Chapter Thirty-Four: Gathering for Training

  With the mnemonic chant of the Nine Layers of Qi Condensation, Wang Lin felt a great sense of relief in his heart and began to live a reclusive life. As time passed day by day, the entire Hengyue Sect was filled with an atmosphere of tension.

  All inner disciples are preparing for the year-end competition. Once they enter the top ten, they can obtain all kinds of treasures such as magic weapons, elixirs, spirit stones and jade tokens.

  What made them even more envious was that this time, the leader took out the sect's treasured Double Moon Ring as the first prize!

  This pair of Moon Rings was a relic left by a predecessor of the school 300 years ago, with great power and is a rare treasure that can both attack and defend.

  So, secretly, each of the inner door disciples was practicing their boxing skills and gathering their strength.

  As for the new king of comparison, this year only a few people were accepted as inner door disciples, and in everyone's eyes, Wang Zhuo will become the new king without any surprise.

  On the other side, among the named disciples, the animosity between them was even more intense. For them, this Named Disciple Grand Competition represented a turning point in their fate, and everyone was secretly making their final preparations.

  All this tense atmosphere had nothing to do with Wang Lin, he spent his days cultivating and practicing gravity techniques. On the day before the end of the month, he walked out of the miscellaneous affairs hall and headed straight for the main courtyard.

  The technique of concealing one's breath, he had already mastered it. With a turn of his mind, the spiritual energy within him naturally hid itself, revealing an illusion that he had not yet reached the first layer of the Condensing Energy period.

  He felt that there were too many people and distractions in the mundane world, which was not suitable for cultivation, so he wanted to find an excuse to go down the mountain and look for a quiet place to cultivate in secret.

  After arriving at the main courtyard, he walked in with big strides and soon came to the outside of Sun's medicinal garden. He respectfully said in a loud voice: "Disciple Wang Lin, requests to see Master."

  "What are you doing here?" The gate of the Medicine Garden had not been opened, and Sun Dazhu's impatient voice came from inside. It was clear that he did not like this disciple at all.

  Wang Lin's expression remained unchanged, and on the surface, he was respectful and polite. He said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to participate in tomorrow's trial. As a disciple, my cultivation is insufficient, and I feel that I won't be able to win. I don't want to bring shame to our sect."

  "Hmph, you're still sensible, this time you'll admit that Wang Zhuo, the disciple of my junior uncle, has reached the peak of the first layer of Qi Condensation at a young age and can break through to the second layer at any time. Even if you went, it would be useless, they could crush you with just one finger. I heard you're relatives, how come the gap is so big." Sun Dazhu said sarcastically.

  Wang Lin didn't mind and said: "Wang Zhuo has been clever since he was a child, with a rich spiritual root, not comparable to his fellow disciples."

  "Has he found another gourd in half a year?" Sun Dazhu asked after a moment of silence.

  Wang Lin shook his head and looked worried, saying: "This is strange too. I went to the spring many times, but never saw a gourd floating down again."

  "Anything else? If not, then get out! Just seeing you makes me angry!" Sun Dazhu said coldly. As soon as he saw this disciple, he couldn't control his temper and was itching to slap him to death, just so he wouldn't be laughed at by his peers anymore.

  "Master, I've been staying on the mountain for too long and it's getting boring. I'd like to go down the mountain for a while and come back after the new year. What do you think?" Wang Lin said with his head bowed respectfully.

  "Go down the mountain? No way, you didn't mention this before and I hadn't thought of it. Four years from now is the exchange conference with the Xuan Dao Sect. This time, your Master Uncle has given an order that most of the inner sect disciples will undergo a four-year intensive training after the New Year. You should go too, otherwise, you'll lose face at the exchange conference in four years and tarnish my reputation!" Sun Dazhu flatly refused, saying.

  "Intensive training?" Wang Lin was taken aback.

  "Every 20 years, there is an exchange, this is a rule of several hundred years. The Xuan Dao Sect and our Heng Yue Sect are superficially friendly, but secretly competing with each other. In the past 100 years, we have lost to them in several matches, which is too embarrassing. That's why we had the gathering training. Listen carefully, if you don't achieve anything this time, four years later at the exchange meeting, I will be humiliated again, and I will definitely expel you from Heng Yue Sect!" Sun Dazhu said briefly.

  Wang Lin sighed silently, and it was clear that going out to practice was no longer possible. He saw Sun Dazhu's unpleasant tone, so he nodded in agreement and retreated.

  Back at the miscellaneous affairs office, Wang Lin sank into contemplation for a moment. Since he couldn't go out to cultivate, then he would take advantage of this gathering to find an opportunity to cultivate.

  The next day, the big competition inside the gate began, and the scene was extraordinarily lively. Wang Lin hesitated for a moment, not going to watch, but instead grasped every spare moment to practice his breathing technique, solidifying the second layer of the Qi Condensation stage.

  In the following days, through casual conversations among fellow disciples, Wang Lin learned that Zhang Shixiong had obtained first place in this inner sect disciple assessment, but it was said to be because no purple-robed disciples participated.

  As for Wang Zhuo, he unexpectedly became the new king, and for a time was overbearing and arrogant, not putting others of the same age in his eyes.

  A week later, on a clear morning, the sound of bells echoed within the Hengyue Sect, ringing five times in total. This signified that all inner disciples must gather quickly at the sect's main hall.

  Wang Lin did not hear it in the dream space, until Sun Dazhu kicked open the door of the miscellaneous affairs office with a loud bang, which woke him up. He quickly put away the bead and hid his cultivation, pushed open the dark room door, and saw Sun Dazhu's face full of anger, shouting at Wang Lin: "Wang Lin, are you deaf? Didn't you hear the bell? You this evil disciple, all the inner disciples of the entire sect who participated in the gathering training have arrived, except for you one, making me lose face in front of my fellow brothers, you...you made me angry!!!!"

  Wang Lin's eyebrows rose, and he fell silent.

  Sun Dazhu glared at Wang Lin fiercely, knowing that this was not the time to teach his disciple a lesson, as the sect leader and other senior brothers were waiting. Without saying another word, he stepped forward, grabbed Wang Lin, stepped on the Seven-Colored Cloud, and quickly rose into the air.

  At the fastest speed, he arrived at the outer hall of the main courtyard and threw him heavily to the ground. Sun Dazhu said in a low voice: "Wang Lin, follow me in. If you make me lose face again, I'll take the risk of being punished by the master and kill you with one palm!" The last sentence, Sun Dazhu's eyes revealed a murderous intent, he had become extremely disgusted with this disciple and made up his mind to find an opportunity to expel him from the sect.

  Wang Lin rubbed his arm, and just now that one fall, if he hadn't reached the second layer of Qi condensation, his body wouldn't be so strong, it would definitely break his arm. He lowered his head and said in a low voice: "Disciple obeys."

  Sun Dazhu grunted and adjusted his clothes before walking into the grand hall. Wang Lin took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and followed him in with an expressionless face.

  The Grand Hall of the Hengyue Sect is the most solemn place in the entire sect. The hall is extremely spacious, with dozens of giant statues of the sect's ancestors standing on both sides, and a stern atmosphere envelops it.

  Wang Lin followed Sun Dazhu into the room, and dozens of eyes immediately focused on him. He felt a bit suffocated, and quickly looked down, avoiding eye contact.