Before the annual Daoist Inquiry Conference begins, the host, Xiaoling Sect Leader, always gives a speech.
However, he had no interest in it this year, and the draft he prepared was reduced to just a few sentences.
Five cannons of different colors soared into the sky, officially commencing the new session of the Daoist Conference.
First to appear are the independent disciples.
Generally, when accepting disciples, the various sects of immortals will first conduct a screening process.
When participating in the Daoist Inquiry Tournament, the organizers will actively select the best candidates and will not bring out useless disciples to embarrass themselves. Therefore, the strength of the contestants is generally guaranteed.
But it's not so certain for independent cultivators; there are all sorts of oddballs among them.
To save time, this competition, which is not very entertaining, does not use an elimination system, but rather a battle royale system.
All contestants will be randomly assigned to one of the eight arenas in the venue, where they will fight each other in an isosceles trapezoidal arena. The contestants who remain in the arena before the time limit expires will pass this round of selection.
It's not acceptable for everyone to simply wait for the timer to end without fighting. If the number of contestants in the arena exceeds 10% of the initial number of contestants when the incense and candles burn out, then all contestants in the arena will face elimination.
It sounds cruel, but that's only because it's extremely difficult for truly outstanding cultivators to emerge from the ranks of independent cultivators who don't have the support of powerful families or sects.
Even with an elimination rate of one in ten, very few independent cultivators can surpass the disciples of sects and make it onto the list of renowned figures in the Dao Inquiry Conference.
Otherwise, Xie Qingya's achievements wouldn't still be talked about today, three hundred years later.
Ji Mofan sat in the contestants' seat, looking down at the contestants in the arena below.
As soon as the barrier disappeared, a chaotic brawl broke out among the group. Within seconds of the start, dozens of people had already been thrown out.
The disciples of the Xiaoling Sect who are stationed around the arena will provide the minimum necessary medical care, but only to the extent that they will ensure that the contestants do not die on the field.
"Tsk tsk tsk, that's too weak." Xiao Wangyan sighed while munching on berries.
It must be said that Xihe's imitation was quite accurate; she even picked up Xiao Wangyan's little habit of peeling off the skin before eating the flesh when munching on berries.
"He's just a rogue cultivator; reaching this level is already quite impressive," Ji Mofan remarked.
"Do you know that I was also a rogue cultivator back then?" Xiao Wangyan suddenly became interested and leaned closer, looking like he was waiting for praise.
"My cultivation speed is the same as yours. I went from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment in one year, and entered Mahayana in less than a hundred years."
"And then you stayed in the Mahayana for a thousand years?" Ji Mo Fan tilted his head and looked him over.
"There's no such thing as ascension for demonic cultivators," Xiao Wangyan said. "I'm already the most demonic of demonic cultivators, okay?"
Ji Mofan narrowed his eyes, "Then why did the Demon Lord choose the path of demonic cultivation in the first place?"
"I have no interest in ascension," Xiao Wangyan said. "What's the point of being an immortal? It's much more comfortable to reach the pinnacle in this small world."
“Lying,” Ji Mofan said. “If that’s your mindset, you couldn’t have reached Mahayana in less than a hundred years.”
Xiao Wangyan popped a berry into his mouth.
He didn't even spit out the pit; he swallowed it whole.
"Why can't you be a little easier to fool?" He reached out to ruffle Ji Mofan's hair.
But Ji Mofan dodged it, saying, "Because you created this little figure."
Just kidding, he's twenty, not two. It's one thing to be treated like a kid in private, but now in front of so many people, he's not completely without pride, is he?
"Okay then." Xiao Wangyan mumbled a reply and ate another berry. "If you want to hear a story, I'll tell you slowly when we get back."
Ji Mofan did not pursue the matter further.
He turned his gaze back to the eight arenas in the center.
In the short time it took them to chat, almost half of the disciples had already been eliminated.
The gap in strength between independent cultivators is huge, and this one-sided situation occurs in almost every competition.
Ji Mofan's gaze, however, fell upon a rogue cultivator who fought with considerable ferocity.
Not to mention him, quite a few people present noticed this cultivator dressed in a black outfit.
There wasn't any particular reason; it was simply because his strength was just too outstanding.
Not to mention among the rogue cultivators, even among all the Nascent Soul cultivators in the entire competition area, they are extremely rare.
But this person just happens to be in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
He was also a strange cultivator who used a pill-making cauldron as a weapon.
It's unclear what kind of cultivation path led him to become a rogue cultivator. While others slashed with swords and knives, he didn't care about the type of attack and would just swing his alchemy furnace and smash it.
"This guy is interesting," even Xiao Wangyan remarked.
“I’ve never heard of this person in the cultivation world before,” Ji Mo Fan said, frowning.
Those who can break through to the Nascent Soul stage before the age of thirty must have exceptional talent; they are undoubtedly top-notch.
Especially since he is a rogue cultivator, if given enough resources, who knows how far he could grow.
But why is it that such a person has never uttered a single word?
In the blink of an eye, the bell signaling the end of the match rang throughout the entire stadium.
—The battle royale is over.
Two of the eight arenas failed to meet the requirement of eliminating 90% of the contestants and were completely eliminated. The remaining six arenas, combined, had fewer than 100 contestants remaining.
It's worth noting that the number of independent practitioners who initially signed up was close to two thousand.
Over there, the disciples of the Xiaoling Sect were counting the number of people and distributing passage certificates one by one, while the disciples responsible for cleaning were also busy.
Amidst the bustling crowd, Ji Mofan's gaze suddenly met that of one of them for a fleeting moment.
The rogue cultivator, dressed entirely in black, was completely covered in black except for his eyes. His narrow eyes were like those of a wolf lurking in the dark, his cold gaze piercing through the air like a sharp blade.
Ji Mofan even had a subconscious thought of running away.
He quickly came to his senses, but when he looked back again, the figure in black had already turned his head away to talk to the person next to him.
It was as if that fleeting glance from Ji Mofan was just his illusion.
“It’s not an illusion,” Xiao Wangyan said.
He was still casually munching on berries, but his gaze had turned much colder.
"Be careful when you're in the ring later, he's probably after you."
Ji Mo Fan pondered for a while.
"If my arms or legs break, can't I just take them off and replace them with new ones?" he turned to ask Xiao Wangyan.
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