Chapter 72

Although Jing Yan had outstanding talent and was the top genius in Donglin City in the past ten years, his cultivation speed back then was far from what it is now.

Jing Zhiqi couldn’t guess how long it would take for Jing Yan to advance to the Xiantian realm.

It was really hard to predict. Back then, Jing Yan spent more than two years, almost three, to break through from the Ninth Heaven to the Xiantian realm.

But now, it might not even take two years.

“I have experience, so the breakthrough in realm is very familiar to me now,” Jing Yan smiled.

He definitely wouldn’t tell anyone about the existence of the First Divine Skill of the Sky and the Qiankun Ring.

His current strength was still very weak. If those powerful figures knew about such a terrifying cultivation method, he wouldn’t be able to protect it.

Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Jing Zhiqi, but the matter was too significant. Before he had enough strength, it was better to keep all information about the First Divine Skill of the Sky to himself.

After a while, the remaining few Jing family members also completed their tests.

Thus, the first stage of the Jing family competition, the testing stage, was entirely over. A total of 1,240 people had all been tested.

The entire process took just over an hour.

“Fellow Jing family members!”

“The testing stage is over. Next, you will enter the second stage, the challenge stage. Among you, only fifty will pass the challenge stage and enter the final stage.”

“Now, the challenge stage begins!”

On the high platform in the square, the clan leader Jing Chengye was in high spirits.

When he spoke, his eyes deeply glanced at Jing Yan. When he saw his daughter Jing Zhiqi with Jing Yan, he also smiled and nodded at the two of them.

After Jing Chengye finished speaking, dozens of supervisors dispersed.

“Fellow Jing family members participating in the competition, hand over your participation tokens to me!”

The supervisors spoke to the many Jing family members participating in the competition.

One by one, the Jing family members handed over the wooden tokens they had received at the registration desk to the supervisors.

Jing Yan also handed over his wooden token.

These tokens were placed in a large black wooden box, which was then carried to the high platform in the square by family guards.

“Elder, you draw the lots,” Jing Chengye said to Jing Chunyu.

“Alright,” Jing Chunyu did not hesitate.

He walked to the large box, reached out, and inserted his hand into a hole as big as a person’s head.

He gently stirred and pulled out a wooden token.

“I will call out the names. Those whose names I call, come to the stage!” Jing Chunyu looked at the token and loudly announced.

“Jing Xiaoyue, come to the challenge stage!” Jing Chunyu called out the first name.

“Jing Daniu, come to the stage!” He called out the second name.

Elder Jing Chunyu moved quickly, and one by one, the wooden tokens were drawn. As he called out the names, the Jing family members participating in the competition also went to different stages.

There were fifty stages in total.

After a short while, fifty people had each gone to different stages.

“Now, the first batch of fifty stage masters has been selected. The rest can challenge the stage masters. If the challenge is successful, they become the new stage masters. Each challenger can only challenge a single stage master once. If the challenge fails, they cannot challenge again. Moreover, each person can challenge a maximum of ten times!”

“The challenge stage will last for three hours. Now, the challenge begins, and the timer starts.” Jing Chengye’s eyes slightly narrowed, and his voice reached everyone’s ears.

The challenge stage was undoubtedly very brutal.

The time was only three hours. After three hours, only the fifty people who remained on the stages could enter the final stage.

In fact, the fifty stage masters who were first drawn were quite unlucky. The earlier they were on the stage, the more times they would be challenged.

The logic was simple. The entire challenge stage lasted three hours. If someone challenged the stage at the last moment and defeated the stage master, they could directly enter the finals.

The fifty stages were each overseen by fifty Jing family supervisors and managers.

The fifty stage masters stood on the stages, waiting for others to challenge them.

The people below the stages also watched these stage masters, analyzing each person’s strength.

The challenge stage also required a certain strategy. Even if you had the strength to enter the final stage, if your strategy was wrong, you might still be eliminated.

After all, each battle would consume a certain amount of essence energy.

Even a martial artist at the Eighth Heaven realm, if continuously challenged by other Seventh Heaven realm martial artists, would see a decline in strength. If another Eighth Heaven realm martial artist then came to the stage, the one who had been fighting continuously would be at a disadvantage compared to the one who had been resting.

Jing Yan also focused his gaze on the fifty stages.

“Jing Luoying!” Jing Yan’s eyes fixed on a male martial artist in a yellow robe.

Jing Luoying was someone Jing Yan was quite familiar with. After Jing Yan’s realm fell, this person was one of the loudest to call Jing Yan a waste and was a staunch supporter of the Elder.

If it were just ordinary ridicule, Jing Yan wouldn’t have cared. But this person, whenever he had the chance, would express his contempt for Jing Yan.

“Just you!” A hint of coldness appeared at the corner of Jing Yan’s mouth.

“Sister Zhiqi, I’m going to challenge the stage master,” Jing Yan said to Jing Zhiqi beside him.

“Oh?”

“Jing Yan, aren’t you going to wait a bit? It’s still early. Even if you challenge in the last incense stick of time, it will still be in time,” Jing Zhiqi looked at Jing Yan.

With Jing Yan’s strength, entering the finals was a certainty. If you were too strong, you didn’t need to consider too many strategies.

However, if he challenged now, he might waste some essence energy.

So, Jing Zhiqi suggested that Jing Yan conserve his strength.

“No problem, it’s fine to go now,” Jing Yan shook his head, not caring.

His essence energy was so abundant. Moreover, Jing Yan felt that there wouldn’t be many people brave enough to challenge him on the stage.

If there were any who didn’t know their place, he would give them a lesson. Most of these people were from the Elder’s lineage.

Jing Yan looked at Jing Chunyu on the high platform and then walked out.

“Supervisor Shiyu, what a coincidence!” Jing Yan smiled and greeted the supervisor in charge of the stage, Jing Shiyu.

At this moment, no one had come to challenge yet. Including Jing Yan, only two or three martial artists had walked near the stage.

“Haha, Jing Yan, are you going to challenge the stage master of this stage?” Jing Shiyu’s eyes flickered as he asked.