Chapter 66: 66. Youth Competition
A month later, the preliminary rounds of the Youth Champion Competition begin.
Merin sits in the VIP box with his parents and Yanli.
Both Nora and Kuro successfully advanced through the selection process and have made it into the preliminaries.
Merin's mother leans toward him and asks, "Kanoru, I heard some of your students are also in the preliminary rounds."
Merin simply nods, his attention mostly inward as he continues refining a Snake Transformation technique in his mental scene.
Down in the arena, twenty rings host one-on-one battles simultaneously.
Each time a fight ends, the names of the next two contestants flash across the boards.
Bai Yanli leans toward Merin's parents and says, "Aunty, one of them is Kanoru's student."
Merin's parents focus on the fight with their sharpened eyesight — though they only reached high-level spiritual apprentices, their vision is still sharp enough to see every move clearly.
In that ring, Merin's student struggles and eventually loses.
Over the next two hours, three more of Merin's students fight — only one of them wins and advances to the next round scheduled for tomorrow.
Finally, Nora's name is announced.
Merin's gaze settles on her as she steps into the ring.
She has learned the transformation technique Merin devised and can now morph her hands into powerful Rock Lion claws.
Despite her skill, she still loses — Merin can tell her opponent has already grasped an artistic conception that put her at a disadvantage.
Nora's fight ends, and a few minutes later, she enters the VIP box and sits with her head lowered.
Merin's parents and Yanli comfort her warmly; she's only fourteen, and they remind her she will have another chance in four years.
The next fight draws loud reactions as one of the participants is a half-yao.
Although this half-yao looks mostly human, like Yanli, they have distinct hair and eye colours.
The political climate in the region is tense — some opportunistic forces from the western continent wish to occupy the lands that half-yao once ruled before losing them two years ago.
When this fight begins, loud, jeering shouts fill the crowd, fueled by those tensions.
Merin watches calmly, his eyes cold.
A few minutes later, Baku enters one of the rings and wins easily.
Half an hour after Baku, Elis and Rey also fight — they both win without trouble, their full-body transformations granting them an overwhelming edge.
Two more half-yao then take the stage, one after another.
One is named Cui Ying, and he also wins.
Merin notes that all three half-yao who fought so far are his students — they've learned to control their bloodline for him.
By the afternoon, Kuro steps into one of the rings.
With the overwhelming strength of his iron ant transformation, Kuro sends his opponent flying out of the arena within minutes.
After Kuro's victory, Merin, seeing no reason to stay, rises from his seat and quickly leaves the arena, heading straight for his tower.
A week ago, the tower was completed, and Merin began residing inside; its protective formations make it a small fortress.
Within its walls, only an ancestor could defeat him — and even then, only after exhausting the tower's energy pool.
The tower's lab is exceptionally advanced, spread across multiple rooms and floors, with dozens of empty rooms still unused.
Besides Merin himself, only Zhen Qi, Yanli, and his younger brother and sister occupy rooms here, leaving more than twenty empty.
There are five floors total, and Merin's quarters are on the top level.
That floor contains his most advanced lab and a special living-storage room where experimental subjects — mostly snakes — are kept.
Once Merin reaches the top floor, he begins his next round of experiments.
The next day, he returns to the competition to support his students and brother, then returns to the tower after their matches.
On that day, twenty of Merin's students, including his brother, competed, and fifteen of them successfully advanced to the next stage.
What surprises him most is that Cui Ying — a half-yao of flying wolf blood — also advances.
Merin notes with interest that Cui Ying's bloodline purity has increased and wonders if he might advance to the Great Samurai realm during the competition.
He still hasn't taught the spiritual method he developed for half-yao, intending to wait until after the preliminary rounds, which last two more days.
Two days pass, and the preliminary rounds conclude with his brother and six of his students reaching the Top 64; among them is Cui Ying.
Cui Ying's advancement prompts Merin to delay the public release of the spiritual method and, instead, to train Cui Ying privately for the next ten days so he can make a strong impression during the tournament.
He sends one of his men to bring Cui Ying to live in his tower.
That night, Merin stays in his tower while Yanli quietly departs the city.
Earlier, as she was leaving the arena, a message had been discreetly handed to her—an invitation to a meeting outside the city, in a remote village, without any named sender.
And why would she risk going to such a meeting?
Because on the message was a blood seal, only a half-yao could leave by expending a portion of their life origin.
It could still be a trap, but she had already informed Kanoru, who simply gave her a drop of his blood as insurance.
With it, she can call Kanoru if she faces danger—and though Kanoru neither urged her to go nor stay, she feels compelled by the blood seal and by the tense situation facing other half-yao across the Eastern region, the new name for what was once the seven kingdoms.
Yanli races toward the agreed meeting place, but before she even reaches it, she senses violent energy fluctuations up ahead.
She slows to a halt, feeling like a fight is raging just beyond.
For a moment, she hesitates, wondering whether to go any further.
Still, she carefully advances, her mental energy fixed on Kanoru's blood sealed in the locket at her neck, ready to call him at the first sign of danger.
When she reaches the clearing, she sees several figures surrounding a lone woman.
Yanli can tell at a glance that this is a half-yao, without even needing to see her hair or eyes.
The woman's body up to her neck has completely transformed into a flying wolf, her back sprouting powerful wings.
Yet she cannot take off.
Two True Core spiritualists keep her pinned too closely to give her any room to fly.
