Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques

Lu Changsheng took up residence with the Li household. Li Guang valued him greatly and treated him with utmost courtesy, which allowed Lu Changsheng to feel for himself the difference between the Divine Ability and a Dao Foundation martial artist.

The former held a high standing in the Sacred Earth, far beyond anything the latter could compare to. However brilliantly Lu Changsheng had performed back when he was in the Dao Foundation Realm, it had never been quite like the Divine Ability Realm.

Before Lu Changsheng lay a heap of documents. They were, in fact, detailed intelligence on the Divine Ability martial artists and Golden Core True Ones who anchored the teams of the other patriarch candidates in the Li Clan.

Of course, Li Guang had no means of obtaining such information; it was Li Chengwu who had prepared the documents for Lu Changsheng. After all, the contest for the patriarch's successor rested mainly on him.

Naturally, being the son of the Li Clan's patriarch had some advantages. The other candidates likely did not enjoy such conveniences, but they were compensating for that through talent, the prospect of reaching the Divine Ability Realm, and the powerful teams they had assembled.

Lu Changsheng went through the documents one by one and noticed that there was only one Golden Core True One.

There were numerous Divine Ability martial artists, and among them there was no shortage of supreme ones. And yet, according to the intelligence, the divine abilities of those martial artists were all minor ones.

Once a Divine Ability martial artist condensed his divine ability, there was no further need to practice it, as the power of a divine ability was fixed. In that sense, Lu Changsheng was utmost confident, given that his opponents only had minor divine abilities to go against his immeasurable one.

Of course, a tremendously powerful divine ability did not necessarily make one invincible; rather, it merely offered a great advantage. If the opponent possessed numerous divine abilities that synergized and complemented each other, they too could unleash terrifying power, enough even to contend with a major divine ability.

Such cases were quite rare, though anyone recruited onto a successor candidate's team was certainly no weakling.

In any case, that comparison was between minor and major divine abilities, and Lu Changsheng possessed an immeasurable one. While it was technically possible for multiple minor divine abilities to contend with a major one, the idea of fighting an immeasurable divine ability with minor ones was almost laughable.

Ultimately, the only thing that could contend with an immeasurable divine ability was another immeasurable divine ability, or the enchanted treasure of a Golden Core True One.

Having reviewed the documents carefully, Lu Changsheng came to the conclusion that there was only one true opponent for him: True One Ning Xu.

***

At Li Feng's residence within the Li Clan, many had gathered in the reception hall. They were all Divine Ability artists.

Li Feng sat in the seat of honor, with Divine Ability Realm martial artists arrayed on either side below him. This was the team he had assembled. However, despite the solid line-up, Li Feng wore a grave expression.

"The elders just sent word," he said. "Three days from now, the patriarch and the elders are summoning every scion of the clan together. They'll pick a successor out of us, and whoever it is becomes the next patriarch of the Li Clan!

"This is Li Chengwu making his move, no doubt about it. He wants to clear the path for his son, Li Guang. But the elders won't stand for it. I've got three of them behind me, so Li Chengwu doesn't scare me.

"The thing is, the elders were straight with me. Three days from now, all they can do is keep Li Chengwu in check. Whether I actually win this and become the successor, that's on me."

With that, Li Feng rose and bowed to the assembled Divine Ability martial artists. "Three days from now, I'll be counting on all of you."

The Divine Ability martial artists seemed perfectly at ease.

"Don't give it another thought, Young Master Feng. I'll see to it you come out the successor!" one of them exclaimed.

"He's right," another chimed in. "Look how many of us there are, all at the Divine Ability Realm. The successor this time has to be you."

"And with Elder Tu stepping in, what's there to worry about?"

Many turned their eyes toward an elderly man, Elder Tu. He was a profoundly terrifying supreme Divine Ability Realm expert. It was said that Elder Tu possessed four divine abilities in total, and that all four complemented each other. Working in concert, their might, while perhaps not greater than a major divine ability, was certainly not inferior to an ordinary one.

As such, Elder Tu's name carried great weight, and he was the Divine Ability martial artist Li Feng prized above all.

Eventually, Elder Tu spoke up as well, delivering his words slowly. "Rest easy, young master Feng. When the day comes, I'll take the field."

With that, Elder Tu closed his eyes. With just those few words, he had managed to put Li Feng at easy.

With Elder Tu there, there won't be any problems.

***

As a patriarch candidate, Li Chen kept a very low profile, spending most of his time within his residence. Despite that, no one dared to underestimate him. If anything, many saw him as one of the most formidable contenders for the patriarch's seat. The reason for that was simple: he had a Golden Core True One under his command, namely Ning Xu.

