The Inner Sect disciples' courtyard was still quite spacious. Even after Lynn Ning moved in, there was still an extra room left.
After the Inner Sect Grand Tournament ended, the Elite Disciple Grand Tournament was about to begin.
The next day, Ian Song received notice that the top three Inner Sect finishers were qualified to watch the tournament.
Worth mentioning, the matter of Nate Moore was quickly resolved. The sect publicly announced that he had violated sect rules and was expelled. Since Nate was expelled, Harriet Gu was automatically promoted to third place among the Inner Sect disciples, so she also qualified to observe the Elite Disciple matches.
Elite Disciples are all Grandmaster-level experts, and watching their battles is a huge help for future cultivation.
As far as Ian knew, once a martial artist advanced to Grandmaster, they could develop their own domain.
There are many types of domains, generally divided into offensive, defensive, and auxiliary domains.
Domains are also graded into three levels: human, earth, and heaven.
For example, a newly promoted Grandmaster will usually develop a human-level domain, which covers a radius of one to ten meters.
An earth-level domain covers a radius of ten to a hundred meters.
A heaven-level domain covers a radius of one hundred to two hundred meters.
Generally speaking, most Grandmasters can only develop their domains to the peak of human-level.
If someone can develop or evolve their domain to earth-level while still at the Grandmaster stage, they have a high chance of breaking through to the Great Grandmaster realm.
Grandmasters aren't rare in this world, but they are considered true experts.
As for those who reach the Great Grandmaster realm, they're at the very top of this world.
Then there are Martial Saints—there are fewer than ten known Martial Saints in the human world, and even hidden ones shouldn't be many.
Back to the main story.
Led by an Inner Sect elder, Ian and the other two entered the Elite Disciple area.
The Elite Disciple Martial Arena Plaza wasn't as large as the Inner Sect Martial Arena Plaza, but its cost and durability were far beyond the Inner Sect's.
That's because the entire plaza was forged from mysterious iron.
Mysterious iron is an extremely precious ore and a key material for forging top-grade ordinary weapons. Even many low-grade spirit weapons require mysterious iron, and the price per jin is over a hundred taels of silver.
Just imagine how much mysterious iron was used for the entire Martial Arena Plaza.
Was it several million jin, or tens of millions?
Just from this Martial Arena Plaza alone, you could see how wealthy the Pristine Way Sect was.
The Pristine Way Sect had only a bit over 350 Elite Disciples.
Their ages ranged from twenty-three to forty.
Once an Elite Disciple turned forty, the sect would assign them a position—either as a manager within the sect or as a ruler in one of the provinces controlled by the Pristine Way Sect.
Across the three provinces, there were thousands of cities. Over ninety percent of the city lords and generals came from the Pristine Way Sect’s Elite ranks. A small number were powerful outsiders or closely allied martial artists.
For example, Ian Song’s current father in this world, Yellow Mountain.
He himself was a Grandmaster-level expert, and his wife was the daughter of the Liu family, a major clan attached to the Pristine Way Sect. That’s why he could become the lord of New Dawn City. As for General Gao—Lana Gao’s brother—he was an Elite Disciple of the Pristine Way Sect.
On the Elite Martial Arena Plaza, ten circular platforms had been set up, each with a diameter of over fifty meters.
The 350-plus Elite Disciples were divided into ten groups, competing simultaneously across the ten platforms.
At the edges of the platforms, raised stands had been built. Dozens of tables were laid out with tea and snacks, prepared for the sect’s upper echelon.
As for Ian Song, Yoon Zhengyang, and Harriet Gu, who were allowed to watch, they could only stand within the arena area.
A quarter of an hour later—
The Elite Disciple Grand Tournament finally began.
Twenty fighters stepped onto the ten platforms at once, and transparent defensive arrays activated around each ring.
The shockwaves from Grandmaster-level battles were too fierce. Without the defensive barriers, the area around the platforms would definitely be affected.
