The Sect Grand Competition (2)

When Kang Changyi stepped back onto the stage, he saw a thin, petite woman in front of him. She looked frail and her complexion was ordinary; she was not particularly eye-catching.

Despite being only thirteen or fourteen years old, she was already inner disciple, and her cultivation was not much inferior to that of older cultivators like Mo Ku. Upon seeing this girl, Kang Changyi's gaze sharpened slightly, and he clasped his hands in a respectful bow. "Greetings, Junior Sister Qi."

A hint of surprise also appeared in the eyes of the young girl opposite, and she then said in a clear voice, "Greetings, Senior Brother."

Kang Changyi recognized the thin girl in front of him for a reason, because Qi Ke was an outstanding person who lasted for nearly thirty breaths in the Heart-Questioning Formation to verify the character of a beginner immortal seedling.

This record remains unbroken to this day.

I remember that after this girl entered the sect, many elders, including Ye Zhengwen, came to examine her. Most of them intended to take her under their wing after she had passed the test to become inner disciple.

However, it seems that Qi Ke's cultivation speed is not as outstanding as his sect elders had imagined.

After ten years of cultivation, he broke through to the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer and became an inner disciple. This was just the normal cultivation speed of an ordinary Triple Spirit Root immortal seedling after entering the sect, and there was nothing particularly outstanding about it.

Kang Changyi would not take such an opponent seriously.

After exchanging greetings and receiving a signal from Jiang Qing to wave the flag, Kang Changyi was about to make a move when his eyes darted around for a moment, and then he suddenly stopped.

Although Qi Ke was somewhat confused, his hands moved quickly.

After a soft rebuke, a palm-sized Huangshi magic sword slid out from his right sleeve, then hovered in mid-air, expanding to the size of a door panel.

Only when the heavy blade cleaved through the sky and crashed down towards his vital points did a glimmer of light appear on the tip of Kang Changyi's trident.

Only a few breaths later, a large swath of green light flew out from the halberd's edge without warning, knocking the heavy blade overhead away and continuing to surge towards Qi Ke, almost engulfing the petite girl.

Qi Ke did not show any panic, but her cultivation had only just advanced to the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer. Even though she used a well-preserved low-grade jade tablet to block the blue light for a while, it was still far from being a match for Kang Changyi, who had not yet exerted his strength.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Qi Ke's spiritual energy was completely exhausted. Despite her resentment, she could only bow with a dim gaze before stepping off the arena.

"You're very thoughtful, but Senior Brother Ye already told us about taking this girl as his disciple some time ago. Changyi, you don't need to deliberately hide your abilities; whether you hide them or not, we can all see clearly."

Jiang Qing only said this once, without caring how Kang Changyi would respond, and then waved his hand repeatedly, urging the latter to leave the arena.

After Kang Changyi stepped down from the ring, he showed no excitement and simply talked to Zhang Le, who was also in the ring.

Although the latter's aptitude wasn't particularly good, thanks to Zhou Yixiu's tireless investment of resources, he still managed to break through to the Middle Qi Refinement and become inner disciple before the age of twenty.

We won't go into details about Zhang Le's later experiences of raising spirit bees and making honey for sale.

After moving into the backyard of Sect Leader Kang Da, Zhang Qingran, a descendant of the founding patriarch of the Chongming Sect, inevitably had to take extra care of Zhang Le, a descendant of the Zhang family who had cultivated under the Fenli Zhang Household.

Therefore, although Zhang Le has never been a standout among her peers, she is only slightly away from becoming True Disciple.

Because of Zhang Le's relationship with Zhang Qingran, Kang Changyi could be considered to be quite familiar with him.

Compared to the latter, Zhang Le was much older, but she was not good at fighting. Most of her fighting experiences in her life occurred when the Chongming Sect went out to fight.

Moreover, putting aside the days of being constantly beaten, even during the times when he was winning, Zhang Le has not achieved any significant victories over the years.

Unfortunately, Chongming Sect's life has been relatively peaceful in recent years, and Zhang Le has not been on the battlefield for quite some time, so his skills have become rusty.

Seeing how tempting the prizes for Merit Points were, Zhang Le reluctantly signed up. However, this made her feel uneasy.

Kang Changyi was quite different from his father, who wasn't very good at understanding women's feelings. With just a casual glance, he noticed Zhang Le's predicament and advised, "Senior Sister is an elder's disciple. She has received instruction from many teachers since childhood, so she can certainly continue to strive for excellence."

"Thank you for your kind words, Junior Brother." Zhang Le's smile wasn't very relaxed. He was about to say something more to Kang Changyi to ease the tension when he saw Jin Shilun, who had been watching the battle from the sidelines, also come over.

"Junior Brother won quite well earlier. Junior Sister Qi cultivates earth-based Cultivation Method and is most skilled in prolonged battles. Last time I went to Jin County, I took Junior Sister Qi with me."

