"I!"
In past editions of battles between inner disciples, those who were lowest in their standings were usually the first to make a challenge. However, the person who spoke first on that occasion came as a slight surprise to everyone.
"Li Gei, are you sure you want to fight first?"
Li Xuanji frowned and asked. The first person to voice out turned out to be Li Gei, who had previously lost to Li Xuan and Li Ye! He seemed to have recovered significantly by then. It was apparent that he had taken some expensive healing medicine earlier.
As a result of successive defeats, Li Gei has slipped from seventh-place to ninth-place!
"Don't worry, Sixth Elder. These are just some minor injuries. I don't need rest at all."
Hearing his stubborn remarks, Li Xuanji shook his head without saying a word. He then nodded and said, "According to the rules, you can only challenge people who are higher-placed than you are."
The battle between the inner disciples has always been to vie for their internal ranking. It was a day for them to climb up the standings; they were therefore only allowed to challenge those who were ranked higher than themselves.
At that point, Li Gei was only allowed to challenge the first eight.
His face soured and he glanced across the inner disciples. He could not help but think to himself, "The first to the sixth are all Martial Spirit Level Eight. I only have a thirty percent chance of winning against them if I'm in my prime. Challenging them is definitely a waste of opportunity. It might even aggravate my injury."
Level Seven cultivators were known as Martial Masters, but the gap between them and a Level Eight Eminent Master was still significant. Li Gei made the wise choice of refraining from challenging the first six. After all, he was ranked first among those who were lower than an Eminent Master, so his decision was no doubt a very smart one.
He then took a look at the seventh-place Li Xuan and contemplated. "This man is the son of the Third Elder. His strength is unfathomable. Although I was defeated because I underestimated him, my chances of winning another battle with him is fifty percent at most. This isn't good."
In the end, he set his sights on Li Ye—who was temporarily ranked eighth—and suddenly gave off a strong fighting spirit.
"Sixth Elder, I choose to challenge Li Ye!"
Few were surprised by his decision. The first six individuals were Eminent Master-level powerhouses, while the seventh was the unpredictable Li Xuan. Only the eighth-ranked Li Ye, who only possessed peak Level Four cultivation, was the sore thumb amongst the inner disciples.
"Are you sure?" Li Xuanji glanced at Li Ye and saw how calm and anger-free the boy was. He nodded secretly. "Although this kid is a late bloomer, he has some of Second Brother's mannerisms."
"I'm sure!"
Li Gei knew that he had little chance of success against the other people. The battle with Li Ye was the only one Li Gei found hard to accept!
"I lost my concentration during the last battle. I don't believe he has any other demonic methods to affect my mind this time! I have at least a ninety percent chance of winning against him!"
Evidently, the surging bloodpupil spirit that Li Ye displayed was a rare move in Cloudveil Continent, so much so that Li Gei mistook it for some demonic technique.
Since Li Ye had been called out for the challenge, he soared up and landed directly in the arena.
"I underestimated you just now, Li Ye. And as for that little trick of yours, don't assume that it'll succeed twice. If you forfeit now, you can still retain some strength and prepare for the next battle."
Li Ye shook his head. He felt that Li Wei's self-confidence was nothing but self-righteous.
Although there were significant weaknesses in Li Ye's state, a vampire's body seemed to be incredibly compatible with bloodsoul strength: peak Level Four bloodsoul strength was equivalent to an ordinary cultivator's peak Level Six. Pair that with an immense speed that surpassed even Level Seven, he was confident of holding out against Li Gei even without using his bloodpupils to perform an illusionary attack.
"No more nonsense, come at it!"
Li Wei's eyes boiled in anger after seeing Li Ye's indifference. In his opinion, he had done enough to save Li Ye dignity, to the extent where he was even considerate for Li Ye. It was unfortunate that he did not know Li Ye's true situation, otherwise he would never have thought that way.
"If that's the case, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
As soon as he completed that sentence, Li Wei swayed on the spot. Three or four afterimages made it impossible for anyone to see where he was.
"Li Wei is one of the clan's bright sparks. The Footstep Mirage is a relatively difficult Yellow Rank Advanced physical technique. I never expected him to master it to such an extent. If I'm seeing correctly, he's already cultivated it to its lesser attainment."
Several elders nodded and smiled when they saw Li Wei's performance.
Li Ye was paying attention as well. "Footstep Mirage, a Yellow Rank Advanced technique. Rumor has it that once it is cultivated to its peak, one can produce twelve doppelgangers, making it difficult to distinguish between the real person and the fake one."
By then, both of Li Ye's pupils had turned blood-red. He once again used his copy-reading abilities, but although it was similarly a Yellow Rank Advanced skill, it was clear that physical techniques were much harder to learn than ordinary combat skills. Reading and copying the technique was not as easy as Li Ye thought.
Li Gei went on the offensive soon enough. There were three or four doppelgangers that created numerous footprints.
Relying on speed, Li Ye barely managed to avoid each of them. Instead of striking back, he continued to secretly learn his opponent's Footstep Mirage.
"He's barely falling short!"
