This grand competition of Mount Mao was exceptionally solemn. When Zhong Bai arrived at the arena, it happened to be the moment Ming Wanqian was announcing the rules.
"The rules of this grand competition are very simple. Out of the five arenas, whoever can remain standing until the end will be the top five winners of this competition!
Any disciples under the age of thirty may participate!"
Well, yes, Mount Mao did not intend to distinguish who was first and who was second this time. What they wanted were simply the five disciples who could hold out until the end.
In such a king-of-the-hill tournament, luck was almost entirely nonexistent.
As Ming Wanqian's voice trailed off, among the crowd, a young man clad in a yin-yang Daoist robe, with his hair tied up and crowned, slowly stepped forward.
"This poor Daoist is Shi Jian. I ask all senior and junior brothers to enlighten me!"
Standing on the first arena, Shi Jian's gaze currently locked onto the crowd of fellow disciples below him, while at the same time, his aura at the peak of the fourth layer of Qi refinement quietly released.
Accompanied by wisps of thunder unceremoniously radiating from within his body, everyone felt that intense sense of oppression!
Even Zhong Bai had to admit at this moment that Shi Jian, this future Thunder and Lightning Dharma King, was already beginning to reveal his sharp edge.
Peak fourth layer of Qi refinement, Lightning Thunder Fist at minor completion. Tsk tsk tsk, as expected of you, Shi Jian. If this poor Daoist didn't have a cheat, I'd really only be able to look up to this level of strength in the future...
Feeling a slight inner emotion, Zhong Bai was somewhat tempted. Now Shi Jian had already occupied the first arena.
Moreover, looking at this posture, he intended to take it without yielding; how difficult would it be to snatch it?
Speaking of seeking enlightenment, Shi Jian swept his gaze around before landing on the Talisman Hall disciples.
To be precise, it landed on Lin Fengjiao, who was also at the fourth layer of Qi refinement.
Thirty was a threshold. Under the age of thirty, although there were disciples older than Shi Jian and the others participating this time, most of them were outer disciples whose cultivation at most reached the third layer of Qi refinement.
Some hadn't even reached the third layer of Qi refinement...
Therefore, the ownership of the top five was almost destined to belong to the direct disciples of the various halls and pavilions.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Fengjiao furrowed his brows tightly. From the depths of his heart, he did not particularly want to vie with Shi Jian for superiority, but unfortunately, the other party's gaze was overly provocative.
Both around twenty years of age, who could truly suppress their own arrogance?
Furthermore, Shi Jian's past disdain for the Talisman Hall remained vivid in Lin Fengjiao's mind to this day.
Calm down, exercise restraint! This grand competition isn't about fighting for superiority with Shi Jian, but about securing the qualification to descend the mountain to vanquish demons and protect the Dao. Lin Fengjiao, you can do it...
After taking a heavy, deep breath, Lin Fengjiao finally relaxed his brows and eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, he tiptoed, executed the Eight Trigrams Roaming Dragon Steps, and easily ascended the second arena.
Seeing that Lin Fengjiao had not chosen to contend with him for the same arena, the domineering aura on Shi Jian's face vanished, replaced by regret.
Shi Jian wanted to prove himself too much—to prove that his talent could crush Lin Fengjiao, and to prove that he was the number one among this generation of direct disciples!
It was a pity that Lin Fengjiao did not give him this chance.
Seeing the second ring occupied by Lin Fengjiao, Zhong Bai no longer waited. Having waited for a year, he finally had such an opportunity; if he didn't step up to firmly grasp it now, did he really want to fight a spell duel with someone else?
In an instant, a flash of thunder passed by. Before any of the disciples could react, Zhong Bai had already used the Thunder Escape Technique to arrive at the third arena.
A crisp crackle sounded, followed instantly by the simultaneous ringing of tendons and bones, terrifying, rolling life-force blood, and lightning flickering across from time to time. At this moment, Zhong Bai truly made all his fellow disciples understand clearly what a gap was!
On the high platform in the distance.
This was the viewing area where the elders watched the grand competition. They found the peer-level pressure displayed by Shi Jian and Lin Fengjiao to be unremarkable and nothing out of the ordinary.
Yet... the moment Zhong Bai, this little transparent background character, took the stage, as his life-force blood surged, they discerned something different.
"Well, well, well, Senior Brother Qianyuan, you're not playing fair!
Tsk tsk tsk, Junior Nephew Zhong Bai joined less than five years ago. It's one thing for him to possess the cultivation of the third layer of Qi refinement—let's just attribute that to the early-stage effects of the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Art.
