207: Inner Gate Selection

Gu Qingyun threw the gnawed fruit pit to the ground, sat cross-legged, and began to regulate his breathing.

“I’m not going to bother with you anymore; I need to sharpen my skills at the last minute. I can’t mess up the test tomorrow.”

Liu Jiangyi smiled, “Aren’t you, Great Martial God, very confident? Why do you still need to sharpen your skills?”

“Oh, it’s because I suppressed my Cultivation, so I still need to be serious. It would be funny if I capsized in a ditch.”

Liu Jiangyi shook his head, ignored him, and flopped onto the bed.

Cultivate? What a joke.

If he, a cheat, still needed to meditate and Cultivate, wouldn’t it be a laughing stock if word got out?

…

At dawn, before the morning mist had fully dispersed, the Blood Demon Sect’s Outer Sect Plaza was already bustling with people.

The annual Inner Sect selection was an opportunity akin to a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate for these Outer Sect Disciples.

Liu Jiangyi yawned, following behind the energetic Gu Qingyun.

The rising sun cast a golden edge over the plaza, and the air was filled with a sense of tension and anticipation.

Looking around, the dense crowd numbered at least a thousand, all eager and with a hopeful glint in their eyes.

“I heard that the number of applicants for the Blood Demon Sect’s Outer Sect this year set a new record…” Gu Qingyun said, looking at the figures, “But the admission rate might be less than five percent…”

“But I’m definitely one of that five percent.”

With that, he turned to the lazy Liu Jiangyi and asked in confusion, “Are you really going to participate? With your current strength…”

“Just for fun. I won’t expose my strength,” Liu Jiangyi replied casually, chewing on a foxtail grass.

He looked around and noticed many Disciples wearing special Magical Robes, with various Magical Artifacts hanging from their waists, clearly well-prepared.

“That’s fine then,” Gu Qingyun smiled and nodded.

He was afraid Liu Jiangyi would expose his strength, which would ruin his infiltration plan.

At this moment.

Six streaks of sword light pierced through the morning mist, and the sight of Inner Sect Disciples arriving on their swords caused a stir in the plaza.

Their elegant postures and ethereal Auras captivated the Outer Sect Disciples.

Especially the leading female Disciple, dressed in white like snow, with a jade pendant tinkling at her waist, she resembled a Fairy from the Nine Heavens descending to the mortal world.

“Silence!” The leading Inner Sect Disciple shouted clearly, her voice like a grand bell, instantly silencing all the noise.

She flicked her sleeve, pointing towards the misty mountain path in the distance.

“The rules remain the same. This Inner Sect selection will admit the top five percent of Outer Sect Disciples, which means the first sixty-five to reach the finish line will be able to enter the Inner Sect.”

Then a stick of incense was lit.

“When this incense burns out, the selection officially begins!”

Upon hearing this, the plaza instantly erupted.

Some pushed, some cursed, and some even started fighting directly.

Gu Qingyun, like an eel, weaved through the crowd, using his Sixth-Rank Martial Artist Cultivation to force his way to the front.

“Watch me crush them!” Gu Qingyun turned and gave Liu Jiangyi a victory sign, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.

The moment the incense burned out, over a thousand Disciples shot out like arrows from a bow.

Gu Qingyun took the lead, agilely leaping onto the stone steps.

Liu Jiangyi followed unhurriedly, watching Gu Qingyun’s determined back, but without much joy in his eyes.

…

Gu Qingyun charged wildly up the steep mountain path like a mad bull.

Each time his feet landed on the bluestone steps, they stirred up an imperceptible ripple of Dao.

This phenomenon was difficult for ordinary people to detect but did not escape Liu Jiangyi’s Thousand-Mile Eyes.

“It’s actually an Innate Dao Physique!”

Liu Jiangyi’s pupils constricted, and a storm raged in his heart.

He clearly saw that the Spiritual Qi surrounding Gu Qingyun contained natural Dao patterns, which is one of the top Martial Cultivation Physiques.

If not for his Thousand-Mile Eyes, Liu Jiangyi would not have discovered his Dao Physique.

No wonder Gu Qingyun was so young and influential back then.

It was because of this Innate Dao Physique!

At the same time, on the misty mountain peak, inside the Blood Demon Sect’s Inner Sect Main Hall, several gazes were observing everything happening on the mountain path through a crystal ball.

“This child is indeed extraordinary.”

The Sect Master of the Blood Demon Sect, seated in the main position, spoke slowly.

He appeared to be about fifty years old, with a dignified face, wearing a purple-gold robe embroidered with a sun and moon intertwined pattern. Every gesture exuded an Aura of unchallengeable authority.

“What is his background?”

The white-bearded Elder standing by his side quickly bowed and said, “Reporting to Sect Master, this child’s name is Gu San, and he only joined the Sect a few days ago.”

“Where is he from?” The Sect Master found this person somewhat familiar, but he also seemed different from the figure in his memory.

Gu Qingyun had deliberately disguised himself and suppressed his Qi to conceal his identity, so he was naturally very different from before.

“It is said that he is an orphan from Pingtou Village at the foot of the mountain.”

“Haha, an orphan?”

The Sect Master stroked his long beard, a strange light flashing in his eyes.

“Such a good Physique, it would be a waste.”

His tone was so calm that no emotion could be discerned, yet the temperature in the hall seemed to drop a few degrees.

On the mountain path, Gu Qingyun had already reached the middle section.

Sweat soaked his coarse cloth clothes, but it could not hide the burning fighting spirit in his eyes.

Ahead of him, only about a hundred Disciples were still climbing strenuously.

Suddenly, a richly dressed Young Master in the first group turned his head.

This person had a face like jade and a valuable spirit jade hanging from his waist. He was Dugu Xiu, the eldest legitimate son of the Dugu family at the foot of the mountain.

“Isn’t that the fool who only knows how to work?”

Dugu Xiu frowned, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes.

“What class, to even contend with this Young Master for a ranking?”

He waved his hand casually, instructing the three followers beside him, “Go, give him a hard time.”

“Yes, Young Master!”

The three lackeys sneered and turned, actually moving against the flow of people to surround Gu Qingyun.

“Stop!”

The three formed a triangle, blocking Gu Qingyun’s path. The yellow-faced man leading them sneered, “My Young Master doesn’t like you. If you know what’s good for you, stay here obediently.”

Gu Qingyun paused, his face instantly darkening.

“You are deliberately obstructing, violating Sect rules!”

“Rules?”

The yellow-faced man laughed loudly, pointing at several stewards standing by impassively nearby, “See? Even the Elder adults don’t care. What are you?”

Gu Qingyun followed his finger and indeed saw several stewards, who should have been maintaining order, pretending to enjoy the scenery, completely ignoring everything happening there.

A rush of blood went to his head. He clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.

“Do you really think I’m easy to bully!?”

Gu Qingyun roared, lunging forward like a fierce tiger.

His fist wind carried strands of Dao, and although he only had a Sixth-Rank Cultivation, the power he unleashed was comparable to an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist!

Bang!

The yellow-faced man leading them was caught off guard and was sent flying backward like a broken kite by a punch to the chest.