Preliminary Competition

The person who arrived was Cui Bai. He said, "You've had a 'closed-door cultivation' sign outside for a while. I only came over just now when I saw you fly over the wall. I hope I'm not disturbing you?"

Lu Ming invited him inside and smiled, "I just finished my cultivation. By the way, I didn't see you when I returned from my last mission. Where did you go?"

"Last time?"

Cui Bai recalled his schedule, "Besides cultivating, I spent Contribution Points to ask the Elders for guidance on martial arts."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

After he spoke, he suddenly noticed Lu Ming was spacing out.

"Nothing, I just forgot that I could ask the Elders for martial arts guidance."

Lu Ming smiled. At the Wuji Sect, Elders would periodically hold martial arts explanation classes, and these were free.

They only explained basic problems.

If one wanted to ask for guidance on their specific cultivation method, it would require spending Contribution Points.

To be honest, he had completely forgotten about this.

Otherwise, he would have known about the existence of "Momentum" much earlier.

But it was fine, he knew about it now and had even comprehended some things.

"So that's what it is. With your talent, I don't think you'd need it. Wait, how did you break through to the middle stage of the Zhen Qi Realm?"

Seeing that the topic had turned to martial arts, Cui Bai took a look at Lu Ming's condition. He was shocked by what he saw.

It had been less than five months since they both entered the Inner Sect, and now Lu Ming had far surpassed him and broken through to the middle stage of the Zhen Qi Realm.

Even more unbelievable was that during this time, Lu Ming had also practiced several Martial Skills and completed two missions.

This monstrous talent left him speechless.

"When you fight more, it's easier to break through," Lu Ming said casually, not knowing how else to explain it.

Unexpectedly, Cui Bai agreed wholeheartedly, "You're right. Back then, I spent almost half a year in the outer areas of the Wuji Mountain Range just to pass the Inner Sect assessment."

"During this half year, I fought Demonic Beasts every day, and both my Martial Skills and True Qi improved significantly."

"It seems I've been too complacent lately. Even if I don't compare myself to you, I shouldn't be this slow even at my own pace."

Lu Ming was speechless. Seeing that Cui Bai seemed determined to go out and take on missions, he could only remind him not to rush and to focus on perfecting his Martial Skills first.

Hearing this, Cui Bai felt a warmth rise in his chest and smiled, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"That's good then."

Lu Ming also smiled.

Afterward, they chatted about other things, mostly about happenings within the sect.

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

"Preliminary Competition?"

Lu Ming asked with some confusion, "What is that?"

"Look at you, you're either always out on missions or cultivating at home. You don't even know about the sect's affairs," Cui Bai teased. "You probably don't even know that the Inner Sect Grand Competition has been moved up, do you?"

"I really didn't know that," Lu Ming said with an awkward smile. "What exactly happened? Tell me quickly."

Cui Bai didn't keep him in suspense and explained directly.

It turned out that the Inner Sect Grand Competition required one-on-one arena battles. With over a thousand Inner Sect Disciples, holding the competition all at once would take a very long time and be very chaotic.

Therefore, a preliminary competition was scheduled a month before the Grand Competition.

The purpose was naturally to eliminate a large portion of the participants beforehand.

In other words, the actual Inner Sect Grand Competition would begin in six months, which was eight to nine months earlier than the normal schedule.

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

It turned out that a secret realm, which opened only once every thirty years, had coincidentally reached its opening node.

So, the sect decided to move up the Grand Competition.

This was also the usual practice; it always happened like this when such an event occurred.

"Then how exactly will the preliminaries be conducted? They can't possibly have us fight one by one, can they?"

Without thinking much about the secret realm, Lu Ming asked again, puzzled.

"Of course not. Otherwise, what would be the difference from the actual Grand Competition?"

Cui Bai continued to explain, "I've gathered some information. There will be a series of challenges."

"For example, the first challenge is to defeat a mechanical puppet with the strength of the peak early stage of the Zhen Qi Realm. Those who fail will be eliminated directly."

