Anyway, amidst this incredibly lively atmosphere, the preliminaries for the Ascension Gathering finally officially began.
Hua Jian didn’t go to participate immediately. There was no need to fight for a spot on the first day.
She could wait one or two days before going. Off-peak travel — get it?
And this wait allowed her to gather more information. This time, the requirements for the preliminary seemed to have been lowered.
Weaker Cultivators who would have been screened out before were now being granted the qualification to enter the Secret Realm and participate in the battle.
One could imagine that the intensity of the fighting in the Secret Realm would likely not be low.
“Lately, the prices of supplies and Spirit Tools in the city have skyrocketed. Everyone is trying to stock up on things to show off their skills in the Secret Realm.”
Xia Hui handed a price change chart to Hua Jian. This was something Hua Jian had asked her to look into.
She had essentially become Hua Jian’s little secretary. She would help Hua Jian with anything, and she did it perfectly.
Hua Jian was finding her more and more useful. She used to think it was bad for Xia Hui to follow her, but she had pragmatically changed her mind.
Who wouldn’t want such a good partner? Since Xia Hui wanted to follow her, then she would let her. In any case, she wouldn’t treat Xia Hui poorly.
“So detailed… Xia Hui, where did you get this information?” Hua Jian flipped through a couple of pages and immediately showed a suspicious expression.
Such detailed information didn’t seem like something a girl like Xia Hui, who had just arrived in Ascension City, could get her hands on.
Then, Xia Hui gave her a very practical answer: She had bought the information.
There were naturally places in Ascension City that sold various types of intelligence.
Intelligence regarding the price trends of goods was considered the cheapest stuff in the market.
Collecting it didn’t require any skill; one just had to record the numbers every day.
The most expensive items in that market were the secrets of various geniuses.
Recently, the prices for those things had also surged. Xia Hui had originally thought about buying some for Hua Jian, but after seeing the price, she ultimately gave up.
Her financial resources couldn’t support such consumption, and the other method would require her to proactively contact Wanhuagu, which she was unwilling to do behind Hua Jian’s back.
“I see. I was wondering why it was so neat, like it was photocopied.” Hua Jian snorted. Although it was public information, some things could still be analyzed.
First, Ascension City was indeed a free market, so the rise in prices was definitely due to more people buying.
What were they buying for? It couldn’t be to hide the items away as ornaments.
Hua Jian was certain that these high-priced goods would meet her in the upcoming Ascension Gathering.
“All the opponents will be armed to the teeth. It feels like they won’t be that easy to deal with,” Hua Jian muttered.
“I think with your strength, Miss Hua Jian, you don’t need to worry about those ordinary Cultivators.”
“You only know how to flatter me. I have nothing on me right now. My things are all with Linglong.” Hua Jian sighed.
Flipping through her inventory, she only had the items Linglong had given her earlier, her personal Spiritual Garments, and a few frequently used Spirit Tools.
The Alchemy Pills were provided by Linglong, and the stock was sufficient for a few days.
The grade of her Spirit Tools and Spiritual Garment were all at the Ling King Realm or higher, which gave her a significant advantage when fighting Spirit Masters.
However, if she won solely by relying on external items, she certainly wouldn’t get a high score.
Weak Cultivators sought to win, but she sought to win beautifully and with character.
“Speaking of which, Shiqi didn’t believe me and went to stand in line today. I don’t know when she’ll be back…”
Walking to the windowsill, Hua Jian leaned out and looked toward the location where the preliminary was being held. The massive crowd really gave her no desire to squeeze in.
It wasn’t until the sky began to dim that Hua Jian saw Shiqi returning with a Token.
“Luckily I got up early, otherwise I might not have been able to get into the line.” As soon as she returned, Shiqi began complaining to Hua Jian while holding the Token.
The Saint Sect’s efficiency was actually quite high. With so many Cultivators participating on the first day, they had managed to test most of them and give out the Tokens.
It was clear that however busy today was, the next few days would be relatively quiet.
Even if more Cultivators continued to arrive in Ascension City, the numbers wouldn’t be as spectacular as the first day.
“However, the Token contains a rough Map of the Secret Realm. Do you want to take a look together?” Shiqi smiled and asked, dangling the Token on her finger.
