The competition begins

"Why is that?" Long Chen couldn't help but frown.

"It's like this. The tasks here aren't released until after the Guild Competition. Revealing the tasks and rewards now is just to give you all a heads-up."

"In the branch sect, competition is extremely fierce. If you want to obtain more resources than others, you need to put in a hundred times the effort."

"The Guild Competition is about fighting for priority in taking tasks. Tasks are distributed based on the guild's ranking."

"If you are the number one guild, you get priority in choosing the high-reward tasks here. Although there are restrictions, the benefits are incredibly lucrative."

"The number one guild can accumulate hundreds of thousands of points in rewards over a month."

"The second place gets less, and so on. It's like a bowl of beef noodles: the first person to arrive picks out the big chunks of meat, the second person only gets a little meat, and the third person only gets some minced meat and noodles."

"The remaining noodles are shared by those who follow, and the last place usually doesn't even get to drink the soup; they can only lick the bottom of the bowl," the young woman sighed as she looked at Long Chen.

They were all Disciples from the previous batch who had personally experienced that cruel competition, so they felt deep sympathy for these newcomers who were still full of dreams.

"So, a good start is very important. That is why it is crucial to achieve good results in the first Guild Competition."

"Although the Guild Competition happens once a month, if you don't grasp the first month well and the gap widens, then with the way things snowball, the gap will only get larger and larger, making it very difficult to catch up," the woman reminded him softly.

Long Chen nodded gratefully, thanked the woman, and slowly walked toward the guild's direction.

The Senior Sister was right; the first time is extremely important. Everyone is at the same starting line; if you get beaten to the punch, you'll be in trouble.

Being one step ahead allows you to obtain more points, purchase more resources, and boost your overall strength significantly.

By the time the next competition comes around, the gap will be much more obvious. If the opponent surpasses you again, I'm afraid the gap will only continue to widen, and you will never be able to catch up.

However, it's a pity that I don't know what the situation will be like during the competition; otherwise, making tactical arrangements in advance would be a huge advantage.

Just as Long Chen was walking with his head down, a figure suddenly sped toward him. Instinctively, he dodged.

But the figure still collided with Long Chen. The person's strength was immense, and caught off guard, Long Chen let out a muffled groan and was sent flying.

Long Chen flew several zhang away before stabilizing himself. He couldn't help but feel angry; this person was definitely doing it on purpose.

Looking forward, he saw a burly, bald man looking at him coldly. This person was a full head taller than Long Chen, with bare arms. His muscles were knotted like snakes, and his whole body exuded explosive power, like a volcano containing endless energy.

His arms were covered in tattoos, which were very eye-catching. Standing there, he looked like an iron tower.

Behind the bald man stood three people. One of them had an indifferent expression, an imposing Aura, and was looking at Long Chen faintly.

As for the other two, Long Chen recognized them; they were Lei Qianshang and Qi Xin. They were looking at Long Chen with schadenfreude.

"Is this the 'monster among monsters' you were talking about?" the bald man asked Lei Qianshang.

Lei Qianshang replied, "That's right. Don't underestimate him. Although he is only at the Late Stage of Blood Condensation, his combat power is not inferior to an average Outer Sect Disciple at the Tendon Transformation Realm, and might even be higher."

The bald man shook his head and said, "Just reached the Late Stage of Blood Condensation. His Physical Body is not bad, but his cultivation is too trashy. Not worth looking at. Let's go."

The bald man shook his head and walked straight toward Long Chen, as if he didn't see him at all. Either Long Chen would move, or they would fight.

Although Long Chen was shocked by the bald man's strength, the pride deep within his Soul would not allow him to back down.

He knew clearly that this guy was even stronger than Lei Qianshang and the others, but he couldn't accept such an insult.

He looked at the bald man calmly, slowly reached out one hand, and simultaneously circulated the pill flames within his body, ready to strike at any time.

Seeing that Long Chen didn't move aside but instead took a fighting stance, the bald man's mouth curved into a sneer. He walked toward Long Chen, his Aura erupting.

"This is a restricted area. Who dares to be presumptuous!" A cold shout suddenly came.

The bald man was stunned, stopped, and slowly turned his head to look. He saw a man in white looking at them indifferently.

The uniform the man was wearing was that of an Enforcer, and the powerful Aura on his body made people afraid to look directly at him.

Long Chen was also stunned. He recognized the person; it was Senior Brother Wan.

The bald man looked at Senior Brother Wan, a faint mockery appearing on his face. Clearly, he didn't think much of these bottom-tier existences from the previous batch, but he didn't say anything.

He said to Long Chen, "Kid, the next time you block my path, I will smash you into a meat patty with my fists."

After speaking, the bald man walked past Long Chen, and the other three followed. Judging by the direction they were heading, it was the Profound Heaven Pavilion; they were probably going to buy things.

After the few of them left, Senior Brother Wan came to Long Chen and smiled slightly, "Let's go. I have a few words to say to you."

