14 Back At The Sect
Lu Yan has left the sect for a few months. In this time Liu Fang and Guo Feng surprisingly has made a breakthrough to the 6th level of Body Refining Stage. This is especially shocking for Guo Feng. Since everybody know Liu Fang can get pills and other potions from her family, while Guo Feng has none. Without any potions and be able to make such breakthrough in short time is something unheard of in this world.
For the applicants to become Wing Sect inner disciples there are 3 other applicants that has already at the 6th level. There is even one that already reach the 7th level, which Guo Feng somehow manage to antagonize. However, all of them are far older than both Liu Fang and Guo Feng.
As the test held 3 years ago last time the applicants skyrocketed this time. With this big commotion around Lu Yan absence is quickly forgotten. Outer sect disciples can leave the sect anytime they want, usually they report their absence out of courtesy. However even then no one will make an investigation upon a mere Lu Yan. Sure, run from a task is a crime but Mo Jia never reported him anyway, so nobody asks more question about him all this time.
The only person to even remotely worried about him in the sect is probably Xiu Ling. When Lu Yan finally arrive at the sect he visits her and give some explanation. Of course, the fact that he met a God is kept hidden.
He tells the story of how Yan Rui try to kill him though and how he fell to the gorge. He said that he is injured until a great cultivator whose name he doesn't know rescue him. Beside heal his injuries this savior of his also give him some pills and pointers to help him cultivate. This of course not entirely a lie, Lu Yan just chance a God word with cultivator and of course keep more detail to himself.
Lu Yan anger over Yan Rui has actually subsided long time ago. However, when telling the story over he remembered that moment again and his anger lit up once more. Xiu Ling are enrage as well hearing this, how can someone totally oblivious about other people like Yan Rui does. She is however glad Lu Yan survive and even got some fortune in the process. Xiu Ling is truly a rare genuine person, Lu Yan is grateful to have her as a friend.
Lu Yan know from the words around that Yan Rui challenge in the arena are still valid. However, the man himself is on a secluded meditation for some time. Lu Yan has to find a better way to exact his revenge than an arena.
The test to become an inner disciple it is. Lu Yan has heard of the rule regarding it. There is no limit of how many people accepted. It is not a tournament but rather a test. Outer sect disciples are going to finish various tests to collect points. As long as their points able to reach the minimum quota needed they will be qualified as the inner sect disciples. With this knowledge in mind, this time Lu Yan is the one issuing the challenge to Yan Rui.
There is a huge board near the arena which used to make announcement or challenge. Yan Rui challenge still even after a few months. Lu Yan take it off and replace it with his own challenge. The challenge to get better score in the test. Whoever score lower even though they qualified to become an inner circle disciple will have to withdraw.
This challenge implication is huge. For some people Lu Yan is crazy to make this challenge, since Yan Rui is from a noble family. So, no matter what happen he still able cultivate father, whereas Lu Yan will seal his future if he failed.
On the other way to view things up, Yan Rui is the one with disadvantage if this bet materializes. Since Lu Yan has nothing to lose, most people believe he never has a chance to qualified anyway. So, he just throws the challenge away hoping for the lady luck to smile upon him. For Yan Rui even though he came from a rich Yan family, they still have limited amount of resources. How many can they squandered for someone who failed a simple test to become an inner sect disciple.
Lu Yan never care about any of those point of view. He knows for sure Yan Rui will accept his challenge. He has challenge Lu Yan beforehand and while Lu Yan never accept the challenge, he never rejected it as well. In this circumstance however, those challenge is hard to be completed since their focus has laid on the test. Lu Yan new challenge is the closest competition they can get. If Yan Rui refuse this challenge there is only one conclusion people will give to him. He scared off Lu Yan.
For an arrogant rich guy like him there is nothing scarier than losing face. Scared of a nobody that he challenges earlier is just such a big humiliation Yan Rui won't be able to handle. Lu Yan is not the only one know about this. For the majority of the Wing Sect disciples this challenge is already accepted and the rest just not bother at all with this drama.
There is one other thing that Lu Yan sure off. That he is going to win this challenge. This one fact is however is not shared with others. Even Xiu Ling as his closest friend in the sect is unsure about this. She has tried her best to stop Lu Yan making this challenge, since she doesn't think Lu Yan have a chance to win. Even when she knew that Lu Yan has a massive leap in this cultivation, there got to be a limit for a such leap in a few months.
Lu Yan confidence is not come out of nowhere, he has done the fight before and actually win it. Beside that reason he has three other reason to back up his confidence.
First of it is raw strength. As of now Lu Yan sure he is physically better than Yan Rui, in which on their first encounter it was the other way around. Sure, Yan Rui will be improved as well, 10 percent or 20 percent at most. Far from enough to catch up with his own progress.
Second is his understanding of the Wing Sect techniques. While revising the techniques, the God also pointing all the flaws of it before. With that Lu Yan himself has generate the way to take full advantages of those flaws. Too bad there is no duel in the tests they will have to do, however Lu Yan sure that this duel is something inescapable between both of them.
His third card is the element of surprise. Most people will shrug this off as unimportant. However, this is the reason Lu Yan able to beat Yan Rui before. This time his element of surprise will be even stronger. Yan Rui has been underestimated him before, with his personality he will do the exact same thing. Not to mention Lu Yan out of this world progress just now.
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The test is consisting of few sections which all have the same of maximum scores except the last one, which is unlimited. This is the test to hunt demonic beasts at the Demonic Valley, the score surely counted by how many beasts they can slay. Each beast has their own score based to how dangerous they are as well. Even though there is actually possible to passed the whole test just doing this one test, it practically is impossible.
In the spare of one day even tracking that many of beasts is hard enough. Of course, they also have to battle them and rest afterwards before continue their hunts. For a great hunter however, it is possible to get the amount of two or three perfect scores of the other tests. That is why this last test is extremely important.
Even with his confidence Lu Yan is not going into this test recklessly. Especially since he already made a challenge out of it. Information is half of winning, so to do it he has to gather as much information as possible.
This kind of information is not free. Since Lu Yan doesn't have any money now he has to give a promise instead. His first distributed potions will go for the man provided the information. This inner sect disciple gives him the scoring system beforehand. Most importantly the type of beasts that inhabited the region and the point each them counted for. All that including their weaknesses and maps of the area.
Even after all of those things the inner disciple still think he got a good bargain, since those potions are pretty expensive. Especially the first ration they got is usually have more than the routine rations given every month.
Most people will bargain their second month ration to be exchanged with the information. Lu Yan however not bother about this very much. He never needs those potions anyway since he has plenty of more potent potions right now. His lavish attitude has earned him more detail information that might be useful later on.