There were naturally benefits to getting the Token early. One could get a rough Map of the Secret Realm and prepare before entering.
“Oh? Of course I want to see!”
“Come here. This time, the Secret Realm is a large one the Saint Sect borrowed from the Linglong Pavilion. After a series of modifications, it has become what it is now…”
While Shiqi read the information stored in the Token, she injected Spiritual Power into it, causing the Map to be projected into the air.
The area of the Secret Realm could be said to be quite large, but compared to the number of Cultivators participating, it wasn’t empty.
Generally speaking, the Secret Realm was a huge island with various terrains, allowing Cultivators of all types to find a combat space they liked.
“Wait, what are these blurred-out areas?”
There were several ominous patches of black Magic Mist on the Map, which made Hua Jian think of something not very pleasant.
‘I’ve traveled to another world and the Shielding Zones are still chasing me?’
“I heard they are terrifying areas with powerful life activity. The Map cannot see the details within those areas. Once you enter them, the Token’s functions will be disabled.”
“Tsk, that must have been the idea of those profiteers at Linglong Pavilion.” Hua Jian sighed, pressing her forehead. It really was a Shielding Zone.
She had a feeling that all sorts of little surprises would be waiting for them in these Shielding Zones. And in the end, some serious situation would surely force them into the Shielding Zones for a meat grinder battle…
‘I get it. This is actually a Battle Royale!’
“What’s wrong? Your face looks terrible, Hua Jian.”
“It’s nothing. I just remembered some things that didn’t make me very happy. But thinking about it, it seems right.” Hua Jian shook her head.
She had done too many ordinary Secret Realms and treated them all like loot-scavenging ones.
But this Secret Realm was clearly different. The main focus was on combat. Only through a large amount of combat could the Saint Sect see a Cultivator’s true potential.
And hidden within those Shielding Zones might be the Saint Sect Disciples. Their roles were likely the bosses of the Map, requiring everyone to work together to defeat them.
Winning against them should grant a large number of extra points, possibly even more than defeating other Cultivators.
“Right, the preliminary is in the Inner City, but the assessment is inside the Secret Realm. So what were those Senior Brothers and Sisters in the Inner City preparing before?”
Hua Jian’s question stumped Shiqi. After thinking back on her experience today, Shiqi said she really hadn’t seen those buildings.
The places where those buildings used to be were completely clean, as if nothing had ever existed there.
“Wait… they couldn’t have all been moved into the Secret Realm, right?”
Hua Jian’s wild guess was indeed correct. Those disappearing buildings had indeed been moved into the Secret Realm.
Now, the Secret Realm was filled with Saint Sect Disciples flying around, preparing surprises for their junior brothers and sisters.
Although the work was exhausting, at the thought of the suffering expressions of those little fellows later, these Saint Sect Disciples felt fully motivated.
As the saying goes, other people’s pain is a source of joy. This applied perfectly to Saint Sect Disciples.
They also wanted to see the panicked expressions of their juniors when they encountered these little surprises. It would be very interesting, wouldn’t it?
And among them, some had heavy responsibilities. they were to play the villains in the Secret Realm — the so-called Demonic Cultivators.
“You from the Zhan Tian Sword Path used to be Demonic Cultivators. Come on, act a bit more aggressive.”
A Jian Sect Disciple, wearing a dark red overcoat, was being lectured by several other Saint Sect Disciples. He was an actor. The role he played was a Demonic Cultivator who had sneaked into the Secret Realm and would suddenly go on a rampage, killing the Disciples participating in the assessment.
The Saint Sect’s preparations this time were far more thorough and daring than anyone had imagined.
Since it was a true combat assessment, there had to be a combat atmosphere.
Since the Magic Path never missed an Ascension Gathering, they would use the name of the Magic Path.
One day after the Secret Realm opened, Saint Sect Disciples acting as Demonic Cultivators would appear one after another to hunt down and corner the other Disciples, pushing them toward the center of the Secret Realm.
The Elders of the Saint Sect wanted to see how these juniors would react under such extreme high pressure.
Those being tested were not only the Disciples participating in the Ascension Gathering, but also those Saint Sect Disciples who had been chosen as examiners.
