Chapter 33 The Grand Competition Ends - Part 3!
Song Yin and Shi Heming's perfect teamwork drew praise from the spectators outside the secret area, who all believed the two would achieve excellent results in the competition.
At night, the two stopped hunting monsters and chose a safe place to rest and spend the night, while also recovering their spiritual energy and physical strength.
Shi Heming: "You rest, I'll keep watch."
Song Yin: "Take turns keeping watch at night."
"good."
With spiritual energy protecting you, you won't feel cold or chilly at night.
The total score of the contestants will be displayed on their nameplates. Song Yin's total score has reached 280 points.
After looking at the score, Song Yin asked Shi Heming, "What's your total score now?"
Shi Heming took out his number plate and answered, "One hundred and twenty points, and yours?"
"Two hundred and eighty points. I appeared in the den of a Golden Core demon beast as soon as I entered the secret realm, and finally succeeded in hunting it down." Song Yin explained in a casual manner why her score was so much higher.
Shi Heming stared at Song Yin in the moonlight, his expression frozen for a moment, and asked uncertainly, "A Golden Core demon beast?" If you listened carefully, you could still feel the lingering fear in his tone.
Song Yin: "Hmm. Are you going to continue hunting monsters tomorrow? I have enough points, now it's up to you."
Shi Heming: "I want to aim for 200 points." I can't fall too far behind her.
Song Yin: "No problem, your score is the top priority tomorrow."
After deciding on the itinerary for the last day, the two took turns keeping watch at night, while the person resting simply meditated and cultivated, and the night passed quickly.
Early in the morning, the two set off with their swords in hand, searching for the tracks of demonic beasts. Following the tracks, they discovered numerous targets. Working together, they defeated the demonic beasts, with Shi Heming delivering the final blow. The cycle of searching, fighting, and winning continued. Fortunately, most of the demonic beasts they encountered were at the Foundation Establishment stage; the stronger the demonic beast, the higher the score, which greatly facilitated the accumulation of points.
As noon approached, the two decided to take a break.
By the end of the morning, Shi Heming had accumulated 170 points, while Song Yin had even reached 300 points.
While the two rested, in another corner of the secret realm, Cheng Xian scored many points with the help of the butterfly monster, but he felt it was not enough, so he set off to find more monsters.
As the saying goes, perseverance pays off, and Cheng Xian stepped into the territory of a Golden Core demon beast, the Nine Shadow Serpent. The Nine Shadow Serpent is born with one shadow, and gains another shadow for each major realm it advances, up to a maximum of nine shadows.
Upon learning that there was a Golden Core demon beast in this place, Cheng Xian's first reaction was not fear, but excitement and exhilaration.
If he can defeat this Golden Core demon beast, his score will definitely be far ahead!
Cheng Xian wasn't the only one eyeing the Nine-Shadow Serpent; a late-stage Foundation Establishment disciple was also keeping an eye on it. The two sensed each other's presence and immediately became wary.
Cheng Xian: "Fellow Daoist, would you be willing to hand over this prey? My Cheng family will reward you handsomely once we leave."
"Fellow Daoist and I are both eyeing this Nine Shadow Serpent, so why don't we each rely on our own abilities?"
I was rejected.
Cheng Xian's eyes darkened; it seemed a struggle was inevitable. He covered his storage ring with his hand. There were still a few magical treasures inside, but the remaining ones were all fourth or fifth-tier magical artifacts. He would be heartbroken if such magical treasures were damaged. He could only hope that the magical treasures would be effective and that the other party did not have too many magical treasures on them.
Cheng Xian was still deep in thought when his opponent gave him no chance. Taking advantage of the fact that the Nine Shadow Serpent had finally fallen asleep on the ground, he suddenly rushed up and unleashed a fierce attack on the Nine Shadow Serpent's weak points.
The Nine Shadow Serpent, at the Golden Core stage, has four clones, each with a strength roughly equivalent to its main body. While the main body of the Nine Shadow Serpent is asleep, its clones are still lurking in the shadows. A late-Foundation Establishment disciple launched a surprise attack, but it was blocked by the well-guarded clones, while the main body awoke.
