Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Chapter 536: Competition of the Hundred Sects

"It was an accident, a total accident."

Chu Liang and Wen Yulong stood with their backs straight, looking extremely well behaved as they faced the furious Dong Futu.

With an even darker expression than before, Dong Futu threw the airship aside and glowered at the two unwelcome guests in front of him.

He had been enjoying the breeze as he taught Xu Hongqiu. Then suddenly, this giant object came smashing down on him. No one would be in a good mood after that, especially not the famed Formation Sage—a man who was treated with great respect wherever he went.

Dong Futu looked at Chu Liang and furrowed his brows slightly. "You're... Di Nufeng's disciple?"

"That's right," Chu Liang replied with a smile. "We met here last time."

"I'll let you off. But it's not because I'm not afraid of your teacher. It's because you're sworn brothers with Old Xu," Dong Futu grumbled.

Then he turned his gaze to Wen Yulong.

Chu Liang introduced Wen Yulong to Dong Futu. "Junior Brother Wen is the grandson of the Mount Shu Sect's leader. He was the one who inscribed all the enchanted formations on the airship. Esteemed senior, if you find anything unsatisfactory, feel free to punish him."

Dong Futu felt stifled again.

After a long moment, Dong Futu waved his sleeve and said, "Forget it. I can't be bothered to argue with you two."

He hadn't been hurt anyway, just startled when the airship crashed down on him. What he didn't know was that he had Chu Liang to thank for retracting the powerful enchanted tools from the airship's bow earlier. Otherwise, they would have gotten an unintended test of the destructive power of the airship's third-tier formations against a seventh-realm Eminent One.

Dong Futu swept his gaze over the massive airship. With his high mastery of enchanted formations, a quick glance was enough for him to understand all of the formation inscriptions.

He let out a small gasp of surprise. "You inscribed all of the enchanted formations on this airship?"

Dong Futu looked at Wen Yulong with a slightly doubtful expression.

"Most of them..." Wen Yulong replied. "I've erased almost all of the original formation inscriptions."

"Hmm, that's quite interesting. The formations themselves are quite basic, but the combinations are quite ingenious," Dong Futu remarked, slowly breaking into a smile. "You've got some real talent, kid."

Wen Yulong beamed with joy at receiving Dong Futu's recognition. "Thank you for your praise, esteemed senior."

Seeing that the timing was right, Chu Liang spoke up for Wen Yulong. "Junior Brother Wen is truly gifted, but unfortunately, we don't have any formation specialists at Mount Shu, so Junior Brother Wen has no one to learn from. Esteemed senior, if you see potential in him, perhaps you could offer him some guidance in the future?"

Dong Futu snorted. "Hmph. You sure are quick to seize the moment. You just hit me with that thing, and now you want me to teach him?"

"Esteemed senior, you're such a magnanimous person. Since you said you'd let us off, you naturally wouldn't dwell on what happened earlier," Chu Liang replied with a bow.

"Haha," Dong Futu chuckled and shook his head. Then he turned to Wen Yulong and said, "I'll be in the capital of Yu during the Assembly of Immortal Sects, so you can come find me. I'll teach you some formations that are useful for tool-making... so we can avoid this kind of accident in the future."

Naturally, Dong Futu was excited that he had met a prodigy with the same interest as him. The Formation Sage had many disciples, but they were mostly like Xu Hongqiu and only used enchanted formations to assist them in battle. It was rare to find someone with such exceptional talent and a desire to delve deeply into the art of enchanted formations. Upon meeting this creative genius Wen Yulong, Dong Futu felt inclined to impart his knowledge on enchanted formations to the prodigy.

In any case, Dong Futu was a rogue Eminent One. Since he did not belong to a sect, it was common for him to spread his teachings to disciples in various immortal sects. It wouldn't be an issue for him to teach Wen Yulong.

Dong Futu wasn't exceptionally powerful and lacked a strong sect behind him, but he had a vast network of connections within the immortality cultivation world. If the need ever arose, he could garner assistance from those connections.

Wen Yulong quickly expressed his gratitude. "Thank you so much, esteemed senior!"

