Although the peak masters and elders usually seemed to be quite aloof, they were actually well-informed about sect affairs, keeping a watchful eye on the young disciples. Each person had their own standards for evaluating a disciple’s performance.
Of course, their greatest focus was on Lu Yaoyao. With her identity as the daughter of His Venerable, she was destined to attract a lot of attention.
And she lived up to this identity with outstanding performance. The little girl had recently started refining pills, and her talent in this aspect surpassed even her master, Hall Master Mo. Not long after she started, she was capable of producing high-quality pills on her own.
“If the batch of disciples in the upcoming entrance trial in a few months is as good as this one, I might break my own rule and take on a few more personal disciples.” A peak master chuckled.
“What are you dreaming about? Hoping to gather all the good seedlings for yourself?”
“Can’t I even think about it…”
The other peak masters simply smiled and kept their opinions, creating a harmonious atmosphere in the hall. Each and every one of them had a strong sense of belonging to the sect, and these young talents represented the future of the sect. The more outstanding disciples they had, the more stable Guiyuan’s position was as the number one sect in the Cultivation Realm.
After evaluating the new disciples, their attention turned to the other disciples. It was clear who had made rapid progress and who had stagnated. As the chief disciple, Lu Junyang, who was also the sect’s default next leader, naturally garnered the most attention.
“Yang’er’s cultivation has improved a lot.”
“It seems that this year’s chief disciple will still be Yang’er.”
“This is probably the most consecutive terms we’ve had the same chief disciple.”
“It’s the sect’s good fortune!”
Lu Chongyun smiled and said nothing, a trace of pride evident in his expression.
The discussions behind the scenes were unknown to the disciples currently participating in the inner tournament, which would last for seven days. It was now the fourth day, and the rankings on the stone tablet had changed constantly. Lu Yaoyao had competed three times and was currently ranked 100th, meaning if she maintained this position, she would qualify to enter the secret realm. But her ultimate goal was to rank second!
The top one hundred disciples were the elite among the elite, and the higher the ranking, the harder it was to advance. The current top rank naturally belonged to Lu Junyang, who met the age criteria and held the position of a chief disciple—a title reserved only for the top-ranked disciple. His cultivation level was also the highest, being in the late Golden Core stage despite being under a hundred years old.
If Lu Yaoyao were to compete against Lu Junyang, she doubted that she would be able to defeat him, even if her cultivation was not restricted. After all, she was only in the early Golden Core stage and lacked sufficient experience.
Only three days left in the tournament. Lu Yaoyao decided to first secure the second position before challenging Lu Junyang. This way, even if she lost, she would still be in the top three.
As Lu Yaoyao was silently planning, things took an unexpected turn—she was challenged, and the challenger was none other than Murong Liluo!
Lower-ranked disciples could challenge higher-ranked ones, and these challenges couldn’t be refused. Lu Yaoyao had no choice but to accept. Still, if she remembered correctly, Murong Liluo should still be in the Qi Condensation stage…
It felt a bit like bullying a child.
Thinking this, Lu Yaoyao watched as Murong Liluo, whose figure had begun to take on feminine curves, approached her with a determined expression. “I will defeat you fair and square!” She declared loudly.
“Looking forward to it,” Lu Yaoyao encouraged her.
“Hmph!” Despite Lu Yaoyao’s status as the Dao Venerable’s daughter, Murong Liluo still found her very annoying. She wanted to see if Lu Yaoyao was truly worthy of being His Venerable’s child!
Lu Yaoyao believed that there was indeed something called vibes between people. Those whose vibes matched might become friends at first sight, while those whose vibes clashed would repel each other, finding one another annoying or hateful for no reason. Perhaps she and Murong Liluo were just people whose vibes didn’t match? As Lu Yaoyao pondered about this matter, it was soon time for her and Murong Liluo’s match.
The result might have been predicted, but Lu Yaoyao still took the match very seriously out of respect for her opponent.
Murong Liluo was the first to strike, raising her sword and attacking Lu Yaoyao.
Lu Yaoyao swiftly dodged and then counterattacked.
Murong Liluo fought with all her might, but her strength was vastly inferior to Lu Yaoyao’s. Regardless of her stubbornness and her unwillingness to accept defeat, she lost within twenty moves, and that was only because Lu Yaoyao didn’t want to make her loss too humiliating. Murong Liluo’s eyes reddened, and she shouted, “I will definitely defeat you!” before turning and running off.
Lu Yaoyao: “…” She suddenly felt like she was bullying a child.
“This girl really can’t take losing; she even cries when she loses,” Wen Zixing said as he walked over, pursing his lips. Although Murong Liluo hadn’t done anything to Lu Yaoyao, her attitude was always nasty. No one likes someone who glares at them every time they meet, right? If not for their status in the sect, Murong Liluo probably would have blatantly bullied them.
Lu Yaoyao scratched the back of her head and said, “She’s a few years younger than us.”
“Annoying people come in all ages,” Wen Zixing grumbled. He couldn’t stand Murong Liluo’s temper and attitude. This wasn’t the Murong family, and she couldn’t expect everyone to indulge her. Since she gave them attitude, why should they have to respond kindly?
But looking into Lu Yaoyao’s bright, innocent eyes, Wen Zixing relented, “I won’t argue with a little girl, but if she wants to cause trouble, I won’t be polite.”
“Alright, let’s not talk about this. Are you done with your matches?”
“I’m done for today, but I have another one tomorrow morning.”
“I don’t have a match tomorrow morning. I’ll come to watch you!”
“Great!”
“I guess my end rank would be around 1300,” Wen Zixing said, scratching his head. The Guiyuan Sect claimed to have three thousand inner disciples, but in reality, there were only just over 2,800, and they started with one of the lowest rankings.
Lu Yaoyao said seriously, “That’s still impressive! You’ve only been cultivating for less than three years. If you had started cultivating at three or four like me, you’d definitely be stronger than many others!”
In fact, in every inner tournament, the disciples at the bottom were usually the newer ones who had only been in the sect for a few years. They were at a disadvantage because they had only been cultivating for a short time, as it generally took longer for the differences in cultivation to become apparent. Even with exceptional talent, it was almost impossible to compare to those who had been cultivating for decades in such a short duration.
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