From the start of the formal battle to Guo Zhao’s defeat, only a few breaths passed!

Chen Mengze’s move this time was extremely decisive, showcasing her superior skills in Ice-type magic.

“This girl from the Chen Family indeed has a few tricks,” Yuan Heming chuckled, stroking his beard.

The others might not have been fully aware, but as cultivators in the Golden Core Realm, he and Zhou Zhiwei had noticed quite a few details.

Simply put, the Mana and True Yuan within Chen Mengze’s body were purer and more abundant, and the swordplay and magic she used were more profound. That was why, when she collided with the fire dragon summoned by Guo Zhao, she not only shattered the fire dragon but also seriously injured Guo Zhao with the remaining power of the Spell!

Then, Yuan Heming changed the topic. “However, Junior Brother Shen, if you want Chen’s girl to take over Green Cloud Peak, even if she becomes the primary core disciple, her Cultivation Realm and Sect Merit would be somewhat lacking.”

A few years ago, while cultivating in the Extreme Northern Zone, Chen Mengze had already reached the Spirit Sea Realm Layer III. Now, she has advanced to the Layer V Realm.

But this alone was not enough.

Jin Chinian, who took over the position of Rising Sun Peak Master, had already reached Layer IX of the Spirit Sea Realm, and his Sect Merit was also sufficient. Therefore, there wasn’t much opposition when he took over.

However, Chen Mengze’s Realm was weaker. Unlike Shen Mo, she hadn’t made significant contributions to the sect, so there would be significant resistance within the sect if she tried to assume the position of Peak Master.

“No problem! The positions of the Peak Masters for the three Main Peaks—Bright Moon, Stars, and Green Cloud—should remain vacant for a while. That will be enough time for her to increase her cultivation level and earn Sect Merit.”

Zhou Shili and Yuan Jing had not yet returned, and their fates were still unknown.

The sect couldn’t remove their Peak Master positions, and most of the daily affairs of each peak were discussed and resolved by the Elders.

This included recruiting outstanding performers into the Main Peaks after the Newcomers’ Competition, as well as managing the cultivation, training, and mission execution of the disciples within each peak.

Of course, if there were matters that the Elders were uncertain about, they would consult Sect Master Yuan Qingshi, which added to the Sect Master’s burden and was quite troublesome.

It was manageable if the duration was short. However, if there was no news from Zhou Shili and Yuan Jing after a few more years, the upper ranks, including Shen Mo, would have to consider new Peak Master candidates!

If a Hall Master was promoted to be a Peak Master, the Hall Master’s position would become vacant.

At that time, if it proved too difficult for Chen Mengze to take over Green Cloud Peak directly, Shen Mo would have to resort to the next best thing and let her succeed as the Hall Master of a certain hall according to the normal process.

He first needed to communicate this to Yuan Heming and Zhou Zhiwei to prevent them from reacting too aggressively later.

「」

Next was the competition between the remaining core disciple candidates, including Cao Ren, Lu Ming, and Yao Ting.

The subsequent situation did not surprise Shen Mo.

Lu Ming had cultivated his thunder-type magic to a state of pure mastery, even attracting thunder and lightning from the rain clouds.

The powerful arcs of electricity furiously bombarded his opponent, leaving him charred black and even more severely injured than Guo Zhao!

In the end, Shen Mo personally had to give him a Grade V Elixir to save his life.

As for the battle between Cao Ren and Yao Ting, it also ended with Cao Ren’s victory.

Yao Ting had been at the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm for many years and possessed an incredibly solid foundation. Moreover, she was quite adept in magic and martial arts.

If she were outside the sect, with her strength, she could slay middle-stage Spirit Sea Realm evil cultivators!

Unfortunately, the benefits Cao Ren gained from soul traveling in the Dark Blue Zone with the Dragon Transformation Spell were too great. He not only cultivated a forceful and tyrannical True Yuan but also mastered several high-level, powerful Spells.

