Du Gufang spoke, "Next, we enter the preliminary stage. As usual, it will be a one-on-one match, with the winners advancing and the losers eliminated."

As he spoke, Du Gufang waved his hand, and numerous small stone tablets suddenly appeared in the air. These stone tablets transformed into streaks of light and fell before each outer sect disciple in the square.

Lu Yi took the floating stone tablet in front of him and glanced at it. It was engraved with: 101-25.

Lu Yi was somewhat familiar with this process. Although he had never participated in the outer sect competition before, he had watched it several times.

The number before the dash represented the arena number, and the number after it represented the match sequence. Combined, it meant the 25th match on the 101st arena.

The martial arts stage was incredibly vast, with a total of 320 arenas. Arena 101 was considered relatively close to the front.

At this moment, Wang Wulian beside him looked at his stone tablet and said, "I'm at Arena 28. What about you all?"

Lu Ling smiled slightly, "I'm at Arena 211."

Wang Xinqi said, "I'm at Arena 7."

The three looked at Lu Yi, and Lu Yi smiled, "Arena 101."

Immediately, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief. Wang Xinqi laughed, "Luckily, we're not in the same arena as Junior Brother Lu. Otherwise, we'd be in trouble."

"That's right. With Junior Brother Lu's strength, if we're unlucky, we might get eliminated in the early rounds," Wang Wulian nodded in agreement.

Lu Yi laughed, "You all flatter me. I'm not that strong."

The three of them rolled their eyes, clearly not believing Lu Yi's humble words. Did they not know how strong he was?

While they were chatting, Du Gufang's voice rang out again, "Alright, all participants, head to your designated arena areas. Referees, take your positions."

As soon as Du Gufang finished speaking, figures descended from the sky, landing on each arena. These were the referees for the competition.

Lu Yi smiled at the three, "Good luck, Senior Brothers. I hope you all succeed."

The three exchanged glances and nodded.

Lu Ling smiled, "Thanks for your blessing, Junior Brother. I believe you'll definitely win your matches."

Wang Wulian grinned and laughed, "I'm off first!"

Wang Xinqi, slightly nervous, smiled and said, "I'll go too."

The four of them parted ways, and Lu Yi headed toward Arena 101.

Soon, he found Arena 101, where over a hundred disciples had already gathered. They were all competitors assigned to this arena.

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Many disciples initially appeared relaxed, but upon seeing Lu Yi, their expressions froze.

"Lu... Lu Senior Brother?!"

"Damn, how am I so unlucky to be in the same arena as Senior Brother Lu?!"

"Ahhh!! I was hoping to make it to the top thousand! I just hope I don't face Junior Brother Lu in the early rounds..."

One by one, the outer sect disciples showed despair.

Lu Yi felt innocent. He had no control over which arena he was assigned to.

The referee on the arena was named Feng Tian, an ordinary-looking middle-aged man. Naturally, he also recognized Lu Yi, who had become famous in the outer sect recently, and couldn't help but glance at him a few times.

Feng Tian had to admit, Lu Yi looked quite good, probably very popular among young girls. But he wondered if Lu Yi's strength was really as rumored. They would soon find out.

Once all the disciples found their respective arenas, Du Gufang spoke from the central platform, "You may begin."

After speaking, Du Gufang clasped his hands behind his back and ascended into the air, joining the other elders.

A black-haired middle-aged man smiled slightly, "Elder Du, you've worked hard."

Du Gufang gazed down at the arenas and said indifferently, "The outer sect is the place where we nurture elites. The outer sect competition is especially important. As the Grand Elder of the outer sect, this is my duty. How is it hard?"

"The Grand Elder is truly noble!"

"We should all learn from the Grand Elder."

The elders chimed in one after another.

Du Gufang sighed, "It's a pity that the number of disciples passing the preliminaries hasn't increased much this year. It seems talent is still lacking..."

Hearing this, Elder Qi Feiyu of the Affairs Hall smiled and said, "Grand Elder, I must disagree. You've been in seclusion this past month, so you may not know that our outer sect recently produced a genius."

Du Gufang was surprised and looked at Qi Feiyu with curiosity. "Oh? What kind of genius?"

"I'm sure the other elders have heard of him too. Lu Yi of White Spirit Peak has cultivated the White Cloud Sword Technique to the level of perfection," Qi Feiyu replied with a smile.

"Lu Yi? I've heard his name recently. It's said his comprehension is extraordinary."

"Yes, Elder Lin Feng even invited True Disciple Liu Ningshuang to give a lecture, and she was very impressed with Lu Yi."

"With such comprehension, he might even become a core disciple in the future."

The elders exchanged opinions about Lu Yi.

Hearing this, Du Gufang's eyes lit up and said, "Comprehending the White Cloud Sword Technique to the level of perfection? Such comprehension is indeed rare. In our sect, those who reached this level have achieved great things. And to be recognized by True Disciple Liu? He might even have a chance to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm."

Du Gufang became more excited as he spoke and asked, "How old is Lu Yi?"

"Well..." The elders looked at each other. As elders, they didn't usually ask about ages.

Qi Feiyu smiled and said, "Lu Yi's parents are stewards in our sect and work in my hall. I've looked into it. He's only sixteen and recently broke through to the seventh level of Qi Refining."

"Only sixteen? Excellent! Excellent!" Du Gufang beamed. "Which arena is Lu Yi in?"

Qi Feiyu, who had been paying attention to Lu Yi, pointed and said, "Arena 101."

...

After Du Gufang announced the start of the matches, Feng Tian on Arena 101 spoke, "Alright, Match One, step up."

Two disciples with the number one on their tablets jumped onto the arena.

Lu Yi glanced at them. Both were at the sixth level of Qi Refining. In fact, most disciples who passed the preliminaries were at this level, followed by the fifth and seventh levels.

In the eighth level, there were only about a thousand disciples in the entire outer sect. The ninth level had even fewer, and the tenth level had less than ten people.

The two sixth-level disciples saluted each other and began fighting. At first, Lu Yi watched with interest, but he quickly grew bored. Their techniques were poorly executed—one had barely reached minor success, while the other hadn't even achieved that.

Watching their moves full of flaws made Lu Yi cringe.

With such techniques, he could defeat them blindfolded...

After a brief exchange, the disciple with minor success in his technique won.

Match after match proceeded, and Lu Yi was nearly dozing off.

Thinking about the many rounds he had to go through; Lu Yi couldn't help but put on a mask of pain.