The new number one disciple had emerged from the competition. Not even a full hour went by as he managed to dismantle the top 3 disciples from this Thunderball Hall. Feng Shi, the golden boy that was unanimously agreed upon by everyone as the best, had fallen.
Zhang Dong in his disguise stood tall and walked down from the battle stage that he was on. When he arrived at the edges of this tournament area the youngsters parted to the sides. No one that was around this age range was willing to meet his gaze.
No one knew how they should act around the new number one. Would he be the irritable type that lashed out at anyone that didn’t show him any respect? Maybe he would be more stoic as the previous number one or more conniving like some of the other top students.
“What is it? Do I have something on my shoes? Raise your heads, brothers and sisters, there is no need to be afraid.”
Zhang Dong called out in a soft-spoken voice which caused a few people to raise their heads.
“See, isn’t that better?”
He laughed out loud while shrugging. Now it was the time to show his magnanimous persona. He knew that everyone preferred a senior that was easy to talk to. Pompous ones like Feng Shi or muscle heads like the third-ranked one were not preferred by many.
Both of them put a certain barrier around themselves. One was hard to approach due to his violent tendencies while the other seemed like an idol that should be observed from afar but never touched. What would happen if the new top student was different, one that was willing to lend a hand to his brothers and sisters.
“Challenge me if you must, I’m sure we can exchange some pointers during this tournament but don’t think I’ll go easy on you!”
With a few nice words he decided to sit down in a lotus position. To some, this might have looked like a break to reinforce his cultivation. In reality, he was using his senses to spy on the elders up in the tower.
His plan was to show off while also looking humble. Instead of boasting about his victory and pointing his fingers at the other disciples, he urged them to take it easy. He made it seem that even if they challenged him, he would not cripple their cultivation like the other top students that despised the lower disciples.
“Hm, not bad he shows some restraint but will he be able to last till the end.”
Elder Jingyi commented while talking with the other elders. It seemed that he did indeed pique the man’s interest but until the competition was over, the old man didn’t seem willing to end it.
“I have returned elder, I have gathered all the information about this disciple!”
As if he was waiting for it, the elder that left to gather details about Dai Rong’s other competitions had returned to the tower. He quickly informed Elder Jingyi about how the young man was just a trial disciple that had already won four competitions.
“He has won both the pill-making competition and the blacksmithing competition?”
Zhang Dong couldn’t see the man’s expression but by his tone, he knew that Elder Jingyi was surprised. The tails of his expedition into the sect’s contest were revealed to each and everyone of the elders above. Quickly they became chatty as none of them had paid any attention to those outer sect competitions.
“This Dai Rong, where did he come from… such a talent has made it into our Thunderball hall. It would be bad if it's cut short, maybe I should…”
“You should what?”
“Take him under my wing of course!”
Soon as according to his plan the elders were fighting with each other. All of them were on the very top of the totem pole.
“Silence! This competition isn’t finished yet!”
Finally, Jingyi interrupted the bittering as the only inner sect elder here, he had all the power.
“We apologize, Elder Jingyi.”
The old red-haired man easily silenced everyone here but it didn’t seem that he would be plucking Zhang Dong away just yet. Time continued to pass and Zhang Dong found himself getting challenged by some of the top twenty disciples.
At first, it seemed that they were just testing the waters to see if he was tired enough to be knocked down from the first spot. After easily beating the 5th ranked senior brother everyone was sure that he had a lot more gas in the tank.
The 5th ranked youth was not maimed or injured much which showed them that this Dai Rong did show some restraint. Through this, he was seen accepting more fights through which he showed some of the flaws in peoples fighting techniques.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
At the end of the competition, he remained the number one ranked. The night had fallen upon the sect and the people started cheering. Due to the knockouts that they suffered the previous top three was not seen again which caused people to be ranked higher by default.
“With this, we will end this year’s outer sect battle competition!”
The announcement was made and it was over. The top ten of the disciples were handed cultivation materials and spirit stones. Zhang Dong received a middle grade mortal weapon and some pills along with the fifth bead.
Each competition that gave him this bead would allow him to redeem it for some treasure. He just needed to visit the outer sect treasure house. There he would be able to redeem his rewards but not like this would add much to his repertoire.
If he was a regular Martial Master disciple this would probably allow him to cultivate much faster than the other disciples. He was already far too strong for these rewards to actually matter.
The elder gave a speech that he could only roll his eyes on and then it was over. This would be the time where the elders approached the young men and women to strike a deal.
