The Lineage Genius Competition

Yes, Ancestor Danyang was no fool.

How could he not have considered what would happen if he were exposed?

Murong Haikuo frowned deeply, sinking into thought.

He put himself in their shoes again. If the Murong Clan truly possessed that kind of special method, what would he do?

Naturally, he would build up his strength in secret.

With such a method, he would no longer have to fear time.

All they had to do was wait. One day, the Murong Clan's foundations would grow to an utterly terrifying extent.

So terrifying that no one on the entire Cangxuan Continent could stand against them.

Then, the Murong Clan would no longer hide its strength, but unleash it in a mighty surge.

So!

Murong Haikuo's face instantly went deathly pale.

He stared blankly at his ancestor and murmured, "Could it be that the Lu Clan has already amassed enough strength, and that's why it dares to act so openly?"

Ancestor Murong sighed and said, "I have now confirmed that, besides Ancestor Danyang, the Lu Clan has another: Sage Tianyan of the Lu Clan, who lived more than a hundred thousand years ago."

"Historical records say that he fell long ago as well, but now, not only is he still alive, his strength has reached the Saint King Realm."

Murong Haikuo's eyes widened.

Ancestor Murong added, "And that's only what we know. Who knows how many experts of that level the Lu Clan actually has?"

Now, Murong Haikuo had no choice but to reconsider their relationship with the Lu Clan.

If their guesses were correct, he would have to treat the matter with caution. Even if they stopped maintaining friendly relations in the future, they absolutely could not make an enemy of the Lu Clan.

However, not every faction thought the same way.

Ancestor Murong had suffered very serious injuries, so he considered matters more thoroughly and acted more cautiously. Naturally, he knew this was only conjecture, but he did not dare take the gamble.

Some factions, however, were different.

In the shadows of Central Province, several powerful presences had joined together to discuss how to subdue the Lu Clan and extract the method from them—or simply wipe out the Lu Clan altogether.

To put it nicely, a ninth-grade alchemist was an exalted master of alchemy.

To put it bluntly, he was just some lousy pill-maker with a combat power of five.

If it came to a real fight, they did not take him seriously at all.

As for the influence of a ninth-grade alchemist, heh, as long as they joined forces, who in all of Central Province could stand against them?

On Qiyun Mountain, the Lu Clan's genius competition was drawing to a close.

After the Lu Clan's higher-ups deliberately arranged the groups and held the matches, most of the young people without exceptional talent had been eliminated.

Of the thirty-odd contestants remaining, those with the lowest cultivation were at the Void Shattering Realm, while the rest were at the Spirit Concentration Realm.

But there was not a single Divine Palace Realm cultivator among them.

That was because advancing to the Divine Palace Realm required not only talent, but also accumulation over time.

At this moment, the young Lu Clan geniuses all wore tense expressions, constantly looking at the peers they usually cultivated alongside.

Normally, they could throw their arms around one another's shoulders and chat about anything under the sun.

But now, they all regarded one another as opponents. Only by giving their all could they show each other the greatest respect.

My cultivation has now reached the late stage of the Spirit Concentration Realm, and I cultivate the Lightning Dao, which has tremendous offensive power. Surely I'll be the one laughing last in this genius competition.

Among the crowd, a youthful-looking man dressed in green thought to himself.

His name was Lu Chong, a descendant of the first elder, Lu Guangyao. Thanks also to his considerable talent, he ordinarily received abundant resources, allowing him to reach the Spirit Concentration Realm at a young age.

In this world, a spiritual root was born within everyone who had the aptitude to cultivate.

The brightness of that spiritual root determined how talented they were.

Generally, the brighter the spiritual root, the greater the aptitude.

The Cangxuan Continent had even divided aptitude into four grades based on brightness.

They were low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade and top-grade aptitude.

Lu Chong had high-grade aptitude that was very close to top-grade. Lu Qingshan had also possessed high-grade aptitude in his day, but had only just met the threshold.

There was clearly a considerable gap between the two.

The Lu Clan was no longer as impoverished as it had once been. Now, the Lineage possessed countless cultivation methods for its members to choose from.

Each cultivation method belonged to a different path.

Back when the Lu Clan had been in decline, its cultivation methods had belonged almost exclusively to the five conventional paths of metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

Now, after acquiring a great many more, the Lu Clan possessed a complete range of paths.

