After Marrying the 'Long Aotian' in Drag to Counter Bad Luck - Chapter 15

Four pillars suddenly emerged from the ground with heavy thuds, distributed in the east, west, south, and north directions. As the pillars rotated, hundreds of swords were displayed upon them from top to bottom.

Everyone was trapped within the sword array. Among them, a disciple wearing a blue robe adorned with floating cloud patterns frowned and called out, “Disciples of the Pill Cultivation Sect, take heed! Disperse quickly, maintain your vigilance at all times, and watch the movement of these swords!”

The moment these words were spoken, the dozen or so individuals dressed in identical uniforms immediately scattered.

Seeing this, the remaining people followed suit and dispersed.

In the next instant, the pillars came to a sudden halt with a sharp ring, and the swords flew from the center to attack the crowd.

It was naturally easy to dodge a single sword, but dodging hundreds of swords simultaneously was by no means simple. Furthermore, the crowd quickly discovered that every time they managed to adapt to the speed of the weapons, the swords would accelerate even further.

“How is anyone supposed to survive this?”

“Is the Xuantian Sword Sect not simply making things difficult for us intentionally?”

Expressions of frustration broke out across the field.

Before long, many cultivators could only grit their teeth, crush the jade plaques in their hands, and vanish from the miniature pocket space.

Naturally, there were also many people who successfully deciphered the underlying rules. For instance, Xie Jingzhi kept his head down, tinkering with the compass in his hands. Yet, it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head, because he was able to sense exactly where the swords were coming from in a timely manner, successfully evading every strike.

There were also the disciples of the Pill Cultivation Sect who had spoken earlier. Surprisingly, not a single person from their group had been eliminated. Although their leading cultivator provided a great deal of assistance, it was evident from this that the rest of them possessed a respectable amount of strength as well.

Rong Nianfeng dodged a sword flying at him from a diagonal angle, shaking his head with a sigh. He thought to himself that it was fortunate he was constantly chased and beaten by the sect elders back at the Water Cloud Sect, which had allowed him to master the excellent skill of running for his life.

“Is the array formation of the Xuantian Sword Sect really this simple? It is not even a match for my Blazing Fire Sect!” The speaker was dressed in deep crimson with tassels hanging from his waist. Looking flamboyant and unbridled, he sat atop a sword floating mid-air and spoke with a laugh.

“Ji Yang, shut your mouth!” A slightly older, middle-aged man shouted in reprimand. “Get down here this instant!”

Ji Yang made a face at the middle-aged man. “If my father had not insisted on throwing me in here, and if he had not forced you to watch over me, I would never have come.”

Rong Nianfeng fell into deep thought. Ji Yang was the young master of the Blazing Fire Sect, one of the top geniuses, and a formidable rival to Ye Xingchen. Since he had arrived, it was highly probable that Fu Xingzhi, the Blood Child of the Blood Sect, had also arrived.

The gathering of three great geniuses sounded incredibly exciting.

At this moment, outside the miniature pocket space, many elders were stroking their beards and discussing the events in a solemn manner.

“This disciple from the Pill Cultivation Sect remains completely unfazed in the face of danger, and his natural talent is quite good. He is certainly worth teaching. Let us see how his performance in pill refining fares later on.” The elder of the Pill Refining Peak took a flask of wine from his waist, took a massive gulp, and spoke in a drunken tone.

“I think the disciple holding the compass is quite interesting.” An elder from the Star Peak gestured for the nearby disciple to enlarge the projection.

Immortal Venerable Wuji let out a yawn and tilted his chin up. “Is that brat the rare prodigy from the Blazing Fire Sect?”

“What, have you taken a fancy to that young disciple? He is dressed in such a flashy manner. The Blazing Fire Sect only produces one such prodigy every century. If he decides he does not want to return in the future, the master of the Blazing Fire Sect will likely march to our doors wielding a blade.” Another elder replied with a smile.

If one had to describe the arrangement of other sects sending their disciples to train at the Xuantian Sword Sect, it was more akin to an exchange student program. Their sects paid spiritual stones to send their disciples to train at the Xuantian Sword Sect, and they would return to their respective sects afterward. Of course, they could also choose to stay.

The Xuantian Sword Sect was not foolish either. These disciples would at most be accepted into the inner sect, and they would never be allowed contact with the more profound, hidden cultivation methods.

“Humph, he is quite young to speak with such arrogance.” Immortal Venerable Wuji looked at the person inside the sword array with distaste. “Accept him as an outer sect disciple to temper his character.”

“Speaking of which, the one in the corner, the one who is quite agile, is that Ye Xingchen’s cultivation partner?” an elder inquired.

Immortal Venerable Wuji smiled genially. “What do you think? Does the junior Nianxue not possess quite a remarkable talent for cultivation?” He stroked his beard with immense satisfaction, looking as though the cold-faced man from a moment ago had not been him at all.

