Martial Arts Tournament Begins

This armor-piercing attribute was incredibly powerful.

From the Qi Induction Realm onward, almost every cultivator protected their body with spiritual power.

They also generally had specialized defensive spells, such as Demon Devouring Armor.

To attack an opponent, one had to break through their protective spiritual power.

This was also a crucial factor that separated mortals from cultivators.

Ordinary swords and blades could not break through the defenses of protective spiritual power.

Only attacks infused with spiritual power could shatter it.

But the Armor-Piercing Spear directly ignored protective spiritual power and struck the body itself.

In battle, Zhou Feng had immediately gained a tremendous advantage.

"Ninth Level of Qi Condensation, and now I have the Armor-Piercing Spear!"

He was filled with confidence about the Martial Arts Tournament.

After all, his cultivation was genuinely there for all to see. Among all the Inner Sect disciples, he should count as one of the best.

And he had also obtained the Armor-Piercing Spear passive.

Since dawn had yet to break, Zhou Feng planned to hurry back and get some rest.

The Martial Arts Tournament was tomorrow, so he had to make sure he was well-rested.

The Martial Arts Tournament could be said to be the most important day of every month for the Three Gu Sect.

After all, it concerned the distribution of many benefits.

As the largest sect in the area, and one that supported so many cultivators,

the Three Gu Sect naturally could not obtain all its resources from the Gu Mountain Range.

For many places that produced special resources, the Three Gu Sect would send disciples to guard them.

Disciples stationed outside were like regional lords. They only needed to fulfill the sect's quotas.

They could keep all the remaining resources for themselves.

Of course, the prerequisite was that one could become a stationed disciple and had the ability to hold the resource site.

That was right! Becoming a stationed disciple was only the first step. The second was competing with other sects.

For example, the spirit stone mine discovered some time ago was located at the far end of the Gu Mountain Range.

But that did not mean the spirit stone mine belonged to the Three Gu Sect.

Other sects would also send disciples to fight for it. Only by successfully holding it could they mine spirit stones.

The several sects involved, including the Three Gu Sect, seemed to have some sort of agreement.

Depending on how precious the resource was, they would send different personnel to guard it.

This basically ensured that the strong would not bully the weak, so those competing were usually at the same cultivation level.

One important purpose of the Martial Arts Tournament was to select elite disciples to fight the disciples of other sects.

To secure more resources for the sect.

At the same time, elite disciples who earned recognition could leave Gu Mountain and head out into the wider world.

As for the other Inner Sect disciples who merely muddled through their days, they likely would not be able to leave Gu Mountain for their entire lives.

They were even worse off than some outsiders who did business in the market.

At least those people could still go outside and see different scenery.

The disciples of the Three Gu Sect, barring accidents, could only remain in the sect for their entire lives.

Always ready to become nourishment for other disciples.

The Martial Arts Tournament was held at the training grounds atop the mountain, where elders would be watching.

As for the sect master, one might catch a glimpse of him if lucky. Under normal circumstances, the sect master would be in Closed-door cultivation.

One more thing worth mentioning was that whenever the Martial Arts Tournament was held, many people in the Mountainside Market would open betting pools.

The most popular bet, naturally, was who would take first place.

At the same time, it was also an excellent chance for Inner Sect disciples to make a name for themselves.

Qian Shang and his daughter were also paying close attention to the Martial Arts Tournament, because their backer, Zhou Feng, would be participating in this grand event.

"Father? Did you get it?"

The moment Qian Qianqian heard her father return, she immediately asked.

"I got it! It was as expensive as ever!"

Qian Shang held a small booklet, his face full of pain.

But there was no helping it. He still had to buy this booklet.

It recorded information about many Inner Sect disciples and was sold by the people who ran the betting pools.

For an outsider like Qian Shang to get by in the market,

he had to be well-informed to avoid offending people he should not offend.

And this little booklet recorded many people who could not be provoked.

Though it cost a full spirit stone, Qian Shang still gritted his teeth and bought it.

This was also an investment. As a merchant, there were times when one could not be too reluctant to spend.

"Qianqian! I'll read it to you now!"

Qian Shang directly read the information about the people recorded in the booklet to his beloved daughter.

Though the booklet was small, it recorded quite a few people.

It included Lin Xiaojiao and Liu Yan, whom Zhou Feng had encountered before, and even Zhao Wu was listed.

Yet there was no information about Zhou Feng himself in the booklet.

"There isn't any? There's no Young Master Zhou?"

When he flipped to the last page, Qian Shang discovered that the entire booklet contained no information about Zhou Feng.

His heart instantly went cold. After all, he had invested quite a lot in Zhou Feng.

The people recorded in this booklet were all relatively promising members of the Inner Sect.

Zhou Feng did not even have a name in it. His previous investments were likely going down the drain.

"There isn't any? Then were we among the first to invest in him?"

Qian Qianqian showed little reaction upon hearing this.

At worst, they would give up most of their family fortune. Compared to her father, Qian Qianqian had no great attachment to money.

So she remained very calm.

Leaving Qian Shang and his daughter aside, the entire Gu Mountain Range had become lively.

The mountaintop, which usually had few people, was now packed with people.

Zhou Feng had also mingled among them early on.

"That's the Five Poisons Gu branch?"

He finally saw Inner Sect disciples from the Five Poisons Gu branch.

The people of the Five Poisons Gu and Bloodthirsty Gu branches usually occupied separate sides and rarely interacted.

So he seldom saw people from the Five Poisons Gu branch.

He did not see many of them even in the market. He had heard that the Five Poisons Gu branch had its own market on the other side.

He had heard that the Five Poisons Gu branch were all experts at using poison and commanding gu insects.

He wondered how strong they were.

Without giving it much thought, Zhou Feng went to the registration area to sign up.

That was right! Not every Inner Sect disciple had to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament.

The disciples signed up on their own initiative.

Because every Martial Arts Tournament resulted in many casualties, unless one was extremely confident in one's own strength,

few newly joined Inner Sect disciples would choose to register.

After registering, Zhou Feng received a small wooden token.

The token bore the number ninety-nine.

After that, he quietly waited.

People had already begun fighting in the training grounds at the center.

There were no elders in sight on either side, only disciples maintaining order and several instructors.

The process was simple and brutal. Once two people were called, they stepped onto the stage and started fighting.

There were no rules. Whoever remained standing in the end won.

Nor would anyone be given a chance to recover from their injuries. The next time they were called, they had to take the stage and fight.

Even if they had already been injured before, no one would care.

The Martial Arts Tournament was exceedingly uninhibited and crude.