The Sect Internal Competition Begins

The Blood Origin Realm is filled with various exotic beasts, celestial birds, and countless rare treasures, but it is also extremely dangerous. Even experts in the innate realm have records of perishing within it.

Each time it opens, the Yi Yuan Sect and the Zhang Family each dispatch their experts. There has never been a precedent for sending disciples before, partly because the interval is too long – a full ten years – and partly because disciples' strength is relatively weaker, making it unsafe.

"It's precisely the Blood Origin Realm!" Ye Kongming said, frowning. "This year is when the Blood Origin Realm is set to open, and also when the Blood Origin Fruit matures. The Zhang Family proposed that core disciples compete within it to decide the victor, with the top three in points each receiving one Blood Origin Fruit!"

The Blood Origin Fruit is a special spiritual fruit native to the Blood Origin Realm. It grows on a Blood Origin Tree deep within the realm. The realm itself is named after this spiritual fruit.

Even those in the innate realm can increase their cultivation by one level after consuming this spiritual fruit. Of course, this spiritual fruit is extremely rare, only maturing once every hundred years. This means that one can only encounter it once every ten openings of the Blood Origin Realm, and even then, the quantity is even scarcer, with only nine fruits available.

"And the side with the higher total score will receive four of the remaining six Blood Origin Fruits, while the losing side will only get two!" Ye Kongming added.

This is nothing new; they have always competed for it in this manner. The winning side gets one extra fruit, and the losing side gets one less.

"I heard that in the past few years, the Zhang Family has had three geniuses who are very powerful. At a young age, they have all reached the Houtian Ninth Stage!" Xia Chunxue suddenly mentioned.

"Precisely. The Zhang Family's proposal clearly shows their intention to monopolize the top three spots!" Ye Kongming sneered. "However, they are dreaming. It just so happens that Feng'er is in seclusion now. When he comes out of seclusion, he will break through to the Houtian Ninth Stage. We can still contend for the Blood Origin Fruit. It's hard to say who will emerge victorious!"

Ye Xiwen secretly thought that the Zhang Family's intentions this time were not good, but it was clear that the higher-ups of the Yi Yuan Sect had their own plans. He figured he didn't need to worry too much.

"As for the Blood Origin Fruit and such, I'm not worried. But the Blood Origin Realm is still too dangerous. What if we encounter the Demon Ancestor within the Blood Origin Realm!" Xia Chunxue said, a hint of worry on her face. "Why don't we have Feng'er and Xue'er not participate this time? Anyway, Feng'er is already at the peak of the Houtian Eighth Stage, just one step away from breaking through to the Houtian Ninth Stage. When he joins the main sect, won't it be much better than this?"

"Feng'er is one of the elites among the Yi Yuan Sect's core disciples, how could he not go? That Demon Ancestor has already been injured by our combined efforts. As long as we are careful, it should be fine!" Ye Kongming said without room for argument. "Wen'er, you should hurry back and rest, adjust yourself to the best condition to deal with the Sect Internal Competition!"

"Yes, Father!" Ye Xiwen replied.

Ye Xiwen returned to his small courtyard. Without doing anything else, he took out the Heavenly Immortal Steps he had obtained from Ma Yan. Ma Yan had used this secret manual to extort many people.

After Ye Xiwen looked at the Heavenly Immortal Steps, he realized it was a congenital-level technique, but it was already half-incomplete and couldn't be cultivated to its peak. However, its power was not inferior to ordinary advanced techniques. For Ye Xiwen, it was like timely rain. He had always lacked a movement technique. Although both Thunderclap Hand and Cold Moon Slash came with movement techniques, they were undoubtedly inferior to a dedicated movement technique.

Ye Xiwen had been thinking of going to the Library Pavilion to exchange for a movement technique after the competition. Now, he didn't have to bother.

Although the Heavenly Immortal Steps was incomplete, it was more than enough for Ye Xiwen at the moment. If he had the chance in the future, he would naturally want to complete the Heavenly Immortal Steps.

According to the description, the Heavenly Immortal Steps excelled at evasive maneuvers within a small area, making it incredibly effective in confined spaces.

Ye Xiwen temporarily put aside the idea of cultivating the Crescent Moon Slash. After all, his New Moon Slash was more than enough to deal with the Sect Internal Competition. Among inner disciples, only a few could cultivate a beginner-level martial skill to great accomplishment, let alone an intermediate-level one.

Practicing the Heavenly Immortal Steps was the priority now.

Ye Xiwen split his consciousness and entered the special space, beginning to cultivate according to the description in the Heavenly Immortal Steps.

A large number of Spirit Stones began to burn, channeling into Ye Xiwen's body. Ye Xiwen's understanding of the Heavenly Immortal Steps also climbed steadily.

Ye Xiwen's movements within the special space, which were initially somewhat unskillful, quickly became proficient.

Time ticked by, and in the blink of an eye, two days had passed.

In Ye Xiwen's small courtyard, Ye Xiwen stood with his hands behind his back. With a few steps, his figure appeared at the far corner of the wall.

A smile appeared on Ye Xiwen's face. In two days, he had cultivated the Heavenly Immortal Steps to the minor accomplishment stage. Generally, martial skills are divided into four stages: initial glimpse, entry into the hall, minor accomplishment, and great accomplishment. Although these are just four stages, the gap between each stage is significant. It takes a long time to cultivate a martial skill to minor accomplishment, let alone an advanced martial skill. But Ye Xiwen was different. With the help of the special space, his cultivation of one day was equivalent to that of others for a hundred days or even more. Of course, the price was the insane consumption of Spirit Stones. In just these two days, to push the Heavenly Immortal Steps to minor accomplishment, he had consumed fifteen hundred out of two thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones. The remaining five hundred were not enough to push the Heavenly Immortal Steps to great accomplishment.

He would need at least another thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

However, at this moment, Ye Xiwen didn't have time to continue pushing the Heavenly Immortal Steps further, because the Sect Internal Competition had finally begun.

Sunlight broke through the clouds and shone upon the land. Green Peak Mountain welcomed a new day, and the entire mountain was filled with a festive atmosphere.

Out of the more than ten thousand people in the Yi Yuan Sect on Green Peak Mountain, only a little over a thousand participated in this Sect Internal Competition. Not everyone would participate; some lacked the strength, making participation futile. Only those who aspired to achieve a certain ranking or test their current level would sign up.

The competition was not mandatory; anyone willing could participate.

Among them, more than eight hundred outer disciples had signed up, while only a little over four hundred inner disciples had registered, which was slightly more than in previous years. The competition was exceptionally fierce. The reason was simple: in previous years, only the top fifty received rewards, but now the top one hundred received generous rewards, attracting more inner and outer disciples to participate.