Chapter Twelve: Choosing One's Own Ranking

The day drew to a swift close, marking the end of the first round of the Baiyang Sect's entrance competition for new disciples. Some rejoiced, others despaired, but for most, it hardly mattered at all.

For these new disciples, their youth and lack of life experience meant their minds were still immature; few harbored any intricate schemes. In fact, many had begun their cultivation and joined Baiyang Sect at their families’ behest, not of their own volition.

As a result, most cared little for winning or losing the contest. To them, participation itself was meaningful, or perhaps the opportunity to make friends upon the dueling stage. For a sect like Baiyang, still lingering in the foundational phase of martial cultivation, their responsibilities extended far beyond simply recruiting talented disciples. They also had to show these youths, poised at the threshold of the martial path, what the martial way truly meant.

Each sect had its own approach to this task. Some explained it in words, others by example, and still others by subtle hints, guiding the young to realize the truth for themselves.

Naturally, the method chosen affected how deeply the disciples came to understand the way of martial cultivation. For Baiyang Sect to stand as the mightiest on Tianfeng Continent’s southern border, it was not a place for the idle or unambitious.

On the surface, the entrance competition seemed like a means to assess the new disciples’ abilities and reward the top three to spur others onward. But, in reality—

Perhaps, after this contest, many of those who felt indifferent would come to regret their apathy.

Time passed swiftly—three days in a blink. Apart from the first day, which held only one round, every subsequent day saw a round in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Due to the number of participants and the rules, the morning of the third day concluded with exactly twenty remaining. Another round was held that afternoon, and at last, the ten victors emerged.

Yet, these ten were not necessarily the strongest. With half eliminated each round, it was inevitable that the luck of the draw might pit two strong contenders against each other early, or allow someone with extraordinary fortune to face only weak opponents and slip into the top ten.

Thus, the next phase was the challenge round. Anyone confident in their ability to join the top ten had a single chance to challenge any among those ten; victory would let them take their place.

With this change in rules, everyone once more had a shot at reaching the top ten. Many were eager, but few actually stepped forward to issue a challenge.

After several more matches, the final ten were decided: Liu Pan, Wolf Hu, and Liu Kuang stood out among them. The remaining seven were mostly familiar to Liu Pan, but only one caught his particular attention—a man in coarse linen named Ye Ming.

Ye Ming, though from a poor background, possessed remarkable talent. Raised in the mountains, he was a master hunter. Driven by the dream to change his homeland’s poverty, he had always trained as if his life depended on it. Now, at fourteen, he had already reached the peak of the ninth rank of martial apprentice.

In the story, Ye Ming had come with a single aim: to claim first among the new disciples.

With the top ten decided, the contest naturally turned to the struggle for the top three.

Those who made it this far were no ordinary disciples—Baiyang Sect would not treat them lightly now. The final matches took place on the grandest bluestone stage at the center of the plaza, with the referee changed from the elders’ personal disciples to Elder Li Liao himself. The rules of the contest had been elevated to a whole new level.

The rules for the top three were simple: first, "choose your own rank."

This meant the ten finalists would each select the rank they believed they deserved among the ten.

For many, especially these young disciples, assessing their own strength and that of others was no easy task. Most children are self-centered, thinking the world would stop turning without them, believing themselves invincible, certain that their every move could shake the world. These new disciples, still young, largely retained such notions, leading to hasty and uncertain judgments.

To blindly gauge others while being uncertain of oneself made the task all the more difficult.

The first to step forward was Ye Ming. Without hesitation, he stood in the first position.

Liu Pan sighed softly to himself, unsurprised. The previous matches had all been scattered across different stages, so everyone had their own prediction of who would take first place. When Ye Ming unflinchingly took the lead spot, the crowd erupted in astonishment.

The second was a disciple named Zhang Li, who hesitated before choosing fifth place, drawing a wave of disappointed murmurs from the crowd.

The third surprised Liu Pan: it was Liu Kuang. Without hesitation, Liu Kuang claimed the second position, prompting another stir among the onlookers.

Liu Pan was caught off guard, for in his own account, Liu Kuang had aimed straight for first, not second. What had changed?

He frowned, then understood: at present, Liu Kuang was only at the eighth rank, whereas in Liu Pan’s own story, he had already reached the ninth rank upon joining Baiyang Sect.

Next, Wolf Hu stepped forward. After glancing at Liu Pan, he joined Liu Kuang at the second spot.

Seeing this, Liu Kuang’s brow furrowed, and he shot a sidelong glance at Liu Pan, as if a realization had dawned.

Liu Pan couldn’t help but curl his lips in amusement at Wolf Hu’s choice. Clearly, Wolf Hu was still smarting from his earlier defeat and remembered Liu Pan’s words that only Liu Kuang could help him understand why he had lost. For Wolf Hu not to choose Liu Kuang would indeed be odd.

At root, Wolf Hu’s decision was also Liu Pan’s own fault. Back on Peak Thirteen, after kicking Wolf Hu off the stage, Liu Pan had assumed Wolf Hu would endlessly replay that scene in his mind, searching for the reason he lost. Yet, Wolf Hu hadn’t considered it a matter of combat at all, given how suddenly and unexpectedly he’d been kicked. He had never tried to reconstruct the fight or seek its lesson. Later, when Wolf Hu acknowledged Liu Pan as his elder brother, it was simply to cultivate a relationship with him and learn the secret of those kicks.

After all, Liu Kuang’s character, as described in the tale, was wild and untamable—wolfish by nature. How could someone so proud truly want to serve as another’s lackey?

With Ye Ming, Liu Kuang, and Wolf Hu having made their choices, Liu Pan saw no reason to wait—these three were all that mattered; the others were mere background.

He stepped forward.

For a moment he paused at the second position. Instantly, he felt Wolf Hu’s body tense ever so slightly, which amused him.

Without another pause, Liu Pan strode to Ye Ming’s side and claimed the first position.

The crowd burst into uproar, clearly shocked by Liu Pan’s boldness.

After Liu Pan, the remaining five visibly relaxed and scrambled almost as one for third place. In an instant, the previously empty third spot was crowded with five heads.

Despite their youth and arrogance, they could still recognize overwhelming strength. After witnessing the “fierce” matches of Liu Pan and the other three, all the new disciples had mentally labeled them as dangerous. Thus, after those four had chosen, the remaining five simultaneously picked third, creating a comical scene.

Meanwhile, Zhang Li, who had chosen fifth, found himself in an awkward spot—no one had taken fourth, leaving a conspicuous gap between him and the cluster at third. It looked ridiculous. After a moment’s thought, Zhang Li edged over to the fourth spot, then reconsidered and finally joined the crowd at third.

At last, the self-ranking was complete.

Standing at the first position were Liu Pan and Ye Ming.

At the second, Liu Kuang and Wolf Hu.

And third place was packed with six hopefuls.

“Have you all confirmed your choices?” Elder Li Liao, the judge for the final round, addressed them. None responded, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Yet, after a pause, Li Liao asked again, “I repeat, are you all sure of your chosen positions?”

Again, silence. The agreement was clear.

The repeated questioning puzzled many, but Li Liao’s next words left everyone dumbfounded.

“Very well, since all have confirmed their rankings,” Li Liao announced, pausing to survey the crowd, “I now declare that the top four in this entrance competition are Ye Ming, Liu Pan, Liu Kuang, and Wolf Hu.”

An uproar surged through the crowd of new disciples watching below the stage.