Chapter 95

"Although those elixirs can significantly boost one's magical power, the aftereffects are equally severe. And with your strength, if you want to secure a top ranking among the core disciples, you definitely won't be able to get by with just one or two. I'm really worried that if you..."

Upon hearing these words, Mu Yunxian became even more concerned.

"Rest assured, if it really doesn't work out, I won't push myself too hard. Besides, if we don't strive this time, once Ouyang Xin reaches the late stage of the Spirit Disciple, our troubles will only be greater. It's better to take a bold step now and formalize our relationship, so we can be free of any worries afterward." Du Hai shook his head and said.

Hearing her beloved speak like this, Mu Yunxian could only remain silent, and the two continued to lean against each other quietly.

...

"What? Master, you're giving me this Soul-Bewitching Bell?" The young girl looked at the white-haired woman in front of her with surprise.

"Exactly. The competition is about to begin, and I've been so focused on helping you solve the mystery of the brute ghost king that I almost neglected your cultivation. This spirit artifact is the one that made me famous back in the day. Carry it with you, and I believe it won't tarnish my reputation. Let others know that besides Yang Gan, our Yinsha lineage has other disciples who are just as strong." The white-haired woman smiled slightly and handed the small black bell to the girl.

"Thank you, Master! I will not let you down!" Jialan knelt down and respectfully received the black bell.

...

In the grand hall atop the peak of the Guiwu lineage, Senior Sister Qian and Zhang Cuier sat facing each other, their hands touching, with wisps of gray mist swirling around them.

Beside them, a cold-faced woman in purple stood watching intently. She was none other than "Senior Sister Lin."

...

In a valley filled with venomous snakes, about a hundred miles away from the Mangui Sect, a figure enveloped in green mist slowly moved toward the valley entrance. All the venomous snakes retreated as it passed, and a few that were a bit slower to move were instantly stiffened and died upon contact with the green mist.

This green mist was even more toxic than the venomous snakes.

...

In the Netherworld Ghost Region, in a dense black forest thick with yin energy, a man had buried his entire body, except for his head, in the soil. His head, covered in mud, was unrecognizable, and it was unclear how long he had been there.

After a moment, his eyes opened, revealing a pair of silver, eerie eyes.

"What a pity, my Iron Corpse Body is not yet fully formed. But this is enough. Yang Gan, wait for me! I'll see how I can pull you down from the top of the Taiyin Stele." The head muttered to itself.

As soon as he finished speaking, the ground nearby burst open, and a dark figure shot out, taking large strides toward the Mangui Sect's base, causing the ground to tremble with each step as if it were incredibly heavy.

...

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

One day, while Liu Ming was practicing in his room, the bell on the main peak of the Mangui Sect suddenly rang out.

The sound was distant and clear, but as soon as it reached Liu Ming's ears, it made his blood boil and his fighting spirit rise.

Liu Ming opened his eyes, counted the bell rings, and when he reached thirty-six, he stood up, pushed the door open, and walked out.

At the same time, the bell stopped ringing.

At this moment, gray clouds rose from the sky above the entire Mangui Sect, all converging at the foot of the main peak, quickly gathering several thousand people.

Among them were the disciples under thirty who were preparing to participate in the competition, but more were the older disciples over thirty who had come to watch.

Although these older disciples could not participate in the competition and had no chance to be named on the Taiyin Stele, they would not miss such a grand event that only occurred every few years.

The sect leader of the Mangui Sect, Gui Riquan, and over twenty spirit masters from various lineages were already standing at the front, waiting quietly for something.

After an unknown amount of time, an invisible ripple suddenly emanated from the seemingly empty space in front of the main peak. Then, with the sound of celestial music, the scenery in front of them seemed to tear open like a scroll, revealing a completely different misty world.

"Please welcome Senior Brother Yinguo!"

The sect leader of the Mangui Sect immediately bowed respectfully toward the rolling mist.

The other spirit masters from various lineages followed suit.

"What? It's already been four years? But it feels like I just had a short nap. Are you guys trying to trick me?" A rumbling voice, like thunder, echoed from the mist.

"Senior Brother Yinguo, please calm down. If it weren't for the real competition time, we wouldn't dare to do this. Please use your great power to open the Taiyin Illusionary Restriction again!" The sect leader of the Mangui Sect hurriedly replied, his demeanor extremely respectful.

"Truly troublesome! I don't think you would dare to deceive me. Wait a moment!" The rumbling voice said impatiently.