They thought they were examiners testing their juniors, but they were also being tested.
Everything happening here was unknown to them as they underwent selection and training.
Once the Cultivators here finished all their preparations, they would be temporarily sent to another place to stay until the Ascension Gathering began, to prevent any information from leaking.
On the outer boundary of the Secret Realm, several Tiandao Sect Cultivators were standing on a beach holding several large black jars, scratching their heads as they looked at the pattern scrolls in their hands.
“This Magic Path Array Formation is way too complicated. Do we really need to make it this realistic?” a Cultivator muttered to himself after looking over the scroll several times.
If he didn’t know it was just an optical illusion and that the materials in their hands couldn’t actually power the formation, he might have thought the array would actually connect to the Magic Path’s side.
“Stop talking nonsense. Just get the formation ready. If there’s a mistake, watch out for the Senior Brothers reporting us.”
Another Tiandao Sect Cultivator set a jar on the ground and smashed the sealing clay.
A foul stench immediately wafted from the jar. It was so stinking that he quickly held his breath.
“Quick, quick! This is way too smelly. Hurry up.”
Driven by the stench, the Tiandao Sect Cultivators quickly drew the Array Formation.
As the formation gradually took shape, the stench slowly turned into a somewhat pleasant Flower Fragrance.
But at the thought of the previous smell, none of these Cultivators had any intention of appreciating the fragrance; they only wanted to finish the job and leave.
“Final stroke… there, all done. Let’s test the effect of this formation.”
One Tiandao Sect Cultivator completed the final part of the array and signaled for everyone to step back before injecting Spiritual Power into it.
As the power flowed in, the Array Formation began to spew out black air currents, and the entire space seemed to vibrate.
“The effect is pretty good. We can call Senior Brother over for inspection now. Sigh, tell me, what’s the point of the Elders doing all this…”
“You can only see a person’s true character in times of crisis. There are so many geniuses this year, so the Elders probably want to pick the best of the best.”
The Tiandao Sect Cultivator who had contributed greatly to the drawing of the array looked at the formation on the ground and whispered, “I have a feeling something’s not right with this Array Formation.”
If it was just for atmosphere, the atmosphere this formation created was a bit too realistic.
This array was set at the very edge of the Secret Realm. Generally, no one would come here.
Even if someone unlucky wandered in, they wouldn’t be able to send any news out.
If a Cultivator could see through the array and try their best to send word about it, the Saint Sect wouldn’t reject such a person.
If they couldn’t see through it and performed poorly, then being eliminated was only natural.
Logically, the Array Formation here shouldn’t have been set up so realistically.
“What’s wrong? Don’t overthink it. It’s probably just tasks being assigned layer by layer, and it ended up like this by the time it reached us.”
Another Tiandao Sect Disciple patted the former’s shoulder. This kind of thing wasn’t uncommon in their Tiandao Sect.
A single word from above became a mountain for the Cultivators below.
“How long have you been in the Neimen? Take my word for it: that’s just how it is. Whatever schemes there are, they have nothing to do with us.”
“Sigh… let’s have Senior Brother come and check it. We still have several more Array Formations to draw; we don’t have much time.” The worried Tiandao Sect Disciple accepted the explanation.
They had quite a few formations to draw, and each was as complex and realistic as this one.
It was impossible for every single one to have a problem. If that were the case, things would really get interesting.
“Elder Sister, there’s movement over there. The plan can start soon.”
“Good. Have the sisters in the city get ready. This plan concerns our Main Sect’s ten-thousand-year plan. There must be no mistakes.”
A life-sized portrait was placed in a dark room. The barefoot girl in the painting was wearing a colorful dress.
Her black hair was divided into several strands by flowers and hung down her back. Her colorful eyes were so lively that even in the painting, one could see her quirkiness.
A light pink tail gently swept through the air as a pair of beast-like vertical pupils stared intently at the girl in the portrait.
“Hua Jian… I hope your performance won’t disappoint me…”
“Elder Sister Xinhu, the Elder said not to be rude to her.”
“I know. She is our hope, so naturally, I wouldn’t be rude to her. Hehehe…”