The first stage was about to start.
In front of each of the transparent cylinders filled with marbles stood an invigilating Elder to administer and oversee the test. In their hands, they held a long staff with a copper ball attached at the end, the whole thing looking like a drumstick generally used to hit a gong.
As the Elders began calling for the participants to line up, Qinghe went along with the tide of disciples and randomly chose a cylinder of marbles somewhere in the middle of the row.
As he walked forward with the intention of joining the line, he suddenly sensed a hostile gaze being directed towards him. Halting, Qinghe looked around and finally found the source of the glare.
It was a chubby-cheeked girl with two hair buns on either side of her head, slender violet ribbons trailing from them. Even as she shot Qinghe a look filled with poison, one of her hands was tenderly clutching at the sleeve of the stern-faced woman beside her.
Qinghe turned to the woman and offered a greeting, "Sister Lei, it has been a while since we last met. I hope you are well."
Lei Zihua, the head disciple of the sect master of the Lightning Sky Sect, gave a short nod as she returned in her usual taciturn manner, "You too, Brother Feng."
Lei Zihua and her junior brother Xiao Ran were two of the disciples who had been trapped along with Qinghe, having to go through the trial of the Nightmare Parasite as they witnessed each other's fears and terrors.
The last time Qinghe interacted with Lei Zihua had been to give her the bottles filled with acid harvested from the wyvern hiding in the pocket dimension. After that, they hadn't crossed paths again.
But it was hardly surprising that as fellow head disciples of two of the Five Great Sects, they would meet again in the tournament. As for Xiao Ran, he unfortunately didn't seem to have made the cut of having a cultivation level of fifth realm or above and was therefore unable to participate this time.
And now, in Xiao Ran's place was the person whom Qinghe guessed to be Lei Zihua's junior sister, who was currently glaring at him for no apparent reason.
Tilting his head in confusion, Qinghe asked, "Sister Lei, may I ask if I have somehow offended your junior sister?"
Not waiting for Lei Zihua to speak in her stead, the young girl immediately burst out angrily, "Senior Brother Feng, you just wait! My Senior Sister will definitely beat you!"
Facing this intense outburst, Qinghe felt somewhat speechless.
Lei Zihua frowned at her junior sister's impertinence and admonished, "Xiao Meng, stop it."
Looking wronged, Xiao Meng turned her burning gaze towards her Senior Sister and began fervently complaining, "But Senior Sister Lei! As a reputed alchemist from the Lightning Peak Sect who constantly uses their spirit sense to refine pills, your skills in perception must be far greater than this fellow from the Heavenly Peak Sect! Those knuckleheaded warriors from that sect only know how to fight using brute force anyway, I doubt they even know what finesse is! You can beat him easily!"
Far from being offended upon hearing this, Qinghe merely shook his head amusedly as he forced down his chuckles.
Lei Zihua, however, only frowned harder. "Xiao Meng, you are being rude."
Her fists clenched as she pouted, Xiao Meng lowered her eyes, unable to meet her senior sister's reprimanding gaze. "But I'm not wrong! Why does everyone keep saying that he will win? You are clearly more amazing!"
Qinghe raised his eyebrows, suddenly feeling like he understood what the matter was with this little junior. So it was only that she couldn't bear others comparing her beloved senior sister with him, was it?
Seeing that Xiao Meng was a lost cause who refused to act reasonably, Lei Zihua instead turned to Qinghe and said, "Brother Feng, I apologize for my junior sister's conduct. Please do not take it to heart."
Smiling pleasantly, Qinghe waved it away. "Sister Lei need not apologize. I do not take offense. I'm glad to see that you have such a dedicated junior. Anyway, we should probably join a line soon. The test is about to start."
Sure enough, when they glanced forward, they saw that most of the disciples had already finished lining up.
As Qinghe walked over to join the end of a line, Xiao Meng purposefully dragged over her senior sister and cut in front of him, then looked back with a triumphant and provoking expression as if she had won one over him by being at the front.
