Chapter 35 Are there really so many fortresses? He knew his senior brother disliked getting involved with others…
The cool jade beads spun between his fingertips, and Fu Ming slowly exhaled turbid air.
This is a big problem.
He just wanted to do a task, but how did he end up owing more and more favors?
The sect leader's peak was brightly lit all night long. Fu Ming and Xiao Huaiyuan sat facing each other, but the atmosphere between them was quite strange.
Xiao Huaiyuan didn't talk much, but every few words he would conjure up something nice for him out of thin air.
Heart-protecting scales, Soul-Suppressing Pills counted by the bottle, bundles of talismans...
Fu Ming's forehead was sweating: "Is it really necessary to bring so much?"
The magical artifacts were piled up like a small mountain on the table.
Xiao Huaiyuan reached out to straighten Fu Ming's collar, but the man leaned back against the chair and deftly dodged him, like a wary lynx.
His fingers, which were grasping at empty air, curled up. He knew that his senior brother disliked getting too involved with others, which was why he had gone to great lengths to use worldly things as chains to bind him.
As for Fu Ming's opinion...
Fu Ming didn't watch it.
He was numb from the sheer volume of treasures being poured into his bag like water.
Fine, I'll just have someone return the spiritual items from the secret realm to him before I fake my death. There's no need for such a fuss, junior brother. It's just a mere secret realm for the Grand Competition; haven't we been there together before?
Although that was ninety years ago.
The climate in this world is similar to that of Earth, with four seasons. In winter, the nights are long and the days are short, and it is not until the hour of Chen (7-9 AM) that it begins to get light.
Orange-pink rays of dawn pierced through the clouds, splashing rich colors upon the eagerly awaiting disciples.
It's no wonder they're excited. The opening time of the Immortal Dao Grand Competition depends on the secret realm itself, and it's common for it to be held only once every few decades. The last one was more than 30 years ago, and many people could only watch from afar back then.
When the sunlight shone on the boundary stone placed in the center of the Tai Chi symbol in the square, it emitted large clusters of auspicious clouds, from which towering buildings rose, accompanied by ethereal celestial music. The clouds and mist swirled and finally transformed into a solid Lingxing Gate.
Upon seeing this splendid scene, everyone exclaimed in amazement and admiration.
Fu Ming arrived at the spot.
He carried a heavy sachet-shaped bag at his waist, which slowed his pace.
In fact, the weight of the mustard seed pouch is negligible. This is just his psychological effect. Could it be that Xiao Huaiyuan was too satisfied with the sachet he bought at the Yongcheng market, and that's why he changed it to a mustard seed pouch?
Fortunately, the mandarin duck embroidery on it was covered with silk cloth, otherwise he would never have used it.
As a visitor from another world, Fu Ming instinctively did not want to get too close to the natives. For more than a hundred years, he did not have a single close friend. No wonder his master, the Calabash Taoist, said when he picked him up that he was cold-hearted by nature and was born to be a good seedling for cultivating immortality.
The journey is fraught with peril, and matters of life and death are beyond human control. Obsession leads to mistakes, and only by letting go can one go far.
However, when the Calabash Taoist accepted Xiao Huaiyuan, he also said that Xiao Huaiyuan had a deep obsession and a firm Daoist heart, and that he would surely achieve something in the future.
To utter such contradictory statements, this old man must truly be senile.
Fu Ming then thought that his master had been in seclusion for a long time because his lifespan was coming to an end, and now he probably didn't even know that he had fallen into demonic ways. He shook his head to clear his mind of the messy thoughts and followed the crowd forward.
Woohoo!
A loud rooster crowed.
Elder Daofafeng stood beside the Lingxing Gate, reading out the rules and precautions for the competition. When he read the last sentence, he deliberately raised his voice so that the echo would reverberate through the mountains.
"...Once you enter this gate, you are responsible for your own life and death."
The young disciples also became solemn, not daring to utter a sound.
Except for Fu Ming.
He yawned, then strode in first. It's always the same line; the principal even updates his opening speech.
