Mortal: Starting with the Falling Cloud Sect, I proved my Dao through gacha pulls.

"Junior brother, wait!"

Su Mu turned around at the sound and immediately saw his third senior brother riding a magical artifact, flying straight towards him from afar.

"Senior Brother Cui, what brings you in such a hurry? Are you here to invite me for a drink again?"

When Cui Hao rode his escape light to Su Mu's side, he smiled and made a few jokes.

However, Cui Hao did not respond to Su Mu's question first. Instead, he circled around him several times, looking him up and down for a long time, and kept clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Although I already knew from Master beforehand, seeing it with my own eyes is still unbelievable. Junior Brother Su, your progress in cultivation is truly astonishing!"

Meeting Cui Hao's direct gaze, Su Mu felt extremely uncomfortable, with goosebumps rising on the back of his neck. He quickly waved his hand and changed the subject.

"It was just a coincidence, Senior Brother Cui. You didn't come to see me just for this, did you?"

"Not really, I just saw you from afar and came over to say hello. Today is the sect's preliminary selection for the Sword Trial Tournament, and I was just about to go and watch the excitement. Are you perhaps unaware of this, Junior Brother?" Cui Hao withdrew his gaze, his tone carrying a hint of unease.

"The sect's preliminary selection?" Su Mu suddenly realized that he had almost forgotten about this matter.

The Sword Trial Tournament has always had a limited number of participants, with each of the three major sects receiving thirty seats. Aside from the six peak masters who can directly appoint one person, the Falling Cloud Sect only has twenty-four publicly announced slots.

If other disciples wish to participate in the Sword Trial Tournament, they must first compete in the sect's internal trials to vie for one of the twenty-four spots in order to qualify for the official tournament.

The designated spot for Huoyun Peak had already been given to Su Mu, so he didn't need to participate in this internal competition.

"The selection competition is today? Well, it wouldn't hurt to go and see what's going on." Su Mu's heart stirred slightly, and he immediately set off with Cui Hao, each riding their magical artifacts, speeding towards the main peak.

The preliminary rounds of the Sword Trial Tournament were held in a magnificent plaza at the foot of the main peak, which was already bustling with activity.

In the center of the square stood three enormous arenas, each over a hundred feet in diameter, all shrouded in a solemn array of magical formations, shimmering with iridescent light. By the time the two arrived, the competition on the arenas had already been underway for some time.

At this moment, two cultivators were fiercely fighting on each of the three arenas. Spiritual energy surged and spells flew everywhere. Judging from their auras, they were all disciples in the Qi Refining stage. Cheers and exclamations rose and fell all around, and the atmosphere was extremely exciting.

Beside each arena, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator sits as a referee, their spiritual energy subtly enveloping the entire arena. This maintains order, protects the safety of the disciples, and ensures that the fight is stopped short of causing death or injury.

Su Mu glanced around the square and noticed that several thousand cultivators had gathered there, but most of them were just there to watch and join in the fun.

There were about four or five hundred people who actually participated in the selection competition, mainly Qi Refining stage cultivators, but all of them were at least at the tenth level of Qi Refining.

Seeing his focused gaze, Cui Hao chuckled and casually explained, "Don't be surprised. In previous competitions, only those under thirty years old and above at the tenth level of Qi Refining were allowed to participate. Disciples who didn't meet the requirements could only watch from the sidelines. Even if you can't participate yourself, witnessing others' fighting techniques and coping strategies is still very beneficial to your own cultivation."

Su Mu nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping across the entire scene once more. He was slightly surprised to find that there were very few Foundation Establishment disciples from each peak present at this moment.

Seemingly noticing the doubt in his eyes, Cui Hao smiled and explained, "Today is only the first day of the preliminary selection. The selection within the sect will take at least several days to come to a conclusion."

"In the first few rounds of the competition, the Foundation Establishment disciples of each peak do not need to participate. They only need to wait until the last round to fight against the winner among the Qi Refining cultivators. If they win, they can be directly selected."

Su Mu suddenly realized, and his gaze returned to the arena. In his current view, the fighting of these Qi Refining disciples seemed rather immature, a veritable battle of novices. However, the diverse methods and techniques employed by each person were quite interesting, making the spectacle quite enjoyable.

At this moment, on the pavilions on both sides of the square, Duan Gu and several sect elders sat quietly, overlooking the competition among the disciples of each peak.

"Old Duan, the level of your Fire Cloud Peak disciples this time is far from what it used to be. No wonder you tried to steal disciples a few days ago. It seems that in the end, we Hidden Sword Peak will have to hold up the show for this Sword Trial Tournament."

On one side, an elderly man with a sallow complexion sat upright in a grand chair. He was smiling with his eyes narrowed and his tone was somewhat playful as he teased Duan Gu.

Upon hearing this, the elders nearby chuckled knowingly. Duan Gu was always very concerned about his reputation. In the past, Huoyun Peak was quite strong, but now it was performing poorly. So, such opportunities to tease him were naturally rare.

