Chapter 220: Zen's Blazing Determination
“It is our great honor to be joined by the newest member of the inner disciples. Zen has passed the assessment, thus promoted to an inner disciple of Drizzle Peak. Congratulations and welcome to the team, Zen!” said Yehudi?with a smile as he clapped his hands.
Zen waved his hand and said, “Thank you, Yehudi. It's my pleasure to be part of this circle. I heard from Cleve that you are here to discuss the?All Peaks Competition?”
Yehudi nodded, “Yes, as the saying goes, 'know the enemy as well as yourself'. Since you just joined the inner disciples circle, you may not be familiar with some things. So, I was?instructed to discuss?the strategy?in the All Peaks Competition with you.”
“What can our strategy be this time? The other peaks are obviously better than us, so how can we gain the advantage this time? I believe that the best we can do is to hold out for one day,” said an inner disciple. These?words were implied to satirize Zen's strength. The inner disciple wasn't convinced that Zen could help them bring Drizzle Peak to a good place.
Hearing those words, Yehudi frowned slightly and said, “Human effort is the decisive factor in the competition. I agree that our peak isn't strong, but if we don't try, we will never know. It's always better to try and fail, instead of not trying at all.”
Hearing Yehudi's words, Zen nodded his head in agreement.
Yehudi was right. Aside from strength, the determination was also vital to any victory. In martial arts, one without a strong belief would not go further in his career. A martial arts cultivator would rather lose than give up without even trying.
Yehudi?was two years older than Zen, and already at the consummation of the nature level. He had quite a good talent that played an important role in all his achievements. But aside from his innate talent, he also had strong determination to win.
Although the inner disciple's remark was intended for Zen, he didn't dare answer back after Yehudi refuted for Zen. After all, Yehudi was a well-respected disciple and considered as the leader in their circle.
“Can you tell me how strong the participants of the All Peaks competition are?” asked Zen directly.
The question was a little na?ve as expected from someone who just joined the circle.
The All Peaks Competition in Cloud Sect was held every three years. The information about all the participants was recorded and available for all the disciples to access. Nearly all the disciples were familiar with it.
Another inner disciple was ready to ridicule Zen for his stupid question when Yehudi stopped him. Yehudi then said, “Zen has just joined us here in Cloud Sect, so he probably doesn't know the details of the All Peaks Competition. That's why I asked him to join us today to discuss in detail the rules of the All Peaks Competition and our opponents.”
Then Yehudi proceeded to share the details of the competition to Zen.
All the?thirty-three peaks in Cloud Sect would participate in the All Peaks Competition. Each peak would send a certain number of participants. The Skytop Peak would send the most disciples, while the Drizzle Peak would always have the least number of participants.
Aside from the disciples of the thirty-three peaks, there were also specially reserved seats for personal disciples of some masters.
In the Cloud Sect, the personal disciples were the top-notch disciples trained by their personal masters with great resources for practicing. They were the ones who usually progressed quickly.
There were also personal disciples who used to be?highly talented, but not anymore. However, they remained to be stronger than anyone in thirty-three peaks.
With their strength, the personal disciples would normally outshine everyone in the Competition and would become the top ten disciples of the All Peaks Competition.
And for the disciples of the thirty-three peaks, they would only end up in the top 20 no matter how strong and talented they were.
In conclusion, the All Peaks Competition was just meant for the top 20 strongest disciples and the rest were just for participation.
For the disciples of Drizzle Peak, they would be lucky if one of them would get into the top 100 of the competition. The disciples in Drizzle Peak were not as strong as the others and there was no more time to cultivate prior to the competition.
The Belltower Peak outranked Drizzle Peak in the last competition and ranked 32 among all peaks. One disciple of Belltower Peak entered the top 100 and was ranked the 97th in the All Peaks Competition, ahead of Drizzle Peak.
“The top 100? Are you confident that you'll get into the top 100 at least?” asked Zen as he crossed his fingers.
Yehudi smiled slightly and said, “To be frank, I am not.”
“So, even a man at the consummation of the nature level like you can't get into the top 100?” Zen frowned.
“Not really. All I am saying is that I am not sure. It's a competition, so the odds are always different every time. For Skytop Peak, they usually send more than 40 disciples and the weakest of them has already entered consummation of the nature level. Some of them have already been in the Illuminating Soul Realm. It would be bad luck if we will be assigned to the same group with them,” said Yehudi as he shook his head.
Drizzle Peak was nothing compared to Skytop Peak when it came to their disciples' strength.
One could only imagine that Skytop Peak chose its participants from a big group of high-powered men at the consummation of the nature level. If Yehudi was a disciple of Skytop Peak, even he was at the consummation of the nature level, he could not be eligible to participate in the All Peaks Competition.