Although her Huangshi Sword and Jade Token were only low-grade Law Artifact, they complemented each other perfectly in offense and defense, and were also very well refined, which was quite rare. Half a year ago in Jin County, a malevolent cultivator in the Late Qi Refinement Evil Cultivator attacked her, and she managed to hold out for an hour without being able to defeat her.

Kang Changyi knew that the set of items Fei Shuhe had prepared for him was something even ordinary True Cultivator would covet. Therefore, it was only natural that ordinary Evil Cultivator could not compare to him.

Therefore, after hearing Jin Shilun's words, he merely chuckled a few times, unable to muster any sense of pride.

Seeing this, Jin Shilun knew that his prepared words of advice were useless. He smiled with relief for a while before turning to Zhang Le and saying, "My wife is always complaining that Junior Sister Zhang supplies too little Plain Snow Honey to the Chongming Small Pavilion. It's only used to mix wine, and it's sold out in just three days."

Please, junior sister, think of another way. After all, these are sparkling Spirit Stone that slipped down from the doorway and couldn't be retrieved. If Master knew, he would surely be heartbroken.

After hearing Jin Shilun's exaggerated words, Zhang Le also gave a wry smile:

"What you're saying, senior brother, doesn't make sense. I asked Senior Brother Kang a long time ago to double the size of Plain Snow Stamen's business, but he and Master have been living in Hong County for years and haven't come back. I'm worried that other people will take the Plain Snow Stamen seeds and cut off my family's source of income, so I had no choice."

Jin Shilun was taken aback upon hearing this, and then said, "I thought my junior sister was at a crucial stage in her cultivation and couldn't spare the time. I never imagined it was something like this?!"

"The matter of Plain Snow Stamen is actually not too difficult to handle. After I consult with Master, perhaps I can have Senior Brother Mo Ku take the lead, write a task at the Merit Points Hall, and guide the juniors of the Nurturing Qilin Hall to accomplish this. However,"

Zhang Le didn't keep them in suspense for long; his wry smile deepened.

"However, could Senior Brother Jin please speak to Junior Sister Ye and ask her to say a few good words about my insect-controlling skills in the Nurturing Qilin Hall? If Plain Snow Stamen is fully cultivated in the future, my spirit bees will have a hard time consuming it all, so I should make some reserves early."

Jin Shilun found Zhang Le's words quite reasonable, but these words should not have been spoken in such a noisy time.

However, this was probably because Zhang Le was really anxious, since compared to alchemy, artifact crafting, talisman arrays, and other arts that sound extraordinary, the insect-controlling path that Zhang Le practiced was indeed not very respectable.

In a serious discussion, this art form is perhaps only half as attractive as the farming skills practiced by its master Zhou Yixiu, and it's unlikely to entice the beginners of the Nurturing Qilin Hall to choose and learn it.

However, this was beyond Jin Shilun's control, so he just shook his head and was about to say something more to Zhang Le when the latter had already straightened his clothes and stepped onto the arena.

As soon as Zhang Le stepped onto the arena, he recognized his opponent. His heart sank, and after bowing respectfully, he said in a deep voice, "Junior Brother Liu, it has been a long time."

The simple-looking, short and stocky disciple in plain clothes opposite Zhang Le smiled after hearing his words, looking somewhat simple-minded and cute.

He respectfully returned the greeting with clasped hands, saying only, "Liu Ya greets Senior Sister Zhang."

Zhang Le frowned slightly, thinking to himself, "After Senior Brother He passed away, Junior Brother Ming was struggling to lead the caravan alone, which is why Uncle Ye sent Junior Brother Liu Ya from his sect to help."

This Junior Brother Liu, due to losing his father at a young age, is renowned within the sect for his diligence in cultivation. Therefore, although he possesses Four Spirit Roots, he has already reached the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining at a young age, almost comparable to the speed of a cultivator with Triple Spirit Root. I fear I would have little chance of victory in a fight against him."

After the fight had just begun, Zhang Le knew that his prediction was correct.

Although her cultivation level was similar to Liu Ya's, the latter not only had extensive combat experience, but also cultivated a Cultivation Method of the Hong Grade, making it difficult for Zhang Le to defeat her.

After only about ten rounds of fighting, Liu Ya had already gained a firm advantage.

Zhang Le narrowly avoided Liu Ya's golden mace, instinctively reaching for his waist, then lowering it. After a moment's thought, he moved to the edge of the ring and jumped down.

"If Senior Sister is willing to summon the spirit bees to defend against the enemy, she still has a good chance of winning." Kang Changyi, who had watched the entire competition, greeted Zhang Le, who had come down to rest, and offered her words of comfort.

The latter, upon hearing this, merely smiled and remained silent. Jin Shilun, seeing Kang Changyi's "why not eat meat porridge" attitude, was also annoyed. He and Zhang Le exchanged a few shallow laughs, which served as an apology.

The small Chongming Sect rarely saw such a lively occasion. Even though Zhang Le had lost the match, he wasn't in a hurry to leave and instead watched the third round of the competition.

