Chapter 45

Ling Sanshi hurriedly smiled upon hearing this. The way Zhenren Qiming spoke was out of politeness, and how could he dare to speak up? He could only urge the disciples to quickly get off the flying boat and bow to Zhenren Qiming.

Without much more talk, Zhenren Qiming led the way. At the same time, cultivators from other sects also arrived, gradually getting off their flying boats. However, the cultivators who greeted them all looked like Dao boys, which was a stark contrast to the personal welcome by Zhenren Qiming for Taiheng Sect.

"Gugu, it seems we have quite a bit of face, doesn't it?" Zibidong looked around. She had once run a tavern and naturally knew the ways of human relations.

However, Gu Xuyao remained silent, not caring about these matters.

Following Zhenren Qiming out of the dock, he also fulfilled his duties as a host, explaining some things about Qingqi City along the way.

Qingqi City was vast, stretching from the south to the north for thousands of miles. The place where Gu Xuyao and the others were now was the inner city of Qingqi City, the location of Landon Sect. The outer city was much more diverse, mostly consisting of various shops run by independent cultivators. Independent cultivators originally separated from sects to cultivate on their own. Throughout the long history of the cultivation world, many sects were destroyed, and their remaining disciples could not join other sects. Out of necessity, they had to come out to cultivate on their own. Over time, such cultivators became more and more numerous, eventually forming a significant part of the cultivation world.

However, in the current cultivation world, the open and hidden struggles between sects were numerous, and bloodshed and casualties were common. Therefore, the descendants of independent cultivators did not necessarily have to join sects to learn orthodox and powerful cultivation techniques. Many chose to continue living freely as independent cultivators.

In Qingqi City, besides the shops run by independent cultivators, there were also shops opened by some powerful sects, selling all kinds of things. However, the prices were naturally not as good as those of independent cultivators.

As they spoke, the group had already followed Zhenren Qiming into Landon Sect. Before this, Gu Xuyao had always thought that Taiheng Sect was already a large sect, but after seeing Landon Sect, all his previous impressions were overturned.

The path was wide enough for nine horses to walk side by side, and the trees were thick enough for three people to hug. The small white pebbles underfoot shimmered with the light of essence energy, clearly not ordinary decorative stones. They contained essence energy and were at least substandard ore from the mining area, which could be refined into essence stones but had too low a content.

The main source of essence stones was the refinement of essence ore. Generally, a palm-sized piece of essence ore could be refined into a thousand essence stones. Gu Xuyao had accumulated essence stones in the Red Mud Area by the grain, and real essence stones were as large as pears, with a neat structure. At least a hundred grains of essence stone were needed to equal one essence stone.

The decorative pebbles underfoot, though just substandard ore, were worth many times more than essence stone grains. The entire path was covered with such white pebbles, indicating the immense strength of Landon Sect.

Like old men entering the city for the first time, the group looked around, marveling at the fresh air and the luxurious gold and jade decorations on the buildings. In the end, they concluded that the trees lining the roads in Landon Sect were much more robust than those in other places.

The layout of the buildings in Landon Sect was different from that of Taiheng Sect. They were not arranged in neat rows, nor were they surrounded by maze-like formations like the upper levels of Taiheng Sect. Landon Sect was divided into four zones, each located at the four corners of the square inner city. At the center of Landon Sect was the place where Gu Xuyao would fight.

"This is where you will compete tomorrow, the Blood Arena, Landon Sect's greatest pride!" Zhenren Qiming exuded a sense of pride when he mentioned the Blood Arena.

The steps leading down were for spectators, simple and unadorned, the cold black-gray stones telling the story of the ruthless bloodshed. At the bottom of the Blood Arena was a large arena, made of the same black-gray rock, covering five acres. Around the Blood Arena were several rows of stone benches, clearly for the cultivators who would participate in the matches.

Perhaps because the Blood Arena had been bathed in blood for years, the air near it had a persistent, pungent smell.

"Alright, now I'll take you to where you'll be staying for the next few days." The new disciples of Taiheng Sect were awed by the atmosphere of the Blood Arena, and Zhenren Qiming was very satisfied with this.

Upon hearing this, all the new disciples except Gu Xuyao and Zibidong came back to their senses, patting their chests, gasping for breath.

Gu Xuyao was very familiar with the smell of blood, having killed countless beasts by slitting their bellies. As for Zibidong, she had changed a lot after the Great Wild Forest.

Zhenren Qiming was slightly dissatisfied that these two new disciples were not awed by the Blood Arena, but he did not show it, just giving them a few more looks.

They continued on, heading to the southwest zone, where guests were accommodated.

The houses in Landon Sect were almost identical, and so far, the group had not seen anything special. The house they would stay in was also like this.

