Chapter 179 Ch179 Underwhelming Talent

A single-file line forms behind all of the entry check-in points.

Weaker outer sect disciples all walk away from the fighting pits and off to the marketplace in between this check-in point and the large arena.

I cross my arms and scan my surroundings to see who else is in line and what this strength test is that we’re waiting for.

An old man’s raspy voice calls out. “Choose your weapon of choice, and hit the testing pillar! Score over a hundred points and you’ll enter the trial rounds. Score over three hundred, and you’ll earn a slot in the main tournament’s top 64 right now!”

Right after, the loud twang of a heavy hammer striking against a black iron pillar sticking up out of the ground rings out.

“197! You pass! Wait near the fighting pits. Once this line clears out, we’ll start assigning opponents.”

A tall, bulky man at the 7th level of qi refining smiles and walks on past, his skin giving off a faint hot glow while slinging the hammer over his shoulder.

I see racks of other similar black iron weapons on either side of this pillar.

They appear to all be of the high-grade standard, well over a hundred of varying styles.

A shorter, young, stern-eyed 5th-level qi refiner with a mid-stage acquired Black Iron Battle Physique walks up to the pillar next.

He takes a few moments to steady his breathing, and faint black vibrations form around the outside of his body.

He yells out loud and punches forward, making an echoing sound ring off the pillar.

The same old raspy voice calls out from an older man holding a control disk.

“95! Almost! Test your luck at the side competitions down the mountain, and come back to enter again next year.”

He grits his teeth in anger but sulks off toward the market once another late-stage qi refiner steps up to give the pillar a shot.

The lines move forward at a steady rate, and about half of everyone that enters makes it through to the pits.

A few flying vessels land behind us, and more entries join the line.

As I approach the weapon racks, I spot a high-grade black iron bow and a quiver full of a few dozen arrows.

An extremely loud thud echoes through the air while I pick them up. My head turns to see Sun Fei kicking the black pillar with his rabbit still on top of his head.

An array beneath the pillar blocks the shockwave of aura from hitting the rest of the line, but everyone still goes silent.

The raspy voice of the attendant mutters out.

“426… You’ve certainly gained a spot in our top 64 tonight. Please, tap your identity token here. There is no need to compete in the pits.”

The 10th-level qi refiner of the Sun Clan shows a thin smile and taps his provided token.

He wanders off toward the market, shuffling his feet in the dirt like a bored child forced to be here.

The rabbit on his head sniffs the air, smelling food, and bites his ear until he hurries his footsteps.

A few other members of the Beast Mastery Peak stand in front of me in line, and only half make it past the pillar to the trial rounds.

When it’s my turn to go, plenty of spiritual senses probe me, but none are very powerful.

I draw the high-grade bow back to its max resistance, that of a strong late-stage qi refiner.

Then, I release the tension slightly, replicating the strength of some of the weaker cultivators in line before me that just barely passed.

This isn’t the best audience to show off to just yet.

The dull black arrow flies from the bow and hits the pillar with a loud clang.

“122… Impressive. You’re quite strong for a 4th-level qi refiner, and you’re from the beast mastery peak? I guess that's why they give everyone a chance, you never know who has some hidden strength. Move on to the fighting pits and wait with everyone else. It looks like the first rounds will be starting soon.”

I retrieve the arrow and nod in thanks while walking by.

Far more probing senses look into me as I walk now, but I don’t react, and quickly blend into the crowd by the pits.

My system scans find that everyone here is somewhere between the 5th and 9th level of qi refining.

Everyone weaker has left, while everyone stronger already gained their slot in the main event.

Far out of range, observing from the edge of the market, I can feel a few stronger physiques lurking and watching from afar, but no one actually competing here is too strong.

The most common physique among the crowds here is the acquired Black Iron Battle Physique. Plenty of fighters have mid-stage physiques, while a few of the stronger 9th level qi refiners hold the late-stage physiques.

None of them carry weapons.

The second most common acquired physique is interesting.

It is the acquired Body Reinforcement Physique, the same as the enchantment on the milk fruits I am very familiar with.

Very light red glows seep off the skin of the strongest few.

It makes the bones, muscles, and even skin of these fighters slightly hotter than the surrounding cultivators.

While not a very strong acquired physique, it feels like the mid stage does add about a level of qi refiner strength to the wielder.

