Chapter Three: The Selection Begins

"The subsidies include spirit stones, elixirs, weapons, equipment, and so on. Of course, you can also choose equivalent medicinal herbs or forging materials, or other things, if you’re skilled in alchemy, artifact forging, or array-setting. The amount of subsidy depends on your ranking—the better your rank, the more you receive, and of course, the greater your responsibility. Only with effort comes reward!" Elder Lu explained.

"With so many things to choose from, can I join too?" Tang Yi’s eyes sparkled, and he practically drooled.

"You? To be honest, what’s your real cultivation level? The Talent Selection Tournament is limited to Spirit Silence, Nascent Soul, and Out-of-Body realms. In my opinion, even little Suzi isn’t your match anymore. In that case, you can’t participate. Suzi is already in the late Deity Division stage. Even I can’t guarantee victory against you—your superpower is far too bizarre." Elder Lu still didn’t quite understand Tang Yi’s abilities.

"Heh, even I can’t explain exactly what state my superpower is in now," Tang Yi replied with a laugh.

"I heard from my disciple Lin Jiang that when you gave him a few pointers last time, his Azure Water Sword technique became so much more powerful that it’s no longer the Azure Water Sword, it’s practically the Frost Sword now. He’s been looking for a chance to thank you. How about you help him out again sometime?"

"Elder Lu, you’re not being fair. He wants to thank me, but before he even can, you want me to work for you," Tang Yi said indignantly.

"Hehe, that’s not how you should see it. If you agree to become a visiting professor at Divine Sword Sect and guide our disciples who possess superpowers, our sect will pay you a handsome salary. Not only that, I’ll help you apply for subsidies too. How about it? A good proposal, right?" Elder Lu extended his invitation. He knew that the other sects had heard about Tang Yi’s superpower, and would definitely try to win him over. The early bird catches the worm.

"Oh? If that’s the case, becoming your visiting professor is as easy as snapping my fingers. Ha ha ha..." Tang Yi was overjoyed at the offer.

"Then it’s settled. I’ll go prepare for tomorrow’s events," Elder Lu said, gathering up the tea set and departing.

The following day, the Talent Selection Tournament began.

The tournament used an elimination system, with ten arenas operating simultaneously. The event lasted three months: the first fifty days for Spirit Silence realm contestants, the next thirty for Nascent Soul, and the final ten for Out-of-Body cultivators.

The first morning was the opening ceremony. The leaders of the six main sects each gave speeches, expressing high hopes for the competitors and wishing the tournament great success.

The six grandmasters took turns on stage, joined by special addresses from leaders of other sects. Finally, when ninety-nine percent of the audience was nearly dozing off, Elder Lu announced, "Now, the draw for the Spirit Silence round begins." Thunderous applause erupted at once.

There were four thousand entrants in the Spirit Silence stage, and the drawing took ages. Tang Yi shook his head, thinking how strange the cultivation world was: some things were startlingly advanced, while others were downright primitive. For instance, the communication jade pendant was cutting-edge, but the lottery used such an old-fashioned method. Tang Yi resolved to change this.

After the drawing, Tang Yi immediately sought out Elder Lu for a discussion. The next day, four enormous floating screens appeared above the arena, displaying the match progress and contestant lists in real time—Tang Yi’s handiwork from the previous night. He had based it on the transmission array, creating a cultivator’s version of a personal computer, or rather, a giant wireless tablet display. The six sect leaders praised the invention highly, and Tang Yi extracted a considerable number of top-grade spirit stones as payment, not to mention quietly pocketing a pile of materials during the process, which delighted him greatly.

The numbers needed for the tournament were as follows: three hundred for the Spirit Silence stage, one hundred for Nascent Soul, and only thirty for Out-of-Body. In twenty days, with ten matches daily, half of the four thousand Spirit Silence cultivators were eliminated, leaving two thousand. The next ten days halved that again, leaving one thousand. After a further ten days, only three hundred remained, who then spent ten days competing for their final rankings.

Lin Jiang stood out swiftly in the Spirit Silence round, thanks to the formidable power of his Frost Sword—a result of his growing familiarity with his superpower. For example, in a previous match, his opponent, a fire-element practitioner, had clearly studied Lin Jiang’s style and used a spirit-level defensive artifact tailored to counter water-based attacks, making him a tough nut to crack. Lin Jiang’s repeated attempts with his Azure Water Sword showed no effect, while he himself was harried by fire talismans. When his opponent unleashed ten fire talismans at once, Lin Jiang was struck by three simultaneously. Yet at that moment, something unexpected happened.

Normally, fire talismans would rapidly burn the target’s body unless one possessed a protective artifact, which Lin Jiang did not. But when the talismans hit his chest, arm, and thigh, those areas suddenly became incredibly pliant; the talismans sank into his body, their flames extinguished. Thanks to Tang Yi’s guidance, Lin Jiang had gradually unlocked his superpower, practicing it alongside his regular cultivation. At this critical moment, his ability advanced: he could instantly turn his body into water upon receiving a blow, rendering himself immune to harm.

Realizing this, Lin Jiang closed in for melee combat. Catching a slight opening, he struck his opponent, freezing the man’s protective artifact solid and rendering it useless. His opponent conceded defeat.

Tang Yi noticed that among the top three hundred in the Spirit Silence stage were Hua Shaojie, Lü Zhengyang, and Ding Pengfei—three he especially watched, not least because he’d once swindled Hua Shaojie out of some spirit stones. Though it was only twenty mid-grade stones, Tang Yi still felt a bit guilty. He also found that the trio had decent personalities, unlike some other so-called geniuses who were arrogant and dismissive of others. Though these cultivators might be a hundred years old, their appearances were those of twenty-year-olds, and mentally they were often even younger due to spending most of their lives in cultivation.

Tang Yi made up his mind: since all three had reached the top three hundred, he would find a way to help them achieve good rankings, repaying his debt to Hua Shaojie.

The ranking matches were organized in groups. The three hundred were divided into ten groups, each competing simultaneously for internal rankings. Then, those holding the same place in their respective groups would go on to compete against each other: all the first-place finishers for places one through ten, all the second-place finishers for places eleven through twenty, and so on, down to the last places competing for positions two hundred ninety-one through three hundred.

Today was the first day of the Spirit Silence ranking matches. Tang Yi checked and was relieved to find that Lin Jiang, Hua Shaojie, Lü Zhengyang, and Ding Pengfei were all in separate groups. Lin Jiang was now half Tang Yi’s disciple, and naturally Tang Yi hoped he would prevail. With his current mid-stage Spirit Silence cultivation, paired with his technique and superpower, he could even take on late-stage opponents. Among cultivators of the same stage, although there were distinctions of early, middle, and late phases, sometimes those at an earlier stage, armed with superior techniques or artifacts, could defeat those further along.