“Outer Disciple Lu Yun, Deacon’s Office!”

As the name echoed across the grounds, heads turned. Snickers rippled through the crowd, some disciples unable to suppress their amusement.

Lu Yun was, after all, notorious.

On a platform to the right, a young man scratched his head and shambled onto the stage. His robes were disheveled, his hair a mess. He looked more like a beggar than a cultivator.

“I won’t use Magical Artifacts,” Lu Yun mumbled, sounding half-asleep. “Just my own spells.”

His opponent, another Outer Disciple, stepped up with a wide, mocking grin. “Lu Yun! I’ve heard of you. The guy who wastes his days doing… whatever it is you do.”

The opponent laughed. “I thought my cultivation at the fourth layer of Qi Refining would be useless in the first round, but meeting you? It’s my lucky day!”

Lu Yun blinked at him. “Okay. I’ll go easy on you, then.”

The disciple’s smile vanished. Instead of begging for mercy, this slacker was looking down on him? Anger flared in his chest.

“Fine! I’ll go easy on you too!”

He didn’t wait. Fingers flashing through a seal, he muttered an incantation. A ball of searing fire materialized and shot straight at Lu Yun.

Lu Yun, looking as unkempt as ever, finally moved.

He raised a lazy finger and pointed forward. Spiritual light shimmered into existence.

Body Protection Technique.

The Flame Technique slammed into the barrier. The fire sputtered and died, but the barrier flickered violently before shattering into motes of light. Clearly, Lu Yun’s mastery was mediocre at best; his shield couldn’t even withstand a single hit.

His opponent’s confidence soared. “Let’s see how long you last!”

Within two breaths, a second fireball roared through the air.

Lu Yun simply cast another Body Protection Technique.

The spells collided. The shield broke. Lu Yun cast a third.

The opposing disciple paused, stunned. “What are you doing? Do you only know that one spell?”

Lu Yun shook his head. Behind the fresh barrier, he cast a fourth Body Protection Technique.

His opponent stood dumbfounded, forgetting to attack.

He watched, eyes widening, as Lu Yun cast a fifth, then a sixth.

Layers of translucent barriers stacked up in front of Lu Yun, humming with spiritual power.

What made the disciple’s scalp tingle wasn’t the spell itself, but the fact that Lu Yun—the sect’s laughingstock—didn’t even look tired. He was still casting.

After adding yet another layer, Lu Yun paused and looked out from his fortress of light. “Aren’t you going to attack?”

Below the stage, the laughter had died. The silence was deafening. Those who had mocked him the loudest now wore expressions of pure shock.

On the stage, the opponent’s eyes bulged. “How… how many shields are you going to make?”

“As many as you have attacks,” Lu Yun replied earnestly. “I recover Qi very quickly.”

As he spoke, he cast another one.

That was the breaking point.

“You can still cast more? How am I supposed to fight that?!” The disciple threw his hands up. “Fine! Stop! I admit defeat!”

Lu Yun scratched his head again. “Giving up already? I thought you said you’d go easy?”

The opponent gritted his teeth, his face flushing a deep crimson. Ignoring the jab, he turned and leaped off the platform in a huff.

Lu Yun swayed slightly as he walked down, looking as bored as when he arrived.

The crowd stared in wonder. No one dared to look down on him now. His method was absurd, but effective.

“No wonder…” Bai Lingyun watched the scene, standing beside Han Yu, Li Xuan, and Meng Bao. “My great-grandfather always said Lu Yun lacked ambition, but he never said he lacked talent. That recovery speed is terrifying.”

Han Yu nodded in agreement.

The first round continued.

Soon, Meng Bao’s name was called. He marched onto the stage with his Long-Toothed Tiger. His opponent, a fourth-layer Qi Refining disciple, possessed a defensive Magical Artifact and agreed to an unrestricted fight.

It didn’t last long.

Meng Bao was forced to retreat. His opponent had higher cultivation, better spells, artifacts, and Talismans. Meng Bao had only just reached the third layer, and his beast was still in its early growth stage. The gap in resources was too wide.

When Meng Bao returned, head hanging low, Bai Lingyun and Li Xuan patted his back.

“Don’t sweat it,” Bai Lingyun said. “We were all special admissions. We haven’t had the time to build up our foundation like the veterans. This competition is just for experience.”

Shortly after, Li Xuan and Bai Lingyun were called up. Both suffered swift defeats.

