75: Chapter 75 The Sky-Reaching Competition Begins

The competition and trial at Zhai Tian Terrace was held at the beginning of the month, according to the previously agreed-upon time.

Just as dawn broke, Li Yuan called Liang Duqiu and the others to gather at the South Pavilion of the martial arts academy.

He followed the crowd, heading together toward Zhai Tian Terrace to participate in this competition and trial.

Upon seeing Li Yuan, the other Disciples of the martial arts academy now greeted him politely.

Those who were slightly acquainted with him would even strike up a conversation and ask a few more questions.

Many people originally thought of offering a few words of advice when they saw Li Yuan.

Today's competition would be a difficult hurdle for Li Yuan.

If he fell behind in the competition at Zhai Tian Terrace, the threat from the Yan Family would immediately intensify.

Previously, Li Yuan had confidently stated that Yan Chenzhou was not worthy of having him help test medicines.

After a failure in this competition, the Yan Family would take that result and use it to slap Li Yuan's face ruthlessly.

Furthermore, they would push Li Yuan with even more demands.

In the eyes of outsiders, Li Yuan's best option was to not respond and not participate, leaving the matter to the Seniors behind him and the Seniors of the martial arts academy.

The words of consolation reached their lips but were quickly swallowed back down.

Facing the upcoming competition at Zhai Tian Terrace, Li Yuan was not only free of worry and anxiety, but actually seemed a bit expectant.

Seeing Li Yuan in such a state, those words of advice truly couldn't be spoken.

On the way there, Fu Qingfan was also among the crowd.

He was naturally aware of the recent storm surrounding Li Yuan.

He had still felt some anger in his heart after losing to Li Yuan previously.

But seeing Li Yuan entangled with the Yan Family like this now, the resentment in his heart had lessened significantly.

Among the many people heading there this time, the most surprising was Yin He.

He had actually brought his Disciples along to watch the grand competition at Zhai Tian Terrace.

One must know that in the past, whenever Yin He was asked to lead a group, he would make all sorts of excuses.

This time, he had actually taken the initiative to go.

Anger could truly provide motivation.

On the way there, Yin He walked with the other Instructors, leading his own Disciple.

Hearing them mention Li Yuan, Yin He even chimed in with his own commentary.

"Good advice is hard to give to a ghost bent on dying; for such an arrogant and conceited Disciple, only after suffering a loss will he know how little ability he truly has."

When it came to Li Yuan, what good words could possibly come out of Yin He's mouth?

The other Instructors glanced at him and did not engage in the discussion.

As an Instructor of the Meifengshan Martial Arts Academy, he harbored a grudge against a Disciple of the academy.

If not for the backing he had, in such a situation, he should have been stripped of his title as Instructor by rights.

They walked for over three double-hours, picking up the pace during the journey.

The group arrived at Zhai Tian Terrace.

The so-called Zhai Tian Terrace was actually a tall tower with a total of twenty floors.

Standing at the top of the tower might truly give one the sensation of 'plucking the heavens'.

The tower was very spacious; by Li Yuan's estimation, the ground floor could easily fit two hundred people.

Of course, there were only about thirty people participating in the Zhai Tian Terrace grand competition today.

The tower was vast, but many areas would certainly go unused.

At the same time, members of the Yan Family also arrived.

Yan Chang and those who had come before did not follow this time.

The leader was Yan Chenzhou's younger sister, Yan Chenyao.

Behind her followed several indifferent middle-aged guards and a stooped old man.

Seeing this old man, many Instructors of the martial arts academy hurried to bow to him.

He seemed to be a Senior of great prestige.

Yan Chenyao looked very young and was different from many juniors of large families.

Many juniors from powerful forces always kept a cold face in front of outsiders.

They acted high and mighty, always trying to show off how extraordinary they were.

This Yan Chenyao was a bit different; her face held a hint of kindness, lacking that icy coldness that pushed people away.

Yan Chenyao whispered a few words to the guards beside her and looked toward Li Yuan.

Then she strolled forward and walked up to Li Yuan.

"You must be the Li Yuan who possesses the New Wood Physique. I wish you good results in today's grand competition.

If you lose to me, you'll be forced to test medicines for my elder brother~"

Yan Chenyao spoke in a light, playful tone, tinged with a bit of teasing.

Li Yuan did not respond, but an Instructor nearby replied with a smile, "Aren't you afraid of actually losing to Li Yuan and making your elder brother lose this Opportunity?"

"That would be even better; if my brother continues to make progress, the Family elders will nag me even more.

It's just that, from the look of it, he doesn't seem to have much of a chance..."

Yan Chenyao said as she waved her hand.

Meanwhile, an Instructor walked to the front and began to explain the rules for today's Zhai Tian Terrace trial.

The rules were actually very simple: those participating in the competition should do their best to climb to a higher floor.

Whoever could reach a higher level would be the winner.

Of course, the process of climbing the high terrace was not a simple matter of walking.

With every floor ascended, one would face unpredictable difficulties.

Climbing high was not easy.

The explanation of the rules ended, followed by an hour's break.

After an hour, the Zhai Tian Terrace competition would officially begin.

After hearing these rules, Li Yuan found an Instructor he was relatively familiar with and asked which floor of the Zhai Tian Terrace housed the remains of the enshrined Seniors.

The Instructor had thought Li Yuan was going to ask for tips on climbing the tower, but he hadn't expected it to be this.

Upon getting the answer that it was on the seventh floor, Li Yuan nodded.

After asking that question, Li Yuan followed up by asking how many floors the younger generation could generally climb.

"Disciples who have achieved a Grade A ranking in the martial arts academy can reach at least the ninth floor.

If you want to beat Yan Chenyao, she should be able to reach the tenth floor, so you'll have to climb to the eleventh."

The eleventh floor, huh...

Li Yuan noted this goal for the time being, intending to control his performance when the time came.

He would surpass Yan Chenyao, but there was no need to leave her too far behind.

He would just aim for the eleventh floor as his result.

With this in mind, Li Yuan stopped asking questions and found a place to sit and rest.

After Li Yuan had walked a bit further away, another Instructor leaned in and lowered his voice.

"For a martial arts academy Disciple, reaching the seventh floor is already an extraordinary performance, let alone the ninth.

As for Yan Chenyao, her strength is at the eighth floor at most, and she'll likely only reach the seventh.

You told Li Yuan he needs to reach the eleventh floor; how could he possibly manage that?"

Hearing this, the first Instructor waved his hand and smiled.

"You wouldn't know, would you? This is a method of boosting morale.

I used to tell my Disciples this all the time, making them train to a certain level.

I'd tell them that even ordinary people can master it.

In reality, even the Prodigies of the martial arts academy find it extremely difficult to achieve.

After hearing this, when they encounter difficulties, they'll think that even ordinary people can do it, so they'll find ways to overcome it rather than giving up.

In the end, although they might not complete the requirement I gave them, their final result is far better than that of ordinary cultivation."

Hearing this, the other Instructor also nodded.

He felt that this method was actually quite good.

Throwing an extremely difficult Cultivation Technique at someone and saying it's very simple, and that most people in the academy have learned it.

When they feel the difficulty during cultivation, thinking that others can succeed will make them work harder to break through.

With this kind of encouragement, Li Yuan, who might have only been able to reach the fifth floor, might be able to push higher.

What if he actually reached the seventh floor?

He might even be able to compete with Yan Chenyao!

At this moment, Li Yuan was thinking of controlling his performance slightly and stopping once he reached the eleventh floor...