89: Chapter 89 The Grand Competition Ends

The highly anticipated Heavenly Pride Competition has finally reached its final round.

The martial arts arena in the Royal Capital of Da Qi was even more crowded today, with Cultivators packing the streets and alleys surrounding the square to witness the final results.

After today, the top five of this Heavenly Pride Competition will be decided, securing their qualifications for the Chuyun Immortal Sect's entrance examination.

After the past two days of matches, the top ten Prodigies have all emerged. Without exception, all those who made it into the top ten are at the Fourth Rank Late Stage.

Lin Qing's opponent today was not one of the previously renowned veteran Prodigies, and the outcome of this duel held no surprises.

The audience below the stage had long since grown accustomed to this; even their cheers were much more subdued.

Among all the duels today, the most watched match was undoubtedly Jiang Yuewu of Yunxi Sect against Li Muyao, the Prodigy of the Li Family.

Both were top-tier Prodigies at the Fourth Rank Late Stage who had been famous for a long time. With their outstanding looks and immense popularity, their clash meant that one of them was destined to miss out on the Chuyun Immortal Sect's examination.

Fierce winds howled on the arena stage as two figures moved with extreme speed, repeatedly clashing and crossing paths.

Their strengths were evenly matched, their cultivation levels were equal, and the gap in their martial arts foundations was minimal. For a time, they were locked in a stalemate, fighting an inseparable battle. Hundreds of thousands of spectators below the stage watched the two figures without blinking.

This Peak duel lasted for a full hour.

Ultimately, it was Li Muyao who made the first mistake. Precisely captured by Jiang Yuewu, her Movement Technique suddenly shifted, and her sword style abruptly changed direction, bypassing Li Muyao's parry by a hair's breadth. The blade rested gently against Li Muyao's shoulder.

A single move's difference, and the victor was decided.

Although there was reluctance in Li Muyao's eyes, she eventually lowered her arm slowly, nodded slightly to Jiang Yuewu, and walked off the stage.

The entire venue instantly erupted into deafening applause.

Today's matches were all between Fourth Rank Late Stage combatants, where the difference in strength was negligible, so every duel was exceptionally intense.

The matches did not conclude until the sun began to set, dyeing the horizon a deep crimson.

"Dong—! Dong—! Dong—!"

The familiar sound of bells and drums rang out once more from the edge of the arena, the sound waves rolling and echoing over the Royal Capital for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

The purple-robed Elder took flight again, hovering above the square.

"After days of intense competition, this year's Heavenly Pride Competition has officially come to a close!"

"The five Prodigies who have fought their way through to secure a top-five spot and earn the qualification for the Chuyun Immortal Sect's entrance examination have all been determined!"

The purple-robed Elder paused for a moment before his voice rang out again.

"They are—"

"Luoxia Valley, Lin Qing!"

"Sixth Princess, Princess Duan Qingwan!"

"Sun Family, Sun Shaoping!"

"Qingsong Valley, Gu Yunjing!"

"Yunxi Sect, Jiang Yuewu!"

"Let us congratulate these five Prodigies for coming out on top with our most enthusiastic cheers!"

Once the list was announced, hundreds of thousands of spectators rose in unison to cheer and offer their blessings to the five winning Prodigies.

Standing among the crowd, Lin Qing's expression was calm and indifferent. Hearing his name, he only slightly raised his eyes. This result was already within his expectations.

As the cheers gradually subsided, the purple-robed Elder spoke again to announce the subsequent procedures.

"Now, we invite all the top twenty Prodigies of this Heavenly Pride Competition to take the stage and receive their rewards!"

Under the gaze of hundreds of thousands of spectators, Xing Mian and the others also ascended the stage. Every face was filled with excitement and anticipation.

Even if they only reached the top twenty or top ten and failed to secure an examination slot, the rewards were still incredibly generous.

The award ceremony proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Each Disciple who stopped at the top twenty was given two thousand Spirit Stones, plus several bottles of standard Medicinal Pills and Body Tempering potions to aid their cultivation.

Xing Mian had been a little wealthy woman before, then became heavily in debt to buy Heaven-Grade Martial Arts, and now she was a wealthy woman again, with a net worth dozens of times greater than before.

