Elven cultivators

On the training ground, the two fighters, whose victory had already been decided, jumped off the stage at the same time.

The winner walked straight to the edge of the field, to a sheltered spot, sat down cross-legged, took out a pill, swallowed it, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing to conserve his energy for the next round of the competition.

The loser didn't linger and returned to the crowd to continue being a spectator.

Ryan's voice rang out again at the opportune moment, announcing the list of the next matchups.

The sunlight climbed inch by inch, sliding from the eaves of the eastern city wall towards the central platform.

Disciples came and went on the arena.

Green robes fluttered, flashes of light appeared, and the clanging of metal against metal echoed one after another.

Some people win decisively.

Some people fight until the very last moment before the winner is decided.

More often than not, it is only after dozens or even hundreds of rounds of back-and-forth battles that the opponent is defeated by a very small margin.

Those who won should take a break, and those who lost shouldn't linger; they should all leave the stage.

After several rounds, unexpected upsets began to occur frequently on the stage.

Ryan went on stage in the third group and was lucky; his opponent was a disciple at the fourth level of Foundation Establishment.

He had been diligent in his cultivation over the past few years, and with a few handy magical artifacts, he barely managed to withstand several rounds of attacks from his opponent before seizing an opening and forcing his opponent off the stage.

He let out a long sigh of relief as he came down, gave Evan a victory sign, and grinned smugly.

When it was Evan's turn, his opponent was only at the fifth level of the Foundation Establishment stage, and he easily defeated him.

As he stepped off the stage, he heard a low commotion suddenly rise from the crowd.

Evan instinctively turned his head and saw Evie getting up from the sidelines and gracefully flying towards ring number three.

The half-elf girl had a slender and agile figure, exuding a natural ease.

At this moment, almost all the disciples turned their attention to the water curtain representing the third arena.

Ivy's disciple also stepped onto the stage, but his face was contorted with bitterness.

Facing the favorite to win this competition, he had absolutely no chance of winning.

They wanted to forfeit, but in front of the city lord and elders, they couldn't just admit defeat without even fighting, so they had no choice but to grit their teeth and continue.

Evie remained calm, seemingly unconcerned about the stares around her.

The moment the match began, she immediately raised her hand and made a sweeping gesture with her fingers. A silver-gray blade of light, like moonlight spreading across the ground, silently swept across the center line of the arena.

Before the opponent could even make a complete blocking motion, he was blasted off the stage along with his protective aura.

One strike and you win!

After a brief silence, the disciples watching the battle erupted in cheers.

On the viewing platform, Eleanor smiled slightly: "Evie's strength has improved a lot again. It seems that she will be able to condense her core soon."

Anton nodded slightly.

After all, it is a Yin body.

Even in the cultivation world where geniuses emerge in droves, the Taiyin Body is definitely worthy of being called a cultivation genius.

It's only natural that one's cultivation level improves rapidly.

With Evie's talent, it's only a matter of time before she surpasses Ryan and the others.

However, Anton was more interested in another person than Evie.

His gaze shifted to ring number five.

There, Nightshade was fighting an elf disciple.

The battle was one-sided from the very beginning.

Night Eyes' figure on the arena was like a streak of gray-brown light, leaving almost no trace as he turned.

Her finger blades gleamed with a cold silver light in the sunlight, each cut precisely tearing open gaps in the opponent's defenses, forcing the disciple to retreat repeatedly.

Under Anton's divine sense, the primal aura within Ye Tong's body was even more pronounced than in previous years.

The "Mysterious Night Tour" is continuously and subtly influencing her bloodline.

With each step you ascend to a higher realm, that transformation becomes increasingly clear.

Once she condenses her golden core and her bloodline undergoes a complete transformation, she may become an unprecedented "demon."

He was really looking forward to seeing that scene.

As time went by, the competition progressed round after round.

The disciples went up on stage one after another, and some were eliminated one after another.

Aside from a few disciples who received a bye, most of them had already made their appearances in the first round.

After reading out the last group of names on stage, Ryan gave everyone ten minutes to rest.

After a short break, the second round of the competition began.

Ryan's luck wasn't so good this time. He drew an opponent at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment and was swept off the stage with a single palm strike in less than ten rounds.

He came down nonchalantly, shrugging at Evan: "I'm out. Now it's your turn."

Evan's opponent in the second round was a disciple at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment, whose strength was mediocre. He won without much effort.

Evie still defeated her opponent with a single move.

Night Eyes also advanced smoothly.

By the start of the third round, the number of participants had decreased from over 500 to 142.

By noon, after the fourth round, only thirty-six disciples remained.