In the eyes of spectators, Li Ye was completely overwhelmed. Many who wished to see another miracle were left slightly disappointed. Up in the stands, even Li Huangran was slightly disappointed, but he then snickered a couple of times.
"It seems that I overestimated this boy. After all, he is not his father. How could I have thought that he was the same as his father? Li Huangran, oh Li Huangran. When did you become so timid?"
After ten moves, Li Ye felt that he had less and less room to maneuver. The continuous barrage of the
Li Ye finally trembled, following which the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
"That's it! So that's the way Footstep Mirage works!"
He had actually finished copying Li Gei's Footstep Mirage. It took him twice the time needed to copy the Windstorm Kick and Ice Crystal Fist. Nevertheless, he was very content with the result and felt that it was all worth it!
"The Footstep Mirage is definitely not as simple as an ordinary Yellow Rank Advanced physical technique. It's likely a remnant of some Black Rank physical technique or a simplified physical technique!"
The Footstep Mirage employed the use of in unpredictable footsteps to confuse an opponent's vision. The cultivation of battle skills and physical techniques in general would be divided into five stages: introductory, lesser attainment, greater attainment, mastery, and perfection. The entrance stage allowed one to form one doppelganger, while lesser attainment enabled one to produce four. Greater attainment produced six, while the mastery stage created nine. Finally, perfection of the Footstep Mirage could produce twelve doppelgangers.
Li Wei could manifest three or four doppelgangers, which sufficed to show that he had practiced it to greater attainment—a remarkable achievement indeed. After all, general Yellow Rank Advanced physical techniques were more demanding than combat techniques, and even some of the Level Eight Eminent Masters could only cultivate to the greater attainment stage.
After secretly learning the technique, Li Ye discovered that the highest point of the technique was nto the twelve doppelgangers. The technique could be further cultivated to a higher level. However, it was clear that the Footstep Mirage was deliberately modified, thus making him feel a slight disequilibrium.
"Looks like I need to find an opportunity to look at the Footstep Mirage's secret manual!"
Inner disciples had a chance to enter the martial arts pavilion, so Li Ye was in no hurry.
In order to refrain from giving everyone too much of a shock, Li Ye did not immediately display the Footstep Mirage. Although he could barely split into a doppelganger as of then, Li Huangran and the others were bound to target him even more if he had done so. He therefore had to resist from executing it for the time being.
"With the inherent agility of vampires, I may be able to split three or so doppelgangers even if I'm just at the entrance stage of the Footstep Mirage. That is already close to the stage of lesser attainment."
Although he did not execute the Footstep Mirage, Li Ye's speed had a threefold increase. Li Gei's darting figure slowly became clearer in his eyes.
"
Faced with the prolonged battle, Li Gei was getting anxious. He began to attack relentlessly without regard for his earlier injuries.
"Ice Crystal Fist!"
Coming up against such a technique, Li Ye's past experience enabled him to respond successfully. He had already familiarized himself with the Ice Crystal Fist, and the technique could be considered to be in its introductory stage. However, the frost shattered when faced with Li Gei's lesser attainment Windstorm Kick. In spite of that, Li Ye's true finishing move was soon to follow.
"Rainstorm!"
"What!"
Li Gei was stunned. It was the exact same move! Although it looked a little amateurish, Li Ye had obviously used the same exact moves against him!
Bang, bang, bang! Three consecutive kicks! Although Li Gei avoided them to the best of his abilities, the kicks still struck him nonetheless. One kick was delivered on an old wound, causing him a spurt of fresh blood that was preceded by a sudden sweet taste coming from his throat.
"Li Ye wins!"
There was no doubt that Li Ye had won the game.
"Useless trash!" came a sneer which few people heard. Li Ye was one of them.
Perhaps no one knew that a vampires' five senses were much more freakish than that of ordinary people. Li Huangran had snickered so loudly that it did not escape Li Ye's ears.
After Li Gei's defeat, many disciples retreated after originally wanting to challenge Li Ye.
"Why is Li Ye's getting crazier? He's clearly only peak Level Four, but he's already so powerful. Not only did he learn the Yellow Rank Advanced Ice Crystal Fist and Windstorm Kick, he even bagged two wins against Li Gei, the once seventh-place inner disciple. He's not someone to mess around with."
"Is this kid intentionally hiding his real strength? It's actually quite similar to Li Yu. Maybe his real state isn't peak Level Four, but Level Seven?"
Some people made those guesses because Li Ye's state was too obvious! It only made sense if they reasoned it thus.
Li Huangran frowned too and surmised that Li Ye had concealed his real state.
He was not the only one who thought that way. Everyone, including
Next up among the inner disciples, Li Yijian—who was originally the first-placed outer disciple—defeated his opponent in less than ten sword moves to become the twelfth-placed inner disciple. Li Yu, who had originally concealed his power, challenged a disciple who was one step higher than him and successfully rose to the twentieth place. Even Li Datou managed to defeat one person, and move up to twenty-fourth from twenty-sixth.
"I challenge the seventh-placed Li Xuan!" Li Ye's turn finally came. As soon as he spoke, the atmosphere quietened down at once.