Chapter 17

The annual grand competition of the Quanzhen Sect can be said to be a fine tradition that has been upheld for many years. Its inception was quite dramatic!

It is said that during the time when Wang Chongyang was the leader of the sect, among his seven disciples, only Qiu Chuji was fond of fighting, while the others were rather meek and timid. Although these individuals were all of good quality and potential, it was not a good thing for them to stay at home all day, practicing in isolation.

Especially when the eldest disciple, Ma Yu, was brutally beaten by a bandit with far inferior martial arts skills during his first mission to help the weak and suppress the strong, Wang Chongyang's dissatisfaction finally erupted.

Indeed, both hands must be strong! When you go out and are taught a lesson, it is my face that is tarnished. For the sake of my reputation, I can no longer indulge you...

Thus, Wang Chongyang established a rule: all disciples of the Quanzhen Sect must participate in an annual grand competition to verify their progress over the year and gain practical combat experience. This was truly a win-win situation.

Although this decision was met with collective opposition from the six of the Quanzhen Seven, excluding Qiu Chuji, Wang Chongyang, as the leader of the sect, firmly implemented this strategy.

Whether the goal was achieved or not is unknown, but it is known that Qiu Chuji, who won the grand competition for twenty consecutive years, became increasingly skilled and directly became the top young martial artist of the Quanzhen Sect at the time!

Therefore, this grand competition became a constant source of pain for Ma Yu, who was beaten by his junior disciples for twenty years. This bitter experience made him unable to control himself. He made a grand vow more than once that if he ever became the leader of the Quanzhen Sect, the first thing he would do would be to abolish this competition that disgraced his master and himself.

Unfortunately, people change, and so do circumstances. After Ma Yu truly became the leader, his mindset changed, and he began to strongly advocate for the grand competition. To promote it further, he even introduced a reward system: the winner of the competition each year would be allowed to travel freely outside the mountain until the next competition.

This reward was significant. The Quanzhen Sect had strict rules, and disciples were not allowed to leave the mountain without permission. Even though Su Yi casually mentioned that he had the right to live at the foot of the mountain, this was only because of his special status. If he dared to leave the mountain without reporting, he would be severely punished, ranging from corporal punishment to the revocation of his martial arts skills and expulsion from the sect!

As the Quanzhen Sect grew and the number of third-generation disciples increased, the number of rewarded individuals also increased. The top four winners of the grand competition would all be granted the honor of traveling freely outside the mountain.

This not only motivated the disciples to practice martial arts but also helped the Quanzhen Sect gain a higher status in the martial world. Ma Yu's decision was indeed wise.

Su Yi speculated that Ma Yu's strong promotion of the grand competition was probably because, as the leader, he would no longer be beaten by his junior disciples. After he was no longer threatened, his dark side emerged, and he wanted his juniors to experience the feeling of being beaten.

Therefore, although the prestige of the grand competition was far less than that of the Huashan Sword Conference, Su Yi was determined to win one of the top four positions. With limited time, he was preparing to leave the mountain immediately after mastering his skills to seek various martial arts secrets and treasures!

If he could not obtain the right to leave the mountain freely, he would either waste a year on the mountain or rebel and escape, neither of which was a good choice!

Now that Qiu Chuji had brought the news of the upcoming grand competition, Su Yi should have been enthusiastic about practicing. Unfortunately, he had no fighting spirit at all. Instead, he held a white cloth in his trembling hands, tears streaming down his face, looking like he was about to hang himself with the three-foot-long white cloth.

After a long silence, a series of curses spewed from Su Yi's mouth: "Wang Chongyang, you b**tard—b**tard—b**tard—..."

After cursing, Su Yi fell to his knees, in a completely dejected state. He couldn't help but feel depressed. Wang Chongyang, who had suffered domestic violence from his wife and was even banned from returning to the Ancient Tomb, out of spite, secretly carved the martial arts from the *Nine Yin Manual* inside the Living Dead Tomb, completely breaking the martial arts of the Ancient Tomb Sect to show his resistance to his wife's violence... This showed how petty he was.

This was not the worst part. The worst part was that this guy was not only petty but also stingy. He only carved a few advanced techniques from the *Nine Yin Manual* and left out the internal cultivation methods that Su Yi was so eager for. Su Yi had already obtained the lower volume of the *Nine Yin Manual*, so he didn't need this incomplete version. It was like a collision of books; he had put in so much effort only to get what he already had, no wonder he didn't gain any good fortune.

Wasting several days, all his efforts were in vain, and Su Yi's disappointment was evident.

Fortunately, the white cloth also contained the martial arts of the Ancient Tomb Sect, so it wasn't a complete waste. However, the martial arts of the Ancient Tomb Sect were on par with those of the Quanzhen Sect. Since he hadn't even mastered the Quanzhen Sect's martial arts, he had no time to practice the Ancient Tomb Sect's techniques... This was like a chicken rib, neither useful nor useless.

He had hoped to find a way to win the grand competition from the Ancient Tomb version of the *Nine Yin Manual*, but now it seemed that all hope was lost.

Was he really going to rely solely on the Quanzhen Sword Technique for the competition? Su Yi thought about it and gave up this naive idea... He was very self-aware. Although his comprehension and potential were good, and he had practiced diligently for several months, the Quanzhen Sword Technique was already deeply ingrained in his mind, but his opponents were no less skilled!

The Quanzhen Sect had hundreds of third-generation disciples, and the most skilled among them were naturally Zhao Zhijin and Yin Zhiping. Their martial arts were definitely superior to Su Yi's. If he only used the Quanzhen Sword Technique, he would surely lose.

Among the other disciples, there were also many skilled individuals. The Quanzhen Sect's internal cultivation method was a legitimate Daoist technique, and its practice was steady and balanced. The longer one practiced, the deeper their internal cultivation became. Zhou Botong once said: "My senior brother's Huashan Sword Conference lasted seven days and seven nights, and he finally defeated the Four Great Masters to become the best in the world. If we had another competition after twenty years, it would probably only take half a day."

This was not to say that the Four Great Masters were weak; it was simply that the Quanzhen Sect's internal cultivation method had a strong foundation and a powerful late-game effect. The earlier stages... well, let's just say they were not as impressive.

Although Yang Kang practiced diligently, he lacked supervision and was far behind the other Quanzhen disciples. Therefore, the internal strength Su Yi inherited from him was still slightly inferior to that of the other disciples.

His internal strength was inferior to his opponents, his sword technique offered no advantage, and his lightness skills were not very useful... He couldn't just run in circles to tire out his opponents; if he did that, Qiu Chuji would likely be furious and might even expel him from the sect.

Su Yi scratched his head, but he couldn't think of any good solutions. With only half a month left, if he didn't find a shortcut, with his real abilities, he shouldn't even think about the top four. With some effort, he might make it to the top ten, but the question was, would the top ten be useful?

"Ah... What a headache!" Su Yi, with a bitter face, stuffed the white cloth back into his chest and slowly walked back to his room.