38. The Pride of Heaven (Part Ten)
◎“If the Tranquil Mind Sword is used as a wager, this disciple bets…Ran Qinghe.”◎
Mingyu stared wide-eyed in disbelief. When had he offended her?
Furthermore, she clearly called him junior brother before, so why did she change to fellow Daoist? Could it be that she thinks he still won't make it into the selection this time?
Just as he was about to leave in anger, the distant bells were once again resounded by powerful spiritual energy, emitting rapid tolling sounds, and Lou Tinglan's voice rang out at the opportune moment.
"You all have only a quarter of an hour left, so please make your decision as soon as possible."
Whether it was his imagination or not, Lou Tinglan's gaze seemed to fall upon him for a moment, as if offering a silent dissuasion.
With the little time left, Ran Qinghe quickly pondered the intention behind this rule.
Yunya Academy's selection process has always been unpredictable. If it wanted to select disciples with high levels of skill through this rule, wouldn't it be cheaper to just hold a martial arts test? Why bother with this grand selection process?
Looking around, she saw that the teams that had already been formed were all cultivators at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core Realm or even the Nascent Soul Realm, while the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators could only huddle together for warmth.
That makes sense, since the rule is that if one member of the team is eliminated, the entire team will lose their eligibility for selection.
She hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "That's fine too, Junior Brother Ming." Although Ming Yu had only just passed the Golden Core stage, he had participated in the academy selections many times. Although he failed every time, this experience of failure might have an unexpected effect on the whole team.
Mingyu's dejected face lit up again, and she excitedly waved her folding fan rapidly. "Junior Sister Ran really has a good eye. If we join forces, winning the selection will be as easy as taking candy from a baby."
But Ran Qinghe had no time for jokes; there were only two candidates left, and they needed to be decided as soon as possible.
Do you have any other suitable candidates?
Hua Jin stroked the cat's head and said slowly, "Fei Feng has no other choice but me."
Ran Qinghe: ...
Her gaze then fell on Mingyu, who also said, "There aren't many Qingxiao disciples participating in the selection to begin with, plus all the fellow disciples. Those who are at the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stage are paired up with their fellow disciples, and the rest are those below the Golden Core stage."
Indeed, adding a Foundation Establishment cultivator to the team is a gamble in itself.
But what she likes most is placing bets.
"In that case, I'll invite two more people. You shouldn't have any objections, right?"
She observed that in the south corner of the square, a Buddhist Hand Sect cultivator dressed in a dark yellow disciple's robe stood in the same spot for a long time. Judging from his cultivation level, he was at least at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, which was why he had been able to invite people to him several times. However, the invited cultivators all shook their heads and returned disappointed.
The reason was simple: although the Buddha Hand Sect cultivator was at the Nascent Soul stage, he insisted on bringing along the female cultivator beside him before he would agree to form a team.
The female cultivator, though dressed in a white robe with crane patterns, should be a cultivator from the Baixu Sect, which is a medical sect, but she was pale and had gray lips, and her body was weak, as if she would scatter if blown away by the wind.
Even if other cultivators wanted a Nascent Soul stage cultivator to join their team, they would hesitate upon seeing the female cultivator beside him. To them, having a "burden" was clearly more fatal than having an ally.
This male cultivator from the Buddha Hand Sect seemed to accept that he would be eliminated during the team formation phase. He simply stood calmly in a corner, raised his hand to create a spiritual energy barrier, and shielded the female cultivator beside him from the cold wind that swept through the mountain.
Ran Qinghe stepped forward and said, "Ran Qinghe, a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stage, how about we team up?"
Upon hearing this, the four people present were all stunned.
Hua Jin and Ming Yu were both affected by the Nascent Soul stage cultivator she mentioned. Ming Yu's reaction was noticeably more exaggerated than Hua Jin's; her mouth remained open for a long time.
He didn't think much of it, but secretly thought to himself: So it's so easy to break through to the late stage of Golden Core. Then he felt smug. It seems that although he is only at the early stage of Golden Core, he is very close to breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.
Hua Jin glanced at Ran Qinghe a few more times, then lowered his head knowingly, scratched the head of the little white dumpling in his arms, and smiled.
The Buddha Hand Sect cultivator who was invited by her quickly composed himself and continued as if he had refused others earlier: "My sister and I will not be separated. If I join the team, my sister must come with me."
The female cultivator he called his sister looked displeased and said, "Ugh, aren't you annoying? We don't have much time left, and you're just keeping me here, affecting my ability to team up with others, you know that?"
But the male practitioner of the Buddha's Hand Sect still held his sister's hand and refused to let go.
Ran Qinghe slightly curled the corners of her lips and said crisply, "Of course," she extended her hand to the female cultivator beside him, "I am also extending an invitation to your sister."
"Would you two be willing?"
He continued, "My sister has only just reached the Foundation Establishment stage," his tone still carrying a hint of reminder.
The female cultivator shoved his hand away and grasped Ran Qinghe's hand instead, a hint of surprise still lingering in her eyes. "I'm willing."
“My name is Shui Rong’er, and his name is Fu Ji.”
Just as the five-person team was successfully formed, the final bell rang, signaling the end of the team formation phase.
On the plaza, the lone cultivators left with regret, for no one could have predicted that Yunya Academy would unexpectedly launch the selection process in a team format.
The five teams gathered in clusters, and there were still more than fifty teams left in the center of the square. Although most of them were strong alliances, there were also some Foundation Establishment cultivators who were alone and barely managed to form a team.
