Beside them, Ye Xiaoling watched with wide, startled eyes. Having cultivated under Elder Qingya for almost twenty years, she had never seen her cold, aloof master show such warm gestures to anyone, let alone tap a cultivator's head with such familiarity. She looked between Su Ming and her master in silent shock, but kept her mouth shut.
Behind the seating gallery, the massive jade boards of the tournament glowed with the roster. It was a staggering display of the sect's immense scale. As one of the four overlord sects ruling this world, its sheer scale was breathtaking. Group One, reserved for the Qi Condensation realm, had more than two thousand registered combatants. In contrast, the elite Group Two bracket for Foundation Establishment disciples had barely two hundred names listed.
More importantly, crossing the boundary into the Foundation Establishment Realm before the age of thirty was incredibly rare. Even rarer was to do it before the age of twenty. The few prodigies who had managed it were almost all at the early stages of Foundation Establishment, struggling to stabilize their newly built foundations. A cultivator like Lin Yao, who was only sixteen and had already consolidated the eighth stage, was a complete, jaw-dropping anomaly.
Even Lin Yuying, the Sect Master's personal disciple at the tenth stage, was considered a legendary monster of the current generation. To the average disciple, a young Foundation Establishment cultivator was a distant thing; to see a teenager in the high-stage Foundation Establishment realm was rare.
***
The deep tolling of a bronze bell echoed across the valley, silencing the crowd. A senior elder in grey robes stepped onto the central floating platform, a massive jade scroll hovering in front of him.
"By decree of the Sect Master, the Grand Disciple Tournament commences!" the elder's voice, amplified by Qi, boomed across the mountains.
Immediately, the eight surrounding platforms erupted in flashes of light. Group One matches had begun. A chaotic storm of spiritual energy swept through the valley as spells of fire and ice lit up the sky, heavy staffs clashed against bronze shields, and the hum of defensive arrays vibrated through the stone seats. Over two thousand Qi Condensation disciples fought to catch the eyes of the inner peaks.
Su Ming watched from his seat. Directly to his right, Elder Qingya leaned forward, her eyes scanning the lower rings, while Ye Xiaoling quietly poured tea.
On Platform Six, a fifteen-year-old girl named Bai Yu was fighting. She wore the plain, gray robes of an ordinary outer disciple. Her opponent, a burly youth from one of the martial-focused outer peaks, pressed her hard. Bai Yu gritted her teeth, her chest heaving as she barely parried a heavy staff strike, her boots sliding back against the white stone.
"Surrender!" the youth barked, raising his staff for a crushing blow.
Bai Yu did not run. Instead, she closed her eyes, her fingers forming a rapid series of hand seals.
Suddenly, a glowing tattoo of a silver-furred wolf flared on her forearm, and the phantom of a spirit wolf materialized around her. Her speed increased, but her opponent was too experienced. With a sweep of his heavy staff, he shattered her momentum, pinning her against the stone ring. Bai Yu gasped, gritting her teeth under the heavy pressure.
Realizing the wolf was not enough, she retracted the silver phantom with a sharp breath. The second tattoo on her arm glowed, and a serpent of green mist slithered around her legs. With a sudden, supple twist, she slid past the heavy staff guard like a snake. Before the youth could turn, Bai Yu flicked her wrist, launching a thin, dark needle from her sleeve.
The hidden weapon struck his neck pressure point cleanly. The youth gasped, his limbs instantly going numb as he collapsed onto the platform, unable to move.
Su Ming watched, his interest piqued. He focused his Essence Sight, scanning her cultivation base. He did not know the exact cultivation technique she used, but he could see a strange, dual circulation of Qi between her meridians and the faint trace of the green serpent. Yet, as his vision cut deeper into her soul, he caught a glimpse of something else—a third, completely dormant mark of a Shadow Leopard, pulsing with a reservoir of energy that easily matched a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator. It was her ultimate trump card, hidden deep within.
'To hold back such a beast at her age,' Su Ming thought, a trace of appreciation and more questions in his eyes. She had genuine talent and sharp combat sense, which was not really normal.
But before the referee elder could even announce the winner, Mu Changqing, the Peak Master of Spirit Beast Peak, vanished from his seat and appeared instantly on Platform Six, the space rippling slightly around his robust presence.
Mu Changqing bowed slightly toward the fellow Peak Masters seated in the gallery. "Fellow brothers and sisters, this disciple's talent lies in beasts. She is most suitable for my Spirit Beast Peak. I shall take her as my personal disciple."
