“It’s too far away to see the whole picture,” Yuan Qi shook his head and said. “I can only tell that it has defensive and binding properties.”
"A defensive barrier?" You You thought for a moment and asked, "Is it a mountain-protecting formation?"
"I don't know." Tianqi frowned and said, "There are too many overlapping formations in this array. We'll have to go inside and take a closer look to find out what kind of array it is."
She nodded and didn't ask any more questions. She waited for the spirit boat to fly to Jingling Academy, but unexpectedly, the spirit boat did not enter directly. Instead, it flew towards a large city at the foot of the mountain and landed on the square in the city.
The Nascent Soul cultivator leading the group headed directly towards the west of the city and arranged rooms for each cultivator. Even You You and the others were assigned to a courtyard with abundant spiritual energy.
Youyou was completely bewildered. Weren't we supposed to be going to the Mortuary? Why did we stop here, and why did it look like we might be staying for a long time?
"Where is this place? Why are we stopped here?!"
“It should be Tianming City.” Just as she was about to ask someone, Feng Rong suddenly answered from the side.
"Tianming City?" Youyou and Tianqi were both taken aback.
“Yes!” Feng Rong continued, “I heard that the gates of Jingling Academy are never opened easily. Every year, cultivators who come to participate in the ‘Holy Spirit Ceremony’ have to wait in Tianming City first. Only when the ceremony officially begins will people from Jingling Academy come out to pick them up.”
"So, we're going to be staying here for the next few days?" You You asked, somewhat surprised. She had thought this was a gathering similar to the sect competition in Xianze, but she hadn't expected Jingling Academy to be so generous as to not even include accommodation.
“That’s right!” Feng Rong nodded. “Chixing Kingdom is relatively close, but the cultivators from other countries haven’t all arrived yet. The mountain gate will only open once everyone has arrived.”
"I see!" You You glanced at Feng Rong. "But how did you know?"
Yuan Qi also looked at him curiously.
“Chenwei told me!” he blurted out. “Yuanqi, weren’t you there too?”
"Who is Chen Wei?" Yuan Qi was taken aback.
Feng Rong glanced at him up and down with a surprised expression, her tone carrying a hint of reproach. "You accepted his gifts, yet you didn't even remember his name." How rude!
Yuan Qi was stunned for a moment; he had never accepted bribes from anyone before…
etc!
"It's the man sitting next to you in the cabin!" He suddenly remembered the box of lip balm.
"Yes, that's him!"
Yuan Qi: "..."
How did he become so familiar with others? He even managed to find out about this kind of information; it's definitely something I can't understand!
"Chen Wei said that people from Jingling Academy are not allowed to go out casually, and the mountain gate is not easily opened. The only exception is during the 'Holy Spirit Ceremony', when special people will come to pick up the cultivators to the mountain, and the number of times is uncertain. I heard that the cultivators from the previous session went eleven times."
"Eleven times?" You You exclaimed in surprise. "Does the Holy Spirit Ceremony require attending many times?"
“Yes.” Feng Rong nodded and recounted what she had learned. “Chen Wei told me that the Holy Ceremony held by Jingling Academy is originally intended to benefit cultivators from all over the world, allowing them to comprehend and advance their cultivation. The protective formations in Jingling Academy are also designed to lock in most of the spiritual energy, so they cannot be closed off casually for people to enter and exit, otherwise it would affect the effectiveness of cultivation. And the aptitude of each generation of cultivators is different, so the time and number of times the Holy Ceremony is held are also different, usually around six or seven times.”
Youyou frowned, feeling that something about this logic didn't make sense. She turned to the person next to her and asked, "Dad Yuan, what do you think?"
“The Jingling Academy has several spiritual veins, so it doesn’t seem to lack spiritual energy.” Yuan Qi frowned and analyzed, “Moreover, the usual mountain protection formations are divided into two parts: the spiritual formation and the protective formation. The spiritual formation is a hidden formation that ensures the spiritual energy circulates and does not leak; the protective formation protects the sect’s safety and is only activated at critical times. There is no such thing as locking in the spiritual energy to prevent it from leaking out and not easily closing it.”
“That’s what I think too!” You You nodded and said, “Usually, when people talk about activating the mountain-protecting array, they mean activating the protective array. Spirit arrays are always present, so their explanation seems to combine the protective array with the concealment array. The Jingling Academy can subdue so many spirit veins, so it’s impossible that they don’t know such a basic array setting method.”
"So they've been keeping the mountain-protecting array up for so long, preventing people from easily entering or leaving. They must have something else in mind," Yuan Qi continued. The protective array consumes a lot of energy, which explains why they have so many spiritual veins.
"So, the protective array at Jingling Academy really is faulty?" Feng Rong asked. "Should we break in and take a look?" Although he had lost his power as a demon god, his current body was that of a phoenix. While he couldn't use divine power, he was still a legitimate member of the divine race. He could easily destroy one or two arrays with just his claws after reverting to his true form.
“Is there any need to rush?” Yuan Qi objected. “The ‘Holy Spirit Ceremony’ is about to begin, and we will naturally be able to enter then.”
Feng Rong rolled her eyes at Yuan Qi and reminded him, "Youyou can go in, but we might not be able to!"
Yuan Qi was taken aback, only then realizing what kind of world this was. They had come with You You as family members. The Jingling Academy had such strict entry and exit controls that cultivators wouldn't be allowed to bring their families in to watch the spectacle.
Yuan Qi's attitude changed instantly, and he said with a serious expression, "Feng Rong is right! Why don't we just break in!" What if something happens to Xiao You again? She could get into trouble in the Six Realms, let alone here!
Youyou: "..."
Father Yuan, don't let Feng Rong influence you! If you're just going to force your way in, then why did they even pretend to be cultivators and follow us?
———————
In the end, the group decided not to rush in directly, but to wait patiently for the mountain gate to open and follow the proper procedures. You You didn't know much about formations, so he left a water mirror inside the house beforehand, which would reflect everything he saw, so that Feng Rong and Yuan Qi, who remained in the city, could also know the situation in Jingling Temple.
The group stayed in Tianming City for more than half a month, and most of the cultivators from various countries had arrived, making the once empty city bustling with activity. Although the agreed-upon time with Jingling Academy was still a month away, strangely enough, Jingling Academy opened its gates ahead of schedule.
The start of this mission was rather rushed. The Nascent Soul cultivator leading the Crimson Star Kingdom didn't even have time to properly assemble and count the number of people before directly informing them to meet at the foot of Jingling Academy Mountain.
Youyou had been waiting for information, so she arrived relatively early. From afar, she could see a number of cultivators standing at the foot of the mountain, looking hurried. Judging from their clothing, they were cultivators from various countries, so they must have been notified at the last minute.
At the entrance to the mountain gate, two female cultivators in white robes stood guard, exuding a rich spiritual aura. They were frowning as they scanned all the cultivators present. They must be from the Jingling Academy.
Youyou glanced at the two people's cultivation levels out of habit, but was startled and stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
"These two are at the Xuanxian level!" Yuan Qi exclaimed in front of the water mirror.
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