Chapter 24 (Part 2)

There was not much description in the book about Fairy Qingli, this vicious female supporting character. In the early stages especially, most of it was glossed over in a single stroke. Later on, after she grew up and successfully formed her core, the number of times she appeared increased. In particular, her contract beast was majestic and awe-inspiring. It was a great demon and fierce beast, Dàfeng!

Song Yuanxi’s back turned cold from the memories. He did not want any of this to be true at all.

“It should be a coincidence. Yuanruo has already reached Foundation Establishment. It’s impossible for him to enter the Tushan Secret Realm, so he won’t run into that Fairy Qingli. Right. It must be like that!”

Song Yuanxi comforted himself, but his heart remained unsettled. The closer the sect competition came, the more panicked he felt.

On the day before the outer sect grand competition, Song Yuanxi could not hold back anymore and still went to find Song Yuanruo.

“What? You said you’re going into the Tushan Secret Realm?” When Song Yuanxi heard his younger brother say this, his face turned pale. “But isn’t the Tushan Secret Realm limited to Qi Condensation disciples?”

“Master will use a secret method to suppress my cultivation for me, allowing me to enter with Qi Condensation Great Perfection cultivation.”

“Yuanruo, do you have to go in? With your cultivation, wouldn’t it be better to train somewhere else? Why waste your time in a Qi Condensation secret realm?”

Song Yuanruo was silent for a moment before he said, “Master says there is an opportunity for me inside the secret realm.”

The last trace of luck in Song Yuanxi’s heart vanished without a trace. He could only reveal a smile uglier than crying.

“Older Brother?”

“Nothing… Then you’ll also be participating in the outer sect grand competition, right?”

Song Yuanruo could not understand why his elder brother had suddenly developed this kind of emotion. He could only nod and say, “Older Brother, don’t worry. I’ll participate in the outer sect grand competition with Qi Condensation Great Perfection cultivation. Nothing will happen.”

“But your spirit root?”

“Master will temporarily change my spirit root attribute for me.”

Song Yuanxi left. After returning to his little courtyard, he sat there stupidly in a daze. Countless images flashed through his mind. There were things from the book he had read before transmigrating into the book, and there was also the daily life he had lived for these past dozen years after transmigrating to another world.

The book’s plot was hazy and abstract. He could not even quite remember what he had looked like in his previous life anymore.

Right now, the people and events he felt most vividly were all in the Canglan Realm. His maternal grandfather, his parents, his brothers, and also the senior brothers, senior sisters, and little friends he had met within the sect…

And when he closed his eyes, the most familiar faces that appeared were Song Yuanruo and Jiang Lanyi.

One was connected to him by blood, their family affection hard to part from; one he respected, loved, and was fond of, treating her like an elder sister.

“Yuanruo is the destined male lead. If Senior Sister Jiang is the vicious female supporting character…”

“No! I can’t let such a good senior sister become a vicious female supporting character!”

Song Yuanxi tossed and turned the entire night. In his heart, he finally made a decision. The next day, he resolutely ran to Redcloud Peak and pestered Daoist Master Yunhua into adding his name to the grand competition list.

“Yuanxi, don’t make trouble.” How would Daoist Master Yunhua dare add this little guy in? A third-level Qi Condensation disciple going in would only be beaten down.

Song Yuanxi did not dare say that he wanted to enter the Tushan Secret Realm and fight for one of the three thousand spots. He only said with a grin, “Daoist Master Yunhua, I am acting according to my master’s teachings. We Body Cultivation practitioners should experience all kinds of tempering. The outer sect grand competition is the best possible place to train. Fellow sect disciples won’t kill one another. Under the premise of protecting my little life, I can accumulate combat experience. Why not do it?”

“Then why didn’t I see you participate in previous years?” Daoist Master Yunhua was not easy to fool.

Song Yuanxi braced himself and continued lying. “I couldn’t spare the time in previous years. My master taught me too much, and I really couldn’t learn it all. Besides, back then I was only at the first level of Qi Condensation. What could I do? Now, at least, I can trade a few moves. My master is in seclusion, and I’m idle anyway.”

Seeing that Daoist Master Yunhua was still hesitating, Song Yuanxi simply raised his hand and declared, “I will definitely, definitely put safety first. I absolutely won’t mess around.”

Only then did Daoist Master Yunhua nod. “Fine. Mind your own limits.”

“With third-level Qi Condensation, he’ll lose after a few rounds at most. There shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Daoist Master Yunhua took this for granted.

The outer sect grand competition began. The sect master appeared and spoke with great enthusiasm, then announced that the top three thousand in the competition could enter the Tushan Secret Realm for the trial. Ignoring how excited and stirred up the Qi Condensation disciples were, once his opening task was complete, he immediately retired after his success and left.

