Chapter 233 – The Various Factions of the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm: Has Su Xing’s Secret Been Discovered? (Double Chapter)
by spirapiraChapter 233 – The Various Factions of the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm: Has Su Xing’s Secret Been Discovered? (Double Chapter)
In the Real World, Su Xing looked at the simulation text before him and furrowed his brow slightly.
The blood seedling selection gave Su Xing a sense of familiar foreboding.
“That’s right. In the Blood Demon Realm, the Blood Demon Sect’s selection of cultivators… it seems to be just like this. Every few years they conduct a slaughter, and the outstanding ones receive rewards and earn higher promotions!”
“But the Blood Demon Sect does this to cultivate parasites and collect Blood Spirit Liquid… The Advent Cult’s reasons for doing this don’t seem to be the same…”
Su Xing fell into thought.
Based on the intelligence he had previously obtained, he could roughly determine that Blood Nineteen, Blood Twenty-Three, and the others had likely grown from blood seedlings.
And cultivators at their level had already become immortals!
Using them to cultivate Blood Spirit Parasites and harvest spirit liquid would undoubtedly be the act of a fool!
Moreover, those cultivators didn’t all practice the Blood Immortal Scripture — many of them used their own cultivation techniques and practiced orthodox spiritual energy.
“Looking at it this way, the reason the Advent Cult does this… should be to cultivate more powerful cultivators!”
“Through constant slaughter, using quantity as a filter to rapidly select geniuses, huh…”
Su Xing nodded slightly.
This method was indeed faster than how ordinary sects cultivated geniuses, but the price paid was also far greater!
“It’s precisely because this blood seedling tournament requires consuming a massive number of cultivators… that the Advent Cult establishes branches in various worlds. That must also serve the purpose of selecting geniuses, right?”
Su Xing thought this to himself, then turned his gaze to the simulation panel.
【In just moments, the cultivators around you began slaughtering each other, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of slightly weaker cultivators met gruesome deaths.】
【Roars, screams, the clash of metal on metal… the previously peaceful scene instantly became bloody and brutal.】
【A Spirit Transformation stage cultivator crept up behind you. Without even turning your head, you dispatched him with a casual swing of your sword.】
【This was a massive free-for-all between thousands of people. You watched as cultivators who had been getting along amicably in the valley now erupted into violence. At this moment, only one thought occupied their minds.】
【Kill one cultivator, earn one point! Accumulate over a thousand points, and you can directly become a blood seedling!】
【You were in no hurry to join the killing, instead observing from the shadows.】
【You noticed that quite a few weaker cultivators had already fled toward the edges of the area before the tournament even began, seemingly hoping to survive.】
【Meanwhile, a number of powerful cultivators had already killed dozens of cultivators in the blink of an eye, their bodies drenched in blood.】
【Suddenly, a terrifying wave of spiritual energy swept through the surroundings — so powerful it nearly made your heart skip a beat. At the same time, your Blessed by Fortune talent sent a warning.】
【You instinctively activated your Protective Hardened Qi and primordial energy armor, then swiftly retreated from your current position.】
【Just a few breaths later, from a thousand meters above, a torrent of black water as terrifying as an overturning ocean descended upon the thousands of cultivators gathered below.】
【This terrifying black water seemed to exert a tremendous gravitational pull, making it impossible to break free. The slightest contact would cause one to sink continuously…】
【In an instant, hundreds of Spirit Transformation and Nascent Soul stage cultivators were swallowed by the black water. Only those with profound cultivation or quick reflexes barely managed to escape.】
【Because you received the warning in advance, you temporarily escaped disaster. Looking up toward the sky from afar, you saw a familiar figure.】
【That figure was none other than the taciturn man who had been imprisoned with you and was eventually rescued.】
【Judging by the power of his technique and the terrifying aura now emanating from his body, only a Mahayana stage cultivator could have accomplished this!】
【Furthermore, this taciturn man wasn’t the type who had just entered the Mahayana stage — he was at least a mid-to-late Mahayana cultivator!】
In the Real World, Su Xing’s jaw dropped slightly at this sight, and he muttered:
“Sure enough, not a single person who ascended from a minor world to the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm is someone to mess with!”
“That seemingly unremarkable taciturn man turns out to be a mid-to-late Mahayana powerhouse!”
Su Xing took a deep breath.
One must know that a mid-to-late Mahayana cultivator was absolutely considered a top-tier powerhouse in the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm.
According to Su Xing’s prior intelligence, becoming a blood seedling was practically guaranteed for a mid-to-late Mahayana cultivator.
“Tsk tsk, could this be the legendary ‘playing the pig to eat the tiger’? A stunning debut?”