Long Chen was stunned. He didn't expect the usually serious Senior Brother Wan to care about him so much, not only driving away the bald man but also offering to walk him a part of the way.

"Many thanks, Senior Brother Wan," Long Chen said, cupping his fists. He felt very grateful to Senior Brother Wan.

His intuition told him that the bald man was terrifying, even stronger than Lei Qianshang and Qi Xin, and furthermore, he was a Tendon Transformation Realm expert; Long Chen was simply no match for him.

This made him very annoyed. If he had also advanced to the Tendon Transformation Realm, how could he be worse than them?

"Seeing you, I seem to see myself from three years ago, full of self-confidence. But sometimes, people need to know how to retreat. This is not weakness; this is a strategy. When you are weak, don't be too stubborn; otherwise, you will be the one who gets hurt," Senior Brother Wan said as they walked.

Long Chen gave a bitter smile and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother Wan. I know that too, but unfortunately, I can't control myself. If I had to choose humiliation, I would rather die."

Long Chen knew that he might have been influenced by the Pill Emperor's memories, making him unable to accept any humiliation. Making him endure humiliation was a punishment worse than death.

If it were the old Long Chen, he would naturally have avoided such a situation. Fighting head-on with someone he couldn't defeat wasn't bravery; it was stupidity, it was seeking death.

However, he understood these things, but he couldn't control the pride deep within his Soul; it wouldn't allow Long Chen to bow to anyone.

Senior Brother Wan nodded and said, "This has to do with a person's will. I cannot judge whether it is good or bad, but there are some things I still need to remind you of."

"Currently, your cultivation is at the bottom of the entire branch sect. You are at a great disadvantage in terms of Realm."

"The person just now is named Gu Yang. He has natural Divine Power, and his Physical Body is incredibly strong. His combat power is fierce; he has never met an opponent among his peers."

"Most importantly, he had already reactivated his Ancestral Mark before entering the academy. His Bloodline Legacy is power, so his strength is stronger than you can imagine."

Long Chen was shocked. He had awakened his Ancestral Mark before entering the branch sect. Such a powerful person entering the branch sect must be for the Essence Blood of Ten Thousand Beasts to make his Physical Body more perfect. Wouldn't he be even more powerful than Tang Waner?

"You Disciples of this batch are an unprecedentedly powerful generation for the branch sect. In previous years, a batch might not even produce one Genius who has awakened an Ancestral Mark."

"But this time, four appeared at once. Besides Tang Waner and Ye Zhiqiu whom you know, there is also the bald Gu Yang you met earlier."

"There is also another person named Guan Wennan. This person's combat power is equally terrifying, and he is arrogant, cold, and ruthless. You must also be careful."

"I am looking out for you today because I want to tell you that this is an era where a hundred flowers bloom. Everyone wants to be the protagonist."

"However, you also know that there is only ever one protagonist, so the competition will be extremely fierce, and the first Guild Competition is the key to success or failure."

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother Wan. I will remember it," Long Chen said. Senior Brother Wan's words were the same as what the Senior Sister who released the tasks had said; the first competition was too important.

"I think highly of you. Keep it up," Senior Brother Wan patted Long Chen's shoulder and left.

Long Chen returned to his Immortal Cave alone. Tang Waner and Qing Yu were still in meditation, which was a good sign.

Three days later, Tang Waner woke up first. After waking up, Tang Waner's Aura was already calm.

It was no longer leaking like before, and the surging Aura was also under control, which meant that her Realm had completely stabilized.

Long Chen told her about going to accept the tasks and meeting Gu Yang and the others, and Tang Waner was also startled.

She didn't expect that besides her and Ye Zhiqiu, there were two others who had awakened the Ancestral Mark, and one of them had awakened it even earlier than them.

"Waner, I still have a lot of Bee King Crystals here. Go and distribute them to everyone so they can cultivate faster."

"Also, send some to Ye Zhiqiu's side. Since we are allies, we are all our own people from now on. If they are strong, we are strong."

"I plan to go buy some medicinal herbs in a while to refine a batch of Tendon-Strengthening Pills for Ye Zhiqiu's side. Sigh, if I had known, I wouldn't have let them go buy those trashy Medicinal Pills," Long Chen couldn't help but feel some regret; he had forgotten about this matter at the time.

When Long Chen remembered, they had already bought them. Long Chen felt that his brain was sometimes not enough.

That day, Tang Waner bought the medicinal herbs back. Long Chen was responsible for Alchemy. After all, what he refined was High Grade, which could help them stabilize their cultivation faster.

To waste some points to win some precious time for the first competition was worth it.

When the people on both sides had all stabilized their cultivation, Long Chen ordered everyone to start sparring. Only in actual combat could they adapt to their current strength the fastest and exert greater combat power.

Their side had at least ten days more than others to fully adapt to their surging cultivation, and their combat power would improve a lot.

In the training that went on almost day and night, time passed quickly, and a month slipped away just like that.

"Dang." A melodious bell chime rang out, spreading to every corner of the Profound Heaven Branch Sect.

Long Chen, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes. "The Great Competition has begun."