This shows that the Golden Scale Elephant Art is indeed extraordinary.
Beyond that, during this time, Lin Xuan had also tried merging the body-tempering martial arts he had previously copied with the Golden Scale Elephant Art. However, after the fusion, the Golden Scale Elephant Art remained unchanged—at least, he couldn’t detect any difference.
In other words, the Golden Scale Elephant Art was far more profound than the highest-grade body-tempering martial art he had copied before, which was at most sixth-rank top-grade. It was so much deeper that it was fair to say they weren’t even on the same level.
Lin Xuan’s heart stirred slightly. This further confirmed that the Golden Scale Elephant Art was extraordinary—at least eighth-rank, or even higher.
After a long moment, Lin Xuan let out a deep breath and continued scanning his attribute panel, moving his gaze downward.
“These insights are all excellent, but unfortunately, I can’t unleash their true power for now,” he murmured, continuing to look down.
His eyes landed on the energy points bar, and his gaze brightened.
“860,000 energy points? That much?” Lin Xuan was pleasantly surprised.
He hadn’t expected that in just five days of seclusion, he could accumulate so many. It seemed that his performance at the arena had already spread, causing an even greater stir, hadn’t it?
“With this many energy points, I can go copy another batch of treasures,” Lin Xuan said with a light chuckle.
However, he wouldn’t head to the Martial Arts Pavilion for now—he had no reason to. This time, he would check out other halls instead. He’d try to copy some special talents, like alchemy talent, artifact forging talent, formation talent, and so on. These were all highly lucrative martial professions.
With his cultivation talent constantly improving, and now the Golden Scale Elephant Art acting like a bottomless pit, his cultivation resources were almost always insufficient. He had to find a way to earn more.
After a moment of deliberation, Lin Xuan dismissed his attribute panel, stood up, and left the cultivation room. He went to the washroom, freshened up, and changed into a clean set of ordinary inner disciple robes before leaving his dwelling.
He headed straight for the Alchemy Hall. Compared to the other halls, alchemy was the most profitable and relatively simple. His time wasn’t abundant, so he acted without hesitation.
On the way, he had to pass by the arena again.
Soon, he arrived outside the arena. Lin Xuan paused once more, gazing at the arena with flickering eyes.
The arena now was completely different from five days ago. Before, it was mostly ordinary inner disciples, most at the early to mid Qi Transformation stage, with few at the late stage. But now, not only was the crowd much larger, but the quality had also improved significantly. Most were at the late Qi Transformation stage, with no small number at the peak. Even the rare inner elite disciples at the Condensing Vortex stage were plentiful.
On the six platforms, both the defenders and challengers were inner elite disciples at the Condensing Vortex stage. The stewards recording matches around the platforms had also been replaced—all at the peak of the Condensing Vortex stage. It was as if the arena from five days ago was a completely different place.
If he hadn’t been here before and challenged others, Lin Xuan would have thought he’d come to the wrong place.
“Interesting,” Lin Xuan said with a faint smile, stepping into the arena. He easily pushed his way to the front.
“Junior Brother Chen Yu, let me ask—what’s going on here? I remember the arena wasn’t like this before, was it?” Lin Xuan patted the shoulder of a mid Qi Transformation stage inner disciple beside him and asked.
Chen Yu had been intently watching the match on the platform—an elite inner disciple duel, intense and exciting, far beyond what ordinary inner disciples could match. Such sights were rare and not to be missed. Annoyed at being interrupted, he turned around, but upon sensing the other’s aura, his heart tightened instantly. His irritation vanished, replaced by a respectful expression.
He couldn’t sense the other’s cultivation level, meaning this person’s realm surpassed his own. Moreover, the aura was deep and unfathomable, nothing like the ordinary inner disciples he knew—more akin to the inner elites. This was likely an inner elite he didn’t recognize. He couldn’t afford to offend such a person; currying favor was the better move.
Forcing a smile, Chen Yu said, “May I ask how this senior brother is addressed?”
“My surname is Lin.”
“Ah, so it’s Senior Brother Lin. I’ve long admired your name,” Chen Yu flattered before continuing, “Senior Brother Lin, the arena you saw before was how it was before that person came. After he arrived, it turned into this.”
“Who is that person?” Lin Xuan asked.
“Lin Xuan! The newly rising top genius of our Flowing Cloud Sect. If Senior Brother Lin Xuan’s cultivation were a bit higher, matching the true disciples, his performance alone could earn him the title of the sect’s number one genius,” Chen Yu said, his eyes shining with admiration.
“Ah, it’s him!” Lin Xuan’s eyes showed a flash of understanding, and he found it somewhat amusing. He hadn’t expected the arena to change so much because of him. No wonder he had accumulated over 800,000 energy points in just five days. From this transformation, he could tell how massive a stir his earlier performance at the arena had caused.
“Go on,” Lin Xuan urged, wanting more details.
Chen Yu nodded, speaking with interest, “Five days ago, Senior Brother Lin Xuan entered the inner sect as a new disciple and came to the arena, challenging and defending multiple times. Several senior inner brothers at the late Qi Transformation stage, including Senior Brother Shen Anran at the peak who used a nascent blade intent, all lost. Finally, even Inner Elite Senior Brother Chen Xiao came, using a stronger half-formed blade intent, but still lost to Senior Brother Lin Xuan’s one-percent sword intent. These rumors have spread throughout the sect. I’m sure you’ve heard of them, Senior Brother Lin?”
“Mm,” Lin Xuan nodded slightly with a faint smile. Hearing Chen Yu repeatedly call him “Senior Brother Lin Xuan” was quite pleasing, especially in person—it brought an indescribable satisfaction.
“What happened next?”
“After these rumors spread, the entire sect was shaken. Many inner elite senior brothers, unwilling to accept that Senior Brother Chen Xiao lost to a new disciple like Lin Xuan, wanted to find and defeat him to restore the inner elites’ honor. But as inner elites, they couldn’t bully the weak by challenging ordinary inner disciples. So they came to the arena, swept through it, set up hefty bets, and hoped to lure Lin Xuan into a challenge. But Lin Xuan went into seclusion and didn’t show up. Instead, other inner elites, seeing the big bets, stepped up to challenge. Over a few days, it turned into this.”