Sect Grand Tournament: Lu Chen, You Trash, You Dare Come Here to Die?

"Clang!"

The sonorous bell shattered the silence of dawn.

Its chimes echoed through the encircling mountains.

The Joyful Union Sect's Sect Grand Tournament had finally begun.

The moment the bell rang, countless Inner Sect Disciples on Joyful Union Mountain all converged toward the mountain peak.

The outer sect disciples, however, had no qualifications to ascend Joyful Union Mountain's summit at all.

They could only gather in the plaza halfway up the mountain.

When Lu Chen heard the bell, he was in no hurry to head for the plaza.

He first cooked a pot of rice and opened a jar of fine wine he had brought back from the foot of the mountain.

Only after eating and drinking his fill did he set off up the mountain.

When he arrived at the plaza halfway up the mountain, he raised his head and looked toward the summit.

He saw spiritual energy swirling around the peak, pavilions and towers half-hidden against the mountainside, and a massive hall towering atop the mountain.

That was the Joyful Union Hall of the Joyful Union Sect.

Under the effects of the Spirit-Gathering Formation, all the spiritual energy of Joyful Union Mountain gathered toward the summit.

That was where the spiritual energy in the entire sect was densest.

At that moment, Sword Qi occasionally shot into the sky from the mountaintop, spiritual radiance soaring as vital energy surged mightily.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth above the entire mountain had been thrown into turmoil, becoming incomparably chaotic.

The inner sect senior sisters atop the mountain had long since begun their matches.

Naturally, the inner sect senior sisters' contests had nothing whatsoever to do with outer sect disciples like them.

Even if he defeated every outer sect disciple, he still could not become an Inner Sect Disciple of the Joyful Union Sect.

For the Joyful Union Sect's rules stipulated that male outer sect disciples could not become Inner Sect Disciples.

Outer sect disciples could never obtain the Joyful Union Sect's true inheritance.

In the Joyful Union Sect, the only path open to outer sect men was to become Furnace Tripods for those beautiful inner sect senior sisters.

If they were lucky, cultivating to the Foundation Establishment Realm and becoming one of the best among the outer sect disciples was not impossible.

But entering the inner sect? Impossible!

Yet even knowing full well that they would ultimately become Furnace Tripods for inner sect senior sisters, countless young men still scrambled to join the Joyful Union Sect.

"Hey, isn't this Lu Chen? You dared to come participate in the Sect Grand Tournament too?"

Wu Dalong spotted Lu Chen at a glance amid the crowd.

"He's Lu Chen?"

The surrounding male outer sect disciples all turned to look at Lu Chen upon hearing that.

Lu Chen was quite famous among the outer sect disciples.

He was the formidable man who had punched Liu Heizi into becoming a human fountain.

The incident at the Yellow-Tier Alchemy Room, where all the servant disciples of an entire Servant Quarters had come down with diarrhea at once, had long spread throughout the outer sect.

This trash Lu Chen was really something.

He had actually dared to drug so many servant disciples with laxatives.

However, since there was no evidence proving that Lu Chen had done it,

the matter had ultimately been dropped.

"Lu Chen, you... you don't want your life anymore?"

Zhou Dazhuang walked over, pulled Lu Chen aside, and pointed toward Manager Pang, who was leaning against a large tree beside the plaza.

He had warned Lu Chen long ago that Manager Pang would make a move against him during the tournament.

Yet Lu Chen had still dared to participate.

Wasn't this courting death?

"Lu Chen, you're dead for sure!"

Wu Dalong looked at Lu Chen with gloating delight.

"I'm dead for sure?"

Lu Chen gave a disdainful smile.

"You're a trash at Qi Refining, First Layer. Which person here isn't stronger than you? Coming to participate in the tournament is simply asking to be beaten."

Wu Dalong looked at Lu Chen with utter contempt.

Lu Chen smiled. This fellow still thought he was that Qi Refining, First Layer trash anyone could bully.

"Wu Dalong, are you looking to die?"

Zhou Dazhuang glared furiously at Wu Dalong.

"Zhou Dazhuang, don't think I'm afraid of you just because your cultivation is higher than mine. I belong to Manager Pang. If you dare touch me, watch out that your dog life doesn't end up gone!"

Wu Dalong said arrogantly.

"Tch. So you're Manager Pang's dog. Old Pang, keep your dog on a leash. Don't let him bark wildly here!"

Lu Chen shouted toward Manager Pang in the distance.

"..."

Everyone nearby was startled by Lu Chen.

Lu Chen had grown some nerve. He actually dared to provoke Manager Pang like this.

"Lu Chen, have you gone mad?"

Zhou Dazhuang was greatly alarmed.

Manager Pang was a man who sought revenge over the smallest grievance. Lu Chen had actually dared to offend him—did he not want to live?

The outer sect disciples' tournament was different from the contests of those beautiful inner sect senior sisters.

One had to know that outer sect disciples fought upon the Life-and-Death Arena.

Victory and defeat would be decided, as would life and death.

"Lu Chen, today is the day you die!"

Manager Pang looked coldly at Lu Chen.

In his eyes, Lu Chen was merely trash at Qi Refining, First Layer. He had only survived because of good luck.

Now that he was personally making a move, wasn't Lu Chen as good as dead?

"Is that so?"

Lu Chen smiled indifferently.

"Open the Life-and-Death Arenas!"

Just then, a loud shout rang across the entire venue.

Upon a high platform, an outer sect elder swept his broad sleeve.

"Rumble..."

