Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 62: Half a Year

Chapter 62: Half a Year

Ma Zhenghao had a Rank 6 Spiritual Root, and his results in the examination were quite good. He endured past the white humanoid figure’s attack period when its barrier was still up, and passed the examination in just 30 minutes. However, his demeanor made him seem rather slow and dimwitted. Sitting there on the surface of the giant sword, he raised his head and asked, “Senior Martial Brother Bai, don’t the sect rules state that we aren’t permitted to kill each other? Even if we do end up provoking them, what can they do to us?”

Bai Zhehua glared at him out of the corner of his eye, looking as if he somewhat regretted bringing an idiot over to his side. He replied, “If another person really wanted you to die, there would be more ways available to them than you could even count. Even the sect’s image jade slips could be counterfeited by a Dao Foundation stage powerhouse if they had the means to do so. After you all enter the Mountain Peak, you must be careful above all else.”

After that, it seemed like he wasn’t willing to say more. He just stood there at the tip of the giant sword with his hands behind his back, looking off into the boundless expanse of mist and clouds.

Xu Disheng didn’t want to waste even the short time that their trip would take. He sat down cross-legged and pulled out two spirit stones, then closed his eyes and began to cultivate.

Seeing this luxurious display of cultivating with two spirit stones at once, the other people were flabbergasted.

Xu Disheng completely disregarded the others’ gazes. There was only half a year remaining until the Grand Inner Disciple Tournament, and he had only just broken through to the Sea of Qi stage. The only Spirit Tool he had was his Daoist Robe, which he had also refined into a Soul Vessel.

It was all too obvious that out of the tens of thousands of Sea of Qi stage disciples in the Mingxin Mountain Range, those that truly had confidence in attending the Grand Inner Disciple Tournament were those elite disciples who were at the peak of the Sea of Qi stage. To say nothing of ordinary Spirit Tools, there would probably be plenty of people with high-grade Spirit Tools attending the tournament.

There might even be people with low-grade Magic Treasures! Once someone had a Magic Treasure, they would be completely unparalleled among those at the Sea of Qi stage, completely crushing everyone in their path. If one wanted to enter the top 100 in the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament, how would one be able to suppress those who possessed high-grade Spirit Tools or even Magic Treasures?

Just what qualities were being compared among the competitors in the Grand Inner Disciple Tournament? An overwhelming majority of disciples had ordinary aptitudes. Even if they joined a Mountain Peak, they would only earn a few dozen spirit stones within a year, they might be able to save up a bunch of spirit stones over the years to buy a Spirit Tool, and that would already be considered quite good. By what means could an ordinary disciple with ordinary, badly damaged cultivation methods and ordinary Spirit Tools go up against those with high-grade Spirit Tools and powerful, complete cultivation methods? Despite their best efforts, they might still be felled by the casual swipe of a sword and face defeat.

Therefore, these tournaments were comparing none other than destiny, resources, aptitude, comprehension, and fortune!

The combination of these basic qualities determined a disciple’s fundamental combat strength. With a strong destiny, it would be possible to obtain treasures and cultivation methods that others might never be able to chance upon, causing their combat strength to grow explosively.

It went without saying that with enough resources, anyone could use weapons and equipment as their fangs. With plenty of spiritual medicine and several Spirit Tools in hand, they could crush anyone in their path.

Aptitude and comprehension were equally important. There would definitely be people willing to sponsor and support proud geniuses, so they would never be lacking for Spirit Tools, cultivation methods, or spiritual medicines.

The most abstract of these was fortune. There was once a rumor of a Spirit Master, who was originally a mediocre disciple with ordinary aptitude and comprehension, as insignificant as a speck of dust. But by possessing exceptional luck, he ascended to lofty heights. After reaching the Sea of Qi stage, his potential erupted. He escaped from certain death on numerous occasions and got his hands on some ancient inheritances, which allowed him to quickly break through multiple cultivation realms in succession. After reaching that lofty cultivation realm past the Dao Foundation stage, he obtained the title of Spirit Master, granting him great authority and power.

After all, this was the Human Realm. With how vast and endless it was, no matter what happened, it wouldn’t be entirely out of the question. In the next moment, maybe an inheritance might even appear right next to you. A masterless Magic Treasure could even drop from the sky and recognize you as its master. These kinds of occurrences weren’t without precedent.