Soon, the ten pairs on the platforms started fighting.
Honestly, their fights were dazzling and spectacular—explosions rang out again and again, and the shockwaves made the defensive barriers hum constantly.
Especially on Platform Three, both Elite Disciples unleashed their domains.
Both domains had reached the peak of human-level, covering a radius of ten meters, and both were offensive types.
One was a Flame Domain, the other an Ice Domain.
The two manipulated their domains, repeatedly smashing them against each other—brutal to the extreme, nearly tearing the whole platform apart.
In the end, the one with the Flame Domain proved superior and won.
Seeing this, Ian Song couldn’t help but look thoughtful.
The Grandmaster realm was equivalent to the Foundation Establishment stage.
At the same realm, martial artists hit harder. Thinking of the Immortal-Dao cultivators he’d met before, their fighting depended on magic weapons. If you stripped them of their treasures and had them fight these martial artists, they’d be blown to bits.
The main reason for this difference was the two paths’ focus.
Martial artists pursued destructive combat power, but even Martial Saints didn’t live very long.
Cultivators, on the other hand, sought longevity. Their fighting power might not match martial artists, but their lifespans far exceeded those of equal-realm martial artists.
While Ian was lost in thought, Yoon Zhengyang and Harriet Gu were watching with intense focus.
Both had already reached the peak of ninth-layer Qi-Refining. It wouldn’t be long before they broke through to Grandmaster, so watching Grandmaster battles was hugely beneficial.
In the blink of an eye, a day passed and the first round of the Elite Disciple competition ended.
Over 170 people were eliminated; the rest would continue competing the next day.
Just as Ian Song, Yoon Zhengyang, and Harriet Gu were about to leave the Elite Martial Arena Plaza, a middle-aged man in purple robes arrived, giving Ian an appraising look. "So you’re Leon Huang. Come with me!"
The man’s attitude was far from friendly, with a hint of condescension.
"What do you want, Senior Brother?" Ian asked in a deep voice. Judging by his clothes, he should be a Core Disciple.
"Cut the crap. I told you to come—so come!" The man’s tone was extremely impatient.
"If you don’t tell me the reason, I’m not going!" Ian’s face darkened.
"Are you sure you won’t come with me?" The man’s eyes flashed with a strange light.
"If you don’t explain, I’m not going!" Ian Song reiterated.
"Don’t regret it later!"
With a cold glance at Ian, the man strode away arrogantly.
"Junior Brother Huang, that was a Core Disciple. Why were you so rash? You’d better hurry and catch up!" Yoon Zhengyang advised kindly.
"So what if he’s a Core Disciple? With that attitude, there’s no way I’m going with him!" Ian Song sneered.
The Core Disciple’s name was Liyang, the second disciple of Tianyao Dongfang. He’d been ordered by his master to bring Leon Huang to see him.
In fact, he’d already heard that his master wanted to take that Inner Sect kid as a disciple.
He had a younger brother named Lifeng, a martial arts prodigy. Although Lifeng was only at mid-Grandmaster level, he’d already comprehended sword intent. That’s why Liyang had recommended his brother to Tianyao Dongfang as a disciple.
But Tianyao Dongfang had never made his position clear.
Now, Tianyao Dongfang wanted to take an Inner Sect disciple, effectively snatching away his brother’s chance to become a disciple. So Liyang had no goodwill toward Ian Song at all.
Inside the forbidden realm’s pocket world—
Liyang bowed to Tianyao Dongfang: "Master, I have failed you. I couldn’t bring Leon Huang here!"
"What happened?" Tianyao Dongfang’s face darkened.
"Well..." Liyang hesitated.
"Speak freely!"
Liyang said, "Leon Huang refused to come with me, and his attitude was terrible!"
Instantly, Tianyao Dongfang’s face became even gloomier. Seeing his master’s expression, Liyang was secretly delighted—if his master gave up on Leon Huang, his brother would have a chance.