The disciples in the outer sect were excited and nervous because two special events were taking place at the same time. These two events take place once every five years.
The first event was the outer sect competition, while the second event was the welcoming of new disciples. None of these concerned Arthur, so he didn't care.
The outer sect competition wasn't compulsory for S-grade students, and he didn't care for the reward since he was rich, so he decided to focus on learning how to forge armaments.
The new disciples that will be accepted into the sect will be given a new mountain as their accommodation. So he didn't have to move out of his house to make room for them. This gave him fewer reasons to care.
The event that most people care about is the outer sect fighting competition. After all, it is the event that involves most of the disciples and will decide if they get promoted or demoted.
But everyone didn't mind heckling the new disciples if they got the chance. It is an old tradition to heckle the new disciples. It might not be sought after actively, but if the opportunity arises, no one would mind doing it.
New disciples are identified by the fact that they move together in groups of a thousand, look like they are lost, and are being led around by an elder. This behavior makes new disciples look like sheep being led around. This is why they are called white lambs.
It is fun to call new disciples white lambs, but the priority has always been the outer sect fighting competition. It is the event where outer sect disciples get to showcase what they've learned in the last five years.
After the outer sect fighting competition, the previous new disciples will officially become old disciples, and they will be added to the old ranking list.
Then the top 1,000 disciples of the outer sect will fight the top 1,000 disciples of the other four sects. This intersect competition is compulsory.
So while prospective disciples are fighting outside the sects in the regional sect examination, sect disciples are also preparing to fight both within and against other sects.
A lot of people showcased their talent in the outer sect competition. In general, the old disciples crushed the new disciples.
Even the few new disciples who have reached the fourth transformation and could use armaments were crushed by the old disciples in the A-grade.
Some of the old disciples were in the B grade and C grade. They hadn't cultivated armaments, so they were lacking compared to the new disciples with armaments.
As expected, only new disciples who could use armaments performed best among the new disciples. Some of them were even able to fight with some old disciples and defeat them.
As for those disciples who were at the third mortal coil, it didn't matter if they were at the A grade or S grade; as long as they had no armament, they stood no chance against the old disciples. The best they could do was eke out a victory among themselves.
All of these made it so that the best of the new disciples fell to the middle of the ranking list. That is, the new disciples who performed the best in the competition occupied the positions between 100,000 and 200,000.
The new disciples without armaments held positions between 400,000 and 500,000. The space between 200,000 and 400,000 was held by disciples in the B grade and below looking to be promoted, while the positions between 1,000 and 100,000 were held by the A grade disciples of the previous generations.
There were exceptions to this rule. Two of them that were the most eye-catching were Arthur and Thor.
Arthur didn't fight in the competition, but he was still placed in the top 100. This caused quite an uproar. Many people were surprised, but they thought it was acceptable for him to be placed so high since it was stated in the ranking list that he had a stable power output of 300 units.
There was also the fact that he once held the highest record in the fighting proficiency test. His record has been broken recently by an old student, but no one thought less of Arthur because he made that record before he got his armament.
As for Thor, he was eye-catching for the large red luggage on wheels that he carried to the fighting ground for the competition. The luggage could transform into a red giant capable of crushing every second mortal coil cultivator with a single move.
After his first fight, Thor was directly placed in the top 100 too. This time, no one complained. Everyone was willing to let him go there and fight with other freaks like him who don't follow common sense.
One of those freaks was Jason Dyson. Jason entered the sect five years before Arthur, so he has been in the sect for ten years.
Jason is at the sixth transformation with a normal power of 70 units. With an armament, he can double his power to 140 units. But he was able to beat Thor because he was capable of dodging the red golem and was in possession of a means of attack that was too fast to dodge.
Jason used a spell that makes him invisible and creates energy clones. This made it difficult for the golem to find him. Meanwhile, his attack, which was a ray of golden light, was as sharp as a blade, thin as a needle, and 10 times faster than sound.
Even though Thor wore armor to protect himself, the slight gap in his helmet for his eyes doomed him. He couldn't dodge the attack as it arrived instantly.
This is why Jason is called the Bright Assassin. He uses light to hide and creates attacks that are impossible to react to. This is how Jason reached the top 100. He had a power that was unreasonable.