Chapter 92 Rebirth and Revitalization of the Cultivation World (92% complete)
As time flows through the cultivation world, beneath the seemingly prosperous surface, undercurrents still surge.
The misty forest is filled with a rich spiritual atmosphere, with lush vegetation, birdsong, and sunlight filtering through the abundant branches and leaves, casting dappled shadows.
Dragging her battered body, Wu Ning trudged through the depths of the forest. Her clothes were torn by branches and thorns, leaving streaks of blood, but she ignored the pain. She applied a speed-up talisman and pressed on, occasionally releasing her divine sense to make sure that the people hadn't caught up yet.
The spiritual energy of the talisman used to conceal her aura was exhausted, so she quickly took out a high-grade teleportation talisman from her storage ring.
A flash of white light, and her figure vanished without a trace.
"Damn it!" Upon reaching the spot where the aura had vanished, the leading blue-robed swordsman cursed, "She got away again!"
The other person was speechless: "Wu Ning is just an outer disciple, where did he get so many spirit talismans? Don't spirit talismans cost spirit stones?!"
"I heard that she used to be a rogue cultivator, and she had a lot of crooked and evil ways to save her life."
"Pah! Rogue cultivators are just low-class, short-sighted, and will betray their sect for a few things."
After chasing for a long time without finding anything, someone angrily cut off a blood-stained tree branch.
Unexpectedly, the severed branch suddenly twisted and writhed as if it were alive, entangling the person who had made the move, while another branch pointed directly at the person's vital point.
A sharp-eyed person nearby shouted, "Watch out!"
He quickly grabbed the person and pulled them to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.
When its first attack failed, the surrounding branches danced wildly, launching a fierce offensive against everyone who dared to run wild on its territory.
"This tree has developed sentience; only by finding its roots can it be killed." Someone with more experience pointed out the tree demon's weakness.
However, he was impatiently interrupted by the green-robed swordsman: "Don't waste time here, or Wu Ning will get away."
The relative importance of the matter was obvious, and the group immediately joined forces to break free from the tree demon's entanglement.
Since the strange phenomena in the heavens and earth a year and a half ago, not only have human cultivators benefited, but the number of demon cultivators has also surged. In the past, plants were the most difficult to enlighten, but now they have become ubiquitous.
Some people couldn't help but sigh, "In a few years, I really don't know what the cultivation world will be like. Since the establishment of Tianyan Academy, everything has been different."
He changed the subject: "By the way, Tianyan Academy holds a selection every five years. Are you planning to participate in this year's selection?"
"Of course we'll go. I wonder how Senior Brother is doing." Others joined the discussion.
"Do you think Shen Suqi will really challenge the Holy Prayer Palace?" someone asked mysteriously, as if discussing some taboo topic.
After considering it carefully, the person next to him said, "Probably. There has been no news of these prodigies for almost a year. Who knows how terrifying their strength has grown."
“But that’s the Holy Prayer Palace, with ten thousand years of history! Even if she breaks through to the Nascent Soul stage in just five years, she can’t challenge the authority of one of the Nine Sects. Smart people know to lie low.” Some people questioned.
"What if? The Treasure Pavilion recently opened a betting platform, and I bet on her to succeed in the challenge."
The leading swordsman in blue sneered, "Once this precedent is set, the prestige of the other nine sect leaders will also be damaged. She will be facing more than just the Palace Master of the Holy Prayer Palace."
"That's true. Besides, even if she succeeds in the challenge, how old is she? How many people would be convinced? Others will also challenge her."
"In the cultivation world, strength has always been paramount." A gruff voice interjected, blunt and uncompromising. "To be honest, the other sect leaders aren't exactly clean either. But so what? Really, how many people have clean hands? In short, whoever is strong rises to the top, and it wouldn't be surprising if someone challenged our sect leader one day."
"You idiot, watch your mouth!" someone immediately covered his mouth.
They remained silent for the rest of the journey, and ultimately failed to catch up with Wu Ning.
After confirming that no one was around, Wu Ning tore off the last talisman on her body that concealed her aura.
She slowly breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against an ancient tree to heal her wounds.
Five years ago, she missed the university's opening ceremony because she was in seclusion, but this time she must go.
It wasn't just to improve her strength, but also because she was unwilling to hand over the treasure she had almost lost her life to obtain. She was considered a traitor to the Xuan Tian Sword Sect, and the prestige of the number one sect could not be challenged. As long as the wanted poster was hanging there, even if she chose to become a rogue cultivator again, her future would be extremely difficult.
