—
Lin Yun tucked away the scroll, this wasn’t his goal.
Emperor Xingwu spoke again, “That last match was just an appetiser, ranking high only shows you’re good at hunting demon beasts, doesn’t mean your combat strength is necessarily better than those behind you.”
Then, Emperor Xingwu shifted tone, “The next round, that’s a real test of your fighting power, an arena match, it starts in four hours, everyone recover well, face it at your peak.”
“Gather at the central plaza in four hours, dismissed,” the imperial guard commander said.
The hundred saluted again, then dispersed.
Those with good results, naturally returned to their ‘families’ full of joy.
Like Gao Yuan from the Soul Refining Sect, he’d scored an impressive 16th.
“Gao Yuan, you’ve lived up to my expectations,” the Soul Refining Sect leader beamed.
A red-robed elder from the sect chimed in happily, “Gao Yuan, you’re the best among all the famous sect disciples, you’ve brought glory to our Soul Refining Sect, proved our strength among the top factions!”
Hao Yuntian grinned, “Senior Brother Gao Yuan, that Lin Yun only got 54th, miles behind you, so what if Heavenly Sword Sect took first among sects? All name, no game!”
Hearing ‘Lin Yun’, Gao Yuan’s eyes turned venomous.
“Lin Yun? Compare his own strength to mine? Last time in the ruins, he only beat me relying on his war pet, in raw power, he’s no match for me!” Gao Yuan’s tone dripped with icy disdain.
“Exactly!” Hao Yuntian bit out sharply.
“He’d better pray he doesn’t face me in the next rounds, or I’ll crush him underfoot, vent that pent-up rage!” Gao Yuan snarled viciously.
Kneeling to Lin Yun to beg for his life last time, that humiliation still burned in Gao Yuan’s chest.
…
Those contestants who fell short of expectations, naturally sulked.
None were angrier than the Gu family!
Gu Dong watched the hundred return from the front, his gaze poisonous, he should’ve been among them, he’d aimed to storm the top ten!
The Gu family head and the rest, faces dark, stayed silent.
Lin Yun and his group, returned to the Heavenly Sword Sect’s spot.
“Sect Leader, I underperformed this round, only got 54th,” Lin Yun said.
“No matter, top hundred’s enough, sit and recover now, prep for the next round,” the leader smiled.
Lin Yun nodded, popped a pill, started recovering.
The banquet’s entertainment didn’t stop, during the four-hour break before the next match, dancers took the stage, livening up the event.
With the pill’s help, Lin Yun restored his condition fully in half an hour, recharged his bracer once, spent another twenty minutes recovering again.
All done, three hours remained until the match.
The scene stayed lively, people eating, drinking, mingling.
Lin Yun got up, went to the Wanderer’s seat, paid respects.
“Lin Yun, how high are you aiming?” the Wanderer asked, holding his wine gourd, smiling.
“Master, top ten’s the goal, how far I get, I’ll do my best,” Lin Yun replied.
The Wanderer looked mildly surprised, “Top ten? Your goal, it’s a bit beyond my expectations.”
Not that he doubted Lin Yun, but in his view, Lin Yun’s realm wasn’t high, even with strong divine sense and versatile skills, the other contestants, they were geniuses and prodigies culled from the empire’s two trillion people, equally skilled, not lacking in divine sense.
Give Lin Yun a few decades more to train, he’d believe Lin Yun could hit top three, but his cultivation time was just too short.
“Haha!”
A loud laugh rang out beside the Wanderer.
Lin Yun turned, it was old man Di Yong laughing.
This Di Yong, the Wanderer’s frenemy, once Lin Yun had faced his disciple in a divine sense duel, proving his strength to the Wanderer in that fight.
Di Yong stared at Lin Yun, smiling, “Lin Yun, I admire your strength and talent, but… aiming for top ten, that’s a bit too cocky, you might not grasp how strong those opponents are, especially the leaderboard’s top ranks, all freaks! You swept the Thousand Sects Battle, sure, but that was your war pet, not your own power.”
Du Yuanzi and other elders nearby, chimed in.
“Yeah, breaking into the top ten in this tournament, that’s a thousandfold challenge, those front-runners, they’re all monstrous figures!”
“Lin Yun’s a fine lad, no doubt, but top ten, he’s still a ways off.”
…
“Will you lot shut it?” the Wanderer glared at his old mates.
Then, he turned to Lin Yun, encouraging, “Lin Yun, go for it, if you hit top ten, I’ve got a gift ready for you.”
“Thanks for the boost, Master,” Lin Yun bowed.
“Go rest up, get ready for the fight,” the Wanderer waved.
“Then I’ll take my leave,” Lin Yun bowed again, left, returned to the Heavenly Sword Sect’s spot.
Back at his seat, Lin Yun skipped the booze, dove straight into One Thought Clarity Tower training, not wasting the three hours.
Inside the One Thought Clarity Tower.
“My current strength, facing the final rounds might still be tough,” Lin Yun muttered.
He’d started out confident, but clashing with Li Shi made him realise, this world was indeed full of prodigies, some among the younger generation still outclassed him.
Then, Lin Yun flipped his hand, pulled out the top hundred reward—the thousand-year spirit fruit.
“Let’s try for Second-Order Great Vehicle Realm, once I break through, my strength will jump noticeably,” Lin Yun resolved inwardly.
Half a month before the match, Lin Yun trained in seclusion at Heavenly Sword Sect, plus the trip to Xingwu City on the airship, he’d used the One Thought Clarity Tower daily, equivalent to 4-5 months, training all aspects, including his realm.
Lin Yun’s distance from Second-Order Great Vehicle Realm, not far, not close, somewhere in between.
Then, Lin Yun swallowed the thousand-year spirit fruit.
The fruit hit his stomach, instantly turned into vast, surging energy, rushing wildly into his dantian sea.
Lin Yun aimed to use the fruit, push straight to Second-Order Great Vehicle Realm.
He quickly absorbed the massive energy, the process lasted a full 14 hours, only then did his body settle.
Fourteen hours later, Lin Yun slowly opened his eyes.
The thousand-year spirit fruit’s energy, fully depleted by Lin Yun.
“Still a bit short,” Lin Yun gave a wry, helpless smile.
The fruit’s effect was clear, a huge boost, but to Second-Order Great Vehicle Realm, he was still just shy.
After all, each realm jump in Great Vehicle, the energy required was astronomical, dozens of times more than a Void Realm step-up, no way it’d be that easy.
