Chapter 10: First Competition

On this day, the Tiangui Sect’s main hall posted a sect notice.

Fifteen days later, the new disciples will have to take the preliminary test of the martial arts competition.

The preliminary test of the martial arts competition is a test of the new disciples’ cultivation. The new disciples who get a good ranking will be rewarded by the sect. The main purpose is to promote the sect’s martial spirit. After all, only when the sect is invincible in the world of cultivation can it continue to pass on.

With the twenty high-quality spirit stones rewarded by Ning Tianqi, Xu Yang decided to go to the sect’s market to buy some handy equipment to prepare for the preliminary test. Early in the morning of this day, Xu Yang took the small teleportation array in the sect and came to the Tiangui Sect’s market.

The Tiangui Sect is worthy of being the leading sect in the Zhongyuan Continent. There are many shops in the sect’s market, and the scene is grand. Most of the shops are opened by the sect itself, and a few are opened by large chambers of commerce and families renting shops here.

Xu Yang excitedly strolled back and forth on the street of the market and entered a shop with a large flow of people but not very large.

As soon as he entered the store, a middle-aged store manager with a slightly fat figure and two small mustaches came up to greet him.

"Sir, please come in." The store manager said with a smile.

"Shopkeeper, what attack and defense magic weapons do you have? Please recommend them to me." Xu Yang asked.

The shopkeeper asked Xu Yang to take a seat, then took out a picture album and said, "This is a record of all kinds of attack and defense magic weapons collected by our store. You can choose it yourself. If you like it, I will bring the real thing to you for tasting." As he said, the store manager picked up a teapot on the table and filled a cup of spiritual tea for Xu Yang.

Xu Yang flipped through the picture album, and there were magic weapons with names such as Nine Yang Knife, Red Blood Hook, and Hua Tian Sword, which made him dazzled. The price of good magic weapons was ridiculously high, so he could only buy according to his own financial resources. After all, there was not always someone who rewarded him with a large number of spiritual stones.

Xu Yang chose three magic weapons that were relatively satisfactory in terms of price and function. An attacking magic weapon "Three Yang Fire Cone" and two defensive magic weapons, one is a close-fitting "Golden Silk Soft Inner Armor" and one is a "Fine Steel Shield."

"Can you give me a detailed introduction to these three magic weapons?" Xu Yang asked.

"Young Master has a keen eye. This Three Yang Fire Cone, a set of three, can be used flexibly. A set of three can form a small fire formation, amplifying fire spells, both offensive and defensive. It is a rare set of mid-grade magic weapons. It is rumored to be the work of the sect's master of refining Ouyang Cheng.

"Golden Silk Soft Inner Armor" is a close-fitting defensive low-grade magic weapon, light and durable. "Fine Steel Shield" is also a defensive low-grade magic weapon, with good defensive power, but a little bulky.

The Three Yang Fire Cone is worth five high-grade spirit stones, and its One of them had a layer of restriction damaged during use, so the price was discounted. The price of a truly intact one is more than ten times higher. However, you can ask a special master of refining to repair it, but the cost of repair is too high and it is not cost-effective, and the success rate is low. The golden silk soft inner armor is worth two top-grade spirit stones, and the fine steel shield is worth one top-grade spirit stone. The three pieces together are eight top-grade spirit stones. This store can give you a discount, seven top-grade spirit stones plus five middle-grade spirit stones for the three pieces. "The store manager said.

Generally, the grades of magic tools are divided into five types: low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade, top-grade, and Xuantian Lingbao, and there is also a legendary fairy-grade magic tool. The difference in the grade of magic tools is mainly the quality of the material of the magic tool, the number of restrictions on it, and the difference in the quality of its functions.

The refining of magic tools requires a special master of refining or even a master of refining. Low-grade magic tools can also be further refined, and the restrictions engraved on them can be added to evolve into a higher-grade magic tool. The success rate of evolution is closely related to the original materials of the magic weapon and the methods of the weapon master.

Xu Yang carefully checked the three items, and they were exactly the same as those described in the picture book. He could afford the price, so he bought all three.

