Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Chapter 312: Chapter 177: Matched Up

As the box of bamboo slips was carried out, the registered disciples began ascending the high platform one by one to draw lots.

Compared to the Martial Arts Examination, the rules of the Outer Disciple Grand Competition were far simpler and more ruthless. Though four arenas had been set up, they were not designated A, B, C, or D.

There were only two types of lots, A and B. The person who drew A-1 would fight the person who drew B-1. As for which arena to use, one could only wait for a Steward’s announcement.

’Not that many people!’

Xu Yang scanned the area. Although people died daily, the number of Outer Disciples in the Purple Sun Sect was always maintained at six or seven hundred.

He roughly estimated that only about a hundred people had signed up for the competition, and among them were some whose cultivation was only at Gang Qi Minor Achievement.

In other words, there were likely fewer than one hundred Outer Disciples in the Purple Sun Sect whose cultivation had reached Gang Qi Great Success.

In fact, many spent a full ten years in the Outer Sect and still might not reach Gang Qi Great Success.

For a Martial Artist’s cultivation, while resources were important, talent was equally crucial.

"After drawing your lot, you cannot exchange it with anyone, or you will be immediately disqualified. Don’t reveal your number to others, either. Of course, if you aren’t afraid of being targeted, then by all means, do as you please."

Several Stewards reminded the disciples of the rules as they presided over the drawing.

Xu Yang reached into the box and casually grabbed a slip. He looked down and saw "A-27" written on it.

The number was neither good nor bad, right in the middle of the pack.

He put the bamboo slip away and walked off the stage.

"Who is that disciple?" Li Songhe asked, pointing at Xu Yang’s back.

The people beside him were all blank-faced; they didn’t recognize Xu Yang either.

Sun Ke trotted over, cupped his fists, and said, "To answer the Elder, that is Xu Yang."

Li Songhe paused. "The Xu Yang who is tenth among the Ten Heroes?"

Sun Ke nodded.

"Interesting!" A smile tugged at the corner of Li Songhe’s mouth. He waved his hand, dismissing Sun Ke.

"Why is Elder Li paying such attention to this person?" the man beside him asked.

This man was none other than Ding Yuan, the Second Elder of the Ding Family.

Li Songhe spent most of the year in secluded cultivation, and the number of times he appeared in the Outer Sect annually could be counted on one hand. For him to single someone out for a question meant he had a reason, so everyone nearby pricked up their ears to listen.

Li Songhe chuckled. "Keep watching and you’ll find out."

He offered no explanation, his gaze simply fixed on the spot where Xu Yang had vanished.

Ding Yuan sensed the hidden meaning in Li Songhe’s words, but it wasn’t his place to press the issue.

Though he was the Second Elder of the Ding Family, invited to the high platform to observe the proceedings, his status was still a cut below that of an Outer Elder like Li Songhe.

"Say, Ding Yuan, I seem to recall your Ding Family wanted to recruit this Xu Yang. Did that ever pan out?"

When someone heard that the young man Li Songhe was focused on was named Xu Yang, they immediately recalled the Ding Family’s attempt to recruit him.

At the time, Ding Xu had spoken with Xu Yang in front of many people, so the news had spread far and wide. Basically, all the major families looking to recruit disciples from the Purple Sun Sect knew about it.

Moreover, whenever Xu Yang had rejected other families, he had always used the excuse that he was currently in talks with the Ding Family. But after that, no concrete news ever emerged as to whether Xu Yang had actually joined the Ding Family’s camp.

Ding Yuan shook his head. "It didn’t work out."

The one who had asked was an elder from Cyan Yang City’s Du Family, by the name of Du Qingpu.

The Du Family’s power surpassed even the Ding Family’s. Hearing this, he asked curiously, "How could it not have worked out? Was it that your Ding Family acted all high and mighty, looked down on his farming roots, and made him a poor offer?"

"The man rejected so many families’ overtures, always saying he was in talks with your Ding Family. For it to fall through in the end... doesn’t that mean you just wasted his time?"

Ding Yuan froze. ’Xu Yang hasn’t become a Tributor for another family? He’s still waiting for a reply from the Ding Family?’

For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

’Should I admit that Xu Yang refused the marriage alliance, and that the Ding Family has left him hanging for nearly a year with no reply?’

"Well? How did it not work out?" Li Songhe urged.

He, too, was curious about what conditions the Ding Family had offered to make Xu Yang ultimately decide against becoming their Tributor.

Ding Yuan braced himself and said, "The conditions our Ding Family offered weren’t bad. They were only slightly worse than what we offered Han Feng. But he wouldn’t agree to a marriage alliance, so the negotiations ultimately failed."

Li Songhe snorted. "You Noble Families have no other tricks besides marriage alliances, do you? He came from a small county, a farming family, yet every one of you wants to recruit him, every one of you wants to tie him down with one of your daughters."

"Don’t you people ever think? He has a bright future ahead of him. When a greater power wants to recruit him and also offers a daughter to bind him, if he has already married someone from your Ding Family, wouldn’t that just ruin his prospects?"

"Some people have obvious talent, but because of their humble origins, they are forced to marry women from minor families while still in their small home counties."

"Then, when they arrive at the Purple Sun Sect, they might have the chance to become the son-in-law of an even greater family and obtain more resources, but because they are already wed, they completely lose the opportunity to advance."

A man of his status naturally understood that for a true genius, the Purple Sun Sect was merely the beginning.

Getting married at this stage in one’s life was not a good thing.

Li Songhe’s smile returned. "It’s impressive that the boy could see through this. He’s not short-sighted."

Since Xu Yang was able to refuse the Ding Family’s marriage alliance, he could marry into a more powerful family if he left the Purple Sun Sect in the future. This would allow him to go much further on his Martial Dao path.

He hadn’t expected Xu Yang to see this so clearly and resist the temptation of immediate benefits.

If he had seen this clearly back in his day and married later, perhaps he wouldn’t be a mere Outer Elder of the Purple Sun Sect today.

Ding Yuan couldn’t help but correct him. "Brother Li, you’re thinking too highly of him. How could he possibly leave the Purple Sun Sect? The reason he refused the marriage alliance is simply that he suffers from the same problem as the Young Master Marquis—he wants to marry a woman he actually loves."

"Besides, when families recruit a genius, they don’t care how far you’ll go in the future. The only thing that matters is that you work for them."