With a little click, the lock on the cultivation cave came undone. The large door swung open while a certain someone escaped outside.
"Huh?"
The person responsible for watching these cultivation caves turned his head up but he could not see anything there. The door seemed to be closed but he could spot a bit of snow falling down.
"Must have been my imagination…"
The man shrugged and turned back to the other side. A certain elder had given him some spirit stones to watch one cultivation cave in particular. It seemed that he was interested in keeping a certain disciple locked inside. The man agreed as it was easy money and he just needed to contact the elder if he saw the youth leaving.
'Those days as the demon hunter sure came in handy…'
Zhang Dong's figure was coated in a translucent filament which allowed him to blend with the scenery. If he held his breath and didn't move a muscle it was impossible to be spotted. This and a few other techniques he picked up for when he was out adventuring. It was much easier to go around as a sword for hire than a sect leader so he had to brush up on the assassination skills.
After the guard turned his head some more snow started falling but this time around there really would be no one for him to look at. Zhang Dong descended from the mountain while keeping to the shadows, he arrived at the outer sect just as the sun started to go up which turned the scenery red.
The scenery was quite breathtaking but Zhang Dong was preoccupied with the mission before him. He had already been noticed by many outer sect elders, he could join the outer sect at any moment. The problem was the inner sect elders which he needed to prove his worth to.
'Will those other old farts try to stop me as well?'
He stopped before a large outer sect building. Inside of this one the last competition would take place. While being a trial disciple he would not be able to refuse any of the outer sect elders. If one decided to walk up to him, they could even take him by force to wherever they wanted.
Some of the pill makers and blacksmiths after seeing his crafting techniques had that look in their eyes. Each one of these old fogies was focused on face and status. Making him not be noticed by any inner sect elders was a silly plan but when face was involved, rationality went out the window.
Thus why he decided to hide his presence and watch for the time being. Even though it was four hours away from the start of the competition the disciples were already gathering.
Just as he had predicted he saw people that followed him from the other four competitions. He didn't even need to remember their faces as their behavior was a giveaway.
There was only one star disciple but many hungry elders. They all started glaring at each other, it seemed that a brawl could happen at any moment.
The crowds gathered Zhang Dong was sure to take a good look at one of the young competitors. With a quick face change, he made his way inside. With a new appearance, the elders that were looking for Dai Rong had no idea that he just passed them. There was only one entrance so it was impossible for him to sneak in from another side, not with so many people standing on guard.
The first checkpoint consisted of some guards but they weren't checking the permits for taking part in the competition. After sleeping through this part he turned back into Dai Rong once again.
With his infiltration now being successful, he blended in with the crowd of other disciples. Along with them, he made it through the second checkpoint which would allow them to go into the side of the competitors. Time continued to pass and finally, everyone had gathered.
'So that's the inner sect elder?'
Even though this was not an arena building there were many people looking in from an elevated point. There was one large tower in which all of the important elders were sitting in. They could overlook the disciples that could battle on many solid rock-slab-covered platforms.
"Let us get this over with..."
Zhang Dong looked up to the large tower and he could hear a bored voice calling out to everyone. From his vantage point he could barely make out his features, it seemed to be the same elder that greeted the new disciples by the name of Jingyi. The characteristic well-kept red beard and hair made this clear.
If someone looked at the ground from the vantage point of Elder Jingyi, they would see a checkerboard pattern down below. These were actually battle stages on which the disciples would be fighting on.
Each mini stage was quite large with thirty meters in diameter. Without the disciples having the capability to fly there was no need to make them any bigger.
The rules were easy, each of the disciples would be given several tokens. Everyone had three challenge tokens with which they could challenge anyone with a higher number in the ranking.
These ranking numbers were decided by various factors throughout the year of the outer sect. Zhang Dong was a trial disciple that just paid with spirit stones to get in, with this his ranking was dead last. Which meant that no one would ask him to do battle with them as there was nothing to gain.
There were a thousand people here, each one with three tokens but this wouldn't translate to three thousand fights. Anything above the top hundred didn't matter to anyone and the bottom 900 would be only challenging the top 100.
