Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1308: Chapter 428: Xiang Chong, Martial Arts Competition Finals and Commencement of the Ancestral Rites (Part 2)

Upon hearing this, Xiang Liang’s face showed no surprise, as he himself was one of the judges for the Hongmen preliminaries and semi-finals, and had a certain understanding of the strength of all competitors in this Three Towns Martial Arts Competition.

After all, this competition gathered the most outstanding young talents from the Three Towns of Great Xia, Muyin, and Jiangxia, and not to mention the geniuses from six other towns were not few, making it much harder than previous years to stand out and break into the top hundred.

“I told you at Hongmen, to break into the top hundred in the youth group, you either need Cold Resistance Level cultivation; or have Basic Strength at the Reshaping Skin stage exceeding eighty thousand pounds, confirming Intermediate Battle Body qualification, apart from these two cases, another is having extremely high Martial Arts Talent, none of these you possess, so there really isn’t much hope for you!”

Xiang Yan last year already broke through the Earth-digging Realm Limit and started Reshaping Skin, now his Basic Strength is just over sixty thousand pounds, this qualification is pretty good compared to peers from the Outer City, but when it comes to the Inner City, it’s somewhat lacking, there are easily three to five hundred people stronger than him.

Breaking into the top thousand is decent, but aiming for the top 200 is certainly out of the question.

As for the youth group’s top hundred, there’s really no need to even think about it.

“Alright, don’t be disheartened, I told you at Hongmen to be mentally prepared, this isn’t the only tournament, just try harder next year, you’re only 18, different from me, big brother is already over 25, and no longer has the chance to participate in the competition.”

Seeing the defeat evident on Xiang Yan’s face, Xiang Liang still offered a word of comfort.

Xiang Yan first nodded, but couldn’t help but shake his head: “I know there’s a gap between me and the top talents in the Inner City, but I didn’t expect it to be so big!

Just like big brother said, in the youth group here, Luo An, Luo Cheng, Lu Dong, Zou Ping, Liu Peng, Hong Ye, Zhao Yuanwu, Zhao Yuankong, Zhao Yuanshan, Zhao Yuankang, Qin Feng, Liu Ming, Chen Ping, Qin Zhan…

These people either broke through to Cold Resistance Level during the semi-finals; or their Basic Strength is now over a hundred thousand pounds; moreover, there are not a few like Luo Cheng, Chen Ping, and Qin Zhan with extremely high Martial Arts Talent, often defeating opponents across strengths.

Compared to these people, I really am… too ordinary!”

Xiang Yan spoke while clenching his fists unconsciously, the sense of frustration on his face growing more intense, clearly the competition had brought him a significant psychological impact.

Looking at his younger brother, Xiang Liang’s face showed a hint of approval, for someone at his age, being able to openly admit one is ordinary is no easy feat.

“It’s good that you realize you’re ordinary, I won’t sugarcoat it for you, the gap between you and these people isn’t just in talent, in terms of background, family, and resources, you can’t compare to them at all, so if you want to surpass others, you must put in ten times, even a hundred times the effort, understood?”

Xiang Yan immediately looked up at Xiang Liang after hearing this, his eyes quickly rekindled with determination, and he solemnly cupped his hands: “I understand, big brother!”

He remembered very clearly, in the inaugural Great Xia Martial Arts Tournament, big brother still relied on luck to pass the Logging Realm grouping preliminaries, with results far worse than today’s.

But big brother was not discouraged in the slightest, he worked hard for the whole year, and in the second Great Xia Martial Arts Tournament, directly achieved sixth place in the Logging Realm grouping; later in the fifth tournament, he even broke into the top ten of the Earth-digging Realm Limit grouping, being noticed by the then Five Originals Guardian, Lord Xu Ning, and became a member of the Black Arrow Team.

It was precisely joining the Black Arrow Team that big brother got the opportunity to go with Lord Xu to Lower River Village undercover, which paved the way for his later ennoblement, entry into the Prison Department, and subsequent promotion to fifth-rank, becoming the Hongmen Vice Chief of Punishment.

Big brother’s defiance of fate was never an overnight success, but a solid effort, he is a ready-made example, what does this little setback matter?

Seeing Xiang Yan revitalized, knowing his brother truly listened to him, Xiang Liang’s face was naturally full of approval, but soon he remembered something, smiled and asked: “Those people you mentioned like Luo An, they’re probably the favorites to win in the youth group, besides them, didn’t Muyin and Jiangxia, including the other six towns, produce any remarkable figures?”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Yan immediately showed a hint of peculiarity, shaking his head: “There are, but very few, the situation in the youth group is slightly better, currently among the top 200, about forty percent are from outside the towns; in the youth group here, among the top 200, less than twenty percent are outsiders, and their ranks are all very low, I estimate by tonight’s end, when the final list comes out, their share will be even less.”

Upon hearing this situation, Xiang Liang was slightly stunned, realizing that what Li Longkai said to him on the way back from Hongmen last night might actually be true.

“Young people from Muyin and Jiangxia Towns are indeed a good deal worse in aptitude compared to our Great Xia’s young ones, I estimate the youth group’s top hundred will have, at most, only a dozen or so from outside towns; the youth group here is even worse, probably not even ten.”

At the time, upon hearing this, Xiang Liang was a bit skeptical, but now hearing Xiang Yan, Li Longkai’s prediction last night seemed likely to come true.

“Alright, you two brothers, stop chatting, everything is already prepared, let’s head to the Sect Temple!”

Just as Xiang Liang was about to continue speaking, his wife Wang Yuxiu and sister Xiang Rong walked over from outside, carrying baskets, indicating for them to set off.

Wang Yuxiu walked up to Xiang Liang, revealing the contents of the basket with a smile: “It’s my first time going to the Sect Temple, the rules I heard are the offerings should be three animals, five fruits, Yellow Candle, Spiritual Wine, Spirit Pill, these five things, right?”