Eternal Reverence

Among the direct disciple participants, there were two individuals who had their eyes fixed on Li Fuchen.

One of them was Yuwen Tian and the other was Liu Wuhuang.

When Li Fuchen first came to the Azure Water Sect, Yuwen Tian was the no.1 outer sect disciple, but he was surpassed by Li Fuchen afterwards.

When Li Fuchen was an inner sect disciple, Liu Wuhuang was at his peak among the inner sect disciples, but he was also surpassed by Li Fuchen later on.

The two of them were 5-star bone frames and should be incomparably glorious, but who would have expected for Li Fuchen to surpass them and cover up their brilliance.

Pressure and humiliation made Yuwen Tian and Liu Wuhuang improve at a rapid speed.

They both managed to make it to the 6th level of the Earth Realm.

Of course, Yuwen Tian being able to advance to the 6th level of the Earth Realm was mainly because he obtained a star stone and consumed a mystic class mid-tier elixir which increased his cultivation.

Liu Wuhuang didn't have any star stones, but he too consumed a mystic class mid-tier elixir which helped to increase his cultivation.

Elixirs which could increase one's cultivation levels were very precious and mystic class mid-tier elixirs which could increase Earth Realm cultivation were even much more precious. But there was a price, as the two of them had to spend a lot of time trying to secure the cultivation elixir, that meant that it would affect their future cultivation time.

But in order to obtain the qualification to participate in the sect selection tournament, everything was worth it.

'I must obtain the top four positions."

Yuwen Tian and Liu Wuhuang were unwilling to always live under the shadows of Li Fuchen. For the past two years, they had dedicated all their time to cultivation, where they worked much harder, several folds more diligently than before.

This was their final chance and even if they couldn't surpass Li Fuchen, they had to catch up to Li Fuchen's pace.

There were thirty direct disciples participating. 80% of them were gold class direct disciples and the rest were silver class direct disciples.

20% of these silver class direct disciples barely advanced to the 6th level of the Earth Realm and they were here to make up the numbers.

The Stars Ranking Tournament required the participants to be under 35 years old. For a silver class direct disciple to attain the 6th level of the Earth Realm before the age of 35 was undoubtedly a very challenging task. Some of them had to rely on elixirs and various methods to increase their cultivation just to participate in the sect selection tournament.

Seeing that all the participants had arrived, Zhao Wujin stood up and spoke in a loud voice, "The sect selection tournament will officially begin. This tournament has an elimination rule and those who accumulate four losses shall be disqualified. I hope that you will put in all your effort for every match, so as not to leave any regrets."

There were only four spots for the Azure Water Sect to participate in the Stars Ranking Tournament. If one was to accumulate four losses then their ranking was naturally below the fourth place and it would be impossible to make it to the top four.

The tournament opponents were decided by drawing lots. Below the tournament stage, a referee drew out two wooden sticks and spoke loudly, "First match, Yuwen Tian against Tan Mo."

"Yuwen Tian, huh?" Li Fuchen sized up Yuwen Tian.

Li Fuchen didn't see him for two years and it seemed like Yuwen Tian's qi presence was much more concentrated. He imagined that Yuwen Tian must have improved a lot during these two years. After all, he was a 5-star bone frame and his innate potential shouldn't be inferior to the likes of Sword Tiger and Emotionless Sword.

At this tournament, Yuwen Tian and Tan Mo were exchanging moves.

Tan Mo was 28 years old this year and a gold class direct disciple with an elite 4-star bone frame.

Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang…

Everyone assumed that Yuwen Tian shouldn't be a match for Tan Mo, but unexpectedly after a hundred moves, Yuwen Tian didn't fall into a disadvantage and instead took the upper hand.

"This child isn't bad. This improvement speed seems to be much stronger than Chen Yuanhu's back in the days."

Many of the inner sect elders nodded.

After hundreds of moves, Yuwen Tian defeated Tan Mo and won his first match.

The second match was Li Fuchen's and his opponent was a silver class direct disciple.

Perhaps he wanted to witness Li Fuchen's ability, as this direct disciple didn't forfeit the match.

"Li shidi, please give me some guidance." The youth's eyes flickered.

"Please." Li Fuchen nodded.

Chi, chi, chi, chi, chi, chi…

A sheet of sword shadows came over and the dense sword qi were like the chilly autumn rain, which was severe and filled with killing intent.

