Although the competition was conducted in a bizarre manner, it did not have much impact on Gu Yifeng. Even without the two external avatars, Gu Er and Gu San, he was still capable of easily defeating all the outer disciples.
After exchanging pleasantries with Xuan Che and the other three, he stayed alone in the cave. Because of their strength, the four of them had long been accepted into the inner sect by the Valley Master Zhuang Qingqian and served as guest elders.
Therefore, only Gu Yifeng participated in this competition.
He wasted no time and began cultivating directly in his cave, quietly waiting for the inner sect competition five days later.
...
Five days passed quickly. Early the next morning, a young boy came and led Gu Yifeng to the outer sect square, where many outer sect disciples had gathered. The outer sect elder stood quietly on the high platform of the square, waiting for everyone.
Another hour later, almost all the outer disciples had gathered. The Grand Elder waved his sleeve, and a streak of spiritual energy flew out, instantly striking the ancient bronze bell behind him. The sound of the bell echoed, and the square immediately fell silent.
"Everyone, today is the day of the Inner Sect Competition. Everyone is welcome to register and participate, regardless of their years of membership. Participants should remain in the plaza, and spectators should leave the plaza area."
The elder spoke loudly to the crowd.
The moment the words fell, everyone sprang into action. Eighty percent of the outer disciples remained, while the remaining twenty percent were mostly disciples who had joined the sect in the last two years, some of whom were only at the early stage of the Condensation Realm and had no chance of winning the battle.
Gu Yifeng was the only exception, because he had already shown his talent during the disciple recruitment ceremony and had been quietly included in this year's dark horse list. Besides him, there were three other dark horses in the outer sect.
There is one senior disciple from the outer sect, Chang Yu. In addition, there are two others who are away from home most of the year: one is the senior sister, Chang Qing, and the other is the second junior brother, Chang Zhong.
All three have trump cards. Currently, the one with the highest cultivation level is Chang Yu, who is at the half-step Taixu realm. Gu Yifeng could sense the aura of the three from the crowd at a glance, and it was definitely not comparable to the half-step Taixu realm.
"Very well, now that everyone has made their decision, let's cut to the chase and begin the first battle. One hour of practice, everyone do your best."
The elder chuckled and waved his sleeves again, instantly raising four arenas on the plaza. These arenas were enveloped in mysterious formations, and the next moment, everyone was randomly teleported to one of the four arenas.
Gu Yifeng glanced around, but didn't rush to make a move. He simply looked around and, sure enough, there was no sign of Chang Yu and the other two. It seemed like a random teleportation, but there was still room for manipulation.
These four dark horses were deliberately spaced out in their first battle, separated into different battlefields.
Another bell rang, and the inner sect competition officially began. At the same time, the four arenas erupted with a sea of spiritual energy. As expected, on the arena where Gu Yifeng was located, attacks from all directions flew towards him.
It's not that we're looking down on him, but because in terms of status, Gu Yifeng is clearly inferior to Chang Yu and the other three, so naturally we want to kick this strongest dark horse out of the game first.
“The magic of talismans, return to your origin.”
Gu Yifeng murmured, then with a slight lift of his right hand, he drew hundreds of runes, which instantly took shape. Once activated by spiritual energy, they transformed into a protective shield that enveloped the runes.
Immediately, everyone's spiritual energy attacks surged forth, instantly colliding with the mirror shield. These attacks vanished like stones sinking into the sea, disappearing in an instant. Before anyone could even react, thousands of attacks returned once more.
Many people didn't have time to react before being blasted out of the ring and eliminated by Gu Yifeng's counterattack.
"Talismanic spell, Fire Meteor."
Gu Yifeng was too lazy to argue, as an hour was too much of a waste of time. He drew another rune, and the spirit seal talisman took shape. It was activated in an instant, directly summoning a huge black meteor in mid-air, with black flame tail wings hanging behind it.
The meteor crashed into the arena, and the huge shockwave spread out, causing the array on the arena to fluctuate. It took a full incense stick's time for the terrifying aura to slowly dissipate.
"The battle of Arena A has ended. There is one person remaining. Outer disciple Gu Yi has advanced to the second round."
The elder shouted and turned his gaze to the remaining three arenas. Chang Yu and the other two relaxed and waited for the others to finish their matches before they made their move.
"If you three keep standing by, I'll personally tear you apart!"
The elder cursed angrily, his face full of disappointment towards his three disciples. Upon hearing this, the three of them sprang into action, following his example and unleashing their ultimate moves to clear the arena, thus ending their battles in the shortest possible time.
Little did they know that Gu Yifeng simply used his most familiar move to clear the arena.
The segment, which was originally supposed to have 64 participants, ended up with only 48 people remaining due to Gu Yifeng's violent aesthetics.
The arena competition was originally supposed to be a free team-up event, but the Grand Elder changed his mind at the last minute and drew lots on the spot to form teams for everyone. Gu Yifeng's team was directly paired with three beginners in the mid-stage of the Condensation Realm.
Chang Yu and the other two were in no better shape, each accompanied by several ordinary disciples. Clearly, this was a result deliberately set up by the Grand Elder, and the four of them did not object in the slightest. Now they could only bow their heads and accept it.
The second round of the challenge began immediately. Forty-eight people were divided into twelve teams, and the competition was conducted by random draw. Unsurprisingly, the four-person teams were separated again, and one person directly faced four opponents, leading the team to break through the encirclement.
In the final stage, the Grand Elder, contrary to his usual practice, directly teamed the four together. Clearly, only four people would likely advance in this competition. However, the process still had to be followed, and the remaining members of the group had to work together to disrupt the four's teamwork.
"I'll be the medicine apprentice; leave the tasks of heating the stove and refining the medicine to me."
Gu Yifeng looked at the four people and volunteered without hesitation.
Chang Yu took over the position of alchemist, while Chang Qing and Chang Zhong naturally became his protectors.
With the Grand Elder's order, the final step began. Chang Yu started refining the Rank 6 Spirit Control Pill. This pill has a simple effect: it can directly establish a connection with a Spirit Condensation Realm demon beast, subdue it, and form a contract with it.
However, the simpler and more direct the medicinal effect, the more complicated the refining process. Without any mistakes, an hour is just enough to complete the refining process, and it is difficult to complete it if there are other distractions.
Gu Yifeng remained unfazed, his black flames creating afterimages as he swung them. The original steps required for refining and purifying the herbs were reduced by one-tenth, and most of the herbs were directly refined into essences through his hands.
The remaining eight disciples on the side kept using their moves, but they were all blocked by Chang Qing and his companion.
"The Talisman, the Thunder Emperor has summoned me."
Gu Yifeng gave a soft shout, his hand movements paused for a moment, and then a talisman flew out from his sleeve, instantly turning into lightning and striking a shadow not far away. A disciple had no choice but to crawl out and barely avoid the lightning.
"Fire Dance!"
Seeing this, Chang Qing felt a competitive urge and also let out a low shout. A layer of flames spread out from his body, turning into lotus flowers that danced in the air, clearing out the four attackers who were flying backward.
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