In this round, Jin Shilun and Double Brightness True Disciple no longer remain on the sidelines and had to participate in the competition as usual. Kang Changyi, on the other hand, was able to take a break, having drawn a bye.

Jin Shilun stepped onto the ring with a relaxed mood. After exchanging greetings with the referee, Yuan Xiyue, he looked at his opponent.

"It's actually Junior Brother Song," Jin Shilun thought to himself. His luck was far worse than Kang Changyi's. He had only been in the third round, yet he had already encountered Song Cheng, who was also a True Disciple.

This guy is no pushover; he's the second disciple with Triple Spirit Root to appear among the current generation of Double Brightness disciples, following Kang Rongquan.

Furthermore, Ye Zhengwen was considered skilled at teaching disciples among the sect's elders. As a result, Song Cheng, who was not yet thirty, had his cultivation level almost catch up with Jin Shilun, which was quite astonishing. He was not much different from Jiang Qing, who was the same age.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Jin," Song Cheng's expression wasn't much better either. Clearly, he hadn't expected to be so unlucky, encountering Jin Shilun, who was consistently ranked low in the minor competitions, so early in the third round.

In the last sect competition, he had bad luck with the draw. If he hadn't encountered Ye Yaoling, the runner-up of the competition, in the first round, and even after a hard-fought battle, he still lost, he would have been a strong contender for the top five.

Jin Shilun dared not be negligent, and even took the initiative after Yuan Xiyue gave the order.

The slender willow-leaf knife in his hand had an additional layer of black runes on its blade compared to before. This was a change that occurred after he used the spiritual object he obtained after assisting the Jin County in slaying the Evil Cultivator, and then had it reforged by a skilled weapon craftsman.

Jin Shilun held his sword horizontally before the jade arena, the sword energy surging forth like a tidal wave. Song Cheng's expression hardened, and he summoned a blue Ruyi with flowing emerald patterns all over its body. This was the Surging Waves Ruyi, a top-grade magic Law Artifact bestowed upon him by Ye Zhengwen after he became True Disciple.

The latter held a Ruyi scepter and Ruyi a slight wave, a curtain of water appeared out of thin air, blocking the endless blade energy.

"Senior Brother Jin's 'Selection of Spirit Saber Techniques' is truly amazing!" Although Song Cheng knew that Jin Shilun was quite capable, he never expected that the latter would actually possess such power after mastering an ordinary Desolate-Tier Lower-Grade Blade Technique to perfection.

After dispelling Jin Shilun's sword aura, Song Cheng showed no smugness. He stroked the Ruyi Cloud with his fingertips, and three bright, transparent water guns instantly condensed in front of him. "I also ask my senior brother to point out whether I am using my magic Law Artifact correctly!"

Jin Shilun chuckled lightly and said loudly, "Let's leave aside the Law Artifact for now. Junior Brother, you're talking too much during this duel; that's not good!"

A black light emanated from the willow-leaf blade in his hand, slicing Song Cheng in two with the water gun Ruyi had summoned with the Ruyi Scepter, causing a burst of water to erupt on the stage.

Jin Shilun, pressing his advantage, was about to launch a counterattack when he saw Song Cheng mutter something under his breath. The blue Ruyi he had been carrying floated in front of his chest, and after a gentle shake, the water droplets in the arena instantly condensed into thousands of murderous ice spikes, aiming to pierce Jin Shilun's vital points.

This turn of events happened very quickly, and even the head referee Yuan Xiyue, showed a slight look of surprise.

The opponents in the third round were mostly of varying strengths, and it was rare to find two opponents like this one, where both sides were True Disciple. Therefore, it's possible that Yuan Xiyue wasn't the only one who noticed the changes here.

As soon as Song Cheng made his decision, Sect Leader Kang Da, who was overseeing the entire situation from the pavilion, exclaimed, "Song Cheng's move was indeed quite impressive."

Ye Zhengwen's match ended early, so he took some time to talk to Kang Dabao.

Although he was a very strict master, he didn't mind praising his disciple in front of Kang Dabao: "This child still remembers the scene when he lost to Yaoling in the last small competition, and he's been working hard to win back the first place in the grand competition."

Hearing this, Sect Leader Kang Da shook his head. "This kid's luck is really bad. He clearly has the strength to be in the top ten of the competition, but this time he's run into Shilun. I think he's probably no match for Shilun."

Ye Zhengwen's face flushed red, and his tone was somewhat annoyed. "I won't argue with you. You'll see soon enough."

The two turned their gazes back and saw that most of the countless crystalline ice shards in the arena had been destroyed by Jin Shilun's blade energy.

However, it was a deliberate scheme, and Jin Shilun had not made sufficient preparations beforehand, so he could not dodge all the ice shards and was grazed by several of them.

The injury wasn't life-threatening, and Jin Shilun had the urge to fight again, so the referee, Yuan Xiyue, didn't intervene. Sect Leader Kang Da frowned and paid even closer attention to his disciple's movements.

The competition was in full swing, but the two people on the high platform did not turn their gazes towards the competition. They were only whispering their final farewells.