Su Xing quipped.
With just this single strike, the taciturn man had likely slaughtered several hundred to a thousand cultivators — more than enough to become a blood seedling!
Su Xing fell into thought.
“The rules of this blood seedling tournament don’t purely encourage slaughter. It’s more like a system designed to eliminate the weak…”
“You earn one point for each kill, but killing a cultivator who already has points doesn’t let you inherit their accumulated points…”
“This means that killing a Spirit Transformation cultivator yields basically the same reward as killing a Mahayana cultivator…”
After a pause, Su Xing followed this line of reasoning further.
“So under normal circumstances, participants in the blood seedling tournament would prioritize killing weaker cultivators. Unless absolutely necessary, they would never go all-out against opponents of similar strength…”
“But each blood seedling tournament only has thirty thousand participants. Killing one cultivator yields only one point, and points aren’t inherited… This means the total number of available points only ever decreases…”
“In the end, even the top ten cultivators might not have more than a thousand points…”
“Perhaps seven or eight hundred points, or even fewer, would be enough to successfully advance to blood seedling status!”
“And acquiring points is easiest in the early phase, because there are more low-level cultivators… In the later stages, when only powerful cultivators remain, earning even a single point would be incredibly difficult!”
Su Xing quickly figured out the competition rules of the blood seedling tournament.
In short, it could be summed up in one phrase: strike early and reap the rewards!
“This time, I should do my best to become a blood seedling. Time to go all out!”
A cold glint flashed in Su Xing’s eyes. He had absolutely no intention of showing mercy toward these villains and demonic cultivators!
His gaze turned back to the simulation panel.
【After the black water receded, the earth cracked open, and over eight hundred cultivator corpses lay strewn across the ground…】
【With just that single strike, the taciturn man had killed over eight hundred cultivators!】
【At the same time, among the remaining thousands of cultivators, several more formidable auras erupted — two early-stage Mahayana cultivators and one Perfection-level Body Integration cultivator revealed themselves!】
【Seeing this, the taciturn man took to the sky via flight and quickly retreated.】
【The other newly revealed cultivators also began employing their own methods, frantically slaughtering the lower-level cultivators around them.】
【You weren’t about to hold back either. With a thought, a vortex of energy slowly formed in your hand. Channeling one-tenth of your spiritual energy, you casually tossed out a Spirit Burst toward a densely packed cluster of people!】
【A single Spirit Burst killed dozens of Spirit Transformation cultivators.】
【Having tasted success, you held nothing back. In the span of just a quarter hour, you lobbed six or seven Spirit Bursts in rapid succession, swiftly killing close to four hundred cultivators.】
【The chaotic battle still raged across the surrounding plains. Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation cultivators were essentially the first cannon fodder to die in the melee.】
【Gradually, even Void Return and Void Shattering realm cultivators began to falter…】
【Amid the chaos, you opportunistically collected quite a few storage bags from fallen cultivators.】
【Probing them with your divine sense, you quickly found some spirit stones among the storage bags. You activated the Myriad Blazing Flame Art and rapidly recovered the spiritual energy you had expended.】
【Before long, only a few hundred cultivators remained in the vicinity. Most of these were at the late Void Return or Perfection level, along with several dozen Body Integration cultivators and two Mahayana stage cultivators.】
【Knowing that staying here any longer would only lead to a fierce battle, you tossed out a few more Spirit Bursts, killed some Void Return stage cultivators, and then slipped away.】
【Most of the other cultivators did the same as you, scattering in all directions to hunt down weaker cultivators.】
【It was like a feast of slaughter — all cultivators tacitly hunted the weak while avoiding the strong.】
Seeing this, Su Xing nodded slightly and murmured:
“Sure enough, just as I thought… This so-called blood seedling tournament is nothing more than a predatory chase where the strong devour the weak…”
Su Xing muttered to himself.
According to the intelligence he had previously gathered, participants in the blood seedling tournament could only remain within that valley, which was located deep within the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
Even if one survived the blood seedling tournament and became a blood seedling candidate, they still couldn’t leave the valley.
They could only participate in the next blood seedling tournament. Only by becoming a true blood seedling could one leave the valley and become part of the Advent Cult’s core training program!
“In that case, I’ll do my best to become a blood seedling, leave the valley, and make contact with the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm!”
With that thought, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.
