Chapter 20: Daring

The night passed without conversation.

Early the next morning, Lu Yi got up and had breakfast with Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi. Lu Gaoyang then said, "Let's go to the Martial Arena!"

Lu Yi looked at the hand Lu Gaoyang was extending, his expression changed, and he quickly said, "Old Lu, wait! I plan to go by myself today!"

Lu Gaoyang's hand paused, and he looked at Lu Yi with some confusion, "Why? Isn't it more convenient for me to take you there?"

Lu Yi gave a dry cough and said, "You know I'm quite famous now. It's still early, if I arrive too soon, people will gather around me. It would be so embarrassing. I'd rather take my time getting there."

Hearing Lu Yi's words, Lu Gaoyang thought about it and felt it made some sense. Wang Siqi, standing beside him, also laughed and said, "Since that's the case, let Yi'er go by himself. Yi'er is grown now and has his own ideas."

The two soared off on their swords, and Lu Yi breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, today he wouldn't be carried around like before, and his image might still have a chance to be salvaged.

Lu Yi smiled happily and jogged out the door.

When Lu Yi arrived at the Martial Arena, a lot of people had already gathered since the preliminary and qualifying rounds were completed yesterday. Now the plaza was nearly empty, but the outer circle of the Martial Arena was getting increasingly crowded.

Upon seeing Lu Yi approach, the eyes of each Outer Sect disciple lit up.

"It's Junior Brother Lu Yi!"

"Yesterday, I was hoping to witness Junior Brother Lu Yi's swordsmanship. Whether at White Sun Peak or at the Martial Arena earlier, I wasn't there, and unexpectedly, yesterday, Junior Brother Lu Yi didn't even draw his sword."

"Yes, but today they'll be selecting the top ten, surely we'll see Junior Brother Lu Yi's sword!"

"..."

Many disciples were subtly anticipating.

Lu Yi walked into the internal area of the Martial Arena, moving closer to the Central Platform.

Surrounding the Central Platform were ten slightly larger platforms; these were the platforms for the ranking matches.

In past competitions, 320 disciples competed on the ten platforms to select the top ten disciples.

There were already many disciples in the area of the platforms; these disciples were the ones who made it into the top 320.

As Lu Yi approached, each disciple turned their gaze toward him, some with curiosity, some with vigilance, and Lu Yi even noticed a few hostile looks.

He glanced at those disciples with hostile looks; they were all Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer disciples.

Lu Yi thought for a moment and felt he hadn't provoked them. *Why did it seem these people didn't like him?*

Lu Yi couldn't figure it out, so he just didn't think about it anymore.

At that moment, Lu Yi heard Wang Wulian's voice, "Junior Brother Lu, over here!"

Lu Yi turned his head and saw Wang Wulian waving at him with a beaming smile.

Lu Yi walked over and greeted, "Elder Wang!"

He looked around and asked puzzledly, "Where's Brother Lu?"

Lu Ling's strength wasn't weak; Lu Yi was surprised not to see him here.

Wang Wulian gave a wry smile and said, "Brother Lu wasn't lucky. On his platform, there was also Senior Brother Jiang Fan, so he didn't advance."

"Senior Brother Jiang Fan?" Lu Yi thought for a moment, then recalled something, "Is it that Senior Brother of Qi Cultivation Tenth Layer?"

"Who else but him?" Wang Wulian said.

Lu Yi: "..."

He realized that it wasn't just Senior Brother Li Qi who was unlucky; Brother Lu Ling was quite unfortunate too.

Clearly having the strength to be in the top hundred, yet not even passing the qualifiers.

But the Outer Sect wouldn't care if it was fair or not. It's like they say, for cultivators, luck may be elusive, but it's indeed quite important, to the extent that luck is part of strength.

Lu Yi also didn't find any issues with that. In his past life, he had read all sorts of novels where characters with great luck were not particularly talented, yet they seemed indestructible like cockroaches, never dying and always acquiring good things. *Who could argue with that?*

"By the way, Elder Wang, who is that Senior Brother in the green robe? Why does he look at me like I took something important from him?" Lu Yi asked, somewhat confused.

The look on that guy's face was too unfriendly, making Lu Yi wonder if he had accidentally stolen the guy's wife or something.

Wang Wulian glanced in the direction Lu Yi indicated and quickly withdrew his gaze, grinning as he said, "Isn't it because Junior Brother Lu Yi's cultivation base broke through to Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer?"

"What does my breakthrough to Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer have to do with this?" Lu Yi felt a bit numb.

"Heh... because Junior Brother Lu Yi is so talented, having the combat ability of Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer while at Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer. Now that you've broken through to Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, some people got scared, didn't they?" Wang Wulian laughed gleefully.

"Junior Brother Lu Yi should know, right? Every year, the top ten in the competition get to enter the Inner Sect without any assessment, yes?"

Lu Yi nodded, "That I know."

Honestly, that was also Lu Yi's goal.

Wang Wulian explained, "In this batch of Outer Sect disciples, only six are at Qi Cultivation Tenth Layer. The remaining four spots are selected from the disciples at Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer. The guy you just saw is named Mo Lingxi; he has the strength for the top ten or, I should say, is exactly positioned at tenth. Do you get what I mean, Junior Brother?"

Lu Yi suddenly understood; he finally realized why a few of the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer guys looked at him with hostility.

Those guys were probably all Outer Sect disciples who qualified to fight for the top ten, right? Now that Lu Yi had entered the fray, there was an extra competitor. Moreover, with the strength Lu Yi had shown, they probably didn't feel confident they could beat him.

As for the particularly unfriendly-looking one, Lu Yi understood. This guy was just at tenth place, and if Lu Yi ended up in the top ten, he'd be the one knocked out and unable to enter the Inner Sect. *How frustrating must that be?*

No wonder this guy was so unfriendly; Lu Yi even felt a bit sympathetic towards him.

He sighed and said, "I hope that Senior Brother Mo has better luck next year."

Wang Wulian: "???"

His head full of black lines, he looked at the sympathetic Lu Yi, "Junior Brother, do you think you're guaranteed to break into the top ten?"

Lu Yi laughed and said, "Isn't that obvious?"

In fact, Lu Yi's goal was the first place. He hadn't forgotten that the sect's grand tournament task rewards were given based on the ranking; the higher the ranking, the better the rewards.

Wang Wulian grinned and gave Lu Yi a thumbs-up, "Junior Brother Lu has guts! But don't underestimate those who can compete for the top ten. They are unlike Brother Lu and me; they have a few trump cards, at the very least having mastered one art to the Transformation stage, and some even have Magic Artifacts."

Magic Artifacts? Lu Yi felt a bit strange. He had two, a :Low Grade Magic Artifact longsword and a pair of Mid Grade Magic Artifact shoes.

As for arts at the Transformation stage, Lu Yi didn't want to brag, but compared to him, theirs might be lacking.

While they conversed, Dugu Fang arrived at the Central Platform.

Dugu Fang looked at Lu Yi and the others, his expression gentler than the previous day, and said, "Those of you who have entered the ranking matches are all elite disciples of the Outer Sect of the White Cloud Sect. In the future, I expect you will inevitably enter the Inner Sect. In today's matches, I hope you can perform well. Let the ranking matches begin now."

As he spoke, Dugu Fang waved his hand again, and 320 Stone Plates appeared, flying toward Lu Yi and the others.