Xu Yang also bought dozens of fire bomb talismans, which are suitable for low-priced monks with insufficient mana, especially when used with the small magic array of the Three Yang Li Fire Cone, it is a good way to temporarily make up for the combat power. After visiting several shops, seeing that it was getting late, Xu Yang hurriedly left the market and returned to his residence.

In Xu Yang's residence.

According to the method of magic weapon recognition, Xu Yang recognized the three magic weapons one by one.

The magic weapon recognizes the master, that is, the owner of the magic weapon injects a small amount of his own blood into the key restriction reserved on the magic weapon. After the recognition is successful, only the owner of the magic weapon can flexibly manipulate the magic weapon, and the owner of the magic weapon can also remove the recognition of the magic weapon by himself.

In addition to blood recognition, there are other special ways of recognition. For example, the characteristic of passing on the master is that only cultivators who practice the same skills can use special secret methods to pass on and use a magic weapon.

The Three Yang Fire Cone is a small set of magic weapons, which requires considerable proficiency to operate. Xu Yang practices every day, sharpening his spear before the battle, and it is not fast but bright. Fortunately, Xu Yang has practiced martial arts with his mother since he was a child, and after a few days, he can use it properly.

The fine steel shield is a simple defensive magic weapon, which is relatively easy to operate. The soft inner armor of golden silk is worn directly under the clothes, which is very convenient, but the defense is slightly weak.

The day of the first test.

Early in the morning, all the disciples were taken to the martial arts academy in the sect. The venue of the martial arts academy is divided into more than 20 pieces of different sizes, which are distributed on the hillside in a stepped manner. From a distance, it occupies a hillside. There is a ring on each martial arts field, and ten of them have flags with numbers from one to ten written on them.

The competition is divided into preliminaries and finals. In the preliminaries, the disciples are divided into ten groups by drawing lots. Under the supervision of the designated elders, they compete in pairs, and the winners participate in the next round until the first place of the ten groups is decided. The second day is a day of rest, and the third day is the final. The ten players who ranked first in the preliminaries draw lots to compete in pairs, and the winners participate in the next round. The last two remaining players will decide the first and second place in the finals, and the other eight players are not ranked.

After the draw, Xu Yang drew number 76 and was assigned to the seventh venue.

On the seventh ring, Xu Yang was wearing a light green long gown, standing upright on one side of the ring, with a calm face. Xu Yang looked calm on the surface, but he was a little nervous inside, after all, it was the first time in his life to fight with someone.

The opposite side was also a teenager. This person was about the same height as Xu Yang, and was dressed in blue. He had a thin face, a high nose, and small but bright eyes. This was the first time Xu Yang had fought with someone in his life, and he couldn't help but look at this person carefully from top to bottom. Xu Yang released his spiritual sense and found that this person's cultivation level was the same as his own, that of the first level of the spiritual realm, and his heart was half relieved.

"Zhu is willing to see the skills of this Taoist friend." The boy on the opposite side said.

"My surname is Xu, and I am honored to have a competition with Brother Zhu today." Xu Yang replied.

With the order of the competition supervisor, the competition officially began.

Xu Yang raised his hand and used the Nether Fire Art at will, and a fist-sized flame shot out from his right hand, hitting the opponent's chest.

The boy surnamed Zhu on the opposite side was not to be outdone. He opened his mouth and sprayed a ball of water bullets, which collided with Xu Yang's fireball head-on. With a hissing sound, the water bullet and the fireball disappeared, leaving a ball of water vapor in the air.

Xu Yang fired five or six fire bombs in succession, but they were all dissolved by the boy surnamed Zhu on the opposite side with water bombs. Xu Yang shook his wrist and shot out a fire cone.

The fire cone was wrapped in fire attribute magic power, like an arrow from a string.

Seeing this, the young man surnamed Zhu spun out a blue folding fan, and a large ball of rotating water-attributed magic power instantly turned into a water shield in front of him. The Fire Cone drilled into the water shield, as if trapped in a quagmire, and its speed and breath were greatly reduced. With a ding-dong sound, the Fire Cone bounced back.

Seeing that the attack was ineffective, Xu Yang's consciousness moved and retracted the Fire Cone. The young man surnamed Zhu took the opportunity to urge his magic power, and a water python as thick as a bowl flew out from the folding fan, rushing towards Xu Yang with great momentum.