【You flew on your sword, quickly leaving the initial battlefield of chaos behind…】
【After a quick mental calculation, you determined that during that battle, your Spirit Burst had killed over four hundred and eighty cultivators. It was a considerable number, but not enough to guarantee becoming a blood seedling!】
【So you extended your divine sense, preparing to search for the auras of lower-level cultivators.】
【But you immediately frowned. This world seemed to have restrictions in place that severely interfered with divine sense. Even though your divine soul was damaged, your original range of two hundred thousand zhang should not have been reduced to a mere sensing range of less than a thousand zhang.】
【A thousand zhang — that meant you could only sense auras within roughly three kilometers.】
【You quickly understood. The restrictions placed on this realm suppressed ninety-nine percent of divine sense, specifically to prevent top-tier powerhouses from using their divine sense to indiscriminately massacre all cultivators.】
【After all, that would contradict the Advent Cult’s original purpose of cultivating blood seedlings…】
【By suppressing divine sense, powerful cultivators could still hunt the weak, but weaker cultivators would at least have somewhere to hide.】
【After sensing the suppression of your divine sense, you pondered for a moment, then took out several copper coins and began divining.】
【You performed several consecutive divinations and roughly determined that the north held less danger and a greater concentration of weaker cultivators. So you headed north to hunt demonic cultivators.】
【Sure enough, half an hour later, you encountered a group of Spirit Transformation cultivators huddled together. Their leader was merely at the Void Return realm.】
【Banding together during the blood seedling tournament could indeed mitigate risk to some extent, but one also had to be wary of teammates who might turn their blades on you at any moment.】
【You spotted the Void Return stage cultivator leading the group, and he simultaneously noticed you. He then broke into a warm smile and began waving at you in greeting.】
【You were momentarily stunned, never expecting to encounter an acquaintance here. This person was none other than the shrill-voiced cellmate from before — the one who claimed to be a cultivator from the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm and had provided you with a wealth of intelligence.】
【Upon seeing you, this cellmate called out from a distance, seemingly trying to recruit you into his group.】
In the Real World, Su Xing couldn’t help but laugh at this.
“Well, well! This villain cellmate really is quite the character! Even though they’re all supposed to be killing each other, he’s actually trying to form an alliance here?”
Su Xing thought for a moment. He naturally had no intention of allying with these weak demonic cultivators — or rather, he had never planned to ally with anyone at all.
After all, a blade at your back was far more dangerous than an enemy in front of you.
“However, this cellmate is a local cultivator of the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm… If I soul-search him, I might be able to obtain quite a bit of useful information.”
Su Xing fell into thought, then turned his gaze to the simulation panel.
【You looked at the dozens of cultivators before you and strolled over with a smile.】
【The next second, you hurled a Spirit Burst, and every single one of those dozens of Spirit Transformation cultivators was blasted to smithereens.】
【Seeing your sudden attack, this talented cellmate was immediately alarmed and tried to cast a technique to flee.】
【But a mere Void Return cultivator was no match for you. You directly destroyed his entire cultivation base.】
【Then, you performed the Soul Search technique on him.】
In the Real World, Su Xing nodded slightly at this.
“Activating immersive simulation… duration: one hour!”
【Ding. You have successfully activated immersive simulation… remaining energy: 1,385,800,000 points.】
The next second, Su Xing appeared at the simulated location, holding a weasel-faced cultivator by the scruff.
Without hesitation, Su Xing directly used the Soul Search technique.
…
Soon, the immersive simulation time ended, and Su Xing returned to the Real World.
When he opened his eyes again, there was a glint of surprise in them.
“So that’s how it is. The Lesser Azure Cloud Realm… is actually that kind of place?”
Su Xing was somewhat astonished. Although the information obtained from this talented cellmate’s mind wasn’t extensive, Su Xing now had a basic understanding of the power structure and circumstances of the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm.
Contrary to what Su Xing had initially assumed, the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm was not entirely under the Azure Cloud Sect’s jurisdiction.
Or rather, the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm had once been a minor thousand world under the Azure Cloud Sect’s sphere of influence.
But over the course of tens of thousands of years of continuous warfare between the foreign races and the human race, the number of Three Thousand Worlds occupied by foreign races had grown ever larger, and the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm had been caught in the crossfire.
As a result, the Azure Cloud Sect had been forced to abandon most of its holdings within the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm.
Currently, the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm was a chaotic zone contested by multiple factions vying for dominance.
Among the larger factions were the Celestial Demon Prison, the Azure Cloud Sect, the Thousand Mysteries Pavilion, the White Emperor Tower… and the Advent Cult!
Outside the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm, the invasions by foreign races and demonic beasts were growing increasingly severe, and in recent years there had been a growing trend of being unable to hold the defenses.
Meanwhile, within the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm, the various factions fought amongst themselves. The Celestial Demon Prison and the Azure Cloud Sect had, thousands of years ago, caused the deaths of core disciples while competing for opportunities, resulting in a blood feud between the two forces.
