Grand Competition Preliminaries

"You'd had a 'Secluded Cultivation' sign hanging outside all this time. I only came over after seeing you leap over the wall just now. I didn't disturb you, did I?"

Lu Ming invited him inside and said with a smile, "I'd just finished cultivating. By the way, I didn't see you when I returned from my last mission. Where did you go?"

"Last time?"

Cui Bai thought back over what he had been doing. "Other than cultivating, I spent contribution points to ask the elders about martial arts."

"Huh, what's wrong?"

After saying that, he suddenly noticed Lu Ming staring blankly.

"Nothing. I'd just forgotten that I could ask the elders about martial arts."

Lu Ming smiled. At Wuji Sect, elders regularly held lectures on martial arts, and those were free.

They only covered basic matters, however.

If one wanted to consult an elder privately about the martial art one was practicing, contribution points had to be spent.

To be honest, he had completely forgotten about that.

Otherwise, he would have learned of the existence of "intent" long ago.

Still, it was fine. Not only did he know about it now, he had even comprehended something from it.

"So that's what it is. With your talent, I figured you wouldn't need it. Wait, no—when did you break through to the Mid True Qi Realm?"

Since they were discussing martial arts, Cui Bai examined Lu Ming more closely. He had not realized it before, but the moment he looked, he was stunned.

Less than five months ago, they had entered the inner sect together. Yet now, Lu Ming had left him far behind and broken through to the Mid True Qi Realm.

Even more incredible was that during this time, he had also practiced several martial arts and completed two missions.

That monstrous talent left Cui Bai utterly speechless.

"The more you fight, the easier it is to break through."

Lu Ming did not know how to explain it, so he casually answered.

To his surprise, Cui Bai strongly agreed. "You're right. Back when I was trying to pass the inner sect assessment, I spent nearly half a year on the outskirts of the Wuji Mountain Range."

"During those six months, I fought demonic beasts every day. Both my martial techniques and true qi improved considerably."

"It seems I've been too lax lately. Even if I don't compare myself to you, I still shouldn't be progressing this slowly at my own pace."

Lu Ming was at a loss for words. Seeing that Cui Bai seemed to have made up his mind to go out and take missions, he could only remind him not to rush things and to master his martial arts first.

Warmth rose in Cui Bai's chest at those words. He smiled and said, "Don't worry. I know my limits."

"That's good, then."

Lu Ming smiled as well.

Afterward, the two chatted about other matters, mostly things they had seen and heard within the sect.

"With your current strength," Cui Bai said, "you'll definitely advance in the Grand Competition Preliminaries five months from now."

"Grand Competition Preliminaries?"

Lu Ming was somewhat puzzled. "What's that?"

"Look at you—every day, you're either outside doing missions or cultivating at home. You don't know anything about all the things happening in the sect."

Cui Bai teased, "You probably don't even know that the Inner Sect Disciple Grand Competition has been moved up, do you?"

"I really didn't know."

Lu Ming smiled awkwardly. "What exactly happened? Hurry up and tell me."

Cui Bai did not keep him in suspense and told him directly.

The Inner Sect Grand Competition required one-on-one arena battles. With over a thousand inner sect disciples, having everyone compete at once would take a very long time and become chaotic.

Therefore, preliminaries would be held one month before the Grand Competition.

The purpose was naturally to eliminate most people beforehand.

In other words, the true Inner Sect Grand Competition would begin in six months, eight or nine months earlier than usual.

As Cui Bai explained, Lu Ming also learned the reason.

A secret realm that opened once every thirty years had happened to reach the time of its opening.

Thus, the sect had decided to hold the Grand Competition early.

This was also customary. Whenever the time came, it was always handled this way.

"How exactly will the preliminaries work, then? Surely they won't have people fight one by one?"

Without dwelling too much on the secret realm, Lu Ming asked another question.

"Of course not. Otherwise, what would be the difference between that and the real Grand Competition?"

Cui Bai continued, "I asked around a bit. It seems the assessment will be conducted by clearing stages."

"For example, in the first stage, you must defeat a mechanical puppet with the strength of a Peak Early True Qi Realm cultivator. Those who fail will be eliminated immediately."