But seeing that Qinghe was actually smiling at her with mirth dancing in his gaze, Xiao Meng felt her teeth itch. This damned senior brother was too infuriating! Why couldn't he just take offense like a normal person! This sensation was like rearing back for a punch, only for her fist to land on soft and springy cotton―in other words, it was extremely frustrating!
However, in contrast, Qinghe actually felt that this Xiao Meng was quite cute in a childish way. She reminded him of the twins and made him want to smile indulgently and pat her on the head while offering her some sweets.
If the little junior heard his thoughts, she would spit up a fountain of blood and die out of sheer indignation.
"Xiao Meng, stand properly," Lei Zihua instructed in an attempt to redirect her junior sister's attention.
Glowering one last time at Qinghe, Xiao Meng obediently faced forward while standing straight.
Seeing that everyone had finished lining up, the Elders began the test.
"The first in line, step forward!" the female Elder in charge of their line called out.
Standing at the foremost position was a lanky young man from the Golden Sun Sect. Wiping his sweaty palms on his thighs, he carefully took a step towards the giant transparent cylinder in the front.
"Your name and level?" the Elder asked the disciple.
"Jiang Wan, sixth realm," he answered.
The Elder in charge dutifully noted it down along with the name of his sect indicated by the emblem at the bottom center of his robes. Then lifting the staff in her hand, she hit its round end on the black stone tablet affixed to the front of the cylinder.
As soon as the staff struck the rectangular tablet, the transparent cylinder immediately turned opaque to hide its contents as the marbles within whirled quickly to rearrange themselves before settling down again. Once that was done, the tablet attached to the cylinder flashed a bright azure blue, indicating the color of the marbles that the disciple was designated to.
Since this was the first disciple to take the test, the Elder patiently explained, "Since the tablet showed this particular shade of blue, that is the only color of the marbles you are supposed to break. Do not touch marbles of any other color or shade. You may now begin."
The disciple nodded and extended a hand, his forehead creasing in concentration. His spirit sense flooded the cylinder in a rush and seeped through the marbles, frantically searching for as many azure blue ones as it could and crushing them one by one.
Not even a whole second had passed when the tablet flashed once more, indicating that all the marbles assigned to the disciple had been successfully broken. The walls of the cylinder then quickly returned to transparency.
The disciple lowered his hand, sweat beginning to bead his temple as he anxiously awaited the result.
Neat rows of white dots began to appear one after another on the black stone tablet. When the dots finally stopped appearing, the Elder in charge swiftly calculated the number of the dots and announced, "Jiang Wan, ninety-seven instances," before noting it down as well.
Though it was barely below the cut-off of a hundred, the disciple sighed in relief that he was able to qualify at all. Now even if he didn't participate in the next stage, he would still be eligible to take part in the third stage, which was where the most valuable rewards were granted.
"Next in line, step forward!" the Elder announced, and the line slowly shuffled ahead as another disciple walked to the front.
The next few disciples were not as fortunate as the first one. Some were too reckless and caused the marbles to spill from the top of the cylinder, and others managed to chip a few and had this mistake dutifully noted down by the Elder as well. But the reason most disciples failed to qualify was because they took much longer than the stipulated one second, or a hundred instances as it was called, to finish the task.
The line slowly moved forward as more and more disciples took the test, but only a couple had been successful till now.
Soon, only Xiao Meng, Lei Zihua, and Qinghe, who was the last person in the line, were left.
"Next in line, step forward!"
Xiao Meng strode to the front with a fierce gaze and stated before she could be asked, "Chu Meng, fifth realm."
The Elder carefully wrote it down before lifting her staff and knocking on the tablet. After the cylinder turned opaque and the marbles inside were finished shuffling, the tablet flashed orange.
Standing proudly, Xiao Meng lifted a hand, her expression confident as she split her spiritual awareness into fine threads and inserted it quickly through the space between the marbles, increasing her efficiency with this method. Almost instantaneously, the tablet flashed, indicating that she had already completed crushing all of the orange-colored marbles.
White dots quickly finished appearing on the rectangular tablet.
Without much change in her expression, the Elder announced, "Chu Meng, twenty-six instances."
The disciples who had finished with their test and were now wandering about nearby all showed shocked expressions when they heard this. Getting only twenty-six instances was really a great achievement, worthy of being placed in one of the top ten, no, top five positions!