As for the Advent Cult, because of the foreign race invasion of this realm, their influence within the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm had gradually risen in recent years. They no longer hid in the shadows, instead occasionally launching attacks against the other four factions.
Su Xing gently closed his eyes and continued searching through the memories.
“So from this perspective, the Advent Cult is actually on the opposing side of the Celestial Demon Prison, Azure Cloud Sect, Thousand Mysteries Pavilion, and White Emperor Tower—they’re essentially traitors to humanity!”
“And while the Celestial Demon Prison and Azure Cloud Sect both resist the foreign races and strike against the Advent Cult, they have a blood feud with each other.”
“The Celestial Demon Prison is filled with battle-crazed, fanatical cultivators…”
“The Thousand Mysteries Pavilion remains neutral… It’s a top-tier power among the Three Thousand Worlds. I heard about this faction before in the Luotian Assembly dungeon.”
“And the White Emperor Tower is an alliance of independent cultivators among the Three Thousand Worlds, founded by the mighty cultivator White Emperor, also fighting valiantly against the foreign races…”
In Su Xing’s mind, the five major factions of the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm gradually took shape.
Then Su Xing felt a bit of a headache and murmured:
“I originally planned to carry the Azure Cloud Token on my person during the next simulation, which should have let me escape disaster in the Celestial Demon Prison…”
“But now it seems, if I show the Azure Cloud Token, I’d probably die even faster!”
Su Xing let out a bitter laugh. It seemed the plan to quickly enter the Azure Cloud Sect couldn’t be executed for now. He could only take things one step at a time within the Advent Cult…
With that thought, Su Xing’s gaze turned to the simulation panel.
【Your divine soul was damaged, making the soul search technique very difficult to perform.】
【But even so, you still obtained critical information about the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm from his mind.】
【The Celestial Demon Prison and the Azure Cloud Sect are hostile factions, which is somewhat disadvantageous for you.】
【However, you can’t worry about that now. Your only option is to find a way to secure a blood seedling slot in this simulation.】
【Over the next three days, relying on your Blessed by Fortune talents, you evaded the pursuit of higher-ranked cultivators and killed quite a few cultivators weaker than yourself.】
【After three days, your point total reached nearly eight hundred—enough to qualify as a blood seedling!】
【Soon, the three-day blood seedling tournament concluded, and mighty cultivators descended upon this realm.】
【Over ten mighty cultivators with terrifying auras, as vast and deep as celestial abysses, descended and announced the end of the blood seedling tournament.】
【Among them was Blood Nineteen, whom you had encountered before.】
【Soon, the blood seedling tournament rankings were announced.】
【The stolid cultivator had claimed first place in this tournament, amassing a stunning total of over thirteen hundred points!】
【With your seven hundred-plus points, you placed seventh in the blood seedling tournament, successfully becoming a blood seedling.】
【Including yourself, a total of ten blood seedlings were successfully born!】
【Blood Nineteen cast a surprised glance at you and the stolid cultivator, clearly not having expected that a month ago, he had actually saved two future blood seedlings.】
【And that seductive woman with the designation Blood Twenty-Three was excitedly patting her ample chest, muttering nonstop about how she wouldn’t have to suffer punishment anymore.】
【But what you hadn’t expected was that the blood seedling tournament wasn’t over yet.】
【Soon, a short man with an unremarkable face stepped forward and announced the final challenger selection.】
【Though this short man looked ordinary, you didn’t dare underestimate him in the slightest, because his designation was Blood Sixteen!】
【And based on your deductions, the lower the designation number, the more terrifying their strength!】
【You quickly understood what the final challenge entailed.】
【As it turned out, in every blood seedling tournament, the survivors included not only the blood seedlings themselves, but also other cultivators skilled at staying alive.】
【Their strength was considerable, yet not quite at the level of blood seedlings. They were called blood seedling candidates.】
【Blood seedling candidates would also receive rewards, but after a maximum of three consecutive annual tournaments, they had to become blood seedlings—otherwise they would be forced to challenge an existing blood seedling!】
【The victor would become the blood seedling; the loser would die!】
Seeing this, Su Xing quickly grasped the purpose of this rule.
“Tsk tsk… This is to prevent people who are good at survival techniques from hiding during every blood seedling tournament, hoarding resources… living comfortably…”
“This is meant to keep these blood seedling candidates in a constant state of crisis!”
Undeniably, this rule did effectively prevent cultivators from slacking off and coasting through.
Because after nine years at most, they would have no choice but to challenge a blood seedling—either live or die…
His gaze returned to the simulation panel.
