"Masters of Innatism!?"
Many people exclaimed after seeing figures striding through the air!
Only those who had reached the Innate Sovereign Level were known to have the ability to suspend themselves mid-air. Although their movements were not considered flying, their speed was fast because they covered ten meters' worth of distance with just one step.
Three figures soon landed directly into everyone's line of sight.
Li Ye looked over. One of the three was a fat man in his forties, another was a gloomy-faced man in his forties, while the last was a beautiful woman in her thirties.
As soon as the trio arrived, the crowd could immediately feel a powerful and overwhelming aura.
Even the four prodigies, such as Li Mo, had a change of look and felt an intense pressure!
"These three people are really powerful! Their vigor is enough to halt the movements of anyone below an Eminent Master!"
However, Li Ye noticed that he was less affected by the force than Li Yuanjia even though Li Yuanjia was a Level Eight Eminent Master.
Over at the Three Great Clans, the patriarchs of the Wu and Yuwen clans stood up to welcome the trio. The Li clan's Head Elder put on a smile and welcomed them as well.
The three most influential members of the Three Great Clans welcomed the arrivals and invited them to sit at the main seat. The three clan leaders even sat prudently to one side.
"Who are these people? Why are the Three Great Clans' patriarchs so respectful?!"
Many people began making speculations in their hearts, and Li Ye did the same as well. Once everyone considered the sheer magnificence of vigor present on the three individuals, everything seemed to make sense. Although the three individuals did not show much of their strength, no one dared to underestimate them! In particular, many people were guessing whether these three were the rumored Innate Sovereign Level Masters.
Up high in the platform, the Wu clan's patriarch smiled with reverence at the trio. "Might there be a reason for the attendance of Your Excellencies on this occasion?"
The fattest man, who also seemed to be the kindest of the trio, chuckled and did not answer the questions directly. He whispered, "I heard there's a Prodigy Summit held here every year. The three of us just happened to pass by."
The answer elicited some disappointment on the face of the Wu patriarch. The Yuwen patriarch and the Li clan's Head Elder looked slightly moved, but did not follow up with the question.
By then, the first phase of the Prodigy Summit had officially begun.
"This first stage is a qualifier. Anyone who has reached the Martial Spirit Level Five can come up to the arena. As long as he wins twenty games in a row, he will be eligible to enter the final."
The patriarch of the Yuwen family made that remark as if to deliberately explain everything.
"Oh."
Unfortunately, the trio did not seem to pay much attention. In fact, they even looked absentminded.
Seeing that, the Wu patriarch and the Yuwen patriarch looked at each other. No one knew what silent communication was going on. On the contrary, the Li clan's Head Elder frowned slightly and felt odd when he glanced at the two of them.
At that point, the qualifiers below were underway.
Li Ye was observing carefully. Although the Three Great Clans have fifty spots reserved on account of their found member status, not everyone was able to directly reach the finals. Only talents above Level Seven had that qualification.
Li Ye had to go through the qualifier process, which meant that he needed to win twenty successive games to really reach the final.
"The match system is fair, and some weak ones are eliminated through the qualifiers. The rest will be Wu Prefecture City's strongest cultivators."
One could either be a Level Seven cultivator or forge a bloody path for oneself in the qualifier!
It could be said many people were given a chance with the Prodigy Summit's system. Otherwise, all of Wu Prefecture City's spots for those Level Seven under-twenty-fives would only go to the Three Great Clans. The Prodigy Summit would be meaningless then.
Since Li Ye was only on Level Six, he also needed twenty consecutive victories in the qualifiers to progress.
In his first match, Li Ye encountered a Level Four young man, who was unfortunate enough to be sent flying from the arena by one move. He was not a threat to Li Ye at all.
In the second match, he encountered a slightly stronger peak Level Five cultivator. The opponent would have had a good chance of reaching the final, had it not been for Li Ye. It was a pity that he was so unlucky, as he flew off the arena with a single punch.
After fifteen games, Li Ye continued to win by sending his opponents flying with a punch. All of a sudden, he became the focus of many people's attention.
"Who is this kid? All fifteen matches so far have been one-shot punches! What an absolute madman!"
"Latter phase Level Six. He looks like he's only sixteen or seventeen years old. He's so young, yet he already has such a formidable cultivation. He must surely be a member of the Three Great Clans!"
Many people had their sights set on Li Ye. After all, although the system gave many low-level cultivators a chance, it was far from easy to win twenty games in a row. That was due to the fact that a challenger who lost will have their winning tally transferred to the victor. The later one went up to challenge, the stronger the opponent would be. A simple slip would then send all that hard work down the gutter.
"It's already the seventeenth person and he's still eliminating them with one punch!"
At that time, a peak Level Six young man screamed and was blasted out of the ring. He had an unhappy and unwilling expression.