A few Peak Masters in the grand gallery looked intrigued by his sudden interference, but none raised any protest. After all, Spirit Beast Peak was indeed the only place that could cultivate her beasts.
Bai Yu, still panting, quickly knelt. "Disciple Bai Yu greets Master!"
Mu Changqing smiled, raising his hand to lift her, and sent her back to the lower platform to finish the tournament.
Over the next few hours, Bai Yu fought three more matches in Group One. She relied strictly on her Serpent and Wolf spirits, performing decently but showing signs of exhaustion. In her fifth match, facing a skilled fire cultivator, she tactically conceded the fight, stepping off the ring after a brief clash.
Su Ming watched her from his seat, a quiet smile on his lips. By intentionally losing, she had exited the tournament naturally, preserving her hidden strength and keeping her ultimate trump card—the Shadow Leopard—completely hidden from the public. Every cultivator had their own path, and she had navigated hers with sharp caution.
While the Group One matches continued to roar across the surrounding platforms, several other outer disciples stood out. On Platform Three, a fiery-tempered youth from Azure Bamboo Peak swept three opponents with wind spells, earning nods from the gallery. On Platform Seven, a disciple from Golden Qilin Peak won his rounds by sheer endurance. As the sun climbed higher, dozens of talented disciples put on spectacular performances, their names siphoned into the rosters of the minor inner peaks.
***
As the massive opening brackets of Group One finally settled, the grey-robed elder waved his hand, and the giant jade scroll glowed, projecting names into the air for the next phase.
"Roster announcements for Group Two, First Round!"
The crowd leaned forward, murmuring as names appeared.
"Vermilion Flame Peak, Zhang Yuexin!" the elder read.
A cheer rose from the Vermilion Flame disciples. A young woman in red robes stepped forward briefly from their seating section, bowing toward the grand gallery. Her aura was sharp and refined, showing the rapid progress she had made in the three months since the recruitment ceremony.
Su Ming watched her, recalling her past connection to Lin Fan and Wang Tian. She had indeed grown stronger.
"Sunset Peak, Guan Feng!" the elder announced next.
A quiet murmur ran through the crowd. Su Ming listened as nearby disciples began to whisper.
"Guan Feng? Isn't that the mediocre disciple from Sunset Peak who was stuck at the bottom for years?"
"I heard he went on an outer mission for a month and returned like a completely different person. His sword cuts through the wind now. Look at the elders of Heavenly Sword Peak—they've been muttering about him since he walked in."
But Guan Feng was not the only one.
"Spirit Herb Peak, Ye Han!" the elder's voice called out.
From the outer peak rows, a quiet, slender girl in faded robes stood up. The whispers rose again. "Ye Han... wasn't she just a silent herbal garden laborer from Spirit Herb Peak who fell into the Serpent's Abyss? Everyone thought she was dead, but she came back alive. Now she moves like a ghost. None of her peers can even touch her sleeve."
"Iron Boulder Peak, Chen Yang!"
A burly young man with a rugged face stood. The crowd muttered. "Chen Yang, the one from Iron Boulder Peak who was bullied for years. I heard he spent months punching iron mountains. Now his skin is like stone; he didn't even flinch when an inner disciple struck him with a training sword yesterday."
Su Ming watched the three of them. His high-level perception of Essence Sight easily bypassed their surface Qi, scanning their cultivation bases and meridians.
His eyes picked up the truths. In Guan Feng's dantian rested the phantom of an ancient sword fragment leaking a deep sword aura; beneath Ye Han's collar was a cold, glowing jade pendant constantly refining her meridians with Yin energy; and Chen Yang's chest pulsed with the residual aura of a dormant, metallic beast core.
Su Ming watched them with a quiet, understanding look. Every cultivator had their own karmic luck, and finding such remnants was a form of talent in itself. However, their foundations were now tied to those specific objects.
Simply, they were completely relying on external forces.
He retracted his gaze, feeling neither envy nor disappointment. Every person had their own path to walk.
"White Lotus Peak, Lin Yao!" the elder's voice called out, cutting through the murmurs.
A brief silence fell over the gallery, followed by scattered chuckles from the grand peaks.
Lin Yao stood up, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. The wooden token swayed at her hip as she stepped toward the edge of the seating platform, her gaze locked on the floating arena designated for her match.
"Go," Su Ming said quietly.
Lin Yao leaped forward, her body light as a leaf, landing softly on the white stone platform. Across from her, a Tiger Peak disciple stepped onto the ring, a mocking grin on his face.
The tournament bells rolled out once more, and the first match of White Lotus Peak began.