【Soon, the final blood seedling challenge began.】
【Your opponent was an early-stage Body Integration cultivator who had participated in three consecutive blood seedling tournaments, surviving each time, with considerable strength…】
【Though your injuries hadn’t fully healed, relying on your swordsmanship, you cut him down in less than a hundred exchanges.】
【You successfully advanced as a blood seedling.】
【Soon, the final ten blood seedlings of this tournament were selected…】
【Under the escort of these mighty cultivators, you departed from this world.】
【Before long, you entered a bustling city…】
【This city was undoubtedly located within the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm, and appeared to be Advent Cult territory!】
【The city’s population was enormous, numbering a million people, all of them cultivators—and all of them demonic cultivators…】
【The weakest among them were merely at the Golden Core realm, while the strongest were cultivators whose depth you couldn’t fathom at all.】
【Led by Blood Twenty-Three, your group paraded through the city streets. The cultivators on the main road all made way, their faces showing expressions of reverence.】
【There were even strikingly beautiful, bold and uninhibited female demonic cultivators who threw flirtatious glances at you like mad.】
【You reflected on this with some insight, understanding that within this city, blood seedlings enjoyed extremely high status!】
【Blood Twenty-Three quickly brought your group to the most luxurious restaurant in the city.】
【In the most lavish private room, fine beauties, excellent wine, and exotic delicacies had already been prepared for you…】
【You cared nothing for the beauties or the wine, but were astonished by the exotic delicacies.】
【Because these gourmet dishes were all made from spirit beast meat, and among them was a main course that you recognized as being prepared from a Mahayana-stage flood dragon!】
【With every bite of flood dragon meat you swallowed, your blood surged with vigor. The pure essence of blood and flesh nourished your spiritual energy, and even your physical body’s cultivation showed signs of advancement.】
【And so, while the other blood seedlings were drinking cross-cupped wine with the beauties, you simply buried your head and ate.】
【The stolid man beside you rarely showed a smile upon seeing this, and said: From now on, we’re all blood seedlings. Let’s look out for each other… Once the examination is over, we’ll be living the high life!】
【Hearing the stolid man’s words, you froze. Examination? What examination?】
【You hurriedly voiced the doubts in your heart.】
【The stolid man told you that blood seedlings would undergo a comprehensive examination of bone age, aptitude, cultivation techniques, combat skills, and supernatural arts…】
【Only then could the most suitable cultivation path be tailored for each blood seedling… After all, nearly all blood seedlings were previously independent cultivators or cultivators who had ascended from minor worlds, and thus lacked proper foundations.】
【Hearing the stolid man’s words, the other blood seedlings also showed expressions of anticipation, clearly viewing the resource allocation after the examination as a great opportunity!】
【These blood seedlings would each receive cultivation techniques, supernatural arts, and even miraculous pills suited to their individual needs!】
【Only you, upon hearing the stolid man’s words, completely lost your composure…】
In the Real World, Su Xing was so agitated by what he saw that he started slapping his thigh.
“Damn it, just select your blood seedlings and be done with it! Why do you have to verify aptitude and age too?”
“This time your young master is truly screwed…”
Su Xing let out a sigh, knowing that the Advent Cult’s actions were actually within reasonable bounds.
Becoming a blood seedling essentially meant becoming a core disciple of the Advent Cult, so naturally they would invest heavily in cultivation… Beyond that, there was also the possibility of rooting out spies!
“In the simulation, I’m barely over forty at most!”
“Over forty years old, with a tri-element mutated Heavenly Spirit Root aptitude… yet already a Body Integration stage powerhouse. It’d be strange if they didn’t drag me off for dissection!”
Su Xing felt somewhat helpless.
Even for a Heavenly Spirit Root, reaching Body Integration stage before two hundred years of age would already be considered an astonishing stroke of fortune.
Su Xing’s speed was indeed somewhat beyond common sense and would easily draw investigation.
“Sigh, the only thing I can do now is pray that the Advent Cult, upon learning my aptitude and age, decides to invest even more heavily in cultivating me!”
With that thought, Su Xing’s gaze turned to the simulation panel.