"The second stage will have two mechanical puppets at the Peak Early True Qi Realm. The stages after that will only become more difficult."

"In short, the selection would continue until only three hundred remained to take part in the ranking battles of the actual Grand Competition."

"What if, during the month before the Grand Competition, someone ranked below three hundred happened to make a breakthrough in strength?"

"I knew you were going to ask that."

"Of course, they could make an exception and take the preliminary assessment once more three days before the Grand Competition. As long as they achieved a ranking of three hundredth place, they could participate in the actual Grand Competition."

"Well? I've said all that, and you've got nothing to say?"

Seeing the other man wiggling his brows, Lu Ming punched him on the shoulder and said, "Come on, a private room at Cuiyun Tower."

"Heh, just watch me bleed you dry today, you rich man."

The two walked out with their arms slung over each other's shoulders.

In the blink of an eye, nearly another four months passed. During this time, discussion of the Grand Competition Preliminaries within Wuji Sect grew more and more heated.

Especially in recent days, it had practically taken over every conversation.

Other than taking on a few missions, Lu Ming devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivation.

After he and Cui Bai left Cuiyun Tower last time, he spent five hundred contribution points to consult an elder who specialized in teaching martial arts about the matter of "momentum."

As it turned out, such a thing truly existed. According to the elder, momentum was formless and intangible; those without extraordinary talent could not comprehend it.

Of course, there was a somewhat easier path: cultivating martial arts that possessed "momentum."

However, martial arts of this kind were exceedingly rare. They were generally Earth-grade; if one was Human-grade, it would only be because a high-grade martial art had become incomplete and fallen in rank.

Moreover, such martial arts were exceptionally difficult to learn. Without comprehending the momentum within them, one could not learn their moves.

In short, the elder was reminding Lu Ming not to aim too high. At his current stage, improving his realm was what mattered most.

Naturally, Lu Ming understood the other man's good intentions, especially with the example of Old Man Heavenly Saber before him.

He had pursued the illusory "Saber Intent," delaying his advancement in realm until he died of old age.

However, Lu Ming felt that his comprehension was not poor, not to mention that he had the Jade Pendant to assist him.

So he was not worried about that problem.

With the doubts in his heart resolved, Lu Ming naturally threw himself back into his previous rhythm, merely adjusting his schedule to devote more time to cultivation.

Aside from refining true qi, his cultivation mainly focused on comprehending "Wind Momentum" and "Saber Intent."

He gained quite a bit from both.

Saber Intent in particular—when he had faced Xiao Zan of the Gang Qi Realm last time, it had stirred within him the will to fight to the death.

Afterward, he felt that his will had become even firmer, as though he possessed a sense of pressing forward without turning back.

This was a breakthrough in his state of mind.

It also pushed his nascent Saber Intent one step further.

At its root, Saber Intent was an embodiment of one's will.

If his Saber Intent were compared to an illusory cloud of qi now, then it was on the verge of condensing into a form.

It appeared within his sea of consciousness.

In other words, his Saber Intent was just one final kick away from taking shape.

Yet that very kick was also the hardest. Some people never managed to take it even in their entire lives.

So Lu Ming could not be impatient either.

"There's about a month left until the Grand Competition Preliminaries. During this time, I'll devote all my effort to breaking through the third stage of [Iron Elephant Art]."

Before the mirror, Lu Ming examined his body. A few months ago, he had turned fifteen.

Compared to his former childishness and thinness, he now possessed a bit more heroic bearing, and had grown to around one meter seventy-eight.

As for his build, he did not look particularly burly, but his body was covered in lean, compact muscles.

These were the changes brought about by the body-tempering technique, [Iron Elephant Art].

It could be said that compared to before he began cultivating, his appearance had changed completely. Calling it a rebirth would not be an exaggeration.

"Martial arts really can change a person."

After putting on his clothes, Lu Ming walked out. The third stage of [Iron Elephant Art] was difficult to break through by relying on his own pounding and training alone.

So he needed to find a place with immense pressure.

And he had already asked around about such a place.