Cheng Xian charged forward with his sword to fight the Nine Shadow Serpent's true form; he couldn't let it steal his points!
The cultivation level of a late-stage Foundation Establishment disciple is only one step away from the Golden Core stage. His own cultivation level is actually at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, and he is not afraid of facing Golden Core demonic beasts.
The late-stage Foundation Establishment disciple and Cheng Xian, one has strength and the other has a magic weapon.
Having ascertained the strength of the two, the Nine Shadow Serpent began to flee out of its territory. It wasn't afraid of those in the late Foundation Establishment stage, but rather of the thick, bloody aura emanating from the early Foundation Establishment cultivator and the various unpredictable magical artifacts!
First, lure the two out of the territory, then split into two to find other Golden Core stage demon beasts to help.
Song Yin and Shi Heming were resting by a stream.
The stream was crystal clear, and the fish could be clearly seen swimming in it. Song Yin used her spiritual energy to summon a thin twig, and sat on the west side, using the twig to tug at the fish in the stream.
Song Yin imbued the tip of the twig with spiritual energy and poked it into the water. Attracted by the energy, the fish abandoned their attempts to escape and all swam towards the twig. Song Yin would poke the fish with the twig tip, and only then would the fish quickly dodge away. Once the disturbance subsided, they would swim back to the twig.
Not long after Song Yin started playing, the fish in the stream suddenly scattered and swam away quickly, causing ripples to spread across the calm water.
"Get up and be on guard! Something's coming this way!" Song Yin threw away the tree branch, picked up the spirit sword beside her, and assumed a fighting stance.
Upon hearing this, Shi Heming stopped meditating, picked up his spirit sword, and with the spirit sword in one hand and a talisman in the other, he and Song Yin stood back to back, cautiously observing their surroundings.
The Nine-Shadow Serpent drifted downstream with the stream, thinking it could evade the two pursuers behind it. However, two more strangers appeared ahead. It sensed that both were in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, and as long as they didn't possess many magical treasures, they were no threat.
Song Yin: "It's a Golden Core demon beast, should we leave or stay?"
This Golden Core demon beast seems to be in a battle stance, and it's highly unlikely I'll gain the upper hand in a fight against it right now. It's a pity I can't catch it off guard like I did with the wild boar.
Shi Heming understood Song Yin's meaning, "There are more people coming after it, let's go." For a Golden Core demon beast to escape, the person chasing it must be quite powerful; fighting it now would be more than just fighting a demon beast. To avoid trouble, retreat is the best option.
As the two retreated, they realized that the person chasing the Golden Core demon beast was someone Cheng Xianhe didn't recognize.
The fact that the two of them could make the Golden Core demon beast escape suggests that they have plenty of trump cards up their sleeves.
Cheng Xian observed Song Yin and Shi Heming, and his heart tightened again upon seeing the two familiar faces. When he saw them retreat and not participate, Cheng Xian breathed a sigh of relief; the more people involved, the more trouble he would cause.
With half a day and night remaining until the end of the competition, many people had begun a large-scale hunt. The commotion from the battle with the Nine Shadow Serpent would surely attract even more people, so a swift victory was essential! Cheng Xian produced a hidden weapon, seemingly an ordinary small sphere, but when thrown, it could split into multiple flying needles coated with poison, causing paralysis and dizziness upon impact. He tossed the weapon at his late-stage Foundation Establishment competitor, easily leaving his opponent far behind.
The late-stage Foundation Establishment disciple sensed something was wrong with his body and realized he had been tricked.
"Damn it! We agreed to rely on our own abilities, but you still resorted to dirty tricks!"
Cheng Xian breathed a sigh of relief, and then focused all his attention on the target monster.
The late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't swallow this insult, and his voice, imbued with spiritual energy, resounded through the valley.
"The stream is inhabited by the Nine-Shadow Serpent, a Golden Core demon beast, and only Cheng Xian, a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, is hunting it down!"
