Preliminary Competition

The visitor was Cui Bai. He said:

"Your sign outside said you were in seclusion the whole time. I only came over after I saw you fly out over the wall just now. I didn't disturb you, did I?"

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

"Last time?"

Cui Bai thought back over his schedule. "Aside from cultivating, I spent Contribution Points to ask an elder for guidance on martial arts."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

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

"Nothing. I just forgot that I could ask an elder for guidance on martial arts."

Lu Ming smiled. In the Wuji Sect, the elders regularly held martial arts lectures, and they were all free.

They only covered basic questions.

If one wanted to ask about the martial arts one cultivated individually, however, one had to spend Contribution Points.

To be honest, he had completely forgotten about that.

Otherwise, he would have learned about the existence of "momentum" much sooner.

Still, it worked out. Not only did he know about it now, he had also comprehended something of it.

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

When the conversation turned to martial arts, Cui Bai examined Lu Ming's condition. He had not expected anything, but what he saw gave him a tremendous shock.

Less than five months ago, the two of them had entered the inner sect together. Now, Lu Ming had left him far behind and broken through to the mid-stage of the Zhen Qi Realm.

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

That monstrous talent left Cui Bai utterly speechless.

"After fighting more battles, breaking through becomes easier."

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

Unexpectedly, Cui Bai strongly agreed. "That's true. Back then, in order to pass the inner-sect examination, I stayed on the outskirts of the Wuji Mountain Range for almost half a year."

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

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

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

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

"That's good."

Lu Ming smiled as well.

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

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

"The Preliminary Competition?"

Lu Ming was 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 him. "You probably don't even know that the inner-sect disciple competition has been moved up, do you?"

"I really didn't know that."

Lu Ming gave an awkward smile. "What exactly happened? Hurry up and tell me."

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

It turned out that the inner-sect competition required one-on-one arena battles. With more than a thousand inner-sect disciples, holding the competition all at once would take a very long time and be extremely chaotic.

Therefore, it had been decided that a preliminary competition would be held one month before the main event.

Its purpose was naturally to eliminate most of the people in advance.

In other words, the true inner-sect competition would begin six months later—eight or nine months earlier than normal.

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.

Therefore, the sect had decided to move the competition forward.

This was also the usual practice. Whenever the time came, things were handled this way.

"Then how exactly will the preliminary competition work? They can't possibly fight one at a time, can they?"

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

"Of course not. Otherwise, what difference would it make from the real competition?"

Cui Bai continued explaining. "I asked around and heard that it'll be done through checkpoint examinations."

"For example, the first checkpoint requires defeating a mechanism puppet with peak early-stage Zhen Qi Realm strength. Anyone who fails will be eliminated directly."

"The second checkpoint will have two mechanism puppets at the peak of the early Zhen Qi Realm. After that, it'll only get more difficult."

"In short, they'll select people until only three hundred remain. Those three hundred will participate in the ranking battle of the true competition afterward."

Lu Ming more or less understood, then asked again:

"What if, during that month before the competition, someone outside the top three hundred happens to break through?"

"I knew you'd ask that."

Cui Bai replied with an expression that said he had everything under control:

"Of course, they can make an exception and participate in another preliminary examination three days before the competition. As long as they achieve a score within the top three hundred, they can participate in the true competition."

"How about it? I've said so much. Aren't you going to show some appreciation?"

Seeing Cui Bai waggling his eyebrows, Lu Ming hammered him on the shoulder and said, "Come on. I'll treat you to a private room at Cuiyun Tower."

"Heh, just watch me bleed this wealthy man dry today."

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

Nearly four more months passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, discussion of the Preliminary Competition within the Wuji Sect grew more and more heated.

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

Apart from taking on some missions, Lu Ming devoted himself to cultivation.

After leaving Cuiyun Tower with Cui Bai last time, he spent five hundred Contribution Points to consult an elder who specialized in teaching martial arts about "momentum."

As it turned out, such a thing truly existed. According to the elder, momentum had neither form nor substance, and only those with extraordinary talent could comprehend it.

Of course, there was a somewhat simpler path: practicing martial arts that contained "momentum."

However, such martial arts were extremely rare. They were generally Earth-grade martial arts. As for Human-grade martial arts, that was only possible when a high-grade martial art had been damaged and fallen in rank.

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

In short, the elder was reminding Lu Ming not to reach for what was beyond his grasp. At this stage, improving his realm was what mattered most.

Lu Ming naturally understood the elder's good intentions. After all, Old Man Heavenly Saber's example was right before him.

He had pursued the illusory "saber intent," delaying his cultivation until he died when his natural lifespan ran out.

Still, Lu Ming felt that his comprehension was not weak, and he also had the Jade Pendant's assistance.

So he was not worried about the issue.

With the doubts in his heart resolved, Lu Ming naturally returned to his previous routine, only adjusting the proportions of his time to devote more of it to cultivation.

Aside from refining true qi, cultivation mainly involved comprehending "Wind Momentum" and "saber intent."

He had gained quite a lot from both.

Saber intent in particular had been stirred when he faced Xiao Zan of the Gang Qi Realm last time, awakening his determination to fight to the death.

Afterward, he felt that his will had grown even firmer, as though he possessed an unstoppable, forward-charging spirit.

It was a breakthrough in state of mind.

As a result, the Saber Intent Prototype also advanced another step.

At the end of the day, saber intent was a manifestation of will.

If saber intent was likened to an ethereal mass of energy, then he was now almost on the verge of condensing it into a form.

It had appeared within his sea of consciousness.

In other words, his saber intent had taken shape, and only the final step remained.

By coincidence, that final step was also the most difficult. Some people could not take it in their entire lifetimes.

So Lu Ming could not afford to be impatient.

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

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

Compared to his former youthful and frail appearance, he now had a few more traces of heroic bearing, and his height 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, powerful muscle.

This was the change brought by the body-tempering technique known as the Iron Elephant Art.

It could be said that his current appearance was completely different from before he began cultivating. Calling it a complete rebirth would not be an exaggeration.

"Martial arts really can change a person."

After putting on his clothes, Lu Ming walked out. Breaking through the third stage of the Iron Elephant Art would be very difficult through tempering and cultivating on his own.

So he needed to find a place with tremendous pressure.

He had already found out where that place was.