Chapter 103: Half-Step Sword Intent

  There is a huge rock in the pool of water under the waterfall.

  Ye Chen sat cross-legged on the ground, with Cloud Concealing Sword sheathed and placed on his knees. He had entered a profound and mysterious state of emptiness, where his spirit and self were forgotten.

  The thunderous roar of the waterfall plummeting down did not affect Ye Chen. In his perception, the world was no longer its original self; sounds had completely disappeared. The speed at which the waterfall fell slowed down, and it eventually started moving in slow motion, with each thread falling gently downwards, occasionally spinning out a few water droplets that sparkled with seven-colored light under the sunlight, just like the most dazzling crystal stone.

  When she perceived it, the waterfall was completely still, and Ye Chen opened her cold and stern eyes.

  Draw sword, swing slash!

  The action is swift and decisive, without a single drag or hesitation.

  In silence, the waterfall opposite was cut in two, divided into two segments falling down, never connecting together again.

  Boom! Boom!

  Two loud explosions sounded, and water splashed everywhere.

  "The distance to the sword intent is still half a step away, unfortunately this half step is the most difficult, requiring a long time of tempering." Just now, that one sword, Ye Chen almost touched the existence of the sword intent, but unfortunately it was still somewhat mysterious and could only be considered as half-step sword intent, with some subtle differences from the true sword intent.

  Wow!

  A mist-like breath escaped from his mouth, and Ye Chen slowly stood up, his body shook slightly, and the half-step sword intent that had been released was immediately retracted, making it difficult for outsiders to detect.

  After admiring the scenery for a while, Yedu followed the same path back.

  Outside the courtyard, Wu Zongming saw Ye Chen return and smiled: "It's really not easy to find you."

  Ye Chendi said: "There are still three days until the Inner Gate Disciple Ranking Competition, I want to quickly improve my strength a bit."

  "You don't think you can rush into the top ten disciples of the Inner Sect, do you?!"

  "Close enough!"

  Wu Zongming's eyes widened, "Really? The top ten disciples of the inner sect are close to the core disciples and some of them even have the qualifications to compete for the core disciples. Moreover, most importantly, they are almost all in the late stage of condensing their true energy, with the combat power to instantly kill ordinary warriors of the same level."

  The top ten disciples of the inner sect are the most elite among the inner sect disciples, each one is a genius with a combination of natural talent, comprehension and willpower. They may not be as good as the core disciples for now, but who knows how far they can go if given time. Therefore, to the sect, the top ten disciples of the inner sect are just as important as the core disciples and won't be neglected due to a temporary gap in strength.

  Ye Chen shook his head and smiled, "When did you become so disheartened? Aren't you one of the top ten disciples of the inner sect? I've heard that every year, a few people are eliminated and new faces appear."

  Wu Zongming opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word. He felt that he indeed lacked some ambition. When Ye Chen was still in the sixth layer of Qi Refining Realm, he dared to confront Zhang Haoran, who was at the peak of the tenth layer of Qi Refining Realm. Now that he had reached the middle stage of Condensing Reality Realm, why couldn't he replace others and become one of the new top ten inner disciples? Was it because he didn't have such thoughts himself? Not necessarily!

  "What you said is right, in the past I was the first disciple of the outer gate and didn't feel too much pressure. However, after becoming an inner gate disciple, everyone around me is an elite among elites. With my talent and strength, I'm nothing special, so I've been hiding my true thoughts, planning to take it one step at a time, no need to be overly aggressive. Now that you mention it, I understand why the gap between me and Zhang Haoran has been widening, because I lost the spirit of bold progress, and started becoming an ordinary member among the inner gate disciples."

  "Those who are close to vermilion become red, those who are close to ink become black." Wu Zongming wouldn't have realized these things if he weren't with Ye Chen. However, seeing Ye Chen's changes with his own eyes, he feels that the other party's success is not accidental, and it's worth deep contemplation.

  The joy of advancing to the middle stage of Condensing True Realm after taking the Returning True Pill disappeared, Wu Zongming sighed: "Suddenly awakened! I thought that relying on the Returning True Pill could bring us closer together, but now it seems that the distance is getting farther and farther apart, at least in terms of determination, you are not as good as me."

  Yedu opened the courtyard door and invited the other party to enter, walking alongside them as they said: "Actually, talent is like a stepping stone, it can make your starting point higher than others, but if you want to keep making progress, relying solely on talent won't do, you need to understand your own way, walk your own path."

  Wu Zongming sighed with a bitter smile, "Tao and Road are still too far away for me. I really don't know what state you've reached!"

  "Right, what did you want me for?" Ye Chen asked.

  Wu Zongming patted his forehead, "Almost forgot about the main event, the ranking match is three days later, and now we need to go draw lots."

  "Draw now?"

  "Well, except for the top ten disciples of the previous inner door, everyone else has to draw lots and register their names. Otherwise, it would be a hassle on the day of the competition."

  "Alright then, let's go together!"

  On the way, Ye Chen learned that the inner door disciple ranking competition was divided into ten groups, with about fifty people in each group. One of the top ten inner door disciples would be assigned to each group, equivalent to a seeded player. The small group matches would be held for ten rounds, and only the top three would qualify for the next final match to compete for this year's top ten inner door disciples. Others would be ranked according to the number of wins.

  Martial Arts Square

  A large raffle box was placed there, with two registration personnel next to it.

  At this time, many inner disciples have already drawn lots.

  "Damn it, what bad luck, how did I end up in Li Kuang's group, Ghost Sword."

  "This is what you call a backing? My team has Blood Shadow Knife Mong Chong, who can beat him? No way, if we encounter him, we can only concede defeat."

  Ye Chen's face showed confusion as he lined up at the back of the queue.

  It was his turn in no time.

  He reached into the lottery box and pulled out a thin wooden sign, took a look at it, and on it was written "Group 7, No. 28, Small Group Seed Player: Feng Ping!"

  Next to him, the registrar writes down Ye Chen's name and group number.

  After drawing lots, the two of them stepped out of the crowd. Wu Zongming asked, "Which group are you in? Who is the seeded player?"

  "Group five, the seeded player is Feng Ping."

  "Feng Zhong Fei Feng Ping!" Wu Zongming was stunned for a moment, then said: "He is ranked sixth among the top ten disciples of the inner gate, his lightness skill is off the charts, it's said that he can float in the wind and move lightly as if weightless, one of the more troublesome ones among the ten people, fortunately I didn't run into him, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to touch his sleeve."

  Outrageous!

  Ye Chen raised a thread of interest, for him, lightness skill was also one of his own advantages, and he didn't know how it compared to Feng Ping in the Wind.

  As for Wu Zongming, he is a member of the third group. The seeded player is Xiao Ye, who ranked third among the top ten disciples in the previous inner door competition, even higher than Pei Shaoying and Guijian Li Kuang. He has mastered both internal and external skills, with high defense and attack capabilities that are terrifying. In the Jianghu, he is known as "Crazy Man".

  Leaving Wudao Square, they went their separate ways.

  The third day.

  The night before the ranking match, Ye Chen finally cultivated to the mid-term peak of the Condensing True Realm, his true energy was more than three times thicker than before. At the same time, his pure and heavy true energy also reached the seventh heavy peak realm, his air sword almost condensed into a substance, its power even greater than that of the sword light.

  Everything is ready, just waiting for tomorrow's ranking match to begin.