The city was absolutely bustling. Young faces swarmed, their hearts clenched in anticipation of grasping a better future for themselves.
Very soon, experts from the higher planes would hold a tournament. For many of them who lived their whole lives on the Pedestal Plane, the thought of rising to the Blossom or maybe even one day reaching the Shrine Plane was enough to fill their hearts to the point of bursting.
Unfortunately, many of them lacked proper standing. Unlike those lucky few who gained seeded spots to the main tournament, they had no choice but to scratch and claw their way up for a chance. Ironically, due to this, some of them actually wished that they were born in the weaker Inner or even Outer Ring.
Among the seeded spots, many were given to youths who already passed the preliminary rounds in the Outer and Inner Rings. As a result, they gained the right to skip over this gathering. To the public eye, this made the higher planes appear magnanimous. Giving the lesser regions a chance was truly a noble thing to do. However, it put those youths here not from massive Clans in a bind. They had no choice but to participate in this Wild Card Tournament.
The Core Region might be overflowing with riches, but that didn't mean everyone got to take part in them. Was there a land in existence which didn't have the poor and unfortunate? This was why these youths here were even more eager than even the Scions of the large Clans.
Amongst this crowd, there was a silent young man dressed in black robes. His aura was so cold that even within the constant elbow fights and contests for line spots, no one stood within two feet on him.
He had a face that seemed to have been personally carved by the gods. His frame was tall and wide, drastically contrasting with his delicate features. His piercing silver eyes emotionlessly looked forward as he passed through the crowd with ease, only leaving the trail of his blemishless white hair fluttering gently in the wind.
Ryu had entered the city without bothering to hide his identity. In fact, he didn't even bother to wear his necromancy mask. Such a thing was next to meaningless for him.
In truth, those of the Inner Ring had never seen his face. Before entering the Mortal Qi Small Realm, he had worn his half-mask. After exiting, his face was completely covered in dirt and grime, making it difficult to make out his features. In fact, his scalp had shed its impurities as well, causing the foul liquid to drip down and completely coat his white hair, making him seem to have normal black hair.
It was nearly impossible to reconcile the image of Ryu from then to his current self. The only person who had seen his true face was Tae. But the truth was that even if they had seen his face, he wouldn't care.
Ryu had already enrolled as a participant of the tournament. In order to prove their magnanimity, the Apostles guaranteed the safety of anyone participating. Rules wouldn't dare to be ignored my Clans of the mere Pedestal Plane. Though, the matters occurring after the tournament would be a different question entirely.
"Who is that? He can't be taking part in the Wild Card Tournament, right?"
"Why else would he be here? Did you see him take a placard for himself?"
"But… But how can someone like that have no background?"
The mutterings were impossible to stop. Ryu simply stood out too much.
For one, he was incredibly tall, standing at over two meters. He towered over most who didn't have special Bone Structures. Secondly, his aura was too oppressive. No matter how rowdy the crowd became, they all seemed to calm in an instant when he entered their range. Thirdly… They couldn't sense his cultivation at all! If their Realms were high enough, they would believe that Ryu was just using a treasure to his strength. But, since they were low in Realm, they assumed that Ryu's strength was simply too far above theirs for them to see through it!
Ryu didn't know that his sudden appearance had caused wide sweeping rumors. Talks of a handsome white devil spread through the Capital City outskirts. Of course, this only caught the attention of those of low standing.
"You may enter the city. Should your badge shatter, it means you've been kicked off of the rankings and have thus lost the right to participate. Under these circumstances, you must leave Ember City within one hour. Should you refuse to oblige, the penalty is death without trial."
Ryu flashed his participant badge at the city gates and received this practiced response from the guard.
Of course, the Apostles couldn't very well allow everyone to participate in the tournament. How many billions of youths were there in the Core Region? So, in order to gain a participant's badge for the Wild Card Tournament, one must enter a list of top ten thousand candidates.
The test wasn't very difficult. Simply striking a strength calculating treasure.
This made matters very convenient. Those who entered the top ten thousand could enter the city and find accommodations. Should they have their spot taken by some other youth, they would have the leave the city.
Of course, those bold enough to enter the city without bothering to wait until others finished participating were very few. There was no doubt that each and every one of these youths was either incredibly powerful, or incredibly arrogant to the point of foolishness.
Ryu, however, didn't care much for the man's words, he didn't even spare a glance as he walked by.
Normally, for warriors powerful enough to be Ember Guards, this disregard would be enough for them to lash out. Did they need a reason to punish a boy weak to the point he had to enter via the Wild Card Tournament?
But, even in his displeasure, the Ember Guard felt his instincts screaming at him, telling him that the only path forward was death.
In the end, his reason won out. After all, these participants were under the protection of the Apostles. In fact, if they won a spot to enter the Ice Devil Legacy World, they'd continue to receive this protection.? He could only watch as Ryu's back disappeared into the large city.