Chapter 16: Rewards and Selection, Sect Quota

The deafening cheers surged like a tide and lasted for a long time.

On the stage, Ye Li stood alone. Sunlight shone on her slightly frail yet erect frame, gilding her with a golden halo. Her washed-out, faded clothes were no longer a symbol of shabbiness, but instead a symbol of a comeback and legend.

Countless eyes were focused on her, filled with fanaticism, awe, admiration, jealousy, and an indescribable complexity. With her undisputed strength, she swept through the competition, ultimately reaching the top, breaking the long-standing monopoly of the direct descendants on the championship, and creating an unprecedented miracle in the history of the Ye family!

On the podium, all the elders, led by Patriarch Ye Tian, ​​had stood up. Their expressions varied, but without exception, they all had to look directly at the young girl below.

Ye Tian looked at Ye Li with a deep gaze and spoke slowly. His voice, enhanced by his spiritual power, carried clearly throughout the entire venue, suppressing all the noise: "This family competition is now over. Winners, come forward to receive your prize!"

The deacon sang loudly and announced the final rankings.

"Champion, Ye Li!"

"Runner-up, Yeshi!"

"Third place winner, Ye Yu (another direct descendant who lost in the semi-finals)."

Ye Shi and the direct descendant named Ye Yu were the first to take the stage. Ye Shi looked calm and bowed to Ye Li again to express his admiration. Ye Yu, on the other hand, looked uneasy and evasive, clearly still recovering from the scandal of Ye Feng's use of the poison needle and his own defeat.

Finally, all eyes were on the champion.

Ye Li walked step by step to the front of the ring, facing the platform.

Ye Tian looked at her with a complicated expression. After a moment's silence, he said, "Ye Li, you have performed exceptionally well and brought honor to the family. As per tradition, the champion will receive: one hundred low-grade spirit stones, ten bottles of first-grade body-tempering pills, and access to the family treasury, where they can choose one human-grade, high-grade weapon or an item of equivalent value."

Generous rewards! Envious exclamations echoed from the audience. One hundred low-grade spirit stones and ten bottles of body-hardening pills—for ordinary disciples, this was an astronomical sum! Not to mention the chance to choose any human-grade, high-grade weapon!

Yet, Ye Li's expression remained calm, as if she had heard nothing more than an ordinary thing. She bowed slightly, her voice clear and calm, "Thank you, Patriarch. Weapons and elixirs are indeed precious, but I dare to ask if I could trade my chance to enter the treasury and select weapons for something else?"

When these words were spoken, the whole audience was stunned.

Why would you leave a ready-made human-grade, top-grade weapon behind and exchange it for something else? Besides weapons, what else in the treasury could be more valuable than this?

The elders on the platform also expressed surprise. Third Elder Ye Lang couldn't help but snort, "You don't know your place! Human-grade, top-tier weapons are so precious, how can they be compared to other miscellaneous items? Do you think there are even Earth-grade treasures in the treasury?" He was frustrated by Ye Feng's situation and couldn't help but scoff.

The great elder Ye Xiao frowned and looked at Ye Li: "What do you want?"

Ye Li raised his head, his eyes calm. "Disciple, I only need to enter the treasury and take a look. If there is something that suits my eyes, I will choose it. If not, it will not be too late to choose a weapon. I also ask for the approval of the Patriarch and the elders."

Her words were neither humble nor arrogant, but carried an inexplicable confidence.

Ye Tian looked at her deeply. This girl had repeatedly surprised him. He waved his hand, "Alright. I'll let you go to the treasury and choose. I hope you won't regret it."

"Thank you, Patriarch!" Ye Li bowed again.

The awards ceremony continued. Ye Shi chose a heavy, top-grade, human-grade axe, perfectly suited to his martial arts. Ye Yu chose a longsword gleaming with cold light.

When it was Ye Li's turn to receive the spirit stones and pills, she simply took them calmly and put them into an ordinary cloth bag that had been prepared long ago, without much joy.

The final highlight is the announcement of those who are qualified to be recommended to participate in the "Xuanyun Sect" selection.

The deacon read out the list loudly: "Based on the final rankings and comprehensive evaluation of the competition, the candidates who have been recommended are as follows: Ye Li, Ye Shi, Ye Yu, Ye Feng (qualification is pending and will be discussed after punishment), Ye Ming..."

There were five spots in total. Ye Li, due to her status as champion, was undisputedly ranked first!

When she heard her own name, a slight ripple finally appeared in Ye Li's calm eyes.

Xuanyun Sect!

This was her ultimate goal in participating in this competition! Only by joining a sect could she receive more systematic training, richer resources, and a broader stage, allowing her to improve her strength more quickly, pursue the secrets of the Samsara Mirror, and... settle past life grudges!