Surprisingly, well over half of the fighters here don’t have physiques at all. Anyone with one, even at the initial stage, is at an advantage.

These fighters here are some of the strongest members of the Combat Peak and this entire portion of the outer sect. Yet, only a few really stand out. It is slightly underwhelming.

I blend in and wait until the crowd grows even bigger, and an old announcer’s voice rings out to get everyone’s attention.

“Alright! We’ve gathered enough of you to begin the trial rounds! There are already 20 entries that passed with enough strength on the testing pillar, so 44 slots are still available!"

The crowd of over two hundred cultivators becomes restless, and everyone begins eyeing each other up even more.

“You’re allowed to use the high-grade weapons you’ve selected at the entry point. No external talismans, artifacts, or weapons can be used during your matches. This is a test of your strength, not your wealth! Between matches, healing elixirs are allowed, but do consider the impurity buildup. Wasting their use in trial rounds will limit your uses in the main event tonight. Real combat is about conserving your energy and picking your battles.”

I get a better look at the man yelling. He’s another elderly late-stage qi refiner with the Black Iron Battle Physique, far past his prime.

There are a few others at the 7th and 8th levels of qi refining, past their 70s, all lining up in front of each of the ten dirt pits.

“You will be assigned fights at random! They will last until your opponent is unable to move, or they verbally forfeit. If you lose a round, you may leave or wait to be paired with someone else who has lost to fight again! If you win, you will fight against another winner! Win three rounds in a row to guarantee a main event slot. Each overseer has one token to override the rules and push a disciple of their favor through even on a loss. Are there any objections?”

He waits a few seconds, and no one calls out. The crowd only becomes more restless.

“Good. Begin your fights!” he yells and walks off behind all of the pits while crossing his arms.

The ten elder overseers hold up silver tablets, each one displaying thin white numbers glowing with qi.

Quickly, the fights begin.

Loud, echoing clashes of weapons and fists colliding fill the air.

Each round only lasts a minute or two.

Some competitors leave the pits with deep wounds, or they lay unconscious, needing to be carried out by fellow disciples.

Though, the majority of matches end in forfeits after a few blows, when there is a clear winner and the weaker opponent wants to conserve their energy for more matches.

One of the overseers calls out his numbers as they appear on his tablet, “168 and 145! You’re fighting next!”

I walk over and spot my opponent, an 8th-level qi refiner almost half a head taller than me. He has a bulky frame, and half of his grin sags from a past injury.

There are a few younger disciples surrounding him, all rogues or weaklings from qi refining clans.

A heavy high-grade sword rests on his shoulder, and I read a mid-grade Body Reinforcement Physique on his status.

“What a waste of a match. At least I’ll get to warm up,” he murmurs, and his followers in the crowd nearby laugh along.

I flash my talisman to the overseer, let Little Red hop off my shoulder to sit beside the old man with a bored expression, and walk into my side of the pit.

About 20 meters across from me, the bulky man walks on too, pulling his blade off his shoulder to give it a few swings.

Very faint but sturdy fluctuations ripple through his whole physique, but they do not leave his body much.

It is only when he swings his blade that the whole black iron weapon ripples with faint inferior Mortal-grade vibrations.

I recognize it as a half-learned technique, a much inferior version but similar to the Swift Sword enchantment I practiced with Wang Tengru back in Lingshi City.

His system scanned secret is similar to many of the late stage cultivators here today.

[One of the strongest cultivators of the young generation of the Gao Clan. They are an initial stage foundation establishment clan that was recently turned down from moving into Lingshi City. Hopes to rank high in the combat tournament to bring positive merits to his family name, and be granted access into one of the major cities.]

He has 7th grade roots, with little hope of ever reaching the foundation establishment realm. Everyone here today is looking for a chance to stand out.

He’s a skilled cultivator, probably well respected by qi refiners, and can fight above his level normally. Unfortunately, he has me as his first opponent.

I take my bow off my back and pull an arrow taut in the string.

The overseer counts us down, but my bulky opponent does not take me seriously.

He continues to practice swings and stretch out his arms and legs.

“Alright, let’s get this over with. You better forfeit, or you’re going back to your peak with one less limb!”

He laughs to himself and lifts his sword, hearing the overseer yell, “Begin!”

His calm and arrogant attitude freezes moments after.

