rullein’s clone, but Anastasha’s expression stiffened when she listened to Neesa’s arrival.

Slowly, Anastasha turned around and saw a woman wearing a chain crown and a white veil that covered her face with gold ornaments that decorated her black hair. She wore a golden robe with gold dragons embroidered on the sleeves and a bright red skirt that dragged on the ground. Anastasha could see the golden eyes through the veil, the eyes that she could never forget, the eyes that gave her unpleasant memories when she visited Khan Empire years ago.

When Neesa stood in front of Anastsha, they both had the same height, but due to the hair ornaments that she wore, she appeared taller. The two of them stared at each other, one was a Princess of an empire and the other was a Princess of a family that wasn’t even a nation but held enough power over countless nations.

"The Asghar family never changed, always loved to be the center of attention," Neesa spoke with a playful smirk visible through the thin white veil. "Always acting untouchable... predictable," she chuckled softly.

"It seems the imperial family can’t even afford a mirror," Anastasha smirked back as she unfolded her hand fan and covered the lower half of her face.

The insult that Anastasha uttered caused Neesa’s bodyguards to react because directly insulting the imperial family meant death. Before the bodyguards could even unsheath their swords, they felt a tremendous amount of Aura coming out of Aris’ and Rullein’s clones that made everyone in the courtyard tremble and freeze in fear. The bodyguards stared at those two and when they tried to pull their swords, they felt like the swords weighed a thousand times heavier.

Ma and the Zeniths that were bowing felt the immense and terrifying Aura that those two released. They tried to lift their heads but somehow their heads wouldn’t budge. They were shocked that someone like them, who had reached not the peak, and the sky was below them were powerless by a mere Aura. It was at that moment they realized, the peak, the sky, and perhaps the heaven were nothing compared those two, especially when they found out what kind of a being Aris was.

Anastasha on the other hand knew she wasn’t affected by the Aura because she knew Ruen wouldn’t let the Aura affect her. However, what shocked her was the fact Neesa still capable of standing tall was shocking. At the same time, she knew that those two wouldn’t stop and she knew that she couldn’t tell them to stop because the only one who they listened was no other than Rasmus.

"We are guests here, be respectful," Rasmus spoke as he stared at Aris and Rullein.

Ruen who heard Rasmus’ voice while she was kowtowing immediately dispersed the Aura around the clones. Everyone finally abled to breath, but they were still trembling in fear.

When Neesa heard Rasmus’ voice, she couldn’t help but turn around. She saw a man with silver hair and heterochromatic eyes with relaxed and almost lazy gaze when he stared at Aris and Rullein. When their eyes met, Rasmus lowered his head at her and slowly she saw Aris and Rullein walking past her and went to Rasmus’ side. Three tall figures that didn’t look like they belonged in the world of mortals.

Rasmus stared at Anastasha, and she gave him a nod, signaling him that she would handle this matter herself. Rasmus nodded with understanding and finally brought Aris and Rullein’s clones to the guests area, leaving Anastasha alone.

"Where were we?" Anastasha asked. "Oh right, your bodyguards were about to execute me in public, didn’t they? Go on, tell them to do it and see how the empire will fall," she chuckled.

Neesa glanced over her shoulder and scoffed.

"Didn’t you hear what he said? Be respectful. Looks like you really have no manners," Neesa responded and flicked her hand, signaling her bodyguards to stay put. "If you really think you can handle me by yourself, prove it. Speak with me privately, just the two of us. Or perhaps you’re too afraid, Princess Anastasha?" she challenged.

"After you, Imperial Princess," Anastasha pointed her hand toward the area where the guests were.

As those two walked side by side, everyone was still kowtowing and listened to the footsteps.

"I believe the Demonic Cult wouldn’t dare to cause anything if they found out who’s here now," Ogun said quietly with his head still bowed. "What should we do, Alliance Leader?" He glanced up at Ma that was still bowing as well.

"Make sure the tournament goes smoothly. That’s our priority," Ma answered. "Also, you want a raise, right? Then you should do something about this?" He asked jokingly, he couldn’t help but find this whole situation fascinating.

Ogun tried to not let out his chuckle, and he slowly shook his head.

"Understood, Alliance Leader," Ogun responded.