The Competition Begins

Wang Wulian stepped down from the arena. Lu Yi smiled at the eager-looking Lu Ling. "Senior Brother Lu Ling, shall we spar now?"

Lu Ling froze for a moment, then asked, "Junior Brother Lu Yi, you just went through a battle. Don't you need to rest?"

Lu Yi smiled. "My White Cloud Qi Guiding Art is at quite a high level too, so my Spiritual Qi recovers rather quickly. There's no need to rest."

"Hiss..."

The surrounding spectators all sucked in sharp breaths.

"White Cloud Swordplay at the Returning to Purity Realm, White Cloud Footwork at the Transformation Realm, and even the White Cloud Qi Guiding Art has been comprehended to such a profound level? As expected of Senior Brother Lu Yi."

"Senior Brother Lu Yi's comprehension is far too high. I'm truly envious. If only I had half of Senior Brother Lu Yi's comprehension."

"..."

Amid the crowd's whispers, Lu Ling gave Lu Yi a deep look. To be honest, even he was immensely envious.

Before long, Lu Ling stopped dwelling on it and laughed freely. "In that case, I won't hold back."

With a tap of his toes, he floated lightly onto the arena.

Lu Yi took one look and saw that Lu Ling had cultivated White Cloud Footwork as well. Just like him—his skill with it was quite decent.

Lu Ling steadied himself and drew his longsword. "Junior Brother Lu, please!!"

"Please!" Lu Yi replied with a smile.

Then neither of them said another word as they charged at each other.

Just as he had against Wang Wulian, Lu Yi sparred with Lu Ling for quite some time. Lu Ling's swordplay was a level below Wang Wulian's, but his movement technique was somewhat faster. To Lu Yi, though, there was little difference; the fight remained under his control from beginning to end.

After sparring for a while, Lu Yi finally defeated Lu Ling, giving him plenty of face and leaving Lu Ling feeling quite satisfied.

After finishing his spar with Lu Ling, Wang Wulian had yet to finish his insight, so Lu Yi took the chance to recover.

Though he was not particularly tired and still had around half his Spiritual Qi left, if he did not recover now, people would start treating him like a monster.

And so, Lu Yi sparred repeatedly with Wang Wulian and Lu Ling. The cultivators watching at the side gathered in a circle, observing the precious realm of White Cloud Swordplay in hopes of gaining something from it.

The sparring continued all morning. Lu Yi sparred sixteen times in total, completing sixteen tasks and receiving a full sixteen Perfect Qi Condensation Pills.

Those Qi Condensation Pills were enough to last him until the Competition began. Lu Yi felt that was more or less sufficient.

After his match with Lu Ling, Lu Yi smiled faintly and said, "Senior Brothers Lu and Wang, let's call it here for today. I've already gained something from this. Thank you both for sparring with your junior brother."

Lu Ling and Wang Wulian both froze at those words, then hurriedly shook their heads.

Lu Ling said gratefully, "What are you saying, Junior Brother Lu? This morning's sparring has benefited me greatly. Perhaps it won't be long before my swordplay breaks through to the Transformation Realm. It's all thanks to you, Junior Brother!"

Wang Wulian at the side nodded repeatedly in agreement. "Brother Lu is right. My swordplay is only one step away from the Transformation Realm. It's all thanks to you, Junior Brother!"

Lu Yi touched his pockets and the front of his robe, where sixteen Perfect Qi Condensation Pills lay, and smiled modestly. "You two are too kind."

Amid the friendly atmosphere between the three, Lu Yi took his leave and turned to depart. Quite a few cultivators had gathered nearby, all drawn by the reputation of Lu Yi's Returning to Purity Realm White Cloud Swordplay. Seeing that he was leaving, they quickly made way for him.

Many looked at Lu Yi with gratitude in their eyes. Though they had merely watched the matches, they too had gained something.

For cultivators, watching powerful cultivators battle was even more effective than ordinary cultivation. Lu Yi's morning of sparring had, to them, carried the effect of imparting the Dao.

After leaving the Martial Arts Stage, Lu Yi returned to White Spirit Peak and began his cultivation for the day.

His morning practice of White Cloud Swordplay had been delayed, but he could not afford to delay the afternoon and evening.

Over the following days, with Perfect Qi Condensation Pills in hand, Lu Yi stopped going out and cultivated in peace, preparing for the Competition.

He cultivated White Cloud Swordplay in the morning, White Cloud Footwork in the afternoon, and White Cloud Qi Guiding Art at night, with scarcely any time to rest. His diligence reminded Lu Yi of his college entrance examination days, when he had studied day and night without pause—an unbearable memory to revisit.

But cultivation differed from the college entrance examination. Lu Yi could issue tasks for himself and visibly feel himself growing stronger. That sensation was addictive, and he happily immersed himself in it.

And so, half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Lu Yi opened his eyes. A thread of white spiritual light flickered within them before slowly fading. Lu Yi let out a faint breath of turbid air.

"The time has come."

Today was the day of the Competition.

Lu Yi left his room and arrived at the Main Hall. Inside, Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi were already seated at the table, where breakfast had been laid out, though neither had touched their chopsticks.

When Lu Yi entered, both looked over. Lu Gaoyang's expression was stern. "Yi'er, the Competition begins today. How do you feel?"

Wang Siqi looked at him as well. During this time, neither of them had mentioned the Competition in front of Lu Yi.

But in truth, at the Affairs Hall, many stewards had occasionally asked the two about Lu Yi's situation. After all, when Lu Yi had given that lecture on the Dao, he had astonished the entire audience and become famous throughout the outer sect in one stroke.

If Lu Yi did not perform well enough this time, one could imagine just how much gossip there would be.

Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi did not want to add pressure to Lu Yi.

Lu Yi smiled. "Don't worry, Old Lu. I feel great."

Lu Yi had not been idling away these past half a month. His hard work every day had paid off, and his panel had changed once again.

Name: Lu Yi

Cultivation: Qi Refining Seventh Layer

Cultivation Method: "White Cloud Qi Guiding Art" (lv8)

Techniques: "White Cloud Swordplay" (lv8), "White Cloud Footwork" (lv8)

Both his cultivation method and techniques had reached lv8!

To be honest, even Lu Yi himself did not know just how strong he was. Techniques at lv8 were simply too powerful, and he did not dare test them in the small courtyard for fear of accidentally tearing the place apart.

No matter what, Lu Yi felt that handling a Competition would definitely not be a problem. He had not forgotten that he still had a Competition task.

What reward would I get for taking first place?

Lu Yi was filled with anticipation.

Seeing Lu Yi's confident expression, Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi were both reassured. Wang Siqi smiled. "I knew my Yi'er would definitely be fine!"

Lu Gaoyang rarely smiled as well. "What was that saying again? A tiger father has no dog son!"

Lu Yi shot Lu Gaoyang a speechless look. He had never seen anyone so brazen—he actually called himself a tiger father? Shameless!

"Eat, eat! Once we finish breakfast, we'll head to the Martial Arts Stage together!" Lu Gaoyang said with a laugh.

The annual Outer Sect Competition was always held at the Martial Arts Stage.

As the outer sect's grandest yearly event, nearly every Outer Sect Disciple went to the Martial Arts Stage when the Competition came around. Though not everyone participated, they could still watch. Seeing powerful senior brothers and sisters compete was beneficial even for weaker outer sect cultivators.

Since the disciples would all be there, the stewards and elders, having nothing else to do, would generally go join the excitement as well.

Naturally, Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi were no exception. Besides, their son was participating in the Competition this year—how could they not go watch?