Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

”Cough...”

The previously dazed Sixth Elder Su He finally came to his senses under Yun Xiao’s gaze, and after coughing lightly to mask his inner turmoil, he proceeded to announce in a loud voice.

”I declare, this year’s Outer Sect Grand Competition has officially come to an end!”

Su He stealthily glanced at the Great Elders beside him, his loud voice bringing a relative calm to the crowd, then continued, ”The two disciples who are promoted to the Inner Sect from this Outer Sect Grand Competition are Yun Xiao and Shen... uh...”

The words Su He intended to say were already formed in his mind, but when he uttered Yun Xiao’s name and tried to continue, he suddenly got stuck. This was because this year’s Outer Sect Grand Competition was quite different from the past ones.

Ever since the founding of the Jade Pot Sect, there has been a tradition of promoting to the Inner Sect through the Outer Sect Grand Competition, with the top two always being clear-cut figures. Even if they end up both being injured in the end, it doesn’t affect their promotion to the Inner Sect.

But what about this session? Yun Xiao goes without saying; his talent and combat strength are clear for all to see, and his promotion to the Inner Sect is well-deserved. However, the situation with Shen Xiao, who also made it to the final battle, is somewhat less clear.

It’s different from previous sessions, where those geniuses were only seriously injured and could recover after some time. Shen Xiao, because of the unknown potent poison inflicted by Yun Xiao, has all the meridians in his torso shattered and can no longer cultivate Meridian Qi.

Moreover, as time goes by, the Meridian Qi that Shen Xiao had cultivated will dissipate day by day, eventually turning him into a cripple, even worse off than an ordinary person.

How could a powerful sect like the Jade Pot Sect take a cripple into the core Inner Sect? Therefore, Su He was quite hesitant and conflicted. This kid Yun Xiao really knows how to cause trouble!

However, the dilemma in Su He’s heart only lasted for a moment, as he had an idea. Among the Outer Disciples, wasn’t there another genius, Feng Hang, in the early stages of the Meridian Rushing Realm?

In Su He’s view, since Shen Xiao’s meridians are completely broken and he definitely cannot be promoted to Inner Sect, why not settle for the next best and let Feng Hang, who has always been ranked first in the Outer Sect’s Mortal List, take the spot.

”Feng..., uh...”

Clearly, Su He had forgotten something. It was not until he was about to mention Feng Hang’s name and turned his gaze towards a corner that he got stuck again.

With Su He’s keen vision, he immediately noticed the empty sleeve on Feng Hang’s right side and suddenly remembered the previous events, his heart unexpectedly filled with silent grudges towards Yun Xiao.

Apparently, Feng Hang, who lost an arm, would have his cultivation talent greatly diminished, although not to the point of being unable to cultivate like Shen Xiao. Still, it was obvious that he did not qualify to become an Inner Sect Disciple of the Jade Pot Sect.

Both of these talented disciples had fallen at the hands of Yun Xiao. Although there were reasons for these events, to some extent, Yun Xiao did cause the Jade Pot Sect to lose two extremely talented disciples.

At this point, Su He was truly at a loss. Setting aside the early-stage Meridian Rushing Realm Feng Hang and Shen Xiao, the rest of the Outer Disciples just didn’t quite measure up.

Thus, after a moment of indecision, Su He stopped caring about Feng Hang and Shen Xiao and fell silent, turning his gaze to the Great Elders.

From this moment on, the role of the Sixth Elder Su He in this dramatization had come to an end. As the host of this Outer Sect Grand Competition, all he had to do was to announce the names of the top two disciples promoted to the Inner Sect.

Now that only Yun Xiao qualified for promotion to the Inner Sect, with Feng Hang and Shen Xiao both losing that opportunity, how things would unfold depended on the Great Elders.

Many of the geniuses in the hall, seeing Su He’s action, also seemed to understand something. At that moment, some of the talented disciples who had participated in this Outer Sect Grand Competition showed eager and fervent expressions on their faces.

In contrast, Feng Hang, standing in one corner of the arena, had an extremely sullen face. He had been thinking that although he lost an arm, he might still have a chance to be promoted to the Inner Sect.

But now, seeing that Su He didn’t even finish saying his name, it meant that Feng Hang had completely lost the opportunity to be promoted to the Inner Sect. How could he be happy about that?

Especially seeing the excited expressions of some of the younger disciples who had participated in the Outer Sect Grand Competition near him, Feng Hang grew even more envious, his gaze towards Yun Xiao filled with deeper resentment.

This loser’s thoughts naturally weren’t anyone’s concern. The reason why everyone was so excited was that this was their only chance; if they were lucky enough to catch the eye of one of the two Great Elders, they could truly soar to the heavens.

The top two of each Outer Sect Grand Competition were undeniably set to be promoted to the Inner Sect; this was beyond doubt. However, that wasn’t the only way into the Inner Sect, such as right now at this moment.

