He had long been eager to find Li Changshuang…
This realm consisted of eight continents, one sea, and one demon territory.
Among them, the Unknown Continent was the most chaotic of the eight continents.
It was surrounded by a long natural chasm, separated from the mainland on its own, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Over time, it had become a hiding place for those who cultivated evil arts in hopes of ascending, those who had been lured into the abyss by demonic energy, and those heinous criminals who had silenced witnesses through murder.
Inviting him to such a place? This person clearly had ill intentions.
Weisheng Zhen shook his head and declined. After carefully storing away the single drop of Void Spirit, he quickly left the mustard-seed space.
And after everyone had left, and the steward had also returned to Cloudwander City
A dark shadow abruptly appeared behind him.
The shadow’s face was indistinguishable, its aura dark and unfathomably deep. The steward was startled, but quickly cupped his hands in salute: “Esteemed Daoist, I have delivered your message. That guest did not agree.”
The shadow showed no reaction upon hearing Weisheng Zhen’s refusal. It waved a hand, and the steward noticed its pale, gaunt arm.
As if it had not seen the light of day for a very long time.
Then, it vanished from the spot just as quickly as it had appeared, as if it had come only to hear this one answer, unconcerned whether the answer satisfied it or not.
And in the city, aside from the steward, no one had noticed its arrival or departure.
**
Back at the inn, Weisheng Zhen tossed and turned in bed for a long while, but still couldn’t figure out who this person could possibly be.
Knowing he wanted the Void Spirit, they first used one drop in the auction to lure him in, then offered the remaining four drops to entice him to the Unknown Continent?
His novel hadn’t even expanded to that area yet, so he had no idea who was there.
But at least Weisheng Zhen knew one thing clearly now with his current strength, he would definitely struggle to go to the Unknown Continent alone.
He’d basically be chewed to bits the moment he set foot inside.
And having someone accompany him,
Just thinking about it made Weisheng Zhen feel it was too immoral. Going to his own death was one thing, but dragging another poor soul down with him was another.
Weisheng Zhen sighed. Rarely, he actually climbed out of bed, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.
But the man’s words had indeed been delivered accurately by the steward.
Weisheng Zhen was genuinely tempted, but reason and his own strength temporarily suppressed the thought.
At the end of the day, his cultivation was still too weak.
Six days passed in the blink of an eye. Weisheng Zhen successfully broke through to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, and at the same time, the centennial Rising Star Tournament finally began.
Although he sensed the presence of his master and the sect master, Weisheng Zhen had a match to compete in, so he could only ask Li Changshuang to hurry and take the demon bone suppressed by the Buddhist beads, the jade talisman, and the Earth-rank treasure-seeking beast first.
The first round of the Rising Star Tournament consisted of drawing lots for pairs and battling on the arena stage.
Weisheng Zhen was given a direct bye for the entire first round.
Only those of similar cultivation levels would stand on the same arena to compete. Among the young contestants present, not a single one had cultivation close enough to Weisheng Zhen’s to match him.
Having Weisheng Zhen go down to stomp the competition would also be too excessive. Although his very participation was already excessive in itself, the judging panel discussed it and decided to let Weisheng Zhen directly enter the second round, preserving at least a semblance of fairness.
It was clear that most of the young cultivators participating had barely set foot in the world to slay demons and monsters.
A few of the Nascent Soul stage arenas were somewhat more interesting, though after a quick sweep, Weisheng Zhen noticed that all the participants were familiar faces.
They were all disciples of the “Six Great Sects,” so there wasn’t much worth watching.
Although Weisheng Zhen had received a bye, he was required to remain at the venue and couldn’t leave. Meanwhile, Wo Kuangke and Hua Fanlai from the group chat had shown up, but they were separated by the barrier and couldn’t sit beside Weisheng Zhen.
So the three of them could only stare at each other across the barrier before starting to chat freely in the group.
Soon, a private message notification sounded.
Weisheng Zhen tapped it open and was surprised to find that Xing Tan had replied to him.
[Little Rice Bowl: Finally, as entrusted, I have returned all the souls of the mortals in Liuci City to their bodies. However, I discovered some issues along the way that seem rather unusual. I’ll come to Xinghai Terrace to discuss this with you later.]
Unusual?
Weisheng Zhen felt a faint sense of unease in his heart. After replying with an “okay,” he noticed that a dazzling burst of spiritual power had erupted from the third arena before him.
That was the Golden Core stage competition arena. In what had been a fierce match at a critical moment, one of the contestants had actually managed to break through to the early Nascent Soul stage!
Crossing an entire major realm in combat was like leaping across a chasm. The opposing Golden Core cultivator quickly fell in defeat and left the arena with reluctance.
However, this competition was primarily focused on sparring, learning, and exchange, so even though he lost this arena match, he still had two more bouts against cultivators of a similar realm, with the best of three determining the winner.
Moreover, even if he lost all three matches, there was still a way for defeated contestants in the Rising Talents Tournament to advance to the second round.
Divination.
All cultivators who lost in the first round were kept behind after the matches. A disciple of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Temple would then lead them to the high pavilion of Xinghai Terrace to cast a divination to heaven. If heaven consented, they could advance to the next round; if not, they could only regretfully head back home.