In the shadows, Xiao Huaiyuan watched as Fu Ming's figure dissolved into the illusory light.
With flashes of light and darkness before my eyes, and countless afterimages passing by, I arrived at the Grand Competition Secret Realm.
A landscape completely different from the immortal realm slowly emerged.
This place is less a secret realm and more a small world in itself.
Five floating fairy islands—Daiyu, Yuanqiao, Fanghu, Yingzhou, and Penglai—suspend above the vast Wuxiang Sea.
The island has diverse terrains, including glaciers, deserts, mountains, forests, and lakes. Overgrown vines conceal the ruins of palaces, the dwellings of demons, and the remains of ancient battlefields.
The only thing they have in common is that none of these places are alive or well.
Fu Ming suddenly felt his feet sink into the air, and then he fell straight down from the clouds.
Just as his face was about to hit the ground, Fu Ming quickly cast a spell to stay airborne, twisting his body and gracefully landing.
"Not bad, not bad, brother, your lightness skill is truly superb."
Unexpectedly, someone else had already gotten there first and even started clapping as if they were old friends.
"Thanks, you're great too."
Upon seeing the person's face clearly, Fu Ming hurriedly swallowed the character "Jun" (俊).
Cultivation is essentially a process of purifying the physical body. Generally speaking, cultivators, while not necessarily as handsome as him and his junior brother, are at least refined and dignified, so that they don't inspire disgust in others.
But this person's appearance...
His skin was sallow, his eyes were small, his nose was wide, and he was short and stocky; he was barely presentable.
He was one of the earliest members of the Tianyan Sect, and he didn't remember anyone like him in the sect. He wondered which sect or faction he belonged to.
Fu Ming: "My name is Mingfu. May I ask where you studied under a master?"
The man cupped his hands and said, "My name is Wu Ming, just a rogue cultivator."
Nameless, you're just using a fake name to fool him, aren't you?
Fortunately, he didn't give his real name either; they're both cunning.
"That's such a coincidence! I'm also a rogue cultivator. Judging from your accent, you're from the Central Plains, aren't you?"
Fu Ming's smile widened, and he tried various methods to get information out of him. Coincidentally, the other party had the same idea, and the two of them played back and forth, ultimately failing to get any useful information out of him.
Just then, a large group of living people fell from the sky.
"Aaaaaaahh ...
*Splat*
The wailing stopped abruptly, and the newcomer fell headfirst into the grass.
Fu Ming pulled him out of the mud like a radish.
Upon shaking off the dirt, he recognized the man as Jiang Jie, the lazy disciple from the commission column.
Jiang Jie was so moved he was practically prostrating himself in gratitude: "Junior Brother Ming... thank goodness you're here."
Looking at Jiang Jie's brightly lit Tianyan Sect uniform, Fu Ming wished he could shove him back into the ground.
Ugh, what a terrible teammate. He even changed into casual clothes.
"So you two are talented individuals from the Tianyan Sect." Wu Ming glanced at them meaningfully. "Why don't we continue onward and find some more rare and precious materials to accumulate points and climb to the bottom of the Heavenly Ranking?"
The competition uses a points system, which is easy to understand: the higher the score, the higher the ranking.
Whether it's a monster's inner core or a herb that has grown for millions of years, everything can be scored according to its grade. Each participating disciple holds a jade token engraved with their name, which can absorb the unique spiritual energy of the treasures and score them in real time.
Once you leave the secret realm, the calculation will stop. The owner of the treasure can choose to refine it or hand it over to the sect to earn contribution points.
As for whether they can get out alive, that depends on their own fate.
Fu Ming first tried to sow discord between Wu Ming and Wu Ming: "Let's make this clear first, the treasures we get will be split equally among the three of us. If anyone tries to take it all for themselves, you know what will happen."
Outside the secret realm, it's freezing cold; inside, the grass is lush and the birds are singing, the wind is gentle and the sun is warm, making one inexplicably sleepy while walking through it.
Fu Ming and his two companions waded through knee-high waves of grass, peering towards the direction where the sun was high in the sky.