Seeing how people were now shooting her looks of admiration and envy, Xiao Meng showed a smug expression, her little cheeks flushed pink with pride. Her clear eyes sparkled with pleasure and haughtiness at being the center of attention.
Lei Zihua couldn't help but feel her heart soften when she saw this. When she was not being unreasonable, her junior sister was actually quite cute.
"Senior Sister, you should also score well. Then we can both place within the top five ah!" Xiao Mei happily said, then skipped to the side to make way for her senior sister and waited there.
Who cared about that Senior Brother Feng? Her senior sister's speed would definitely leave him in the dust!
"Next in line, step forward!"
Lei Zihua walked up to the cylinder and spoke, "Lei Zihua, seventh realm."
Hearing this, Qinghe felt slightly shocked.
When they had parted the last time, Lei Zihua had only been in fifth realm while he had been in the seventh. Yet, within these few months, she had already broken through to seventh realm while he had only progressed to eighth. Her speed was really fast!
As Qinghe came out of his musings and paid attention to what was happening in front of him again, he saw the tablet flash with a hunter green color.
Closing her eyes, Lei Zihua intertwined her fingers over her stomach primly as her spiritual awareness tore out of her in a violent wave. The tablet immediately flashed and dots began to appear one by one.
After their attentions had been attracted by Xiao Meng's test before, the surrounding disciples all began to keep an eye on this area. Seeing Lei Zihua completing the test so quickly, they all looked over with even more interest at her score.
The presiding Elder's eyes slightly widened as she announced, "Lei Zihua, eight instances."
A hushed silence fell around them as the surrounding disciples looked at Lei Zihua with respect and wonder openly displayed on their faces. This definitely had to be the first place! There was no doubt about it!
"Sister Lei, congratulations," Qinghe offered.
Opening her eyes placidly, Lei Zihua nodded, then said, "Thank you. Brother Feng, I don't think your speed will lose to mine."
With that, she walked towards the waiting Xiao Meng who was jumping with joy at her senior sister's score.
"Last in line, step forward!"
With calm steadiness, Qinghe made his way to the front and gave his details, "Feng Qinghe, eighth realm."
The surrounding disciples all whispered among themselves after hearing this, their voices tinged with awe. Though they had all heard of Feng Qinghe and how he had a relatively high level of cultivation, they had never expected it to be this high!
Qinghe paid them no mind, his attention focused on his own test.
The Elder struck the stone tablet with her staff and the cylinder turned opaque once again, the clinks of shuffling marbles sounding out crisply from within. When the noise stopped and the marbles settled in a random order, the black tablet on the cylinder flashed a deep red.
Without a moment of hesitation, a vast ocean of spiritual awareness flowed into the cylinder without disturbing a single marble, winding through and assessing colors, then wrapping around the red ones and crushing them all in one go.
From the outside, no sooner had the tablet flashed red than it immediately flashed white once again to show that the task was done, the two contrasting colors overlapping and looking instantaneous.
The observing disciples could only gape. Even the Elder showed mild surprise.
Curious to see what sort of a score Qinghe would get, they all turned as one to watch the tablet, but the tablet's surface remained blank, not a single spot in sight.
The Elder waited.
The amassed audience waited.
Qinghe inwardly sighed.
But the black stone tablet still remained blank, showing nothing.
Realizing that something was wrong, the Elder frowned and lightly brushed her fingers over a simple jade pendant suspended from her belt. The pendant flashed and a voice asked, "Has there been a problem?"
The Elder spoke, "Yes, one of the display tablets seems to be malfunctioning. Please send over a disciple from the Silver Moon Sect who specializes in this."
The person speaking from the other end of the jade pendant seemed to pause in surprise, then said, "Yes, I will send someone over."
Even after removing her hand from the pendant, the Elder remained frowning.
The spectating disciples all speculated among themselves about what this could mean and exactly what Martial Brother Feng must have done to damage the tablet.
Attracted by the commotion, several other people also gathered around. Since most of the competing disciples had finished with their test, the crowd soon swelled to include almost every single participant. Noticing the large gathering, the gazes of even the Elders and Sect Masters seated on the high platform gravitated towards this area.