Duan Gu was not angry after hearing this. He merely glanced at the sallow-faced old man and said in a calm tone, "Elder Ge is joking. It's just an internal competition. The Sword Trial Tournament has not yet begun, and the outcome is uncertain. It would be too early to draw conclusions."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the crowd below, his tone carrying a hint of certainty: "This time, Fire Cloud Peak has its own people to back us up. We are sure to achieve something in this Sword Trial Tournament, so Hidden Sword Peak need not worry."

Upon hearing this, the elders nearby were slightly taken aback, and one of them couldn't help but ask, "Oh? The one bringing up the rear? Elder Duan, how come we didn't know that Fire Cloud Peak had produced any remarkable disciples recently?"

Elder Ge, with his sallow complexion, laughed heartily, stroking his beard and shaking his head: "Old Duan, don't be so hasty. We all know the talents of each peak. What other extraordinary talents could your Fire Cloud Peak possibly have?"

Upon hearing this, Duan Gu merely curled the corners of his lips into a meaningful smile, his gaze returning to the figure standing calmly in the crowd, without uttering a word.

After watching the clash of amateurs on the field for a while, which could be described as a battle of qi, Su Mu found it boring and lost interest.

"Brother Pastor Su, it's been a long time."

He was about to bid farewell to Cui Hao and head to the market to purchase the necessary cultivation materials when a soft, melodious voice suddenly came from behind him, accompanied by a refreshing fragrance, which quietly drifted to his side.

He turned around and saw Song Yu standing gracefully in a plain white robe, her eyes clear and her demeanor otherworldly. In the bustling square, her figure was particularly eye-catching, attracting the frequent glances and secret observations of many cultivators around her.

Su Mu's eyes brightened slightly, and he cupped his hands in greeting: "So it's Senior Sister Song. This is the first time we've met since we entered the sect. Did you come here to watch the competition as well?" He appeared calm, but inwardly he was puzzled, wondering what Song Yu's purpose was in seeking him out.

Song Yu smiled gently, her eyes soft and her voice clear and melodious: "The competition was just something I happened to be passing by. I came here specifically because there is something I would like to discuss with Junior Brother Su."

Although Su Mu was curious, he also knew that the square was noisy and it was not convenient to talk about it in detail, so he suggested that they find a quiet place to discuss it in detail.

Song Yu nodded slightly, and the two left side by side, immediately attracting envious glances from many male cultivators in the square. As they left, Su Mu caught a glimpse of Cui Hao winking at him, his face showing a mischievous yet admiring expression.

The two arrived at a secluded mountain peak far from the square, away from the surrounding noise and bustle. Su Mu spoke first, his tone calm:

"Senior sister, you specifically sought me out. What advice do you have for me?"

Song Yu looked up at him, a hint of seriousness in his eyes, and said softly, "To be honest, I came to see you today because I wanted to have a private sparring session with you."

Seeing Su Mu's slight surprise, she paused, her tone becoming more candid:

"Actually, when Junior Brother was cultivating in the Cold Pool Secret Chamber that day, I happened to be in the adjacent Jia No. 5 Secret Chamber. I vaguely sensed an extremely powerful flame aura, which was very strange. I suppose it was Junior Brother's method."

Song Yu lowered his eyes slightly, his tone filled with worry: "I heard that the Ancient Sword Sect has a Mingxin Sword Body practitioner participating in this Sword Trial Tournament. I am not entirely confident, so I would like to spar with my junior brother to accumulate more practical experience and gain some confidence."

What Song Yu didn't say was that her actions this time were more to test the true strength of this Junior Brother Su.

Su Mu's cultivation progressed much faster than she had expected. Now, even her own keen intuition could not see through him. This secrecy and power had already made her extremely curious.

Upon hearing this, Su Mu suddenly realized that it was just a friendly sparring match. He had thought it was some kind of cliché story like "a senior sister with a heavenly spiritual root falls in love with me, who has a pseudo-spiritual root".

On second thought, he realized he had dual spiritual roots, so such an absurd scenario couldn't possibly happen to him. After a moment's contemplation, he readily agreed:

"Since Senior Sister has this idea, it's perfectly fine to have a friendly spar, which can also help us verify each other's cultivation levels."

A hint of joy flashed in Song Yu's eyes, and a slight smile appeared on his lips as he softly asked, "When would be a convenient time for you, Junior Brother? This place is secluded and quiet; if it's alright, why don't we spar now?"

Su Mu glanced around at the quiet and secluded surroundings and nodded: "This place is perfect, there's no need to look elsewhere. As you wish, Senior Sister, from this moment on, we'll stop here."

The two shifted their positions slightly, creating a distance of several feet between them.

With a flick of her wrist, Song Yu produced a small, exquisite silver bell. She lightly twitched her wrist, and the bell's sound spread out slowly and steadily, its gentle yet subtly sharp tone clearly indicating that it was an auxiliary magical artifact adept at disturbing the mind and trapping enemies.

"Junior brother, be careful, I'm about to make my move."