After receiving his master's affirmative promise, Qin Fengming trained even harder. He left early and returned late, braving wind and rain without ever taking a break. (www..com )
After his master returned, he did not see Yuan Kejian and was naturally greatly puzzled. Although he asked the other disciples about it, he did not investigate too deeply, because the selection of new disciples for Luoxia Valley was also in full swing at that time. He had no time to spare for the disappearance of one or two recent disciples.
The sun and moon passed, flowers bloomed and withered, and several more months slipped by unnoticed.
The day of the Hundred Refinements Hall's martial competition drew ever closer. During this time, the other disciples who had entered the sect alongside Qin Fengming also learned about the competition from their instructors. While everyone was excited, they were told that they could not participate in this year's competition and could only go watch it. This left all the disciples utterly dejected.
But after thinking it over, they were relieved. At most, they had been in Luoxia Valley for three years, and they had practiced martial arts for only two. Compared with those disciples who had entered the sect six or seven years ago, the gap between them was obvious.
All the disciples still practicing in the Hundred Refinements Hall, including those from previous cohorts, would participate in this grand competition. There were sixty or seventy people in total. Even those who had joined most recently had been here for five or six years, while more than a dozen had already been initiated ** years ago.
Fortunately, this sort of grand competition was limited to the Hundred Refinements Hall. If the disciples' children who belonged to Luoxia Valley were included, there would be more than a hundred people of the same age.
The difficulty of achieving a good result in a contest with so many skilled participants was self-evident.
Although Qin Fengming did not take the competition results to heart, as a young man, he naturally possessed a competitive spirit. Thus, aside from practicing martial arts every day, Qin Fengming paid no attention to anything else.
As the days passed one after another, the day of the grand competition finally arrived.
Early that morning, a young man dressed in a blue robe brought Qin Fengming and the other disciples who had entered at the same time to a valley. The valley was extraordinarily vast. Within it stood ten stone platforms two or three zhang high, each more than twenty zhang across. The platform in the center was a full five or six zhang tall.
From above, the surrounding platforms could be seen clearly.
Many disciples were already gathered in the valley, forming clusters here and there. Young men in blue robes and brown long robes stood all around. Qin Fengming had never seen any of them before; they were not disciples of the Hundred Refinements Hall.
Seeing the disciples in gray robes gathered in the center of the valley, Qin Fengming knew that they were undoubtedly the disciples who would participate in the grand competition.
By the hour of the Snake, more than twenty people had appeared on the central platform, five or six zhang high. Zhang Li, the hall master of the Hundred Refinements Hall, was seated among them.
"All disciples below, listen up. Those who wish to participate in this competition, go behind this stone platform to receive your number plaques. The subsequent matches will be arranged according to these plaques."
Just as everyone below was discussing among themselves, Elder Wang, who had presided over the entrance tests for Qin Fengming and the others, appeared at the front of the platform. After stopping the crowd's discussion, he spoke thus.
His voice was not particularly loud, but every person present heard him clearly.
As soon as Elder Wang finished speaking, a disciple immediately stepped out and went behind the stone platform with practiced ease.
Seeing this, Qin Fengming naturally did not hesitate. After nodding to Duan Meng, he also stepped out from the crowd.
After a short while, amid Duan Meng and the others' astonishment, Qin Fengming slowly returned. In his hand, he now held a bamboo plaque bearing a number.
"Fengming, are you actually going to participate in this competition?" Duan Meng and the other disciples who had entered with him were naturally shocked.
"Hehe, that's right. I begged the hall master, and only after much pleading did he finally agree to let me give it a try."
Upon hearing that Qin Fengming was actually participating in the competition, all the disciples who had entered with him showed incredulous expressions. Their instructors had explicitly told them that the disciples of their cohort were not allowed to participate in this competition.
Qin Fengming naturally did not explain anything in detail. Although the other disciples did not know that Qin Fengming had already taken the hall master as his master, Duan Meng did. Seeing that Qin Fengming had been granted special permission to participate, Duan Meng understood everything.
He did not ask any further.
"I presume all the participating disciples have received their number plaques. Then this old man will explain the rules. Disciples numbered one through eight will go to Platform One; numbers nine through sixteen will go to Platform Two; numbers seventeen through twenty-four will go to Platform Three, and so on. Finally, numbers fifty-seven through sixty-two will go to Platform Eight.
"On each platform, the disciple with the smallest number will face the one with the largest, the second-smallest will face the second-largest, and so on. The four winners will then be paired off again. The winners will advance directly. The four who lose their first matches will likewise be paired off, and the winners will face the two losers from the earlier winners' group. The winners of those matches will also advance to the next round.
"If anything is unclear, you may go to your respective platforms and ask the presiding official. All right, now find your platforms and begin the competition."
Standing atop the platform, Elder Wang finished speaking in an unhurried voice, then returned to his seat.
After hearing the elder's words, the disciples hurriedly examined the number plaques in their hands to confirm which platform they should go to.
Qin Fengming held his plaque and saw the number forty-five written on it. After thinking for a moment, he walked toward the platform marked with the number six.
Duan Meng and the other disciples who had entered with him also set off one after another, following Qin Fengming to the base of Platform Six. This action caused the more than a hundred people present to turn their heads and stare. As they pointed and gestured, they began discussing among themselves.
At that moment, a young man in a brown long robe was already standing atop Platform Six. Looking down at the eight people standing beneath it, including Qin Fengming, the young man wore a solemn expression. After sweeping his gaze over them, he said:
"This is a competition between fellow disciples. Stop when victory is determined, and do not casually take another's life. Anyone who violates this will be severely punished. You must remember this. Now, numbers forty-one and forty-eight, come up. Numbers forty-two and forty-seven, prepare yourselves. The rest, stand aside and wait."
As soon as the young man finished speaking, two people immediately stepped out from the group and walked toward the stairs at one side.
"You may begin," the brown-robed young man said after taking the number plaques from the two men.
The two bowed to the brown-robed young man, then exchanged a glance and cupped their fists without saying a word. Each formed hand seals and took up a stance. Waving the weapons in their hands, they immediately clashed.
One of them held a single saber, while the other wielded a long sword. The moves they used were far from ordinary. As their weapons flashed and spun, two balls of light intertwined, and the battle grew fiercely intense.
After watching carefully for a while, Qin Fengming had already discerned the difference in their strength. The youth wielding the saber was undoubtedly slightly superior.
Just as he expected, after only the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the saber-wielding youth feinted with a single move, luring his opponent in before pinning him beneath his saber.
Sensing the exchange that had just taken place, Qin Fengming could not help feeling greatly reassured. After a year of arduous cultivation, his swordsmanship and Lightness Skill were no longer what they had been. Against those two disciples, even without using his full strength, Qin Fengming could undoubtedly subdue them in moments.
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