Floating Immortal Order

If Xu Disheng wanted to break through to the peak Sea of Qi stage, half a month wasn’t enough time. He looked at the medicinal pills in the storage pouch by his side. They were pretty much all from Chen Xingzhou and his attendants, and there weren’t that many.

But even though it wasn’t that much, it was enough for the days left until the tournament. If he continued to simultaneously take medicinal pills and refine the profound qi in his Sea of Qi until the tournament, he would be able to have a stronger foundation.

The effectiveness of medicinal pills at the Sea of Qi stage was far less compared to when one was at the Cleansed Meridians stage. If one took a Qi Gathering Pill at the Cleansed Meridians stage, it would allow one to speed up the rate at which one could condense their Sea of Qi, making for very noticeable gains. But after reaching the Sea of Qi stage, taking Spirit Gathering Pills and Qi Gathering Pills would only have the effect of further purifying one’s Sea of Qi. At best, it could somewhat shorten the length of time that would normally be spent slowly working away at it.

Only the Qi Boosting Pill, which cost 80 spirit stones, could have a very noticeable effect at the Sea of Qi stage. Frequently using Qi Boosting Pills could actually help a bit with breaking through to the Dao Foundation stage.

Naturally, it was only a little bit. Breaking through to the Dao Foundation stage still largely depended on factors like one’s own destiny, powers of comprehension, and aptitude. Only the extremely rare Foundation Establishing Pill could raise the chances of breaking through to the Dao Foundation stage by 10%.

When Xu Disheng was at the marketplace earlier, he didn’t happen across any places where they were trading medicinal pills. In all likelihood, the Sacred Sect had banned the trading of pills in the marketplaces due to the massively lucrative nature of the business.

On the other hand, talismans, puppets, curse spells, and other unorthodox items were very well received products in those vendor stalls. After all, these things were considered external strength, and could be used to raise one’s combat strength in a short amount of time. With the tournament fast approaching, the sales of these unorthodox items were seeing an abnormal surge.

The key jade slip vibrated. It was Bai Zhehua, who had replied after receiving his message.

“Junior Martial Brother Xu, don’t go yet. Come to my courtyard first to talk.”

Xu Disheng pondered for a while, then got to his feet. He walked out of his palace room, activating the key jade slip to restore the light barrier. Following the wide stone steps on the mountain, he began to walk directly to the summit of Morning Dew Peak.

There were several hundred courtyards on Morning Dew Peak, split into several large districts. The location on the map that Bai Zhehua had sent over was in a district right at the summit.

As he lightly ascended the steps, he started to notice the fragrance of spirit fruits in the air. As it turned out, the closer he got to the summit of the mountain, the more common spirit fruits and spirit grass began to appear on both sides of the stone steps.

From time to time, he could see some small spirit beasts which he didn’t know the name of frolicking around among the flowers and plants. He didn’t know if they were someone’s pet or something with how relaxed they seemed.

Xu Disheng arrived at the courtyard that Bai Zhehua indicated in the jade slip. This place was already really close to the summit. The spiritual energy in the air was rich and it was quiet and pleasant. It was truly a great place to cultivate.

He silently activated the key jade slip, then waited outside of the courtyard.

After a while, a hole melted in the light barrier around the courtyard, and Bai Zhehua’s voice was projected over. “Come in, Junior Martial Brother Xu.”

The youth appeared to be glowing with health and vigor. A cordial smile was on the youth’s handsome, bright face as he said, “Junior Martial Brother Xu, this time you really forced me to have a whole new level of respect for you.”

Xu Disheng sat down, raising a brow at his words. “I’m not deserving of such praise.”

Bai Zhehua shook his head and said, “I originally thought that you guys wouldn’t go on a sect mission right away, so I didn’t bother to warn you all. I really didn’t think that Xi Jingshan and Li Dan would take you with them on a small-scale mission the moment I stepped foot out of Morning Dew Peak.” He picked up a cup of spirit tea and took a sip before saying, “Go ahead and have some tea, Junior Martial Brother Xu. Although this tea isn’t that expensive, it was still grown by my own hand. This cup is probably worth about 2 spirit stones.”

Xu Disheng looked at the spirit tea on the table, which had been prepared beforehand, then picked up the teacup.