"The second stage involves two peak early-stage Zhen Qi Realm mechanical puppets, and it gets even harder after that."

"In short, they need to select down to just three hundred people to compete for the final rankings in the actual tournament."

Lu Ming seemed to understand, but then asked doubtfully:

"What if someone ranked outside the top three hundred has a breakthrough in the month leading up to the tournament?"

"I knew you'd ask that."

Cui Bai replied with a knowing look:

"Of course, three days before the tournament, they can re-take the preliminary assessment as an exception. As long as they achieve a rank within the top three hundred, they can participate in the real tournament."

"So, I've told you all this, don't you have any reaction?"

Seeing the other person's playful expression, Lu Ming playfully punched his shoulder and said, "Let's go, private room at Cuiyun Tower."

"Heh, watch me bleed you dry today, you big spender."

The two walked out, arm in arm.

Time flew by, and nearly four more months passed. During this period, discussions about the Wuji Sect's Preliminary Competition became increasingly frequent.

Recently, it had almost become the sole topic of conversation.

Meanwhile, Lu Ming, besides taking on some missions, focused entirely on his cultivation.

After leaving Cuiyun Tower with Cui Bai last time, he spent five hundred Contribution Points to find an Elder specializing in martial arts to consult about the concept of "Momentum."

It turned out such a thing did exist. According to the Elder, Momentum was formless and intangible, and only those with exceptional talent could comprehend it.

Of course, there was a slightly simpler path: practicing Martial Skills that incorporated "Momentum."

However, such Martial Skills were extremely rare, usually of Earth-tier. If they were Human-tier, it would typically be a degraded remnant of a high-level Martial Skill.

Furthermore, these Martial Skills were incredibly difficult to learn; without comprehending the Momentum within them, one couldn't master their techniques.

In short, the Elder advised Lu Ming not to aim too high and to prioritize improving his realm for now.

Lu Ming naturally understood the Elder's good intentions, considering the example of Old Man Heavenly Saber.

He had pursued the elusive "Saber Intent," delaying his cultivation and ultimately dying of old age.

However, Lu Ming felt his own comprehension wasn't weak, especially with the Jade Pendant assisting him.

Therefore, he wasn't worried about this issue.

With his doubts resolved, Lu Ming naturally returned to his previous rhythm, merely adjusting his time allocation to dedicate more hours to cultivation.

Besides refining True Qi, his cultivation primarily involved comprehending "Wind Momentum" and "Saber Intent."

He had made considerable progress in both.

Especially with Saber Intent, after facing Xiao Zan of the Gang Qi Realm directly last time, it had ignited his will to fight for survival.

Afterward, he felt his resolve become even firmer, as if possessing an indomitable spirit.

This was a breakthrough in his state of mind.

It also propelled the nascent form of his Saber Intent a step forward.

Ultimately, Saber Intent was an embodiment of willpower.

If his Saber Intent could be likened to an ethereal mass of energy now, it was on the verge of solidifying into a form within his sea of consciousness.

In other words, for Saber Intent to take shape, only the final push was needed.

And coincidentally, this final push was the most difficult; some people never managed to take that step in their entire lives.

Therefore, Lu Ming couldn't afford to be impatient.

"There's still about a month until the Preliminary Competition. During this time, I'll go all out to break through the third stage of the Iron Elephant Art."

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

Compared to his previous immature and thin frame, he now possessed a more heroic aura, and his height had reached about 1.78 meters.

His physique wasn't bulky, but it was covered in lean, well-defined muscles.

This was the change brought about by the body-tempering cultivation method, the Iron Elephant Art.

It could be said that his current appearance was a complete transformation from when he hadn't started cultivating, and calling it a metamorphosis wouldn't be an exaggeration.

"Practicing martial arts truly can change a person."

After putting on his clothes, Lu Ming walked out. Breaking through the third stage of the Iron Elephant Art solely through self-inflicted strikes was extremely difficult.

Therefore, he needed to find a place that offered immense pressure.

And he had already inquired about such a place.