Ten enormous Life-and-Death Arenas slowly rose from the ground of the plaza.

"I now announce that the outer sect disciples' tournament begins now!"

The middle-aged outer sect elder declared loudly.

The entire plaza immediately fell silent.

Lu Chen recognized the outer sect elder atop the platform.

He was Li Yuan, an outer sect steward in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

This man was the Furnace Tripod of an inner sect senior sister.

"First place will receive one thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, one high-grade Magic Weapon, and ten Ninth-Rank Spirit-Gathering Pills. Second place will receive nine hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, one middle-grade Magic Weapon, and five Ninth-Rank Spirit-Gathering Pills. Third place will receive eight hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, one low-grade Magic Weapon, and three Ninth-Rank Spirit-Gathering Pills. Fourth place will receive seven hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones and one low-grade Magic Weapon. Fifth place..."

From atop the high platform, Li Yuan announced the rewards for first through tenth place.

Lu Chen noticed that beginning with fourth place, there were only Spirit Stones and Magic Weapons, with no Spirit-Gathering Pills.

Those were Spirit-Gathering Pills.

Even a Ninth-Rank Spirit-Gathering Pill was worth several hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Among their disciples, the lowest-ranking servants, who worked like oxen and horses for an entire month, could only receive ten Mixed Spirit Stones.

And one Low-Grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for a hundred Mixed Spirit Stones.

Even outer sect disciples in elevated positions could receive at most one Low-Grade Spirit Stone per month.

For all outer sect disciples, the rewards for the top three places were simply too generous.

But from fourth place onward, the rewards dropped off a cliff.

Lu Chen understood very well the sect's purpose in arranging rewards this way.

The sect wanted every outer sect disciple to fight desperately for the top three places.

The rewards for the top three were simply too lavish.

These rewards were enough to drive every outer sect disciple mad.

Lu Chen did not care for these rewards.

The reason he had come to participate in the tournament was because he wanted to settle accounts with Manager Pang.

He also wanted to pry open Manager Pang's mouth and find out which inner sect senior sister wanted him dead.

"The rules are simple. Life and death are determined by fate. Whoever remains standing on the Life-and-Death Arena is the victor. However, only one-on-one fights are allowed. No group brawls. Those who break the rules die!"

Li Yuan swept his cold gaze across the crowd.

At that moment, the plaza was packed with people, yet silent as a cicada in winter.

Everyone watched Li Yuan on the platform and listened attentively.

"If any of you refuse to accept the result, you may directly step onto a Life-and-Death Arena and challenge anyone standing on it."

Li Yuan added.

"Alright, begin!"

With a sweep of his sleeve, Li Yuan turned and returned to his seat.

At that moment, waves of earthshaking sounds came from the summit of Joyful Union Mountain.

Lu Chen raised his head toward the peak and saw two figures shoot into the sky, moving rapidly above the summit as they fought fiercely.

His pupils contracted. One of them was astonishingly the Joyful Union Sect's eldest senior sister, Yun Feiyan.

She had successfully broken through to the Golden Core Realm?

Yun Feiyan's opponent was actually Lin Yue.

The two fought on equal footing.

Lin Yue had also broken through to the Golden Core Realm?

The surging vital energy fluctuations emanating from their bodies threw all the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into chaos.

Sword light like cold lightning continuously tore through the void.

Blades of blazing flame cleaved the void apart.

Was this the might of the Golden Core?

Because a grand formation stood in the way, the outer sect disciples halfway up the mountain were not affected in the slightest.

With their eyesight, they could not see the two people fiercely battling atop the summit either.

Lu Chen had just broken through to the peak of the Copper Skin Realm, and his vision far surpassed that of others. Not only could he clearly see who was fighting, he could even see every move they made.

At that moment, someone leaped onto a Life-and-Death Arena.

The outer sect disciples' tournament had begun as well.

Lu Chen was not in a hurry.

He walked to one side and sat down cross-legged.

"Lu Chen, Lu Chen. If I were you, I'd hurry up and hide. That way, I might still live."

Wu Dalong sneered.

"You, I will definitely kill!"

Lu Chen cast Wu Dalong a cold glance.

"Haha... You trash at Qi Refining, First Layer want to kill me? I'm not afraid to tell you that I've already broken through to Qi Refining, Third Level!"

Wu Dalong laughed smugly.

Just an ant.

Lu Chen could not be bothered with Wu Dalong anymore and closed his eyes to rest.

"The Joyful Union Sect is not weak."

High in the distant sky, a woman in white watched the two women battling above the mountain summit and could not help nodding.

A woman in black stood behind her.

"Why would the Black Tortoise Sect dare gather experts to attack the Joyful Union Sect?"

The woman in white was Li Yunsheng, who had disguised herself as "Ru Hua" and engaged in literary cultivation with Lu Chen.

Because Lu Chen thought her face looked punchable and had wanted to engage in martial cultivation with her, he could not resist throwing two punches at her, giving her panda eyes.

The two dark circles beneath her eyes were still obvious.

In her view, the Joyful Union Sect and the Black Tortoise Sect were evenly matched in strength.

Two sects of equal strength could not afford to fight.

After all, even if the Black Tortoise Sect could take down the Joyful Union Sect, it would likely suffer grievous losses and gain less than it lost.

"Master, I accidentally heard some news. It seems the Joyful Union Sect's Nascent Soul ancestor has died."

The woman in black said carefully.

"Hm? So that's how it is!"

Li Yunsheng suddenly understood.