Chapter 45 : The Competition Approaches
Three days passed quickly, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
These three days before the sect competition were crucial for ordinary disciples. Outer Sect disciples aspired to join the Inner Sect, Inner Sect disciples sought to take masters, and those who already had masters competed for greater benefits. Everyone struggled to improve themselves at this final juncture, desperately striving for breakthroughs. Among all disciples, perhaps only the senior disciples of each peak could remain comfortably unconcerned.
As Mount Mingxia's Senior Sister, Yun Qingyue's cultivation level was unparalleled among her peers—only the senior disciples of other peaks could be mentioned in the same breath as her. Naturally, she wasn't worried about being surpassed by her junior brothers and sisters during the sect competition.
She continued cultivating as usual, methodically and in good order. The only addition to her routine was guiding the little white tiger's cultivation.
The white tiger truly lived up to its status as a divine beast. Even with its realm diminished and divine powers lost, its innate mastery of metal-attribute spells remained far beyond what others could achieve. After Yun Qingyue first taught her meditation, before she could teach anything more, Jiang Mo could already channel spiritual energy into attacks, effortlessly scratching through the floor. Later, after Yun Qingyue taught her spell incantations and techniques, she took to them like a fish to water.
In just three short days, Yun Qingyue only had time to teach Jiang Mo some basic spells, but that was enough. Through study, Jiang Mo gradually understood how to use spells, and not only learned what Yun Qingyue taught her but also grasped the essence immediately and applied it creatively.
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The afternoon sun blazed down, its light filtering through the peach tree branches to fall upon a large, dark rock below.
This boulder stood about a person's height, completely black and lusterless. Even sunlight falling upon it seemed to be absorbed by the darkness, creating no reflection at all... It appeared distinctly out of place in this tranquil courtyard, yet Yun Qingyue had personally placed it there three days ago.
The black rock was called Black Metal Stone, used by sword cultivators to test the power of their sword techniques. Yun Qingyue had prepared it as a "scratching post" for the little white tiger—a scratched floor in the room was a minor issue. Yun Qingyue could tell at a glance that the claw marks weren't intentional but had been left accidentally while testing the power of techniques. This was extremely common in the cultivation world, but compared to the bluestone floor, Black Metal Stone was undoubtedly more suitable.
On the day the Black Metal Stone was placed in the courtyard, the little white tiger, at Yun Qingyue's suggestion, channeled spiritual energy and scratched at the stone forcefully. However, the claws that had torn through bluestone like tofu had absolutely no effect on this Black Metal Stone.
When the little white tiger struck with her paw, not only did she fail to leave even the slightest mark on the Black Metal Stone, she nearly split her claws!
Now, after three days, the little white tiger appeared before the Black Metal Stone again, full of confidence, intending to test the results of these three days of study and cultivation. But before she could extend her claws, System's overly straightforward mechanical voice sounded in her ear: "Host, wake up, where's all this confidence coming from? If you were truly confident, you wouldn't wait until Senior Sister left before trying!"
With her false confidence exposed, Jiang Mo immediately became angry with embarrassment and swatted the loose-mouthed System far away, roaring indignantly: "Shut up! No one would think you're mute if you didn't speak!"
System, ever the drama queen, flew more than ten meters away before sheepishly flying back, wisely choosing to remain silent.
Jiang Mo ignored it and extended her claws, channeling spiritual energy. Her immature claw tips were immediately covered with a visibly metallic glow. Then she raised her paw, intending to scratch the Black Metal Stone, but thought better of it and pulled back, opting instead to place her paw against the stone and scratch tentatively—inevitably, whether tiger or human, a split nail would hurt, and she hadn't forgotten the lesson from just days ago.
So System watched as its host cautiously extended her claws and scratched at the Black Metal Stone, then scratched again. It approached and pressed itself against the stone to look closely, but the surface remained perfectly smooth—forget claw marks, there wasn't even a scratch!
The recently swatted System light orb flickered, but it had learned its lesson this time. Its nonexistent hands tightly covered its mouth as it refrained from laughing out loud.
Jiang Mo felt somewhat dejected, but the result wasn't unexpected. After all, only three days had passed. During these three days, she had only learned spells from Senior Sister without venturing out to fight monsters and increase her combat power, so limited gains were to be expected. However, still feeling somewhat unwilling to accept defeat, she withdrew her paw and channeled spiritual energy again. Metal-attribute spiritual energy rapidly gathered and condensed in the air.
The next moment, a small sword imbued with sharp metal energy appeared before the white tiger, and with a thought, she sent it striking forcefully at the Black Metal Stone... No rock-splitting, no debris flying—nothing of the sort happened.
System approached again, examining carefully for a long time, finally discovering an almost imperceptible scratch mark.
The atmosphere grew silent and somewhat awkward. Jiang Mo glared at the Black Metal Stone with frustration, then defiantly channeled spiritual energy once more. Metal-attribute spiritual energy gathered and condensed in the air again, but this time, instead of a small sword, it became a tiny embroidery needle—smaller than the previously condensed sword despite using more spiritual energy.
The embroidery needle shot toward the Black Metal Stone with a "whoosh," creating a faint sound as it cut through the air. This needle flew so fast and urgently that System, which had just approached to watch, didn't have time to avoid it. The needle tip practically grazed the System light orb as it embedded itself in the Black Metal Stone.
