A Cultivation Tale: The Godly Punisher

Chapter 115: Competition

When Alex got back, he immediately made way for his room.

He saw Jake still cultivating and smiled. Then he too sat in the cross-legged position to cultivate.

This they did till the next morning.

Next day.

When the sun rays came in, Alex's and Jake's eyes snapped open. Then they stood from the ground and went to take their bath to prepare for class.

When they were done, they wore their uniforms and got ready for class.

Chime!

Suddenly they heard the loud chime of a bell.

Alex and Jake became surprised.

"What in the world is the bell being rung for now?" Jake asked Alex.

"Dunno" Alex replied.

They knew that anytime the bell was rung, it was used as a medium to alert the whole students so that they could gather at the assembly ground for an important information to be passed to them.

Since the bell had been rung, they didn't waste time. They quickly left their rooms and went to the assembly ground.

In just a few minutes, thousands gathered at the assembly ground.

Then principal Jennifer appeared in front of them. She scanned the crowd for Alex and when she saw him, she smiled at him. Alex also smiled back when he saw her.

She then spoke to the crowd.

"Alright everyone, I gathered you all here because I have an information to pass. It's about a competition for the condensation stage that is starting in a weeks time. The competition is not the type done on a battle stage. For the competition, this academy and the others participating would transport the students to a place where the competition will take place. The duration for this competition is a month. During that time, the people I will select to go for the competition will help each other in there against the geniuses of other academies. Many academies would be participating, so there would be a large number of challengers. So, I will select two people that would represent our academy for the competition."

Jennifer looked at a tall boy among the crowds. He had a short black hair and looked seventeen.

"John, come forward." She said.

Immediately the boy heard his name, he stepped forward.

Then Jennifer looked at where Alex stood.

"Alex, come forward." She said. 

Alex too stepped forward.

Surprisingly, no one grumbled at Jennifer's selection. John was extremely strong and so was Alex. They had come to accept that Alex was very strong. He couldn't be looked down upon even if he had a lower cultivation base.

As Alex walked to where Jennifer stood, an instructor came to Jennifer's side and said in her ears.

"Are you sure Alex is okay for the competition? He is the initial-phase condensation stage. Would he be able to handle the geniuses of other academies that are at the peak-phase condensation stage?"

Jennifer smiled.

"I think he is more than okay. Don't underestimate him because of his lower cultivation stage." She said

"Hmm. Okay." the instructor said and returned to where he stood.

Alex and John got to Jennifer's front who told them to face the crowd.

Then she said.

"Now, I have chosen these boys to represent our academy for the competition. They would then select three other people that would make up their teams."

Looking at John and Alex, she said "Alright boys. Call out the names of the people you want in your teams"

Alex and John nodded.

Alex searched for Elena in the crowd and called her out. Then he called out Jake and Draco when he saw them. John also called out the names of the people he wanted in his team.

Then Alex looked around in the crowd with furrowed brows. He was searching for Karen but he couldn't find her. He felt she was probably in the room since she wasn't here. 

"Alright. You have chosen your team members. You can now go back to the crowd" Jennifer said to John and Alex.

Then she continued "By next week, the five of you would be taken to the site of the competition. So for now, you can skip classes and go prepare."

Alex and John nodded, then they went back to the crowd of students.

"Dismiss" an instructor came forward and said.

Then the crowd of students left the gathering ground and went to their various lecture blocks.

Since classes had been canceled for them, Elena, Jake and Draco went to meet Alex.

"Alex, you chose me for the competition. Thank you" Draco said appreciatively.

"Come on. We are friends already. Besides I need someone like you in my team" Alex said.

"Alright" Draco said.

"Yea. So, welcome to our team" Alex said.

Draco nodded.

"When do we begin our training?" Elena asked.

"Now is okay right?" Alex asked them.

"Sure. The earlier the better." Jake said.

"Alright. Let's head to the battle training room" Alex said.

They all nodded in agreement and left for the combat preparatory room.

Since it was for a competition, they were allowed to enter the battle training room so early in the morning and without payment to use the room.

They chose the top-tier battle rooms for the condensation stage and went in.

When Alex got in, he saw five rows of puppets. The puppets in the rows had varying sizes and colors.

The ones at the front row had copper-like bodies, the ones at the second had bronze-like bodies, the third had silver bodies, the fourth had golden bodies and the fifth black bodies.

It didn't take any time at all for Alex to know that the colors of the puppets from the first row to the fourth row corresponded to the initial-phase, mid-phase, late-phase and peak-phase condensation stage.

He also had an idea about the black-colored puppet which was in the fifth row. He felt it must be a puppet for the half-step earth adept stage. And he was right. The puppet was there to push the peak-phase condensation stage students beyond their limits.

An instant later, the puppets who had dim eyes suddenly had their eyes begin to glow brightly.

Then with a roar, one of the copper-colored puppets in the first row dashed towards Alex in the distance.

Alex immediately got ready.

.......

"What battle room did those students choose?" Jennifer asked.

"Principal, they chose the top-tier one." Someone in charge of the battle rooms replied.

"What? The top-tier ones? And you gave it to them?" Jennifer asked.

"Well, I had to. He's your boy." The man replied.

"No. They could get injured in there." Jennifer said. And before she could speak further. An instructor who came with her said.

"It's not too bad. It's not like they are in a war zone. It's just training. They would leave the room themselves when they see that the power of the A-grade battle puppets is way beyond theirs"

"Hmm. You are right" Jennifer replied with a nod.

She wasn't sure if Alex would last in that room for a long time as he had the lower cultivation base of the five that went in. But she felt he should as he had always given her surprises.

"Should we go watch their battles?" The instructor asked with a smile.

"Yea. That's right"