Zhang Dong found himself surrounded, there were at least a hundred people around him, one older than the other. He could see some people from the blacksmith’s hall as well as the formation and pill-making hall. The elder that lent him the cultivation abode was also there, just at the edge as he was forced out by the more influential elders.
These old men that prided themselves on being composed and stoic were now shouting like angry children. It was as if this Dai Rong that he was playing was some kind of limited edition action figure that everyone wanted.
Before they could start yanking on his clothes, finally the person that he was here for appeared. Jingyi appeared as if he was waiting till everyone gathered up so that he could show off his superiority. His descent from the tower was greeted with bows and clasped hands.
“What is your name, disciple?”
“Dai Rong, Elder.”
‘Like you don’t know by now.’
The old fart was doing all the old tricks, playing with his beard, swishing his long sleeves and acting all mysterious. Zhang Dong knew that the seniors wanted to appear like gods to the disciples. They wanted to establish a hierarchy that could not be easily broken.
“You show potential, where does the junior fare from?”
“I come from the white tiger clan, elder. You’ve probably never heard of it, it's not a very important clan.”
Luckily this elder didn’t seem too chatty, he just nodded and got right to the point.
“Junior, you show promise, would you like to follow me to the inner sect?”
There it was, the thing that he was waiting for. This was all that he wanted, getting inside of the inner sect before spending months at this small sect.
“The junior would be honored to enter the inner sect!”
The crowd of elders lowered their heads in disappointment as their meal ticket was getting taken away. The young disciples gave out sighs of regret and disappointment as they didn’t manage to attract the inner sect elder’s gaze.
This didn’t mean that the rest wouldn’t be able to enter the inner sect. Jingyi here was the only inner sect elder that was forced to come here but this didn’t mean that others weren’t watching from afar.
Some of the disciples would be asked to enter the inner sect later. If they got famous enough they would be reeled in there via other means. This competition was just one of the many ways of standing out.
“Good, we will leave then!”
Jingyi nodded while not giving Zhang Dong an option to get ready. Lucky for him everything that he owned was in his spatial rings.
“Since you will be an inner sect disciple, you will have to conduct yourself like one, from now on don’t lower yourself to the outer sect standards!”
“Lower myself? I understand elder.”
Zhang Dong nodded while entering Jingyi’s transportation device. It was another flying boat but it was of far greater quality than the one he was previously on. It seemed that this inner sect elder looked down on the outer sect members.
“You’ll be an inner sect disciple, this is the true backbone of our glorious Thunderball hall!”
He was given a long-winded speech about how he should behave and how he was now better than anyone that was not an inner sect disciple.
‘Do the inner sect elders at my sect think like this as well?’
Was the thought going through his head as he listened to this man talk. While he was together with the outer sect elders he was mostly quiet but now his true colors showed. It seemed that he didn’t see anyone outside the inner sect as proper people. Unless someone showed their worth and got into their prestigious club, they were not seen as equals.
Zhang Dong felt that they passed through some kind of barrier. The elder had the item with the code on him so they made it in with no problem. Soon they approached the huge tower which looked a lot wider from close up.
“Elder Jingyi, welcome back… and that is?”
A younger man greeted the two as they descended into an area that was before this tower. Zhang Dong found himself in a large castle-like structure. There were many buildings and also many people in various robes here.
“This is Dai Rong, he shows promise. Show him to his new quarters and explain everything.”
Jingyi dumped him off like a hot potato to this unfamiliar person before flying off somewhere. As he was leaving he also told him to come to look for him after acclimating himself to the inner sect.
“Greetings junior, It’s always good to welcome a new brother to the inner sect! You also gained the favor of Elder Jingyi, that must have been a hard task indeed!”
The man he was left with seemed to be friendly. Soon he was given a tour through the whole inner sect grounds. Similar to his own sect the disciples and elders had different color-coded robes. It also seemed that he was not required to take on tasks like the outer sect disciples.
He was free to train and ask for guidance from some of the masters here and he was also given some monthly pocket change that he could use on various items.
“I will see you around then, Junior Dai.”
“You have my gratitude, senior.”
Zhang Dong was even given his own small cultivation cave, free of charge. The perks of being an inner sect disciple showed themselves quite fast. Though while the young man was explaining everything he was busy examining his surroundings.
‘This doesn’t look too bad… I should be able to sneak in…’
The protective formations looked lackluster and there were not many guards either. It seemed that getting into the tower of thunder would not be that hard, he could even approach it this very night…