【Soon, the feast of exotic delicacies was finished.】
【Everyone had eaten well—except you…】
【Blood Twenty-Three soon returned, leading your group to a hidden chamber beneath the restaurant for the aptitude examination.】
【You considered escaping during the process, but after gauging the gap in strength, you gave up…】
【Soon, the other nine blood seedlings had all placed their hands upon the aptitude testing stone.】
【To your surprise, the stolid cultivator from the Black Water Realm turned out to possess a Super Spirit Root!】
【A Super Spirit Root surpassed even Heavenly Spirit Roots—such a prodigy might not appear in a minor world even once in a thousand years.】
【Aside from the stolid cultivator, the others ranged from Heavenly Spirit Roots to True Spirit Roots.】
【Finally, all eyes turned to you. Though reluctant, you stepped forward for the aptitude examination.】
【The testing stone erupted with three-colored radiance—unmistakably, the wood-fire-lightning tri-element mutated Heavenly Spirit Root!】
【Among the ten blood seedlings, your spirit root aptitude ranked second best. Blood Twenty-Three gave you an extra look for it.】
【But then, it was time for the age examination.】
【You silently stood at the back of the group, looking for any chance to escape.】
【But unexpectedly, the stolid cultivator also moved toward you, seemingly wanting to chat.】
【You had no interest in talking at this point—your mind was entirely consumed with figuring out what to do next.】
【Soon, the aptitude and age examinations for the first eight cultivators were complete.】
【The oldest, a Mahayana cultivator, was already over eighteen hundred years old, while the youngest, a mid-stage Body Integration cultivator, was over six hundred.】
【Blood Twenty-Three turned her gaze toward you and the stolid man.】
【The stolid man stepped forward and placed his hand on the age-testing stele.】
【The stele displayed: nine hundred and seventy-two years old!】
【Everyone then looked at the stolid cultivator with astonishment, and he looked somewhat proud.】
【To reach the Mahayana stage before a thousand years of age—even in the Greater World, let alone a minor world—that would be considered an absolute prodigy!】
【Then the stolid man turned back toward you, casting what he believed was a friendly glance, and made an inviting gesture.】
【Looking at Blood Twenty-Three staring intently at you, you knew there was no way out. So you reached out and placed your hand on the age-testing stele.】
【A few breaths later, a line of text slowly appeared on the stele: Age—forty-eight years old…】
【Upon seeing this, everyone fell silent, staring at you with looks of sheer horror.】
【Even the stolid man’s expression turned extremely peculiar as he looked at you.】
【He was heard murmuring: How is this possible? Even I was already over two hundred years old when I reached Body Integration stage… How could a mere mutated Heavenly Spirit Root cultivate this fast?】
【That’s right—everyone present, including Blood Twenty-Three and all the blood seedlings, understood this basic common sense.】
【Even in the Greater World, within the top-tier immortal sects and holy lands, the most talented Immortal Seeds would need at least sixty to seventy years to cultivate to the Body Integration stage.】
【Such cultivation speed was built upon being born with an immortal physique, possessing an Ethereal Root far surpassing even a Heavenly Spirit Root… on top of countless rare heavenly treasures piled together…】
【The blood seedlings began to suspect your origins — could you be a spy sent by an immortal sect?】
【But Blood Twenty-Three knew your background all too well. You were merely an ordinary cultivator who had ascended from a minor world. How could you possibly possess such terrifying cultivation speed?】
【There must be an earth-shattering secret behind this! And you must have obtained some heaven-defying opportunity!】
【Blood Twenty-Three acted decisively, ordering the other blood seedlings to wait, then seized you and brought you to another location within the city.】
【Soon, you encountered Blood Sixteen, Blood Nineteen, and the others from before…】
【To prevent any errors in the initial assessment, they conducted a comprehensive re-examination of your aptitude, age, and cultivation level.】
【But no matter what, you possessed a tri-element mutated Heavenly Spirit Root aptitude, Body Integration in qi cultivation, Void Shattering Great Perfection in body cultivation… and you were indeed forty-eight years old!】
【Ultimately, after their discussion failed to determine how to handle you, they reported the matter to the higher-ranked Blood Nine!】
【Several days later, someone tore through space and arrived at the room where you were being heavily guarded.】
【The arrivals were none other than Blood Nine, as well as Blood Three, whom you had met before!】
【Blood Three and Blood Nine regarded you with peculiar gazes, then uttered a few inexplicable words: “The little fellow came from that place, didn’t he? Heh heh, what a grand opportunity! In that case, let’s just soul-search him!”】
【Blood Nine reached toward you with a grasping hand. You offered no resistance and fell into unconsciousness.】
【Blood Nine searched through your soul… The simulator automatically blocked relevant information…】
【After soul-searching you for a prolonged period, they still failed to obtain the answers they sought.】
【And through round after round of soul searching, your divine soul was annihilated…】
【You died!】
【Your talent Die With Eyes Open activated!】
【Through lip-reading, you barely managed to make out a few sentences from their conversation:】
【”How is this possible? Why can’t we find that thing in his soul memories?”】
【”No idea. But this little fellow did indeed come from that realm! The one being watched by the Blood Moon!”】
【”But several cosmic cycles have already passed… Even if it were that item, it shouldn’t have been able to escape the erosion of time!”】
【”Who knows — that thing is a supreme treasure coveted even by the Blood Immortal himself! Perhaps it has the ability to block soul searching?”】
【”Luotian…”】
【They quickly moved beyond your field of vision…】
【Ding, this simulation has ended!】
After the simulation ended, Su Xing’s eyes were filled with immense shock.