And this woman also practised Kanoru's blood control technique — it's the only way she could transform so much of her body.
Only her human head remains unchanged.
Yanli realises that without help, this half-yao will be defeated.
And since she's one of her kind, and may even be related to Cui Ying — who became Kanoru's new student after today's tournament — Yanli cannot stand by and do nothing.
Meanwhile, the besieged woman, Cui Li, feels her heart sinking as the fight drags on.
She even considers self-destructing as her strength fades, but what holds her back is the invitation she sent earlier to a woman from the Bai Family.
She cannot help but feel jealous — jealous that the Bai Family woman is betrothed to a spiritual master.
If Cui Li had someone like that to stand behind her, nobody would dare attack her or her family.
But as time passes, the Bai Family still doesn't come, and her energy drains faster and faster.
If this continues, she knows she won't even have the strength left to self-destruct.
Just as she steels herself to do it anyway, she freezes.
She hears the sharp, eerie howl of a fox.
And in an instant, the summer night transforms into winter as clouds swirl overhead and snow begins to fall.
A breath of relief escapes her lips — she knows that her reinforcements have finally arrived.
The sudden snowfall, spreading across several hundred metres, is the signature ability of the Rimefang Beast clan.
And the Bai Family bears the blood of the Rimefang Beast clan.
Snow quickly blankets the area, obscuring sight and even suppressing mental domains.
Screams ring out for a few minutes, then Cui Li feels a cold snout nudge her palm and hears a mental message: Follow me.
She grabs the beast's tail, allowing it to lead her out of the blizzard.
But as they near the edge of the snowstorm, a terrifying pressure drops over them.
With no hesitation, she uses the drop of Kanoru's blood and calls for him.
The very next moment, her magical ability is shattered, and the skies return to normal — and now a man is standing in mid-air.
Her heart sinks as she looks up.
She and her rescuers had hoped it was just some powerful Ultimate artefact at work, but seeing someone flying in the sky dashed those hopes.
Only a spiritual master could do that.
Two black-cloaked True Core spiritualists still remain where they were.
Yanli hadn't attacked them — she knew they wouldn't be killed in one strike — and now the two cloaked figures advanced toward them.
One of them says, "Surrender. You can't escape."
Cui Li tenses, knowing she cannot fall into the hands of those who destroyed her family.
She prepares to self-destruct, but Yanli's voice reaches her mind: Stall them. I've already called my fiancé.
Cui Li keeps her face blank as she replies, "I'll surrender. But can I at least know who I'm surrendering to?"
The other cloaked figure sneers, "Still thinking about revenge and escape?"
Cui Li answers calmly, "How could I even dream of escaping when a spiritual master is here to capture me?"
Suddenly, the spiritual master's voice rings out from the sky: "No need to talk further. My preparations are complete."
Both Yanli and Cui Li freeze as a dark green formation blooms under their feet.
Dark green chains surge up, locking them in place.
They struggle, only to feel their vitality rapidly draining.
Their bodies grow weaker and weaker as they fight to stay conscious.
But then a green wave sweeps through them, shattering the chains and restoring their lost vitality.
Yanli and Cui Li look up just in time to see the enemy spiritual master hurl a dark energy palm at another figure hovering in the sky — Kanoru.
Kanoru intercepts the palm with his own energy, and for a few tense minutes, they trade fierce blows that light up the sky.
When the dust settles, they seem evenly matched.
Then Kanoru's voice sounds clearly in their minds: Both of you can leave.
Without hesitation, they turn and flee into the distance.
By the time they reach the tower, Yanli spots Zhen Qi waiting in the foyer.
He informs them that the Dragon Master wishes to see them.
When they enter the top floor, they find Kanoru seated calmly, showing no trace that he was locked in a fierce battle moments ago.
Yanli asks worriedly, "How are you?"
Merin replies, "Nothing at all—we were simply testing each other's methods."
Cui Li hesitantly asks, "Master, may I know who that spiritual master was?"
Merin waves his hand dismissively. "Stop thinking about revenge. Focus on saving yourself. Tomorrow morning, you'll have to leave the tower."
Cui Li glances at Yanli, hoping for her support, but Yanli simply says, "You can come stay at my family's home."
Cui Li takes a deep breath and hardens her resolve before meeting Merin's gaze. "Dragon Master, don't you want to know why I tried to reach you through your fiancée?"
Merin merely shrugs, his face still expressionless.
Yet Cui Li can see a glimmer of interest in his eyes, so she continues. "The real reason is that I hoped to speak with you all along."
Merin tilts his head. "And why?"
"I need you to escort me to Sky Mountain in the Eastern Ocean," Cui Li says steadily. "The inner treasury of my family lies there. I only need twenty percent of it. The rest is yours."
"You're an Ascendant Realm cultivator," Merin replies. "You hardly need my help."
Cui Li's voice grows serious. "That's because Sky Mountain is the domain of the Heavenly Serpent."
At the mention of the Heavenly Serpent, Merin's eyes sharpen. "Then I will go," he says. "Yanli, have Zhen Qi prepare an ocean-going ship. The voyage will begin after the Top 64 competition ends—we'll have a one-month window then."
Seeing their shocked looks, unable to reply, Merin says," Both of you can leave."
Yanli and Cui Li exchange stunned looks before stepping out of the room.
Cui Li had prepared further enticements, even to offer more than ten percent of her share, but none of it had been needed.
Yanli sighs. "Let's go. I'll show you to your room."