22.Bad omen
It's the last day before the big competition countdown.
On the top of Tianyun Peak, there is a combat platform where Wang Beixuan and Chen Chu, the two top disciples of Tianyun Peak, are sparring with each other. Many disciples gather around to watch them, and they display their powerful spear techniques and sword skills in their fight, creating strong weapon energy that spreads outwards and causing people to exclaim.
After battling for a long time, the two finally stop and look at each other with a confident smile.
"Congratulations to Senior Brother Wang Beixuan and Senior Brother Chen Chu for their great progress in strength."
All the elite disciples of Tianyun Peak below shout loudly, impressed by this amazing display of skill.
"Well done, it seems that you have lived up to my expectations."
"This year's competition, I'm afraid the head position will still belong to our Tianyun Peak. Looking at the whole outer sect, there aren't many who can truly compete with you."
Luo Qing's face shows a satisfied smile.
"The position of outer sect number one belongs to no one else but us, Tianyun Peak!"
"That little animal Ye Changkong, if he dares to participate in the competition, we will make sure he doesn't come back alive!"
Wang Beixuan's eyes turn cold when he mentions Ye Changkong.
"The mystic-ranked medium-grade Breaking Flame Sword bestowed by Master and the High Flame Blade Technique are perfectly matched with my cultivation method."
Chen Chu lightly waves the red long sword in his hand and says coldly, "If that little animal crosses me, I'll cut him down with one stroke."
On the day of the Qingyun Platform, Ye Changkong made Elder Luo Qing lose face, but Wang Beixuan and Chen Chu not only received significant rewards from Luo Qing, but also personally taught by him during these ten days. Their strength has made great leaps forward, and they are full of confidence for this year's competition.
"Don't worry about that little animal, he is destined not to survive until the end of the competition."
"It's not just me who wants to deal with him, even the four outstanding disciples in the inner sect have given their trusted subordinates a reward and guidance over these few days."
Luo Qing's face becomes slightly solemn as he reminds them, "Your real opponents are not him, but Qin Yi from the Enforcement Hall, Su Hao from Diyun Peak, and Xu Qing from other places. If you meet them, you must not be careless."
"Yes, Elder."
Wang Beixuan and Chen Chu immediately nod in agreement, filled with fighting spirit. They are determined to win the first place in the outer sect competition.
As the number one peak in the outer sect, Tianyun Peak's position was earned through real battles over the past three years' competition. Now, Wang Beixuan and Chen Chu are the ones who have the best chance to win the championship this year.
Despite his arrogance, Luo Qing is indeed an excellent teacher when it comes to teaching his disciples.
On the last day before the competition, countless outer sect disciples are eager to show their skills and waiting for tomorrow to come. However, there are also many who feel panic because of the competition, such as those who have low cultivation or have poor results in the previous two competitions. These people will be eliminated by the sect if they fail to rank in the top five thousand for two consecutive competitions, and can either choose to leave Qingyun Sect or become a steward of the miscellaneous peak.
Zhang Fan, the cousin of Zhang Tie who was killed by Ye Changkong, was one of the outer sect disciples who was eliminated.
On July 15th, the outer sect competition of Qingyun Sect was grandly held, and various forces under its jurisdiction were invited to watch. It is a means of showing the sect's authority by having young disciples compete with each other.
This is an event that is highly anticipated by everyone in the sect, and it is also a grand event of Qingyun Sect every year.
At dawn, there was already a large group of outer sect disciples gathered on the combat field, including Wang Beixuan, Chen Chu, Qin Yi, Su Hao, Xu Qing, etc., who were recognized as the most powerful.
Ye Changkong, as a new disciple, had once witnessed such an event when he was still a steward. Now, he waits patiently among the crowd, feeling excited about his new identity as a participant.
There are eighty combat platforms in the field, each with a diameter of hundreds of meters and made of extremely hard mountain iron stone. This material's hardness is more than ten times that of ordinary rocks, making it difficult for ordinary pulse-realm martial artists to break open.
As time passes, more and more disciples gather on the field, and the scene becomes increasingly crowded. As far as the eye can see, there is a huge black mass of people.
Although Qingyun Sect claims to have 100,000 disciples, including over 20,000 stewards and over 60,000 outer sect disciples, today all of them have gathered here, making it a spectacle.
After a while, a loud voice breaks the silence: "The outer sect competition of Qingyun Sect is about to begin! All outer sect stewards, disciples, and enforcement personnel, please take your positions immediately!"
The voice comes from Elder Wang Zhen, who stands at the highest viewing platform of the combat field, announcing the beginning of the competition. Immediately, the noisy voices in the field calm down, and all eyes are directed at Elder Wang.
Then, Wang Zhen introduces the rules of the competition, which is almost the same as the one Yang Yiyi told Ye Changkong about. The uninformed disciples in the crowd start to discuss with each other.
Ye Changkong, in the sea of people, suddenly felt countless hostile gazes.
