Chapter 507 - 175: The Second Bet, the Preliminaries Begin

On the other side of Fushan Square.

In the area where the disciples of Fen Yang Peak had gathered.

Xu Ziqiang stood amidst the crowd, his brow furrowed. His expression was grave, and he couldn’t hide the sour look on his face.

Amidst the roar of the bustling crowd, his gaze swept over his fellow disciples with their steady auras, and a heavy feeling settled in his heart.

The intensity of the Fushan Grand Competition far exceeded his and Gao Yang’s previous expectations.

Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that neither of them had expected the sect to be hiding so many masters they’d barely even heard of before.

Just a few days ago, he and Gao Yang had been putting their heads together, calculating their chances. With their strength at the Peak of the Inner Strength Realm, they figured that even if they weren’t at the very top among the young disciples of the Main Peak and the Seven Veins, they could at least secure a spot for themselves.

They had estimated that there were only about fifteen experts in the Qi Eating Realm under the age of thirty in the entire sect.

And below those dozen or so individuals, they believed that among the Inner Strength Realm disciples, the two of them were the strongest.

With that level of power, they were almost certain they could break into the top twenty of the Fushan Grand Competition and secure a spot to be specially cultivated by the sect.

But now, having come to Fushan Square and seeing the disciples from every vein gathered in person, Xu Ziqiang realized just how naive he and Gao Yang had been.

After making some inquiries, Xu Ziqiang was stunned.

Among the various veins, there were so many young disciples who had broken through to the Qi Eating Realm before the age of thirty. Each one’s aura was as deep and imposing as a mountain; they were clearly skilled cultivators who had trained bitterly for years.

These people had always been inconspicuous within the sect, almost like they were invisible, and they rarely made public appearances. ’Perhaps it’s because Gao Yang and I aren’t in the Qi Eating Realm,’ he thought. ’Different realms mean different social circles. It’s only natural that we’d know so little about these hidden Qi Eating Realm disciples.’

Now, drawn by the rich rewards of the Fushan Grand Competition, these previously unheard-of Qi Eating Realm disciples had all emerged from the woodwork. They were all itching for a fight, their eyes gleaming with a determination to win.

According to the information Xu Ziqiang had just discreetly gathered, there were a total of twenty-six or twenty-seven Qi Eating Realm disciples participating in this Fushan Grand Competition.

This was the total number of Qi Eating Realm disciples under the age of thirty from the Main Peak and the Seven Veins who had signed up for the competition.

This number was more than ten people greater than the fifteen he and Gao Yang had initially predicted.

With things as they were, their goal of breaking into the top twenty of the Fushan Grand Competition was now almost hopeless.

No matter how powerful he and Gao Yang were in the Inner Strength Realm, or how refined their Inner Qi was, they couldn’t bridge the enormous gap between them and the experts of the Qi Eating Realm.

It was a chasm between realms. If they faced one, defeat was almost certain. They wouldn’t have even the slightest chance of winning.

There were twenty-six or twenty-seven Qi Eating Realm experts alone. The top twenty spots would almost certainly be swept up by them. How could two disciples from the Inner Strength Realm possibly get a piece of the pie and break into the top twenty?

And according to the sect’s reward conditions for the Fushan Grand Competition, only those who placed in the top twenty were guaranteed to be specially cultivated by the sect and receive those coveted Cultivation Resources.

At this thought, Xu Ziqiang felt a chill creep into his heart, and the anticipation he had felt before slowly began to fade.

Xu Ziqiang took a deep breath, slowly suppressing the disappointment in his heart and forcing himself to calm down.

He knew that, given his and Gao Yang’s strength and the talent they had shown in the past during the Cyan Qilin Battle, there was a chance the sect would still add them to the list of disciples for special cultivation.

After all, the rules of the Fushan Grand Competition were clear.

Besides the top twenty disciples who were guaranteed special cultivation status...

...those who didn’t make the cut but gave a stunning performance in the competition and caught the eye of the Elders could also be granted a spot after a discussion among the sect’s upper echelons.

...

Elsewhere, in the gathering area for the Zhenyue Peak disciples, Gao Yang’s expression was just as grave, his brows furrowed deeply.

His reaction was nearly identical to Xu Ziqiang’s; he was also deeply unsettled by the sudden appearance of over twenty Qi Eating Realm disciples.

Seeing such a grand scene with his own eyes, he once again truly understood that the Xuanzhen Sect was worthy of being a major sect in Jintai Prefecture. Its foundation was so deep that it could hide so many young, unheard-of geniuses of the Qi Eating Realm.

Most of these people had likely been engrossed in bitter training, not even using the Training Rooms within the sect.

Some had been out gaining experience for years, honing themselves through life-and-death battles.

Others had returned to their own families, using their clan’s resources to cultivate in seclusion, never showing their faces.

Gao Yang couldn’t help but secretly wonder if there were even more, equally formidable Qi Eating Realm disciples with calmer dispositions who hadn’t been tempted by the Fushan Grand Competition’s generous rewards and remained hidden.

...

Meanwhile, in the gathering area for the Yunxi Peak disciples, Sun Ningxiang was on her tiptoes, craning her neck. Her gaze swept over the bobbing heads in front of her as she scanned the surroundings, trying to find Yang Jing.

But there were just too many people in the square. The dense sea of figures seemed to merge into one, and she couldn’t even tell which direction the Lingxi Peak disciples were gathered in. There was no way she could find any trace of Yang Jing so quickly.

This couldn’t help but make Sun Ningxiang feel a little frustrated, and she pouted slightly.

The Fushan Grand Competition was about to begin, and Yang Jing would soon be taking the stage. Even if she couldn’t get close enough to say a few words to him, just being able to see him from afar would put her heart at ease.