"Oh my god!"
"We have another monster!"
"This strength is already on par with Senior Brother Shi Shisi's strength!"
"I praise Young Master Shi Li! No! I'll call him Big Brother!"
"I wonder how he did it..."
After walking down the raised platform, Shi Li walked back to where he previously stood as the other participants that saw Shi Li's monstrous strength couldn't help but gasp and scream in awe.
"You've grown so much in just two months..." Shi Xingwan couldn't help but laugh out loud as he looked at his son's current strength. In the midst of this hearty laughter, Shi Xingwan couldn't help but feel teary eyed as he muttered.
"Xia'er, could you see how far our son has grown? Don't you worry, he'll become a legend that'll support our clan."
...
As the participants that haven't been called by Shi Xingtai yet went up to the raised platform and showed their strengths to the participants one by one, Shi Li could feel a menacing aura that was directed at him.
He looked around for a short bit before finally finding out where that menacing aura came from. Surprisingly, Shi Li realized that this menacing aura came from one of the participants that he regarded as someone strong.
This man wore a gray robe as his brown irises exuded an aura of terror and strength while showing magnanimity and maturity.
Indeed, this man was Shi Shisi.
Seeing that Shi Shisi was gesturing at him to come closer to him, Shi Li shrugged his shoulders and gradually walked closer and closer to him. It only took a few minutes for the two to meet face-to-face.
Wanting to break the tension, Shi Li asked, "What's your name?"
"Shi Shisi. You?" Shi Shisi straightforwardly replied as he asked the same question back to Shi Li.
"I'm Shi Li." Although Shi Li was sure that almost everyone in the clan knew him, he knew that he shouldn't be haughty in front of other people, especially if they're someone who has a strength similar or higher than him.
"Why did you give off a menacing aura towards me? Do you have any grudges towards me?" Shi Li couldn't help but ask. Ever since Shi Li walked up the raised platform and went back to his original place, he felt a menacing aura aimed at him. Now that he knew where it came from, of course he wanted to know the reason why.
"I wanted to grab your attention," Shi Shisi scratched his head as he replied in a monotonous and serious tone.
"Grab my attention?" Shi Li was confused. He didn't expect that this was the reason. "Uh...why?"
"It's because..." Shi Shisi rubbed his chin for a bit before continuing. "I respect your strength."
"Respect my strength? What for? We're both cultivators, we know how hard we've cultivated in order to reach this level of power," Shi Li humbly replied as he knew that Shi Shisi exerted more effort than him.
"That's why I respect it so much. Many of the clan members know that you've only started cultivating around two months ago. To reach this level of strength within two months, if I weren't to respect it, what else would I do?" Shi Shisi gradually looked at Shi Li with respect rather than a gaze filled with coldness.
"Well...thanks I guess?" Shi Li didn't know how to respond to these types of statements. Since he felt that the conversation between them was done, Shi Li started to turn around and head back to where he previously was.
"Wait."
Only to be stopped by Shi Shisi.
"Hm? What is it?" Shi Li turned his head around to look at Shi Shisi. He noticed that Shi Shisi was twiddling with his fingers as he hesitated to speak. Not long after, he mustered up his courage and said, "Can we spar sometime?"
"Spar?" Shi Li repeated the question in his head as something instantly clicked, understanding what Shi Shisi meant. With a smile, he replied, "Sure we can. We're both part of the same clan so why not? Also, I don't mind if you call me as your friend because we are."
Shi Shisi's eyes lit up as he was flabbergasted from Shi Li's words. "H-How..."
"A roundabout way of asking to become friends is not a style of a man. Just be as direct as possible," Shi Li chuckled.
"Well... I've barely talked with anyone these past few years since I always used most of my time in cultivation rather than making friends so it's kinda hard for me to do that," Shi Shisi scratched his head as he continued talking in a monotonous manner.
"It's fine, it's fine," Shi Li waved it off as he said before leaving, "I have a feeling we might meet again on the next test."
With that, Shi Li turned around and left Shi Shisi alone. Shi Shisi, on the other hand, looked down at his toes and let out a slight smile, happy about the fact that he was making friends.
...
A couple of hours have passed since the start of the first test of the Shi clan Novice tournament.
At this moment, the final participant finished showing his strength off to the other participants, allowing Shi Xingtai to let out a light sigh as he smiled. The first test was finally over.
Ordering some clan members of the Martial Adept stage to lift the strength measuring pillar off the raised platform, Shi Xingtai then looked at the participants and said, "With that, our first test is now over."
"We shall now move onto the next test, the Test of Endurance!"
Whoosh!
Circulating all of the qi within his body, he then released a few dozen wisps of qi as these wisps formed an image that was quite similar to the center stage of the clan arena, garnering some murmurs from the participants here and there.
Not long after, a white light appeared on the edge of the image, prompting Shi Xingtai to clear his throat to gain the attention of the participants.
"If you would look in front of you, this is a model of the center stage of our clan arena. Now you may ask, how is this related to the next test? Well..."
"The next test involves you running 100 laps around the edge of the center stage!"
With this statement, multiple gasps and complaints arose from the participants, except for Shi Li and a few other people, including the ones Shi Li noted as strong.
"Silence."
Blasting a burst of qi towards the participants, this forced the participants to shut up.
"Alright. This second test won't eliminate any participant as well, we just want to see the limit of your endurance. That means that it's fine for you to give up midway."
"Remember that I said something about preferential treatment earlier? This is where it comes in."
"Those who showed great strength in the first test won't have to run the first five laps around the edge of the center stage. As for the preferential treatment you get from the second test, that'll remain a secret until the second test is over."
"Now for those who showed great strength, I will call your names so please come up to the raised platform when your name is called."
"Shi Daoliang!"
"Shi Dengtie!"
"Shi Huaqiang!"
"Shi Qilian!"
"Shi Bazhong!"
"Shi Quanzhou!"
"Shi Qincheng!'
"Shi Chunxi!"
"Shi Shisi!"
"Shi Li!"