The goal of the next stage is clearly presented before our eyes.

The award ceremony ended and everyone dispersed, but the discussion about Ye Li would continue for a long time.

Ye Li did not delay and, led by a steward, went straight to the Ye family treasury.

The Ye family's treasury was located in a strategic location within the clan, under guard. After presenting the patriarch's warrant, the heavy iron gate slowly swung open, revealing the dazzling array of treasures within.

The shelves were filled with a variety of weapons, gleaming with cold light and emitting clear spiritual energy fluctuations. Most of them were of the middle and upper grades of the human rank. There were also areas for elixirs, medicinal herbs, ores, and other miscellaneous items.

The steward who led the way introduced: "Miss Ye Li, you can choose any human-grade top-grade weapon here, or an item of comparable value. The time limit is one stick of incense."

Ye Li nodded, her eyes quickly scanning the weapons area. Swords, spears, halberds, axes, halberds, hooks, and forks—all exquisitely crafted—but she simply glanced at them and paid no more attention. While these weapons were fine, they weren't entirely suited to her style, and they would need replacing soon as her cultivation level improved.

These were not her goals from the beginning.

She walked towards the miscellaneous items. The items here were clearly less prized than those in the weapons and elixirs area. They were covered in dust and looked disorganized. There were broken jade pendants, rusted metal blocks, some strange artifacts of unknown use, and a few tattered books.

When the steward saw this, a hint of confusion and contempt flashed in his eyes, but he didn't say much.

Ye Li's spiritual power slowly spread out, carefully sensing these "junk items." Most of them were devoid of spiritual energy, mere mundane objects. But when she reached a wooden box in the corner where ore was stored, the fragment of the Samsara Mirror deep within her soul trembled ever so slightly!

There is a reaction!

She suppressed her excitement, squatted down, and carefully looked at the minerals of various shapes and colors.

Most of it was still ordinary ore. But when her fingers touched a fist-sized piece of gray, unremarkable ore, even with many honeycomb-like holes on its surface, the throbbing of the Samsara Mirror became noticeably clearer!

That's it!

She picked up the ore; it felt quite heavy, far heavier than iron ore of the same size. A closer look revealed a subtle, silent, and cold energy emanating from within, one that would have been completely undetectable without the Samsara Mirror.

"What kind of ore is this?" she asked casually.

The steward came over to take a look and frowned. "This... I don't know where it came from, it's been here for a long time. It looks like some kind of low-quality associated ore. It's useless, not even suitable for refining weapons, it's too brittle. Miss, you should choose a weapon, this broken stone..."

Ye Li seemed oblivious to his suggestion and glanced at a nearby bookshelf, where a few old, neglected books lay scattered about. She casually picked up an ancient book bound in animal hide. The cover was blank, but the writing inside was in a very ancient, often incomplete, font. It seemed to be a notebook on the basics of formations or runes, but the content was so fragmented that no one could understand it, let alone practice with it.

However, Ye Li only took a cursory glance and was shocked! She had seen this font in some ancient ruins in her previous life! The incomplete rune structures recorded in this notebook seemed simple, but they contained extremely profound basic principles, even touching on the surface of space formations! Its value far exceeded those of those human-level techniques!

"I want this piece of ore and this notebook." Ye Li stood up, his tone calm but unquestionable.

"What?" The steward thought he had misheard. "Miss, are you...are you sure? This broken stone and this unwanted book? This...they are not even worth a low-grade human-level weapon combined! You are the champion, you can choose a high-grade human-level weapon..."

"I'm sure." Ye Li interrupted him, looking at him calmly, "These are it."

The steward opened his mouth, looked into Ye Li's calm yet resolute eyes, and finally swallowed his words of persuasion, muttering, "I really... don't understand." He took out a booklet and registered: "Ye Li, receive a piece of unnamed ore and a copy of the unnamed torn notebook."

After completing the formalities, Ye Li walked out of the treasure house with the heavy ore and the ancient notebook.

The sunlight outside the door is glaring.

She looked down at the two "inconspicuous" gains in her hands, and a slight smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

Others thought she'd lost out, but she knew only she knew the value of these two items far exceeded the so-called human-grade, top-grade weapon by a hundred times! The cold energy contained in the ore might be useful for cultivating the "Youhuan Emperor Scripture" or refining a special artifact. And that notebook was an invaluable treasure, containing formation runes and an extremely important aid on the path of cultivation!

More importantly, these two things may be related to her future path, or even the secret of the Samsara Mirror.

The harvest was fruitful.

She raised her head and looked into the distance, as if she had already seen the higher and farther stage - Xuanyun Sect.

She must participate in the sect selection!

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