Chapter 55: First Place in the Grand Tournament!

Second round.

"I forfeit."

Another outer sect disciple smiled bitterly and repeatedly.

Just like that, Lin Chen blundered his way into the finals.

In the finals, the opponent he faced was none other than Jiang Chengkun.

"I know you are very strong and that I am no match for you, but I still want to spar with you!"

Jiang Chengkun's eyes were sharp, and his fists were tightly clenched.

After passing the first trial, Yan Lin had distributed a healing medicinal pill to each of them.

Therefore, Jiang Chengkun had quickly returned to his peak condition.

"Please!"

Lin Chen smiled faintly and gestured with an open hand.

Jiang Chengkun's eyes narrowed; he had initially thought the other party would be immensely arrogant.

Prodigies were always like that!

Yet Lin Chen's voice was gentle, and his face wore a smile.

It gave people a feeling of a gentle spring breeze blowing over them!

"Whoosh!"

Jiang Chengkun shook off all other thoughts, his gaze steady and resolute.

He wanted to use this battle to understand the gap between himself and the true prodigies.

"Let's go!"

Jiang Chengkun let out a sharp cry, the spiritual energy surrounding his body surging with heat.

He and the Scorpion-Tailed Tiger moved simultaneously, attacking Lin Chen from both left and right.

Lin Chen's youthful face instantly turned fierce. Clenching his five fingers into a fist, the moment Jiang Chengkun's spiritual energy closed in, he threw a punch!

"Crash!"

All the spiritual energy Jiang Chengkun had gathered was instantly shattered.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his figure sent flying backward through the air.

On the other side, the Scorpion-Tailed Tiger lunged into empty space. Just as it turned its head to search for Lin Chen's whereabouts, a slender, delicate hand slowly pressed down upon its skull.

Without exerting the slightest bit of force, it caused the Scorpion-Tailed Tiger's entire body to instantly tense up.

If Lin Chen were to unleash even a fraction of force through that palm right now, its skull would likely be instantly pulverized!

With that, the battle was already over!

Lin Chen had held back.

On the ground, Jiang Chengkun wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, a bitter smile appearing on his lips.

The gap was simply too vast.

"Senior Brother Lin, I concede."

Jiang Chengkun stood up and cupped his fists toward Lin Chen.

From the beginning to the end, he hadn't even summoned his spirit beast to fight!

Back when Lin Chen fought Zhao Peng in the inner sect, that spirit beast of his named Tun Tun had also displayed extraordinary combat prowess.

Had he used his spirit beast, his comprehensive combat strength would probably have reached an even higher level.

"With this, the sect tournament has concluded."

Yan Lin sighed, a look of "as expected" crossing his features.

Aside from Lin Chen, who else could possibly take first place?

In the end, the top three entrants advanced to the inner sect.

As for all the grand prizes, they were entirely monopolized by Lin Chen alone.

"Congratulations, Lin Chen!"

Xu Kun said with a broad smile. "From now on, you are an inner sect disciple... No, even though you lived in the outer sect, your conduct and cultivation resources were no different from an inner sect disciple's anyway. Now you finally have the official title."

Lin Chen nodded slightly.

His gaze swept across the viewing platform, and many disciples looking back at him wore expressions of awe and reverence.

It seemed... his notorious reputation had become even more fearsome?

Oh well, it didn't matter.

As long as trouble didn't come looking for him, everything was fine.

"What a pity, Sister couldn't come."

Lin Chen sighed, seeming to remember something.

Originally, Lin Ning'er was supposed to come today.

However, Su Yuwei had said that today was the most crucial day for clearing out the cold poison, and she absolutely must not be exposed to the wind.

Left with no choice, Lin Ning'er could only stay in her room and pray for Lin Chen.

"This is the Earth Spirit Pill..."

"These are the two fourth-tier spiritual inscriptions the young miss prepared for you."

Yan Lin handed the rewards to Lin Chen. "These are the first and second spiritual inscriptions the young miss carved after attaining the rank of a fourth-tier spiritual inscription master. One is the Iron Skin Inscription, and the other is the Fire-Repelling Inscription. Keep them safe!"

