Chapter 4013 - The Final Participants in the Novice Group

After twelve days, the first round of the Seven Mansions Feast to sort the participants into the novice group was finally over. For the second round, those who were defeated in the first round would be able to challenge the participants in the novice group. A participant could only issue a challenge once.

Lin Dong Lai stood in the spot from before at the center as he said seriously, “Now that the first round has come to end, we’ll proceed to the second round. During the second round, those who are defeated during the first round will be able to challenge those in the novice group. You can see it as a ‘revival round’. Now, those who intend to issue a challenge please hold the jade tokens I gave you earlier above your heads. As for those who have no intention of issuing a challenge, please imbue your Divine Energies into the jade tokens, and they’ll turn to dust immediately. This indicates you’ve given up on your right to challenge.”

After that, most of the defeated participants from the first round raised their jade tokens. Only a few chose to destroy their jade tokens.

“Now, I’ll hand out tokens with numbers. You’ll issue your challenge following the sequence of the numbers on the tokens,” LinDong Lai said as he waved his hand casually, tossing out tokens.

These tokens flew into the hands that were raised in the air as though they were pulled by the jade tokens in the hands.

“The person whose token has the number one, please step forward and issue your challenge. Like I said before, you can call out the word on the token of the person you like to challenge.”

During the first round, the winners, also those in the novice group, kept their tokens while the losers had to return theirs.

‘The person who gets to issue a challenge first is really lucky,’ Duan Ling Tian thought to himself. At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged in the air with the entourage from the Pure Yang Sect. He was not cultivating like he did before.

During the second round, the earlier one’s turn, the more advantageous it would be. After all, the earlier it was, the bigger the pool of people one could challenge. The later one’s turn was, the fewer one would get to choose from. This was because those from the novice group could only be challenged once.

Since the number of participants was even, the number of those who were defeated and those in the novice group were equal. However, since a few people gave up their right to challenge, there were more people in the novice group and those who were defeated in the previous round. This meant that the last challenger still had a few people to choose from. Otherwise, the last challenger would have to challenge the last person left in the novice group.

At this time, Zhen Ping Fan asked through Voice Transmission, “Duan Ling Tian, up until a few days ago, you were still cultivating very hard. Did you already make a breakthrough?”

Duan Ling Tian had been cultivating very seriously up until a few days ago. He did not watch the fights and was completely immersed in his cultivation. As such, Zhen Ping Fan was naturally curious now that Duan Ling Tian stopped cultivating.

Duan Ling Tian was rather impressed by how observant Zhen Ping Fan was. He said with a smile, “I’ve made a little progress. I won’t be able to make significant progress in such a short time going forward so it’s best for me to relax now. Being hard-working is important, but resting is equally important.”

Upon hearing Duan Ling Tian’s reply, Zhen Ping Fan looked at Duan Ling Tian suspiciously. He wondered if Duan Ling Tian truly only made a little progress. Based on how strong Duan Ling Tian was when he defeated Wanqi Hong, if Duan Ling Tian made significant improvements, would there even be someone who was a match for Duan Ling Tian in the Seven Mansions Feast? His heart stirred slightly when he thought about this.

At this time, the person who drew the number one had already stepped forward. He was a prodigy from the Underworld Mansion. He was defeated by his opponent after 100 moves. Logically, with his strength, he should be able to enter the novice group. He was defeated previously because his opponent was too strong.

Duan Ling Tian vaguely remembered the other party because the other party had only fought the day before. He thought to himself, ‘He has a high chance of entering the novice group…’

As expected, the prodigy from the Underworld Mansion, who was fairly strong, challenged a weaker opponent and defeated his opponent within 30 moves. With that, he replaced his opponent and entered the novice group. His place in the novice group had also been confirmed since the others would not be able to challenge him anymore.

‘I wonder if anyone will challenge me,’ Duan Ling Tian wondered to himself. He could not help but look forward to it.

After a short moment…

“Duan Ling Tian!”

Duan Ling Tian received a Voice Transmission. The voice was icy, and he found the voice familiar. It took a moment for him to recall the owner of the voice. He turned slightly and looked at Wanqi Hong, the strongest young prodigy in the Wanqi clan and the former strongest younger prodigy in the Eastern Ridge Mansion.

