Chương 114: Chapter 113: The Competition List

All these seniors Yang met at the banquet. The banquet was held by Jiang Zhen Hao. The first thing Yang noticed was that the competitions were listed under Foundation Establishment and Golden Core divisions.

"Senior Brother, are there competitions for other cultivation realms?" he asked.

"No." Senior Brother Lin Yi set down his cup.

"By the time one reaches Nascent Soul, a competition every decade would feel like having one every weekend. Cultivators at that realm could not care less, and most would not show their best abilities even if they were paid to."

"Once you cross into Nascent Soul stage something changes," Senior Brother Xu Kai said, "either in the cultivator themselves or in how the world treats them. We will not know until we get there ourselves. But Nascent Soul and above seldom make moves without important reason. A competition is not a sufficient reason."

"That is for the dignified ones," Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao said, with a slight edge to his voice.

"There are always those who reach Nascent Soul and immediately believe they have arrived at the pinnacle of existence. They like to play at being great sages."

"You just entered Golden Core," Senior Brother Xu Kai said flatly.

"It is not your place to criticise the conduct of Nascent Soul cultivators." Yang looked between them, aware he was missing context. Senior Brother Lin Yi noticed.

"Most cultivators and even sects treat Nascent Soul as a genuine power threshold and expect the accompanying reverence to go with it. But a top sect like ours has more Nascent Soul cultivators than they can count. So we lack the extreme reverence others have for that realm, and they tend to find the attitude of our disciples somewhat disagreeable."

He paused, then added with a small smirk: "And Brother Zhen Hao is also irritated because on his last venture outside the sect he was beaten by one and had to go running to his shixiong about it." Senior Brother Xu Kai let out a short laugh. Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao gave them both a glare, then turned it into a triumphant smirk.

"So what? They can beat me. But can they beat my shixiong? Next time they see me those cultivators would not dare look at me sideways. They try to rob treasure from juniors and then expect the regard owed to a senior. What a joke." He looked at Yang.

"Junior brother, let us get back to the topic." Yang unrolled the competition scroll and looked through it. The Foundation Establishment division listed many events. Pure Talisman Duel. Competitors restricted to talismans only, no other techniques or tools. Yang found this immediately interesting. It sounded like the most exciting of the seven. Skill Judging. The most perfect talisman produced within the allotted time earned points. A list of talismans would be given in advance so competitors could prepare.

Defense Endurance. Each competitor makes their best defensive talismans, which are set against a standardized attack that increases in intensity at fixed intervals. Last talisman standing wins. Offensive Breach. The reverse. Each competitor makes and uses a selection of offensive talisman against a standardised defense of fixed strength. Speed Inscription. Competitors inscribe a specific talisman from scratch during the competition within a time limit. Unknown Inscription.

Competitors are given an incomplete talisman inscription they have never seen before and must finish it correctly. Yang read this one twice. Those who had only memorised known talismans would struggle. But those who understood why inscriptions were structured the way they were would have an advantage. He found this one genuinely interesting. If it had been a test in Cardwright world he would have aced it but his talisman knowledge is far shallower. Talisman Maze.

Competitors must navigate a constructed course using only talismans. The course includes obstacles of various kinds. Tests both the breadth of a competitor's talisman repertoire and their ability to think quickly under pressure.

"There are seven," Yang said to himself.

"Which ones suit you?" Senior Brother Lin Yi asked. Yang thought about it properly before answering.

"The duel competition looks interesting but I do not think I have enough experience or knowledge to duel another cultivator effectively, even using only talismans."

"Good to know your limits," Senior Brother Lin Yi said. The other two nodded.

"Skill Judging seems like a natural fit. It says they gives a list of talismans to prepare in advance?"

"About a week or so before the event, yes," Senior Brother Lin Yi confirmed. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Then that is one I should enter. I have time to learn whatever they specify." Yang noted it down mentally.

"I am interested in the Defense and Offense events as well. They give me a clear direction for what talismans to focus on between now and the competition."

"A sensible approach," Senior Brother Xu Kai said.

"And the Maze." Yang said it before he had quite decided to say it.

"I am very interested in the Maze." Senior Brother Lin Yi looked at him.

"The offensive and defensive events are a good choice, they will push you to develop in a clear direction. But I would strongly advise against the Maze."

"You may believe you have enough talisman knowledge, and for your level you do. But this competition tests Foundation Establishment cultivators from initial stage all the way to peak. The problems will be designed to challenge all of them. You are a second stage Qi Condensation cultivator." He paused.

"No one expects you to win. Avoiding being the first to lose would already be honourable given your realm. But do not convince yourself you can go against people an entire major realm ahead of you in something that requires thinking fast under a time limit. Do you think you can conceive of and execute talisman solutions quickly enough to keep pace, even if we forget about the difference in qi stores?" Yang sat with this for a moment.