"If I had known this would happen, I should have continued to be a carefree cultivator. What bad luck!" she sighed.
Instead of enjoying the glory of being the number one sect, they got themselves into a lot of trouble.
She joined a sect only to seek protection. If she had known that the Tianyan Academy would be opening, she would never have joined the Xuantian Sword Sect. She finally obtained a treasure, but they asked her to hand it over, saying that everything she obtained during the mission belonged to the sect, and that the sect would not mistreat her.
What a joke! She's not one of those idiots who've been disciplined since childhood. That's a treasure of Saint-grade quality. The sect's so-called "no mistreatment" might at most grant her the status of an inner disciple. Orthodox cultivators look down on rogue cultivators, so why would they give her any real benefits? She's not going to do that.
As she circulated her spiritual energy to regulate her breathing, she grimaced in pain and muttered a complaint: "Putting aside the question of whether anyone would be willing to do this task without me, even if someone else did it, they might not be able to recognize what it is. They might even kill the painted skin. So this should have been my opportunity."
The treasure she obtained, the Painted Skin, was a relic of an unknown ghost cultivator. It was used as ordinary paper to draw a landscape painting and wandered through the mortal world for many years before ending up in the hands of a merchant.
A year and a half ago, the painting suddenly "came to life" and began to exhibit strange phenomena, causing unrest in the merchant's home. The merchant had some connections after years of doing business, so he asked someone to post a demon-slaying mission at the Xuantian Sword Sect. However, although the mission reward was generous, most cultivators did not like to go to the mortal realm. After going around in circles, the mission was taken over by Wu Ning and another outer disciple.
Another disciple noticed that she rolled up the mask and put it away. He took note of this and deliberately brought it up when reporting on the mission, causing her to be exposed.
Painted skin is a top-grade material for making talismans, which can help talisman cultivators draw talismans that surpass their own abilities. The crafting technique has been lost for a long time, and she wouldn't have recognized it if she hadn't been exposed to so many unorthodox methods.
"I've never seen anyone in the inner sect who cultivates both sword and talisman like me. What do they need this painted skin for?"
Recalling the intricate grudges between the three clans and nine sects, she couldn't help but fall into deep thought, but quickly shook her head. The most urgent task was to get to the island first. At that time, this mask might help her win the selection and assessment.
Countless people followed Wu Ning in the same direction. Among them were many cultivators with mediocre cultivation levels, but for them, being able to set foot on the island and witness the splendor of the world's most outstanding talents was already an immense stroke of luck.
Furthermore, opportunities in the cultivation world have increased significantly over the past year, and everyone's luck seems to have improved. They might even encounter some good fortune if they go there.
Flying boats pierced through the clouds, swords flashed across the sky, and all sorts of vehicles headed toward the same destination. Wu Ning disguised herself and joined the fray, becoming an inconspicuous member of the torrent.
And before the destination they longed for.
Shen Suqi squatted on the stone tablet. With her Nascent Soul stage cultivation, her divine sense covered an extremely wide area. She watched the tide rise and fall and the boats race in the distance, with a calm and composed demeanor.
Upon closer inspection, one can notice that her eyes appear somewhat dull.
"I'm snapping out of it." Su Xiaoyao snapped her fingers.
"How could this be! They're never late!" she exclaimed indignantly.
"Maybe they're using pigeons this time, so it's gone wrong." Su Xiaoyao smiled, pursing her lips.
Shen Suxi: "..."
"Don't worry, don't worry, it's probably just because of traffic. There are too many people coming this time, and there are only a few places where people can get stuck, so it's normal for it to be congested," Su Xiaoyao comforted her.
Hearing this, her brows didn't unfurl: "Why today of all days! The Xuan Tian Sword Sect sent Qi Tian something worth a whopping 600,000 spirit stones. Qi Tian bought a Time-Extra Treasure, and if it's late, I'll have to pay back a lot of spirit stones!"
After advancing two levels to the Nascent Soul stage last year, she slowed down her cultivation pace to consolidate her power and started a courier business. Her business flourished, and she accumulated a lot of resources.
Today was the agreed delivery day, but the other party was late.
"Coming, coming," Su Xiaoyao suddenly announced.
Shen Suqi snapped out of her daze and finally saw the sea monster that was charging towards her, seemingly navigating the checkpoints with practiced ease.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm late today." The sea beast wiped away non-existent sweat. "You human cultivators are terrifying. I forgot to wear my badge when I went out today, and when I passed by them, I was targeted and attacked as part of the trial. I barely managed to escape."