A loud shattering sound of high-grade black iron breaking rings through the air.

I’ve only release a single arrow from my bow, white vibrations tethered to it, increasing its strength far beyond the high-grade blade in his hand.

On impact, the whole black sword shatters, and the white wisps of my arrow disperse into the air.

It digs into the ground behind him like a normal high-grade arrow.

All of the chuckling younger disciples that followed this man around stop suddenly and widen their eyes in disbelief.

I simply pull back another arrow.

There is no white armor that appears on my skin, nor do the full-powered fluctuations of my physique ripple outward.

It is only an incomplete version I’ve practiced, slowly lighting up the bowstring and core of the arrow I’m pulling back with faint inferior Martial Spirit Vibrations.

The overseer’s eyes sharpen first, honing in on my hands, but his weak spiritual senses can’t see much. The white flash only flickers for a fraction of a second.

I grin. “What was that about forfeiting? I’ll give you a chance to do the same since you were so kind…” Then, I shift my stance to release my next arrow.

I pierce his thigh, missing his vitals on purpose, but the bulky man yells out in fury from the pain as his soul quivers from the impact. He looks straight at our fight overseer.

“What kind of trash sword did you give me? It breaks from being hit by a single arrow?!”

The old man gives no response, so the bulky man runs forward at me with a broken blade.

His speed is quite fast, faster than the 4th level of qi refining I’d like to maintain.

I pull another arrow back and let it fly straight at a single tension point in his physique. There is already a fresh scar beneath his robes and a subtle weakness in his soul, all in the same place.

To many weaker qi refiners, his figure is a blur, but he comes skidding to a halt in front of me, yelling out in pain with an arrow in his side.

He drops to his knees, then falls face first to the ground, unable to properly move.

I sling my bow onto my back and look at the old man watching our match.

He hesitates for a few seconds, but when the bulky man grasping his broken sword’s hilt coughs up a puddle of blood, he yells out.

“That’s it! Match over! Cultivator 168 is the winner!”

In a single breath, I nod and toss a high-grade healing elixir down to my opponent, who holds his head that must be pounding in pain from the odd injury.

“Good match. Please, take this as a gift.”

The strong medicinal fragrance fills the air, and he instantly eats it.

High-grade healing elixirs aren’t entirely uncommon, but they can go for over two hundred spirit stones in some markets.

Silence fills the fighting pit as I walk off, and a few fellow disciples carry their bulky leader to the side of the pits to recover as well.

I walk over to the old overseer to grab Little Red waiting for me unfazed.

The old man stares forward, but his spiritual senses keep probing my hands, confused about what he just saw.

After a few seconds he gives up on trying to figure it out and announces the next match.

When I walk back into the crowds, far more gazes linger on me.

“What was that? How did a 4th-level qi refiner take out a late-stage sword wielder of the Gao Clan?”

“A better question, how did a 4th-level qi refiner even make it into the trial rounds…”

“He’s from the Beast Mastery Peak. Who is he?”

I spot a fellow member of my Beast Mastery Peak fighting in the pit beside me, and he’s losing to a younger-looking 7th-level qi refiner with the same common Body Reinforcement Physique.

They almost come to a draw, then the Beast Mastery disciple forfeits when he’s pushed to the edge with too many cuts all over his body to move on any further.

He walks away with his grey wolf, swallowing a mid-grade healing elixir.

“I’m done with this… There’s no use getting injured more, I won’t even make it into the main event…”

He overhears whispers of my fight on the way out and turns back with a glare.

“Who? Li Hao? He’s just one of the newer spoiled disciples of our Beast Mastery Peak. Don’t expect much. The Wang and Mu Clans filled him with pills. That’s why his bones are so strong, he has two mid stage foundational clans backing him!”

The salty middle-aged man walks off, limping toward the market alone, and the whispers about me become more complicated.

A few fights from the stronger late-stage qi refiners with Black Iron Battle Physiques in nearby pits bring their attention away from me.

The crowds thin after a while as more weak disciples give up on their own, and a few of the strongest fighters get granted access to the main event.

“168, you’re up! Fighting disciple number 14!”

I hear my number shouted again from a pit close by and walk over to see a young 9th-level qi refiner with the late-stage Black Iron Battle Physique getting ready. The family name Ye on his system scan is the first thing I notice.