Chapter 241: Selection Contest

On the morning of the competition, Hao Chengfeng took Ye Liuyun to the inner gate's training arena.

This is also the place where inner gate disciples usually gather.

Now the disciples with competition slots who have appeared here are mostly at the Ninth Sea Transformation realm, and even those at the Eighth Sea Transformation are rare.

These inner gate disciples rarely show up; they either stay in seclusion or go out for training, so they are seldom seen.

Therefore most of them have never seen Ye Liuyun, let alone his past battles; at most they have heard some news about him after he emerged from seclusion.

But when they heard that Ye Liuyun is only at the Fifth Sea Transformation realm, they immediately lost interest.

Cross‑level challenge?

All of them can cross‑level challenge. It's just that Ye Liuyun can jump four levels, so they assume there must have been some special reason then. They don't believe he won by genuine skill.

There are also some disciples who came to watch; many of them know Ye Liuyun, have witnessed his strength, and look forward to his spectacular performance.

After Hao Chengfeng hurried Ye Liuyun here, he busied himself introducing him to several senior brothers.

These are all senior disciples, so he knows them well, and they all proactively greeted him.

But whenever he mentioned that Ye Liuyun is at the Sixth Sea Transformation realm, those senior brothers lost interest. Moreover, seeing a pet beast perched on his shoulder, they thought he was a rich kid who got in through connections, and they looked down on him even more.

Some even asked directly, "Did the Grand Elder give a slot to a Sixth Sea Transformation disciple? That's such a waste, isn't it?"

They completely disregarded Ye Liuyun's feelings.

Ye Liuyun could only smile awkwardly, saying nothing.

Explaining now would be useless; he can only let his strength speak later!

As for the Clear River Pavilion disciples, Hao Chengfeng didn't introduce them to him. He knows Ye Liuyun's feud with Clear River Pavilion is irreconcilable, so he must let his strength speak.

But he still told Ye Liuyun: "Did you see that group from Clear River Pavilion? I don't know why Zhou Qingjiang didn't come. The leader is the left Protector of Clear River Pavilion, Chen Haotian. He is also said to practice Soul cultivation, so be extra careful."

"Oh? Besides the Martial Soul Saint's sect, there are also people who practice Soul cultivation?" Ye Liuyun asked.

"Of course, the Martial Soul Saint only accepts female disciples! There are other elders who practice Soul cultivation who accept male disciples," Hao Chengfeng explained, and also introduced many senior brothers' masters to Ye Liuyun.

This junior brother only knows about cultivation all day and knows little about academy affairs, so he needs to be briefed quickly.

After Hao Chengfeng finished the introductions, Ye Liuyun merely said "Oh," indicating he understood.

He isn't interested in the masters of these disciples; he only looks at their strength.

He scanned the disciples one by one with his Golden Pupil, and then had a sense of them. Among them, few could threaten senior brother Hao Chengfeng.

Chen Haotian of Clear River Pavilion counts as one. Another is Jiang Yuan, also introduced by his senior brother. There is also a woman, face as cold as ice, standing alone without speaking to anyone.

"Senior brother, who is that woman, and why didn't you introduce her to me?" Ye Liuyun asked.

"Oh, that lady is Liu Shengnan; she has a bad temper and flips mood easily, so I don't dare provoke her! Who knows if she's in a good mood today?"

"Uh… that name sounds like she's not easy to deal with!" Ye Liuyun muttered internally, and didn't stare further.

The others are just ordinary; he felt no threat.

Soon, a Steward Elder arrived with a group of Stewards at the training arena, herding the non‑participating disciples to the surrounding stands and handing each competing disciple a number tag.

A Steward, upon seeing Ye Liuyun, was startled and shouted, "Those not joining the competition, go to the stands; what are you still doing here?"

Everyone followed his gaze, casting mocking looks at Ye Liuyun. He could even hear the jeering of Clear River Pavilion disciples.

"I am Ye Liuyun, here to join the competition!" Though displeased, Ye Liuyun didn't lose his temper.

The Steward was taken aback, then checked the list and indeed found Ye Liuyun's name.

"What realm are you at? You're entering the competition?" the Steward asked, puzzled.

"Does this competition have a realm restriction?" Ye Liuyun retorted, his Golden Pupil flashing.

If the Steward kept babbling, he wouldn't mind giving him a little lesson.

"Stop the chatter, issue the number tags quickly!" the Steward Elder reminded the Steward.

The Steward didn't dare defy the Elder's words, replied affirmatively, and immediately handed the tag to Ye Liuyun.

"Looks like this disciple has backing!" the Steward thought.

Ye Liuyun took the tag, didn't trouble the Steward further, and silently stood aside.

The tags were soon all distributed. Only about 120 participants, all among the academy's strongest disciples.

Then the Elder announced, "The selection contest begins now. Disciples whose numbers are called, step onto the stage to compete; life and death are on your own responsibility."

After speaking, he stepped down from the arena and stood aside to act as a judge.

A Steward walked onto the stage to call numbers.

Ye Liuyun looked at the disciples waiting to go on stage, and couldn't help feeling a surge of emotion.

"These former Sea Transformation masters I once looked up to are now standing alongside me, and I'll soon surpass them! It seems I'm one step closer to leaving the Outer Region!"

"Number fifteen, number sixty‑nine!" the Steward disciple shouted.

"Hm? I'm the first round!" Ye Liuyun's own tag is sixty‑nine; he didn't expect to be the first to step up.

When he saw that the opponent was a Clear River Pavilion disciple, he seemed to understand something.

"Looks like a Steward meddled, and Clear River Pavilion wants to take this chance to eliminate me! But this petty scheme is futile; it gives me a perfect chance to devour Soul!"

Ye Liuyun calmly stepped onto the stage; after the Steward signaled the start, his Golden Pupil swept, instantly devouring the opponent's Soul.

The Clear River Pavilion disciple fell to the ground and died before even making a move.

"Pupil technique? Or Soul Cultivator?" many disciples below noticed Ye Liuyun's Golden Pupil flashing Golden Light, unsure whether he used pupil technique or Soul cultivation, but in any case it was an attack involving the Soul.

Thus their gazes toward Ye Liuyun became cautious.

If Ye Liuyun fought them head‑on, they wouldn't be afraid. However, most of them don't practice Soul cultivation, so they still harbor some apprehension toward him.

Ye Liuyun glanced at Clear River Pavilion's left Protector Chen Haotian, a faint smile curling his lips, and stepped down from the arena.

Chen Haotian's expression turned unusually sour. He had intended to eliminate Ye Liuyun first, but didn't expect the kid to be so strong.

"Hmph, it's just pupil technique; let's see how you handle the next one," he said, then warned Ye Liuyun's next opponent not to look into Ye Liuyun's eyes.

He only knew that Ye Liuyun had defeated the right Protector, but didn't believe Ye Liuyun relied solely on strength. Now that he saw it, indeed the victory came from Soul‑type attacks, so he was less worried about Ye Liuyun.