Then the ground suddenly shook, and all the mist scattered in all directions, revealing a large, earth-colored stone mountain, over a hundred zhang tall and a thousand mu in size.

This mountain was quite peculiar; it was barren and the top was unusually flat and wide, with dozens of natural stone platforms scattered around.

In the center of these stone platforms stood a black and white stone stele, over thirty zhang tall.

Liu Ming, standing at a distance, focused his gaze and saw that the stele was covered with countless silver characters, listing many names.

"The Taiyin Illusionary Restriction is now open, and all disciples can enter." The sect leader of the Mangui Sect announced loudly, leading the spirit masters from various lineages to fly toward the yellow stone mountain.

Seeing this, the thousands of disciples naturally followed, surging into the mountain.

Once all the disciples had entered the mountain, the white mist reappeared, completely surrounding the stone mountain.

At this moment, the sect leader of the Mangui Sect stood on one of the stone platforms, scanned the crowd, and flicked his sleeve, sending a flat jade brick, about a few inches in size, flying out.

He then chanted some words, and the jade brick shot up into the sky, rapidly expanding in the wind, turning into a floating jade platform several dozen zhang long.

The spirit masters then flew onto the jade platform, looking down at the thousands of disciples below.

"Listen up, all disciples. The competition, which occurs every four years, is about to begin. The rules are the same as before. First, ordinary disciples will challenge the core disciples on the Taiyin Stele. After the top one hundred are determined, the core disciples will challenge each other based on their rankings, from the last to the first, to determine the top ten, the top three, and the top-ranked core senior brother. The specific challenge rules can be found at the base of the Taiyin Stele. In the competition, life and death are your own responsibility. All disciples who step onto the platform must sign a life-or-death agreement, but those who intentionally injure or kill their fellow disciples will be severely punished. The lightest punishment is a hundred lashes, and the heaviest is the revocation of magical power and expulsion from the sect. Now, all disciples should go and read the specific challenge rules. The competition will officially begin in the time it takes for this incense to burn." The sect leader of the Mangui Sect said calmly from the stone platform. Although his voice was not loud, it was clearly heard by everyone.

He then raised his hand, and a thick incense stick flew out, trembling slightly before floating still in front of him.

He pointed at the incense stick with his finger.

Immediately, a flame appeared at the top of the incense stick, and a scent of sandalwood spread out.

At this moment, a spirit master who had already been standing at the base of the Taiyin Stele gently tapped a certain spot on the stele.

After a buzzing sound, a layer of black light flowed over the stele, and all the characters on its surface turned into large glowing characters, making them clearly visible even to the disciples standing at the edge of the stone mountain.

The new disciples who were participating in the competition for the first time stretched their necks and gazed intently at these large glowing characters.

Liu Ming, standing in a corner that did not attract attention, also focused on the characters on the stele.

At the very top of all the silver glowing characters were the two large glowing characters "Yang Gan."

Seeing this, Liu Ming's eyes narrowed slightly.

He had already heard many times about the name of "Yang Gan," the top-ranked core senior brother of the inner disciples in the previous competition.

It was said that this person possessed nine spirit veins and a Yin Manifestation Body, and was proficient in the secret techniques of both the Yinsha and Corpse Cultivation lineages. He had not only survived the previous life-and-death trial but also achieved remarkable results, and many within the sect believed that his becoming a spirit master was a sure thing.

However, after obtaining sufficient resources, Yang Gan had not chosen to break through to the spirit master level in the past few years. Instead, he had remained in seclusion, either cultivating some secret technique or strengthening his foundation before choosing to break through to the spirit master level.

As a result, Yang Gan had become even more mysterious among the new disciples, and even disciples from other lineages besides the Yinsha lineage held him in high regard.

After quickly reviewing Yang Gan's information in his mind, Liu Ming's gaze moved downward.

"Feng Chan," "Min Shou," "Qian Huiniang," and other names appeared one by one.

The top four names on the Taiyin Stele were all from the previous competition, who had survived the life-and-death trial and returned. Of the remaining six, two had exceeded the age of thirty and had their names removed from the stele, one had broken through the Spirit Disciple level and become a spirit master, and the other three had perished in the life-and-death trial.

The other top ten disciples were added to the stele according to their rankings.

Liu Ming, who only had a slight understanding of the top ten disciples, quickly scanned the specific competition rules below after finishing reading these names.

(Phew, finally finished this chapter. I'm so tired! I need to sleep now; I have a meeting early tomorrow.)

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