Overwhelming strength, there's nothing you could do against that as long as you're weak.
For that reason it is better to surrender rather than embarrassing yourself in front of many others.
That was the choice Jing Pu made after seeing Lin Mu's cultivation.
"I admit defeat." He said as he got on the stage, no one scowled at him for it as they would've done the same.
Except for Siphyr who had a different opinion.
"At least try." He mumbled to himself and no one heard his tiny voice.
"Since the other candidate has forfeited, Lin Mu will be the one moving to the next round!" Ling Mei announced and he glanced at the crowd hoping to see Siphyr.
She found him within the audience and announced the following round.
"Lin Mu, would you like to rest and recover your energy first?" To her words, Lin Mu shook his head, he didn't use much energy when he fought against Hu Wang.
He used the tactic of surprise and attacking with his all while his opponent doesn't know the extent of his full strength.
If they clashed head on, the result would've different, or more likely his chances of winning would fall.
"Now then I will now announce the candidate I've personally chosen to participate in this selection!"
"Disciple Yang Siphyr, please come up on stage!" She announced Siphyr's name for everyone to hear and they found it familiar for some reason.
But no matter how they racked their mind they couldn't remember as to what it was that they found familiar.
As soon as his name was announced, Siphyr disappeared in the crowd hiding his presence as he proceeded walking towards the stage.
He revealed himself the moment he was at the stairs and it caused many others to look at him in surprise.
"W- When did that guy get there?!" Many startled questions were asked among the crowds as they went noisy once more.
"Now that both of you are up on stage, ready your weapons...." She said but once she checked Siphyr's cultivation, it was just at the peak of 3rd stage.
Although this was fast as a normal genius, it wasn't what she had expected. She thought Siphyr would at least be above that stage.
"Or perhaps is he hiding his cultivation?" She guessed and concluded that must be the reason.
She glanced at Siphyr with an expression of worry. Seeing it Siphyr confidently smiled at her which caught her off guard.
His smile for some reason felt very reassuring to her and.... Charming for some unknown reason.
Maybe because she had expected something of Siphyr and this caused her to look at him in a way unlike others.
"R- Ready?" She asked and the two nodded their heads.
Siphyr had a spear on his hands which looked very ordinary except for the illusory color. As for Lin Mu, he was still using the essence grade spear he had.
Observing his opponent he found that Siphyr was just at the peak of third stage and this made him frown.
Not because he was disatisfied but because his opponent was brimming with confidence even when faces against him.
This caused the disciples to admire his gut and the anticipation in their hearts grew as they cheered for the underdog to win.
After all no matter how good of a person they were, somewhere in their hearts they wished for Lin Mu to lose.
"You seem to be hated by them." Siphyr casually said as he took a low stance with his spear aligned with his head.
"It is a natural reaction for what I've done to some of them. Those who are hated by the majority will be scorned by others."
He said as he took a fighting stance the same one he did when faced against Hu Wang.
"Begin!"
Lin Mu's cultivation soared and his full strength was used as he prepared to strike.
"Spear technique.... Thunder Strike!" He shouted turning into a streak of purple light shooting towards Siphyr.
"You know...." However there was no panic in Siphyr's eyes as he saw the lightning coming towards him.
No matter how fast his opponents were going you could still avoid their attacks as long as you predict their movements.
And so he dodged the incoming purple streak of light with minimal movements as he casually step to the side.
His opponent stopped technique just before he was about to fall off the stage, then he heard a voice coming from behind.
"You shouldn't really say your attack's name out loud." This voice startled Lin Mu and even the disciples below forgot to react.
How did Siphyr avoid that strike? They weren't able to see how it happened but still they cheered after a moment of daze.
"T- That's..... Yang Siphyr! He might just win this!"
"Everyone cheer him on!"
They exclaimed as they cheered but Lin Mu didn't care even if no one was cheering him on.
"You're really hated, huh?" Said Siphyr in a monotone and Lin Mu only shrugged his head.
Then, he continued attacking Siphyr with his technique and a lot of lightning streak could be seen on stage and the disciples thought that they were seeing a light show.
But seeing Siphyr dodged all of this without much effort at the third stage, they were slack jawed at the scene.
"It's as if he's just playing with him." One of the audience voiced out his opinion and hearing this the others nodded their heads in agreement.
As for Ling Mei, while dodging these attacks, she saw Siphyr giving her a reassuring thumbs up causing her serious expression to fall and let out a giggle.
She was amused by his antics and it seems that she made the right decision on appointing him as the next head disciple.
Her intuition was really sharp if one must guess.
After dodging for a few more minutes, Lin Mu stopped his techniques and looked at Siphyr.
There wasn't even a bead of sweat on his forehead.
"What a monster...." He muttered and announced his defeat the next second.
"I admit defeat. There's no point in continuing this farce if all you do is dodge my attacks." He left the stage and as he went down the small stairs, the disciples made a way for him.
With that Lin Mu left the crowd and returned to his abode.
At the same time Ling Mei announced the results seemingly proud of her candidate.
"Yang Siphyr.... Wins!" Loud, it was the loudest announcement she ever made and the crowd went wild as they cheered.
They didn't mind a newcomer being the head disciple as long as it wasn't Lin Mu.
As there were people who cheered, there also people who were greatly shocked.
Naturally these people were the ones with Siphyr the longest in the sect.
Dubong Li and Jin Yue were looking at Siphyr with clear expressions of disbelief written on their faces.
Siphyr found the two amongst the crowd with faces looking as if the didn't understand how this happened and smiled at them.
Then, he turned to walk towards Ling Mei and stopped when he was only a step away.
"I didn't disappoint you haven't I, Senior Ling Mei?" He said in a casual manner to which Ling Mei replied,
"Senior Mei.... You could stop with the formalities and I give you the permission to call me that. Also, you didn't disappoint me one bit and I'm glad that you won."
She smiled as she said those words and this cause the disciples who've seen this to be shocked.
This was the first time they've seen her smile and she was smiling to a man! That only made their brains go wild as they thought of certain possibilities.
"You know... You should smile more often." He said after a moment of pause.
"Oh, why is that?" Ling Mei asked in response and she didn't expect to hear this from Siphyr.
"Well, the darkness of the abyss or the brightness of heaven, which do you think I would prefer?" He asked.
"The brightness of heaven...?"
"You're right, that's why I think seeing you smiling is much more lovely and I prefer that rather than that cold expression of yours."
Hearing his words Ling Mei was taken aback and this caused her to slightly blush.
Seeing this Siphyr said no more and left the area with a satisfied expression.
After this his name would spread not only at the Spear Peak but all other peaks.
Naturally as the other peaks heard of this event, Diane and the Yin siblings also managed to hear this from their fellow disciples.