But in Drizzle Peak, Yehudi was already considered as the strongest disciple.
Zen analyzed the situation. Drizzle Peak was in a quite difficult situation that the Skytop Peak's weakest disciple was already at consummation of the nature level, while the strongest was already at the Illuminating Soul Realm, not to mention the personal disciples. Vale?Wang was a high-powered personal disciple.
The strength of these personal disciples was unpredictable.
'What rank I can get in the All Peaks Competition?
And about my sister Yan, how strong was she at that time? Lady Peak was used to being one of the weakest peaks. But since Yan joined Lady Peak, it became the second strongest peak. How did Yan manage to lift the Lady Peak into the second rank?' Zen was lost in his thought.
There were a lot of questions in Zen's mind right now, but he remained calm. He continued to ask, “Yehudi, besides the rankings of the thirty-three peaks, are there any other rewards?”
“Other rewards? Of course, there are,” answered Yehudi calmly as he shook his head, “But the personal disciples always get all the other rewards in the competition. There's no chance we can get our hands on those rewards. So, our goal is to get to the top 100 at least.”
According to the regulations of competition, rewards?were given to the top 6 of the All Peaks Competition. With the personal disciples participating in the competition, even Yehudi wouldn't have the chance to get his hands on one of the rewards. Although he was strong, he understood that the power gap between the personal disciples and him was big. Thus, he would be realistic not to aim for the rewards anymore.
Yehudi continued, “The rewards of the All Peaks Competition are very tempting. The first place will get a Turbidity Clearing Pill. There will also be a fairy weapon of Cloud Sect, and a chance to walk on the Cloud Road!”
“A Turbidity Clearing Pill and the Cloud Road…” murmured Zen.
These two things were the dream of every disciple, so Yehudi didn't need to explain what they were.
That Turbidity Clearing Pill was a type of holy pill that would help one break through to a higher level after entering the?Illuminating Soul Realm. The Turbidity Clearing Pill was priceless.
Cloud Sect could not produce its own Turbidity Clearing Pills. Instead, these pills were issued by the?Cloud Hall. However, only 7 or 8 Turbidity Clearing Pills from the Cloud Hall were sent to Cloud Sect every year.
The Turbidity Clearing Pill was an in-demand item in Cloud Sect. The masters, saints and elders needed Turbidity Clearing Pills to finally get away from their status quo.
The demand would dictate the value of the Turbidity Clearing Pill.
Aside from the Turbidity Clearing Pill, there was the Cloud Road.
The Cloud Road?was not only a trial but an assessment.
Passing the Cloud Road trial, one could gain the support of the Cloud Hall– the upper land of the Cloud Sect. If a disciple qualified to join in the Cloud Hall, it would make a big difference.
Cloud Hall had a high social status in the world. Even King?Kane of the Burning Sky Empire would be treated as a disciple in the Cloud Hall and he had to show respect to every disciple in Cloud Hall.
“So, the Turbidity Clearing Pill and the Cloud Road will be awarded to the first place?” Zen asked again.
“The Turbidity Clearing Pill is for the first place only. The Cloud Road, on the other hand, will be a reward to the top 3 of the All Peaks Competition. They will be eligible to enter the Cloud Road for the trial,” Yehudi answered. Though he didn't like that Zen seemed to be interested in the rewards more than the rank, he still explained everything patiently. He thought to himself, 'Is he only interested in the top 3?'
Basically, the top 3 were seemed to be reserved for the personal disciples. The disciples of the thirty-three peaks didn't even think that they could get to the top 10.
Thus, the disciples of the thirty-three peaks had no chance to enter the Cloud Road.
However, Yehudi was empathetic that he didn't want to break Zen's enthusiasm with the truth.
But the other black-robed disciples couldn't remain silent, so one of them stepped forward and chuckled, “Zen, do you really want to enter the Cloud Road?”
Zen looked at this black-robed disciple and replied coldly, “Yes. Is there any problem with that?”
“Hey, chill,” grinned the black robe disciple. If Zen wasn't the top 1 amongst all the inner disciples, this black-robed disciple would burst into laughter.
The disciple could only flash a sarcastic smile.
Yehudi stepped in to thaw the atmosphere. He said gently, “If you practice harder, you will succeed.”
Now Zen had the basic information of the All Peaks Competition.
To win the first prize, Zen would need to outrank all the thirty-three peaks' disciples and the personal disciples. That would be his tough mission.
Zen stood by the door of his room, looking at the stars in the sky. Yan was able to beat so many strong disciples on her own and led Lady Peak to the second place. As her brother, he must be able to prove himself as well.
“The Turbidity Clearing Pill will be mine, and I must enter?the Cloud Road!”
His eyes were blazing with enthusiasm. His sheer determination was like a holy flame burning brightly in his heart