The following day was April 25 of Year 62 of the Wuji Kingdom calendar.
On this day, countless young people rubbed their fists and eagerly awaited battle, fighting for the chance to study and cultivate at the Martial Arts Sacred Grounds!
Sixty-two years ago, under the leadership of the founding emperor Chen Wufu, the Wuji Kingdom unified the realm, ending a century of rival lords, warfare, and conflict.
Since the kingdom was founded, countless prestigious sects and clans had been forcibly consolidated by the Imperial Court, gradually becoming the twelve officially established Martial Arts Sacred Grounds. They welcomed students from across the realm and taught everyone without discrimination.
However, with the realm's vast population, it was unrealistic for every person to seek an education. Thus, a relatively mature recruitment process had been established, selecting disciples through three channels.
First, regardless of one's background, anyone who reached the tenth level of the true essence realm before the age of eighteen could independently choose a Martial Arts Sacred Grounds and enter it to study.
Second, anyone who had made a major contribution points to the Imperial Court or the country could freely choose a sacred grounds to attend, regardless of talent, cultivation level, or age.
Third, every prestigious family and qualified academy in each region received one slot every two years. Candidates were selected through martial combat, and only the victor could attend the Martial Arts Sacred Grounds affiliated with that region.
These three recruitment methods had been endlessly debated by the people. Some criticized them, while others approved. Regardless, they had been in place for more than forty years.
Simply put, these three categories were easy to summarize.
The first category consisted of geniuses. Anyone who entered the True Essence Realm before the age of eighteen was already a genius. Reaching the true essence fifth stage, however, was even more difficult. Without extraordinary talent, sufficient cultivation resources, and a powerful cultivation method, it was practically impossible.
The second category consisted of meritorious subjects. The Wuji Kingdom had always maintained a clear attitude: those who contributed would be rewarded, and those who committed offenses would be punished! Whether they had performed a good deed that saved the common people of an entire region or earned military merit by breaking enemy formations and slaying foes in the army, anyone commended by the Imperial Court for their achievements was a meritorious subject.
Both categories could independently choose a Martial Arts Sacred Grounds, a supreme honor indeed. However, whether geniuses or meritorious subjects, they were ultimately too few in number.
The third category made up for the shortage in numbers. They were by far the largest and most ordinary group. They had no right to choose a sacred grounds; wherever they were born, that was where they belonged.
Early in the morning, at the Gu Family estate's martial training grounds.
The grounds had been divided into four competition areas the previous night. All family disciples under the age of twenty could register to compete, regardless of whether they belonged to the main clan or branch clan.
Gu Chengqian and the other powerful family figures all sat to one side, while the rest of the clan members gathered around the martial training grounds to watch.
Someone suddenly pointed toward the seats of the clan patriarch, the elders, and the others, crying out in surprise, "Look! Gu Chengjiao is actually sitting there too!"
The people nearby followed the direction of his finger and indeed saw Gu Chengjiao.
"How is that possible? Gu Chengjiao has been suppressed and ostracized by the others for the past twenty years. Four months ago, he was even locked in the dungeon. How can he be sitting there, on equal footing with the clan patriarch and the others?"
The branch clan members began discussing it animatedly.
While they were discussing the matter and making endless guesses, a cold voice suddenly came from the side.
"How dare you discuss the clan elders? Aren't you afraid of being punished?"
Everyone was startled and turned around. When they saw that it was the useless Gu Yi, none of them felt afraid anymore.
In fact, a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old man sneered disdainfully and said, "Gu Yi, you useless piece of trash. So what if we insult your father? What can you do to me?"
Gu Yi glanced indifferently at the man without saying anything. He reached out and grabbed him. With a crack, he strangled the Branch-clan junior to death. After taking a slight breath, he absorbed the man's death gray energy into his body, then left with his hands behind his back.
"Gu Yi, how dare you kill my younger brother? I'll kill you!"
A young man nearby was both shocked and furious. He had never expected that Gu Yi, who had merely cowered for the past two years no matter how much they mocked and humiliated him, would suddenly strike with such thunderous force!
He had not even noticed that Gu Yi had already reached the Ninth Layer of body tempering. He still thought Gu Yi was only at the first layer of body tempering and had merely caught his younger brother off guard with his sudden attack!