Who would've thought that crashing the airship would help him gain a formation master as a mentor?

Seeing that, Chu Liang smiled. Wen Yulong usually spent his time meticulously researching all kinds of crazy and bizarre things, rather than focusing on conventional cultivation. That was why his cultivation level and combat ability hadn't improved much. If he could build a bond with Dong Futu and learn from him, there was no doubt that it would be immensely beneficial for Wen Yulong.

After Dong Futu let the two young men leave, Chu Liang told Wen Yulong, "When the time comes, I'll cover the costs. You should buy some expensive gifts. Don't visit him empty-handed."

"Senior Brother Chu..." Wen Yulong replied, deeply moved. "Seriously. Thank you so much."

"No problem. Once you're successful, I'll just deduct it from your future earnings," Chu Liang said casually.

Wen Yulong uttered, "Oh."

...

A few days passed by. Di Nufeng, Shang Ziliang, Lin Bei, and the rest of the family and friends of the Mount Shu Sect team arrived in the capital of Yu. The second round of the Assembly of Immortal Sects was finally about to begin!

Midway up the Emperor's Mound, spectator stands with canopies had been set up for the officials of the imperial court and members of the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten. Meanwhile, many commoners had brought stools and blankets to watch the event from the foot of the mountain. Some even brought their elders and children over too, forming a sea of people.

The Assembly of Immortal Sects had three rounds, each with entirely different rules. The first round, the Great Selection of the Four Seas, was a simple elimination tournament. The second round, the Competition of the Hundred Sects, was a wild and intense battle inside a hidden realm, where they would fight to kill.

Immortal Jiuyi of the Fog-Hidden Sect would activate the Divine Mirror of the Eight Trigrams, a legendary artifact, and transform the event venue into an illusory realm. The mirror had a mystical power—everything reflected in it could become real inside the illusory hidden realm.

All the participants would be reflected in the mirror and sent into the illusory realm, where they could fight and kill without holding back. Anyone who got killed would not actually die; they would just be eliminated from the illusory realm. Their soul would suffer some minor damage, but that was about it.

They would not leave a corpse behind in the illusory realm. Instead, there would be a drop—a soul crystal.

The Competition of the Hundred Sects would last for seven days, with two possible outcomes for the end.

The first outcome was that the competition would end early if the number of teams had reduced to ten before the seven days were up. The second outcome was that if more than ten teams remained at the end of the seven days, the top ten teams would be determined based on the number of soul crystals they collected. The ten teams with the highest number of soul crystals would advance to the third round.

Nevertheless, it was rare for the competition to end early. The illusory realm was vast. As long as there were a few teams that were more powerful than the rest, most of the other teams would likely choose to play it safe and hide from them.

In short, they would lie low. This strategy delayed the conclusion of the competition.

However, if most teams were of similar levels in strength and actively sought out prey, the fights would be extremely intense and bloody. That could then lead the competition to an early end.

An extreme case of the first outcome had occurred at an Assembly of Immortal Sects sixty years ago.

At that time, the Mount Shu Sect's team was overwhelmingly strong, with even the second-place team being far weaker than them. Almost all the teams chose to hide. What was meant to be a free-for-all became more like a game of hide-and-seek, with the Mount Shu Sect team as the hunter.

Numerous teams tried to form an alliance to take on the Mount Shu Sect team together. However, their alliance broke on their first encounter with the Mount Shu Sect team. Ultimately, they were left with no choice but to flee in defeat and go back into hiding. Whichever team the Mount Shu Sect team found first would be the first to get eliminated.

By the end of those seven days, many of the cultivators from that generation emerged traumatized. At night, they would often dream of Di Nufeng's sinister laughter and wake up in terror.

After that Assembly of Immortal Sects, the Mount Shu Sect's representative team was always "well taken care of" by the other sects. Otherwise, they probably wouldn't have experienced such miserable results in the four consecutive assemblies that followed.

...

Everything that was reflected in the Divine Mirror of the Eight Trigrams was projected onto a light curtain, allowing spectators to view the competition from Immortal Jiuyi's perspective. They could watch everything that transpired inside the illusory realm.