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Thus, it was all up to how much Xu Disheng could raise his combat strength in the next half a year. He wanted to improve his strength however much he could in this time, so he didn’t want to slack off for even a minute.

Ma Zhenghao noticed the change in atmosphere between the people present. He was aware that he misspoke earlier, and he was now sitting silently next to the purple barrier of light. It wasn’t clear what he was thinking about.

The speed of the giant purple sword gradually slowed, landing upon a Mountain Peak that was roughly 1,300 meters high.

Bai Zhehua waved his hand, releasing the barrier around the giant sword. He stepped onto the solid ground of the Mountain Peak and said, “We’ve arrived at Morning Dew Peak, Junior Martial Brothers.”

There were several hundred smaller palace buildings, which were sectioned off into several large, luxurious courtyards. Just now, they had landed in one of these large courtyards.

The group stepped off of the giant sword. Bai Zhehua explained, “We will first go to the Errands Office of Morning Dew Peak to trade in your jade identity tablets and pick up your cultivation resources. I’ll also have some people arrange palace rooms for you all.”

Bai Zhehua was clearly very familiar with this place, probably because he had grown up here on Morning Dew Peak with his father. Then, he was sent to the Outer Region of Mingxin Mountain to go through with the sect’s normal procedure for disciples. Now that he was returning to Morning Dew Peak, his behavior was exceedingly composed.

Xu Disheng and the others were still using their jade identity tablets from when they were disciples belonging to the Outer Region of Mingxin Mountain. Now that they had joined a Mountain Peak, they naturally couldn’t continue using them. But even though they were swapping them for the jade identity tablet of Morning Dew Peak, their details and records since coming to the sect would be untouched, remaining safely stored within.

After hearing what Bai Zhehua said on the giant sword, even the clever, witty Li Dan was quiet.

The group followed Bai Zhehua to get their jade identity tablets replaced, and each of them received 4 spirit stones. When they came out of the hall, Bai Zhehua saw that the atmosphere was a bit gloomy. He smiled and said, “After this, you all can come here and pick up 4 spirit stones every month. But if you want to accept any missions or buy Spirit Tools and such, you’ll still have to go to Mountain Affairs Peak.” He paused in thought and glanced over at Xu Disheng before continuing, “If your performance in the Peak is exceptional, my father might even bestow to you a precious Spirit Tool.”

He didn’t really specify what exactly constituted an ‘exceptional performance’. But out of this group of people, the only person Bai Zhehua looked highly upon was Xu Disheng, and this statement was clearly directed towards him.

Xu Disheng said, “Senior Martial Brother Bai, are we allowed to accept a sect mission at any time? Is there a limit on the frequency?”

Bai Zhehua was surprised, but he still nodded his head and replied, “There’s no limit on the frequency, so you can go to Mountain Affairs Peak whenever you want to accept a mission. But most people wait until the last two months of the year, when their preparations are adequate, before going on sect missions.”

Li Dan, Ma Zhenghao and the others had never done a sect mission before, and they had long heard about how dreadful they were. But upon hearing Xu Disheng go out of his way to ask about them, their gazes towards Xu Disheng filled with either astonishment or disdain.

Xu Disheng silently nodded, not inquiring any further.

There was only half a year until the tournament, so Xu Disheng was feeling a bit pressed for time. This tournament only occurred once every 50 years in the Sacred Sect, so he didn’t want to miss it. He also wanted to contend for the top 100 spots!

But with his current strength, the gap in Spirit Tools and cultivation methods between him and even an ordinary disciple might still be too big. Even if he was at the peak of the Sea of Qi stage, he still wouldn’t have full insurance that he’d be able to deal with them the way things currently were.

However, this was a materialistic world. Spirit Tools, especially those with Seals on them, along with powerful cultivation methods, could be used to close the gap in combat strength.

Xu Disheng looked down at the newly replaced jade identity tablet in his hands. Carved upon it were just a few words: Morning Dew Peak, Xu Disheng.

His long eyelashes trembled slightly, and he inadvertently became aware of the long black hair hanging down from both sides of his vision. Before he knew it, he was already 17 years old.

The youth’s shapely eyes slowly closed, concealing his mood within. He turned around to face the hazy expanse of fog and mist outside of Morning Dew Peak. At that very moment, sunlight began to peek over the horizon. The effulgence of the three massive suns cast a radiant brilliance upon the layer of clouds, basking the land in a beautiful golden glow.

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