Cultivation begins with earning spirit stones

Chapter 96 First Disciple

Zhou Mingyuan's lips curled into a sinister smile, and he was about to deliver another blow when suddenly his feet froze.

A vine sprouted from a crack in the arena's stone slabs and silently wrapped around his ankle.

The Wood Vine Technique and Thorn Vine were techniques Zhang Lin had already set up when he released the Heavenly Flame. The breaking of the Wind Wall was also intentional.

From beginning to end, he was waiting for Zhou Mingyuan to lower his guard and ignore the hidden danger beneath his feet.

The vines suddenly tightened, barbs pierced the skin and flesh, and toxins seeped into the meridians.

Zhou Mingyuan felt a sharp pain in his ankle, and his internal energy circulation suddenly stagnated, slowing down considerably.

He hurriedly activated his Golden Blade Technique to cut the vines, but Zhang Lin's second wave of attack had already arrived.

Three wind blades spun and snarled, two golden blades attacked from the left and right, and the Heavenly Flame drifted towards the retreat route, surrounding them from three sides, leaving only the front open.

Zhou Mingyuan gritted his teeth, the earthen wall rose up to block the wind blade, the ice spike met the golden blade, and at the same time his body retreated rapidly.

But he forgot that although the vine was broken, the poison was still there, and his movements were more than a beat too slow.

The Heavenly Flame landed on the hem of his Taoist robe, and the dark blue flames silently ignited.

Zhou Mingyuan's expression changed drastically. He tried to disperse the flames with a burst of true energy, but the flames not only did not go out, but burned even more fiercely. The Burning Heaven Flame used true energy as fuel, and the more he urged his true energy to resist, the more intense the fire became.

His Taoist robe had been burned through, leaving a large hole, and his skin was burning painfully, but at the critical moment, Zhang Lin extinguished the Heaven-Burning Flame.

But he was not given another chance to turn things around.

A massive, dark hand burst forth from the earth, its five fingers like stone pillars, and slammed into Zhou Mingyuan's chest with a punch.

The disciples below the stage clearly heard a muffled thud, like the beating of a drum, which made their hearts tremble.

Zhou Mingyuan flew off the stage like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the bluestone ground. His back slammed into the ground, raising dust as he slid several feet before coming to a stop.

He struggled to get up, but a tightness in his chest caused him to spit out a mouthful of blood.

Du Zhong, the sideline steward, quickly stepped forward, bent down to check the injury for a moment, and then stood up to announce: "Zhou Mingyuan is out of bounds, Zhang Lin wins."

The entire audience was silent for a moment, then erupted in thunderous cheers.

Chen Boyuan jumped three feet high and slapped his hands above his head.

Yu Youwei, standing on the sidelines, smiled a smile she had been suppressing for a long time and clapped her hands vigorously.

Zhang Lin stood on the ring, hands behind his back, his expression unchanged.

Below the stage, Zhou Mingyuan was helped up by two disciples from a prominent family. His face was ashen, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth.

Zhang Lin didn't look at him.

His gaze swept past the crowd and landed on the high platform.

Lu Yuanshan nodded slightly.

Amid cheers from the audience, Zhang Lin slowly walked off the stage.

He walked unhurriedly, his robes still warm from the battle, but his expression remained unchanged, as if the thrilling duel had been nothing more than a casual sparring match.

Chen Boyuan squeezed through the crowd, his face beaming, and patted Zhang Lin's shoulder forcefully: "Fellow Daoist Zhang! No, Senior Brother Zhang! From this day forward, you are the champion of our Cuiping Peak Junior Competition!"

Zhang Lin shook his head slightly: "It hasn't been officially announced yet, so we shouldn't make any rash statements."

"What else is there to announce?" Chen Boyuan laughed. "Perfect score in alchemy, perfect score in magic, and consecutive victories over Fang Yunxiu and Zhou Mingyuan in combat—all three are top-notch. Who else could be the champion if not you?"

Before he could finish speaking, a commotion arose behind him.

Zhou Mingyuan broke free from the family disciples who were supporting him, raised his head, and stared intently at Zhang Lin through the crowd.

In that gaze, there was resentment, bitterness, and above all, disbelief.

