3 The—'Disciple Ceremony'!

In an instant, Long Yu felt multiple gazes locking onto him, and he couldn't help but curse under his breath.

'Fuck! Those guys really are going to target me!'

Although Long Yu cursed inwardly, he knew that he was going to be an 'easy' target for the multiple people at the ceremony.

Firstly, he had exceptional talent, evident when he became an outer disciple. Secondly, he was pretty much despised by everyone for 'harassing' the sect's Saint.

And thirdly...

He's too handsome, and that makes every male jealous of him.

Clang!

Drawing his sword, Long Yu clashed with another disciple's attack and swiftly kicked the disciple's waist, sending him tumbling out of the arena.

"Thankfully, I positioned myself at the arena's edge to handle these weaker disciples easily."

But as he glanced at the other disciples, still fighting but keeping an eye on him, he couldn't help but sigh.

Slowly, a smirk formed on his lips.

"Well then... Let's have a bit of fun!"

"Ice Lotus Sword!" he called out.

Instantly, seven ice swords materialized around him, hovering in the air.

"Attack," he ordered.

The ice swords darted toward the fighting disciple, their incredible speed easily piercing through his defenses.

Before they could pierce the disciple's bodies, Luo Shengxue raised a barrier, lifting them out of the arena just in time.

Seeing this, Long Yu's heart was a bit clearer, so he continued on, and attacked another batch of disciples.

Although he was using Yin related techniques, they were still quite powerful because Long Yu's comprehension was high and he quickly mastered the technique.

However, what Long Yu really felt strange about was how 'Long Yu' had such a high talent despite being the first protagonist.

It was clearly told that 'Long Yu' had average qualifications, and his cheat didn't even awaken because 'Luo Yang' killed him before it could awaken.

So, how did he already have such high talent?

"AHHH!" A disciple cried out as Long Yu threw him out of the arena.

'Is it because of the assimilation of both mine and his soul? Maybe, that increased his talent quite a lot?' Long Yu pondered.

It was still a mystery, but he would leave that for another day.

"Pure Ice Lotus!" He conjured the 2nd-level of the technique, and instantly, a loud explosion happened.

BOOM!

From the place he was standing, an ice lotus blossomed up and created a huge explosion, sending a batch of disciples flying across the arena.

"Haaa... huff!" Long Yu breathed heavily.

His move directly spent 15% of his entire qi, so he was a bit tired after using that same technique.

'Well... it's only a low black technique and already spends so much Qi from me... Is it because I'm not in the foundation realm?'

Just like the weapons, to fully utilize the power of technique higher than your realm, you'll need a battle power that corresponds to it.

But that only happens in martial arts, or simply offense and defense related techniques.

If it's a cultivation technique, you simply need to understand each layer to fully utilize its power.

Wiping the blood from his lips, Long Yu scanned the arena only to find a single group remaining along with a girl on the other edge of the arena.

'Wait... is that one of the heroines?' Long Yu wondered, and immediately, used the 'Appraisal' ability that he got from the system.

[Appraisal Window —

Name: Gu Ling

Age: 17

Cultivation Realms:

⟶ Cultivation: 2nd Layer of Foundation

Internal Constitution: N/A

Bloodline: N/A

Evaluation: A superb heroine who has not yet realized her full potential. Her true identity is the Seventh Princess, and although she does not have a special physique, she possesses the Royal Bloodline and has the potential to awaken a Dragon Bloodline.]

Looking at her view panel, Long Yu confirmed his thoughts.

But, he really didn't have any interest in Gu Ling, after all, he would need to spend a lot of resources to awaken her hidden potential.

And he himself is quite poor, besides, Long Yu knows the plot, so he desperately wants to upgrade his own physique as fast as possible.

Because, if he actually wants to survive against someone like "Luo Shengxue," who is the Holy Daughter of one of the Six Major Sects, and even the heiress of the Luo Family, which is one of the strongest families, he would need to quickly increase his strength.

Or...

'...I don't know if that could ever happen.' Long Yu swallowed hard as the idea crept out of his mind.

He could make Luo Shengxue fall in love with him.

That would solve his problems directly, however, more problems would indeed appear because he's not the only 'Son of Luck' in this world.

There are lots and lots of 'fated people' who will rise to the top, and Long Yu will definitely meet up with them.

Clang!

With the sound of metal hitting each other, Long Yu eliminated the final batch of disciples, leaving him and Gu Ling remaining.

However, looking at the circumstances, Long Yu was clearly in a disadvantageous position.

69% of his Qi had already been deplated, and he was in a lower realm than Gu Ling.

"Haaaaahh..." He inhaled deeply before exhaling.

He still had a trick on his sleeve, and he didn't mind using it if necessary.

"Hey, If I'm not wrong... your name is Long Yu, right?" Gu Ling inquired as she put her sword back to her spatial ring.

"That's right." Long Yu nodded his head.

"How about we declare it a draw then? Since, the Holy Daughter said that the last team wins, it shouldn't be a problem, right?" 

"Oh, yeah. Sure." Long Yu stored his sword away.

Hearing the words of both of them, Luo Shengxue announced the result of the ceremony.

"The winners of the disciple ceremony are Long Yu and Gu Ling! Congratulations to both of you!" She started clapping.

And as she did so, the disciples also joined her actions. But, here came the hardest part of the ceremony.

The 'Disciple Choosing' part.

Slowly, the elders rose from their seats and approached the disciples they found intriguing.

"Would you honor me by becoming my disciple?" An elder stroked his beard as he gazed at Gu Ling.

Gu Ling bowed respectfully to the elder. "I greet the Master!" She said before kowtowing to him.

The elder who selected Gu Ling was Wan Jianjun, the First Elder and the most powerful among them all.

"Mhm... Just as I expected," Long Yu muttered, nodding to himself.

As he listened to the other elders choosing disciples, Long Yu let out a deep sigh.

He knew he wouldn't be chosen by anyone. It was what he had anticipated.

And of course, the Cold Master Beauty wouldn't come forward; she was the Sect Leader, after all.

One intriguing detail about her was that her strength surpassed even the "Ancestors" of the sect, earning her a formidable reputation throughout the world.

She was known as the "Jade Ice Goddess."

Her expertise lay in Sword and Ice arts, a perfect match for Long Yu, except for the Ice aspect, which leaned towards Yin energy.

So, yeah... a few minutes passed and nothing much happened.

"Disciple Long Yu, since you have not been chosen by any elder. You're going to simply receive the rewards from winning the competition, and you'll be promoted to the Inner Sect!" Wan Jianjun spoke, stroking his beard once again.

Long Yu merely nodded his head and took out the spatial ring Wan Jianjun had thrown at him.

He took a look at it, and his lips curled up into a smile.

When everyone expected him to thank Wan Jianjuan, Long Yu swiftly ran away from that place in the direction of the Inner Sect.

"...What a rude fellow." Wan Jianjuan murmured.

Everyone was quite speechless about his actions.

However, even if Long Yu heard them, he would simply shrug it off.

Why would he give thanks to the elder for giving him the prizes from the competition he had won?