Even if you don't say what you should say, a habitual liar still needs to be cured by being a chatterbox.
What's your name?
"Where are you from?"
Who is your master?
What kind of cultivation method do you practice?
Jiang Jie kept asking these repetitive questions, and Wu Ming initially tried to carefully craft his responses, but later he simply gave up and rambled on.
But too much talk leads to mistakes, and he accidentally let something slip.
"Wow, so you're from Heluo in Zhongzhou. Isn't that my fellow townsman?" Jiang Jie keenly grasped the key words. "I've heard that there's a lineage of metal-element cultivators in Heluo. They're not particularly good-looking, but they have the ability to find treasures. Could they be from your maternal family?"
These were very harsh words, and Wu Ming's face turned red as he clenched his fists.
This Jiang Jie is quite interesting.
Fu Ming watched with great interest, but since the secret realm was full of dangers, it would not be appropriate to start a fight right from the beginning. He changed the subject just before Wu Ming was about to explode.
"Look, what's that?"
A dark boundary marker stands amidst the weeds; one might easily miss its existence if they don't look closely.
Jiang Jie had clearly never been here before and was easily distracted, staring blankly at the boundary marker, asking, "What's this?"
Fu Ming infused spiritual power to activate the boundary marker, and the stone pillar rose up, resembling a tall tower.
The surface of the monument was badly corroded. He used a spell to dust off the surface dust, which revealed two large, golden characters.
Daiyu.
Behind the boundary marker are densely engraved small gold characters. On the left side, there are about a hundred names arranged from top to bottom, while the right side is empty.
Since the information on the left and right wasn't confidential, Fu Ming gave a brief explanation: "These are boundary markers that display the rankings on the Heavenly Ranking. The left side is the overall Heavenly Ranking, and the right side is this year's Heavenly Ranking, so it's currently empty."
Jiang Jie exclaimed in admiration, "Junior Brother Ming, how did you know so quickly?"
"Your master told me this, but your master didn't?"
Fu Ming invoked the all-powerful Xiao Huaiyuan.
Jiang Jie touched his messy hair: "I told you... but I must have fallen asleep and didn't listen. I even got hit on the head with a ruler."
Fu Ming, who had plenty of experience skipping class, gave him some advice: "You don't need to sleep in front of him. Next time, just leave an illusion and slip out."
"Oh, that makes sense!"
...A fool in the late stage of Golden Core and a greenhorn in the early stage of Golden Core, he thought they were some formidable and ruthless characters.
Wu Ming secretly curled his lip. Since that was the case, he might as well go ahead and do it.
Fu Ming kept observing Wu Ming's subtle expressions out of the corner of his eye, and only when he saw that Wu Ming could no longer maintain his alertness did he calm down.
They've taken the bait.
Since he landed on the fairy island, the system has been issuing a whole bunch of side quests, keeping him constantly on edge.
The side quest to restore the ecological cycle of the fairy island is now open!
The side quest to mediate the blood feud between the demon race is now available!
The side quest to protect rare plants and animals is now available!
However, the mission information did not include a map, so he needed someone to guide him.
Jiang Jie was completely unaware of the unspoken power struggles behind the words. He was still standing in front of the boundary marker, counting the names on the list from bottom to top. Because the list was too long, he could only strain his head to look up.
...
Second on the Heavenly Ranking is Xiao Huaiyuan of the Tianyan Sect.
Fu Ming of the Tianyan Sect ranked first on the Heavenly Ranking.
"Sect Leader Xiao, I heard that you have a new disciple who has advanced in rank by an astonishing speed. I wonder if he can replicate your glory in the Grand Competition back then?"
The members of the Immortal Alliance were sitting around the water mirror watching the competition, but since the competition had only just begun, there wasn't much to see yet.
Xiao Huaiyuan secretly wanted to praise his senior brother, but he couldn't.
He didn't respond directly, but instead used his spiritual power to circle several of the hundred or so water mirrors:
"The five fairy islands seem to be unusual."
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