162: The opening ceremony of the competition and the "holdout" team

The Qingxuan Sect Outer Sect Grand Competition finally kicked off amidst the anticipation of the masses.

The giant martial arts arena beneath the main peak was bustling with noise and excitement, with flags fluttering in the wind.

Thousands of Outer Sect Disciples gathered here, the air thick with tension, excitement, and a faint scent of gunpowder.

On the high platform sat the various Sect Elders, including the stern-faced Elder Xuan Shi of the Discipline Hall, and the gloomy-eyed Elder Black Sha, who scanned the crowd from time to time.

Wen Youyi led a five-man team composed of Zhao Iron Pillar, Wang Wu, Senior Brother Zhang, and Senior Brother Li (another core member of the Mutual Aid Society, skilled in object manipulation and reconnaissance), blending into the crowd inconspicuously.

They wore ordinary Outer Sect Disciple attire and restrained their Qi, appearing no different from the excited and anxious Disciples around them.

"Look over there," Wang Wu whispered via the Mind Net, [People from the Five Elements Courtyard. That guy Fire Cloud Child is staring at us; his eyes are like a viper's.]

Wen Youyi could feel that malicious gaze without even looking.

He even detected several more concealed gazes from different directions, presumably the faction loyal to Elder Black Sha.

[Ignore them, just clowns jumping on a beam.] Wen Youyi responded calmly, [Follow the plan: pass the preliminary selection quietly.]

The first stage of the Outer Sect Grand Competition was the preliminary elimination round, aimed at quickly weeding out the majority of Disciples with insufficient strength.

The rules were simple and brutal: all participating Disciples would enter a temporarily opened "Secret Realm," where various Yao Beast phantoms and simple Formation traps would be randomly generated.

Disciples needed to defeat as many Yao Beasts and solve as many traps as possible within a certain time limit to earn "Battle Merit Points."

Ultimately, only those ranked in the top five hundred could advance to the next round.

With an order from the high platform, a massive teleportation light gate lit up in the center of the martial arts arena.

Disciples poured into the light gate like a tide.

Wen Youyi's team entered the Secret Realm with the flow of people.

The scene before them shifted, and they appeared in a valley filled with jagged rocks and mist.

The sounds of Disciples shouting, Spells exploding, and the roars of Yao Beasts already echoed all around.

"Maintain Formation. Iron Pillar on the vanguard, Wang and Li support from the left and right, Senior Brother Zhang supports from the center, and I will handle overall coordination and 'map revealing'." Wen Youyi ordered quickly.

The team immediately sprang into action like a precision machine.

Zhao Iron Pillar let out a low roar, heavy sword in hand, standing at the very front like a door guardian.

Wang Wu and Senior Brother Li took the left and right, their Magical Artifacts hovering beside them, guarding the flanks.

Senior Brother Zhang held a compass-shaped Magical Artifact (actually a disguised detection device), constantly scanning the surrounding energy fluctuations.

Wen Youyi closed his eyes slightly, his Mental Energy combined with the faint perception of the Star Network spreading out like radar, instantly "scanning" the environment, Yao Beast distribution, and trap locations within hundreds of meters.

[Three hundred meters to the front left, three Stone Ape phantoms, strength at Qi Refining Fourth Layer. There is a hidden paralysis vine trap on the cliff to the right. The path directly ahead is safe; we can pass quickly.] Wen Youyi's voice rang clearly in his teammates' minds.

"Understood!" Zhao Iron Pillar strode forward, charging directly at the three Stone Apes.

The Stone Apes roared and pounced, and the heavy sword swept across with a vicious wind!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Three muffled sounds; the Stone Ape phantoms didn't even put up a decent resistance before being smashed apart by the violent force, dissipating into specks of light.

Battle Merit Points +30.

The team didn't stop, quickly advancing along the safe path indicated by Wen Youyi.

When they encountered scattered Yao Beasts, Zhao Iron Pillar crushed them directly; when they encountered small groups of Yao Beasts, Wang Wu and Senior Brother Li's Spells killed them with precision; when they encountered hidden traps, Wen Youyi either warned them in advance to avoid them or casually sent a blast of Qi to cleverly trigger the traps and render them ineffective.

Their efficiency was astonishing, and their movement routes were extremely tricky; they could always find the areas with the densest Yao Beasts that were also the easiest to break through, as if they had a built-in map hack.

In contrast, other teams were either stuck fighting Yao Beasts in place or accidentally triggering traps and falling into chaos; some teams had even started infighting to compete for Battle Merit Points.

On the high platform, the Elders responsible for monitoring the Secret Realm also noticed this unusually "smooth" team.

"Eh? That team of Wen Youyi from the Ding Zi Courtyard is advancing very quickly!"

"Their coordination is quite tacit; there are almost no superfluous movements, as if they have practiced countless times."

"How do they seem to always know the locations of the Yao Beasts and traps in advance?"

Elder Xuan Shi was expressionless, while Elder Black Sha snorted coldly: "Just some opportunistic tricks, not fit for the big stage. The real test is yet to come."

In the Secret Realm, Wen Youyi's team continued to efficiently "grind points."

They even played around with some variety.

For example, Wen Youyi used the "Thousand Mechanisms Hand" to precisely control Qi, simulating the aura of a powerful Yao Beast, leading a small herd of beasts near another team that was struggling in battle, and then they seized the opportunity to circle behind and easily harvest the isolated Yao Beasts that had been lured away.

Another example: Senior Brother Zhang used his understanding of energy fluctuations to slightly interfere with the operation of a containment Formation, allowing a team trapped within to escape.

That team was extremely grateful and voluntarily shared some of their Battle Merit Points as a reward.

They were like "squatters" in the Secret Realm, keeping a low profile while always managing to obtain the greatest benefits with the minimum consumption, while incidentally creating some "little surprises" (or scares) for others.

As time passed, the number of Disciples in the Secret Realm plummeted.

When the prescribed time limit was reached and the light gate lit up again, the five members of Wen Youyi's team walked out unscathed and composed.

Each of their Battle Merit Points was firmly ranked in the top one hundred, and Wen Youyi even squeezed into the top fifty!

This result shocked many people who had originally looked down on the Ding Zi Courtyard and the Mutual Aid Society.

"How is it possible? All five of them actually advanced?"

"Isn't that Wen Youyi only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer? How are his points so high?"

"They must have cheated!"

Facing various questioning and probing gazes, Wen Youyi just shrugged innocently: "Luck, it's all just good luck. We didn't encounter any powerful Yao Beasts."

Zhao Iron Pillar grinned honestly, revealing two rows of white teeth: "I just have a bit more strength."

Only Fire Cloud Child and a few Disciples under Elder Black Sha had faces so gloomy they could drip water.

The people they had arranged to trip up Wen Youyi during the preliminary stage hadn't even touched the corner of his clothes before being left battered and bruised by various "accidents," and some had even been eliminated themselves!

"It's only the first round, consider yourselves lucky!" Fire Cloud Child gritted his teeth, "In the next round of arena battles, let's see if you can still be so arrogant!"

Wen Youyi seemed to hear his inner thoughts and looked over from afar, his face revealing a gentle, harmless smile that nonetheless made Fire Cloud Child's anger flare up.

"Warm-up over." Wen Youyi said to his teammates via the Mind Net, "The real show is just beginning."

(End of chapter)