Luck

"Number 25, step onto the stage!" Feng Tian's voice rang out. Lu Yi, who had been drowsy with boredom, jolted awake. It was finally his turn!

Watching from below had bored him half to death. He hoped for a stronger opponent—at the very least, he could complete a task and earn some rewards.

Lu Yi rose into the air and landed on the arena. The many disciples below immediately stirred. At last, Lu Yi was taking the stage.

Lu Yi had barely stepped onto the arena when another youth came up as well.

Lu Yi froze when he saw the youth, then laughed in surprise. "So it's Senior Brother Li Qi. What a coincidence!"

This youth was the spectator who had been driven off the platform by Wang Xinqi on White Sheep Peak earlier. He had been caught in an undeserved disaster and was terribly unlucky, so Lu Yi remembered him somewhat.

Li Qi's expression twisted, already wearing a Mask of Suffering. Looking at Lu Yi, the corners of his mouth twitched. He could not even force out a smile as he nearly gritted his teeth and said, "Junior Brother Lu Yi, what a coincidence..."

He was truly in despair. Why was he so unlucky?! This was only the first round! And he had already run into a monster like Lu Yi?!

With his strength, he should have been almost guaranteed a place in the top thousand!

Li Qi nearly wanted to cry.

Feng Tian glanced at Lu Yi and Li Qi, then said calmly, "The match begins."

Lu Yi smiled slightly. "Senior Brother Li Qi, please."

He felt that Li Qi had it rather rough. Although he could not accept a task, Lu Yi still decided that he would spar with Li Qi a little longer later, so as not to crush the man's confidence.

Li Qi's mouth twitched violently. Then, with grief and indignation written all over his face, he said, "I concede!"

"???"

Lu Yi froze, only to see Li Qi turn around, leap off the arena, and vanish into the crowd.

Lu Yi: "..."

Senior Brother Li Qi's mentality had not broken, had it? Lu Yi sighed. Luck was important on the Immortal Path as well. It seemed Senior Brother Li Qi belonged to the particularly unlucky sort.

Lu Yi stepped down from the arena. Feng Tian had originally wanted to see Lu Yi's strength, but Li Qi had unexpectedly conceded. Feeling rather helpless, he could only continue, "Number 26, step onto the stage."

The Preliminary Selection took very little time. By the time the preliminaries began, it was still early. The entire rest of the day was devoted to the preliminaries. Qi Refining cultivators did not take very long to fight, and round after round quickly passed.

Lu Yi did not know whether his luck was simply too good, but on Arena 101, the strongest contestant was only Li Qi at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer. There was not even a single Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator.

Every time Lu Yi stepped onto the arena, his opponent immediately conceded. Lu Yi felt utterly helpless.

He had essentially stood below the arena all day for nothing, without even drawing his sword once!

By the end, he was numb. What a waste of time. He really wanted to go home and cultivate.

Unfortunately, as a contestant, he could not be absent.

The sun gradually moved westward before finally sinking behind the mountains. When the clouds at the horizon turned orange-red, the preliminaries finally came to an end.

Lu Yi was naturally first place in all of Arena 101. Next, he would compete against the first-place finishers from the other arenas for the top ten.

That would be the ranking matches.

When the preliminaries ended, Dugu Fang came to the Central Arena and announced, "Today's competition ends here. The ranking matches begin tomorrow. I hope everyone maintains their condition and performs at their best tomorrow."

As he spoke, Dugu Fang glanced in Lu Yi's direction, feeling somewhat regretful. He had wanted to see Lu Yi's strength, but Lu Yi's opponents had conceded one after another.

After Dugu Fang announced the end, the many disciples departed one after another. After a day of fighting, it had been quite a burden for most of them.

Even with deacons watching as referees, injuries during the matches were unavoidable. They needed to return and treat their wounds, lest lasting damage remain.

Lu Yi looked up at the sky and found that Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi had apparently not come down yet. To avoid being carried home by Lu Gaoyang in full view of everyone, he directly activated his movement technique, turning into a streak of light and disappearing into the crowd. He was going to run home himself.

In the sky, Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi were beaming. Beside them stood Li Mang and the other deacons from the Affairs Hall.

At that moment, they were all congratulating Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi.

"Congratulations, Brother Lu. Lu Yi entered the ranking matches without drawing his sword. To subdue the enemy without fighting is truly impressive."

"That's right, Brother Lu. Give us a hint—just how strong is Lu Yi now?"

"I'd say he can definitely make the top hundred!"

"Top hundred? Are you underestimating Lu Yi? I say he can make the top ten!"

"No matter what, Brother Lu, you have a fine son. When you rise to greatness in the future, don't forget your brothers."

"Of course, of course..." Lu Gaoyang smiled so hard that his eyes narrowed into slits, nearly disappearing.

Wang Siqi was also chatting with the female deacons nearby, her face radiant with happiness.

"Everyone, I still need to take my son home, so I'll excuse myself first... Hm?! Where's Lu Yi?" Lu Gaoyang lowered his head to look for Lu Yi, only to discover that he had no idea where Lu Yi had run off to.

Hearing this, Wang Siqi lowered her head to search as well, equally bewildered.

Where was my son? Where was my huge son? How had he vanished after I looked away for just a moment?

After returning to White Spirit Peak, Lu Yi went back to his room to rest.

With his cultivation, standing for a day was not tiring physically, but it was mentally exhausting. He had done nothing but stand around.

How was this some grand competition? It was practically punishment by standing!

Lu Yi grumbled inwardly, hoping the competition would end soon so that he could receive its rewards.

That competition task had been hanging on his task panel for a long time. He had kept it on his mind.

Before long, Wang Siqi's voice came from outside. "Yi'er? Yi'er, are you home?"

Lu Yi froze for a moment, then stepped outside. Seeing Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi standing there, he asked in confusion, "I'm at home."

Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi sighed in relief. Lu Gaoyang's face darkened. "You brat, we were waiting to take you home, yet you came back by yourself first."

Lu Yi's mouth twitched. Wait for him to carry me back while flying? Does Lu have no pride at all?

He coughed dryly and said, "Didn't I see Old Lu and Old Mom chatting up in the sky? So I came back first."

Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi did not mind after hearing that.

Wang Siqi smiled brightly. "As expected of my son. You're truly amazing. You subdued your opponents without fighting, and those deacons praised you highly today."

Lu Yi: "???"

He had stood around all day, and people were still praising him? Was there something wrong with them?

Lu Gaoyang happily chimed in, "That's right. Those brothers of mine all said that a tiger father could not raise a dog son."

Lu Yi gave Lu Gaoyang a speechless look. "..."

As long as he was happy.

The three chatted and laughed. After dinner, Lu Yi was sent back to his room to cultivate. Both of them hoped he would maintain his condition well.

Lu Yi returned to his room and accepted his daily task before cultivating. As Spiritual Qi circulated, Lu Yi's Spiritual Qi grew increasingly powerful. He had a feeling that the Qi Refining Eighth Layer was not far away.

After the White Cloud Qi Guiding Art reached lv8, its cultivation speed had more than doubled compared to lv7. Coupled with the Perfect Qi Condensation Pill, Lu Yi's current cultivation speed was simply too fast.