Chapter 113: Chapter 2: Inner Sect Competition

Mid-April.

The weather on Nanlin Road was gradually warming. In Wang Ping’s small courtyard, the flower clusters began to bloom. This was Yu Lian’s favorite time of year. Every morning, she would sneak a few blossoms to eat, and then have a cup of honey water while waiting for breakfast.

Today, just after breakfast, Liu Shuang arrived seeking an audience, bringing her two disciples and Wang Ping’s nominal disciple, Su Hai.

Zhao Yu’Er and Liu Ling had grown into graceful young women. Today, they wore dark blue, form-fitting Daoist Robes designed for ease of movement and carried unsharpened longswords. Su Hai was dressed the same.

It was the day of the Inner Sect competition. The third and fourth-generation disciples would all participate, divided into two groups according to their cultivation realms.

Liu Shuang also had to compete in two matches, though likely few in the Inner Sect were her match anymore. This was mainly because her foundational advantages were significant.

"Grandmaster, what’s that?" Liu Ling pointed above a cluster of flowers where a mass of iridescent light shimmered, looking particularly fascinating.

"Is it beautiful?"

With a gentle wave of his right hand, Wang Ping sent the mass of iridescent light soaring into the air, where it exploded into a vibrant halo. It was an illusion, a phantasm constructed by the Water Moon Bell. If Wang Ping were to unleash the illusion’s full power now, it would create an even more fantastical visual spectacle, but it would cause these young ones, who had only just begun Qi Cultivation, to become lost within it.

Even Wang Ping himself had become utterly engrossed when first designing the illusions for the Dao Field. After each session, he had to rely on Yu Lian’s spirit to enter a deep meditative state for a long time to restore his own state of mind.

"It’s beautiful! Is there more?"

Liu Ling’s eyes sparkled.

Wang Ping smiled and shook his head, then looked at Liu Shuang. "How is their training going?"

"They’re all still in the Qi Cultivation stage. For Sword Technique, they’ve only learned the most basic Qianmu Sword Technique. As for practical combat experience, they should be fine. Don’t be fooled by how well-behaved the three of them are around you. They’re actually bouncing off the walls every day. The moment I’m not watching, they’ll be off to the training grounds to find someone to spar with."

"Haha!"

Wang Ping laughed heartily, reminded of Liu Shuang when she had just come of age. Then, his thoughts involuntarily drifted to Yang Zhiping. He had truly poured his heart into teaching his first disciple, but unfortunately, that disciple had his own ideas.

"Aim for a good ranking today!" he said, encouraging the three juniors.

"Okay!" Liu Ling responded loudly, while Zhao Yu’Er and Su Hai just nodded.

"If you all keep chatting, the fights down the mountain will start without you," Yu Lian urged. As she spoke, she landed on Wang Ping, shrank in size, and coiled around his left arm.

Liu Shuang no longer looked at Yu Lian with envy. She now had her own Spirit Pet: a black sheepdog of some unknown awakened bloodline that could use a few miraculous Nine Heavens Magic techniques. However, she hadn’t brought it with her this time.

...

Down the mountain.

In the plaza in front of the Inner Courtyard, a temporary Martial Arts Arena had been erected. Surrounding the arena were over a thousand seats arranged in neat rows. The eastern section held the seats for the temple’s various courtyards. In the very center were two reserved spots: one for Wang Ping and one for Liu Zixiu, who had recently returned home. As for Yu Cheng Taoist, he had already made it clear he would not be attending.

Flanking the courtyard seats were the larger spectator sections. Some people had already arrived, each attended by one or two disciples from Qianmu Temple. These disciples were mostly youths who had clearly just been accepted into the Inner Sect not long ago.

As time went on, the disciples from each courtyard entered under the leadership of their Deans, and the spectator seats gradually filled up.

「7:15 AM.」

Liu Zixiu appeared at the Martial Arts Arena in a Cultivator Robe, instantly becoming the center of attention. The great clans and families who had come all approached to pay their respects, some even introducing their children on the spot.

"Senior Brother!" Zhao Qing led all the Deans over to pay their respects.

"Senior Uncle..."

"Senior Brother..."

The disciples also greeted him one after another.

