After the tribulation clouds dispersed completely, Lin Zhiyue remained seated on the stone platform for another fifteen minutes. She only stood up once the spiritual energy inside her body had fully stabilized.
The system screen lit up quietly at the edge of her vision: 【Breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Stage complete. Reward: Premium Draw Ticket x10 has been distributed.】 She glanced at it, turned, pushed the door open, and walked out.
On the day of their departure, a silver-white spirit boat was parked on the main peak's plaza. Its hull was nearly three times larger than the ones they usually used for travel, with Tiance Palace's silver banners with black patterns hanging from both sides. The spiritual runes on the vessel's surface flowed slowly in the morning light.
The eligible disciples boarded the boat one after another, including the direct disciples of each lineage and the top disciples selected from the outer sect.
Lin Zhiyue located Cen Xi'er in the crowd and sat down beside her.
Chu Zhixun sat diagonally opposite them, Xiao Yuan leaned against the cabin wall resting with his eyes closed, and Jiang Yuezhan sat in a corner near the cabin door, his sword resting across his knees.
Qi Yan stood at the bow, giving instructions to the main peak's administrative elder. The morning light traced a sharp, clean outline along his profile.
As the spirit boat took flight, Lin Zhiyue glanced down through the porthole at the outline of Tiance Palace's three peaks. The mountains gradually shrank in the morning mist into a continuous stretch of deep teal, as if the entire sect had been captured within a single, still frame.
After four days of flight, Wanxian City finally appeared in the porthole's view.
The city was much larger than Lin Zhiyue had imagined. The city walls were constructed from massive, grayish-white stones, and a giant plaque hung above the city gates, with the characters "Wanxian City" carved in ancient seal script.
The city gates were bustling with crowds. Disciples wearing various sect uniforms shuttled back and forth along the streets, and banners of different colors fluttered in the wind atop the city towers.
The spirit boat landed on a designated mooring platform outside the city. When Lin Zhiyue hopped down, her feet met smooth bluestone ground. The air was thick with ripples of spiritual energy and the hum of chattering crowds, far livelier than the quiet back mountains of Tiance Palace.
She stood in place and looked around at the surrounding buildings and pedestrians, making a rough mental map of Wanxian City's layout before following the group through the city gates.
Stores lined both sides of the streets, with stalls selling spiritual ingredients, weapons, and medicinal pills packed closely together. Shouts of vendors and the sounds of bargaining drifted in from all directions.
Walking in the middle of the group, Lin Zhiyue occasionally paused to glance at a stall selling dried spiritual fruits before continuing forward.
They soon arrived at the accommodations arranged by the City Lord of Wanxian City. It was a massive, independent complex of courtyards where different sects stayed in separate areas, partitioned by green brick walls and covered walkways.
Lin Zhiyue pushed open the door to her assigned wing room, set down her belongings, and opened the window to look at the street scene outside.
In the alley outside, a few people were passing by carrying a banner that read "Qingling Sect," its corners fluttering in the wind before settling back down.
Her gaze lingered on the banner for a moment before she withdrew it. Without dwelling on it, she turned to place her luggage on the table and began unpacking, waiting for the Sect Assembly to officially begin tomorrow.
On the day the Sect Assembly officially commenced, the sky had just fully brightened, yet the martial arts field in the center of Wanxian City was already packed with people.
This martial arts field was several times larger than Tiance Palace's main arena. It was surrounded on all sides by tiered stone spectator stands, spacious enough to accommodate thousands of people watching at the same time.
Banners of the various sects were lined up along both sides of the stands. The azure-green banner of the Qingling Sect, the frosty snow lotus banner of the Biluo Immortal Sect, the peach blossom fan banner of the Piaoyin Sect, the severed halberd banner of the Sacred Sword Pavilion, and Tiance Palace's silver banner with black patterns hung on the easternmost side.
Before the tournament started, the City Lord of Wanxian City took the high stage. After a brief round of pleasantries, he announced the rules of the competition—drawing lots for group pairings, one-on-one duels, winners advancing and losers being eliminated until the top ten were decided, followed by a round-robin tournament to determine the final rankings.
Lin Zhiyue's name was written on a slip of paper and placed into the drawing tube, with the results of the draw announced before noon.
Her opponent for the first round was a late-stage Golden Core disciple from the Piaoyin Sect, which was a fairly standard matchup to start with.
When she stepped onto the arena, the female cultivator opposite her, dressed in pink and white robes, was holding a sword. The woman smiled politely at her, and after exchanging mutual salutes, they drew their swords and clashed.
Her opponent's movement was agile, employing a swift and nimble sword style. However, back when Lin Zhiyue was in the Golden Core Stage, she had already sparred with opponents of all styles within her sect, so she was no stranger to this kind of swordplay.
After a few probing exchanges, she caught a slight delay in the transition between her opponent's moves. The Azure Scale Sword slipped through the gap, its blade scraping against the other's sword spine to deflect it by half an inch, before coming to a steady halt right beside her opponent's shoulder.
The female cultivator from the Piaoyin Sect sheathed her sword, took a step back, conceded, and stepped down from the arena.
Lin Zhiyue sheathed her sword. As she walked down from the arena, some people in the stands were whispering, but she could not make out what they were saying.
Her opponent in the second round was a disciple from the Sacred Sword Pavilion. His sword style was fierce and sweeping, somewhat similar to Chu Zhixun's, though his power was not as steady.
She avoided meeting his brute-force attacks head-on, opting to wear down his spiritual energy by keeping her distance and moving around. Once his sword strikes slowed down, she seized a weakness and struck.
In the third round, she encountered a disciple from the Biluo Immortal Sect. The opponent possessed a Water Spiritual Root, meaning their spiritual energy attribute was similar to hers, making the battle feel like a collision of two forces from the same source.
In the end, she secured the match by a hair's breadth. As she walked down from the arena, her breathing was slightly heavier than in the previous two rounds. Some spectators in the stands stood up to watch before sitting back down; Lin Zhiyue was unaware that she was drawing more and more attention.
By the time the day's matches concluded, the sky had already darkened.
Banners of the various sects drooped in the evening breeze, and the crowds in the stands were gradually dispersing.
Lin Zhiyue stood under the corridor and took a sip of water, her gaze sweeping over the intersecting banners. The competition would continue tomorrow, and the number of remaining competitors was growing smaller.
She told herself that she had barely exerted any effort in the preliminary matches over the past few days. She had played it safe and steady, mostly focusing on observing her opponents' moves. Now that she had a clear grasp of her main competitors' styles, she would pick up the pace starting tomorrow.
She had not used any of her trump cards yet. She planned to save those set skills for the latter half of the tournament.
She set down her water skin and turned to walk toward her quarters. A faint scent of grass drifted from the cracks between the stone slabs, mingling with the smell of dust that lingered in the air after a long day of competition.
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