"Ten minutes left!" Shen Suqi didn't have time to question him; she grabbed the storage ring and ran.
Su Xiaoyao stared at her retreating figure, lost in thought: "Even the wealthiest talisman cultivators are so ambitious, what reason do I have not to work hard to make money?"
Just then, a figure broke through the tsunami's obstruction and successfully landed on the island.
"Oh my, she's a junior, and a sword cultivator at that." She looked closer and realized something was off. "Wait, she's a talisman cultivator."
With a single sword strike, Wu Ning cleaved through the waves, and as the mechanical wind blades approached, she formed a spell in mid-air to defend herself, then rolled and landed smoothly.
"Dual cultivation of sword and talisman, not bad." Su Xiaoyao nudged Helian Yi on her right. "Do you think she'll go into the talisman cultivation class or the sword cultivation class later?"
"A sword cultivator," Helian Yi replied without hesitation.
As the class monitor of the sword cultivation class, he naturally hopes that sword cultivation will be carried forward and flourish.
"Old Xiao, what do you think?" Su Xiaoyao asked again.
"Ah." Xiao Tingyuan came back to his senses. "Jiang Yun is right."
Jiang Yun: "...I didn't participate in the discussion."
"What are you thinking about so intently?" Su Xiaoyao asked with a smile.
Xiao Tingyuan looked helpless: "I'm wondering how many students we'll have in the culinary training class this year."
A month ago, the culinary master was already nagging about how the culinary arts were unorthodox and he was afraid that too few people would apply, which would be embarrassing.
Helian Yi patted him on the shoulder: "With you as the benchmark, the number of people will not be small."
Xiao Tingyuan's cultivation speed, as smooth as drinking water, even made him jealous. While passing by and watching the little octopus that was left on the island as a mascot undergoing its tribulation, he inexplicably stood there and suddenly attained the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage, free from inner demons, obstacles, and thorns.
Just like the culinary master who always boasts about his apprentices said, he was born to ascend to the ladder of immortality.
Xiao Tingyuan said embarrassedly, "But cooking is not easy. I only cultivated faster because I was really lucky."
“Even if you told them, they wouldn’t believe you. The success of everyone in your culinary training class is ridiculously high,” Su Xiaoyao complained. “I even suspect that everything related to pots and pans gets some kind of boost.”
My junior sister Baozi from the culinary training class closed her baozi shop a few days ago because she was going to undergo tribulation. The next time we meet, she will be at the Nascent Soul stage, and her cultivation speed is far beyond the average.
"Speaking of which, I saw a post a couple of days ago." Su Xiaoyao remembered something and cheerfully opened the forum to show them.
[Testing poison on oneself, I'll laugh at anyone who tries this for five years :)]
The poster is a talented individual who minored in Buddhism and Taoism and almost failed to graduate. The post contains a 30,000-word rant about Buddhism and Taoism, every word of which is filled with heartbreaking pain.
"How did you combine Buddha and ghost? That's quite creative, classmate." She watched with great interest.
Jiang Yun glanced at it and recognized who it was: "His spiritual artifact is also a banner. He said that after a fight, those who are willing to enter the banner can be taken in, and those who are unwilling can be exorcised on the spot. Theoretically, it can reduce the inner demons of the ghost path."
Ghost cultivators often find it more difficult to overcome their inner demon tribulations than other cultivators, so to come up with this method is truly a genius.
Su Xiaoyao exclaimed, "He's a man of action."
Unfortunately, he overlooked the fact that even Buddhist practitioners face the same difficulty in overcoming inner demons.
"He's quite good at surviving double the mental demon tribulation and graduating successfully." Helian Yi's eyes revealed admiration.
"Tsk." Su Xiaoyao couldn't help but click her tongue when she heard his tone.
This guy was recruiting talent everywhere during graduation season, and he was extremely generous with his money.
"How many people from your Helian family came this year?" she asked.
“All the suitable-aged members of the main family’s collateral branches have come.”
“In the blink of an eye, we’ve all graduated.” Su Xiaoyao said with emotion, then straightened up. “Let’s go see the new students. Once they officially enroll, we’ll be leaving.”
She turned her head and said, "It's a pity that I can't equip a 'Newbie' status on my head like in a system game." Otherwise, she would have achieved the same level of accomplishment as a max-level player returning to the beginner village.
Upon hearing this, Helian Yi looked up at the direction above her head and smiled silently.
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