Despite Yao Ting’s numerous attempts, she still couldn’t beat Cao Ren and had to concede defeat helplessly.

Fortunately, for a core disciple candidate like her, even if she lost and was eliminated today, she would still have a chance to challenge the core disciple in the last seat in the future.

Given their many previous encounters, Shen Mo thought he might give her a slight hand in the future.

The first round of competition did not end until evening.

Chen Mengze, Cao Ren, and Lu Ming all successfully advanced to the next round. Of the remaining four competitors, three were from Rising Sun Peak, and one was from Bright Moon Peak.

The second round of competition did not stop due to the late hour; instead, the battles raged on into the night.

On one hand, whether it was day or night, much like the stormy weather, was considered part of the genuine battle environment. On the other hand, it also tested the recovery speed of the core disciples’ True Yuan, Soul Body injuries, and other conditions!

After all, when fighting enemies, one couldn’t always choose to fight only when the sun was out, let alone negotiate a break with the enemy after an intense battle to wait for them.

Looking down from the night sky, points of spirit light surrounded the area. These were the lights from Spells cast by the disciple spectators, forming a giant ring.

In the center of the ring, flashes of light from Spells and magic treasures continually erupted—brilliant, intense, and brief, like blooming fireworks!

This round of competition, with the participation of the current core disciples Zhou Ru, Yuan Wenxuan, and Feng Kai, was much more intense than the previous one.

Nearly everyone brought out their best abilities. Even Chen Mengze used The Big Dipper Array and the High-Level Talismans given to her by Shen Mo several times.

Fortunately, she did not disappoint Shen Mo’s expectations, successively defeating Feng Kai, Lu Ming, Zhou Ru, and others.

After several victorious battles, she and Cao Ren, both with undefeated records, met. Their match would decide who would become the Core Disciple Chief and who would take the Second Seat.

Meanwhile, Lu Ming and Zhou Ru were to contend for the third seat among the core disciples.

“This Cao Ren… he also has some past history with Junior Brother Shen, right? Originally, he was just an unknown from the Inner Door, not even a Main Peak disciple, and yet he managed to get to this point,” Zhou Zhiwei noted, a glint in his eyes, before sighing. “Your generation truly… truly is full of prodigies!”

Yuan Heming nodded in agreement. “Strictly speaking, Chen’s girl wasn’t from an elite background either; she joined Green Cloud Peak later. Who would have thought that in this generation, the Core Disciple Chief and Second Seat would both fall to disciples from the Inner Door?”

“Heh.” Shen Mo gave a faint smile but did not continue the conversation.

The subsequent fight between Chen Mengze and Cao Ren was also extremely intense!

Chen Mengze had the edge in terms of Cultivation Realm, surpassing Cao Ren. However, Cao Ren was slightly superior to Chen Mengze in terms of magic and martial arts.

This battle lasted for a full hour…

Eventually, Chen Mengze, relying on the purity and abundance of her True Yuan, along with High-Level Talismans, Elixirs, and The Sword Array, managed to knock Cao Ren out of the sky.

Thus, she smoothly became the Riverside Sect’s new generation Core Disciple Chief, while Cao Ren could only take the Second Seat.

In the subsequent battle, Zhou Ru, with her superior skills, defeated Lu Ming. They respectively secured the third and fourth core disciple seats!

Yuan Wenxuan and Feng Kai, the two incumbent core disciples, were not pushed out of the core disciple rankings. The remaining three seats were taken by two disciples from Rising Sun Peak and one disciple from Bright Moon Peak.

Once Jin Chinian struck the Daoist bell to announce the final list of core disciples, the grand competition officially came to an end.

The Sect Disciples who had come to watch the competition gradually dispersed. Meanwhile, Shen Mo descended using his escaping light, appearing next to Chen Mengze. “Senior Sister Chen, congratulations on winning the Chief position!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep