"Old Chen, I know your concerns. The Ling family has basically moved out and can return to the hidden land at any time. Luo'er not only provided many resources but also methods to save their lives, so the safety of the Ling family members is not a concern for now."
"I almost forgot, how will I find you after you go into seclusion?"
"Come to the Ling family. Luo'er said that the Ling family is only in seclusion, not avoiding the world, and still needs to maintain contact with the outside."
"So this old mansion won't be sold?"
"That's right. Luo'er has set up many barriers and formations here, so there's no need to worry about safety within the Ling manor."
"That's good."
The Ling manor was as usual, but outside, a storm of epic proportions was brewing.
The Ling family was now in the limelight. First, Ling Luochen's mid-grade spirit root turned into a high-grade spirit root, then Ling Luoyi achieved the cultivation of a first-tier Spirit Warrior at the age of eighteen, and finally, Ling Luofu, who had no spirit root, became a high-grade spirit root. Not to mention that the cultivation of the Ling family disciples had more than doubled compared to a month ago, all thanks to these three events.
Originally, after the talent test on the first day of the genius selection, the elders of various factions would select promising talents. However, this time, due to the Ling family's affairs, they were all waiting to see.
Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night, except, of course, for the Ling family.
The second day of the genius selection.
Except for those not yet of age, all Ling family disciples passed the first round of the talent test and would participate in today's elimination matches.
Ling Luochen and Ling Luoyi led the Ling family disciples to the venue, but none of the Ling family elders were present.
The audience in the stands was ten percent larger than yesterday, all shouting for the eldest miss of the Ling family.
Ling Luoyi yawned, feeling very calm, completely unfazed by the cheers of others.
Precisely at the hour of巳, the elder from yesterday took the stage and announced, "Today is the elimination round. According to the usual rules, there will be a total of ten arenas. The top one hundred people remaining in each arena will advance. The time limit is one hour."
As he spoke, the central competition grounds began to transform, eventually forming ten arenas of equal size.
"Based on yesterday's test results, arenas one to eight are for participants in the Houtian realm, and arenas nine to ten are for participants in the Lingtu realm. Participants in the Lingzhe realm and Ling shi realm," the elder said, glancing subconsciously at Ling Luoyi before looking away, "will advance directly."
The other participants had no objections, as their cultivation was no match for them.
After the elder finished speaking, he stepped down, and the participants began to choose their designated arenas.
Each arena could accommodate five thousand people fighting simultaneously, and only one hundred people were to remain in each arena, indicating the low advancement rate.
However, if one was knocked off the stage, they could re-enter an arena of the same cultivation level.
This meant they might have to fight for a full hour.
"So tiring," Ling Luoyi thought with schadenfreude.
In such arena matches, there was an unwritten rule among participants: during the first half of the elimination round, people of similar cultivation levels would choose the same arena. In the second half, it would be as they pleased.
After selecting their arenas, the participants stepped onto them. Although the participants were scattered, each family had many participants, so it was inevitable that they would encounter their own clansmen on the stage, and they immediately grouped together.
After all, in the elimination round, teamwork offered an advantage.
The Ling family was no exception. Upon entering the arena, they immediately regrouped with their clansmen.
Ling Luoyi was not interested in such competitions; participants in the Houtian and Lingtu realms were too weak.
As for the Lingzhe realm participants who advanced directly, there were sixty-seven in total, fifteen of whom were from the Ling family. Each Lingzhe realm participant was over twenty-three years old.
The second half of this elimination round was the climax, with various spiritual powers flying, and streams of spiritual energy displayed without concealment. Some participants, having contracted beasts, also released them to fight together.
The genius selection did not prohibit the use of pills, talismans, formations, or contracted beasts. Therefore, anything not explicitly forbidden could be used. This was also a way to showcase their family's strength.
With these items, even after fighting for an hour, the participants' spiritual energy and stamina were not depleted.
Here, one could witness battles between humans, humans and contracted beasts, and contracted beasts and contracted beasts.
With Ling Luoyi present, the Ling family was not lacking in these resources. The audience watched as participants wearing Ling family attire took out bottles of pills and poured them into their mouths like pouring beans, their mouths twitching involuntarily.
Upon seeing their contracted beasts, they were filled with doubt.
In Yunyuan City, almost every Ling family disciple had a contracted beast. However, since the Ling family and the Wei family were mortal enemies, how could they help them contract demonic beasts?
Wei Wensong also looked at the Grand Elder and asked, "Grand Elder, why didn't you tell me about this?"
The Grand Elder carefully observed the contracted beasts of the Ling family disciples and finally said, "Patriarch, those contracted beasts were not contracted with the help of the Beast Tamer Guild."
"What?!" Wei Wensong was shocked.
"With so many contracted beasts, even the Beast Tamer Guild would find it time-consuming to contract them. Moreover, so many contracted beasts cannot be tamed by a single person."
"Then who could have done this?"
Who could have done this?
Wei Wensong instinctively looked at Ling Luoyi, who was dozing off.
Eldest Miss Ling, could it be you? How many identities do you truly possess?
As the time neared its end, the people on the stage began to exert their strength, figures were knocked off the stage, their spiritual energy depleted, unable to continue fighting.
Finally, each arena had only one hundred people remaining, some sitting, some standing, all awaiting the final announcement.
As the one-hour countdown ended, the elder appeared on stage punctually, his gaze lingering on each arena for a moment before announcing, "Congratulations to all of you who are still standing on the stage; you have successfully advanced to tomorrow's advancement matches. Those who were eliminated need not be discouraged, as there are revival matches waiting for you. Finally, the one thousand participants who advanced from the elimination round and the sixty-eight participants who advanced directly will proceed with the advancement matches here tomorrow, precisely at the hour of巳."
The second day of the competition concluded.
After Ling Luoyi led the disciples back to the manor, she looked at the disheveled disciples and said, "Don't be discouraged. A temporary loss is not a loss; there are still revival matches. Go back and rest now, and use this time to reflect on your weaknesses."
There are always people better than you, and heavens beyond heavens. Even though Ling Luoyi provided many resources for their cultivation, not all Ling family disciples advanced.
"Eldest Miss, we just feel like our efforts these past few days have been in vain, and the resources you gave us were wasted. We feel we've let you down."
"What nonsense is this? You are still young. Those people have had several more years of cultivation and combat experience than you. It's normal to lose to them. Moreover, I don't think losing is a bad thing. At least you know your shortcomings and can improve them. As for effort, who in this world doesn't strive? So, just be true to yourselves. Alright, go back and rest."
After Ling Luoyi finished speaking, she left directly, with Ling Luochen following, and the others returned to their own rooms.
Ling Luoyi watched them leave and said, "Actually, I'm quite satisfied. At least no one died, and those who were eliminated were basically disciples from the branch families. They only cultivated in this environment for a few days."
Ling Luochen smiled, patted Ling Luoyi's head, and said, "Big Brother understands. It's just that they are young and their talent isn't that good, so they are a bit self-conscious."
They were indeed young, only fifteen or sixteen years old, at the peak of their self-esteem, and had been overly protected, so this failure had struck them. However, they would recover quickly, so there was no need to worry too much.