Lu Junyang and Lu Yaoyao’s senior brothers didn’t stay long. After offering some words of praise and encouragement, they left quickly. They had many responsibilities, so finding time to come over and watch one full match was no small feat. Lu Yaoyao understood this well and reluctantly watched them leave, promising that she would watch their matches if they didn’t clash with her own.
As the first disciple to win a match after so many challenges, Lu Yaoyao drew a lot of attention. Everyone thought: how amazing was it for Junior Sister Yaoyao to defeat a senior brother in the Inedia stage, even with her cultivation restricted! In a few hundred years, their Cultivation Realm might see another Great Ascension cultivator!
Perhaps Lu Yaoyao’s start had set a good example, because shortly after, the rankings on the stone pillars began to change frequently as more and more disciples successfully won their challenge matches.
Seeing that her friends’ rankings hadn’t changed, Lu Yaoyao knew they were either still in the match or it hadn’t started yet. Since she was free anyway, she decided to watch their matches, starting with the closest one: Chao Muxue’s. Just as she arrived, she saw that Chao Muxue’s match was nearing its end.
A moment later, Chao Muxue won. Lu Yaoyao jumped up in excitement, clapping furiously. “Muxue is amazing!”
As Chao Muxue stepped off the stage, she saw a small figure trying to push through the crowd toward her. Chao Muxue smiled brightly and walked over quickly. “Yaoyao!”
“Muxue!” Lu Yaoyao waved excitedly and finally reached Chao Muxue. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you,” Chao Muxue said, her cheeks slightly flushed and her eyes bright. “How about you, Yaoyao? How did your match go?”
Lu Yaoyao lifted her chin proudly. “Of course I won!”
“That’s wonderful!” Chao Muxue was sincerely happy. “Congratulations.”
“We both won!” Lu Yaoyao beamed. She grabbed Chao Muxue’s hand. “Let’s go see Xingxing and the others! We might make it in time…”
Wen Zixing’s match started a bit later than Lu Yaoyao’s and Chao Muxue’s, and when they arrived, his was still ongoing. Being a talisman cultivator, Wen Zixing had an endless supply of talismans, while his opponent was a refinery cultivator with numerous artifacts and magic weapons. Their skills were evenly matched, and it was a matter of who would expose a flaw first.
The rules of the tournament were strict, one of them rule stated that no disciple could use artifacts or talismans that exceeded their cultivation level, and talisman and refinery cultivators could only use what they had personally made.
For example, Lu Yaoyao had many powerful artifacts and equally powerful magic weapons. If she wanted, she could challenge the top-ranked disciple and win by simply using one of her artifacts. But that would be unfair and defeat the purpose of the tournament.
If watching Lu Yaoyao and Chao Muxue’s matches made the spectators feel excited and tense, watching Wen Zixing’s match was nerve-wracking. Several times, Wen Zixing nearly exposed a flaw, but he narrowly avoided it each time. Lu Yaoyao’s heart was in her throat, rising and falling with each second of the match. Eventually, when his opponent started to feel drained, Wen Zixing seized an opportunity to attack, quickly deciding the match. “Xingxing won!” Lu Yaoyao and Chao Muxue jumped for joy.
Wen Zixing stepped off the stage and took a restoration pill before walking over to Lu Yaoyao and Chao Muxue, grinning widely. “Yaoyao, Muxue, I won!”
Lu Yaoyao praised him, “Xingxing, you’re amazing!”
Wen Zixing laughed heartily and asked, “And you two? You both won, right?”
Lu Yaoyao proudly tilted her chin up, “Of course!”
“We should go find Qianshan; I wonder if he’s done yet,” Chao Muxue said. Just as she finished speaking, they saw Du Qianshan walking towards them, having already finished his match.
They asked each other about their results and, unsurprisingly, everyone had won. The intense training they had gone through recently really had paid off, as they were able to defeat older disciples with higher cultivation levels.
“Should we go to the North Square to check on Dazhuang? I wonder how he’s doing,” Chao Muxue suggested.
“Dazhuang will be coming over here soon.” Du Qianshan replied. Li Dazhuang had no spiritual roots and thus was unable to cultivate. He was born with extraordinary strength, but it was nothing in the cultivation world. Being a person with little ambition, Li Dazhuang himself didn’t aim for the top hundred spots to qualify for the inner sect challenges. He had mentioned to his friends earlier that he would just have one match for formality’s sake at the North Square and then come over to the South Square, so there was no need to go watch him.
Sure enough, not long afterward, Li Dazhuang arrived. His match had ended, and he quickly made his way to the South Square. Even in the crowd, Lu Yaoyao and her friends were easily noticeable, and Li Dazhuang spotted them right away. The five of them regrouped and continued to watch other matches before registering for their next ranking challenges.
“Let’s go watch our senior brothers’ matches!” Lu Yaoyao suggested as they stood before the stone pillars, looking up at the real-time match information. Seeing that some of her senior brothers and Lu Junyang were about to compete, she quickly proposed.
No one objected. They checked the match times and locations for their respective senior brothers and sisters, then busily moved from one arena to another to watch the matches.
While Lu Yaoyao and her group were darting between arenas, the higher-ups of the sect were also paying attention to the new generation of disciples. All the elders and peak masters were gathered in the main hall, watching a virtual projection that displayed various arenas in real time.
East Third Peak’s Peak Master laughed heartily, “The new batch of disciples is quite impressive!”
Hall Master Mo from the South Fifth Peak also looked pleased, “They are indeed promising.”
The other peak masters, seeing the excellent performance of their young disciples, also looked delighted and satisfied. The overall quality of this new batch of disciples was higher than in the past ten-odd years. In previous batches, it was already lucky if they could find one disciple with extraordinary talents, and having two or three was considered a great blessing. But this batch from three years ago had ten disciples with outstanding talent and character.
The three disciples often seen with Lu Yaoyao were noteworthy: Chao Muxue had a water spiritual root and was among the best at comprehension and cultivation speed. While Wen Zixing may have had barely above-average spiritual roots, he possessed quick thinking and high aptitude along with a nimble mind that allowed him to both innovate on existing talismans and invent new ones. Du Qianshan, though possibly the weakest in terms of comprehension and spiritual roots among the four, had the perseverance and resilience of a sword cultivator, ensuring steady and solid progress in his cultivation. North Twelfth Peak’s Peak Master had already decided to formally take Du Qianshan as a personal disciple after this tournament.
You Huahai, with his rare variant wood spiritual root, was certainly one of the most gifted among the new generation. Although he had a bit of an arrogant streak, this minor flaw was not a major concern and could be polished away. With proper guidance, he surely would become one of the future pillars of the sect.
Then there was Murong Liluo, the beloved daughter of the head of the Murong family, a prestigious cultivation clan. Although she had been doted on endlessly at home, causing her personality to be overly spoiled and arrogant, her strong will to surpass Lu Yaoyao actually drove her to endure the hardships of cultivation with unyielding determination. Her spiritual roots were also above average, and despite being initially overlooked due to her young age and spoiled nature, she demonstrated both abilities and dedication through hard work. As such, the elder who had reluctantly taken her in due to the influence of her family was very pleased to see her recent efforts and reduced arrogance.
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