When Duan Ling Tian looked over, Wanqi Hong continued to say, “Previously, I planned to let my opponent defeat me during the first round so I could challenge you during the second round. However, I decided against it in the end to avoid offending the Pure Yang Sect…”

Currently, the Pure Yang Sect was no longer what it was in the past. Even if Wanqi Hong hated Duan Ling Tian, Ye Chen Feng, and the Pure Yang Sect to the bones, he knew he could not act rashly.

Duan Ling Tian was slightly stunned by Wanqi Hong’s words. When he recovered, he chuckled and said indifferently, “Oh, it seems like you’ve made some progress over the past ten years? However, I’m sure the reason you dismissed your plan isn’t due to you being worried about offending the Pure Yang Sect. The reason should be that you and the Wanqi clan are unwilling to take the risk, right? After all, what will happen if you fail to defeat me?”

Duan Ling Tian exposed Wanqi Hong’s thoughts immediately, causing Wanqi Hong’s expression to change immediately. Then, he said icily, “Duan Ling Tian, I’ll definitely defeat you later.”

“We’ll see,” Duan Ling Tian said indifferently with a shrug. Inwardly, he wondered how much progress Wanqi Hong had made, considering Wanqi Hong’s confidence. Nonetheless, he was not worried. Even if Wanqi Hong’s progress was much bigger than his, it would still be impossible for Wanqi Hong to defeat him.

…

The second round was in full swing.

The first sixth challengers had already successfully won their challenges.

At this time, the seventh challenger picked an opponent. He was evenly matched with his opponents for the first few hundred moves. Alas, he still lost in the end. With this, he became the first challenger in the second round to lose.

Meanwhile, Duan Ling Tian could hear the conversations of the young disciples from the Pure Yang Sect around him.

“This challenger really tried his best. However, he’s rather weak. Although the person he challenged isn’t that strong, he’s still weaker…”

“Speaking of, if a weak participant from the novice group is challenged by a weaker opponent, he or she will be able to secure a spot in the novice group…”

“That’s right.”

“Because of this, some of the people who are more qualified to be in the novice group won’t be able to enter the novice group.”

“This is quite unfair, right?”

“Not really. Luck is also part of our strength. Even if we have the same talent and comprehension skills, will our outcome be the same? Not necessarily, right?”

“You’re right. In any case, those who are truly strong will definitely be in the novice group. Those who are qualified to be in the group but lost due to luck mostly only have slightly above average strength.”

…

The second round of the Seven Mansions Feast, or the revival round, lasted a full seven days.

With the end of the second round, those in the novice group were finally confirmed. A total of 816 people were in the novice group. This meant that there were originally more than 1,600 participants.

‘I’m sure there are many who are unconvinced by the results…’

After listening to the conversation of the young disciples from the Pure Yang Sect seven days ago, Duan Ling Tian knew many people would not be convinced by the results since they would think it was unfair. After all, there were those weaker than them who lucked out by challenging weaker opponents while they could only challenge strong opponents.

In the end, more than 100 people gathered and looked for Lin Dong Lai, the elder from the Howling Flames Sect, to voice their protest.

Lin Dong Lai said, “If any of you can guarantee that you’ll rank in the top 30, I’ll immediately let you join the novice group. If you fail to rank in the top 30, you have to cripple your cultivation. Are any of you confident?”

With this, most of them retreated. They were a few who were still dissatisfied so they looked for their elders, hoping their elders would speak up for them. Alas, they were only ignored by their elders.

The elders had long known the rules of the Seven Mansions Feast, after all. What was the point of speaking up when this was how it had always been? Moreover, if they set the precedent and spoke up now, what would they do when it was their turn to host the Seven Mansions Feast and young disciples came up to them to protest?

With this, the protest ended very quickly.

‘Luck is indeed part of one’s strength…’ Duan Ling Tian strongly agreed with this. Although he worked hard cultivating from the time he was in the mundane realm until now, he did not dare to say all his achievements were due to hard work and talent alone. Luck was also a huge factor in his success.