The ongoing selection filled the Martial Hall Palace with vibrancy. Numerous personal disciples and internal disciples gathered, battling each other to establish supremacy. Leng Han, Lu Xiaoqing, and Xia Liuhui were able to distinguish themselves from the numerous disciples and entered the top 50.
They were all the latest generation's outer disciples, and in a short one year, they had managed to enter the Astral Realm and even managed to advance a few stages consecutively after entering the Astral Realm. Ultimately, they distinguished themselves and became part of the top 50 disciples. One could say that their rise hadn't been easy at all.
Of the three, Leng Han was once the strongest outer disciple. But with Xiang Shaoyun's appearance, his fame was overshadowed. Even so, nobody found it surprising for him to achieve such a result in the selection.
As for Lu Xiaoqing, she had long caught the eyes of the eleventh elder, He Yinghua. Thus, her result wasn't too surprising either. The only person who shocked everyone with his performance was Xia Liuhui. He used to be an ordinary outer disciple, but after he followed Xiang Shaoyun, he had been on the rise with his cultivation level soaring like a rocket.
Currently, Lu Xiaoqing was at fourth-stage Astral Realm while Xia Liuhui was at late third-stage Astral Realm after consuming the silverhorn fruit. In fact, he was only barely able to enter the top 50.
And that was also a result of his good luck. If he had encountered a slightly stronger opponent in the selection, he wouldn't have been able to enter the top 50.
And thus, the new top 50 disciples of Martial Hall Palace were decided. They would be the ones representing the Martial Hall Palace at the Battle of Towns.
The Battle of Towns would not be conducted in arenas like the internal selection. Rather, the participants would be sent to some ancient ruins and made to fight over something. As for what that something would be, they would only know after they were there.
This time, the vice palace master, Tan Guanghua; the first elder, Jie Shi; and a few other elders would be the ones to bring the disciples over to the Battle of Towns. The party would be traveling to a place called Golden River Valley.
The Golden River Valley was a location under the control of the Cloud Margin City. This was a place where rivers converged and altered the terrain to form a unique dish-shaped valley. This valley was filled with gold-colored objects, such as golden plants and golden rivers. That was how the name of the valley came to be.
All locals of Cloud Margin City also knew that the Golden River Valley used to be the territory of an organization that used to be the strongest in the Cloud Margin City, and this organization even shared the same name as the valley.
But eventually, things changed drastically, resulting in the destruction of the organization, leaving a bunch of ruins behind in the valley. Over the years, many adventurers had explored the valley, but few of them had actually left the place alive. Ultimately when the Cloud Margin City deployed some experts to scout the area, they found that the valley had been taken over by a species called the gold serpent crocodile.
The gold serpent crocodile was an extremely ferocious beast, and a large amount of them could be found in the valley. Ordinary cultivators would only have a chance to enter the valley safely if a group of King Realm cultivators were to first enter and clear the way for them.
Naturally, not many King Realm cultivators were actually interested in doing so. Thus, the gold serpent crocodiles had been allowed to inhabit the valley. This time, the Battle of Towns was going to be held there. This signified that a war would start between the young elites and the gold serpent crocodiles.
Wu Town was quite far from the Golden River Valley, but fortunately, they could travel through the Wu River to shorten their journey. They would be able to reach it in about 10 days. For this, the Martial Hall Palace had deployed the largest ship they had. A large banner with "Martial Hall Palace" written on it was hung above the ship, and it fluttered wildly in the wind.
Rows of Martial Hall Palace disciples stood on the ship, all of them fully armed as if they were heading out to war. Because they were going to participate in the Battle of Towns, they had to show off their prowess and display how elite and well-trained they were. They were not going to leave outsiders with the impression that they were a disorganized mob.
Numerous people stood along the two sides of the river, looking at the Martial Hall Palace disciples with encouraging gazes. These young disciples taking part in the competition on behalf of the town were their hope. Everyone wished to see these youngsters win them honor and glory. The ship started to sail forth, and soon, it left Wu Town's territory.
At this moment, the vice palace master, Tan Guanghua, spoke, "After leaving Wu Town, we will be passing by Gateflag Town. There, Gateflag Academy disciples will also set off and head to the Battle of Towns with us. We've had conflicts with them in the past, but be sure to not do anything during this journey unless provoked. Our priority is to reach the Golden River Valley without any complications."
Wu Town and Gateflag Town were neighboring towns, and the Martial Hall Palace and the Gateflag Academy represented the strength of their respective towns. Thus, it was unavoidable that the two competed with each other. As time went on, their grievances for each other only grew.
"Vice palace master, what if they provoke us?" asked a disciple.
"We won't bother them if they don't provoke us, but if they dare provoke us, hmph. We will come back at them with twice the rage," said Tan Guanghua. He then added, "But of course, we must not be the party starting the conflict. If any of you decide to cause trouble during our journey there, don't blame me for what I will do to you."
After about four hours, the Martial Hall Palace's ship arrived near Gateflag Town. There, a massive ship was anchored. A banner with "Gateflag Academy" written on it was hanging on the ship. A group of battle-ready youngsters could be seen on the ship as well. All of them were currently looking at the Martial Hall Palace disciples with taunting eyes.
"Brother Tan, Brother Jie, you sure are taking your own sweet time arriving here," a voice rang out.
Tan Guanghua replied, "My apologies to keep you waiting. I wonder if your party is ready to set out now?"
"Of course we are. How would we dare to let you wait?" the person replied before he said to his disciples, "Set off now."
"Gateflag Academy! Victory! Gateflag Academy! Victory!"
As soon as the order was given to set off, the youngsters on the ship started chanting in an orderly fashion. Their spirits were high, their momentum was boundless, and their confidence was fully displayed for all to see.
Some of the Martial Hall Palace disciples grew nervous at the sight. It felt like a declaration of war from the Gateflag Academy, and in terms of spirits alone, they seemed to be the weaker party. The two ships started sailing alongside each other.
"Brother Tan, Brother Jie, I have a suggestion. Since both our parties are participating in the Battle of Towns, why don’t we both work together to enter the top 10?" proposed the vice principal of Gateflag Academy, Luo Lin.
Luo Lin would be leading the Gateflag Academy's group in their trip to the Battle of Towns. He appeared to be a middle-aged man with a pair of sharp eyes that made clear the impressive strength he had.
"That's a decent idea, but none of us can be sure if the disciples can actually work together. Furthermore, there's also the question of the leadership of the alliance," Tan Guanghua said.
"Haha, that's not a problem at all. The stronger party will naturally be the leader. In any case, it would be hard for any of us to get into the top 10 independently. We might as well work together. That way, we will have a higher chance of succeeding," said Luo Lin with a confident smile.
Just as Tan Guanghua was about to give a reply, Jie Shi opened his mouth, "Don't fall for it. They probably came prepared."