Cheng Xian glanced behind him and muttered, "Damn it."
Hearing the commotion, all the contestants rushed over. This was a Golden Core demon beast, and the fact that Cheng Xian was chasing it alone meant it must be injured. An injured Golden Core demon beast's strength was definitely reduced significantly; now was the perfect time to seize its prey!
Upon hearing the sound, Song Yin said to Shi Heming, who was fleeing alongside her, "It's a good thing we chose to retreat, otherwise it would have been another fierce battle."
Shi Heming: "Instead of everyone fighting over a Golden Core demon beast, it's better to catch some other demon beasts. It's easier to accumulate points if no one is competing with them."
Song Yin smiled broadly: "Not bad, not bad, great minds think alike."
They moved through the forest, not thinking about who would ultimately hunt the Golden Core demon beast. Fighting demon beasts and fighting humans, the intense commotion in the valley told them the battles would be anything but easy.
...
When the time came, all the contestants' nameplates automatically shattered, and they were all sent out of the secret realm.
Later, Shi Heming found several more demonic beasts, some at the Qi Refining stage and some at the Foundation Establishment stage. Once Shi Heming had accumulated two hundred points, he stopped searching for demonic beasts and spent the night with Song Yin in a new, safe place.
Everyone was teleported back to the plaza.
At this moment, all the disciples watching the competition in the sect's square crowded on the outer perimeter, leaving the middle positions for the participants.
The water mirror was not removed; its content was replaced with the final rankings of each contestant.
First place: Bai Yuefeng, 410 points; Second place: Cheng Xian, 400 points; Third place: Song Yin, 330 points... Eleventh place: Shi Heming, 220 points...
Song Yin's eyes widened in surprise as she exclaimed, "I actually made it to third place!"
Shi Heming: "Didn't get the ranking you wanted?"
Song Yin: "No, no, no, it's way too far beyond my desired ranking. My ideal ranking is to break into the top 100. Holy crap, third place! I'm so amazing."
Shi Heming remained silent, only thinking that if Song Yin hadn't spent more time picking spiritual herbs, her score would have been even higher, and she would definitely have been number one.
The two stood together, Shi Heming's gaze falling on Song Yin. The red mole between Song Yin's eyebrows was clearly visible, and her eyes were full of satisfaction and excitement about her ranking. Thinking about how she could single-handedly kill a Golden Core demon beast, Song Yin gradually became the target of his pursuit.
Shi Heming thought to himself that he didn't need to follow in other people's footsteps, because the best role model was right beside him.
At the other end of the line, Cheng Xian saw that he was in second place and his face turned somewhat grim.
How could this be? He was just ten points away from becoming number one. He had worked so hard and finally killed the Nine Shadow Serpent!
At this moment, an elder flew out from the sect's main hall.
"The first two hundred disciples will follow me into the sect's main hall."
Two hundred disciples watched with envy as they entered the sect's main hall, while some Qi Refining disciples watching nearby also showed envy and longing.
"They're going to join the inner sect, right? I'm so envious. I really want to be a part of the inner sect too."
"I wonder how many disciples will be able to join the inner sect this year."
"If we're lucky, many people will join; if we're unlucky, zero people could join the inner sect this year. After all, this has happened before..."
Song Yin stood in the front row and entered the sect's main hall with the people around her.
The main hall was spacious and brightly lit. Thick pillars were carved with landscapes, clouds, and mythical creatures. Tables and chairs were neatly arranged on both sides, and another set of tables and chairs was placed at the far end in the center. Other exquisitely crafted objects were also arranged in a pleasing and orderly fashion, each a masterpiece of artistry. The elders sat on chairs on either side, with the sect leader's seat in the center. The sect leader of the Immortal Firmament Sect sat upright in the middle, a stark contrast to the more casually seated elders.
The two hundred disciples who entered the main hall knew that they were about to face one of the most important turning points in their lives.
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Author's Note: Song Yin: Ahhhhh, I actually made it into the top three?!!!! [Starry eyes][Starry eyes]
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[Empty bowl]
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