He had been nurtured by his family since childhood, never lacking in spiritual herbs and stones. With his elder brother Zhou Mingxuan taking care of him in the inner sect, he had a smooth journey after coming to the outer sect and had never suffered such a great loss in a direct confrontation.

Today, in front of the three hundred disciples of Cuiping Peak, in front of Lu Yuanshan, and in front of the inner disciples watching the ceremony, he was blasted off the arena by a rogue cultivator from a poor family.

Zhang Lin felt that gaze, but did not turn around.

Chen Boyuan lowered his voice and said, "Senior Brother Zhang, you really vented everyone's anger today, but Zhou Mingyuan is a vengeful person. Today you made him lose face in front of the whole peak, I'm afraid it won't end well in the future."

"I know," Zhang Lin said calmly, "but on the arena, there is only victory and defeat, no sentimentality."

He paused, then added, "Besides, the feud between him and me didn't start today."

Chen Boyuan was taken aback, but seeing that Zhang Lin had already started walking towards the waiting area, he had no choice but to swallow his words.

Yu Youwei stood at the edge of the waiting area, dressed in a blue robe and a simple cloth skirt. After cultivating the Xuan Yin Technique, her temperament became even more aloof and cold.

When she saw Zhang Lin approaching, she didn't offer any praise, but simply nodded slightly and handed him a bamboo tube filled with spiritual spring water.

Zhang Lin took it, drank a sip; the water was slightly cool and refreshing as it went down his throat.

Thank you.

"No need," Yu Youwei said. "You deliberately held back your last punch just now, so that you could knock him off the stage without seriously injuring him and making things unbearable."

"The deacons see this and will only think that you know your place."

Zhang Lin glanced at her but didn't reply.

She's right.

He did indeed hold back three-tenths of his strength in that punch.

Like the blazing flames, it's not that I'm soft-hearted, but that it's unnecessary.

If Zhou Mingyuan were truly severely injured, the Zhou family would have a reason to cause trouble, and it would also leave an impression of disregarding sect rules.

Rather than offending both sects and aristocratic families and making too many enemies, it's better to leave some room for maneuver.

At least, let the people in the sect see that Zhang Lin is not a person without sense of propriety.

"clang--"

The bronze bell rang again, its sound reverberating across the discourse platform.

Du Zhong rose from the high platform, unfurled a scroll of silk, and announced loudly: "The three assessments of the Cuiping Peak preliminary competition are complete. After deliberation by the stewards and approval by the Peak Master, the top ten rankings are as follows..."

He read out the names one by one, from tenth to second place.

The tenth place is a veteran disciple in the late stage of Qi Refining, the ninth place is Chen Boyuan, the eighth to fourth places are the other disciples who performed well, and the third place is Luo Yuan.

Du Zhong paused, his gaze sweeping across the entire room, and raised his voice slightly: "Second place—Zhou Mingyuan."

Zhou Mingyuan stood below the stage, his face ashen.

Second place.

He was the head of the younger generation of aristocratic families in Qingxuan City. Under the arrangement of his family, he should have had a smooth journey and won the championship in various competitions.

However, starting from the day of the alchemy ceremony, they were overshadowed by a rogue cultivator who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Now he has once again missed out on the championship, and what makes it even more embarrassing for him is that he was not defeated by chance or bad luck, but was defeated in front of everyone.

Du Zhong continued reading: "The leader—Zhang Lin."

The audience erupted in applause once again.

Chen Boyuan clapped until his palms turned red, Luo Yuan nodded with a smile in the crowd, and even veteran disciples like Fang Yunxiu nodded slightly.

From this day forward, the name Zhang Lin will no longer be an unfamiliar one at Cuiping Peak.

Du Zhong put away the silk scroll and said, "Please invite the champion to come up on stage and receive the prize for the preliminary competition."

Zhang Lin straightened his robes, climbed the bluestone steps, and stood on the high platform, bowing respectfully to Du Zhong.

Du Zhong nodded with a smile and took a sandalwood tray from the handyman beside him. The tray was covered with a piece of red silk.

He unveiled the red silk, revealing two artifacts and a Taoist robe on the plate.

(Thank you all for your recent donations and monthly tickets. I haven't been able to update extra chapters because I wanted to stay on the leaderboard for a few more days, but I appreciate everyone's kindness.)