A Golden Core True One was of tremendous value, as they possessed various sorts of miraculous pills and herbs, as well as treasures and enchanted treasures. Thanks to True One Ning Xu, the team under Li Chen's command was in no way inferior to Li Feng's. Perhaps it was even stronger.

When a great matter arose, True One Ning Xu was the one Li Chen went to. He trusted no one else.

"True One, in three days the patriarch and the elders are naming a true successor, the one who'll be the next patriarch," Li Chen said. "From what I've heard, Li Chengwu is doing this to clear the way for his son Li Guang.

"But I know Li Guang well enough. He's not particularly talented, and up until now he's done nothing but eat, drink, and wait around to die. Somehow he's gone and recruited a strong Divine Ability martial artist, though, and now he's full of himself, thinking he can fight for the seat. True One... What do you think?"

True One Ning Xu had listened to every word, and yet he kept his eyes closed.

"It's a good thing," he said mildly. "The sooner the successor is settled, the less time wasted on squabbling out in the open and scheming behind closed doors. Then a man can cultivate in peace. As for Li Guang, Li Feng, and the rest, don't trouble yourself over them. The moment the selection begins in three days, you're the only choice there is!"

Although calm, True One Ning Xu's tone brimmed with confidence. In his eyes, the patriarch's seat was already Li Chen's for the taking.

"Then in three days, I'll be in your hands, True One," Li Chen said with a bow.

Having received True One Ning Xu's assurance, a trace of excitement showed on his face as well. He knew very well that once True One Ning Xu took the field, everything would be settled.

It was not only Li Feng and Li Chen. The Li Clan held many other able scions with ambitions for the patriarch's position. Each plied his own methods, recruiting experts and beginning their preparations for the great matter in three days.

Time slipped by, and in the blink of an eye, the three days were up. Li Guang came to the door of Lu Changsheng's room. He did not knock, but stood quietly outside, waiting.

Creak...

The door slowly opened, and Lu Changsheng was there, glancing at him. With his Sense Domain, he had already known that Li Guang was there.

"Brother Li, let's go," Lu Changsheng said mildly.

"Right. Thank you for this, Brother Lu." Li Guang drew a deep breath, and then, together with Lu Changsheng, strode toward the Li Clan's martial ground.

The Li Clan had a martial ground, vast and spacious. And being a martial ground, it was naturally no ordinary place, laid out with layer upon layer of formations that let the Dao Foundation experts battle to their hearts' content.

But that was all. Powerful as the formations were, unless someone deliberately drove and sustained them, the power of the Divine Ability Realm was enough to shatter them.

The great matters of the Li Clan were nearly all announced at the martial ground, and contending for the patriarch's position would inevitably come to blows, so the martial ground was the most fitting place.

When Lu Changsheng and Li Guang arrived, they found the place already packed, ringed by a dense crowd. These people were, for the most part, scions of the Li Clan.

The selection of a successor was a great matter for the whole clan, and naturally its scions had to bear witness to it. On the martial ground, many of the Li scions caught sight of Li Guang, and at once a buzz of discussion broke out.

"Li Guang's here."

"I heard the only reason the elders and the patriarch are holding this open selection so soon is to clear the way for Li Guang."

"Li Guang? He'll never make it to the Divine Ability Realm in this life. How's a man like that supposed to become patriarch?"

"Hah, so what if his father's the patriarch? There are still the elders. The patriarch is not omnipotent. Whether Li Guang becomes the successor or not, that's on him."

"Word is Li Guang's got some mysterious expert backing him..."

"A mysterious expert? In all of the Heavenly Sacred City, the experts at that level, the Divine Ability martial artists and Golden Core True Ones, they've all got names you'd know. What's Li Guang done to deserve recruiting one of them?"

"Right. Mysterious expert, my foot. Once you're a Golden Core True One or a Divine Ability martial artist, there's no hiding it. You can't remain a mystery..."

Naturally, every word of the Li scions' chatter reached Li Guang's ears, and unsurprisingly, the talk did him no favors. Everyone knew him as a profligate young master who did not deserve to contend for the patriarch's seat, having "lain flat" long ago.

Naturally, the more authority Li Chengwu threw behind him, the more the scions of the Li Clan resented Li Guang, and the worse the ordinary scions thought of him.

Still, Li Guang paid them no mind. However they disparaged him, it could not actually shake him. At most it might sour his mood and rattle him a little, but it meant nothing to his bid for the position.

The ones who decided whether he became patriarch were Li Chengwu and the elders of the Li Clan, and behind each elder stood factions of the clan. His reputation? What the ordinary scions thought of him? None of it mattered.

Lu Changsheng and Li Guang reached a place set aside below the martial ground.