On the other hand, Qinghe simply stood where he was, his pleasant smile still curving his lips and his eyes radiating tranquility as if utterly unbothered by all this fuss.
Soon, a silver-haired disciple walked up to them with large strides. His long hair was gathered in a high ponytail cinched by a black crown at the base, his expression looking composed and steady as if nothing could faze him.
"Elder, may I ask what the problem seems to be?" the silver-haired disciple asked.
The Elder pointed to the tablet and explained, "Just now, this disciple took the test and the tablet indicated that he finished the task successfully, but no instances were displayed."
The disciple from the Silver Moon Sect frowned. He was actually one of the cultivators from his sect who was involved in crafting the operating formations of these black stone tablets. He had seen how his sect had checked and double-checked each and every single one of these tablets before issuing them for the use of the Hundred-Year Tournament. There should have been no problems like this.
So seeking to see what was making the tablet act in this way, the silver-haired disciple went up to the stone tablet and placed his palm over it. Complex sigils and formations in silver glowed over the black surface for a moment, then faded.
Removing his hand, the disciple observed with a strange expression, "According to my inspection, the device is functioning normally. There should've been no mistake."
Raising her eyebrows, the Elder asked incredulously, "Then are you saying that the number of instances for this disciple is…zero?"
Showing a wry expression, the silver-haired disciple spoke, "In fact, that's not far from the truth. It seems that this disciple's speed is faster than an instance, which means that he completed the task in less than one-hundredth of a second. This tablet is unable to calculate such a small number, so I suggest that the Elder mark down his score as zero instances instead."
Hearing that his swiftness had actually defied the scoring method, the surrounding disciples all turned to look at Qinghe with wide eyes and open mouths, their shock and disbelief apparent on their faces.
To have such speed, just what sort of a monster was he?!
Despite being the center of so many piercing gazes, Qinghe remained calm.
The Elder turned to him and asked, "Disciple Feng, would you like to retry using a different method so that we can more accurately score you?"
Qinghe shook his head as he replied, "I do not wish to bother anyone further. I am content to accept the score that's already been given to me."
And so, with a complicated expression, the Elder finally announced, "Feng Qinghe… zero instances!"
The first stage thus came to an end, with Qinghe as the undisputable victor.
At the side, Xiao Meng was watching this with her eyes spitting venom while her brows drew down in a dejected arc. The expression was quite contradicting and complex.
Clutching the edge of Lei Zihua's sleeve, Xiao Meng spat, "Senior Sister, this is absurd! That man must have definitely cheated! There's no way he can be more talented than you!"
Lei Zihua felt a headache coming on as she watched her junior sister pouting furiously while looking to be on the verge of tears.
Since pushing her to be courteous was not working, Lei Zihua could only try a different approach to stop her junior sister's absurd habit of constantly comparing her with Feng Qinghe.
As clear tears began to brim in Xiao Meng's eyes, Lei Zihua reached out to pat her junior sister on the head and tried to smile reassuringly, but she only felt a corner of her lips twitch in response to her efforts while her expression still remained stiff.
Giving up on smiling, Lei Zihua tried to gentle her tone instead as she asked, "Xiao Meng, you keep comparing me to Brother Feng. Tell me, since I'm not as fast as him, do you think I am unworthy in some way?"
Her tears disappearing in the face of this unexpected question, Xiao Meng lunged forward to tackle Lei Zihua in a hug as she firmly refuted, "No, of course not! Senior Sister, who cares about that man, in my eyes, you are naturally the best! You are incomparable!"
"Then you should stop comparing me to him and start being more polite towards Brother Feng. It also doesn't bother me at all that he is faster than I am. As long as Xiao Meng doesn't mind my inadequacies, I also don't care about getting first or second place," Lei Zihua spoke while trying not to wince. Taking such a soft and cajoling approach made her feel very embarrassed and awkward.
But listening to this, Xiao Meng grew inevitably happy, a wide smile blooming on her pretty face.
"As Senior Sister Lei wishes then!" she cried joyfully before hugging her senior sister more tightly.
