Qing Ya Zi walked cheerfully to the four elders, cracking a joke.
Upon seeing the old man in the green robe, the elders quickly bowed in greeting.
Elder Situ Yu of the Wind Department smiled and said frankly, "It's truly a blessing for the Qingmu Sect that the Sect Master is alright."
"Don't mention it, I almost got torn apart trying to get that one spot," Qing Ya Zi teased, then, remembering the approaching election, he immediately changed the subject, reminding Chu Wei, "Let's put aside our idle chatter for now, Elder Chu, announce the start of the competition!"
Elder Chu nodded, turned to face the sect square, and amplified his voice with his battle qi: "The inner disciple election now begins!"
Following Elder Chu's announcement, virtual secret realm arenas rose into the air. All the outer disciples would then showcase their talents on these arenas, vying for a place in the inner sect.
Yang Shou stared intently at these secret realm arenas, his long-dormant passion rekindling. He clenched his fists, his battle qi flowing rapidly through his meridians.
On the stands, the five high-ranking members of the Qingmu Sect were all seated.
Following them were invited forces, including the Golden Goose Sect, the Steel Bone Sect, the Luoyan Empire's royal family, and Canaan Academy. Among them, Canaan
Academy had the most powerful background.
Canaan Academy sent an elder at the Dou Huang level to observe, a truly impressive display.
On one hand, Sect Master Qing Ya Zi and the outer academy's vice-dean Hu Qian were old friends with a close personal relationship; on the other hand, many of the Qingmu Sect's talented inner disciples had studied at Canaan Academy, and the two forces had frequent interactions.
On the day of selecting inner disciples, Canaan Academy naturally sent a powerful figure to support them.
Of course, these super forces were still far from Yang Shou's level of Great Dou Shi, so they were not discussed further.
Yang Shou stood above the plaza, waiting for the steward to call his name.
Many outer disciples had already taken to the stage to compete, their various fighting techniques dazzling the eye.
He glanced around and saw that most of the outer disciples were at the level of a one-star Great Dou Master, with only a few geniuses possessing the strength of a two-star Great Dou Master. Based on his own assessment of his strength, Yang Shou felt that defeating a two-star Great Dou Master was a piece of cake.
In fact, back when he was a nine-star Dou Master, he could still fight a one-star Great Dou Master to a standstill with his Tai Chi Fist.
After all, without a foundation of strength, no matter how good one's interpersonal relationships are, one cannot become the senior disciple of the outer sect.
Realizing that he had been somewhat distracted, Yang Shou snapped back to reality and focused his gaze on a fighting arena in the air.
In the center of the arena, Zhao Kuo was already engaged in combat with a one-star Great Dou Master.
After only a few glances, Yang Shou lost interest. His unlucky junior brother couldn't even force Zhao Kuo to unleash his Savage Bear Transformation, so the outcome was self-evident.
Sure enough, his unfortunate junior brother lost his focus and was stunned by Zhao Kuo's iron fist, losing his right to fight.
After the duel ended, the arena would automatically descend, and the loser would be led away by the supervising deacon, while the victorious disciple would remain on the arena to await the next match.
Yang Shou, amidst the crowd, listened to the cheers and whispers around him, eagerly anticipating his turn.
Suddenly, a mocking voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Let me see who it is. It's Senior Brother, huh? Senior Brother, how many years have you been here? Since you can't enter the inner sect, you might as well just leave the sect."
The sarcastic words made Yang Shou frown slightly. He looked in the direction of the voice and immediately understood.
"Chen Jing, whether I come or not is none of your business. Instead of meddling, you should think about how to advance to the inner sect." Yang Shou retorted sarcastically, "Since when do defeated opponents start spouting nonsense?"
Chen Jing snorted coldly, his face slightly contorted, "I've already broken through to the second-star Great Dou Master. Defeating you now is as easy as crushing an ant."
With that, Chen Jing unleashed his Dou Qi without restraint, displaying his imposing manner.
On the other side, Yang Shou looked at Chen Jing with a mocking expression. He found that although the former's fighting spirit was strong, his foundation was shallow and weak. He was probably a two-star Grand Dou Master who had been built up with pills. Such a fool who would rather show off in front of others than have a future was not worth paying attention to.
Enraged by Yang Shou's disdain, Chen Jing's face darkened horribly as he uttered a harsh threat: "When you're demoted by the sect, who will protect you then?"
Faced with Chen Jing's threat, Yang Shou's smile vanished, replaced by indifference.
Just then,
"Yang Shou!"
"Chen Jing!"
Yang Shou sighed inwardly, convinced of his incredible luck.
He was now certain he was playing the "trash-to-hero" role, with Chen Jing merely a stepping stone.
Upon hearing of his impending duel with Yang Shou, Chen Jing's smile became undisguised. He strode onto the arena, looking down at Yang Shou as if he had already won.
Ignoring the provocation, Yang Shou lightly touched the ground with his toes, landing with astonishing speed in the center of the arena, unleashing the aura of a Great Dou Master.
The disciples below were astonished; they hadn't expected their senior brother, Yang, who had cultivated diligently for fifteen years, to have crossed that barrier.
"Do you think Senior Brother Yang is better, or Senior Brother Chen will win?"
"Senior Brother Chen has already broken through to the second-star Great Dou Shi, while Senior Brother Yang is only at the first star. It's obvious to a fool who's stronger."
"Senior Brother Yang probably won't win!"
Although Chen Jing's talent wasn't top-tier among the outer disciples, more people favored him over Yang Shou.
"Chen Jing, you couldn't beat me when you were a Dou Shi, now that you're a Great Dou Shi, do you think you still have a chance?" Yang Shou said with a playful smile.
Chen Jing looked embarrassed. He was also a little unsure of himself at this moment, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "Enough talk, take this!"
In an instant, Chen Jing moved. He was good at offense as he cultivated fire-attribute fighting techniques. With a wave of his hand, scarlet fighting energy emanated and slowly condensed into a fierce lion's head, roaring as it hurtled towards Yang Shou.
"It's Senior Brother Chen's Raging Lion Flaming Fist, a low-level Xuan-rank fighting technique. He used a killing move right from the start, giving Senior Brother Yang no chance at all." A sharp-eyed disciple below the stage recognized Chen Jing's fighting technique and exclaimed in surprise.
"It's over, Senior Brother Yang is in trouble!"
In the arena, Chen Jing unleashed a powerful attack at the outset, and Yang Shou naturally wouldn't underestimate him. His muscles subtly tensed, and gray wood-attribute fighting qi surged forth from his body, condensing into a fighting qi armor.
Yang Shou lowered his body, feigning a defensive stance to receive Chen Jing's attack, secretly gathering power to use the Yang Fist of Tai Chi Yin-Yang Fist—a method of combining strength and softness—to absorb the opponent's fighting qi while receiving the Raging Lion Flaming Fist, converting it into his own.
In the blink of an eye, Chen Jing's Raging Lion Flaming Fist was upon him, about to severely injure Yang Shou.
The scorching heat enveloped Yang Shou, even the air felt scorching.
"Why hasn't Senior Brother Yang reacted yet?"
"Has he been scared silly?"
Many outer disciples discussed amongst themselves.
At this moment, Yang Shou was completely focused on observing Chen Jing's fist techniques, searching for the weakest point to strike.
Finally, just as the lion's head, brimming with surging battle energy, was about to devour him, Yang Shou reacted, lowering his arms, sinking his shoulders, and dropping his elbows.
With a resounding crash ,
the lion's head struck, and smoke billowed everywhere.
(End of Chapter)