After the list of the top hundred was posted, the rules of the next stage were also announced.
The upcoming competition was no longer a one-on-one duel on an arena, but was changed to a secret realm adventure.
All disciples who made it into the top hundred would simultaneously enter a pre-arranged secret realm for a time limit of three days.
Spiritual energy markers were scattered throughout the secret realm. Each marker obtained would earn one point.
Defeating disciples of other sects would allow one to seize the markers they already possessed, with the markers going to the victor.
If disciples from the same sect crossed paths, they could choose to cooperate or act separately. Their points would be calculated individually without conflict.
After three days, they would be ranked by their points, and the top thirty would advance to the next round.
Lin Zhiyue stood before the stone wall and read through the rules, running them through her mind.
A secret realm had far more variables than an arena. Terrain, ambushes, cooperation, and skirmishes—each factor had to be considered in advance.
In such an environment, while individual cultivation was certainly a source of confidence, judgment of the situation and adaptability on the spot often decided life and death far more than sheer swordplay.
Tiance Palace had over ten disciples entering the top hundred this time. Although they would be scattered throughout the secret realm, if fellow disciples met along the way, they could at least look out for one another.
On the day of departure, the sky had just brightened.
The entrance to the secret realm was set in a valley outside Wanxian City. The entrance was a translucent screen of light, its surface rippling with pale green light. Anyone who stepped inside would be swallowed up, only to reappear scattered in different locations across the secret realm.
Lin Zhiyue stood in front of the entrance waiting, with Cen Xi'er beside her, and Chu Zhixun and Xiao Yuan standing a few paces away. Jiang Yuezhan remained in the back row. She lowered her head to check the scabbard at her waist and the marker talismans in her sleeve, confirming nothing was missing.
Looking up at the light barrier, she stepped inside just as the first ray of sunlight hit the edge of the valley.
The sound of the light barrier closing behind her was very soft, like water parting and then closing back up.
When Lin Zhiyue opened her eyes, she was already standing in an unfamiliar forest.
The canopy overhead blocked out most of the sky, with only a few rays of daylight filtering through the gaps in the leaves, casting swaying patches of light on the ground.
She glanced down at the empty marker bag in her sleeve, then looked around—there was only the sound of wind rustling through the leaves and the faint murmur of running water in the distance.
Choosing a direction, she headed toward the sound of water. There were a total of one hundred markers scattered throughout the secret realm.
She needed to collect as many of them as possible within three days, while avoiding unnecessary entanglements or, when necessary, ending fights quickly.
Her footsteps made soft, rustling sounds on the fallen leaves, sounding exceptionally clear in the quiet forest.
...
The light inside the secret realm was much dimmer than outside. The dense, overlapping canopy overhead blocked out most of the light.
Lin Zhiyue searched for half an hour but still came up empty-handed, so she stopped forcing it.
She came to a halt on a relatively flat clearing. After confirming no one was around, she willed a change and put on the Jinyao Fairy outfit.
The moon-white long dress was not particularly conspicuous in the forest. The gold-threaded phoenixes on the hem shimmered faintly in the dim light, looking like ripples of water steeped in moonlight.
Out of habit, she used her spiritual energy to check if its circulation throughout her body was smooth, then walked toward the sound of the water.
The stream appeared before her after she passed through a patch of low shrubs. The water was shallow and clear, with pebbles lining the bottom.
She followed the stream downstream for a while and found a marker talisman on a shallow bank in a backwater bend.
The surface of the talisman gleamed with a pale green luster in the daylight. It was slightly smaller than her palm, its edges smooth and warm, as if it had been washed by water for a long time.
She tucked it into the marker bag in her sleeve, continued downstream a bit further, and found a second one in the hollow of an old willow tree where the stream bent.
Within an hour, she found the third and fourth markers, distributed in different locations on both sides of the stream.
Some were hidden in rocky crevices, some hung from the branches of shrubs near the water, and another was half-buried in the gravel of the shallow bank, as if washed ashore and stranded by the current.
She put each one into her bag as soon as she found it, her movements swift and clean, without lingering at any spot.
Around noon, she encountered two disciples who looked like rogue cultivators in an open clearing in the forest. Seeing the Tiance Palace emblem pinned to her clothes and her empty hands—as she had tucked the marker talismans into her sleeve out of sight—the two hesitated briefly. They did not approach and instead turned in another direction to leave.
Lin Zhiyue did not give chase, nor did she change her pace.
She found three more before dark. Counting her daytime gains, a total of seven marker talismans were neatly stacked inside the marker bag in her sleeve.
She found a sheltered rock wall to sit against, took out some dry rations and water from her storage bag, and after a simple meal, leaned against the wall to rest with her eyes closed.
On the stone wall outside the secret realm, the rankings were being updated in real-time.
Wanxian City used a massive spiritual light water mirror to track the changes in each disciple's points in real-time. The names of all those who entered the top hundred scrolled and refreshed on it. By evening of the first day, Lin Zhiyue's name had already leaped from the middle of the list to the very top, followed by a bright red number: seven.
Many people in the spectator stands looked up at the name and whispered among themselves, wondering how this person could be so lucky. To find seven markers on her first day in the secret realm, while others had run around all day and were still hovering between three and five.
Lin Zhiyue's position at rank one remained lit throughout the night, with the closest of the names following behind her showing six.
Leaning against the rock wall with her eyes closed, Lin Zhiyue had no idea what was happening outside the secret realm.
She tightened the marker bag at her cuff, and after confirming nothing was missing, adjusted to a more comfortable position. Placing the Azure Scale Sword within arm's reach, her breathing gradually stabilized.
The night wind blew over the top of the rock wall, rustling the leaves of the canopy into a fine patter, like a thin curtain swaying back and forth in the darkness.
On the spectator stands outside the secret realm, someone looked up at the name at the top of the list again. The ranking was the same as before, with no one having surpassed her yet.
The next morning, just as the sky showed a sliver of gray, a voice echoed over the secret realm. It was so clear it sounded as if someone were whispering directly into everyone's ears, announcing, “The highest point-scorer from yesterday is Lin Zhiyue of Tiance Palace, with seven markers.”
Lin Zhiyue was crouching by the stream, scooping up water to wash her face, when she paused upon hearing these words. She stood up straight, water droplets dripping from her chin onto her collar.
She couldn't help but curse in her mind. Just yesterday she was feeling glad she was hidden in the dark without being targeted. Today, the announcement was made, which was as good as pushing her directly into the eye of the storm.
Wasn't this just begging people to intercept her? This tournament format was way too sinister.
Rate on N.U.