As Lei Zihua patted Xiao Meng's head that was buried in her chest, she inwardly sighed at how difficult it was to coax juniors. But she was relieved that her junior sister would at least stop this irrational hostility now.
Meanwhile, the Xiao Meng who was now gleefully eating the tofu of her unsuspecting senior sister could only squeal in her heart―Her senior sister's chest was really soft and comfortable ah! She wished she could just stay like this forever!
Now that all disciples had finished taking the test and the names of all those who had passed were noted down, it was time to announce the first five places.
The large silver bell tolled once again, attracting the attention of all the disciples on the competition grounds.
The invigilating Elders who were in charge of the first stage stood in a row in front of the bell once more, their expressions serious.
Stepping forward, the same Elder who had explained the rules before began speaking, "We hereby announce the top five scorers for the first stage:
"Fifth place, Chu Meng from Lightning Sky Sect, twenty-six instances.
"Fourth place, Su Mian from Drifting Clouds Sect, twenty-two instances.
"Third place, Jing Shui from Golden Sun Sect, fourteen instances.
"Second place, Lei Zihua from Lightning Sky Sect, eight instances."
Then after a brief pause, the Elder declared loudly with aplomb―
"First place, Feng Qinghe from Heavenly Peak Sect, zero instances!"
Though many people had already guessed these results, it still made them feel endless awe when it was proclaimed like this.
As expected, the top places were all taken by disciples of the Five Great Sects, making the mid- and low-tier sects feel somewhat bitter in their hearts at this clear disparity.
Meanwhile, after hearing that Jing Shui had gotten third place, Qinghe didn't feel surprised. After all, his friend's ability to wield the water element demanded precise control and flexibility of his spiritual energy. So him placing third was nothing to be astonished about.
What did shock him, however, was that among the top five, there were no disciples from the Silver Moon Sect.
But then Qinghe realized that since most of the preparations for the stages required various customized formations to be crafted, the Silver Moon Sect, which specialized in formations and arrays, must have volunteered. This meant that the reclusive disciples of the Silver Moon Sect would have to withdraw from participating due to having to be on standby in case any of the formations or devices malfunctioned.
In a way, this would also prevent the Silver Moon Sect from being called unfair, since if they had taken part in the first stage, then they would be tested using the formations and devices that they themselves had crafted, leading to doubts about them rigging the test in their own favor and cheating.
After the results were finished being announced and everyone had had time to discuss it for a few minutes, the Elder's voice declared, "The first stage of the Hundred-Year Tournament is thus concluded! May the participants take a brief respite until the preparations for the second stage are complete."
With that, the rippling curtain of spiritual energy was drawn close once more, blocking off the area with the cylinders presumably so that the equipment for the first stage could be cleared away and those for the second stage could be installed.
The second stage of the Hundred-Year Tournament tested pure combat ability without the use of spiritual energy.
People like Lei Zihua and the other alchemists from the Lightning Sky Sect would generally opt out of the second stage due to their lack of combat prowess. Nevertheless, qualifying in a particular stage was enough to let them gain the privilege of being able to participate in the third stage and earn a few rewards anyway. So most just tried to place at the top in one of the first two stages of the tournament, knowing full well that they most likely wouldn't get enough added points at the end to become the tournament's champion in any case.
Qinghe guessed that his friend would also not participate in the second stage, since Jing Shui's skills were mostly focused around controlling the battlefield with his water manipulation. As such, he was probably not that well-versed in hand-to-hand or close quarters combat.
As Qinghe wandered among the crowds of disciples aimlessly once again, his mind ruminated on various such things in an attempt to distract himself from his lover's promise before. After all, he still keenly remembered how his Xiang had stated that he would come along with his master to watch him sometime during the second stage.
Though Qinghe really didn't mind one way or another whether Wei Xiang came, thinking that his lover might appear nevertheless sent faint flutters of anticipation through him.
And thus, as Qinghe whiled his time away while steeped in his thoughts, occasionally joining his fellow disciples when they drew him into their conversations, it was once again time for the curtain of spiritual energy to be drawn back.
The second stage was about to begin.