The elder scratched his head and let out a soft hiss. “He is indeed quite agile. However, looking at those movements, it does not seem like he has studied any proper cultivation mental methods. Instead, it looks as though he has simply perfected the art of dodging from being beaten habitually.”

Hearing this, Immortal Venerable Wuji raised his eyebrows and snapped back unhappily, “I think you are the one who is used to being beaten.”

The elder curled his lip, thinking to himself that this Rong Nianxue was merely the cultivation partner of a useless disciple, so there was no need to protect him to such an extent.

However, he only dared to swallow his resentment in silence. After all, Ye Xingchen was currently incapacitated, and the notion of an auspicious marriage to dispel illness was something only desperate people in a crisis would believe. If the Ancestor saw that it was useless, he would naturally stop allowing Immortal Venerable Wuji to hold absolute power alone.

Furthermore, over the past six months, the Ancestor had summoned his personal disciples to cultivate in the Star Palace and had rarely requested Ye Xingchen to accompany them anymore. Everyone else in the sect was well aware of the Ancestor’s current attitude.

When it came to the Grand Sect Competition, Ye Xingchen might not even be qualified to participate.

Inside the miniature pocket space, the sword array gradually ground to a halt, and the rising pillars vanished beneath the feet of the crowd.

“Congratulations to everyone for passing the first round of the trial.” The familiar voice resonated once more. Rong Nianfeng scanned his surroundings and noted that only half of the participants remained.

The subsequent trials would only become increasingly difficult, so he could not afford to let his guard down.

Xie Jingzhi spoke in a low voice, “It is wonderful that you passed as well.”

Rong Nianfeng had witnessed with his own eyes how Xie Jingzhi had effortlessly avoided all the swords using nothing but a compass. Feeling curious, he asked, “Can this compass of yours actually be used for cultivation?”

Xie Jingzhi gave a bashful smile. “Although I belong to the merman race, I am unable to practice the cultivation methods of the mermen, so I had to find another path. This compass was obtained through a stroke of serendipity. My spiritual energy is weak but my perception is strong, so a compass suits me perfectly.”

Rong Nianfeng nodded. “So that is how it is.”

The next trial was pill identification.

This particular trial did not require actual pill refining. The most crucial aspect of pill refining was the identification of spiritual herbs, making it highly suitable for cultivators with excellent memories.

This particular trial would last for a total of two hours. Within the limited time frame, they were required to recombine the separated roots, stems, and leaves back into complete spiritual herbs according to the Spiritual Herb Registry.

Xie Yueqiu, the Master of the Pill Refining Peak, lazily raised her eyes and retrieved a pill from her robes. “This Heaven-grade, medium-quality Blood-Qi Pill has undergone spiritual refinement twice. It shall be the wager.”

The moment these words were uttered, let alone the elders below the stage, even the four great powerful figures on the stage straightened their backs and spoke in deep voices, “A Heaven-grade pill that has undergone spiritual refinement?”

Although this Blood-Qi Pill was considered a common pill, a Heaven-grade one that had undergone spiritual refinement was exceptionally rare. It was rumored that several decades ago, a rogue cultivator had accidentally obtained one from the primordial mansion left behind by a fallen immortal master, and his cultivation realm broke through instantly after consuming it.

Immortal Venerable Wuji grew interested, thinking that perhaps giving it to his eleventh disciple might be of some use.

“What do you wish to wager?”

Xie Yueqiu leaned her head on her hand, reflecting for a moment. “Let us wager on the maximum number of complete spiritual herbs these cultivators can successfully assemble.”

There were a total of eight thousand and eighty-one species recorded in the Spiritual Herb Registry. Let alone these disciples who had not even entered the sect to study, even the head disciple of the Pill Refining Peak held a record where he spent three full days just to assemble five thousand species.

Immortal Venerable Wuji spoke first, “Three thousand species, and I wager the Lingyun Sword.”

The remaining elders exchanged glances, and they subsequently stated their wagers one after another.

“Two thousand species, and I wager a bottle of high-quality Qi-Replenishing Pills.”

“One thousand species, and I wager the Immortal-Locking Array Plate.”

The disciples below found the stakes astonishing, and someone asked in a low voice, “If an outer sect disciple of the Pill Refining Peak can assemble one thousand species within two hours, it is already considered an excellent result. Why did Immortal Venerable Wuji wager on three thousand species?”

Another male disciple murmured under his breath, “I heard that Fu Xingzhi, the Blood Child of the Blood Sect, is capable of reading ten lines at a glance and possesses photographic memory.”

“So, it is him!”

“The geniuses of both the Blood Sect and the Blazing Fire Sect have arrived. It seems the news of Ye Xingchen’s sickly state has long since spread. It is highly possible that our sect will lose face during the genius battle of the Grand Sect Competition.”

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