All of these direct disciples weren’t ordinary people and in many of the eyes of these inner sect disciples, the youth’s sword art was at the level where they couldn’t see through it. They felt that a trace of the sword qi would be able to turn them into a blood mist.

Li Fuchen’s unsheathed his sword. A flash of sword light dispersed the sword shadow and the youth was forced to take several steps back, while there were traces of blood on his throat.

“Many thanks for the mercy, Li shidi.” The youth was drenched in sweat.

Li Fuchen nodded and didn’t say anything.

“Li Fuchen shixiong is unfathomable. A simple sword move from him was enough to defeat his opponent.”

Everyone sang praises.

The third match was Liu Wushuang’s and his opponent was also a silver class direct disciple.

Seemingly trying to be like Li Fuchen, Liu Wushuang similarly used a single sword move to defeat his opponent.

But those who could see it, knew that Liu Wuhuang’s sword skills weren’t as unstoppable as Li Fuchen’s sword move, which crushed his opponent with pure strength.

After the fourth and fifth matches, there was soon only one more match left in the first round.

For the first fourteen matches, the first half of the tournament was progressing very quickly.

Among them, Sword Maniac Li Xiangru, Sword Tiger Chen Yuanhu, and Emotionless Sword Xue Feng all simply defeated their opponent with a single blade. The difference between the two sides were so drastic that it couldn’t be measured.

The fifteenth match was Bu Qingsong going against a gold class direct disciple.

On the tournament stage, there was resplendent sword light which was like the blazing sun. Bu Qingsong’s opponent was defeated in a straightforward manner, even his black gold sword was disarmed and his clothes were tattered.

At the peak level of the Earth Realm, Bu Qingsong didn’t have to use his profound sword skills to defeat his opponent. He just had to release his qi and use his sword qi to injure his opponent.

"Such a powerful ability. Apart from Sword Maniac shixiong and Sword Tiger shixiong, no one else is a match for Bu shixiong."

"Not necessary. Xue shixiong's cultivation is at the 8th level of the Earth Realm and he might not be inferior to Bu shixiong."

"Xue shixiong and Bu shixiong might have a good battle. The victor will only be decided after they have a fight."

Majority of the people assumed that Li Fuchen wasn't a match for Bu Qingsong, as their cultivation levels were too far apart.

The second round of matches were about to start.

"First match. Li Fuchen against Yuwen Tian."

During the outer sect days, these two prodigies were the most dazzling and they were going to go against each other in the first match of the second round.

The time was different and the mental state was different as well.

At this moment in Li Fuchen's eyes, Yuwen Tian wasn't any different than a regular direct disciple.

The days when they strived for the no.1 outer sect disciple position was a long time ago. It seemed as though it was a matter that happened in a previous lifetime.

One sword move, it still took just one sword move.

The elite prodigy Yuwen Tian was defeated by Li Fuchen in a single blade.

When everyone witnessed this scene, they were utterly speechless.

It wasn't because Yuwen Tian wasn't strong enough, it was because Li Fuchen improved too quickly. In just a few short years, he had surpassed all the prodigies that were once on the same level as him.

The Stars Ranking Tournament was only held once every three years.

In normal cases, 25 years old was the best age to participate.

But Li Fuchen was only 20 years old and to participate in the Stars Ranking Tournament at the age of 20 was undoubtedly too crazy of a gap.

Such a situation would generally happen to a heaven-defying 5-star bone frame or a 6-star bone frame.

Perhaps at the next Stars Ranking Tournament, Yuwen Tian might have a chance to get into the Stars Ranking… but not now.

"He is no longer in the same world as us anymore." One of the top ten outer sect disciples, Gao Changtian sighed.

Wu Qingmei nodded and was feeling very complicated.

Even though he was unwilling to accept this result, Yuwen Tian was already mentally prepared.

Previously he wasn't willing to believe it, but now he had to. The current he was too far apart from Li Fuchen and not only did he not pull the gap closer, but he was also flung further back even more.

In the third round of the tournament, Liu Wushuang lost at the hands of Emotionless Sword Xue Feng.

Compared to Xue Feng, Liu Wuhuang's wasn't competent enough, since Xue Feng was also a 5-star bone frame.

After the fourth round of the tournament ended, all the silver class direct disciples were eliminated and there were also two gold class direct disciples who got eliminated as well.

As such, out of the 30 participants, only 22 were left.