Villain : I reincarnated as a Prince! Shouldn't I have a Harem?
Chapter 76: Preliminaries!

Mo Fan looked at Ashen as if seen a ghost. He stammered in between as he asked: "L-Lord, are you the young master who took Yun Er as her maid?"

Ashen nodded indifferently without any change in his expression.

Mo Fan bowed respectfully as he asked: "Then, May I know if you can release Ling Yun from her maid status? Forcing a young talented girl to become your maid wouldn't be good for your reputation, Young Lord"

Mo Fan expected Ashen to reject and then he would go and complain to the sect that Ashen was forcing a talented and beautiful girl such as Ling Yun to serve him as his maid.

That would surely make the sect take action. No one could force a young girl to serve him as a maid. This wasn't the way of the righteous path.

Ashen nodded in understanding as he replied: "You are correct, It wouldn't reflect well on me if it were to be known that I was forcing a girl against her will to become my maid."

Mo Fan was taken by surprise before turning all happy and cheerful: "Yes, indeed. So please let her leave!" He requested.

However, at this moment, Ashen's words resounded in his ears: "But that would be the case if I was really forcing her, wouldn't you agree Ling Yun?"

Ling Yun nodded: "Yes, It is my wish to serve young Master Ashen. He is not forcing me in any way!"

As Veli heard this, she affirmed in her mind: "Brother Ashen was telling the truth. She really loves him. Look, she is not ready to leave even now. Such a pity that he loves me. She would be so sad when she'll get to know!"

Meanwhile, Mo Fan got the shock of the decade: "What? You are serving him of your free will? But why?"

At this moment, Ashen interjected with an annoyed expression as he asked: "Why does it matter why she is serving me? You heard her, correct? Now don't pester us and leave!"

"But..." Mo Fan was about to speak, however, was cut in between by Ling Yun:

"Brother Mo Fan, please leave. We can talk later!"

"Yun Er..." Mo Fan murmured before leaving with a down face. He wasn't understanding just what was going on.

Meanwhile, Ling Yun remembered Ashen's instructions: "Ling Yun, Mo Chen thinks that I have tamed you to be obedient and you won't talk to Mo Fan. Also if someone asks that am I forcing you to be my maid, You have to decline, otherwise, I'll be put in prison and there will be no one to protect you from Mo Chen and the Mo Family."

She also knew that Ashen was her only shield that could protect her and Mo Fan from the Mo Family.

She just had to rely on him until Mo Fan and herself weren't powerful enough.

"Sorry brother Mo Fan, but I know you'll understand me later" She murmured with a clenched fist, gazing at the saddened Mo Fan.

At this moment, the Sect Leaders arrived before taking their respective seats.

All the disciples stood up from their seats, bowing to pay their respects: "Disciples greets the Sect Leaders!"

"Brother Ashen, why aren't you bowing?" Veli asked with a shout of horror

What if the sect leaders get offended?

But her worries were unfounded.

Nothing happened as Chen Lu went to the middle fighting arena ring with a talisman stuck on his throat.

This talisman was the sound-enhancing talisman to make his voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

He stood in the middle as he welcomed: "I, Chen Lu of the Crimson Sky Sect, welcome everyone to the yearly tournament of the ten sects!"

*Applause*

Rounds of Applause bursted in the arena before silence took its place once again.

Chen Lu again continued: "I'm sure you all must be curious to know how the tournament will be carried out, right?"

"So let's not waste time and listen to the rules."

"First will be the preliminaries. In this round, most of the weaker participants will be eliminated and only the strong ones will remain."

"For conducting the preliminaries, here are 64 rings. All the participants will choose one token with a number ranging from 1 to 64. The number you receive will be the ring number in which you will fight."

"For instance, If someone receives the number 3, he will come and stand on the ring number 3. The numbers are written on each ring so you won't be confused."

"Once all the participants are on their designated rings, the preliminaries will begin."

"The rules are simple, the one who remains standing till the end will be the winner from their ring. Anyone who falls out of the ring will be eliminated. Knockout also counts as elimination. Killing is not allowed!"

"Like this from 64 rings, we will have 64 winners who will enter the actual tournament! This also gives a chance for a sect to have more disciples competing in the sect according to their luck and strength!"

"The actual tournament will be held tomorrow."

"Now Let's proceed with the choosing of ring numbers"

As he said this, Multiple golden-colored metal tokens without anything written on them came flying from under the rings before floating in the air in front of everyone.

"The tokens in front of you have hidden numbers so no one can choose a predetermined number. Please raise your hand towards the token you want to choose and keep staring at it until it comes into your hand."

The disciples did as instructed. They raised their hands toward the token of their choice and stared at it intently. Meanwhile, some disciples chose similar tokens, but the token went towards the one who started first.

Ashen and Shiyue also chose their tokens.

These preliminaries were only for Nascent soul cultivators. Body Transformation realm's tournament was scheduled after the Nascent soul tournament ended.

After everyone was done, and no token floated in the air, Chen Lu again instructed:

"Now everyone rub the surface of the token and the number will become visible to you. After the number is visible, come in front of your designated ring, show your token to the elder incharge, and ascend the ring"

All the disciples began rubbing tokens rapidly as the number began appearing on the tokens.

"Brother Ashen, Sister Shiyue got number 7, what about you?" Veli asked cheerfully

"26!" Ashen answered his number before spotting the ring numbered 26.

"Oh, it's good. Now you won't have to fight each other!" Veli commented.

Ashen nodded with a smile before leaving for his ring.

He went and showed his token to the elder before ascending the ring.

After everybody had ascended the ring and were standing quietly, waiting for the preliminaries to start.

Multiple notifications from the system bombarded Ashen's vision:

[Ding! Host, Protagonist spotted]

[Ding! Host, Protagonist spotted]

[Ding! Host, Protagonist spotted]

[Ding! Host, Protagonist spotted]

[Ding! ...

...

...

...

"What?"

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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)