<h4>Chapter 338: The Beginning</h4>


    After finishing talking about what would and would not be allowed in the fights, that old soldier who presented the situation to thepetitors gave his turn to someone else.


    The rules were notplicated at all and were only there to keep the matches as bnced as possible, limiting the side of the soldiers so that thepetitors had a chance of winning. After all, even if the power was equal, the soldiers had more valuable items and also fought more often than these people.


    Each soldier had toplete many monthly fighting hours as a form of regr examination. That was done to prepare them for the fights they might face at any time in the future.


    Fighting was not a tricky thing. It would not require great intelligence. However, considering someone''s characteristics and equipment, having the best fighting proficiency demanded constant training, like real fights.


    This involvedmitment and a routine!


    It would be no use for a cultivator to go into a cave and train for decades, cultivating and improving his understanding of his techniques. If he didn''t go through constant fights against different types of opponents, his weaknesses could go unnoticed!


    With this, if the training were not well done, with challenges and fights against different people, the day woulde when that fighter would be left behind his opponents!


    That could bepared to the athlete who doesn''t rest properly and doesn''t train because he''s talented or something. By doing this, a talented person could maintain a decent performance for a while. However, over the years, his body would no longer follow his thoughts, and problems would start to appear...


    Therefore, constantly challenging yourself, following a regr training routine was the best way for people to improve or maintain their high level!


    And for this, the soldiers of the ck in Army had to fight several hours monthly against opponents of the same strength range.


    In fact, the fights that would take ce in thisst part of the selection were something with that purpose as well. That was a way for soldiers in Minos'' organization to learn what it would be like to fight higher-level opponents but with lower-ranked techniques.


    Finally, there were also several simple rules in thisst part of the selection. For example, it was not allowed to kill or cripple nor maliciously attack an opponent''s intimate areas. It was also not allowed to use any tricks that blocked the opponent''s vision unless a spiritual skill or technique generated it.


    The fight would be ended when one of the sides was unable to fight or in cases of withdrawal. As for the fight limit, even though it takes ce on the headquarters arena stage, there would be no punishment if someone were thrown out of it.


    That was not apetition to ascertain the ability to fight in a small space but to examine the proficiency of thesepetitors. Winning within the stage area would have no relevance, as in real situations, such a thing would never matter.


    Finally, there was no time limit for fights. As long as the two sides could keep fighting, no match would be stopped.


    Eventually, other people sitting around that table on the arena stage then got up from their chairs and started talking. "Well, now that the fight rules have been exined, let''s go to thest topic."


    After saying this, this woman dressed in a uniform with the mark of the Sergeant rank then waved to the soldiers in that ce and then continued to speak. "Now, let''s talk about when and who each of you will fight in thisst part of the selection. The matches will follow the descending order of the cultivation stages."


    "In other words, those candidates from the 5th stage will fight first, while those from the 3rd stage will best."


    Upon hearing this, the approximately 3,500petitors in the arena''s stands began to make somements in low voices while that woman had a moment of silence.


    "Ah, that was to be expected. I''ve heard that in the army, even those with the highest level receive their sry before others..."


    "That means I''ll still have more time to prepare..."


    "Damn, I''m more anxious now. I''ll probably have my fight this morning..."


    At the same time, Alina also had her thoughts about it. ''There are fewpetitors from the 5th stage of cultivation, and their fights will also be more intense. It will probably be the fastest group!''


    ''No wonder we''re going to fightst... In fact, there isn''t even an audience to watch these fights, so there''s no point in having to follow the increasing order of strength.''


    And then that soldier spoke again. "The choice of your opponents has already been made in the days that have passed since thest examination of the selection. The same goes for the date and time of your fights."


    "However, know that each fight can take ce either before or after the stipted time. It will depend on the duration of the fights before yours. But rest assured, the fights that can start before the time will only happen if thepetitor is already here, ready to fight."


    "Otherwise, the schedule will follow the order already established."


    After saying this, a group of soldiers on the sides of the stands gathered at the entrances of each one of them, with several boxes full of papers.


    That soldier from before then exined. "These soldiers will call you, by your cultivation stage and alphabetical order. Each of you will receive a small timetable, where you will find the time of your fights."


    When they finished hearing this, soon, thosepetitors turned to the sides where those soldiers were and began to pay attention.


    And it wasn''t long before one of those soldiers screamed aloud. "Competitors from the 5th stage of cultivation..."


    Simultaneously, the 70petitors, who were at least level 40, got up at different points in the crowd, heading towards the ce where the soldier from before was.


    And it didn''t take long for each of them to receive a sheet of paper, with the names of each one of them, along with the opponents'' names and the fight times.


    ...


    "Competitors from the 4th stage of cultivation, with names starting with the letter ''A'' to ''I,''e here..."


    ...


    "Competitors from the 4th stage of cultivation, with names starting with the letter ''J'' to ''R,''e here..."


    ...


    "Competitors from the 3rd stage of cultivation, with names starting with the letter ''S'' through to ''Z,''e here..."


    ...


    After almost an hour of thising and going ofpetitors, who were receiving their schedules and returning to their seats, finally, everyone received papers with the time of their fights.


    At that moment, another person who was on that stage then started to speak. "Well, now that each of you knows when and who you''ll face, I''ll give you thest warning."


    "For each of the fights, we rmend that you arrive at least 15 minutes in advance. That is because you will only be allowed to enter the fighting stage after having your identities verified and also passing through the inspect." He said as he looked towards thepetitors.


    Of course, Minos'' army would not fail to identify thepetitors'' identity by the vacancies offered. After all, fraud was not umon to happen, as many people were willing to cheat established rules.


    Thus, to prevent any infiltration from interfering with the progress of the selection, only those duly ssified participants could fight. Moreover, they would prove their identities with their civilian IDs, which would allow the army to know their status in the selection.


    As for the inspection, this was toply with the rules mentioned above.


    Spiritual artifacts could only be used ifpetitors proved they needed them. So, before the fight happened, they would have to justify using the equipment and be inspected so that no one would enter the fighting stage with more than necessary.


    The purpose of the exam was to assess thepetitors'' capabilities and not the potential of their artifacts!


    A spiritual array, or something like that, was not necessary for any spiritual technique. However, such items could significantly improve the conditions of a battle for one of the fighters!


    For this reason, such things were prohibited here.


    After giving thisst warning, the presentation of thisst part of thepetition was over, and it was time for the fights to start!