Although System had no physical form and knew the tiny embroidery needle couldn't possibly harm it, it couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat—or would have, if it could; otherwise, special effects would suffice. After regaining its composure, System turned to look and saw that the Black Metal Stone, which Jiang Mo had previously been unable to affect no matter what, now bore a tiny needle hole!
The little white tiger had no chance to come forward and check before collapsing from exhaustion, having used all her strength in that attack. Her body felt completely drained for an instant. Panting heavily, Jiang Mo rested for a while before asking System: "How is it?"
System was momentarily stunned before truthfully answering: "There's a needle hole."
Hearing this, far from disappointed, Jiang Mo's tiger eyes brightened with joy, as this represented her progress and success. After all, this was a Black Metal Stone used by Golden Core cultivators for testing techniques. Even though Yun Qingyue could casually split it with a sword, that didn't mean a little white tiger who had just reached Foundation Establishment would possess the same power. Moreover, her combat power had yet to match her realm, and in terms of actual strength, she hadn't even truly reached Foundation Establishment.
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On the day before the competition, numerous sect affairs needed attention, the most basic being registration.
Xuanqing Sect had tens of thousands of disciples distributed among five peaks, with each peak having anywhere from several thousand to over ten thousand disciples. Mount Tianyang, as the Sect Leader's lineage, had the most disciples among the five peaks. The peak with the fewest disciples wasn't Mount Mingxia, whose Peak Master was known for her hands-off approach, but rather the more low-profile Mount Qingyun. Setting aside Mount Qingyun for now, among Mount Mingxia's several thousand disciples, about a thousand had registered for the competition.
Registration had continued for a full three days. Yun Qingyue, as Senior Sister, naturally wouldn't monitor it constantly, but on the final day as the deadline approached, she made time to visit the mid-mountain plaza to check on the registration situation.
"Senior Sister," greeted half the plaza as Yun Qingyue's flying sword descended, everyone bowing respectfully.
Yun Qingyue put away her sword, nodded calmly as usual, then stepped forward to ask the registering disciple: "How is it going?"
The disciple, who had been sitting behind a desk registering participants, had already risen to welcome her when her flying sword landed. Now, hearing Senior Sister's inquiry, he immediately presented the registration roster, saying: "Senior Sister, this is the registration roster. Those registered include 52 personal disciples, 337 Inner Sect disciples, and 596 Outer Sect disciples, all recorded here."
Personal disciples were further divided into Peak Master's personal disciples and Elder's personal disciples. Mount Mingxia had only 60 in total, and almost all had registered except for a few who were too young. They were all competing for the top ten positions in the sect competition, or in other words, aiming for the Three Sect Martial Arts Competition.
After them came the Inner and Outer Sect disciples. While the two groups differed in number by nearly tenfold, the disparity in registration wasn't as great. This was because most Outer Sect disciples had ordinary aptitudes; many had struggled and resigned themselves to their fate, with only those who believed they had some ability daring to register. Inner Sect disciples were similar to personal disciples—apart from those too young or too old, almost all had registered.
Having managed Mount Mingxia on her master's behalf for many years, Yun Qingyue was thoroughly familiar with the situation of Mount Mingxia's disciples. However, no matter how knowledgeable she was, she couldn't possibly remember every Inner or Outer Sect disciple. Only the 60 personal disciples truly caught her attention.
Now, after hearing the registering disciple's report, she took the roster and opened it, seeing that the three groups were indeed recorded separately.
There were too many Inner and Outer Sect disciples, so she scanned through them quickly, then carefully examined the registered personal disciples. After looking through once, her brows furrowed slightly. She looked through it again before asking: "Zhong Heng hasn't registered?"
The registering disciple was about to speak when a clear male voice came from afar: "Here I am, coming to register right now."
As the voice fell, the person had already approached—a handsome young man in white clothing with a sword on his back. Calling him a young man wasn't quite accurate, as he had red lips and white teeth, giving him a youthful appearance that made him look quite young. Next to Yun Qingyue, he seemed even younger in temperament. He cupped his hands toward Yun Qingyue, smiling as he said: "I was delayed on the road and returned a bit late. I hope Senior Sister will forgive me."
This was Zhong Heng, the second personal disciple of Mount Mingxia's Peak Master and Yun Qingyue's second junior brother. Despite his youthful appearance, he was actually several years older than Yun Qingyue. However, he had joined the sect later, and since Qingyu wasn't fond of teaching disciples, it was Yun Qingyue who had guided him personally. As a result, he both respected and felt competitive toward his young Senior Sister, constantly striving to surpass her.
Of course, so far this remained only a wish, and one that grew increasingly distant from realization.
Yun Qingyue glanced at her junior brother whom she hadn't seen for several years, nodded slightly, then handed him the registration roster: "Since you've returned, add your name yourself."
Zhong Heng obediently took the roster, flourished his brush to sign his name, returned the roster to the registering disciple, and then eagerly said to Yun Qingyue: "Senior Sister, it's been several years since we've met. How about a match?"
As he spoke, he was about to draw the heavy sword from his back, but Yun Qingyue merely glanced at him once before turning to leave.
Zhong Heng was momentarily stunned, then hurriedly chased after her: "Hey, Senior Sister, why are you leaving? Aren't we going to have a match?"
Yun Qingyue only tossed back the words "on the arena," before departing on her flying sword. Zhong Heng followed her back to her residence. The two entered the small courtyard, only to find it peaceful and empty, with no sign of the little white tiger.