Top Twenty-Five

The Prajna Hall disciples below the stage were relieved that they had not encountered such a powerful expert as Golden Arhat. Dong Tianbao narrowed his eyes and thought, Golden Arhat! Just how much of your strength is this? The stronger you are, the more excited I become. I'm really looking forward to it!

"Hahaha! Congratulations, Senior Brother Golden, on your opening victory!"

"Junior Brother Li! Is such a minor match really worth teasing me over?"

"Haha! True! True!"

At that moment, the Martial Arts Elder said calmly, "The Arhat Hall matches have concluded. Next, the Prajna Hall disciples will fight one another to determine the top twenty-five!"

Upon hearing this, the Prajna Hall disciples below the stage looked toward their fellow hall members, battle intent surging from their bodies as they prepared themselves.

After a round of matches, only Li Changfeng and Golden Arhat advanced from Arhat Hall. From Prajna Hall, those who advanced included Dong Tianbao, chief disciple of the First Branch; Shi Mingliang, chief disciple of the Tenth Branch; You Yong, chief disciple of the Eighth Branch; Zhou Deze, chief disciple of the Fifth Branch; and Huang Hongzhe, chief disciple of the Ninth Branch.

The remaining Prajna Hall disciples consisted of seven from the First Branch, eight from the Second Branch, two from the Third Branch, and one from the Seventh Branch. These twenty-five disciples would compete for the top twenty-five.

"Today's matches end here. All disciples, disperse. Tomorrow, the competition for the top fifteen will continue. Remember not to be late!"

At that moment, the Arhat Hall disciples gathered around Golden Arhat and Li Changfeng. Gritting their teeth, they said, "Senior Brother Golden! Senior Brother Li! We pooled together these pills from among ourselves. They're all pills that can improve Inner Force. Take them tonight and crush those Prajna Hall brats tomorrow!"

Golden Arhat chuckled. "Junior Brothers! I appreciate your goodwill, but take them back. Believe me, even without these pills, I can still make it into the top five. These pills are all your savings, and every single one was hard to come by. Take them back."

Li Changfeng smiled. "That's right! Senior Brother Golden is correct! Trying to cram at the last minute won't improve much strength anyway. These are your treasured reserves, so keep them to improve yourselves. Later, at Subduing Tiger Hall, you can crush these Prajna Hall disciples yourselves!"

"Hahaha! Senior Brother Li is right! Taking these pills now would be far too rushed. They wouldn't improve us by much at all. We'll save them and crush those Prajna Hall disciples later!"

"It's just that we can't help Senior Brother Golden or Senior Brother Li with anything!"

"Hehe, there's really no need. Just come watch Senior Brother Golden and me fight when the time comes, and cheer us on!"

"Hahaha! Of course! Senior Brother Li! We Arhat Hall brothers must do that!"

Li Changfeng was slightly astonished. He had not expected the Arhat Hall disciples to offer up their treasured pills. These were pills that could improve Inner Force! He immediately felt that the Arhat Hall disciples were more united and friendly than those of Prajna Hall.

In Arhat Hall, Li Changfeng suddenly felt as though he had returned to the army on Earth. The disciples around him were like comrades-in-arms, giving to one another without hesitation.

The Prajna Hall disciples, however, did not share such united friendship. Every one of them competed against the others; it was survival of the fittest, where the strong lived and the weak were eliminated. Thus, each of them acted like strangers and looked after only themselves.

At that moment, Li Changfeng lay in his secret base, on the grassy field behind Shaolin.

He then directly opened the system panel to check his attributes.

A screen of light instantly flashed before his eyes.

Inner Force: 60 years (3,000 jin)

Strength: 750 jin

Fame: New to the martial world (160/180) (For every 10 Fame points, 1 Cultivation Point can be obtained)

Cultivation Points: 19 (Every 20 Cultivation Points can be used to open a Lucky Pack or enter System Training Time at a 1:3 conversion rate, allowing one month of training each time.)

"My Fame has indeed increased quite a bit! It seems that every victory in battle raises Fame by one point. Fame will also increase if I do something prestigious or earthshaking."

Inside the Arhat Hall Leader's training chamber.

Golden Arhat respectfully said to a figure, "I wonder, Master, why did you summon me?"

The Arhat Hall Leader patted Golden Arhat on the shoulder. "It's nothing much. I merely wanted to ask whether you are confident in facing Dong Tianbao."

"Actually, I'm not very confident. I can't guarantee that I'll defeat him. If I encounter him early in tomorrow's battle for the top fifteen, it could be troublesome."

"You needn't worry about that. After the previous matches, tomorrow's competition will be divided into two brackets, with you and Dong Tianbao in separate brackets. That won't happen."

"I see! That would be quite good. Then I'm certain to reach the top five. While I'm not very confident against Dong Tianbao, Junior Brother Li seems full of confidence. Could he be confident in defeating Dong Tianbao?"

"As for him, although the Abbot personally mentioned that his strength was no less than yours or Dong Tianbao's, I investigated him carefully. He only gained such strength through certain fortuitous opportunities. Compared with him, I trust you more."

"However, if he exceeds my expectations and defeats Dong Tianbao, that would also be fortunate. I'll reward him with some good things as well!"

"Hehe, so Junior Brother Li's strength came from fortuitous opportunities. Still, I think he is far from simple!"

"Enough. Can your Golden Bell Shield break through the tenth level?"

Golden Arhat gave a bitter smile. "How could it be so easy? If I could break through the tenth level, I would definitely take first place in this competition!"

"So be it. The Golden Bell Shield was originally extremely difficult to cultivate. Over the past thousand years, at most it has been cultivated to the eleventh level. Only Bodhidharma achieved the twelfth level. Reaching the ninth level already proves your extraordinary talent. With your potential, however, reaching the eleventh level will not be difficult!"

"Master, you flatter me. The tenth level may still be manageable, but the eleventh is truly too difficult. I don't have much confidence either!"