Martial Arts Pavilion

Among the thirty Inner Disciples, there was an enormous gap between the top ten and the remaining twenty. And among the top ten, those who had entered the Martial Dao Master level and ordinary Martial Masters stood on two entirely different levels.

But no matter what, the top six Inner Disciples had previously belonged to the same realm. The gap between them could not possibly produce 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—this record must be unmatched in a thousand years!"

An elder let out a deep sigh, his eyes filled with profound shock. After all, despite being over fifty years old, he was only at the peak eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm, still one step away from becoming a Martial Dao Grandmaster.

"Elder Li, that is incorrect. Though Yating is young, she knows that over twenty years ago, the clan head entered the Innate Realm before the age of twenty, becoming Wuzhou City's youngest King Tier expert in a thousand years."

The elder who had sighed earlier changed expression slightly upon hearing that voice. He looked toward the speaker with some displeasure, but immediately fell silent. The one who had spoken was Li Yating, the favored daughter of heaven who had returned from the Heavenly Profound Sect, and 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 clan head is a forbidden subject within the Lineage, yet this little girl dares bring it up! Still, it really was true. What a pity that he disappeared; 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 flash of cold light flicker through his eyes when Li Yating mentioned the clan head.

"Spirit Martial Tier Nine! Good! Good! Li Mo! You truly deserve to be the Lineage's chief disciple. My defeat, Li Huo's defeat, was not unjust!"

Seeing that the opponent he had always chased was now pulling farther and farther ahead, Li Huo became somewhat dejected. Even so, he openly admitted his defeat.

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 winning at all.

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

Like a king, Li Mo swept his gaze arrogantly across the crowd. His eyes passed over the faces of the strongest Inner Disciples, and all those he looked at smiled bitterly.

Challenge him, my ass! They might be Martial Dao Masters, but the gap between them and Li Mo was far too great. Challenging him would only mean humiliating themselves, just like Li Huo.

"Hmph! A bunch of trash. With your abilities, you can only spend your lives looking up at me!"

Li Mo was not surprised by this result in the slightest. He even found it somewhat boring. The lonely, prideful bearing of one who sought defeat alone was displayed on him to the fullest.

In his eyes, let alone the Inner Disciples, even among the elders of the entire Lineage, there were few who could be his opponents!

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

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

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

"Wuzhou City's Four Great Geniuses all come from the Three Great Families. Our Li Family has one representative, Li Mo, though he ranked third in the previous contests. The Wu Family has Wu Batian, who ranks second among the Four Great Geniuses. The Yu Family has had two people on the list for several years running. One is slightly weaker than Li Mo, named Yuwen Lihua, a woman. As for the last, he is the Yu Family's greatest prodigy in a thousand years, Yuwen Wushuang! It is said that he also broke through to Spirit Martial Tier Nine a year ago. No one knows who is stronger now, him or Li Mo."

Wuzhou City's Four Great Geniuses! Li Ye's heart shook slightly upon hearing of them.

Once upon a time, even the Lineage's Outer Disciples had been people he needed to look up to. Now, among the Inner Disciples, he could rank near the top. Yet he discovered that even so, he was still not among Wuzhou City's foremost talents!

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

Li Mo's strength made the others look upon him with awe. Yet the other Inner Disciples had not finished settling their rankings among themselves.

Soon, several hours later, the Inner Disciples' rankings changed once more.

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

But 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 won by a narrow margin with one move, becoming the new second-ranked Inner Disciple! Li Ji and everyone below him all dropped one rank.

"Fourth Uncle's adopted son does not seem to be an ordinary person either." Li Yuan Jia's powerful emergence took many by surprise. After all, Li Yuan Jia had always kept a low profile and was much quieter than the other Inner Disciples. No one had expected him to remain silent until he made a stunning display, charging straight into the second Inner Disciple seat and leaving many people dumbfounded.

Li Ye, however, did not challenge anyone again. He was currently ranked seventh among the Inner Disciples. It was not especially high, but 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 those below the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm. But against Martial Dao Masters 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 assault, or wait until nighttime."

The Blood Clan was strongest at night. During the day, Li Ye was restricted in many ways and could not reveal his true strength.

In any case, once one became an Inner Disciple, one would have the chance to enter the Martial Arts Pavilion. For Li Ye, Blood Eyes' copying ability would be enough to find what he needed inside!

Soon, as the challenges between the Inner Disciples came to an end, the Year-End Martial Contest also ended. Many secretly found it regrettable that they had not witnessed Li Yating, the Lineage genius who had returned from the Heavenly Profound Sect, make a move.

Even Li Ye was very curious about what level Li Yating had reached after being recruited by the Heavenly Profound Sect for three years.

A fierce gaze swept over him. Li Ye followed it and happened to see Li Huangran's cold expression. He could imagine that his forceful entry into the top ten Inner Disciples this time would certainly make 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 he truly had to fight for his life, even against a Spirit Martial Tier Nine Martial Dao Grandmaster like Li Mo, he was somewhat confident he could escape calmly! Especially at night, when his true strength stood at its peak.

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

Li Huangran called out loudly. Immediately, many disciples became extremely excited, especially those who had just entered the ranks of Outer Disciples, as well as the Inner Disciples.

As the seventh-ranked Inner Disciple, Li Ye now held the same status in the Lineage as a steward. Those who had once mocked him now subconsciously lowered their heads whenever they saw him, not daring to meet his eyes.

No matter what, Li Ye's strength had been fully proven.

"Who knows what fucking luck that trash stumbled into? It would have been one thing if he 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 by his aura just now, he was only at Spirit Martial Tier Five. It's fucking bizarre!"

Some low whispers entered Li Ye's ears, but he paid them no attention. He knew many people were beginning to doubt his true realm, and he had no intention of explaining.

This is better. Let them doubt me. If someone wants to test me, they can serve as the chicken I kill to frighten the monkeys.

If he wished to gain a foothold in a great family like the Li Family, establishing his authority was sometimes extremely important. And after defeating Li Wei and Li Xuan, he had already established his authority before quite a few Lineage disciples.

"Now that I am an Inner Disciple—and one of the top ten at that—according to the Lineage's reward and punishment system, I have one chance to enter the Martial Arts Pavilion and select one Combat Technique to take out for cultivation."

Although the reward was not as generous as those for the top three Inner Disciples, it was still quite good. The Lineage's Martial Arts Pavilion was guarded year-round by two elders; ordinary people could not enter at all.

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

With this 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 restricted Martial Arts Pavilion. Two elders stood outside its entrance, radiating authority without anger. Even the Inner Disciples did not dare speak loudly upon seeing them.

At that moment, Li Ye saw someone emerge from within with delight written all over his face, clearly fully satisfied.

Just as Li Ye was about to enter, someone suddenly blocked his way.

"Stop!"

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

The moment those words were spoken, Li Ye's anger flared!

"Elders, as I recall, those among the top ten Inner Disciples may enter the Martial Arts Pavilion and select one Combat Technique for cultivation. Why are you stopping me?"

The two elders remained unmoved after hearing him. 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? Get lost!"

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

The elders capable of guarding the Martial Arts Pavilion were at least at 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 of them!