Chapter 107: Wang Baole: Making the Top Four in My First Tournament Would Count as Success

Chapter 107: Wang Baole: Making the Top Four in My First Tournament Would Count as Success Early morning. The sun had just risen, and golden light spilled over the earth. Today, for once, Chu Feng woke up early and waited in the courtyard for his disciples to arrive. As soon as he stepped out, he ran into Elder Bing. “Head Chu.” Bing Yan was surprised to see Chu Feng up so early—her eyes even showed a hint of astonishment. “Where are you off to?” Chu Feng asked casually. Elder Bing replied, “I’m going to guide the disciples in their cultivation. There are only two months left until the tournament.” “Go on then,” Chu Feng said with a cheerful smile. “Farewell, Head Chu.” With that, Elder Bing took off on her sword. A moment later, Xiao Chen, Cao Youqian, Qin Qin, and Wang Baole arrived one after another at the annex. Seeing Chu Feng seated in the courtyard, they all bowed. “Greetings, Master.” “No need for formalities.” Chu Feng then continued, “Sit down, I have something to say.” Everyone gathered around the stone table and waited quietly. “There are only two months left until the grand tournament. To motivate your training, let’s set some preliminary goals here and now.” As he finished speaking, Chu Feng looked at each of them. Xiao Chen was the first to respond. “Master, I have only one goal this time—to take first place in the Holy Son Tournament.” Chu Feng gave a slight nod. He had no concerns about Xiao Chen. The kid was peerless among those in the same realm. Not taking first place would be stranger. Next, Cao Youqian said, “Master, my goal is also to place first in the Inner Sect Tournament.” “How many fist techniques and hard-body skills have you mastered?” Chu Feng asked seriously. “Reporting to Master—after nearly a year of training, I’ve mastered forty-nine techniques. Before the tournament, I should be able to fully refine a few more, and my cultivation will likely break through to the fifth level of the True Fate Realm.” Cao Youqian grew more confident as he spoke. In his mind, first place in the Inner Sect Tournament was already in the bag. “Good.” Chu Feng patted Cao Youqian’s shoulder. “Since you’re so confident, I’ll be waiting for you to bring the championship title back to the Miscellaneous Dao Institute. We've never had a disciple win the Inner Sect Tournament before.” Cao Youqian clenched his fists. “I won’t let you down, Master!” Chu Feng then turned to Qin Qin with a smile. “Qin’er, though you’re only at the second level of the True Fate Realm, you were born with dual pupils and have even awakened a divine physique. For this tournament, don’t worry about your final ranking—just show the world your full strength.” “Master, I won’t disappoint you.” Qin Qin answered respectfully, though in her heart she thought: ‘Senior Brother once rebuilt his cultivation after his dantian was shattered and still dominated the Outer Sect Tournament. I may not match him or Second Senior Brother, but I can at least make it to the finals.’ Wang Baole, listening to the goals of his senior brothers and sister, looked on in admiration, wondering when he would ever become as strong as them. Just then, Chu Feng’s gaze shifted to him. Chu Feng didn’t have high expectations for this little disciple. Even so, the boy’s cultivation speed was impressive—within five months, he had broken through two minor realms and now stood at the fifth level of the Dao Foundation Realm. But Wang Baole walked the path of culinary cultivation, and being only at Dao Foundation Realm, he couldn’t yet show the power of the culinary path. Facing the many geniuses of the Outer Court, winning the top prize wouldn’t be easy. “You set a goal for yourself then. As your master, I won’t say much more.” Wang Baole smiled slightly and replied seriously, “This is my first time participating in the tournament. If I can make the top four, I’ll count it as a success.” “???” Chu Feng gave Wang Baole a deadpan look and chuckled, “You’ve got quite the sense of humor, kid. Fine, your master will wait for you to rise to success.” Though none of the disciples found the remark particularly strange, they all felt a vague, indescribable oddity in their hearts. Wang Baole stood up and patted his chest in assurance. “Master, don’t worry. I’ll give it my all!” Chu Feng nodded. “Alright, now that all of you have your goals, keep working hard.” “Yes!” Everyone responded in unison. At the same time, in the dean’s annex at Wendao Academy— Aside from Chu Feng, the nine other heads of institutes and the senior members of the academy were all present. Since this tournament would determine the next generation of Holy Sons, the dean himself presided over the meeting. After some discussion, the tournament venues were finalized. The Outer Sect would compete on traditional raised platforms, while the Inner Sect and Holy Son tournaments would be held on Dao Mirror Lake. Dao Mirror Lake spanned tens of thousands of miles—more than enough to accommodate both events. As the meeting neared its conclusion, it turned to the main highlight of every tournament: the selection of seed candidates. Following custom, each institute head nominated candidates, and the group would vote to decide the ten finalists. There was no disagreement over the ten seed candidates for the Outer Sect and Holy Son brackets. But when it came to the Inner Sect, tensions quickly rose. The Xuanhuo Pill King from the Alchemy Institute flushed red as he argued, “My junior, Cao Youqian, has awakened a divine physique and has even achieved minor mastery of Fist Intent. Why shouldn’t he be one of the ten seed candidates?” The room fell silent. None of the other institute heads raised any objections—after all, a divine physique had always been more than enough to justify seed status. “But if we allow that, the Miscellaneous Dao Institute will have two seed candidates. According to our longstanding rule, each institute must have at least one,” the head of the Artifact Forging Institute said with a frown. Others nodded in agreement: “That’s right. If an institute has no seed candidates, it severely impacts the morale of its disciples.” “This rule has stood for tens of thousands of years. We can’t change it lightly.” “...” The Xuanhuo Pill King grumbled, “Didn’t the Miscellaneous Dao Institute have no seeds in past tournaments anyway?” The Carefree Sword King responded, “That’s because they haven’t sent anyone to participate in hundreds of years.” At that, the Xuanhuo Pill King had no rebuttal. He simply turned his gaze toward the dean. “What about Xiao Feng?” The dean asked curiously—after all, Chu Feng was the head of the Miscellaneous Dao Institute, and such matters should naturally be handled by him. The chief elder of the Internal Affairs Hall paused before replying, “Apologies, Dean. The Miscellaneous Dao Institute has been absent from the tournament for so long that I forgot to notify them.” The dean nearly lost his temper but restrained himself with effort. “Elder Hua, you’ll go speak with Head Chu personally. Have him choose one disciple from the two as the seed candidate and submit the name. I want the result within three days!” “Yes, understood!” Elder Hua responded quickly, quietly breathing a sigh of relief. With a wave of his hand, the dean declared, “Meeting adjourned!” ==================================================================================== Get access to 20 chapters in advance and enjoy 2 daily updates by supporting the series. Available on Patreon: /Alex_Cruise or Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/anish_44