Li Nanting nodded. “The Tournament of a Hundred Sects has been held for thousands of years in the Northern Territory. There are countless sects across the Northern Territory, but only a hundred will be invited to participate, and each one receives just ten slots.”
Li Guanqi furrowed his brows, puzzled. “A hundred sects... that’s up to a thousand participants. This tournament will be grand.”
Li Nanting nodded with a smile. “That’s right. It is indeed a very grand event. It’s a ranked competition, and the top hundred participants receive generous rewards, increasing with rank. The prizes come directly from the Heavenly King of the Eastern Territory, Long Qu. And the sects of the top fifty contestants will be handsomely rewarded as well.”
Li Guanqi fell silent. He knew that the more generous the rewards for a tournament, the more intense the competition would be.
He turned to Gu Ran beside him. “Senior Sister Gu, has the Daxia Sword Sect participated in the tourney before?”
Gu Ran hesitated, then gave a frank nod. “We have.”
“What was the last result?”
Li Nanting gave a sheepish cough. “Ahem... Our sect placed eighty-sixth.”
They felt a wave of embarrassment.
“...Isn’t that basically last place?” Li Guanqi had prepared himself for poor results, but it was worse than he thought.
Elder Xu Zhengjie chuckled dryly. “No use hiding it. No need for shame. Yes, we placed that low last time. But if you go back three tournaments, when your master led the team, we placed thirty-ninth!”
Li Guanqi looked at Li Nanting in awe, but Li Nanting waved him off. “Why are we bringing up the past? Let’s not dwell on it.”
Xu Zhengjie nodded, then turned to the two disciples, pride in his voice. “We went to great lengths to secure two slots for both of you. Guanqi, your talent with the sword has been exceptional since you first began cultivating. You’ve survived countless near-death battles and grown rapidly through experience.”
Then, he turned to Gu Ran and said, “You’re talented, girl, but you lack actual battle experience. You’re always spending your days studying spells, but there aren’t enough spells for you to study.”
He sighed. “There’s just one month left. Use it well and push yourselves. Strive for a good result—our sect needs it.”
As they listened to Xu Zhengjie’s advice, they felt the weight of expectation on their shoulders.
Li Nanting stepped in gently. “Don’t pressure them too much. Let things run their course. Sect rankings are determined by the points earned across many matches. We won’t be relying on just the two of them.”
He waved a hand. “The final list should be confirmed within two days. If you have time, head to the Scripture Pavilion at Heavenly Pillar Peak and pick a suitable technique. We won’t charge contribution points this time. We’ll even open the Scripture Pavilion at the back of the mountain for you, so don’t waste the chance.”
After a few more parting words of advice, the two disciples excused themselves. Before leaving, Gu Ran and Li Guanqi agreed to meet on Heavenly Pillar Peak the next day.
Li Guanqi nodded with a smile, then flew to Jade Teapot Peak. As expected, Ye Feng and the others were already waiting for him.
When he landed, he looked at them and asked, “Have you guys also gotten the news?”
Ye Feng and the others looked at each other and nodded.
Zhong Lin said, “The sect will hold an internal qualifying round to choose the tournament participants over the next three days. I can’t believe we’re part of something as grand as the Tournament of a Hundred Sects.”
Even Lin Dong scratched his head and said, “Based on how the qualifying round is set up, I may stand a chance.”
Li Guanqi arched an eyebrow. “Hm? Lin Dong? I thought the ten slots were for the late Foundation Building Realm disciples?”
Lin Dong froze. “You don’t know? Of the ten spots, four are for the early Foundation Building Realm, three for the mid-stage, and three for the late-stage.”
Li Guanqi was silent for a moment. “In that case... will Eldest Senior Brother Wu Bing, the sect master’s closed-door disciple, be competing too?”
Lin Dong shook his head. He was Wu Bing’s junior at Heavenly Earth Peak. “Only Foundation Building Realm disciples from our sect can join the tournament. Senior Brother Wu recently broke through to the Golden Core Realm, so he can’t participate anymore.”
Li Guanqi was inwardly shocked. When he first joined the sect, Wu Bing was only in the mid Foundation Building Realm. This meant that Wu Bing had achieved consecutive breakthroughs and progressed to the Golden Core Realm.
It’s no wonder that he became the sect master’s closed-door disciple. He’s so talented...
Li Guanqi looked at them and smiled. “Since we all have a shot, let’s work hard. Let’s all go to the tournament together!”
There was an additional fire in all their eyes.
Then Li Guanqi said, “The qualifying battles are up to you. Tomorrow morning, I’ll be heading to Heavenly Pillar Peak. After that, I’ll likely train at the Millennium Waterfall behind Thousand Peak Mountain. If any of you have questions about sword techniques, feel free to come find me. Let’s all do our best!”
As he spoke, Li Guanqi slowly raised a fist. One by one, the others followed. They bumped fists with solemn resolve.
Very soon, news of the Tournament of a Hundred Sects spread throughout the entire Northern Territory.
Countless cultivators flew toward Heavenly Tiger Pass for the rare spectacle. Some were from participating sects, and others simply came to witness the clash of young prodigies. Meanwhile, Li Nanting had also briefed Li Guanqi on the tournament’s strongest contenders.
Li Guanqi closed his eyes, quietly recalling his master’s words.
The Daxia Territory is divided into four continents: Azure Cloud, Soaring Heavens, Cangwu, and Black Tortoise. A large, treacherous ocean separates them.
The Azure Cloud Continent’s top factions are known collectively as the Three Sects and Six Pavilions. In the Northern Territory, only the Purple Sun Pavilion and Profound Gate Pavilion are part of this collective, and the Purple Sun Pavilion is the stronger of the two.