“What the hell? What do they mean by ‘that realm’… What exactly is Earth? Besides having the Blood Moon… why does it cause such a stir?”
After a pause, Su Xing turned his gaze toward the final two characters.
“Luotian…”
“Could it be the Luotian Sect? Could there be some secret hidden within the Luotian Sect?!”
Su Xing took a deep breath. Based on the information obtained from Die With Eyes Open —
What Blood Three and Blood Nine were searching for probably wasn’t the simulator… but rather an item connected to Luotian…
Yet the only thing Su Xing had ever encountered that was even remotely related to Luotian was the Luotian Assembly dungeon!
“So… the Luotian Assembly dungeon must be hiding an earth-shattering secret I haven’t yet discovered!”
Su Xing drew a deep breath.
His current understanding of the Luotian Assembly was limited to it being an “experience dungeon” — and moreover, it was a cultivation dungeon useful only to those with the cultivator class…
To enter the Luotian Assembly dungeon, one requirement had to be met: you must be a Class User!
But among all Class Users, only Su Xing had the cultivator class…
This meant that only Su Xing could investigate the secrets of the Luotian Assembly!
“The Luotian Assembly dungeon, huh… There are only two years left before the dungeon disappears. I must explore and uncover more within it!”
Su Xing’s eyes burned with intense excitement.
What greater surprises would the Luotian Assembly dungeon bring Su Xing? What astonishing secrets did it contain?
“It should be referring to the Luotian Sect… On Earth, apart from Class Users possessing the ability to level up and grow stronger through killing, there don’t seem to be any other secrets…”
Su Xing thought to himself.
“Also, in the blood seedling tournament, if you perform too well and become a blood seedling, you actually won’t live very long…”
“But if I merely aim to survive and become a blood seedling candidate instead, perhaps I can extend the simulation’s duration to some extent…”
Su Xing fell into contemplation.
Regardless, this simulation — leaving Earth and making contact with the Three Thousand Worlds — represented a tremendous leap for Su Xing!
The simulation now held far more possibilities, and Su Xing could obtain resources from the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm to further enhance his own strength!
“But for now… let me first select the rewards from this simulation!”
Su Xing murmured, turning his gaze to the simulation reward list.
【Unkillable Cockroach】: Gold talent, priced at 10 million energy points.
【Twenty Years of Alchemy Experience】: Upon redemption, existing alchemy comprehension will increase by a small margin. Priced at 2 million energy.
【Integration Stage, Third Layer】: Early-stage Body Integration cultivator, sensing the embryonic form of the Great Dao, comprehending Origin Force… Priced at 1 billion energy.
【Myriad Flames Scripture Comprehension (Seventh Layer)】: Heaven-grade upper-tier cultivation art, cultivable up to the Immortal realm, further increasing the speed at which a cultivator absorbs spiritual energy and converts it into cultivation. Priced at 300 million energy.
“Although Body Integration cultivation is what I’m pursuing… only by mastering the Myriad Blazing Flame Art can I go further and increase my cultivation speed!”
Su Xing murmured. He felt no conflict over this simulation’s rewards.
The Myriad Blazing Flame Art and the newly drawn gold talent “Unkillable Cockroach” were naturally must-haves.
“The problem is, while the 10 million energy for the gold talent isn’t expensive… the 1 billion energy needed to expand my talent slots is absolutely going to kill me!”
Su Xing sighed, then prepared to check whether there were any talents he could swap out.
But after thinking it over, every single one of Su Xing’s talents served a purpose.
Even the originally lackluster Die With Eyes Open had proven to be of tremendous help after entering the Three Thousand Worlds.
“Fine then… I’ll spend the energy to expand my talent slots!”
【Ding, would you like to spend 1 billion energy to expand your talent slots?】
“Yes!” Su Xing said, wincing at the cost.
His simulation energy plummeted, leaving only 385.8 million energy.
That wasn’t even enough to redeem both the Myriad Blazing Flame Art and the gold-quality talent…
Left with no choice, Su Xing had to carefully pick and choose from Old Dog Zong’s remaining legacy, selecting items he had no personal use for and converting them into several million simulation energy.
“I choose to bring out the gold talent Unkillable Cockroach… and the Myriad Blazing Flame Art comprehension!”