Bai Lingyun took it the hardest. His opponent took one look at Bai Lingyun’s glistening Magical Artifacts and handful of Talismans and immediately invoked the rule to ban external aids.

Stripped of his wealth, Bai Lingyun’s mediocre spellcasting was exposed. He was crushed by a fourth-layer disciple.

He walked back puffing his cheeks out, looking thoroughly dejected.

Just then, a voice rang out from the rightmost platform.

“Outer Disciple Han Yu, Spirit Field Department!”

“Versus: Outer Disciple Wang Wu, Alchemy Department!”

Bai Lingyun, Li Xuan, and Meng Bao snapped their heads toward Han Yu.

“Han Yu, don’t force it,” Li Xuan said anxiously.

“Yeah, our base strength isn’t on their level,” Meng Bao added. “Just do your best.”

Han Yu nodded calmly. “I will.”

“Gah, gah!”

The large crow on his shoulder opened its beak, its dark golden pupils fixing on the three friends. The cry sounded suspiciously like a mocking laugh.

Han Yu reached back and smoothed the bird’s tail feathers. They mean well. Don’t laugh at them. It’s rude.

The crow clacked its beak shut, silenced.

Shouldering the massive bird and gripping his flying sword, Han Yu ascended the platform.

The judge was Deacon Bai—Bai Lingyun’s elder—whom Han Yu had met previously.

Opposite him stood Wang Wu from the Alchemy Department. Wang Wu took one look at Han Yu’s flying sword and the menacing spirit beast and immediately raised his hand.

“I won’t use external aids! Spells only!” He looked at Han Yu pleadingly. “Junior Brother, let’s keep it purely to cultivation, shall we?”

“Alright.”

Han Yu didn’t hesitate. He stowed his flying sword and defensive ring into his Storage Bag and gestured for the crow to wait on the sidelines.

Below the stage, Senior Sister Li pursed her lips, hiding a smile. She grabbed a handful of melon seeds from Zhong Yue’s stash.

Do they really think Junior Brother Han relies on external items?

Up in the stands, Elder Bai watched intently. He glanced at Elder Lu beside him, noting the old man’s eyes were crinkled into crescent moons of delight.

You old fox, Elder Bai thought. Let’s see exactly how good this ‘spellcasting prodigy’ of yours really is.

With the terms agreed upon, Deacon Bai raised his hand. “Begin!”

Han Yu’s finger flicked.

Whoosh.

Two figures split from his body, dashing left and right. In an instant, three identical Han Yus stood on the platform.

One remained stationary. The other two rushed Wang Wu from both flanks with blinding speed.

All three figures raised their hands simultaneously, forming seals as if preparing a devastating combined assault.

Wang Wu’s eyes widened in panic. “What… what spell is this?!”

He frantically looked left and right, his composure shattering.

The Han Yu to his right didn’t speak. He simply flicked a finger.

A Wind Blade Technique hissed through the air, slicing into the stone floor right at Wang Wu’s feet.

Snap.

At that exact moment, the Han Yu in the center and the Han Yu on the left dissolved into mist and vanished.

It was over.

Han Yu hadn’t even needed to weave a complex illusion. The fourth-layer Wang Wu had panicked so thoroughly at the sight of the Phantom Body Technique that he left himself wide open.

“Han Yu wins!” Deacon Bai announced.

Silence reigned for a moment. Wang Wu stood frozen on the stage, and the disciples below blinked in confusion.

What just happened?

How did Han Yu close the distance instantly? How did the fight end in two breaths?

As the reality of the bout settled in, a collective gasp went through the crowd. This wasn’t like the other clumsy duels where disciples stood still and threw fireballs at each other. Han Yu’s movement was fluid, his casting instant, and his pressure overwhelming.

If they were in Wang Wu’s shoes… they wouldn’t have reacted in time either.

High above, Elder Bai nodded, unable to suppress his admiration.

“To use the Phantom Body Technique with such precision… he is truly a natural.” Elder Bai sighed. “That attack was seamless. In the Qi Refining realm, such fluidity can only be described as mercury spilling on the ground. Flawless.”

Elder Lu beamed, his eyes disappearing into the wrinkles of his smile. “You flatter me! My disciple just has a little bit of talent, that’s all.”

Elder Bai shot him a glare. “If you’ve gained an advantage, say less! Save the gloating.”

No wonder he snatched him up so early, Elder Bai thought bitterly. If it were me, I would have taken him as a disciple too.