For the top ten Prodigies, in addition to the standard resource rewards, the Spirit Stone reward reached five thousand. This amount was already the entire net worth of many Sect Elders.

When it was time to distribute the rewards for the top five, the purple-robed Elder announced loudly:

"The rewards for the top five of this Heavenly Pride Competition are as follows:"

"First, the basic reward: ten thousand Spirit Stones."

"Second, a custom Spiritual Weapon. The style, type, and attributes can be chosen and tailor-made!"

"Third, a two-month qualification to meditate on the imperial visualization maps. Within these two months, all imperial visualization maps are available for meditation."

A Spiritual Weapon is a weapon that only Spirit Realm Cultivators can activate. The Flying Sword Sect Master Shen Yurong used when leading everyone to Qingzhou City was a Spiritual Weapon.

Even though the Prodigies present were only at the Fourth Rank and could not exert the true power of a Spiritual Weapon, in terms of toughness and sharpness alone, a Spiritual Weapon was incomparable to ordinary mortal weapons.

Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before these five Prodigies broke through to the Fifth Rank. Bestowing Spiritual Weapons in advance was also to pave the way for their future cultivation.

Furthermore, in the upcoming Chuyun Immortal Sect entrance examination, one would be at a great disadvantage without a handy Spiritual Weapon.

Originally, a custom Spiritual Weapon would take at least several months, but Lin Qing had no special customization requirements and chose a standard-shaped longsword.

Since the imperial family happened to have stock, someone was immediately sent back to the palace to retrieve it for Lin Qing.

In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, a longsword with a plain scabbard, a slender blade, a standard design, and a faint spiritual glow was delivered to Lin Qing's hands.

The third reward, the qualification to meditate on visualization maps, was also highly practical.

Different people have different compatibility with different visualization maps. Although visualization maps are not considered rare, the sheer variety of the imperial collection makes it all-encompassing. Perhaps a Prodigy would find the one that fits them best.

Another reason for providing this reward was the hope that the Prodigies would Breakthrough to the Fifth Rank as soon as possible.

The entrance examination for the Chuyun Immortal Sect is extremely difficult. If one is slightly older and does not have a Fifth Rank cultivation, there is almost no possibility of passing.

Lin Qing calculated silently. He currently only had two Visualization Methods in continuous operation, which was far from reaching the state where mastering one leads to mastering all like his other techniques.

Even a mosquito's leg is meat. Although the quality of the imperial collection's visualization maps couldn't compare to his two Visualization Methods, their sheer number meant there might be some he could practice. When the time came, he would input them all into the System and max out any that provided proficiency prompts.

After the rewards were distributed, the Prodigies slowly stepped off the stage amidst the cheers of the entire venue.

The Heavenly Pride Competition, which had lasted several days, officially came to an end.

Early the next morning, the group from Luoxia Valley went together to the Heshun Chamber of Commerce to redeem the Spirit Stones they had won from betting.

The entire redemption process was exceptionally smooth. After all, the Spirit Stones the Luoxia Valley group had bet were insignificant compared to the massive scale of the Heshun Chamber of Commerce.

In fact, Lin Qing had even helped the chamber of commerce make a huge profit.

Before the competition, Lin Qing was not well-known, and very few Cultivators bet on him. On the other hand, Third Prince Duan Chengyu and Yan Jinghong were highly popular before the matches, with a massive amount of bets placed on them.

But in the end, these two popular Prodigies were eliminated one after another by Lin Qing, and all the gambling funds placed on them were pocketed by the Heshun Chamber of Commerce.

Because of this, the chamber of commerce was exceptionally warm toward Lin Qing, the "great contributor," and even took the initiative to gift several bottles of high-quality Medicinal Pills during the settlement.

Two days later, Sect Master Shen Yurong led Yun Nian and the others back to Luoxia Valley first.

As the head of the valley, she had been away from the Sect for a long time. There were many affairs within the valley that needed handling, as well as the previously settled bets that needed concluding.

Tiger Hall and Songyun Temple had been aggressive before, coveting the operating rights of Luoxia Valley's marketplace. Now that the competition was over, it was time to go back and settle accounts with them.

Yuan Kun, however, stayed behind to be responsible for Lin Qing's safety and diplomatic affairs in the Royal Capital.