Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Chapter 285: Chapter 164: Goading

Just like last year, the top three in the Grand Competition would be exempt from the Inner Sect assessment mission, and they could also choose any Cultivation Technique from the second floor of the Hidden Skills Hall.

In addition, the top three received another reward: for the next year, they could exchange for Elixirs at half price.

This meant that a Guiyuan Pill, which usually cost thirty contribution points, could be exchanged for by the top three for just fifteen.

Of course, this was limited to one exchange per month, not unlimited.

As soon as this news spread, all the Outer Disciples were instantly ecstatic.

Half-price exchanges meant double the resources. For a time, even some who had not planned to register couldn’t hold back.

"The Sect is offering such a huge reward to encourage us to participate. I’m going to register," Sun Tao said, somewhat excitedly.

So what if he couldn’t get into the top three? He could accumulate experience and prepare for next year’s competition.

By next year’s Outer Sect Grand Competition, he was confident he would achieve Gang Qi Great Success. Even if he couldn’t get into the top three then, he could still fight for a spot in the top twenty.

"Senior Brother, calm down!"

Xu Yang restrained the overexcited Sun Tao and said, "I heard that the Sect isn’t trying to encourage everyone to participate, but rather that these benefits are prepared for the top three of the Ten Heroes."

By now, some things were already clear. Among all the Outer Disciples, only Li Chuyang, Du Chuan, and Jiang Fan had a Bone Marrow Cleansing Cultivation. The top three spots in the Grand Competition were basically locked in for them.

The Sect’s rewards for the top three were even more generous than last year’s. It was impossible not to connect the dots.

Jiang Fan was a Young Master Marquis. Du Chuan and Li Chuyang also had deep connections in the Inner Sect. In previous years, the rewards were only an exemption from the assessment mission and the choice of a Cultivation Technique. The abrupt addition of half-priced Elixirs this year—how could people not speculate?

"There’s that theory too?" It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over Sun Tao’s head.

It wasn’t that he was naive and hadn’t thought of it, but the Sect’s upper echelon was probably worried about being too obvious and drawing criticism from the disciples, so the rewards for the other ranks had also been changed.

For fourth and fifth place, in addition to choosing a Cultivation Technique from the Hidden Skills Hall, a new reward was added this year: one hundred contribution points.

The contribution point reward for places five through ten was increased from two hundred last year to three hundred, and the reward for places ten through twenty became two hundred.

"I still want to participate and temper myself," Sun Tao said.

He didn’t just want to join the Grand Competition for the rewards. Both he and Zhang Yong had achieved Minor Achievement in Gang Qi Cultivation and wanted to get on stage to fight their peers and gain real combat experience.

They had trained in the Yunling Mountain Range and didn’t lack for combat, but it was mostly fighting Exotic Beasts. Fighting Exotic Beasts was different from fighting people.

Xu Yang nodded and didn’t try to persuade Sun Tao further. Although the Outer Sect Grand Competition had its dangers, no one had ever died. The Sect strictly forbade fatal incidents during the event.

Registration began. In the last Grand Competition, only a handful of disciples from their cohort had signed up.

This time, however, many people registered. Many with Minor Achievement in Gang Qi Cultivation had just signed up.

This was because there weren’t as many experts this year as last year.

The experts from last year had either already entered the Inner Sect or had died during their assessment missions. Not many were still alive and remaining in the Outer Sect.

Furthermore, more than a month had passed, and besides the Ten Heroes Geniuses, some others had also achieved Gang Qi Great Success.

Soon, the top three of the Ten Heroes all registered. Then, people noticed that the fourth-ranked Han Feng, fifth-ranked Xiong Kun, as well as Lu Ren, Su Zhe, and others had also signed up for the Grand Competition.

Everyone discovered that of all the Ten Heroes Geniuses, only the tenth-ranked Xu Yang had not registered.

"Why isn’t Xu Yang registering? As a Ten Heroes Genius, the top ten might be a stretch, but the top twenty should still be possible!"

Soon, word got out that Xu Yang did not plan to participate in this Outer Sect Grand Competition.

Some Outer Disciples were puzzled. The top twenty came with two hundred contribution points, which was quite a lot. Wasn’t Xu Yang tempted by the reward?

"Xu Yang is overly cautious. Every other Ten Heroes Genius has entered the Yunling Mountain Range multiple times to train and fight Exotic Beasts. He’s the only one who hides in the Purple Sun Sect every day. How could someone like that dare to compete in the Outer Sect Grand Competition, which is filled with experts?"

"I said from the beginning he wasn’t worthy of being on the Ten Heroes List, and people didn’t believe me. His talent is sufficient, but his Martial Dao Will is weaker than even mine."

"He’s probably the most cowardly Ten Heroes Genius in history."

...

The number of voices looking down on Xu Yang grew, all thinking he was as timid as a mouse and not a qualified Martial Artist.

Xu Yang paid no attention to these voices, treating them as farts.

’The strength I’ve shown to the public is having achieved Gang Qi Great Success less than two months ago. If I really participated in the Grand Competition and made it into the top twenty without using my Gang Qi, even an idiot would know something was wrong.’

’But the moment I use my Gang Qi, my Golden Gang Qi will be exposed. I’d rather give up two hundred contribution points than attract that kind of attention.’

’If I were the type to get hot-headed and join the competition just to prove to others I wasn’t useless, I never would have been able to keep a low profile for so long.’

He wasn’t some hot-blooded youth who cared about something as superficial as "face."

"These idiots have no idea how strong Junior Brother Xu is. If he participated, winning first place would be child’s play." Sun Tao’s blood boiled as he listened.

’This is the first time I’ve realized how painful it is to keep someone’s secret.’

Especially since people were constantly belittling Xu Yang in front of them. Many times, he had to forcefully stop himself from refuting them.

"Xu Yang? He’s just a hypocritical coward. He’s probably worried that if he gets on the stage, he’ll be beaten back to his true form and kicked off the Ten Heroes List.

If he dares get on stage for the competition, I could defeat him in ten moves."

Although many people had been gossiping about Xu Yang before, they were all nobodies. This time, a true genius had finally spoken up.