"The Shadow Raid might come in very handy in some cases if it's used well!"
Li Ye was very satisfied after seeing its effects. Unfortunately, the Batmorphosis would take up an exceptional amount of strength. Li Ye would absolutely refrain from using it unless it was absolutely necessary.
"I can maintain the Shadow Raid for about a quarter of an hour, but Batmorphosis can take almost all of my power."
After trying the Shadow Raid out a few more times, Li Ye became more proficient in it. He did not even need to refine and cultivate the technique slowly, unlike that of Cloudveil Continent's battle techniques. However, he only tried out the Batmorphosis once. When he transformed into a black bat, he could feel a loss of nearly forty percent of his power! Reverting back to human form consumed almost the same amount of strength, thus making him wary of attempting the technique on a whim.
"During the night, I have at least a seventy percent chance of success against an Eminent Master!"
That was if Li Ye did not use Sword Control Technique and his bloodpupils. Otherwise, he would even be strong enough to kill an Eminent Master within seconds!
"If I pair the Sword Control Technique with the Shadow Raid and my bloodpupils at night, I might even be able to defeat a Grandmaster!"
Even Grandmasters were unable to fully commit their attention to constantly guarding all around themselves. Li Ye's Shadow Raid was practically his first choice for assassination. When the time comes, he could appear suddenly in front of his opponent, use his bloodpupils to infiltrate his opponent's soul, then finish things off with the Sword Control Technique. Even those Grandmaster-level powerhouses would die harboring resentment.
"Unfortunately, the Prodigy Summit is only held during the day. If it was at night, I'll probably have my way with Wu Prefecture City's Four Great Prodigies!"
Of course, such thoughts could only be considered in his heart. Even if the summit was held in the evening, Li Ye would never expose his abilities in front of so many people.
In particular, the Shadow Raid and Sword Control Technique were a perfect combination that could surely produce amazing results! He had yet another huge trump card.
Early the next morning, Li Ye sat up from the bed and heard only a series of crackling sounds coming from his body.
"Latter phase Level Six is only just a tiny step away from peak Level Six."
One night's worth of cultivation was almost ten times the effects during the day! Even Li Ye was taken aback by that. In tandem with the nameless cultivation method from the Lunar Dream Heart Sutra, the result would be even more obscene.
"It takes at least months, sometimes even years, for ordinary people to move from the initial phase of Level Six to the latter phase, but I managed to do it in one night."
Although he did not break through to Level Seven yet, Li Ye was still confident that he could easily make it into the top ten of the upcoming Prodigy Summit! For the time being however, he was not entirely confident of doing battle with any of the Four Great Prodigies.
"My chances are probably fifty-fifty against a Level Eight Eminent Master if I did not use my bloodpupils and the Sword Control Technique. If I use the Sword Control Technique, I should have at least a seventy or eighty percent chance of giving my opponent a serious injury!
He was confident! Even though Li Ye's state was not very high, his combat strength was far beyond his then state.
Every year, the Prodigy Summit was Wu Prefecture City's biggest festival. Everyone in Wu Prefecture City wanted to see the battles between each of the great prodigies.
In addition, the Prodigy Summit was also co-organized by the three families.
"The minimum entry requirement for every Prodigy Summit is Level Five, while the participant's age must be under twenty-five!"
Perhaps worried that Li Ye was not too knowledgeable about the event, Li Yuanjia explained everything slowly as they were making their way to the venue. "This event can be considered a grand one that includes the vast majority of young prodigies in the entire Wu Prefecture City, including those from a hundred-mile radius beyond the city. It is a contest for all the great clans to compete for strength in secret.
"As one of the founders of the event, fifty individuals from our clan can skip the qualifiers and go directly to the finals."
Soon, Li Ye and the others followed the Li clan to the venue of the Prodigy Summit. Various large and small arenas surrounded them. At the same time, they also saw a group of people from the Wu clan and the Yuwen clan, respectively. As hegemons of Wu Prefecture City that were of similar status with the Li clan, the Wu and Yuwen clans were also a formidable group of people.
"Look! Isn't that Wu Hao of the Wu clan! He made it into the top ten last year and his strength is just frightening!"
Someone exclaimed suddenly. Li Ye looked over at Wu Hao, who came to the Li clan the previous night in order to provoke them, but noticed that the latter's face was somber.
In addition, there were several young people from the Yuwen clan that attracted Li Ye's attention. They were about twenty years-old, but their vital force did not seem any weaker than Li Yuanjia. Clearly, they were Eminent Masters who had reached Level Eight.
"They truly are a clan that has been entrenched in Wu Prefecture City for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. Only inner disciples have such high levels of cultivation."
Martial Spirit Level Four was known to be considered as impressive in Wu Prefecture City. Anyone with Level Seven could create their own small clan! Within the Three Great Clans however, any one generation of disciples would have many heavyweights that reached the level of Eminent Masters!
It was the Li clan's Head Elder who led the Li team that year. His expression was not very happy though, and was probably due to the terrible performance one year ago. Over on the Wu clan's and Yuwen clan's side, two middle-aged men—who looked like the patriarchs of their respective clans—were chatting away genially as though they had a close relationship with each other.
