Chapter 9 Ranking Battle Begins

"DING! DING! DING!"

The noise of a bell resounded all across the Skyward Sword Sect, it had arrived, the day of the Ranking Battle was upon the Sect and everyone was riled up. "Its time, I can't wait to make it into the Inner Ranking!" A disciple resolved himself as the members of the Sect made their way to the Ranking Arena.

In a very secluded part of the sect, Wang Tian was currently sitting in meditation his forehead perspiring as energy gathered within his body. 'Just a bit more, just a bit.' As qi filled Wang Tian's body he was preparing to make the final push into the 5th Layer of Qi Refinement.

A bit after his Marrow Cleansing Wang Tian had easily entered the 4th Layer after his years of preparation, and today, today would be the day he finally reached the 5th Layer. It wouldn't be a lie if Wang Tian said the 5th Layer of Qi Refinement was one of his small wishes in life.

After all it was just a step from becoming an Inner Disciple and was the necessary qualification to enter the Ranking Battle.

"Haaa!"

Letting out a long breath, Wang Tian's qi began to compress, after reaching a certain point it exploded outwards spreading throughout his body filling him with power. Feeling the qi coursing through his body Wang Tian let a smile grace his face.

"I should get going." With that Wang Tian disappeared from his original position and began racing towards the Ranking Arena. Before he had made brief shows of power within the Sect, but today, today would be his debut.

"Next.... Tai Shan..... Mu Feng.... Wang Tian... wait what?" The man taking the names at the front desk was listlessly checking the participants, until he noticed Wang Tian. "Y-You reached the 5th Layer? How?" The man asked, it was surprisingly the old man from the Tasks Hall.

"I have." The boy simply replied, still in doubt the old man looked towards the 2 disciples at the gate. Noticing his gaze and then looking towards Wang Tian the 2 disciples simply nodded, and with that the old man looked at Wang Tian once again, and then at the paper before simply nodding. "Boy, you are full of surprises, good luck." Hearing this Wang Tian smiled before making his way onto the participants' platform.

Arriving at the platform countless eyes landed on Wang Tian, some were surprised, others shocked, some even seemed to be happy, while others seemed to have been disgusted by his mere presence. "Do they just let anyone into the Ranking Battle these days!?" A sneer came from the side.

Immediately Wang Tian's ears perked up, as he turned his head towards the sneer. It was a 1.85 meter tall man, with short spiky brown hair and a big nose. His skin was tanned seemingly from constant practice, his muscled body donning dark blue robes.

"What are you deaf, or stupid? Do you not understand what I am trying to tell you!? Get off the stage! Or was my beating last month not enough for you!?" The man yelled as he closed in on Wang Tian.

On the other hand Wang Tian's face was cold as ice, as his eyes gazed at the figure in front of him. It wasn't a look of anger, or rage, it wasn't even one of disdain, rather it was one of pity. "Xiao Yang, enjoy your time in the sun, because once I am done with you, you'll wish I had buried you 6 feet under." Wang Tian simply replied a smirk gracing his face.

Hearing this Xiao Yang was astonished. 'Where did he gain such confidence from!? Does he think just because he's at the Ranking Battle he's something? I heard about what happened to Mao Yi but does he think just because he could defeat that trash that I, Xiao Yang would lose to him!?!?' His thoughts raged on as he saw Wang Tian disregard him.

"You fucking bastard!" Xiao Yang roared before pouncing towards Wang Tian his fist coated in a white energy. But, before his fist could even reach Wang Tian a noise sounded immediately quelling his rage.

"The Sect Master and 4 Elders have arrived!" They announced as 5 old men appeared at the top of the viewing area. Four of them, were dressed in azure robes lined with silver, while one of them was dressed similarly in azure robes but lined with gold. Not only that, but while 4 of them looked to be nearing the end of their life, with their hair grey and their faces wrinkled, the other man seemed to be middle aged with only a single stripe of grey hair mixed within his long black hair.

Looking towards them Wang Tian immediately felt a sense of awe wash over him. 'That's the Sect Master Su Jian, along with the 4 Elders. All of them are Essence Condensing experts, the pillars of the Sect!'

While Wang Tian was still in awe, the rest of the spectators and participants were likewise stunned as they gazed at their leaders. "There's no need for a delay, you all know the rules. We will first begin with the Outer Ranking, once that is complete we will begin with the Inner Ranking as per usual." One of the Elders declared.

Immediately the Inner Disciples dispersed only leaving the Outer Disciples atop the platform. Now they would decide who was the best among the 300 5th Layer Outer Disciples. It was a process that was neither long nor short.

Beginning from the bottom, disciples would be given a chance to challenge those above them, if they won they'd replace the person they fought on the ranking, they then would be allowed to continue challenging those above them. On the other hand if one lost they would not only stay in their original ranking but would forfeit the chance to make another challenge.

"Rank 323rd Wang Tian, Arena 1."

Hearing his name being called, Wang Tian immediately leaped towards Arena 1 creating quite the commotion when he landed.

"Is this the trash Wang Tian? How is he qualified to enter the ranking battle?"

"Shhh! Do you not know what happened between him and Senior Brother Mao Yi? Do you think you can beat up Mao Yi?"

Discussion erupted among the spectators as their eyes fell onto Wang Tian. "So who would you like to challenge?" The announcer questioned, as he locked eyes with the boy. "Send Outer Ranking Rank 1 Mu Feng, I am not wasting my time with the riffraff."