Next, the Golden Core elders presided, while Foundation Establishment disciples arranged the drawing of lots and martial arts stages, along with all the subsequent procedural work.

Song Yuanxi followed the main group, preparing to go to the front and draw lots. He blended into a pile of strangers and had not told anyone that he was participating in the outer sect grand competition.

“Junior Brother Song?” Someone beside him suddenly called out.

Song Yuanxi turned his head and saw an old acquaintance, Du Tianyu. He squeezed out a smile and nodded at him. “Senior Brother Du.”

“Junior Brother Song, how did you end up watching the excitement over here? Didn’t Daoist Master Yunhua reserve a seat for you?” Du Tianyu thought Song Yuanxi had gone the wrong way. He very warmly pulled him along, preparing to send him out of the crowd.

Song Yuanxi refused and unwillingly admitted, “Senior Brother Du, I came over to line up and draw lots.”

“What?”

“I said I came over to draw lots.” Song Yuanxi took a deep breath, and his expression finally calmed. “Senior Brother Du, I’m going to participate in the outer sect grand competition.”

He could not keep hiding inside his turtle shell just because he was afraid of being accidentally injured. That was the behavior of a coward.

Yuanruo respected and loved him as his elder brother. He could not know full well that the other party was in danger and fail to warn him or help him. And there was Senior Sister Jiang too. She had helped him so much over the years. He could not watch helplessly as she encountered danger…

“Even if I guessed wrong, I still have to go.”

He could not afford to gamble, even on a one-in-ten-thousand possibility!

After Song Yuanxi finished drawing lots, he followed Du Tianyu out of the crowd. Soon, he saw familiar people walking toward them. They were Jiang Lanyi and Lu Zihang.

“Junior Brother Song, you’re also here to participate in the outer sect grand competition?” Lu Zihang saw an acquaintance, greeted him, and smiled broadly. He also kindly reminded him, “Junior Brother Song, you have to be careful. The outer sect grand competition has always been brutal. Your cultivation is relatively low, so prepare more self-defense items.”

“He isn’t participating.” Jiang Lanyi shook her head and explained. As she spoke, she pointed toward another road. “Junior Brother Song, the viewing platform is on the other side.”

Jiang Lanyi’s gaze was caring, her eyes honest. When Song Yuanxi met her eyes, he actually felt somewhat guilty.

“Senior—Senior Sister Jiang, I’m going to participate in the outer sect grand competition…”

Song Yuanxi stood together with Lu Zihang. They were assigned to the same round of martial arts stages. As for Jiang Lanyi and Du Tianyu, they were in other martial arts stage rounds.

He was just a little absent-minded. The scene from earlier kept replaying in his mind. Jiang Lanyi had looked at him with a hint of reproach in her eyes and said, “Nonsense.”

When they parted, he felt that her back had been stiff. Senior Sister Jiang seemed to be angry.

“Junior Brother Song, did you and Junior Sister Jiang have a disagreement? I thought your relationship had always been pretty good.”

Lu Zihang rather envied this kind of fellow disciple bond. It was especially pure. Unlike him, aside from having this joy with his silly cousin, he could almost never find such a companion among his fellow disciples.

Over these few years, he had constantly been doing missions, and Lu Zihang could also be considered to have been forced to learn how to read people. It was precisely because he had begun to understand people that his thoughts could no longer remain so simple.

As for Jiang Lanyi, after she entered Redcloud Peak, he had originally thought she would become more calculating. Unexpectedly, when they had recently formed a team and done missions together, she was still the same person she had been back then.

Lu Zihang then looked at the person beside him. So this was the good brother his cousin had mentioned. Birds of a feather really did flock together. He was as simple and adorably naive as his cousin.

“Stop thinking about it. Junior Sister Jiang is magnanimous. She won’t really be angry at you. In a bit, compete properly, then go make up afterward. Won’t that be fine?”

Song Yuanxi nodded. “That’s all I can do. Anyway, I definitely won’t lose.”

“Hah, you brat. Not lacking in ambition, are you? What, are you aiming for the top three thousand?”

Lu Zihang was only joking. Who would have thought Song Yuanxi’s expression would turn serious as he nodded and said, “Mm. I’m going for the ranking, so Senior Brother Lu, we’re also competitors.”

Lu Zihang: “???”

Song Yuanxi said nothing more and turned his head, focusing on the martial arts stage above. At this time, the two disciples currently competing had quite a large cultivation gap. One was at the fourth level of Qi Condensation, and the other was at the seventh level.

Cultivation placed importance on a combination of strength and fortune. Sometimes, fortune was even more important than strength. It was the same when cultivators obtained opportunities.