“Chen Xingzhou’s reputation was terrible. Every one or two months, he would accept this kind of mission and intentionally swindle disciples who had just joined the Peak into going with him by offering them spirit stones. Then, while on the mission, he would use them as cannon fodder. But what was surprising to me was that you actually…” Bai Zhehua drained his cup of tea and fixed his gaze on Xu Disheng.

Clearly, Bai Zhehua already knew the outcome of this small-scale mission.

Xu Disheng lifted his gaze and said, “It’s just a shame that Senior Martial Brother Xi died on the mission.”

Bai Zhehua smiled slightly and shook his head, fiddling around with an exquisite jade pendant in his hands. “In the message jade slip, you said that you wanted to participate in this time’s Inner Disciple Tournament? You do know that usually, only peak Sea of Qi stage disciples participate in that tournament, right?”

Xu Disheng nodded and replied, “If I don’t attend this time, the next one will be 50 years later. I’m not willing to wait.”

Bai Zhehua tossed over the jade pendant in his hands and said, “This is the Muddy Heart Jade, which is the reward from the sect for breaking through to the Sea of Qi stage. Although it isn’t a Spirit Tool, it still has the effect of calming the heart and mind.

Receiving the Muddy Heart Jade, Xu Disheng already knew that the item was pretty good. Despite being a reward given by the sect, it was a thoughtful gift that even had a bit of a protective effect.

Back at the Floating Moon Valley, that Muddy Heart Jade pendant helped him to block the power of the wolf demon’s palm strike before breaking. That momentary defensive power was already comparable to an ordinary defensive Spirit Tool.

But now, Xu Disheng had the high-grade Spirit Tool, the Severing Spirit Seal, in his storage pouch. In his sea of consciousness, he had the Magic Treasure, the Glorious Sun Bow, and he was wearing a Soul Vessel, the Suppressing Soul Vestment. Thus, receiving the Muddy Heart Jade now didn’t mean much to him anymore.

Touching the familiar pattern on the Muddy Heart Jade, Xu Disheng asked, “Are you not going to participate in this time’s tournament, Senior Martial Brother Bai?”

Bai Zhehua shook his head. “I’m only at the early Sea of Qi stage. Even though I have several Spirit Tools from my father, my profound qi cultivation can’t compare to those at the peak Sea of Qi stage, who have several decades more cultivation under their belt. Plus,” he said, gesturing towards the outside of the courtyard at the numerous Peaks of Mingxin Mountain, “The top 100 of the inner disciples have to participate in the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament, where there are even more peak Sea of Qi stage disciples. There are even geniuses half a step to the Dao Foundation stage, forcefully suppressing their breakthroughs so they can compete for a ranking on behalf of the Mingxin Mountain Range in the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament.”

Xu Disheng asked, “Why is the ranking in the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament important?”

Bai Zhehua nodded at the question and replied, “The ranking in the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament is used as a reference when distributing resources among the Eight Mountains. Although the Sacred Sect occupies a land of treasures in the Shan Mountain Territory, where there are countless resources and spiritual items, there are too many disciples belonging to each of the Eight Mountains. When dividing up the resources, there will always be some bias involved.”

“And through the Sea of Qi division and Dao Foundation division of the tournament, it’s possible to exactly figure out the amount of potential and talent in each Mountain Range. Therefore, those that earn a higher rank in the tournament are able to gain an advantage in the allocation of distributed resources for the next 50 years,” Bai Zhehua explained.

“So you should be aware just how many people’s vested interests are involved here, right? Not to mention the grand, untouchable Mountain Lords, the Peak Masters, Elders, Deacons, and countless other people all have their own interests at stake in this tournament,” Bai Zhehua continued.

“With my early Sea of Qi stage cultivation, it wouldn’t matter even if I didn’t go. Mingxin Mountain has several tens of thousands of Sea of Qi stage disciples, and over ten thousand peak Sea of Qi stage disciples, so earning a rank is far too difficult. If I could make it into the top 1000, I could be rewarded 100 spirit stones, but such a small sum of spirit stones doesn’t mean much to me.” Bai Zhehua finished speaking and pulled out a jade slip, handing it to Xu Disheng. Written within the jade slip was a detailed account of the rules of this time’s Internal Disciple Tournament.

Xu Disheng had never seen such a detailed jade slip on the matter. He frowned slightly and took the jade slip, looking within.

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