Weisheng Zhen noticed that although this cultivator who had successfully broken through had a somewhat unfamiliar face, his aura was mixed and complex. He was the cultivator he had encountered at the entrance of the Earth Treasure Pavilion a few days ago.
His name was Yue Bai.
Weisheng Zhen had never heard of him, and his techniques revealed no trace of which sect he belonged to.
Xinghai Terrace had formations that could rapidly restore spiritual power, so all three matches could essentially be completed within a single day.
And indeed, that was the case this time.
Weisheng Zhen chatted with Hua Fanlai and the others in the group while still sparing attention to observe the arena where Yue Bai was competing.
Perhaps because he had only recently broken through, he seemed somewhat flustered when facing an opponent also at the early Nascent Soul stage, and his defenses appeared strained. But he quickly adjusted himself. In the end, he advanced to the next round with two wins and one loss.
Soon, the sky began to darken, and the remaining defeated cultivators had no choice but to follow along to the high pavilion of Xinghai Terrace.
As for Weisheng Zhen, he was finally released.
“I was getting so impatient waiting,” Hua Fanlai said, reaching out to sling an arm around Weisheng Zhen’s shoulder, only to be stopped by Xian Yuyi, the person known as Wo Kuangke in the group chat.
“Alright, alright, we finally get to meet and you’re already getting all clingy. This young lady is hungry let’s go eat!”
Hua Fan was tempted to say, “You get hungry too?” but Weisheng Zhen and Xian Yu Yi quickly walked off, so he had no choice but to hurry after them.
The meal was naturally held at the Liu Sen Pavilion, and since Xian Yu Yi was the Young Pavilion Master, the finest room there was reserved for her.
“Just six days without seeing you post in the group chat, and you’ve already gone up another minor rank. You’re close now—if you push hard these next three months and break Li Chang Shuang’s record, you’ll become the youngest Void Refinement cultivator. Wouldn’t that attract the junior disciples even more than participating in the Rising Talents Competition?”
Xian Yu Yi was only joking, as they all knew that breaking through a major realm was no easy feat. Weisheng Zhen smiled and shook his head, then turned to ask about the earlier competition.
“Today I saw a cultivator named Yue Bai who advanced mid-match. He seems like promising talent. Could you help me look into.”
The door opened, and Li Chang Shuang, who had been away all day, walked in just as Weisheng Zhen finished his sentence: “where he hails from?”
Xian Yu Yi nodded. “That’s easy. I’ll let you know if I hear anything. Though it’s rare to hear you say ‘promising talent.’ Speaking of promising talent, who could compare to the six of us?”
Xian Yu Yi wasn’t boasting the talent of everyone present was plain for all to see.
“Just a passing remark. I happened to see him once before, so I’m merely curious.”
Weisheng Zhen didn’t elaborate further, and Li Chang Shuang took the opportunity to sit down beside him while they were talking.
Whether intentional or not, she positioned herself to block Hua Fan’s seat.
Hua Fan wanted to throw a tantrum but was quickly silenced by a glance from Xian Yu Yi, so he could only shut his mouth sulkily.
Seeming to want to ask Li Chang Shuang about the outcome of her discussion, Weisheng Zhen appeared distracted during the meal, frequently glancing her way. The other two quickly noticed something was off, and Xian Yu Yi conveniently claimed she was tired and ready to rest, dragging Hua Fan away.
Weisheng Zhen had been itching to ask Li Chang Shuang how things had gone. The moment they returned to the room, he spoke up: “What did the Sect Master and the others say?”
“They said this jade talisman is indeed used by the seal sites to reinforce the seals. They plan to contact Kunlun first to see if there are any anomalies, while also stepping up monitoring of those seal locations. If any problems are detected, they’ll immediately arrange for people to reinforce the seals.”
“There’s one more thing. They said they’ve decided to inform us all at once after the Rising Talents Competition concludes.”
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Weisheng Zhen felt a vague unease, sensing that even if they investigated, the traditional methods of inquiry probably wouldn’t uncover anything wrong.
But he didn’t voice this concern, only saying: “Let’s not dwell on it. These next few days, just watch me compete! I remember the first-place prize allows you to pick any three items from the treasure vault that Ling Jie has accumulated over the years. Just wait! I’ll definitely get what I want.”
Then he’d give it to Li Chang Shuang as a gift for their ten years apart.
A little late, perhaps, but it was the thought that counted.
That was what Weisheng Zhen thought.
**
The second round of competition arrived soon after.
This time, it was a five-day secret realm assessment. Each cultivator would enter a different secret realm, where corresponding demons would be automatically generated based on their current cultivation level for practice. With the same number of demons, rankings were determined by the time taken to slay them, with the fastest being ranked first.
In the first round, over a thousand cultivators were whittled down to around eight hundred, and after the second round ended, only two hundred remained to advance to the next stage.
Weisheng Zhen naturally took first place, having slain the demons conjured by the secret realm in just half a day before emerging to chat with his friends.
The remaining two hundred cultivators would gradually appear on the list over the course of these five days. If, by the fifth day, fewer than two hundred cultivators had slain all the demons in their secret realms, the rest would be ranked according to their kill counts.
Between the second and third rounds, there was a rest period of roughly three days. All told, after emerging from the secret realm, Weisheng Zhen had about seven and a half days to devote to cultivation.
That had been his original plan until Xian Yuyi suddenly showed up at his door on the fourth day.