Thus, relying on his own seventh level body refinement realm cultivation level, he threw a punch at Gu Yi without another thought.
Gu Yi looked at him coldly and spat out two words: "You seek death!"
He suddenly lashed out with his foot, shattering the man's chest and piercing his heart. The man died instantly.
Another strand of gray energy was absorbed into Gu Yi's body.
The surrounding branch-clan disciples were horrified. Only then did they realize that Gu Yi had already become an expert at the Ninth Layer of body tempering. He was far from the useless trash at the first layer of body tempering he had once been!
His two sons had been killed one after another in an instant. Gu Haodong wailed in grief, immediately drawing the attention of everyone at the martial training grounds. He ran before gu chengqian and the others, dropped to his knees, and cried, "clan patriarch, elders, Gu Yi killed both my sons for no reason! Please give me justice!"
Gu Chengqian exchanged a glance with several elders, snorted, and asked, "Gu Yi, why did you kill the branch-clan disciples?"
Gu Yi looked at Gu Chengqian and said indifferently, "Because they deserved to die."
Gu Chengqian's face turned the color of pig liver, and he was caught in a difficult position. Gu Yi was no longer what he had been, and he did not dare offend him.
He pointed at a bystander and asked, "What happened just now? Tell me the whole story, from beginning to end!"
Fearing the authority of Gu Chengqian, the clan patriarch, the man recounted everything exactly as it had happened.
Gu Chengqian immediately pointed at Gu Haodong and shouted angrily, "Your sons insulted the clan elders, so they deserved death. You failed to distinguish right from wrong and even came here to lodge a complaint. Your death sentence may be spared, but you will not escape punishment. Guards, take him away, give him ten lashes with the Poison Dragon Whip, and then lock him in the dungeon!"
"Clan patriarch, no! Please spare me, clan patriarch!" Gu Haodong shouted in terror, but he was dragged away immediately.
Gu Chengqian looked at Gu Yi with a beaming smile and said, "Yi'er, are you satisfied with how I handled this?"
Gu Yi cast him a sidelong glance and said with a half-smile, "Get started quickly. I made an appointment with Liu Fang yesterday, and I still have to meet the imperial preceptor today. You know this."
"I know, of course I know. If you ask me, we might as well cancel today's competition and give the champion position directly to you. Why bother competing..." Gu Chengqian said with a beaming smile.
Gu Feng, who was watching from afar, furrowed his brows fiercely and clenched his fists!
Gu Yi frowned and said, "I don't want to repeat myself."
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Gu Chengqian hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Stop wasting time. Begin immediately!"
A total of eighty-three young clan members had registered for the competition. The main clan disciples, including Gu Yi and Gu Feng, numbered eleven; all the rest were disciples from branch clan collateral lines.
The competition was divided among four arenas: Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding. The eighty-three participants drew lots for arena matches, with the weaker being eliminated and the winners advancing through successive rounds until first place was determined.
Gu Yi drew the tenth slot in the Jia Arena.
The Jia Arena had twenty-one participants in total. The first and second contestants fought in the opening match, followed by the third and fourth, and so on. The other three competition arenas followed the same arrangement.
Gu Yi stood outside the arena with his hands behind his back, his expression indifferent. He looked at the competitors present with an equally indifferent expression.
Most of these people had once insulted and bullied him.
In today's competition, besides Slaughtering Gu Feng, any clan member who fell into his hands and had ever bullied him would not leave unscathed!
He discovered that Gu Feng had been assigned to the Ding Arena and thought to himself, "Given Gu Feng's abilities, taking first place in the Ding Arena shouldn't be difficult. If the two of us want to fight, it should be in the final match!"
Having made his calculations, Gu Yi turned his head away and no longer looked toward Gu Feng.
Gu Feng also watched him from afar, his face slightly twisted. He thought to himself, "To defeat you, I did not hesitate to kill twelve virgin boys and girls from our own clan! With the Essence-Enhancing Pill in my possession, my cultivation level can reach the tenth level of the true essence realm. No matter how many strange tricks you have, they will be useless before absolute strength. Today, I will definitely kill you!"
In previous years, the clan tournament involved many ceremonies and procedures before it began.
But today, after Gu Yi urged him to hurry, Gu Chengqian immediately dispensed with all the tedious procedures. With a single order, the clan tournament officially began.