This competition was good for the challengers but not so good for the ones being challenged. Some people strategically waited till the competition was almost done before they used their token.
The disciples were only given five minutes to rest before being forced to fight again. There weren't that many that could last through the continued battles before retiring. If a disciple was crafty enough they would be able to get rid of their competition and do it while everyone watched.
The young masters would use their goons to repeatedly attack their target until this target either lost or was tired. Then they would swoop in for the win while also causing harm to this person.
If the other person didn't have enough backing to use the same tactic it was seen as a weakness. Having other people to help them was seen as just another tool from their toolbox.
'Hm… should just go for it?'
Zhang Dong rubbed his chin while hesitating. His old way of thinking was still ingrained in his very being. He was not a person that liked to stand out but he was forced into a leadership position by the people around him.
If he challenged the number one disciple and beat him it would cause an uproar among the others. He would probably have to go through many more to prove that he was truly strong.
On the other hand, if he waited for too long he could be accused of battling a weakened opponent. This competition wasn't really here to remain in the best spot but to show off to the elders.
While Zhang Dong was deep in thought about his next move the competition was slowly underway.
"I challenge you Xuan Fen! Face me."
The first challenger appeared, he pointed at quite the brutish-looking disciple. Thanks to the comments of the people around him, Zhang Dong was able to figure out that Xuan Fen was ranked number three.
"Mo Huang is really daring, he is only ranked twenty and he already wants into the top three, so insolent!"
"He has no chance!"
Xuan Fen ranked three, Meng Meixiu ranked second and Feng Shi ranked first. These were the top three disciples but only one of them was being challenged for now. This didn't mean that other people in the top 100 weren't being asked for a spar.
'Let's see what these youths have to offer.'
The disciples started to throw their tokens and everyone moved to the stages to do battle. Zhang Dong was greeted to a nice bout of the youthful generation. If he compared them to his own sect members then these Thunderbolt hall disciples weren't anything special. But if he compared them to the old Zhang Clan then they would be slightly superior.
It was clear to him that due to the variation in their cultivation the people here edged out the common cultivator from his own empire. There were fewer in numbers but made up with the quality of their foundation and combate skills.
The sect here also didn't get involved with the common people. None of the sects built their forces inside of large cities like they did in the Azure Dragon Empire. This saved a lot of time on politics and managing.
The resources like herbs and treasures were about the same. This left more cultivators able to get items like pills to boost their cultivation level. Thus their cultivation increased faster than their Azure Empire counterparts.
'Well then… I should probably make my appearance, best to make a splash from the beginning.'
The top disciples didn't take long to win their fights. The youth that was ranked 20th fell to the one ranked 3rd just in five blows which showed how much of a gap there was between the two.
Even with those five blows that he managed to utilize the people were surprised that he lasted that long. It seemed that if this youth was smart, he might have been able to raise his rank.
Regretfully he was beaten to a pulp and had to retire fast. Not being able to judge your own strength was also a skill that some people did not have. This young man reminded him of his old friend Huo Qiang, if this worked out he hoped to see the big idiot soon.
"Pathetic, does someone with skill dare to face this Xuan Fen? If not then maybe I should ask you for a bout, Feng Shi!"
Xuan Fen was quite the large young man, he looked like a hairy bear and his body was covered with many scars. Feng Shi on the other hand looked more like your scholar type, it was clear that one trained his body refining skill to the maximum while the other focused mostly on Qi refining.
"You can try but I would rather compete with junior sister Meixiu instead."
The scholar replied while looking at the second-ranked woman cultivator. She was your typical jade-like beauty that just scoffed at the proposition.
"Xuan Fen? Sure, I'll challenge you."
Suddenly an unknown disciple moved forward, most of the people here squinted at his appearance as they had no idea who it was.
"Hey isn't that… It is!"
But, soon Dai Rong's name was spread through the whispers as people recognized him as the winner of four competitions. Everyone suddenly leaned forward to see if the new prodigy was a capable fighter.
If he managed to beat the number three disciple then his legend would be cemented. If he failed, on the other hand, his wings could be cut as Xuan Fen was known for crippling his opponents before they had the chance to blossom.