"Thank you."

Lin Chen stored them away in his storage ring.

Yan Lin watched this scene unfold, speechless for a long time.

Such profound significance, and he just packed them away like that?

Without even sparing them a second look?

As expected, the thinking of young people nowadays was too erratic; he simply couldn't keep up.

After distributing the rewards, Yan Lin looked at Jiang Chengkun. "You, after entering the inner sect, become my disciple."

Jiang Chengkun was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. "This disciple greets Master!"

Yan Lin was quite renowned within the inner sect.

In terms of combat strength, he was even slightly superior to Elder Zhao!

Being able to take him as a master was Jiang Chengkun's good fortune.

Originally, Yan Lin had intended to also take the third-place disciple under his wing, but that disciple had already been claimed in advance by another inner sect elder, leaving him with no choice but to drop the idea.

As for Lin Chen, Yan Lin didn't even bother asking.

Who in the entire sect didn't know that he belonged to the young miss?

...

"Sis, I won first place! We can move into the inner sect to live now!"

Lin Chen returned to the courtyard with a joyful smile. However, the moment he stepped inside, a piercing, razor-sharp aura suddenly rushed toward his face.

His brows furrowed tightly, and with a wave of his hand, he dispersed the oppressive aura.

"Sis?"

Lin Chen quickened his pace, a flash of anxiety in his eyes.

"What are you so nervous about? This is just the sign of your sister's sword bone awakening."

Inside the pavilion, Su Yuwei sat lazily, tossing the wine flask in her hand. "Come, keep me company for a couple of cups."

"I don't drink."

Lin Chen shook his head.

Such a blunt refusal almost drove Su Yuwei mad with exasperation.

"A sword bone awakening... to think it would possess such immense momentum."

Lin Chen's gaze locked firmly onto the room.

In his heart, he was more than a little nervous.

What if the awakening failed? Would his sister get hurt?

"The person who poisoned her clearly valued this sword bone. On one hand, they invaded your sister's body with cold poison to prevent her from awakening the sword bone, while on the other hand, they used another type of energy to nourish the sword bone... After years of nurturing, this sword bone has become incomparably formidable!"

Su Yuwei lowered the wine flask, her beautiful eyes calm as she said, "Today, as your sister integrates with the sword bone, relying solely on the power of the sword bone itself, her cultivation realm will soar directly to the Earth Spirit realm!"

"Directly enter the Earth Spirit realm?"

Hearing this, Lin Chen couldn't help but be startled.

This speed was truly terrifying!

"What's there to make such a fuss about? If your sister hadn't been plotted against, relying solely on the sword bone through all these years of cultivation, she probably would have stepped into the Heaven Spirit realm long ago, and the title of the number one prodigy in the Five Kingdoms would never have fallen to me."

Su Yuwei's expression remained indifferent.

"A sword bone is actually this formidable!"

Lin Chen sighed in admiration.

"Naturally formidable! They are the prodigies among prodigies! If they weren't strong, how could they attract the covetous eyes of external powerhouses?"

Su Yuwei rolled her eyes.

"Boom!"

Right at that moment, a gale of sword intent erupted flatly within the room!

It was bone-chillingly sharp!

The entire house was instantly shredded into pieces, dust swirling into the air.

Countless strands of sword intent burst forth from within, radiating in all directions.

A deafening roar echoed out!

Lin Chen was forced back several steps by the rushing wave of sharp sword qi.

"So strong, so strong!"

Tun Tun was also dumbfounded. "Integrating with the sword bone, comprehending sword intent, stepping into the Earth Spirit realm, and instantly becoming a sword cultivator... This is what you call a true prodigy! Kid, compared to your sister, your talent is truly worlds apart. If it weren't for your sheer luck in having me as your spirit beast, who knows how miserably you'd be getting by right now!"

This time, in a rare occurrence, Lin Chen did not retort.

At this moment, his heart was burning with fervor, and he was purely and simply happy for his sister!