Thus, the outer sect grand competition would not deliberately set up the matches. All Qi Condensation disciples were mixed together and drew lots at random.

The fourth-level Qi Condensation disciple on the martial arts stage was quickly defeated. The other party won very easily. This was the gap in strength, and the defeated disciple could only sigh that his luck had been bad.

Song Yuanxi watched more than a dozen matches in a row. The more he watched, the tighter his brows furrowed. This kind of competition was far too unfriendly to a low-level cultivator like him.

“I have to think of a way to win on this martial arts stage. Otherwise, I’ll be directly eliminated in the first round.”

Song Yuanxi had originally wanted to first test out the new version of his Yin-Yang Art cultivation method, but at this moment, he immediately changed his mind and began rummaging through his storage bangle. The pills, talismans, artifacts, and arrays his elders had given him before—he took out everything that could be used.

The distance of the Ten-Thousand-Li Teleportation Talisman was too exaggerated. It was unsuitable on the martial arts stage. Discard.

The explosive talisman would work. Discard the ones with too much power. He could not injure a fellow disciple’s life.

A small bewildering array? That was not bad either. If he could not win, he could release a smoke bomb.

Return Origin Pill, replenishing spiritual power instantly for those below Foundation Establishment. He had to prepare plenty.

…

Lu Zihang stood next to Song Yuanxi and personally watched this junior brother take item after item out of his storage bangle. A high-rank defensive spiritual artifact, stacks and stacks of talismans, one bare and unopened array after another—damn it, he even had that many Return Origin Pills!

At first, Lu Zihang was extremely envious. Then his gaze gradually grew unfocused. In the end, only numbness remained. Was this coming to participate in the outer sect grand competition? This was absolutely coming to show off wealth!

If Lu Zihang had come from modern times, he probably would have shouted, “pay-to-win player.”

“Junior Brother Song, are you planning to use these on the martial arts stage?” Lu Zihang could not help asking.

Song Yuanxi had never felt that being a “pay-to-win player” was anything shameful. Other people had cultivation and played with techniques. His family had mines, so what was wrong with playing with wealth? Everyone was relying on their own abilities!

“Mm. I absolutely have to get a ranking. If I clash head-on, I’ll definitely suffer a loss, but my family background is okay. I should be able to hold on.”

You call this having an okay family background?

People’s understanding of wealth really was worlds apart. For the first time, Lu Zihang truly felt that the friend he had made was a second-generation cultivator. No, he should call him a second-generation rich kid!

“Senior Brother Lu, do you want to prepare some too? Blades and swords have no eyes. Even if it’s a spar, you still have to be careful.” Song Yuanxi saw the other party’s expression twitching and thought his expression seemed rather worried, so he very generously handed over a bottle of Return Origin Pills.

Lu Zihang did not take it. The preciousness of Return Origin Pills was not something one could casually accept for free.

“I can’t take it. Keep it for yourself. My cultivation is not bad. Besides, my clan has prepared quite a few things for me too.” Although the Lu family was a third-rate clan, as a direct-line descendant, his resources were not poor.

He could not compare to Song Yuanxi, who was practically a nouveau riche, but he was still more than sufficient compared to those below him.

Song Yuanxi directly stuffed it over. “We’re all friends. It’s only right to help one another. I’m also preparing to give Senior Brother Du, Senior Sister Jiang, and the others some.”

These things were all given to him by his elders in ordinary times. He had lived quite comfortably these years. Aside from using outside items once inside the sect’s secret realm, he basically had not touched them.

When too many things piled up, they also took up space. Since he had already decided to enter the Tushan Secret Realm, he should leave some empty room in his storage bangle. Maybe he could pack in more good things from the secret realm?

Lu Zihang had a bottle of Return Origin Pills forcibly stuffed into his hand. Opening the lid and looking inside, he saw three high-grade pills.

He thought of when they had formed a team to do missions back then. In order to earn contribution points to exchange for Return Origin Pills, they had been chased by an Ice Silk Snake for seven days and seven nights, and then swallowed and excreted by some unknown demon beast…

At this moment, Lu Zihang’s feelings were complicated. He only wanted some peace and quiet.

Song Yuanxi treated his friends equally. After that, he distributed one auxiliary outside item to each person. Some received pills, and some received arrays, all according to their needs.

Jiang Lanyi, however, was different. On the surface, Song Yuanxi stuffed her a bottle of Return Origin Pills. Secretly, he also stuffed her a storage bag.

She opened it and looked. Inside, a stack of talismans was neatly lined up. As for the various healing pills and Return Origin Pills, there were dozens of bottles.

“Junior Brother Song…”

At this moment, Jiang Lanyi’s feelings were also complicated. She wanted some peace and quiet.

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