【You have successfully brought out the gold talent Unkillable Cockroach. Cost: 10 million energy. Remaining energy: 302.33 million points.】
【You have successfully brought out the Myriad Blazing Flame Art comprehension. Cost: 300 million energy. Remaining energy: 2.33 million points.】
As the simulator’s notification faded, a mysterious energy surged into Su Xing’s body.
New memories regarding the cultivation of the Myriad Blazing Flame Art appeared in his mind.
In mere moments, Su Xing’s comprehension of the Myriad Blazing Flame Art had reached the seventh layer.
“Excellent… From now on, I can use the Myriad Blazing Flame Art for cultivation, and before reaching the Immortal realm, I won’t need to worry about being unable to break through…”
Su Xing nodded with satisfaction, then suddenly thought of something.
“Perfected One Myriad Wood still has a copy of the Myriad Wood Art. When I have time, I can go retrieve it…”
Though awakening the Spirit Vein Dragon would attract Old Dog Dragon’s attention, merely killing Perfected One Myriad Wood shouldn’t cause any problems.
But now that Su Xing had comprehended the Dao of Puppetry, what he truly envisioned was refining Perfected One Myriad Wood from a living corpse into a puppet…
When that time came, Su Xing would possess a formidable combat asset and could even have Perfected One Myriad Wood refine high-grade pills!
“The only pity is that while my current strength is enough to kill Perfected One Myriad Wood, it would be difficult to preserve the integrity of his physical body while doing so…”
“I’ll wait until my strength improves further before going to kill him!”
Su Xing thought this, but then glanced at his remaining simulation energy and grimaced.
“2.88 million simulation energy… tsk tsk, unprecedented poverty!”
Su Xing did some quick calculations.
“After this week, I should be able to exchange another 50,000 Fasting Pills for a second-order exotic metal mining zone. But even so, the Tarot Society only provides 200 million energy per week — for my current needs, that’s still far too little!”
Su Xing shook his head slightly, then suddenly recalled the Baili Trading Company.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t visited the Baili Trading Company in over two months. I should be able to get quite a bit of energy from there, right?”
Su Xing acted immediately. He disguised his appearance, concealed his aura, shielded his heavenly secrets, and flew by sword to the Baili estate.
After obtaining the storage ring, Su Xing immediately converted it into simulation energy.
With that, Su Xing’s simulation energy climbed to 550 million!
Having completed all this, Su Xing returned to his spirit field grotto-heaven and began a new week of puppet crafting.
This simulation had deepened Su Xing’s comprehension of the Dao of Puppetry, and so he managed to craft three puppets within the week.
He named them Pill Seven, Pill Eight, and Pill Nine…
With this, the alchemy puppets alone could produce nearly six thousand Fasting Pills per week for Su Xing!
That already matched Su Xing’s own pill-refining speed…
It wasn’t until January 13th that Su Xing suddenly remembered, slapping his forehead:
“Damn it, I was so busy this month that I completely forgot to meet with Luo Shuying…”
“But I did tell her before that if I didn’t show up, she could leave on her own. It should be fine…”
Su Xing muttered.
He then disguised himself and concealed his aura, preparing to head to the Villa district to meet with Jin Congxue.
The two ate dinner together while chatting.
As the meal was nearing its end, Su Xing produced 50,000 pills and handed them to Jin Congxue.
Jin Congxue confirmed she would set out immediately, and within two days, the Tarot Society’s operations would gain another second-order exotic metal mining zone dungeon.
Taking the new week’s goods, Su Xing returned to his spirit field grotto-heaven.
This week’s goods still amounted to 150 million energy, bringing Su Xing’s total to 700 million points!
“700 million energy… It still feels a bit lacking!”
Su Xing shook his head slightly.
“At the Body Integration realm, to rapidly break through in cultivation, I’ll need at least 10 billion energy over the next two to three months!”
“Relying solely on the Tarot Society’s steady trickle won’t be enough anymore…”
After a pause, Su Xing murmured:
“It seems I need to further expand the scope of my trades with the military and the major trading companies. Only then can I obtain more energy…”
Su Xing pondered this and decided to execute a new plan.
“But before that, I should run another simulation to avoid any unexpected mishaps!”
Author’s note: Some readers may not fully understand the tournament rules. Here’s an example — suppose fifty Mahayana-stage cultivators each kill five hundred lower-ranked cultivators, giving each of them five hundred points. Even if those fifty Mahayana cultivators then kill each other, they would only gain one point per kill and couldn’t inherit the other’s accumulated points.
So unless absolutely necessary, they wouldn’t attack each other and would instead focus on killing lower-ranked cultivators. In the final competition, very few participants would actually accumulate one thousand points. There might be a situation where one thousand points qualifies as a blood seedling, but five hundred points could also earn that status.
That’s roughly how it works…