But this major completion Thunder Escape Technique and the major completion life-force blood strength of the Supreme Clarity Body Forging Art... Senior Brother Qianyuan hides things really deeply!"
"Indeed, Junior Brother Changsheng's words are right. Senior Brother Qianyuan just said that Junior Nephew Zhong Bai entering the top five would be sheer luck. Hehe, looking at it now, even my disciple Lin Fengjiao has already reached the fourth layer of Qi refinement, but I'm afraid he is still no match for Junior Nephew Zhong Bai!"
The master of Talisman Hall's Lin Fengjiao added insult to injury.
Immediately following this, the elders of the other halls cast strange gazes toward True Immortal Qianyuan.
They always said like master, like disciple. With Zhong Bai hiding himself so deeply, if not for the grand competition, they wouldn't have been able to tell his depth at all.
Then... as his master, did True Immortal Qianyuan also conceal a trick up his sleeve?
Feeling the suspicious gazes of his fellow junior and senior brothers, True Immortal Qianyuan felt as though the heavens were collapsing.
Heaven and earth be witness, he truly didn't know when Zhong Bai had cultivated the Thunder Escape Technique to major completion, nor the Supreme Clarity Body Forging Art. Zhong Bai had never mentioned these things to him at all.
As for whether he was hiding a trick, True Immortal Qianyuan could not deny this, because he really did hold something back...
"Ahem, Junior Brother Changsheng, Junior Brother Lin, what are you saying? Senior Brother has managed the Law Enforcement Hall for decades; when has he ever concealed anything from two junior brothers?
Zhong Bai's situation is likewise unknown to me. As for the rest, we had better watch the grand competition first..."
Forcing the topic to turn away, hearing mention of the grand competition, the group finally averted their gazes and looked toward the arenas.
"Junior Brother Zhong Bai, I wouldn't have thought you'd undergo such heaven-shaking changes in the span of a year. So be it, I'll leave this third arena to Junior Brother; this senior brother will go contend for the fourth arena!"
With that, Four-Eyes leaped lightly and arrived at the fourth arena. As his third-layer Qi refinement aura manifested, Four-Eyes prepared himself at any moment to invite a deity to possess his body!
Seeing that only the last arena remained uncontested, just as others wanted to rush to seize it, among the Talisman Hall disciples, a female cultivator quickly took the stage.
This person was none other than Lin Fengjiao's junior sister, Auntie Zhe.
However, they did not share the same master; Auntie Zhe's master was the Third Elder of the Talisman Hall, Huang Zhen.
Seeing Auntie Zhe step onto the stage, the expressions of the surrounding disciples instantly turned awkward. Auntie Zhe's strength was ordinary, merely at the standard third layer of Qi refinement.
However... Auntie Zhe was a woman after all, and they were all fellow disciples of Mount Mao. Such a thing as contending with Auntie Zhe for an arena was something they truly could not bring themselves to do.
Therefore... the gazes of the crowd fell upon Zhong Bai and Four-Eyes!
To be precise, most gazes landed on Four-Eyes. Although inviting a deity to possess the body was extraordinary, there was at least still a chance to try one's hand against it.
As for the first three people, Shi Jian and Lin Fengjiao didn't even need to be considered; their cultivation completely crushed them.
Zhong Bai's mastery of thunder spells was profound, and his life-force blood was monstrous. Anyone with discerning eyes could tell he was not to be trifled with.
Therefore, although there were those harboring ideas about him, they weren't particularly numerous.
Five people occupied the arenas, and next was the time of scrambling for the incense stick's worth of time.
Everyone exerted themselves to the utmost; even Zhong Bai and the others dared not relax their vigilance, for capsizing in the gutter was not entirely impossible.
"Junior Brother Four-Eyes, offense taken! This senior brother has come to seek instruction on Junior Brother's high arts!"
The first to make a move was an outer disciple, Lei Gang!
He was approaching thirty years of age and was at the third layer of Qi refinement, having already been qualified to directly apply to descend the mountain.
Yet... the top five of this grand competition could directly establish a Daoist monastery, which had a world of difference compared to outer disciples descending the mountain.
To put it bluntly, once outer disciples descended the mountain, their lives and deaths were their own concern, whereas establishing a Daoist monastery was where Mount Mao's base of operations lay. When encountering evil spirits that couldn't be resolved, they could completely appeal to Mount Mao for reinforcements, and the speed of reinforcements was fundamentally incomparable to what ordinary outer disciples could experience.
Therefore, Lei Gang wanted to take a gamble!
Before you continue