Six months passed in the blink of an eye. It had been winter when they arrived, but now, almost before anyone knew it, summer had come.
The newcomers’ competition was held in the outer sect. The first round was a free-for-all, and participants were permitted to form teams. Of the 108 new disciples, only the last fifty remaining on the platform would advance. Those who qualified would draw lots to determine their opponents in the next round.
Besides gaining direct admission to the inner sect, the top ten competitors would receive generous cultivation resources.
Generous for newcomers, at least.
At that moment, an enormous circular trial platform rose from the ground in Yuntian Sect’s outer sect. It measured a full hundred *zhang* across.
More than a hundred young men and women had gathered upon it. All were new disciples who had passed the spiritual-root test.
Lin Chen was among them. With his handsome features and markedly different bearing, he stood out conspicuously in the crowd.
Over the past six months, all those with outstanding aptitude had successfully drawn qi into their bodies and entered the Qi Refining realm.
That also meant this contest would be more than a simple fistfight.
On a raised dais overlooking the trial platform sat five Foundation Establishment cultivators from different peaks. Their robes varied, but their expressions were equally solemn. The pressure emanating from them made the newcomers’ faces change; none dared utter a sound.
The new disciples were afraid, but it was only the instinctive fear of the weak when confronted by the strong. When they saw these immortals ride flying swords and cast spells, what they felt more keenly was envy.
Every one of them had come from the mortal territories for the same reason: to cultivate immortality and attain longevity.
As for the elders of the sect’s various peaks, they seldom appeared without important business. Matters such as this were generally entrusted to their disciples, partly as a means of training them.
If a promising candidate caught an elder’s eye, the elder might come to take a look, but would usually remain concealed in the sky rather than show themselves.
The lack of interest among high-level cultivators did not mean those of lower cultivation were similarly indifferent.
Several dual-spiritual-root talents had appeared among this batch, not to mention one Heavenly Spiritual Root. Thus, the stone steps around the trial platform were packed with young cultivators from the inner and outer sects, most of them eager to see just how talented these exceptionally gifted newcomers truly were.
Xue Yi had even dragged several fellow Shixiong along to cheer for Lin Chen. Fortunately, Lin Chen could not hear them; otherwise, who knew what expression he would have made?
“I trust everyone is already familiar with the rules,” said a young man in white.
He was the leader of the five supervising cultivators and a personal disciple of the Sect Master: Yu Xiuyuan.
“This competition is intended for friendly sparring. Lethal attacks are forbidden. Each of you will receive one token. If yours is seized or shattered, the trial platform will automatically transport you off it. Anyone wishing to withdraw midway may also crush their own token. After one stick of incense has burned, the fifty people still standing on the platform will advance to the next round.”
As Yu Xiuyuan finished speaking, a numbered green token appeared in each competitor’s hand.
The one in Lin Chen’s hand bore the number 108.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
With the heavy beating of drums, the newcomers’ contest—this spectacle of fledgling novices pecking at one another—officially began.
Those who had agreed to form teams beforehand quickly assembled, watching their surroundings warily. For a time, nobody made the first move.
Among all these little groups, Lin Chen looked particularly solitary.
Consequently, he attracted the greatest number of watchful eyes.
Yet because he possessed a Heavenly Spiritual Root, the half-grown children did not know his true capabilities, or whether an elder had been secretly instructing him. None dared act rashly.
On the dais, someone spoke.
“How boring. What’s so interesting about watching a bunch of little brats fight? If Shizun hadn’t told me to keep an eye on little Shidi, I wouldn’t have come at all.”
Li Yin could not resist complaining as she watched the contestants stand motionless for so long.
Wouldn’t her time be better spent refining a few more batches of pills?
She was a senior disciple of the Alchemy Pavilion. Naturally, the little Shidi she mentioned could only be Bai Shuo, the boy with dual Fire and Wood Spiritual Roots whom an elder of the Alchemy Pavilion had taken an interest in long ago.
“I wouldn’t put it that way,” Yu Xiuyuan replied calmly.
Sure enough, the moment he finished speaking, the contestants began to move.
Whoosh—!
The sound of a weapon cutting through the air rang out.
Lin Chen stood calmly upon the platform, watching a boy charge straight at him with an iron sword.
It was someone he knew: one of the dual-spiritual-root boys who had traveled with him from Shifang City.
They had watched him for a long while. Apparently, only after confirming that he had no companions did they decide to attack.
Ye Yu gave a cold snort. He, too, had drawn qi into his body and reached the Qi Refining realm. Sword in hand, he rushed directly toward Lin Chen.
“Let’s see just what makes a Heavenly Spiritual Root so different from the rest of us!”
Ye Yu had disliked Lin Chen for a long time. It was not only the preferential treatment he received for his Heavenly Spiritual Root, but also that indifferent manner of his, as though nothing in the world was worth his attention.