By choosing what to cultivate, clan members could generally find a path that suited their strengths.

Lu Chong cultivated the Lightning Dao, whose offensive power was so great that few could match it.

It was worth mentioning that Lu Chong had also cultivated his spiritual root into a Lightning Spiritual Root after birth. Such acquired roots were not uncommon in the cultivation world.

But there were also exceptionally talented people who possessed innate elemental spiritual roots.

Outside the arena, in the spectator stands.

Lu Qingshan and Lu Guangyao sat together, surveying the younger generation, the future pillars of the Lineage.

"Now that conditions have improved, the clan members really are becoming more and more outstanding."

"Yes. Just think, back then, we would never have imagined someone reaching the Spirit Concentration Realm before thirty, not even if we were beaten to death."

Lu Guangyao looked at Lu Chong in the arena and chuckled.

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan smiled as well.

Unlike him, the three great elders of the Lineage all had families of their own. After five hundred years, their halls were already filled with descendants.

As for him, if he had not taken in an adopted son and daughter, he would probably still be all alone.

Speaking of them, he wondered how Qing Zhe and Qing Xu were doing now.

Coming back to his senses, Lu Qingshan looked toward the arena again.

At that moment, Lu Tong stepped onto the stage.

Lu Guangyao immediately broke into a broad smile and fixed his eyes on the arena.

This was his descendant. A good result would bring him glory as well.

After glancing at Lu Chong, Lu Qingshan turned his attention to Lu Chong's opponent.

The man was sallow and gaunt, looking as though a single punch could knock him to pieces. After asking around, Lu Qingshan learned that this junior was named Lu Guan, specialized in the Wood Dao and had reached the peak of the Void Shattering Realm.

"Strange. Most cultivators who practice the Wood Dao have tenacious vitality and value the unending cycle of life. Why does this Lu Guan look so weak?"

As expected, outmatched in cultivation, Lu Guan soon lost the bout.

Everyone regarded the result as only natural.

Lu Chong's expression remained calm. The only ones he truly considered opponents were those few peers in the Spirit Concentration Realm.

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from nearby.

"Oh, patriarch, first elder, there you two are."

The two turned and saw the second elder, Lu Mutong, walking toward them with a smile.

At the sight of him, Lu Guangyao immediately chuckled. "Second elder, that Lu Guan just now was your descendant, wasn't he?"

Hearing this, Lu Mutong's smile froze, and he said awkwardly, "Heh, I'm not really sure either."

Within the Lineage, Lu Mutong was responsible for the important task of helping the family tree spread its branches and leaves.

He deserved the greatest credit for the Lineage's population having grown to its present size.

Lu Mutong had also led by example, taking numerous wives and fathering children, toiling diligently in the fields night after night.

It could be said that no one in the entire Lu Clan had more offspring than he did.

Fortunately, he cultivated the Wood Dao and possessed tenacious vitality. Otherwise, Lu Qingshan would have worried that the second elder might drop dead one day.

As the matches continued, several outstanding juniors of the Lu Clan appeared before them one after another.

Lu Chong, at the late stage of the Spirit Concentration Realm, specialized in the Lightning Dao.

Lu Pengfei, at the middle stage of the Spirit Concentration Realm, cultivated both wind and fire.

Lu Heiyu, also at the middle stage of the Spirit Concentration Realm, specialized in the Darkness Dao.

Those were the top three in the Lineage genius competition.

Lu Chong took first place and was hailed as the strongest prodigy of the Lu Clan's younger generation.

The honor not only filled Lu Chong's vanity to the brim, but also delighted Lu Guangyao immensely.

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly. This was the Lu Clan's first competition in recent years, so it had many shortcomings.

There were also outstanding juniors in the Lu Clan who had not yet had a chance to distinguish themselves.

Lu Qingshan had noticed an eighteen-year-old girl named Lu Xingxing who, despite being at the peak of the Void Shattering Realm, had defeated a peer at the early stage of the Spirit Concentration Realm.

Such an ability to fight across realms was rare even within the entire Lu Clan.

Given a few more years, Lu Xingxing surely would not have placed as she had now.

There were also Lu Clan juniors who had only just passed the age of thirty. Though their combat strength was formidable, they did not meet the requirements to participate.

All of this made Lu Qingshan intend to hold another competition.

He had to ensure that every genius in the Lu Clan could display their abilities to the fullest.