“Great Aunty, these people are trash… Some of them are far past marriageable age, and it looks like they have barely even begun training! What were they doing after they were born? Just waiting around, doing nothing?” one of the two young noble ladies had some rather harsh criticism to give the disciples.

“Now, now… Bai, you know that the commoners aren’t like us, to them, getting access to any sort of true training or cultivation is a privilege of the highest order, these aren’t the regular folks from our clan, they don’t have the support of anything or anyone backing them up” Ku Xing replied with a smile to her great niece, who already knew all this, though she just couldn’t help but vocalise her thoughts when watching such pathetic performances.

She had tortured and killed several grown men before her age was even in the double digits, that was how she fought when her legs could barely be used to even stand.

So of course, such a spectacle would be appalling in the eyes of a noble scion.

But after hearing her great-aunt speak, Bai Xing simply crossed her arms and did not say anything further. Ku Xing glanced over at the youth, that great-niece of hers was an adorably beautiful girl, just about the image of cute innocence, at least in appearance.

Just like every Xing family member, Bai had the same blood-red eyes that seemed to almost be melting into the white sclera.

But apart from that, she had hair white like the fur of those white rabbits one could often see as pets, a fair complexion, this, when paired with the typical reddish robes worn by nearly all Xings, made her look truly stunning.

So, of course, at a glance, it should have been easy to find her a man long ago, but beneath that pretty exterior, Bai was a Xing through and through, with a remarkable mastery of the Pain Sutra for her age and a delight for acts of torture, but if it was just that, she would merely be your typical Xing girl.

However, she had some standards that somewhat differed from the norm- Namely, that anyone that wanted to court her would need to partake in and enjoy her hobby of opening the wild animals she hunted, and agree to take a nap in the warmth of their insides...

As it turns out, not that many were willing to engage in such activities on top of the risks of being in close proximity to a Xing, it was a well known fact that, as they progressed in the Pain Sutra, they would begin to emit an aura of pure pain, and that the amount of control each of them had upon that aura was… Variable, to say the least.

Ku knew that Anoteros could not care less about such things, in fact, he would most certainly enjoy those aspects, she just needed to get her great-niece to take a fancy to him, from then on, she was sure that Edrick would be able to seduce Bai.

Ku had already made sure to imitate the amount of pain her great niece emitted whilst the godmother-godson duo went at it, so he shouldn’t have any problem on that front…

The other young lady present was not nearly as talkative or willing to express what was on her mind, and likewise, Ting Zhenniao was just sitting silently with a small smile on her face.

‘I didn’t think that Ting was speaking of that niece of hers…’ the great clans were big families who made lots of children all the time, so even with childless women like Ku or Ting, the clans were expanding in numbers nicely with every generation.

In terms of matchmaking, the Zhenniaos had an even harder time that than the Xings. They also developed an aura from cultivating their Poison Sutra, but the consequences of a poorly restrained aura meant far worse, as having a high toxin resistance wasn’t nearly enough to endure the full blast of what could be unleashed on a whim, since their auras were all considered unique toxins, it meant an antidote was unlikely to be available.

Which was why Ku Xing had expected Ting Zhenniao to bring in one of the more skilled in that regard here, but instead, she had brought Jingyao Zhenniao, who certainly was plenty talented, but had the reputation of being far too easily flustered and releasing her toxic aura out of nowhere, there were no risks with Ting right there, but still, was it wise?

Sensing Ku staring at her, Ting casually turned her head.

“I am not an idiot, it will be fine”

“Huh, if you say so…”

Jingyao was indeed quite the pretty gal as well, though her toxic-yellow eyes were hidden behind her hair, something that always made the girl look timid and reserved, and things were indeed well done, because that was exactly the sort of character she had, having more interest in experimenting with poisons and venoms rather than fighting.

Also fittingly, her hair was red like the cap of a fly agaric, you could add some white spots on top, and one might just mistake the girl for a mushroom woman.

Another thing that worked itself out, for mycology was her favourite area.

So apart from the random aura of death she sometimes unleashed, she was a fine lady, in fact, shy girls were liked by men, Edrick surely would be no exception to that.

“Say, girls, what do you think of Zixuan so far?” asked the green-haired elder.

“I had heard that this guy was a runt, so quite surprised…”

“Well… He seems a bit… Huh… Violent? He won’t punch me like that, right?”

“Only if you want to, sweetie”

“Why would anyone want to get punched?”

“Oh, Jingyao… You are so innocent, it’s adorable! But do remind me to brief you on what men and women do when they like each other, alright?” Ting patted her niece’s shoulder, who looked a bit confused, having spent too much time holed up in the clan to learn even the basics of intimate relationships.

“...I am quite surprised, but I would like to see him tear those losers apart, the fights are way too tame!”

“Bai, it’s supposed to be a friendly competition, not a colosseum, but look out for when he is matched against that guy over there, he’s been concealing his skills, but according to Zixuan, he should be quite the talented youth, their fight should be more brutal than the rest”

“Is that so?”

Whilst the nobles were conversing amongst themselves, the three other elders of the sect just remained silent, knowing that they should not acknowledge any of the egregious stuff being said.

Though Gang could not help but glance at Ku Xing upon hearing her mention Xiao, from the sounds of it, Anoteros and Xiao really seemed like they were both planning on facing off.

‘Those two are hoping that Xiao gets beaten up so that Edrick can impress their nieces, huh? I didn’t realise that they held Xiao in high enough regard that defeating him would make Edrick look that good…’ his eyes met those of Ku for a moment, before both turned back to the arenas down below.

The final was approaching…