Invincible Beyond Heavens: Cultivating With A Broken EXP System

At present, whether it was Ye Beichen, Lu Changsan, Zhu Ximen, or Han Lingxue, all of them were far stronger than when Li Yun had last seen them. In just twenty days, each of them had made visible progress, and it was not a minor improvement but a sharp and explosive surge in strength.

Twenty days was not a long period of time, yet Ye Beichen and the others had advanced to such an astonishing degree. It was only natural that Li Yun felt a sense of amazement.

That said, his amazement did not turn into surprise. Everything before him was well within his expectations.

Ye Beichen and the others were all top tier geniuses. The cultivation speed of true geniuses was always frighteningly fast.

Moreover, they had all spent large amounts of contribution points in the Contribution Hall to exchange for precious resources, then devoted themselves entirely to cultivation for twenty days. If they had not achieved rapid progress under such conditions, that would have been what truly shocked Li Yun.

If that had been the case, they would not have deserved to be called geniuses at all.

“Ye Beichen, I hope you do not disappoint me,” Li Yun thought silently as he looked toward Ye Beichen, a cold glint flashing through his eyes.

“Silence.”

Just as Li Yun’s thoughts settled, a loud shout rang out across the Martial Battle Hall. Immediately after, four figures radiating authority appeared on the high platform. They were none other than the First Seats of the Four Peaks, and the one who had spoken was the Earth Pillar Peak First Seat.

In an instant, the previously noisy hall fell silent. All eyes turned toward the high platform, filled with respect and attention.

Under the gaze of the crowd, the Earth Pillar Peak First Seat coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and spoke again. “You all know very well what day it is and why you have gathered here in the Martial Battle Hall. I will not waste time on unnecessary words. I will briefly explain the rules of the New Disciples Ranking competition, and then you may begin preparing for the matches.”

“The rules are simple. This competition uses a points based elimination system. Winning a match earns one point, while losing a match deducts one point. Once your points drop below zero, you will be eliminated. In addition, if you lose three matches in a row, you will be eliminated regardless of how many points you have.”

“Lastly, you are absolutely forbidden from killing your opponent during a match. Whether the act is intentional or accidental, anyone who violates this rule will face the harshest punishment. Do you all understand?”

Although the Earth Pillar Peak First Seat did not raise his voice, his words rang clearly in everyone’s ears.

“Understood.”

The fifty new disciples participating in the New Disciples Ranking competition shouted in unison, their voices filled with determination.

“Very good,” the Earth Pillar Peak First Seat said with a satisfied nod. He then waved his hand and called out, “Steward Liu, you will oversee the proceedings of this assembly.”

“Yes, First Seat.”

A middle aged man in green robes, roughly forty years old, stepped forward and bowed respectfully. He then walked to the broad arena at the center of the Martial Battle Hall.

After sweeping his gaze across the crowd, he announced in a clear and powerful voice, “I now declare that the one hundred and ninety sixth New Disciples Ranking competition officially begins. All participating disciples, please line up to register.”

As soon as his words fell, more than a dozen Outer Sect disciples of Martial Ascension Gate emerged from a side hall, carrying four large wooden boxes.

Li Yun and the other competitors quickly formed an orderly line in front of the boxes.

After waiting for roughly ten minutes, it was finally Li Yun’s turn. He reached into one of the wooden boxes and randomly drew out a bamboo slip. On it was written a white number fourteen.

“Fourteenth arena,” Li Yun murmured.

He casually put the bamboo slip aside and walked in the direction of the assigned arena.

The Martial Battle Hall was often used by Martial Ascension Gate disciples for sparring, so there were naturally many arenas rather than just one. In fact, there were hundreds of them, each marked with a number from one to one hundred.

According to the rules of the New Disciples Ranking competition, drawing a bamboo slip marked fourteen meant that he would fight on the fourteenth arena.

When Li Yun stepped onto the fourteenth arena, he saw that someone was already waiting there.

It was a slender young man in a gray robe, around twenty years old, with a faint trace of arrogance on his face.

“I did not expect my opponent to be you,” the gray robed youth said, momentarily stunned when he recognized Li Yun. His surprise quickly turned into delight, and he burst into laughter. “Li Yun, do you know this? You are my dream opponent. To meet you in the very first round of the competition, I must be incredibly lucky.”

Li Yun had previously surpassed Ye Beichen and taken first place on the official New Disciples Ranking in Martial Ascension City. Although the event had not shaken the entire world, everyone who had participated was well aware of his name. It was therefore no surprise that the gray robed youth recognized him at a glance.

“Are you truly certain that meeting me in the first round is a stroke of luck?”

Hearing the gray robed youth’s words, Li Yun’s lips curved into an oddly amused smile.

At the start of the competition, everyone had zero points. The moment someone lost a match, their points would drop into the negative, and according to the rules of the New Disciples Ranking competition, that person would be eliminated on the spot. Yet this gray robed youth was calling it lucky to face Li Yun, the one who held first place on the New Disciples Ranking.

Was there something wrong with his thinking?

As if he had seen through Li Yun’s thoughts, the gray robed youth let out an arrogant snort. “Li Yun, do not think too highly of yourself just because you once took first place on the official New Disciples Ranking. If it were not for your ridiculous luck in obtaining more than a million contribution points, with your so called cultivation at the first level of the Xiantian Realm, you would not even qualify for the top ten, let alone first place.”

Li Yun could not help rolling his eyes when he heard this.

Only then did he understand the gray robed youth’s attitude. It was not that his mind was broken, but that he firmly believed Li Yun’s first place ranking had nothing to do with strength and was purely the result of luck. With that belief, it was only natural that he did not take Li Yun seriously.

In truth, this way of thinking was not limited to the gray robed youth alone. Many people believed that Li Yun’s top ranking was exaggerated and undeserved.

That reaction was understandable. Li Yun, with only Xiantian Realm first level cultivation, overpowering Ye Beichen, Zhu Ximen, and Lu Changsan, three acknowledged top geniuses, and seizing first place sounded too unreal. Most people would instinctively doubt it.