Every outer sect competition inevitably draws the attention of some inner sect elders who come to watch the battles. If any outer disciple displays a flash of talent, or any particularly clever technique that catches these elders’ eyes, they might just be fortunate enough to be taken in as an inner sect disciple.

This year’s outer sect competition has attracted the two mightiest elders of the Jade Pot Sect, other than the Sect Master himself. Therefore, these participating disciples are undoubtedly even more excited.

The most important difference this year, compared to previous competitions, lies in the two traditionally fixed spots that have always been a sure thing—this time, only one has been confirmed.

This implies that among the remaining outer disciples, it is quite possible that one of them will fill this vacancy, thereby indirectly increasing their chances of being promoted to the inner sect.

Thinking of this, certain talented participants in the outer sect competition couldn’t help but cast strange glances at Yun Xiao, for if it weren’t for this fellow’s consecutive defeats of Feng Hang and Shen Xiao, and their loss of their most relied upon cultivation talents, how could they have had such a chance?

Noticing Su He’s gaze turning their way, the two great elders immediately understood. Fu Du’s eyes flashed green as he spoke with some impatience: ”Yun Xiao, since you have won this outer sect competition, why don’t you join my Poison Vein Sect? I guarantee you will become my closed-door disciple!”

”Whoa...”

As soon as Fu Du spoke those words, the entire Arena Hall instantly buzzed with surprise. Everyone there had seen for themselves Yun Xiao’s talent and strength. Fu Du’s interest in him was hardly a secret.

The reason for their astonishment was the phrase ”closed-door disciple.” A closed-door disciple means that after this disciple, the master will not accept any more disciples. The implicit significance of this was quite profound.

Good teachers are hard to find, but good students are even harder. On the Hidden Dragon Continent, Fu Du and Lu Zhan had essentially cultivated up to a bottleneck-like high realm. On this continent, where the Heaven and Earth Energy is scarce, advancement becomes extremely difficult.

Therefore, cultivators like these at the Spirit Vein Realm shift their focus to nurturing the next generation. Fu Du and Lu Zhan have both taken on many highly talented disciples, always competing openly and secretly behind the scenes.

Usually, the elders of the Jade Pot Sect would not take closed-door disciples. By accepting one as your closed-door disciple, what if you encounter a younger talent who is even stronger? Do you take them on or not? Wouldn’t you be slapping your own face?

The words ”closed-door disciple” are not spoken lightly. Once said, it signifies that the master believes it is impossible to encounter a more talented cultivator than this disciple, and that one disciple for life is sufficient.

”Does the Second Elder believe that there is no one in the entire Xuanyue Empire, or even the whole Hidden Dragon Continent, with greater talent than Yun Xiaotian?”

Everyone had such thoughts, but what they had not seen was the two extremely gloomy young faces in the southeast corner of the Arena Hall.

”How could Teacher do this?”

Bi Luo, as Fu Du’s second disciple, had a deep vendetta against Yun Xiao. Now here was Fu Du, in front of many inner and outer sect prodigies, openly declaring he wanted to take Yun Xiao as his closed-door disciple. Wasn’t that just saying that all of his existing disciples were inferior to Yun Xiao?

In contrast, Yin Huan, glimpses of an unnoticeable green flash in his eyes. Perhaps he understood Fu Du’s intentions better than Bi Luo.

Even so, when Yin Huan heard the words ”closed-door disciple,” an uncomfortable feeling and jealousy arose within him, for those words were supposed to belong to him, Yin Huan, after all.

Yin Huan might have been the last disciple and not as strong as his two senior brothers, but since he had become Fu Du’s disciple, he had received the best treatment among them, one that was befitting a closed-door disciple.

Yin Huan knew that his master’s intention to take Yun Xiao as a disciple might be for the secret of his Immunity to Hundred Poisons, but during this outer sect competition, Yun Xiao had displayed such talent and unpredictability that Yin Huan felt a genuine threat.

Yin Huan even regretted that back in the Shang Family days, when Yun Xiao was still very weak, he hadn’t strangled him in the cradle, letting him grow up to enter the Jade Pot Sect and now even compete with himself for the position of closed-door disciple.

Putting aside these two geniuses of the Poison Vein Sect’s odd thoughts, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Yun Xiao refrained from answering for the time being. With his astuteness, how could he not know what this old Fu Du was thinking?

”Second Elder, do you think I, Lu Zhan, don’t exist?”

Just as Yun Xiao held his silence, the Great Elder Lu Zhan seemed to finally regain his composure, his first words quite impolite: ”Everyone has seen for themselves Yun Xiao’s Detoxification Skill. Such a talent should join our Medical Pulse Sect!”

Lu Zhan’s words were unmistakable, and every disciple in the Arena Hall, both from the inner and outer sects, heard it. As they understood the meaning behind his words, they were taken aback again.

”Are the Great Elder and the Second Elder competing for a person?”

This thought wasn’t spoken out loud by the crowd, but the head-on confrontation between the two elders confirmed the idea in their minds. Being fought over by these two, regardless of the final outcome, would likely be a great honor for someone, wouldn’t it?