The Illusionary Gate naturally had rules and regulations for obtaining the status of a True Disciple.
First, one had to pass the Tianxing Peak trial and obtain the status of a prospective True Disciple before challenging actual True Disciples. That was the threshold.
The purpose of setting this threshold was naturally to prevent the lower-ranked True Disciples from having to accept challenges from other Inner Sect Disciples every so often.
Only after passing the Tianxing Peak trial and proving that one truly possessed the necessary strength could one challenge any True Disciple ranked from ninety-ninth to ninetieth.
True Disciples within that range had to accept challenges and could not refuse. Once they refused, it was equivalent to automatically conceding defeat, and their ranking would drop by one.
A True Disciple's ranking concerned the location of their cave dwelling on True Inheritance Peak. With every rank advanced, the cultivation benefits of those cave dwellings differed significantly.
Thus, under normal circumstances, no True Disciple would deliberately concede defeat.
Chen Fei's goal in challenging True Disciples was to enter the top thirty.
Chen Fei was not after a True Disciple's cave dwelling. Such dwellings were better than nothing to him. He wanted to enter the top thirty among True Disciples because only those in the top thirty could challenge the Profound Ranking.
This was an Illusionary Gate regulation, intended to protect its own disciples.
One only needed to look at how the Illusionary Gate had merely seven Void True God Realm cultivators on the Profound Ranking to understand its worth. Without the combat strength of a top-thirty True Disciple, attempting to challenge the Profound Ranking was simply seeking death.
Or rather, without the strength of a top-ten True Disciple, it was best not to challenge the Profound Ranking. But the Illusionary Gate could