The spectators were buzzing with anticipation, and excited chatter filled the air at the foot of the Emperor's Mound.

Midway up the Emperor's Mound, Immortal Jiuyi stood up with the watchful eyes of the massive crowds focused on him. He wore flowing white robes with wide sleeves that fluttered in the wind. His long hair flew freely, framing his thin, middle-aged face. He had long, narrow eyebrows and bright eyes, highlighted by the faint glow of divine light shrouding him. There seemed to be an ethereal quality about him.

Among the sect leaders of the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten, he was by far the most popular. It was due to his eccentric and unrestrained personality, which had remained unchanged since his youth.

It was said that as a child, he enjoyed leaping through valleys without clothes on, seeking the ways of ancient deities—a habit that he continued to this day. He also loved music and often volunteered to sing at the performances of South Melody Conservatory students, despite being tone deaf and extremely unpleasant to listen to. He wielded the Divine Mirror of the Eight Trigrams, yet he treated it with far less caution than the other sect leaders did with their treasures.

Immortal Jiuyi would often travel the world, drinking with strangers. When he was in a good mood, he'd let them have some fun in the illusory realm. He was also known to pull pranks—like tugging on the beards of Daoists or tapping on the bald heads of monks. Then when they got angry, he would hide in the Divine Mirror and have a good laugh at them...

Countless stories like these had spread over the past hundred years.

Seeing Immortal Jiuyi stand up, the spectators erupted in excitement, as they knew this meant the illusory realm was about to be opened!

Sure enough, with a wave of his sleeve, a golden, glowing apparition of the Divine Mirror appeared above the Emperor's Mound. As the apparition gradually solidified, the fog swirling within it dissipated, revealing a bird's-eye view of a vast landscape.

In the past, participants in the Competition of the Hundred Sects were randomly sent into the illusory realm. However, the sects realized that luck played too big a role. Those who landed near stronger teams were at a severe disadvantage.

As a result, the rules were changed. Now, the landscape would be revealed first, allowing the teams to see the terrain and choose which area they wanted to land in. Luck would still play a role, but at least the decision of where to land would be their own.

Additionally, the areas reflected in the Divine Mirror were different each year. It could perhaps be a grassland, a mountain range, or even a city. This ensured that no one would be able to prepare for the second round by relying on prior experiences. The teams only had a short time to choose the area they would land in.

On a clearing on the side of the Emperor's Mound, the teams of disciples were ready to go. The representative disciples of the hundred sects sat cross-legged, holding their breath and focusing their minds as they waited to be summoned by the Divine Mirror.

As they gazed at the landscape reflected in the mirror, everyone began to contemplate their choices.

"This map..." Chu Liang stared at the scene before him, feeling a sense of familiarity. "It looks like Misty Waters City near the East Sea."

Xu Ziyang nodded. "Indeed, it's quite a complex area."

To the east of Misty Waters City was the East Sea, and slightly to the north was Black Whale Mountain. Then on the west side, it was a stretch of hills and plains. The map included all these diverse terrains.

Everything reflected in the Divine Mirror of the Eight Trigrams was a true representation of the real world. In this case, it was identical to Misty Waters City, except for the absence of people.

Ling Ao said, "The strong teams will probably choose the city. We'll be in there for seven days after all. It would be more comfortable in the city. The fights will definitely be the fiercest in the city."

"The weaker teams might just choose the sea," Chu Liang joked. "They could spend all seven days soaking in the water."

Jiang Yuebai suggested, "Then we should choose a hill."

There were many hills to the west of Misty Waters City, making that area a relatively neutral and safe option. After all, this Assembly of Immortal Sects was crucial for the Mount Shu Sect. Their top priority was to secure a spot in the top ten. Therefore, everything had to be done with caution.

After deciding on their plan, they waited a moment longer. Then the Divine Mirror emitted hundreds of beams of golden light, enveloping all of the participants.

Whoosh!

A golden scroll slowly unfurled before their eyes.