The venue for the individual combat matches was Fighting Peak.
Leaving the transmission hall and heading to the eastern side of Fighting Peak, Gu Ningyun and her friends wove through crowds of older disciples who had come to watch the spectacle until they reached the arena grounds.
A handyman disciple approached them, verified their identities, and led them to the section reserved for Ruiyu Pavilion of Qixia Peak.
The entire venue appeared to be designed specifically for large-scale competitions, laid out in a massive circular ring.
From her seat, Gu Ningyun looked toward the center of the arena. Ten circular stages, each about fifty meters in diameter, were spaced out across the middle. Beside each stage stood a smaller, elevated platform.
She guessed those platforms were for the referees.
Surrounding the stages were tiers of spectator seats arranged in concentric circles. Gu Ningyun noticed that the first few rows were filled with new disciples from their class.
The dozen or so rows behind them were occupied by a mix of inner sect, outer sect, and handyman disciples who had come to watch.
To her right, there was a section of seats higher up that remained completely empty.
Whenever a spectator accidentally wandered into that area, a handyman disciple would immediately intercept them and lead them away.
She stroked her chin, wondering if that area was reserved for the competition organizers, sect elders, or other high-ranking seniors.
As she was surveying the arena, she felt a few light nudges against her left elbow.
She turned her head and met Wen Xuan's gaze.
“Look behind you to the left, Ningyun.”
Gu Ningyun turned around and immediately saw two people waving at them.
She couldn't help but cry out in surprise, “Martial Aunt Yang! Martial Uncle Lu!”
Hearing her voice, her other three companions followed her gaze.
Martial Aunt Yang and Martial Uncle Lu stood up from their seats, squeezed through the crowd, and came over to them.
Jiang Yao was both shocked and delighted. “Martial Aunt Yang, Martial Uncle Lu! Didn’t you two say in the group chat yesterday that you didn’t have time to come?”
“Hahahaha, we were just teasing you!”
Martial Uncle Lu reached out and ruffled Jiang Yao’s hair. “This is the first battle for our Ruiyu Pavilion. Of course the two of us had to come and support you.”
Martial Aunt Yang asked in a gentle tone, “Are you nervous?”
“I wasn’t at first,” Wen Xuan said with a giggle. “But now that you’ve asked, Martial Aunt Yang, I’m starting to feel a bit of the pressure.”
Gu Ningyun felt the same way.
“Don’t be afraid,” Martial Aunt Yang said.
“Just treat it as an opportunity to spar. Fight as you normally would.”
“Exactly, it’s just a friendly match between fellow disciples. Look at how calm Jun Luo and Mu Chenze are,” Martial Uncle Lu added, offering further comfort.
Gu Ningyun looked back and saw that Jun Luo’s aura was cold and steady, his expression completely unruffled.
Mu Chenze, on the other hand, was casually waving his folding fan. He raised an eyebrow at the girls and said, “The ones who should be nervous aren’t us, but our opponents.”
Thinking of their plan, Gu Ningyun burst into a soft laugh. “That’s true.”
As they spoke, the front rows were nearly filled to capacity.
“The competition is about to start. We need to head back to the rear seats now.”
Martial Aunt Yang pinched Gu Ningyun’s cheek. “Good luck. I believe in you all.”
Before leaving, Martial Uncle Lu gave them an encouraging gesture. “We’re looking forward to your performance.”
As it neared the start of the Si hour, a group of about a dozen disciples wearing white robes and blue belts arrived at the empty VIP section to the front-right. The woman leading them possessed an aura similar in strength to Martial Aunt Kong, suggesting she was at the Golden Core stage.
Once everyone was seated, the leading Perfected Person stood up. “Disciples, please remain quiet.”
Her voice was amplified by spirit energy, carrying clearly across the entire arena.
Gu Ningyun sat up straight and focused her attention on the woman.
“I am Ye Tingran, the Head of the Disciple Training Department of Governing Peak and the person in charge of this New Disciple Competition.”
“Before the matches begin, I wish to emphasize one absolute rule—killing fellow disciples is strictly forbidden.”
“Anyone who violates this rule will have their aura permanently erased from the Disciple Jade Register and will be taken away by Punishment Peak to be dealt with according to sect law.”
“Believe me, being sent to Punishment Peak for such a violation is hundreds of times more terrifying than death.”
“Next, I will explain the rules and scoring system for the Advancement Matches, which is the first round of the second phase of the individual competition.”
“First, the match rules.”
“There are a total of six hundred and ninety-three outer sect disciples in the 11,680th class of the Xiaoyao Sect.”
“Matches will be decided by a random draw for one-on-one duels. The winner advances, and the loser is eliminated. Since there is an odd number of participants, one person will receive a bye and automatically advance.”
“After the first round, the three hundred and forty-seven winners will draw lots again for the second round.”
“After the second round, the one hundred and seventy-four winners will draw lots for the third round.”
“Following the third round, there will be eighty-seven winners remaining. At that point, the Advancement Matches will conclude.”
“Those eliminated during the Advancement Matches should not be discouraged. You will still have one final opportunity in the second round—the Revival Matches.”
“Next, the scoring rules.”
“For the three rounds of the Advancement Matches, winners of the first round will receive fifty points, winners of the second round sixty points, and winners of the third round seventy points.”
“Finally, regarding the platform.”
“Take out your identity jade tokens. On the Fighting Peak platform, you can view the leaderboard for the New Disciple Competition.”
“This list will update your total competition scores in real-time, which is the sum of your usual assessment scores and your tournament scores. Likewise, the draws for the matches will also be conducted through this platform.”
Perfected Person Ye paused for a moment, seemingly waiting for them to explore the Fighting Peak platform.
Gu Ningyun sent her divine sense into her jade token. On the New Disciple Competition leaderboard, Jun Luo’s name was prominently displayed at the very top with 220 points.
It seemed his high score was because he had participated in both the array and talisman assessments simultaneously.
The second-ranked disciple was Ren Zhuyue with 172 points.
The third-ranked disciple was Xue Bin with 153 points.
Aside from the Almanac of Heavenly Wonders, for which the results hadn't been released yet, Gu Ningyun had received perfect scores on all her other assessments. That these people had higher scores than her suggested they, like Jun Luo, had also taken assessments for multiple arts of cultivation.
However, she wasn't worried. There were still plenty of opportunities to earn points in the individual combat matches.
Gu Ningyun was ranked fourth with 140 points.
Fifth was Wen Xuan with 134 points.
Sixth was Zhu Zijin with 132 points.
Seventh was Mu Chenze with 129 points.
Eighth was Si Puyu with 123 points.
Ninth was Jiang Yao with 120 points.
Looking at the current rankings, all of them were temporarily in the top ten. It was a solid start.
Before she could scroll down further, a notification for the draw popped up on the platform.
The voice of the competition head, Perfected Person Ye, reached her ears. “Now, let the draw begin.”
Gu Ningyun clicked the notification. Green numbers spun rapidly before stopping on the number twelve.
Immediately after, the numbers dispersed and reformed into a line of text: Arena 2 | Number 12.
Gu Ningyun thought to herself, “What is with all the twos today...”
Putting away her identity jade token, Gu Ningyun asked her four friends about their numbers. Fortunately, all five of them had drawn different numbers, so they wouldn't have to face each other right at the start.
After a short while, ten Foundation Establishment martial uncles flew out from behind Perfected Person Ye and landed on the small platforms of the ten arenas. It appeared they would serve as the referees.
Feeling the atmosphere around her thick with a mixture of excitement and tension, Gu Ningyun felt a surge of anticipation in her heart.
Rate on N.U.
