529: Chapter 529 The Grand Competition

Star Academy.

The Liu Residence.

The annual Grand Clan Competition was being held; it was incredibly magnificent, even more grand than when Old Master Liu selected beauties for his concubines.

Liu Xuan's over a thousand Dao Companions and nearly a thousand offspring were almost all present. Combined with the relatives of the Dao Companions who came to watch, there were over ten thousand people from the Liu Family alone.

Fathers-in-law, mothers-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, uncles, aunts, and many others—Liu Xuan didn't even recognize some who were visiting for the first time.

To be honest, Liu Xuan didn't treat most of them as relatives at all; he was purely giving his wives and concubines some Face.

If they understood the rules and knew their manners, that was fine; if not, Liu Xuan would not be soft-hearted in the slightest when taking action.

On the largest combat stage of the Clan School, everyone watched as the Eldest Son Dao Far and Fourth Brother Dao Cheng competed for the second-place position in combat strength among the clan's younger generation.

As for the first place, there was no need to compete at all. Tong Xiao revealed his Golden Core cultivation and could beat them all single-handedly.

“Eldest Brother, today is different from the past. I've tempered my sword dao on the front lines for several years; I will definitely win against you this time.”

The fourth brother wasn't bragging; he had already successively defeated rising stars like Ninth Son, Ling Hui, Nickname, as well as Dao Long, Spirit Phoenix, and De Ming. As long as he defeated Eldest Son Dao Far, he would be the well-deserved second in the Family.

Although a Prodigy like Tong Xiao had emerged, causing him to lose the first place, it was still acceptable. Tong Xiao was too much of a Prodigy, so he didn't feel disappointed about losing to him.

“Fourth Brother, I really want to let you have your wish, but I can't go easy during the Grand Clan Competition. I can only say sorry!”

Eldest Son Dao Far, dressed in a black robe and holding a golden long staff, had an Aura as steady as a mountain, completely unaffected by Daocheng's sharp Sword Qi.

The fourth brother said no more. The lustrous white Flying Sword in his hand was dyed with a pure gold color as Geng Metal Sword Qi soared into the sky.

Amidst the sharpness was a sense of slaughter. Even through the barrier, the spectators below the combat stage felt their spirits tense, and the timid ones felt a deep sense of fear.

“Brother Cheng is mighty!”

“Brother Cheng is awesome!”

“Brother Cheng is so cool!”

...

The fourth brother had many die-hard fans. Unlike the taciturn and solitary Eldest Brother, his social network was very broad, and many people with different surnames were his friends.

With one sword thrust, golden light illuminated the entire combat stage, as if it were going to pierce through the stage's barrier.

“Clang!”

Eldest Son Dao Far held the staff with one hand. The golden spirit sun staff was shrouded in a layer of Chaos profound light. Without dodging or evading, he took the Geng Metal Sword Qi head-on.

“What kind of move is this?” Daocheng was dumbfounded, momentarily dazed.

He had thought about losing to his eldest brother, but he didn't expect his full-power sword strike to be blocked so easily, as if no effort was used at all.

“No, that's not right!”

“I must have seen it wrong. Again!”

His gaze became sharp, and the intent of slaughter grew thirty percent stronger as a layer of blood-red light surfaced on the Geng Metal Sword Qi.

“Clang!”

With another casual swing of the staff, the blood light shattered, and the Sword Qi dissipated.

“Holy crap...”

The fourth brother put away his Flying Sword and reached his eldest brother's side with a flicker. He snatched the spirit sun staff and inspected it carefully. After confirming it wasn't some new treasure, he pulled Eldest Son Dao Far around for a full body inspection.

“Eldest Brother, tell me honestly, did Dad secretly give you some good stuff again? This strength of yours is abnormal!”

Everyone was at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage. Even if Eldest Son Dao Far was close to the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Bottleneck, as long as he hadn't made a Breakthrough, the gap shouldn't be this large.

