Volume One, Chapter 21: The Sect’s Grand Competition Begins

Page (1/3)

Zhao Feng suddenly halted once more. Seeing no reaction from him, the elder in the black robe hummed and asked in return, “What’s the matter? Having difficulty?”

Zhao Feng took a deep breath, then carefully explained, “Lin Hongye is currently the strongest prodigy of the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect. Although she is only at the Golden Core stage, her strength rivals that of a Nascent Soul practitioner.”

“Moreover, as the most favored prodigy, countless peak masters and even the sect leader have their eyes on her.”

“Regardless of whether I can defeat her or not, even if I could, killing her right under so many watchful eyes would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.”

The elder in the black robe sneered disdainfully. “Is that so? Isn’t that Wang Zide fellow quite fond of you? I heard that this time he even lent you the sect’s peak divine sword, the Tianqi Sword.”

“You yourself are already a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, and with the Tianqi Sword, are you still afraid you can’t defeat Lin Hongye?”

“Or have you already stopped caring about the Bloodthirsty Demon Sect?”

Zhao Feng immediately shook his head respectfully. “Impossible. My life was saved by the Bloodthirsty Demon Sect; how could I ever forget that?”

“I will do my utmost to kill Lin Hongye.”

Hearing this, the elder in black finally nodded with satisfaction. “Good, at least you still have some conscience.”

“Rest assured, once Lin Hongye is dead, you can come back with me to the Bloodthirsty Demon Sect. Then the sky will be the limit for you.”

With that, the elder turned and walked away. Zhao Feng stood silently, clenching his fists tightly.

...

Soon, after three days, the sect’s plaza was set up with a fighting stage. Surrounding it were floating spectator stands and seats for the peak masters, all prepared.

The various peak masters arrived with their disciples, filling the seats assigned to their respective peaks. Compared to this, Lin Yang’s Chiyang Peak looked rather desolate.

While every other peak’s seats were fully occupied, only three people sat in the Chiyang Peak area, one of whom was Lin Yang himself.

Seeing the time was nearly up, Lin Yang spoke to Lin Hongye beside him, “I need to take my seat at the peak master’s position. You two stay here for now. I’ll be off first.”

The two nodded, and Lin Yang flew from the Chiyang Peak seats to the peak master’s spot.

Wang Zide, the Sword Peak master, saw Lin Yang and immediately snorted with displeasure.

Lin Yang naturally understood that Wang’s anger stemmed from him having recruited two extraordinarily talented disciples.

Page (2/3)

But it didn’t matter; Lin Yang even wanted to provoke him a little, so he smiled and teased, “Master Wang, have you recruited any good disciples these days?”

Wang Zide could tell Lin Yang was teasing him and responded with a cold snort.

“Hmph, after the competition, Lin Hongye will naturally leave your Chiyang Peak. What are you so proud about now?”

Lin Yang shrugged. “That’s not certain. We agreed that Lin Hongye would only leave if she failed to claim the top spot.”

“But what if she wins?”

Wang Zide immediately retorted without hesitation, “Impossible! Every disciple of Sword Peak is like a dragon. Lin Hongye is talented, but she hasn’t fully matured and has been held back by you for so long.”

“It’s impossible for her to surpass my disciples at this stage.”

Lin Yang didn’t argue further, only saying, “If so, then we shall see,” before falling silent.

...

Shortly after, Zhang Xianfeng arrived at the sect leader’s seat. The elder acting as the chief referee for this competition raised his voice loudly.

“The Great Wilderness Immortal Sect’s sect-wide competition begins now!”

At once, all participating disciples found a token materialize in their hands, formed from condensed spiritual energy, each engraved with a number.

The referee elder continued loudly, “Each contestant now holds a token. When the number on your token is called, you must step forward to compete.”

“Those who win advance to the next round; the losers enter the elimination matches. A second defeat means immediate exit from this competition. Any objections?”

Everyone shook their heads.

The referee elder declared, “Very well, the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect competition officially begins!”

“The first contestant, number one, will face number seventy-five.”

As the elder finished, a tall, handsome man wearing a sword stepped forward from the audience and flew onto the stage.

The crowd was stunned. “Wow, the first to compete is our senior brother?! This is going to be a show!”

“Yeah, our senior brother is mid-Nascent Soul stage. Among the disciples, not to mention other elders, many can’t match him.”

“Wang Peak Master has certainly put in great effort cultivating him. With such talent, who wouldn’t nurture him well?”

Page (3/3)

Lin Hongye looked at Zhao Feng on the stage, appraising him silently without much comment.

Lu Chen raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s wrong, senior sister? Don’t you think you can defeat this guy?”

Lin Hongye smiled at Lu Chen and asked, “Junior brother, who do you think is stronger, me or the senior brother?”

Lu Chen snorted disdainfully, arrogant, “Neither of you is as strong as I am. But if I must compare, you’re a bit stronger than that guy.”

...

The contestant facing Zhao Feng was only an ordinary Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.

He gave a wry smile and cupped his fists to Zhao Feng. “Senior brother, please teach me.”

Zhao Feng smiled and returned the gesture. “Junior brother, I’ll be the one offending you.”

As the match began, Zhao Feng instantly drew his sword. The Foundation Establishment cultivator knew he could not face Zhao Feng head-on and planned to use a magical treasure to buy some time.

But before he could activate it, Zhao Feng’s sword tip was already pressing against his neck, barely a moment’s delay before blood would flow.

Zhao Feng immediately withdrew his sword and cupped his fists, “I apologize, junior brother.”

The Foundation Establishment disciple shook his head helplessly. The gap between Foundation Establishment and Nascent Soul stages was just that vast. Zhao Feng not maiming him was already very generous.

The disciple flew off the stage in dejection, while Zhao Feng thanked the crowd amid their cheers and then left the stage.

Lu Chen nodded in approval, “Not bad. The killing intent was clear, yet he retracted the sword in time. Though his swordsmanship talent is average, at least his temperament is good.”

“If this were the Immortal Realm and I met him, I wouldn’t mind giving him some pointers.”

Lin Hongye rolled her eyes at Lu Chen. “You sure talk a lot.”

At the peak master’s seat, the other peak masters also sighed in admiration of Wang Zide’s talented disciple.

“Master Wang is truly fortunate to have taken such a disciple with such character and talent. We are all envious.”

Amid the compliments, Wang Zide smiled so broadly his mouth could barely close.