Chapter 4190 — The Inner Sect Tournament
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
The moment the words fell, an uproar swept through the crowd of newcomers. This year, those who had yet to establish a foundation like Zha Wu were only a tiny handful, but Hu Yunfeng's remarks bore directly on the vital interests of the great majority present.
Looking across the Sandie Pavilion, each of its pavilions had at least a dozen or more newcomers who had successfully established their foundations, yet the quota for official outer-sect disciples was only five. One could well imagine how fierce the coming competition would be.
Those among them with real strength might congratulate themselves on contending for the top five, but what if they fell short? Surely they could not all follow the likes of Zha Wu and those good-for-nothings off to mine spirit jade at the Lingyu Hall—that would be too rotten a fate by half!
Fortunately, Hu Yunfeng was quick to resolve their doubts. "Newcomers who fail to secure a top-five place may remain at the Welcome Pavilion and take up certain posts, waiting for a chance to advance to the inner sect in the future."
The posts at the Welcome Pavilion Hu Yunfeng spoke of referred to positions like steward-senior. If one could become a steward-senior, though it was not the same as vaulting straight into official outer-sect disciple status, it still counted as a decent prospect.
But steward positions depended on opportunity and were not always vacant. Most who stayed on were generally given some ordinary deacon post, much like Kang Jingming's current newcomer-deacon role—or even less than Kang Jingming, fit only to run errands for Hu Yunfeng and the rest, with scarcely any authority worth speaking of.
Hearing this, the newcomers breathed a sigh of relief. So long as they were not exiled to the mining district, it was still bearable; at least they would not end up too wretched.
"Very well. What needed to be said has been said. Now to the main business—the newcomers' tournament begins at once!" Hu Yunfeng announced. "The rules of this newcomers' tournament are simple: there are no rules. The elders of the Sandie Pavilion shall serve as judges, and every newcomer disciple shall draw lots to fight directly, until the final top five are decided!"
As the words fell, Hu Yunfeng gestured to the steward-seniors of each pavilion to arrange for all the disciples to begin drawing lots.
With their futures at stake, the newcomers were all in high spirits, each going up to their own steward-senior to draw a lot. But when it came Wei Zhao's turn, Hu Yunfeng suddenly spoke from the platform.
"Wei Zhao, you are now a cultivator of the early Golden Core stage. By our rules, you may skip over official outer-sect disciple status and become an inner-sect core disciple of the Sandie Pavilion directly. Therefore, you need not take part in this newcomers' tournament," Hu Yunfeng said mildly.
Everyone was struck dumb at these words, but on reflection it was only reasonable. With a freak like Wei Zhao, the other newcomers did not even have the courage to face him, let alone raise a hand against him—what meaning would there be in his joining the newcomers' tournament?
Still, to skip over official outer-sect disciple status and become an inner-sect core disciple directly—such treatment filled everyone with envy.
Throughout the Sandie Pavilion, more than ninety percent of official outer-sect disciples could only sigh and stop at that rank for the rest of their lives, the inner sect forever beyond their reach.
There was no help for it. To become an inner-sect core disciple, the minimum requirement was successful core formation—and that alone was enough to bar the vast majority at the door.
"May I ask Pavilion Master Hu, does this mean the newcomers' tournament has nothing to do with me?" Wei Zhao asked.