Liu Zixiu greeted them all with a smile. Although he was aloof by nature, after so many years in the political arena, he handled basic social niceties and personal connections with ease.

"Hasn’t Junior Brother Changqing arrived yet?"

He asked.

The words had barely left his lips when a Daoist appeared on the steps leading to the Mountain Peak Dojo. He wore blue Daoist Robes, held a Duster, and wore a white jade crown.

This was Wang Ping.

His face currently made him look to be around twenty years old. However, that was just the first impression. A second glance would reveal that his bone structure and the expression between his brows were clearly different from those of a young man.

While most of the guests didn’t have much of a reaction to Wang Ping’s appearance, the disciples of Qianmu Temple, led by their respective Deans, all went to the entrance and stood in an orderly formation.

"Second Senior Brother." Wang Ping was the first to greet him with a cupped fist salute. Behind him, Liu Shuang and the other three followed suit, bowing in respect. They each had their own form of address; Liu Ling, for instance, called him "Third Grand-uncle."

As Liu Zixiu returned the salute, all the surrounding disciples bowed with cupped fists. The synchronized movement was so precise it seemed as if they had rehearsed it countless times. Some called out "Senior Brother," some "Senior Uncle," and others "Grandmaster."

Yu Lian surveyed everyone present with her vertical pupils. She could observe all these people as she pleased, which was her favorite thing to do. Wang Ping could relate to the feeling; it was just like when he played video games in his past life.

"You could say our halls are now filled with disciples and grand-disciples!" Liu Zixiu chuckled, stroking his beard.

Wang Ping also kept a smile on his face but didn’t reply. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

...

The grand competition began with the disciples who had just started Qi Cultivation. Their matches weren’t about knocking an opponent down, but about using the Qianmu Sword Technique to counter move for move. This tested who had more experience and a more masterful grasp of the Sword Technique.

During this exchange of moves, being struck three times meant a loss, so the disciples had little room for error.

The first to compete were two young boys who had just begun Qi Cultivation. They couldn’t even hold their swords correctly, and after less than two exchanges, they were just circling each other on the Martial Arts Arena.

Just as the crowd was about to laugh, Zhao Qing announced in a booming voice, "Use the Chang Chun Technique to counter the moves instead!"

Upon hearing this, both boys breathed a sigh of relief.

The subsequent matches were much more proper. Liu Ling and the other two all placed in the top ten, with which Wang Ping was very satisfied.

And so, the morning passed.

After lunch.

The afternoon’s matches were all between disciples at the Bone Marrow Cleansing Stage. Many of them had spent considerable time tempering themselves down the mountain and had even learned some simple Magic. But the most unadorned and fundamental technique was still the Sword Control Technique.

One rather clever disciple used two very small shortswords, which allowed him to control both blades simultaneously. This led him to successfully claim first place.

"He’s your disciple, isn’t he?" Wang Ping asked, looking at Zhao Qing.

"Yes, his name is Yang Hou. Back when we took down Hong’an, I found two unusually small longswords that were dropped. I picked them up and tinkered with them in my spare time, and I actually managed to figure out a more effective version of the Sword Control Technique."

Wang Ping nodded but made no comment.

Next up were the matches for the Qi Gathering Stage disciples. This time, even the Deans personally entered the arena. The first to be defeated was Zhao Qing. He had not yet learned the Wood Spirit Technique, and when he was ensnared by another’s Wood Spirit Technique, he could only concede.

Despite losing the match, Zhao Qing wasn’t the least bit discouraged; in fact, he was overjoyed. At that moment, Yu Lian commented wryly in the Spirit Sea, ’It’s likely that all the disciples who could have competed with him for the Water Spirit are now cultivating the Wood Spirit. Doesn’t that mean the first Water Spirit is as good as his?’

Wang Ping replied in the Spirit Sea, ’Or perhaps the others are intentionally yielding it to him?’

Yu Lian fell into thought.

The competition ended quickly, with Liu Shuang taking first place, just as everyone expected.

Finally, Zhao Qing invited the patriarchs of the great clans and families of Shang’an Prefecture into the main hall of the Inner Courtyard and got to the real business of the day. "From now on, the Court will only symbolically dispatch a single Prefect to each prefecture. All other official positions will be jointly recommended by the local powers..."