Chapter 85

Failure begins the moment you give up; this is not Zhao Guang's character.

"Tell me your reasons," Zhao Tianlong said, showing no change in his expression.

"Disciple has just arrived at the Dao Guang Hall and needs to prove myself," Zhao Guang said formally.

"Oh, so you want me to back you up?" Zhao Tianlong said indifferently.

Zhao Guang quickly bowed, "Disciple dares not. Although the Dao Guang Hall is full of talented individuals, I have the confidence to carve out a place for myself and have prepared well for this Baobao Hall Assembly. However, Ning Zhiyuan and his group have invited Master Ma, I need a fair chance!"

"Look up!" Zhao Tianlong's voice grew louder.

Zhao Guang lifted his head, his gaze firm as he looked directly at Zhao Tianlong.

After a moment, Zhao Tianlong nodded, "I will give you this opportunity, but do not disappoint me."

"Disciple understands!"

Zhao Guang suppressed his joy and said solemnly, "Born for the Zhao family, fighting for the Zhao family!"

Zhao Tianlong waved his hand, and Zhao Guang left respectfully.

In truth, Zhao Tianlong was not without his own conflicts. Zhao Lingxuan was excellent in every way, but unfortunately, she was a girl. It was still too early to tell, but the greatest fear was that she would be swayed by worldly desires. Zhao Guang, though his cultivation was slightly lacking, had a very mature mindset and great ambition.

Ambition without matching strength leads to destruction, but as long as Zhao Tianlong was around, he had the choice.

The four major families of the Holy Hall—Li, Zhou, Zhao, and Ma. The Li family ranked first and had a close relationship with the current Grandmaster, Sword God Xue Zhongnan. Xue Zhongnan was indeed exceptionally powerful, but his position as Grandmaster was largely due to the support of the Li family.

The Zhou family ranked second, focusing on alchemy and staying out of political struggles, only concerned with the growth of the Holy Hall. Their cultivation methods determined that they had no ambitions.

The Zhao and Ma families, on the other hand, clearly desired to grow. Zhao Tianlong and the Ma family's patriarch, Ma Hezi, were well aware of this. The Ma family had been courting Ning Zhiyuan for a long time, and this show of respect was clearly a signal to Ning Zhiyuan.

For a family to grow, relying solely on blood ties is far from enough. Discovering and recruiting talented disciples is the key. Both sides benefit: the disciples receive the family's vast resources, and the family grows stronger.

There are also many disciples who dislike the family, like Xu Huang and others, but the results are generally not good. Some patriarchs, like Thunder, do not like to form alliances.

The Zhao family has its own troubles, and the Ma family's troubles are even greater.

The Ma family's current generation is even more problematic. Ma Zushi had high hopes for Ma Wanliang, who was young and powerful and, with the full support of the Ma family, had become the youngest elder in the Holy Hall. However, he had a flaw: he was a womanizer, which displeased many of the Holy Hall's elders.

Another issue was Ma Tian'er... this girl, despite Ma Hezi's illustrious reputation, left him completely at a loss. She had unparalleled talent in taming beasts, but her heart was as pure as crystal, and she had no ambition at all.

Everything else can be taught, but how do you teach ambition?

So Ma Hezi sent Ma Tian'er to the worst hall, the Leiguang Hall, and forbade her from using any of the Ma family's resources, to make her understand the coldness of human nature and the harshness of the world. Cultivation means stepping on others to rise, even for a holy cultivator.

If Ma Tian'er understood, with her taming abilities and Ma Liangcai's archery talent, she could bring the Ma family to a new glory.

The question is, has Ma Tian'er learned? This is a good opportunity to see during the Baobao Hall Assembly.

Thunder, of course, could wait and not get involved, but Wang Boudang couldn't afford to wait. He had a certain level of intelligence to become an elder in the Leiguang Hall. Through the clues from Su Ming, many leads pointed directly to Wang Meng.

Considering that the top alchemy elder, Zhou Feng, lived close to Wang Meng, what was once a coincidence now seemed less so.

Wang Meng's crafted sword was placed in front of Wang Boudang, who had been examining it for days. He felt he was on the verge of discovering something but was just missing that crucial insight.

When he inquired about Wang Meng, the boy had become obsessed with alchemy, which left Wang Boudang a bit confused. It seemed that with Xu Huang gone, Wang Meng no longer intended to be a sword cultivator and had switched to alchemy.

However, with Elder Zhou and the Zhou family's backing, his future was very bright, indeed better than being a sword cultivator. Wang Boudang also gave up on observing Wang Meng's physical cultivation and focused on Su Ming.

Even Lei Zushi was optimistic about him, so he couldn't afford to be lax. Cultivating excellent disciples could add points to the current elders, and as the disciples grew, they could bring benefits to their masters. Of course, if they encountered a problematic disciple, it could cause trouble.

After interacting with Su Ming, his character was found to be very solid, worthy of investment.

Just as Wang Meng finally succeeded in breaking through to the 14th level, the Baobao Hall Assembly began.

Zhang Xiaopang had reached the 15th level of the Life Mark, and Hu Jing had reached the 16th level. If Hu Jing had focused on breaking through the Essence Power level, she might have gone even higher, but she was more level-headed. The Essence Power level was just one aspect of strength; it needed to be matched with appropriate cultivation techniques and spells to be effective. Different spells vary, and some advanced spells are built upon basic spells. If one jumps directly to high Essence Power and Life Mark spells, even if they manage to learn them, they would be top-heavy and lack a solid foundation.

Zhang Xiajiang had also stopped. Both had made significant progress in the Life Mark level, but their foundations were lacking. Zhang Xiaopang had only mastered the Bursting Heart Arrow. Before the competition, their main task was to carefully refine their cultivation techniques.

The Baobao Hall Assembly officially opened in the Holy Hall Pavilion, with disciples from various halls arriving one after another. This year's scale was grander than ever, possibly due to the news of the patriarchs' arrival, which greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the halls.

Zhang Liang arrived the earliest. Although he was not a powerhouse in the Baicao Hall, he was a political figure, quickly spreading his intelligence network.

He did not believe that the excitement was solely due to the patriarchs' presence. After a long period of division, the Dao Guang Hall had dominated the top position for many years. Other halls, after years of accumulation and preparation, had reached their peaks in recent years. Once they began to challenge the Dao Guang Hall, their power would be revealed in small details.

From his current analysis, the Feifeng Hall, always a major hall, had the advantage of being female-dominated. Over the years, it had consistently received high resource allocations. With its relationship with the Zhou family and the admiration of Elder Zhou Luodan for Yang Ying, it probably received a lot of good elixirs. The Feifeng Hall's performance in the last competition was astonishing, and it was time for a breakthrough.

The Lingyin Hall was Zhang Liang's top pick. Among all the major halls' eldest disciples, Ming Ren was the most patient, keeping the Lingyin Hall in the top three without standing out. But now, with the addition of Li Tianyi, a super weapon, the Lingyin Hall's timing was perfect.

Would Ming Ren continue to be patient?