Martial Arts Pavilion

Among the thirty inner disciples, there was an enormous gap between the top ten and the remaining twenty. And even within the top ten, those who had stepped into the level of Martial Dao Master and ordinary Martial Masters stood on entirely different levels.

But no matter what, the top six inner disciples had previously belonged to the same realm. The gaps between them could not possibly create any fundamental suppression.

Yet now that Li Mo had revealed his true realm, every inner disciple, including the elders, wore expressions of utter disbelief!

"Spirit Martial Tier Nine! Li Mo truly deserves to be called the Lineage's number one genius! A Martial Dao Grandmaster under twenty years old—there has only been one such person in a thousand years, hasn't there?"

An elder let out a deep sigh, his eyes brimming with intense shock. After all, despite being over fifty years old, he had only reached the peak of the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm and still stood one step away from becoming a Martial Dao Grandmaster.

"Elder Li, that is not quite right. Though Yating is young, she knows that over twenty years ago, the patriarch entered the Innate Realm before the age of twenty and became Wuzhou City's youngest King Tier expert in a thousand years."

The elder who had sighed earlier changed expression slightly at those words. He turned toward the speaker with some displeasure, but immediately fell silent. The one who had spoken was the proud daughter of heaven who had returned from the Heavenly Profound Sect, Li Yating—one of the Lineage's three great geniuses alongside Li Mo!

The expressions of several other elders turned strange as they muttered indignantly to themselves, The former patriarch is a taboo subject within the Lineage. This little girl has quite the nerve, bringing him up! Still, it is true enough. What a pity he vanished. Otherwise, Wuzhou City would have long since become the Li Family's domain!

Li Huangran's expression revealed neither joy nor anger, but those familiar with him noticed a cold glint flash through his eyes the instant Li Yating mentioned the patriarch.

"Spirit Martial Tier Nine! Good! Good! Li Mo! You truly deserve to be the Lineage's chief disciple. I, Li Huo, have no complaints about my defeat!"

Seeing the opponent he had always chased pull farther and farther ahead of him, Li Huo was immediately somewhat despondent. Still, he forthrightly admitted his loss.

The gap between a Martial Dao Grandmaster and a Martial Dao Master was like the gap between a Martial Dao Master and an ordinary martial cultivator! It was simply too vast. He had no chance of victory at all.

"Is there anyone among you who still wishes to challenge me?"

Like a king, Li Mo swept his gaze arrogantly over the crowd. His eyes passed over the faces of the strongest inner disciples, and everyone he looked at gave bitter smiles.

Challenge his ass! They might be Martial Dao Masters, but the gap between them and Li Mo was too great. Challenging him would only be like Li Huo—bringing humiliation upon themselves.

"Hmph! A pack of trash. At this rate, you can only spend your lives looking up at me!"

Li Mo was not at all surprised by the outcome. He even found it somewhat boring. The lonely arrogance of one who sought defeat alone was displayed on him to the fullest.

In his eyes, let alone the inner disciples, there were not many elders in the entire Lineage who could defeat him!

He did not even spare Li Ye and the others a glance. Even though Li Ye had just defeated the two Martial Dao Masters, Li Wei and Li Xuan, in Li Mo's eyes, no matter who it was, none could be his opponent.

"I never expected Li Mo to break through so quickly. It seems this year's ranking of Wuzhou City's Four Great Geniuses will have to shift."

Li Yuan Jia smiled faintly. Li Ye's heart stirred when he heard that, and he asked in confusion, "What rank did Li Mo hold among Wuzhou City's Four Great Geniuses before?"

"Wuzhou City's Four Great Geniuses all come from the three great families. Our Li Family has one, namely Li Mo, though he ranked third in the previous several editions. The Wu Family has one named Wu Batian, who ranks second among the Four Great Geniuses. The Yu Family has had two people make the list for several years running. One is slightly weaker than Li Mo, named Yuwen Lihua, and she is a woman. As for the last one, he is Yuwen Wushuang, the Yu Family's greatest prodigy in a thousand years! It is said that he also broke through to Spirit Martial Tier Nine a year ago. Now, no one knows whether he or Li Mo is stronger."

Wuzhou City's Four Great Geniuses! Li Ye's heart trembled slightly upon hearing this.

Once upon a time, he had needed to look up even at the Lineage's outer disciples. Now, among the inner disciples, he could also rank near the top. Yet he realized that even so, he still could not be considered among the best in all of Wuzhou City!

The true top geniuses of Wuzhou City were those who had stepped into the Martial Dao Master level, or even supreme geniuses like Li Mo, who had entered the Martial Dao Grandmaster level!

Li Mo's strength made others fear to look directly at him. Yet the other inner disciples had not finished competing for their ranks.

Soon, several hours later, the rankings of the inner disciples changed once again.

Li Mo sat firmly at the top of the list, unshakable by anyone!

But the second place saw a slight change!

Li Hou Nian's adopted son, Li Yuan Jia, who had originally ranked fifth among the inner disciples, forcefully challenged Li Ji, the second-ranked inner disciple. The two exchanged over a hundred fierce moves. In the end, Li Yuan Jia narrowly won by one move and directly became the new second-ranked inner disciple! Li Ji and the rest all dropped one place.