Many people had a strange feeling when they saw that scene.
Li Ye frowned slightly as well. The Three Great Clans in Wu Prefecture City lived together harmoniously, but each of them privately sought to ensure that their clans were the one who dominated Wu Prefecture City. Therein was the source of grudges that spanned several centuries.
He patted Li Yuanjia, motioned to the latter to look over, then whispered, "The Wu family and Yuwen family seem to have a close relationship."
Li Yuanjia also saw it. There was a bit of sorrow on his face as he nodded. "It's strange. Although the Yuwen clan and the Wu clan are slightly better than our Li clan, such a situation has never happened before! Let's observe everything first and talk about it later."
In fact, Li Ye knew that Wu Prefecture City's Three Great Clans had almost the same strength. However, due to Li Kainian's emergence more than 20 years ago, the balance was broken in one fell swoop. Later on, there was a tendency for the Wu family and the Yuwen family to unite in secret, but when Li Kainian disappeared, their union came to an end as well.
"If the two clans are working together, the Li clan should be worried!"
With such thoughts in mind, it was entirely conceivable that the Li clan's strength was inferior to the other two after Li Kainian left. If both clans really were united, the Li clan would collapse at once!
"I hope I'm just thinking too much."
He shook his head. In any case, that was not something he needed to consider.
At this point, there were several high-profile individuals in the venue, consisting of three men and one girl. Of course, Li Ye was well acquainted with Li Mo, but the other two youths and the beautiful girl looked somewhat foreign.
"Who are those people?"
After all, he had never participated in the Prodigy Summit and he had always spent his life being at the bottom. Many people there were strangers to him.
"The other three of the four prodigies. The big one is Wu Batian, who is known in the Wu clan as the one with the natural-born divine power. There are rumors that he defeated and killed a Grandmaster when he was only at Level Eight. Li Mo lost to him last year and could only hold out against him for a hundred moves."
Li Ye looked over at the young man. He was at least one-point-nine-meters tall and his muscles bulged out from his body. It looked like he was brimming with explosive strength. Wu Batian then returned the glance, as if he had sensed Li Ye's gaze. When he noticed that it was only a measly Level Six boy, he lost interest immediately.
"Do you see that other guy?" Li Yuanjia pointed at another elegant young man. Li Ye sensed the underlying aggressive side underneath that gracefulness. It was only a brief glance, but the terrifying vital force was already felt. It made his heart feel uneasy.
"He's Yuwen Wushuang. For almost a millennium, a peerless prodigy like Yuwen Wushuang had never appeared in the Yuwen clan. Who knows what kind of luck the Yuwen family had? It's like this Yuwen Wushuang was born for cultivation. Any bottleneck was child's play for him. He started cultivating at the age of ten and never experienced any obstacle along the way. He achieved the level of Grandmaster before he was eighteen-years-old. Some people even said that he might be the only person in Wu Prefecture City who entered Innatism before the age of twenty-five. "
Innatism before twenty-five was shocking even for Li Ye.
It was known that the Martial Spirit Levels were only the foundation for martial cultivators in Cloudveil Continent. It became progressively difficult to break through further levels after reaching Level Seven. There were a great many who were stuck at one level for the rest of their lives.
Many Grandmasters were at least fifty- or sixty-years-old, perhaps even older. However, all four of Wu Prefecture City's great prodigies were under the age of twenty-five, yet they already possessed such cultivation!
"When Yuwen Wushuang broke through to Level Nine at eighteen-years-old, it caused a sensation! Some even said that he could be an unparalleled genius who can surpass Li Kainian."
Many people around were talking about Yuwen Wushuang in private. His popularity in Wu Prefecture City was evident.
Li Ye looked over at the last person. She was the only girl among the four prodigies and a white tunic made her look like a fairy from a painting. Her elegant and noble temperament was like a princess in a palace and her pretty face dazzled countless men—it was befitting of the Yuwen clan's eldest young miss. There was no telling how many of Wu Prefecture City's men wanted to bow down to her and worship her.
Needless to say, Li Ye knew that she was Yuwen Lihua, a prodigy of the Yuwen family who was second only to Yuwen Lihua.
"Yuwen Lihua and Yuwen Wushuang are brothers and sisters. Although she isn't as strong as her brother, few people in the entire Wu Prefecture City can defeat her! Last year, her battle with Li Mo took a very long time and his victory was only by a small margin! Now that one year has passed, we don't know how far her cultivation has reached! "
Those were the strongest four people of that generation in Wu Prefecture City!
Li Ye looked at them keenly. Although his strength was still obviously insufficient, it did not make him afraid at all. On the contrary, it ignited his strong fighting spirit.
During that moment, the sounds of something cutting through the air were heard. Everyone's expression turned solemn, and even those higher-ups in each great clan were looking rather unsavory.
At the same time, Li Ye saw several people hurtling through the air from a distance. His pupils contracted slightly when he saw that spectacle!