After a half-hour break, the fifth round begins.

"Evan Silvermoon, Nighteye, Arena Number Four."

Evan was stunned.

Ryan frowned, but quickly regained his composure and patted Evan on the shoulder.

"come on!"

Evan didn't say anything more and leaped onto the ring.

Night Eyes was already standing on the other side of the arena.

As Evan stepped onto the stage, the cat-girl nodded slightly to him.

Evan nodded and drew his long sword from his waist.

The two were not strangers to each other. They had teamed up several times during missions in the Underdark and had a general understanding of each other's fighting styles.

Therefore, as soon as they made their move, neither side probed further, and the battle immediately became intense.

Night Eyes used its speed to constantly move around Evan, while Night Hunting Blades attacked the latter one after another.

Evan, on the other hand, adopted a defensive strategy, using his magical longsword to continuously parry attacks around his body, with sparks flying when the blade clashed with his fingertips.

The two players have completely different playing styles: one is fast and unpredictable, while the other is steady and solid.

Chi Chi Chi!

Night's Eye's attacks grew faster and faster, with three silver-gray blades flashing almost simultaneously. One slashed horizontally across Evan's waist, another aimed straight for his wrist, and the third swept upwards along the back of the blade.

The three blades were unleashed simultaneously from different angles, yet the timing of their strikes was precisely timed to coincide with the instant Evan raised his hand to draw his blade, falling precisely in the gap between his initial and final strokes.

Before Evan could fully extend his longsword, he had to flip the blade downwards at an angle, channeling his true essence into the spine of the blade, which condensed into a hasty golden-red wall of energy beside him.

The chilling, yin energy seeped into his wound, causing him to pause for a moment.

Night Eyes gave him no chance to adjust, closing in and pressing forward, his left hand forming a claw with fingers together, a wisp of grayish-white cold air condensing into a fine needle at his fingertips, aimed directly at Evan's chest.

Xuan Yin Finger.

With a soft, delicate sound, Evan's protective true energy was instantly shattered, and he groaned as he staggered back several steps.

Night Eye pressed her advantage, launching an even more rapid offensive.

A moment later, Evan suddenly took several steps back, retreating to the edge of the ring. He glanced down at the white mark, then cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Night's Eye.

"I lost."

Ye Tong stopped and nodded slightly to him: "Thank you for your kind offer."

Evan jumped off the ring and returned to Ryan's side.

Ryan patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "Top 36 is pretty good, much better than me."

Evan smiled but didn't say anything.

He glanced down at his long sword and let out a long sigh of relief.

A top-36 finish was indeed his expected goal, but to say he wasn't a little disappointed after getting this far would be a lie.

However, he quickly cheered up.

The path of cultivation is long, and this competition is merely one experience along the way.

Learn from this experience and continue to work hard in your practice.

After that, Ye Tong was defeated in the subsequent competitions and stopped at the top eighteen.

Evie, on the other hand, swept through the competition with unstoppable momentum, and no opponent could last more than ten rounds against her.

His momentum only slowed slightly when he encountered another Foundation Establishment Perfection expert in the quarterfinals.

The two fought back and forth for nearly a hundred rounds. In the end, Ivy broke through her opponent's defense with a long-prepared Taiyin Blade Chapter, forcing him out of the arena.

The outcome of the subsequent competition was almost entirely predictable.

Neither her opponent in the semi-finals nor the finals posed much of a challenge for Evie, and the outcome was decided in less than ten minutes.

The entire training ground erupted in thunderous cheers.

The victorious Ivy floated down to the viewing platform. Anton stood up, looking at the half-elf girl with a calm gaze and a smile of admiration on his face.

"Good performance."

Ivy stared intently at Anton, her eyes filled with undisguised reverence, and a rare, bright smile bloomed on her usually aloof face.

"Thank you, Lord City Lord."

Anton didn't say much. With a flick of his wrist, a dark gold token appeared in his palm.

The front of the token is engraved with an ancient rune, while the back features the phantom image of a guardian deity.

"This is the control talisman of the guardian deity. Refine it carefully when you get back, and don't let this Dao weapon down."

"Yes, Lord City Lord."

Ivy took the token with both hands and held it tightly, as if it were some kind of precious treasure.

Anton nodded slightly, then turned to the audience and began to speak slowly.

"The first Inner Sect Competition has now come to an end."

"From now on, an inner sect competition will be held every ten years. All inner sect disciples who perform well in the competition will receive generous rewards."

"I hope all disciples will diligently cultivate without ceasing, and live up to the path of enlightenment."

All the disciples bowed in unison, their voices clear and resonant.

"I obey the city lord's command!"