The rooms were opulent, far better than the simple Daoist rooms of Taiheng Sect.

Each room could accommodate two people, which was why one person could bring an assistant.

"Brother Gu, why do you think Landon Sect is holding this martial arts competition? The Blood Arena today made me feel very uncomfortable..." Back in the room, Li Shuisheng was deeply moved.

Gu Xuyao glanced at him but did not speak. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he noticed a shining hexagonal stone on the table. Clearly, such a thing would not be placed in a guest room casually.

"Huh? There's actually a hexagonal stone here. Could it be for us to see?" Seeing Gu Xuyao pick up the hexagonal stone, Li Shuisheng came over.

Gu Xuyao immersed himself in the thoughts, and the information inside, though not much, was enough to make him frown deeply.

"Brother Gu, what's inside...?"

Gu Xuyao withdrew his thoughts and handed over the hexagonal stone.

"It's the competition rules."

After saying this, Gu Xuyao sat cross-legged on his mat, meditating to adjust his breathing and try to reach his peak state.

The competition was divided into three rounds. The first round was an elimination round, and those who were seriously injured and could not continue, or those who were killed, could not participate in the next round.

The rules for the first round were simple and direct: individual battles, one-on-one!

The night passed quickly, and a sharp horn sound pierced the tranquility, reaching Gu Xuyao's ears.

"Brother Gu, it's time!" Li Shuisheng's reaction was even greater than Gu Xuyao's, clearly having not slept all night after reading the competition rules.

The morning was usually peaceful, but today it was bustling. The Taiheng Sect group was arranged to stay together, and this time, only Ling Sanshi led the team. The heads of the Speed Academy and the Physical Academy remained in Taiheng Sect, as the sect could not be left unattended, which was the foundation.

"Click." Ling Sanshi's room door opened, and he slowly walked out, looking at the already assembled disciples and nodding in satisfaction. He led the way towards the Blood Arena.

It's worth noting that not only did Yulin participate in the competition, but his older brother also entered the core disciple group. Yulin's brother, named Yu Wang, was thirty years older than Yulin. When Yulin was still in the children's dormitory, Yu Wang had just formed his immortal root and was about to practice the sect's Dao techniques. Suddenly, news came that their parents had died. Shocked, Yu Wang knew that once he practiced the sect's techniques, he would never be able to defy the sect's will. However, his younger brother, who was still a child, had no one to take care of him. So, Yu Wang left the sect, went to the children's dormitory to take his brother, and joined Taiheng Sect.

Yulin could be said to have been raised by Yu Wang, who was both his brother and father. Therefore, Yulin had an almost obsessive admiration for Yu Wang. In fact, Yu Wang practiced very diligently, and by the time Yulin came of age, Yu Wang had already gained the qualifications to enter the upper levels of Taiheng Sect.

With Yu Wang by his side, Yulin's spirit was even higher. Among the new disciples, he was not the highest in cultivation, but he was the most excited. Even Wu Chang, who was beside him, was particularly excited.

When they arrived at the Blood Arena again, it was already crowded. Within the jurisdiction of Landon Sect, there were forty-eight small sects. This competition, held every twenty years, was mandatory. If anyone dared to skip it, their future would be very difficult. Therefore, so many people came to the Blood Arena today.

Gradually, the disciples of Landon Sect also came out of their Daoist rooms to watch today's competition.

After a while, Zhenren Qiming, seeing that everyone had gathered, rode the Wind Jade and floated into the air, beginning a meaningless opening speech.

Gu Xuyao never listened to such speeches, taking the opportunity to look around. Cultivators in all kinds of Daoist robes were present, but the only thing they had in common was that none of them were easy to deal with.

After the speech, Zhenren Qiming announced the start of the competition. Several beams of light shot out from his hands, landing in the hands of each participating cultivator.

It was a Wind Jade, allowing the cultivators to fly into the arena.

The cultivators began to enter the Blood Arena, and the Taiheng Sect group, naturally not wanting to fall behind, followed Ling Sanshi down to the competition area.

"Next is the draw. The final rewards will be announced before the third round, as per the old rules. Now, everyone should try their best. The rules have already been seen, and I will now randomly distribute the sign stones, which will contain your opponents."

As the light beams dispersed again, each sect leader had a stone in their hand. The Landon Sect cultivators who came to watch the competition also rode the Wind Jade to their seats on the stone benches.

"Alright, now please break the sign stones in your hands so everyone can see the match-ups!" Zhenren Qiming shouted again.

Ling Sanshi took a deep breath and crushed the stone in his hand. A large number "1" rose into the air, floating above the heads of the Taiheng Sect group.

"Great! The results are out. The first match will be between Taiheng Sect and Changxu Temple!"

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