Chapter 7 Competition

The old man was in a cyan priest frock, and he was the dean of True Spirit Academy, Zhenren Xuan Yong who was at the Alchemy stage. He looked amiable and approachable and was highly respected by the disciples and Immortal Seniors of the academy. He was standing on the ring with two middle-aged cultivators who were dressed like Taoists on his left and right. Taoist Xuan Yong said with a smile, "Our disciples have been cultivating hard. All the Immortal Seniors, you all did a good job!" The Immortal Seniors quickly said they were flattered. Taoist Xuan Yong pointed at the two people beside him and said, "I guess you know these two people, but the disciples probably don't. So, let me introduce them." After that, pointing to the thin and tall cultivator on his left side, he said, "This is Zhenren Xuan Su." Then he pointed to the red-faced cultivator on his right and said, "This is Zhenren Xuan Ce." All the disciples were taken aback. They were actually two Zhenrens! These disciples seldom saw Dean Xuan Yong who was the only Zhenren at the Alchemy stage in the academy. Most of them only saw him at the Grand Competition that was only held every five years. Seeing the three Zhenrens here, how could they not be excited? If they did a good job in the Grand Competition and was favored by any of them, they could become an inner disciple and reach the Blood Dissolving stage in the near future. Lu Ping looked at the three Zhenrens on the stage. Although he extremely admired them, he kept his composure. They came to a competition for cultivators who were at the Blood Refining stage, which meant this competition was not simple! But what could make the Zhenrens at the Alchemy stage come to the competition of these little cultivators of Blood Refining? After these more than two hundred disciples draw lots, they would fight against each other in pairs. The eight small rings were the competition arena. The top one hundred and twenty-eight would be decided in the first round. Two rounds a day, and the top sixty-four would be decided on the first day. Small shields were raised on the eight small rings. Lu Ping knew that they were magic circles that could prevent people outside the rings from being accidentally injured by the people who were below the Blood Dissolving stage. Moreover, Immortal Seniors who were at the Blood Dissolving stage would preside over the competitions on each ring. Zhenren Xuan Yong directly announced the start of the Grand Competition. The disciples went up to draw lots from two pots containing red and blue bamboo sticks below the central ring. Lu Ping didn't attach any extravagant hope to drawing a bye lot, and he wasn’t drawn against a senior who was at the eighth or ninth level of Blood Refining. After all, more than half of the competitors were only at the seventh level. Lu Ping’s opponent in the first round was a disciple from the twelfth team who was at the middle stage of the seventh level. He was about fifteen years old and seemed to be younger than Lu Ping, tall and slender. From his childish face, Lu Ping could see a hint of arrogance. Li Sheng indeed could be arrogant. He was only fifteen years old this year but had reached the middle stage of the seventh level of Blood Refining. He was talented in cultivation and was as hard-working as the other disciples. Not only his family, but even the Immortal Senior of his team believed that he could reach the Blood Dissolving stage smoothly. There were five geniuses among the second-level disciples. They were Lin Sheng from the first team, Zhao Lang from the fifth team, Shi Lingling from the seventh team, Leng Qian from the fourteenth team, and Qian Fei from the eighteenth team. They were all at the eighth or ninth level of Blood Refining. The five people were also known as the "Five Talents," because they reached the seventh level, the late stage of Blood Refining, before they were fourteen years old. Li Sheng had always believed that he was the "The Sixth Talent". This time, he heard that those who performed excellently in the competition would be rewarded generously by the sect. His family had prepared a low-level magic weapon and many Magic Figures as rewards for him. Therefore, he was puffed with ambition, thinking that he could defeat the seniors who were at the eighth level of Blood Refining. Even if his opponent was at the ninth level, he was not afraid. So when Lu Ping, this ordinary seventeen-year-old disciple who was at the seventh level of Blood Refining stood in front of him, he only thought that Lu Ping was a stepping stone for him to enter the next round. Lu Ping looked at this young boy, smiled for no reason, drew out his high-grade magic steel, and posed the Start Move of "Blood Bone Dissolving Sword", and said to Li Sheng, "Bro, come on!" Seeing that Lu Ping was going to perform a set of basic swordsmanship, Li Sheng guessed that he was an ordinary disciple with no strong family background. He looked even more contemptuous. With a "clang", he took out a top-grade magic steel like a show-off and posed the Start Move of the kung fu that he learned from his family. His father told him that this set of "Gale Twenty-four Swords" had considerable power at the Blood Refining stage. Ordinary disciples like Lu Ping might have never heard of such kung fu. Lu Ping really hadn't seen such swordsmanship. He looked at this little cultivator who was like a child showing off his toys and found it very funny. However, through this strange swordsmanship, he was aware of the danger in it. Li Sheng urged the top-grade magic steel in his hand and a white light flashed by like silk. Lu Ping immediately felt the power hidden in the white light. It was rushing towards him head-on. Although it hadn't reached him, he already felt the pain in his face. Lu Ping calmly turned around to avoid the white light, and the magic steel in his hand sent out a streak of Sword Qi that slashed towards Li Sheng's wrist. Li Sheng wasn't scared at all. Relying on the sharpness of his magic steel, he pushed Lu Ping's magic steel to the side with it and quickly performed a spell with his left hand. At the same time, he murmured something. Then a flame rose. After Lu Ping's magic steel was pushed aside, he would wrong-foot him and give him a quick blow. Unexpectedly, when the two magic steels touched each other, Li Sheng felt that a strong power was transmitted to his magic steel. He was temporarily suppressed. Not only did he fail to push Lu Ping's magic steel away, but he was forced to take two steps back by this power before he could steady himself. The Flame Spell in his hand was hit by this power and rushed in the wrong direction. Lu Ping easily dodged it, and the flames that burst out were put out by Lu Ping's simple Breeze Spell. Li Sheng's contemptuous expression turned to be serious. This man was quite strong and was not weaker than him. This might be a long fight. However, thinking of the weapons in his storage bag, Li Sheng suddenly became more confident. Looking at the soya bean-sized breach on the high-grade sword in his hand, Lu Ping couldn't help but smile bitterly. This magic steel was with him for only three months, and he only fought twice with it. However, it had been damaged so severely. Li Sheng held his magic steel horizontally and charged at him again. Every move of "Gale Twenty-four Swords" was faster than the last, and his every magic method was more powerful than the last. With them and some Magic Figures, Li Sheng dashed to Lu Ping madly. Lu Ping was in a muddle temporarily. Li Sheng's swordsmanship was like an all-pervasive fierce wind. It rushed to him with Flame Spell, Ice Frozen Spell, Wind Blade Spell, Golden Sword Spell, and Giant Wood Spell. He withstood them with difficulties and finally got a break, but before he could fight back, Li Sheng attacked him with another Magic Figure. Lu Ping looked at the low-grade and even medium-grade Magic Figures of Blood Refining rushing to him without hesitation, feeling like countless spiritual stones were destroyed in front of him. What a wasteful brat! "Fortunately, Li Sheng still has some sense and doesn't waste high-grade Magic Figures like this," Just as Lu Ping felt relieved, an Ice-bladed Magic Figure exploded in front of him, and he was shocked by the huge fluctuations of spiritual strength. He was wrong! This was clearly a high-grade Magic Figure. Before the three crystal clear ice knives hit him, the chill had made all his hair stand up in fear.