"It seems Fourth Uncle's adopted son is no ordinary person." Li Yuan Jia's powerful emergence greatly shocked many people. After all, Li Yuan Jia had usually kept a low profile and was much quieter than the others among the inner disciples. No one expected that he would remain silent until he burst forth with a single cry, charging directly into the second seat among the inner disciples and leaving many people's spectacles shattered.

Li Ye, on the other hand, did not challenge anyone again. He was now ranked seventh among the inner disciples. It was not particularly high, but it was enough for the Lineage to begin taking him seriously. His original goal had already been achieved.

"With my current strength, I have a high chance of victory against anyone below the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm. But against a Martial Dao Master at the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm, my chances are less than thirty percent—unless I use Blood Eyes to affect my opponent with an illusory mental attack, or wait until nighttime."

The Blood Clan was strongest at night. During the day, Li Ye was heavily restricted and could not display his true strength.

In any case, once one entered the ranks of the inner disciples, one had a chance to enter the Martial Arts Pavilion. For Li Ye, Blood Eyes' copying ability would be enough for him to find what he needed inside!

Soon, as the challenges between the inner disciples came to an end, the Year-End Martial Contest also concluded. Many secretly regretted that they had not seen Li Yating, the Lineage genius who had returned from the Heavenly Profound Sect, make a move.

Even Li Ye was very curious. After being recruited by the Heavenly Profound Sect for three years, what level had Li Yating reached now?

A piercing gaze swept over him. Li Ye followed that gaze and happened to see Li Huangran's icy expression. He could imagine that his forceful entry into the top ten inner disciples this time would definitely leave Li Huangran and the others deeply dissatisfied, perhaps even wary. But he was not afraid. What he had displayed earlier was not his full strength. If it truly came down to a fight for his life, even against a Spirit Martial Tier Nine Martial Dao Grandmaster like Li Mo, he had some confidence in escaping calmly! Especially at night, when his true strength stood at its peak.

"All disciples, follow the enforcement elder to collect this year's rewards!"

Li Huangran announced loudly. Many disciples immediately became wildly excited, especially those who had just entered the ranks of outer disciples, as well as the inner disciples.

Li Ye was now ranked seventh among the inner disciples and enjoyed the same status within the Lineage as a steward. Those who had once mocked him now instinctively lowered their heads whenever they saw him, not daring to meet his eyes.

No matter what, Li Ye's strength had already proven itself beyond doubt.

"Who knows what fucking luck that trash stumbled into? It would have been one thing if he had merely cultivated a Blood Soul, but he even broke into the top ten inner disciples! Even Li Xuan and Li Wei lost to him. Judging from his aura just now, he is only Spirit Martial Tier Five. It is fucking bizarre!"

Whispers drifted into his ears, but Li Ye paid them no attention. He knew many people had begun doubting his true realm, and he had no intention of explaining.

"That is even better. Let them doubt. If someone wants to test me, it will be the perfect chance for me to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys."

If one wished to gain a foothold in a great family like the Li Family, establishing one's authority was extremely important at times. After defeating Li Wei and Li Xuan, he had already established his authority before many Lineage disciples.

"Now that I am an inner disciple, and one of the top ten at that, according to the Lineage's system of rewards and punishments, I have one opportunity to enter the Martial Arts Pavilion and select a Combat Technique to bring out for cultivation."

Though the reward was not as generous as those for the top three inner disciples, it was still quite good. One had to know that the Lineage's Martial Arts Pavilion was guarded by two elders year-round. Ordinary people could not enter at all.

"Although I can only bring out one Combat Technique, I have Blood Eyes' copying ability, which is practically photographic memory. When the time comes, they will have no idea what I learned inside!"

With that thought in mind, Li Ye followed the other inner disciples to the front of the Martial Arts Pavilion.

Before him stood a tall tower: the Li Family's important restricted ground, the Martial Arts Pavilion. Two elders stood outside its entrance, radiating authority without anger. Even inner disciples did not dare speak loudly in their presence.

At that moment, Li Ye saw someone emerge from within, their face filled with delight. Clearly, they had gotten exactly what they wanted.

Just as he was about to enter, someone suddenly stopped him.

"Stop!"

A cold shout pierced into his mind like a sound arrow, making Li Ye dizzy. Only after a breath did he recover. His expression turned ugly. The ones blocking him were the two elders at the entrance. Their faces were icy, and cold glints filled their eyes. "Trespassing into the Martial Arts Pavilion is a grave crime!"

The moment those words were spoken, Li Ye became furious!

"Two elders, as I recall, those among the top ten inner disciples may enter the Martial Arts Pavilion and select a Combat Technique for cultivation. Why are you stopping me?"

The two elders remained unmoved. One of them even sneered. "You? Top ten among the inner disciples? Do you take this old man for a three-year-old child, so easily fooled? Scram!"

With that final word, scram, the elder directly struck out with his palm. The terrifying palm force rushing toward him made Li Ye's expression turn completely cold!

Any elder qualified to guard the Martial Arts Pavilion possessed strength of at least the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm!

A Martial Dao Master was actually disregarding his status and attacking a junior directly. This caused a thread of killing intent to rise in Li Ye's heart toward the two men!