The three elders had already taken their seats in mid-air at some point. Lou Guan produced a teapot-shaped magical artifact and continued:
"This is the Void Cauldron used for this academy selection."
The Void Cauldron was originally a spiritual artifact crafted by the Buddha Hand Sect's leader, Bukong. The cauldron was made up of countless abandoned ruins pieced together. Because the ruins were pieced together haphazardly, cracks inevitably appeared between them.
This magical artifact was abandoned by the sect leader Bukong, but for some reason it was taken into the Yunya Academy and used as a selection ground.
Not to mention that the ruins themselves are fraught with danger, if one were to fall into a crevice by accident, there would be no trace of their remains.
Now that Lou Guan has brought out the Void Cauldron, the theme of this selection is obvious: a martial arts battle among the cultivators.
"As for the rules... Tinglan, you can decide."
Lou Tinglan pressed his palm and turned the wooden box. The golden characters that had been floating out of the box suddenly disappeared, replaced by bright red characters as vivid as blood.
"The rules of the Void Cauldron Selection Tournament are as follows: the fifty-two teams participating in this competition will be randomly placed in various locations within the Void Cauldron, with a three-day time limit. After three days, the only remaining team will be the winner of this selection."
Seemingly to prevent cultivators from taking advantage of loopholes, the words "the only one" in red were enlarged by a full two times, reminding all cultivators that only by eliminating all the other fifty-one teams could they qualify for admission to Yunya Academy.
"Each team will be given one and only one jade ring. Crushing the jade ring will allow them to leave the Void Cauldron directly."
"Similarly, crushing the jade rings of other teams will eliminate them."
After hearing the rules, Lou Guan frowned and said, "Didn't they say that Yunya Academy's selection this year would be fine as long as it was done in a conventional way? So, who made these rules?"
She remembered that she had clearly only proposed that the selection should take place in the Void Cauldron, with a deadline of three days.
Lou Zhen argued, "When I made the rules, I only wrote that crushing the jade ring would be considered an elimination."
Lou Li also said, "I only wrote that one team was selected from the fifty-two teams. It was probably organized by the Box Spirit itself."
The three people: ...
The wooden box was originally just for storing ordinary items, but it gained sentience after being nourished by the spiritual energy of the Discipline Hall, so they used it to formulate assessment rules.
The red characters remained suspended in mid-air for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea before finally dissipating.
At the same time, the wooden box was opened wide, revealing fifty-two spirit rings neatly arranged inside. Lou Tinglan distributed the spirit rings in order, with most of the cultivators lining up far behind, hoping to delay for as long as possible, fearing that the earlier they entered, the sooner they would be eliminated.
At the very front of the line were five Nascent Soul stage cultivators from Qingxiao. They had failed to be selected as elders of Qingxiao, so they came to Yunya Academy to try their luck.
Unexpectedly, the academy selection process was suddenly changed to a team format. Looking at the teams behind them, there wasn't a single one who was entirely at the Nascent Soul stage. The five of them were determined to win this assessment.
The three elders sat solemnly on the high platform, their expressions serious, but in reality, they were discussing something in earnest:
"So, will you continue betting this year, just like in previous years?"
Lou Lidao said, "I'm betting five hundred years' worth of Hibiscus Dew."
Lou Zhen followed closely behind: "I'll bet ten jars of 'Thousand Years of Intoxication'."
Although Hibiscus Dew is only used by cultivators to refine their spiritual energy, it is a quantity that lasts for five hundred years, making it truly precious. As for Thousand Year Intoxication, it goes without saying that, given that the history of the cultivation world is only a little over a thousand years old, this Thousand Year Intoxication is even more rare.
Seeing that the last team had also entered the void cauldron, Lou Tinglan came up to return the wooden box. He bowed and presented the wooden box.
Lou Guan suddenly suggested, "Tinglan, your two senior uncles and I happen to be placing bets on the winner of this assessment. Why don't you join us, Tinglan?"
Lou Tinglan glanced at the two items in front of her and immediately understood that they must be the two senior uncles' way of currying favor with Elder Lou Guan. Even if she lost her bet, the two elders would still hand over the bet with both hands.
"This disciple does not know, which team are the elders betting on?"
Lou Zhen said, "I bet on Qingxiao's five Nascent Soul cultivators."
Although the ruins are randomly teleported, if you don't have enough strength, you may not be able to hold out until the end.
Lou Li shook his head in disagreement: "In my opinion, it should be the five Golden Core cultivators from all five sects." Ruins and relics are unpredictable, and being able to draw on the strengths of all five sects is clearly a greater advantage.
Lou Guan glanced at Lou Tinglan with a half-smile, then leisurely placed a bet of 100,000 high-grade spirit stones.
"I'm already overwhelmed by all the information, so I'll just agree with Tinglan. Tinglan, what do you think?"
The three elders present all turned their gazes to him, seemingly urging him to place his bet in time.
Lou Tinglan, however, avoided the topic, saying, "The three elders' bets are too precious, and I don't have any bets of equal value here, so it's fine for the elders to set up their own betting scheme."
Lou Guan said, "It's alright. If you're unsure what to bet on, just use... the Tranquil Mind Sword as your stake."
"Who do you think is worth risking your Tranquil Mind Sword for?"
She asked the question casually, but it seemed as if she had keenly sensed something.
Lou Tinglan's fingers curled slightly within her sleeve as she met Lou Guan's gaze frankly and said:
“If the Tranquil Mind Sword is used as a wager, this disciple bets…Ran Qinghe.”
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