Worse, because Lin Chen had managed to draw qi into his body in a single day, the dual-spiritual-root disciples were constantly compared with him. Ye Yu had become so resentful that he wanted to devote every spare moment to cultivation.
The ridiculous thing was that Lin Chen, blessed with such fine cultivation talent, had turned around and decided to study the guqin instead.
Lin Chen had no idea what Ye Yu was thinking. Even if he had known, he would not have cared.
He had already reached the third level of Qi Refining. At a glance, he could tell that Ye Yu was only at the first level. The boy’s movements appeared several times slower to his eyes.
With a slight turn of his body, Lin Chen easily evaded the attack.
Ye Yu, who had charged too recklessly, nearly stumbled to the ground because he could not stop in time!
Frowning, Ye Yu shouted, “Chengran! Cut him off from behind!”
He refused to believe Lin Chen could defeat several opponents at once. Turning around, he formed a hand seal and directed his iron sword toward Lin Chen.
Lin Chen watched the others close in, his expression unchanged.
His cultivation only appeared to be at the first level of Qi Refining because these people’s realms were too low for them to see through his concealment.
Did they really think they were all at the same level?
Lin Chen halted. The aura around him changed abruptly, and the iron sword controlled by Ye Yu came to a dead stop directly in front of him.
Gathering spiritual energy at his fingertips, Lin Chen lightly caught the blade between two fingers. With the smallest movement, the iron sword snapped in two with a crisp sound.
Ye Yu’s expression changed. The pressure Lin Chen exerted made him retreat two steps involuntarily.
Was this the power of a Heavenly Spiritual Root?
Forcing himself to remain calm, Ye Yu shouted, “Don’t be afraid, everyone! He’s only bluffing! Attack together!”
His words might have sounded convincing if his voice had not been trembling slightly.
Fang Chengran was unnerved by Lin Chen’s display, but they had already decided to challenge him and were halfway through their attack. How could they retreat now?
The two exchanged a glance and struck simultaneously.
A dazzling flurry of sword techniques swept toward Lin Chen in an instant. The force of their assault made nearby competitors hurriedly withdraw for fear of being caught in it.
Seeing this, Lin Chen raised a barrier of spiritual energy before himself.
A first-level Qi Refining cultivator was little stronger than a mortal, apart from having the ability to control objects. Thus, before their sword techniques could even reach him, Lin Chen’s spiritual energy dissolved the attacks.
But Lin Chen had an obvious weakness: he possessed no practical combat experience, and the cultivation technique awarded by his mission had no offensive abilities.
He could only dodge; he could not take the initiative to attack.
Ye Yu and his companion, by contrast, were clearly sons of families that trained in swords and blades. Even wielding ordinary iron swords, they moved with convincing skill.
The fact that Ye Yu had waited until the competition to provoke Lin Chen showed he was not stupid. After several exchanges, he naturally began to notice the problem.
He signaled to Fang Chengran with his eyes, gathered all his spiritual energy beneath his feet, and lunged toward Lin Chen. He moved so quickly that only an afterimage remained.
Fang Chengran used the moment when Lin Chen’s attention was elsewhere to quietly close the distance between them.
Their fight was hardly the only one on the platform. Having lived together for so long, the new disciples had inevitably developed their share of grudges.
Those with grievances settled grievances; those with vendettas took revenge!
Some even resorted to wrestling at close quarters. They were only a step away from tearing one another’s clothes and pulling hair. In no time, the entire platform had descended into chaos.
The supervisors on the dais watched with deeply furrowed brows.
As for Lin Chen, he had just avoided Fang Chengran’s sneak attack when Dabai began shouting indignantly in his sea of consciousness.
[Outnumbering him is bad enough, but now they’re launching sneak attacks? Where’s their martial honor?!]
Prompted by Dabai’s complaint, Lin Chen thought that, in truth, he was not being especially honorable himself.
[I happen to lack practical combat skills. These two aren’t weak, and they can coordinate their attacks. They’re two excellent sparring partners—hard to come by.]
Dabai fell silent.
They see you as their rival, and you see them as practice partners.
Well, what can I say? That’s my Host, all right.
| 师弟 | shīdì | Junior male fellow disciple within a shared teacher’s lineage or sect. Junior status is generally determined by discipleship seniority, not necessarily by biological age. |
| 师兄 | shīxiōng | Senior male fellow disciple within a common master’s lineage or sect. Seniority usually reflects the order of discipleship or sect hierarchy rather than age alone. |
| 师尊 | shīzūn | An honored or revered master. A particularly respectful form of address for a teacher who transmits spiritual, martial, or cultivation teachings; it emphasizes reverence and the formal master–disciple relationship. |
| 古琴 | Gǔqín | Guqin. A plucked seven-string Chinese zither associated with literati music; in this novel it can also appear as a spiritually empowered artifact. |