Xu Yang quickly sacrificed the fine steel shield. The water python and the fine steel shield collided with each other, and the fine steel shield was shaken constantly, and the water python turned into a large piece of water splashing and scattered, but the recoil force made Xu Yang feel a sharp pain in the palm holding the shield.

The two sides went back and forth, and in the blink of an eye, it had been twenty rounds, and Xu Yang's forehead was already sweating.

Xu Yang pretended to be exhausted, retreated repeatedly, and secretly accumulated magic power.

Seeing Xu Yang gradually losing his strength, the young man surnamed Zhu smiled triumphantly and danced with his folding fan more fiercely. The young man surnamed Zhu threw the folding fan into the air, made a hand gesture, and shouted "Fall." Water arrows flew out of the folding fan like locusts. Xu Yang blocked it with his shield and retreated, leading the young man surnamed Zhu to the corner of the ring.

At this moment, Xu Yang suddenly sped up and dodged the attack of the water arrows. He took back the fine steel shield and raised his hand to shoot three fire cones in a row.

Seeing this, the young man surnamed Zhu made a hand gesture, and the folding fan rotated in front of him, forming a vortex of water-attributed magic power, and was about to take the fire cones.

Xu Yang's consciousness moved, and the three fire cones went in three directions respectively, and paused strangely in the air. The three fire cones were connected to form a triangular magic circle that rotated rapidly, and strands of fiery red runes kept wandering on the magic circle.

The strange pause of the Lihuo Cone caused the young man surnamed Zhu to subconsciously raise his fan to protect his head. In an instant, a gap appeared in front of the young man surnamed Zhu's chest. Xu Yang saw the opportunity and shook his right hand, and three fire bomb talismans were fired at the same time.

"Boom!" The three talismans exploded at once, and a huge ball of flame soared into the sky. The flame was pulled by the Lihuo Cone's formation, passed through the three Lihuo Cones' small formations and turned into a fire python, attacking the young man surnamed Zhu.

The young man surnamed Zhu had no time to dodge, and in a hurry he opened his mouth and sprayed a large amount of essence into the folding fan. The folding fan instantly became larger and blocked in front of him, covering his head and chest.

Seeing this, Xu Yang shook his wrist. Three more detonating talismans were fired, attacking the young man surnamed Zhu's feet. There were only two consecutive booms, and the huge fire python bombarded the folding fan as big as a screen, and sparks flew everywhere.

The huge shock wave shook the young man surnamed Zhu's body backwards. Just as Zhu's body was not yet stable, the other three detonating talismans arrived as expected and exploded under his feet.

The young man surnamed Zhu cried out inwardly, and instinctively dodged to the side.

At this moment, Xu Yang rushed to the young man surnamed Zhu and kicked him firmly on the calf with a sweeping kick.

The young man surnamed Zhu cried out, staggered to the side, and fell off the ring.

"Number 76 wins." The competition supervisor said immediately.

Xu Yang saluted the competition supervisor and jumped off the ring. He came to the young man surnamed Zhu and clasped his fists and said, "Brother Zhu, thank you."

The young man surnamed Zhu was originally in the upper hand, but now he was knocked off the ring by Xu Yang. Seeing Xu Yang's sincerity, he also clasped his fists slightly and said, "Brother Xu is better." After saying that, he turned around and left with a look of unwillingness.

In fact, Xu Yang had practiced this series of moves several times in the preparations a few days ago. Unexpectedly, it really worked today, and Xu Yang was secretly glad in his heart.

The magic array formed by the Lihuo Cone can certainly increase fire damage, but it also requires a lot of mana. With Xu Yang's current mana, he can only activate it two or three times in a short period of time. Moreover, the upper limit of the total value of fire mana amplified by the Lihuo Cone is not high, after all, it is only a medium-grade magic weapon.

Next, Xu Yang watched the competition of other players attentively. Seeing that many of the disciples participating in the competition were far stronger than himself, his excitement just now calmed down.

As Xu Yang expected, Xu Yang was defeated by a child of aristocratic family in the second round of the group match in the seventh venue.

In the end, one of the young male cultivators named Nangong Chongshan won the first place in Xu Yang's group.