"The first round, ten wins to advance to the second round, ten losses to be expelled from the Sect."
"Now, the elders and supervisors will divide the outer Sect disciples into groups for the outer Sect competition."
As Wang Zhen's words fell, three supervisors from the outer Sect stepped onto each of the forty-nine fighting platforms. Under the charge of a supervisor, they recorded and distributed the corresponding match cards to each fighter.
All the elder supervisors stood on the high platform where Wang Zhen was, watching everything that was happening below.
Those who were able to stand on the high platform were all the upper echelons of the outer Sect, who had absolute power and status within the Sect.
Among them, an elder supervisor had an extremely sharp gaze. Among so many disciples, he immediately spotted Ye Changkong's figure and sneered coldly.
He was none other than Luo Qing, the presiding supervisor of Tianyun Peak!
Ye Changkong, who was crowded in the crowd, immediately felt the cold gaze. His expression sank slightly, and he stared back with a fierce fighting spirit in his eyes.
"Humph," Luo Qing snorted coldly. The chill in his eyes dissipated, and he looked at Ye Changkong as if he were looking at a dead man.
The outer Sect competition was not something that only he wanted to deal with Ye Changkong. It was not even certain whether he could make it past the first round. There was no need for him to quarrel with a dead man.
In addition to Luo Qing, there was another person silently paying attention to Ye Changkong on the high platform.
Elder Supervisor Wang Zhen was also deeply impressed by Ye Changkong. Under such circumstances, if Ye Changkong could kill his way out, he would become someone in the future.
Wang Zhen was highly respected in the outer Sect, and his eyes for selecting disciples were especially sharp.
Although Ye Changkong had refused to enter the Law Enforcement Hall that day, Wang Zhen still had a good opinion of him.
"Chen Xueyao from Yunmen Peak has been assigned to the seventh fighting platform. I hope I won't be assigned to fight her; otherwise, I'm in for bad luck."
The nearby crowd suddenly buzzed, and many people's gazes fell on a woman dressed in blue. Ye Changkong's gaze froze.
Was she Chen Xueyao?
She was the number one disciple of Yunmen Peak, and was highly regarded by the four big pests, especially Liu Yan.
"She has six levels of Qi Refinement, is skilled in using swords, and all her cultivation methods and martial arts are of the ice element. She is called the Snow Maiden by the outer Sect."
Ye Changkong took a deep breath, feeling a sense of threat from Chen Xueyao.
His mind couldn't help but ponder. From the momentum alone, it was impossible to determine whether Chen Xueyao was more powerful or if the other outer Sect disciples with the loudest voices like Wang Beixuan, Chen Chu, Qin Yi, Xu Qing, and Su Hao were stronger.
In such a competition, it was not an easy task to achieve outstanding results.
"But of all the outer Sect disciples, only they can truly become my rivals."
Ye Changkong's eyes glinted with determination, and his fighting spirit boiled in his chest.
Each fighting platform continued to match up fighters.
This type of distribution was completely random. Each supervisor on each platform had a list of names, and a random selection was made based on the list, followed by the distribution of fighter names by another three supervisors.
More than fifty thousand outer Sect disciples were divided into forty-nine fighting platforms, with about a thousand disciples per platform. They were then randomly paired for battles.
Under the clear division of labor and cooperation of the supervisors on each platform, the massive workload proceeded orderly.
Finally, Ye Changkong found his name in the list of fighters announced on the seventh platform.
In order of rank, he stepped onto the seventh fighting platform and then detailed his information before receiving a numbered jade card from the supervisor on the platform.
"Ye Changkong, seventh fighting platform, number 144!"
The supervisor who distributed the jade card immediately shouted, and another supervisor beside him recorded it in the book.
"Haha, he's so unlucky to have drawn such a bad number."
"This guy is in big trouble; he may even meet Chen Xueyao in the first round."
The outer Sect disciples who were waiting in line to draw numbers at the bottom of the platform burst into gloating laughter.
Standing at the bottom of the platform, Chen Xueyao, who had already drawn her number, exuded a chill that made all the surrounding disciples retreat.
The elite disciples of Tianyun Peak who were keeping an eye on Ye Changkong's movements also sighed inwardly that he was lucky enough not to be assigned to their fighting platform.
All kinds of sounds mixed together, making it very noisy.
"144, he's going todie miserably. It's a bad omen."
Ye Changkong couldn't help but smile wryly while collecting the numbered jade card. He ignored all the ridicule around him and turned around to wait at the bottom of the platform.
Soon, all the personnel lists for each fighting platform were confirmed, and the supervisors on each platform began to assign personal match schedules and names.
"The first match of Platform Seven: fighter 15 vs 157."
"The second match: fighter 5 vs 6."
Ye Changkong and all the other fighters on the seventh fighting platform stood at the bottom of the platform, carefully listening.
The specific match numbers were completely randomly generated by these supervisors, and they did not know which number corresponded to each outer Sect disciple.
"The ninth match, fighter 144 vs fighter 669!"
...