Just as many people have expected, the strength of Li Ye's opponents increased after the first ten games. After fifteen games, the most inferior cultivator was the peak Level Five cultivator earlier, not to mention the peak Level Six young man! Li Ye was on course to reach the final stage.
"Three matches left."
After playing seventeen matches in a row, Li Ye did not expend much energy at all. It came as no surprise, since those below Level Seven were no threat to him at all.
He even had time to observe what was happening on the other platforms. One particular individual also made light of things, and almost no opponent made him break a sweat.
"I didn't expect that Li Datou would progress to peak Level Five after not seeing him for half a month!"
The boy with an earnest face was everyone's nightmare. His mighty divine power allowed him to send even a peak Level Six heavyweight flying!
At the same time, Li Ye also noticed Li Yijian and Li Yu—both of which were inner disciples as well—bagging consecutive wins. The qualifiers were obviously a walk in the park for them.
In addition to the eye-catching performance of the Li clan, several people from the Wu and Yuwen clans were similarly unstoppable.
Among them, Li Ye was most familiar with Yuwen Tianhua and Wu Wenhao, who had been to Pure Moon Tower with Li Yue before. Both of them were at peak Level Six, but in Li Ye's opinion, they had the strength to challenge an ordinary Level Seven Martial Master. Yuwen Tianhua and Wu Wenhao accumulated twenty consecutive victories quickly, thus sending them to the finals.
"Hey, Kid! How dare you look away and let your mind wander when facing me, Jiang Wenhua!"
An angry shout made Li Ye's snap back to his senses. He then saw a twenty-something young man standing in front of him. The young man's right eye was covered with a black blindfold, a stark contrast from all the opponents Li Ye encountered prior.
"This person reeks of blood!"
At a mere glance, Li Ye felt that his opponent was by no means comparable to the others, who were nothing more than flowers inside a greenhouse. Jiang Wenhua was an extremely dangerous person.
"Goodness! It's Jiang Wenhua!"
The exclamations from various quarters told Li Ye that the person was likely a very famous one in Wu Prefecture City.
"Jiang Wenhua, one of the top ten mercenaries in Wu Prefecture City! Although he was born in poverty, he started his journey in the mercenary world from the age of ten. Now he has reached the peak Level Six and even fought against a Level Seven Martial Master once, exchanging hundreds of moves but never losing to the Martial Master. He's one of the legends in Wu Prefecture City's mercenary world!"
Li Ye made a point to commit that to memory. Mercenaries, although somewhat inferior to cultivators from large families, should not be taken lightly. They were individuals who lived in danger every day and were often unscrupulous within their mercenary circles in order to win. Anyone who could make a name for themselves within the mercenary community would certainly be a vicious person.
"Your luck ran out when you met me, kid. I'm Jiang Wenhua! You must be a member of the Three Great Clans. I won't put you in a tight spot. If you get off now, I'll spare your life!"
Jiang Wenhua looked at Li Ye without any fear. Instead, he resembled a wild animal in the jungle that was staring at its prey.
Li Ye felt very uncomfortable to be on the receiving end of Jiang Wenhua's look. Intuition told him that the man before him spelled danger.
At that point, Li Ye had already amassed nineteen consecutive victories. He simply needed to win one more game to end his round at the qualifiers and enter the final stage. However, if his opponent defeated him at that point in time, it was the opponent who would directly advance to the final!
"This Jiang Wenhua seizes his opportunity when the time is right. The other boy looks young but not at all weak! He could kill almost any latter phase Level Six cultivator within seconds, and even fight on par with a Level Seven Martial Master. It's so unfortunate that Jiang Wenhua targeted him. Everyone knows that Jiang Wenhua remained undefeated several times after battling Level Seven Martial Masters. Now, we have no idea how much his strength has progressed!"
Looking at the stage, most people were more inclined to Jiang Wenhua, who had long become famous in Wu Prefecture City. After all, his reputation as one of Wu Prefecture City's top ten mercenaries was not simply a bluff—it was a reputation gained after many years of killing.
On the other hand, Li Ye was very young. Although his strength is good, he looked innocent and tender. His first impression was that of someone born from pride and superiority. Without even mentioning his latter phase Level Six, even a peak Level Six would be too wide a gap compared to Jiang Wenhua. Most people believed that Jiang Wenhua had a better chance of winning.
At that moment, Jiang Wenhua saw his name being mentioned, but the young man in front of him was still indifferent. There was a faint glimmer of light in his eyes, and his expression went cold.
"You don't know what's good for you, kid. I didn't want to make my move on you because you're a member of the Three Great Clans, but you didn't appreciate my gesture. Since that's the case, I'll just destroy one of your arms and throw you down!"
Jiang Wenhua was not a simple-minded brute. Although he was one of the legends among Wu Prefecture City's mercenaries, he also knew the greatness of Wu Prefecture City's Three Great Clans. His intention was to eke out a quick victory.
Unfortunately, he had just made one of his biggest mistakes!