He had the Cardwright World's seventeen years behind him, hundreds of customised inscriptions, a real facility for thinking through problems. He had almost talked himself into the Maze event before Senior Brother Lin Yi spoke. He let it go. Senior Brother Lin Yi was speaking sense. The next competition would come. He would make sure to be ready for the Maze by then.

"Skill Judging, Defense Endurance, and Offensive Breach," Yang said. The three seniors looked satisfied.

"Submit your sponsorship letter and competition choices to the outer sect hall as soon as you can," Senior Brother Lin Yi said.

"Tomorrow if possible. The inner sect will need time to process the registration even if approval is a formality."

"Could I be denied?" Yang asked.

"No. It is purely paperwork. But paperwork is the bane of even cultivators." Senior Brother Lin Yi paused.

"Is there anything else you want to ask before we take our leave?" Yang thought of the painting from Senior Cheng Mo. The beast cores. He thought of the spirit stones absorbing too fast and Senior Brother Huang Jun Jie mentioning a possible special physique. He thought of the Spirit Spiral plants and whatever had stopped Senior Brother Lin Yi so suddenly in the garden. He kept all of it to himself.

Three senior brothers were present, two of whom he barely knew, and none of these questions were ones he wanted to discuss in a group. Especially not this group. He was not stupid. This sponsorship was not normal. A shixiong of Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao, someone Yang had never met and had no connection to, had gone out of his way to sponsor an unknown outer sect disciple in an inner sect competition.

That had been unusual enough to generate discussion among Senior Brother Lin Yi's circle and bring Senior Brother Xu Kai here in person, which was not something Senior Brother Xu Kai struck him as doing without reason. Both of them had been watching his face carefully when Senior Brother Chen Xin Hai's name was mentioned, looking for something.

Whatever was going on around him, he did not yet have enough information to understand it, and until he did the last thing he wanted to do was hand over more information of himself than necessary.

"No, Senior Brother. I understand everything clearly. Thank you. I am genuinely grateful for the support you have given me." Senior Brother Lin Yi looked at him quietly for a moment before rising.

"No need to thank me, Junior Brother. I look forward to seeing you perform." He paused.

"Once the competition schedule is released I will send it to you. I will also take you along to watch at least the alchemy portion."

"I will wait for your message then," Yang said with a smile. He walked them to the edge of the cave formation and watched as all three rose on their swords and moved back toward the inner sect. Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao was still eating the last of the snacks as he flew. Yang stood for a moment and looked at the Spirit Spiral plants. Then he went back inside. The cups were all still full on the table.

He had noticed none of them had drunk more than a sip of the tea, which was fair enough since he was not particularly fond of it himself. Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao, meanwhile, had finished everything on the snack plate. Yang cleaned up the table, set the cups aside, and sat back down with the competition scroll. He turned to the Golden Core division out of curiosity. The events were similar in category but the standard described was of an entirely different order. Composite Talisman Design.

Competitors must design and produce an original talisman performing two functions simultaneously. Not a known inscription. Judged on function and qi efficiency. Inscription Diagnosis. Competitors are given a set of flawed talismans and must identify exactly what is wrong with each one and explain how they would correct it. No crafting. Pure theory and judgment. Live Counter. One competitor deploys a talisman setup. The other counters it using only their own talismans. Then they switch.

Judged on both the setup and the ingenuity of the counter. Counter Design. Competitors are shown a talisman they have never seen before and given time to study it. They must then produce a talisman specifically designed to counter or nullify it. Many of the events requiring original talisman creation also included an oral defense section. The competitor might be asked to explain any stroke or decision in their inscription to a panel of judges.

There was also a Talisman Maze for the Golden Core division, clearly far more advanced than the Foundation Establishment version. And two team events. Build and Breach. One team builds a defensive talisman array using multiple talismans and the other prepares offensive talismans to defeat it. They switch. Both rounds are scored. This sounded too much like what he had read about formation. Arrays, is this where talismans meet formations? Yang wondered. Legacy Inscription.

Competitors are given an ancient talisman inscription from an earlier era and must recreate it as faithfully as possible. The inscription uses older stroke conventions that differ from modern technique. Yang stopped on this one. He had not considered that talisman inscription had a history of its own, that stroke conventions had changed over time, that what was now standard had once been different. It was a language, ultimately, used not orally but through the brush and through qi, and languages changed.

He made a note in the back of his mind to look further into this when he had time. He set the scroll down. He had barely touched the beginning of talismans, and talismans were only one of the cultivation arts. He was aware of this in the abstract but seeing it laid out in a competition scroll made it concrete in a way it hadn't been before. He couldn't wait to see all these events in action.