Chapter 16: Tailor-Made Champion
Chapter 16: Tailor-Made Champion
As the first rays of morning sunlight streamed into the small courtyard of Chenyang Peak, Su Ming ceased his cultivation and opened his eyes.
“It’s time…”
Before his words could fade, the resonant tolling of a bell echoed throughout the Three Saints Sect, reaching Su Ming’s ears.
It was the signal summoning all the sect’s younger generation of disciples to assemble.
Su Ming rose to his feet, straightened his slightly disheveled robes, and strode down Chenyang Peak.
According to the original novel’s description, the Three Saints Sect’s Grand Competition would last a full three days.
Thousands of disciples would engage in tournament-style matches based on random draws, with winners advancing continuously until a champion emerged.
In the original story, the final showdown pitted the protagonist of destiny, Chu Fan, against the Devouring Demon Lord.
But even judging by the current circumstances, the ultimate result should still be Su Ming versus Chu Fan.
The only difference was that in the original novel, Chu Fan emerged victorious—whereas here, it had to be Su Ming!
If he couldn’t even accomplish this much, then there was no point talking about defying fate later—he might as well find a nice feng shui burial plot and lie down in it right now.
At the sect’s central plaza, a group of elders watched as disciples arrived one after another.
In previous years, they would have marveled at the disciples’ rapid progress—but this year’s results left them stunned.
Among the thousands of young disciples present, only a small fraction had surpassed the sixth layer of the Transcendent Realm, while the rest remained below it.
To put it in perspective, the previous generation had nearly a thousand disciples who exceeded this realm, with several hundred at the peak of the Transcendent Realm and dozens even reaching the Longevity Realm.
“Has our younger generation really declined so sharply?”
“Not everyone has arrived yet—let’s wait and see.”
As more and more disciples gathered, the elders grew increasingly uneasy.
It wasn’t until Su Ming appeared that they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But Su Ming’s unique status also left them deeply conflicted.
Only when Li Jianping arrived with Chu Fan in tow did the higher-ups feel reassured.
Their sect did still have a prodigy beyond Su Ming, after all.
Amid the crowd, Chu Fan shot Su Ming a provocative glare, already eager to see the other man humiliated and begging for mercy at his feet.
“Su Ming, I’m going to beat you until you kneel and plead for me to stop!”
Yet Su Ming merely glanced at Chu Fan’s cultivation level before dismissing him entirely.
Longevity Realm, third layer—what gives you the right to even catch my attention?
Meanwhile, Li Jianping began announcing the rules for this year’s Grand Competition.
“You will soon enter a Secret Realm, where numerous demonic beasts—and even savage beasts—roam!”
At the mention of savage beasts, the disciples erupted in murmurs.
Those creatures were born at the Longevity Realm, innately possessing formidable divine abilities.
But Li Jianping ignored the commotion and continued.
“Your task is to hunt demonic beasts within the Secret Realm and accumulate points! At sunset, the top 300 disciples with the highest points will advance to the next round—the rest will be eliminated on the spot!”
“Detailed rules will be transmitted to your disciple tokens shortly. Now, follow me to the Secret Realm’s entrance!”
As Li Jianping explained the rules, Su Ming noticed the bewildered expressions of the elders on the platform.
His gaze immediately shifted to Chu Fan—who promptly returned it with another taunting smirk.
“These rules differ from the original novel. Judging by the elders’ reactions, Li Jianping must have altered them last-minute—and Chu Fan was likely given insider information…”
“Since you’re not even bothering to hide it anymore, I suppose I’ll dial back my acting too.”
Following the crowd, Su Ming arrived at the Secret Realm’s entrance.
These self-contained pocket dimensions operated under their own laws, brimming with countless opportunities.
When Li Jianping declared that all treasures obtained inside would belong to the finders, the entire crowd erupted in excitement.
At his command, the thousands of young disciples began filing into the Secret Realm.
Su Ming deliberately positioned himself behind Chu Fan—and that was when he noticed something.
Just before Chu Fan stepped into the Secret Realm, his movements paused noticeably.
Clearly, Li Jianping had privately relayed instructions via voice transmission.
Once all the disciples had entered, Li Jianping turned his attention to Su Ming, who remained outside.
“Why haven’t you entered yet? Are you forfeiting?”
“I merely wished to ask the Sect Master for an explanation—why is Chu Fan, who was imprisoned in Fiery Prison Cliff, permitted to participate in the Grand Competition?”
“Though Chu Fan erred, the Grand Competition should grant every disciple an equal opportunity. This is a matter of fairness.”
“In that case, I look forward to witnessing the Sect Master’s version of fairness.”
Su Ming strode toward the Secret Realm’s entrance. Just before stepping through, he muttered under his breath:
“Sect Master, your answer disappoints me. I doubt my parents would approve either…”
By the time Li Jianping could respond, Su Ming had already vanished into the Secret Realm.
“Your parents can’t even protect themselves! Did you really think I’d fall for that bluff?! Once I seize that treasure of yours, I’ll make sure you beg for death!”
Inside the Secret Realm, Su Ming examined the point system on his disciple token.
Killing a Transcendent Realm first-layer demonic beast earned one point, with each higher layer adding an extra point.
A Longevity Realm first-layer beast was worth 100 points, scaling up by 100 per layer.
As for savage beasts? Killing one granted 5,000 points!
The rules also explicitly stated that disciples could attack one another—the victor would seize all of the loser’s accumulated points.
Thanks to the disciple tokens, any disciple on the verge of death would be teleported out of the Secret Realm. Accidental fatalities—whether by human hands or demonic beasts—were impossible.
However, those defeated by demonic beasts and forcibly ejected would lose all their points.
The only way to preserve points was to survive until sunset.
But Su Ming’s focus wasn’t on this—it was on the Secret Realm’s environment itself.
With his Innate Dao Bone, he could keenly sense the realm’s inherent laws.
This Secret Realm was aligned with the paths of Fire and Metal. Disciples cultivating these elements would find exploration effortless.
But for those following other paths? This place was downright hostile.
When one’s cultivation path clashed with the environment, spiritual energy circulation would feel obstructed, and absorption efficiency would plummet.
After all, the ambient energy here consisted solely of Fire and Metal attributes. If your path complemented them, fine—but if they countered yours, forcibly absorbing such energy was no different from swallowing poison.
“This setup blatantly favors Chu Fan. Metal-aligned demonic beasts are naturally weak against him, and with his Yang Fire Physique, he can outright ignore Fire-aligned threats of the same level.”
Clearly, this first round was tailor-made for Chu Fan.
“Seems Li Jianping wants Chu Fan to break through further within this Secret Realm—crafting a custom champion from scratch.”
“Since you’re playing dirty, don’t blame me for not holding back.”
“System, can you lock onto Chu Fan’s location?”
[Yes.]
“Good. Track his position—I’m going to physically seize every opportunity meant for him in this Secret Realm!”