Eldest Son Dao Far pushed away the fourth brother who was groping him and stepped back two steps with a look of disdain. While straightening his robes, he explained, “Although my cultivation hasn't broken through, I have additionally studied the Green Wood Longevity Art, Geng Metal Sword Art, Supreme Good Myriad Transformation Scripture, and Great Sun True Fire Method, successfully switching to the Great Five Elements Hunyuan Method. It's normal that you can't beat me; don't be discouraged.”

“Liar!” The fourth brother jabbed the long staff into the ground, his tone somewhat agitated. “Is that technique something a human can comprehend? Mastering the Five Elements simultaneously—who could possibly learn it all?”

The Great Five Elements Hunyuan Method was available for any Liu Family Disciple to read once they reached Foundation Establishment. Daocheng had read it too, but he gave up immediately. That thing purely depended on talent; Cultivating it without talent was a complete waste of time.

“Eldest Brother, you definitely don't have that kind of talent. Dad helped you, right?”

Without waiting for Eldest Son Dao Far to speak, the fourth brother threw the spirit sun staff back to him and interrupted, “No need to say it, it must be so. I'm going to find Dad later to ask for an explanation.”

Eldest Son Dao Far laughed and shook his head. He knew the fourth brother was just finding an excuse for himself and didn't really dare to go to their father for an explanation, so he just let him mess around.

The combat stage barrier was lowered, and An Yunxi flew forward to announce the results of the Grand Competition.

Liu Tongxiao was the default first, Eldest Son Dao Far second, Fourth Brother Dao Cheng third, Ninth Son fourth, Ling Hui fifth, Dao Long sixth, Spirit Phoenix seventh, Nickname eighth, De Ming ninth...

The pressure on the top-ranking Disciples was growing. As the younger Disciples grew older, their talents were better, and they were destined to be slowly overtaken.

Once people like De Yun, Xinrou, Xin Ci, as well as Yuan Jian with a grade-two Spiritual Root and Yu Chi with a fifth-tier peak Bloodline grew up, everyone's rankings would shift backward.

The Grand Competition ranking not only affected the treatment of the Liu Family Disciples themselves but was also closely related to the power and status of their maternal families within the Merchant Alliance. Once the results came out, some were happy while others were worried.

After the competition ended, there would be a three-day holiday. Those who should celebrate could celebrate well, and those who needed to adjust their mindset could do so.

Clan School, Enlightenment Tower.

Liu Xuan and his sister Liu Miao sat opposite each other drinking tea, watching the fights below. Seeing the competition end, he smiled and said, “Sister, seeing the children grow up one by one under your tutelage, how do you feel?”

Liu Miao was somewhat dazed. She had watched these children grow up. For a moment, she felt as if she had returned to the White Crane Lake of the past, when Eldest Son, Fourth Brother, and the others were just little kids, chasing after her every day for treats... In the blink of an eye, over forty years had passed.

Seeing his sister's inexplicable sadness, Liu Xuan comforted her, “Cultivators live long lives. Sister, there's no need to yearn for the past; things will only get better in the future.”

Mortals always look back at the past through a filter because it represents their lost youth. It's not that the past is so worthy of nostalgia, but rather that life itself is precious.

If one can achieve longevity, the future is destined to be brilliant. So-called hometowns, youth, and memories are all not worth mentioning.

“Fourth Brother is a proud child. He went out to gain experience wanting to fight for first place, but ended up third instead. As his father, you should show him more concern,” Liu Miao regained her composure and urged.

“It's fine. That kid has a big heart. Having some pressure is actually better,” Liu Xuan said nonchalantly.

“No matter how big his heart is, there are times when it's fragile. Don't push them too hard!”

Setting aside the cultivation stacking mechanism, Liu Miao valued and cared for these children more than Liu Xuan did; she didn't want them to suffer even a bit of hardship.

While the siblings were chatting, Xiao Shuang (Younger Twin) came up from downstairs and reported, “Master, a guest has come to visit. This is her calling card.”

“Oh?”

Liu Xuan was curious. With his current status, someone who could send a calling card in would at least be a Nascent Soul Cultivator or a Golden Core True Person with a huge background.

Opening the calling card, he saw written at the end: ‘Lianyue Immortal Palace, You Ruo.’