However, the Grand Elder quickly put these thoughts aside and turned his attention to Lin Xuan.
In just one month since joining the sect, he had become the top disciple of the Outer Sect. Moreover, while still at the fourth layer of the Qi Gathering Realm, he had comprehended a fully formed artistic conception. Such talent could only be described as a super genius! If nurtured well, he would at least become the next Liu Qianyu. He couldn’t let this potential go to waste. He needed to report this to the higher-ups of the sect so they would know.
With this in mind, the Grand Elder turned and hurried toward the core area of the sect.
...
Back in his small courtyard, Lin Xuan wasted no time. He went straight to the cultivation room and sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. With a thought, he chose to use it.
Instantly, a warm current surged like waves, flowing wildly through Lin Xuan’s body. The crisp, cool voice of the system echoed from time to time.
“Ding, congratulations to the host for advancing to the Supreme Grade Blazing Fire Attribute Talent!” “Ding, congratulations to the host for advancing to the Grand Completion level of the Sixth-Tier Upper-Class Martial Art, Explosive Flame Fist!” “Ding, congratulations to the host for advancing to the Upper Grade Heavy Water Attribute Talent!” “...”
At the same time, Lin Xuan’s aura slowly grew.
...
While Lin Xuan was in seclusion, merging and absorbing the treasures he had copied, the entire Outer Sect of Flowing Cloud Sect was shaken. Even the Inner Sect was not spared from the tremors.
Today was the annual Outer Sect Grand Competition. It was held a month after the new disciples joined, with the intention of motivating them. New disciples could participate, but none had ever achieved any notable results before. They were usually eliminated in the first round. Thus, few paid them any attention.
Everyone had assumed this year would be no different from previous ones. But no one expected a special case like Lin Xuan to emerge.
Lin Xuan was a new disciple who had only been in the sect for a month. During the entrance test, his talent assessment had even prompted the Third Elder of the Outer Sect to personally appear, praising him as having the potential to become a true disciple. That had already caused quite a stir.
And now, the same person was once again the center of the commotion rocking both the Outer and Inner Sects.
In the first round of the Outer Sect Grand Competition, the Puppet Tower challenge, Lin Xuan had achieved astonishing results.
Initially, the former top Outer Sect expert, Chen Yuze, had revealed his Qi Transformation Realm cultivation. He cleared the tower in just three minutes, setting the highest record in recent years. It should have been Chen Yuze’s finest moment.
But compared to Lin Xuan, it seemed utterly ordinary. Lin Xuan had cleared the tower in less than a minute. And he had done so by crushing everything in his path. He had destroyed all six floors, including the final guardian, the Iron Giant, reducing them to rubble.
Everyone who heard this was deeply shaken, almost unable to believe it. Such a feat had never occurred in the decades since the Puppet Tower was established in Flowing Cloud Sect.
At the time, the Grand Elder outside the tower, Xu Anlan, and all the Outer Sect disciples had also refused to believe it. It was only when the supervising disciple in charge of recording results rushed out to report and dragged out the broken puppet fragments, including the pieces of the final guardian, the Black Giant, that they began to believe.
Even so, while they were stunned, they still harbored some doubt. Though the evidence was solid, without witnessing it firsthand, a sliver of skepticism remained.
Everyone who heard this was equally shocked, believing most of it but still retaining some doubt.
But Lin Xuan’s subsequent performance was no less impressive—in fact, it surpassed the previous feat several times over.
Next came the second round of the competition. Although not fully convinced, the presiding Grand Elder of the Outer Sect still allowed Lin Xuan into the top twenty.
Of course, because Lin Xuan was only in the seventh team, and the puppets had been destroyed, the remaining three teams couldn’t continue the first round’s elimination matches. So before the second round, the Grand Elder gave the Outer Sect disciples a chance to challenge the top twenty. The victor would take the loser’s place.
Unsurprisingly, someone who completely disbelieved Lin Xuan’s seemingly absurd results issued a challenge. That person was Wang Kui, one of the top Outer Sect experts, a Qi Gathering Peak cultivator with strength worthy of the top twenty.
But the result was a crushing defeat. Lin Xuan killed him in one move and severely injured him.
Upon hearing this, everyone was jolted. Truly worthy of being a top-tier genius with the potential to become a true disciple—after only a month in the sect, he already surpassed the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm. Such progress was extremely rare, not just in the Outer or Inner Sects, but even among the true disciples and throughout the entire Flowing Cloud Sect!
Returning to the competition, Lin Xuan’s instant kill of Wang Kui naturally earned him a spot in the top twenty. He was also the only new disciple in recent years to enter the top twenty.
After that, Lin Xuan won consecutive matches and smoothly advanced to the top ten. No one was surprised by this. Having instantly killed Wang Kui, Lin Xuan’s strength was at least on par with the top three experts of the Outer Sect.
But Lin Xuan’s later performance once again left everyone who heard it trembling.
When Lin Xuan faced Zhou Lei and Guan Yuanshuang, the second and third-ranked Outer Sect experts, he still killed them instantly. From the start of the competition, every time Lin Xuan stepped onto the stage, it was an instant kill. Now, even against the top two Outer Sect experts, it was the same.
Everyone who heard this was stunned. With such strength, even if he wasn’t at the Qi Transformation Realm, he couldn’t be far off, right? In just one month, Lin Xuan had made such progress. Once again, everyone was awed by his talent.
But this was only the beginning. What came next was the true shock!
The competition reached its climax. In the final match, Lin Xuan faced Chen Yuze, the long-reigning top Outer Sect expert. This time, Chen Yuze not only revealed his Qi Transformation Realm cultivation but also his artistic conception. Though it was only a nascent form—a sword intent embryo—it was still an artistic conception! With the boost of artistic conception, the power of martial arts could multiply several times, even dozens of times. Even many Inner Sect disciples at the mid-stage of Qi Transformation might not be Chen Yuze’s match.
Surely Lin Xuan would lose this time, right? Everyone secretly speculated.
But even in this final match, Lin Xuan exploded once more. Yes, it was artistic conception! Lin Xuan, a new disciple who had only been in the sect for a month and was at most at the Qi Gathering Realm, had also comprehended artistic conception! And it wasn’t the nascent form like Chen Yuze’s. It was a true, fully formed artistic conception—a half-formed sword intent!
Then, Lin Xuan used his half-formed sword intent to easily defeat Chen Yuze and claim first place in the competition.
Thus, the competition ended.
And everyone who heard this was left frozen in place. They stood still, eyes wide, filled with disbelief. Some even fell into a deep state of questioning their own existence.
What? Had they heard correctly? Lin Xuan, a new disciple still in the Qi Gathering Realm, had comprehended artistic conception? And it was a fully formed one—half-formed sword intent? Even the current top true disciple, Liu Qianyu, hadn’t achieved that! Lin Xuan had done it?!
They simply couldn’t bring themselves to believe it. Almost everyone thought it was an illusion, a hallucination. Because it was too surreal, too fake, utterly unreal.