But the amount of information was equally immense, enough to let people learn what had happened outside the moment they emerged from seclusion in their cultivation palace or Cultivation Cave.
Only Inner Academy news came at a different price, and only Inner Academy disciples could purchase it.
In any case, Lu Qing had not seen any intelligence Jade Slips from the Inner Academy being sold.
--[Gu Xuantian of the Outer Academy has already reached the Qi Nourishment Seventh Layer. He will likely advance to Foundation Establishment before long. I heard his Master personally procured Flood Dragon Pearl Moon Essence from the Southern Sea Region for him to use as a Foundation Establishment item.]
--[Gu Xuantian of the Outer Academy having Heaven-Grade Aptitude is too terrifying. Does that mean the other two are the same? I remember that a Superior Aptitude disciple who entered at the same time as me had only barely reached the Qi Nourishment Second Layer after a month, right?]
--[Extra! Extra! The Entry Trial Tournament for the three-hundred-and-eighty-first generation of new disciples is about to begin.]
--[The top three in the Entry Trial Tournament may cultivate in Firecloud Grotto-Heaven for three days.]
--[Bai Yunqing has gathered many new disciples around him. Is he trying to challenge Senior Brother Lin's side?]
--[There are many Superior Aptitude disciples among this batch of new disciples, quite a few with Earth-grade Aptitude, and several with Heaven-Grade Aptitude. Does anyone know what is going on? Nothing like this has happened before.]
--[Comparing people drives people mad. Superior Aptitude is everywhere these days.]
The information displayed at the front of the Jade Slip consisted of news that had remained largely unchanged throughout the years.
As for the updated information at the back, calling it intelligence would be a stretch.
Lu Qing preferred to think of the messages recorded on this Jade Slip as something like a message wall.
Naturally, thanks to this message Jade Slip, Lu Qing quickly grasped the events of the past month after emerging from seclusion.
His cultivation was still low; a month of secluded cultivation counted as a long time for him.
Judging from the sect bulletin, those senior brothers and sisters in the Inner Academy might go more than ten years without encountering one.
From this, one could imagine that the higher one's cultivation, the longer one's seclusion would last.
Now that he had emerged from seclusion, Lu Qing saw a notification appear on his disciple Jade Token.
"The Entry Trial Tournament for the three-hundred-and-eighty-first generation of new Outer Academy disciples is now open for registration. It will begin in three days. Disciple Lu Qing, please make the necessary preparations."
A familiar feeling washed over him.
Lu Qing checked his name, tapped the confirmation to register, then closed the notification.
The Entry Trial Tournament was the first sect tournament that every disciple was required to participate in.
Only the major tournaments afterward were optional. Those wishing to enter the Inner Academy would register, while those who preferred to play it safe and wait for next year's Outer Academy Grand Tournament would choose to abstain.
This minor tournament alone was specifically for new disciples, with older disciples temporarily excluded.
Lu Qing also noticed another message.
This message was closely tied to him. More precisely, it was closely tied to the Ominous Hexagram. Had he not divined that Ominous Hexagram, Lu Qing would not have remained in seclusion for an entire month.
--[The Servant Academy has reportedly discovered traces of a Blood Demon from the Demonic Path.]
--[The Blood Demon exposed itself and was captured by the head of the Painting Academy, whereupon it was reduced to ash on the spot.]
--[Apparently, that Blood Demon killed quite a few Immortal seedlings in a remote prefecture last time, including one with Superior Aptitude. It had intended to replenish its blood food, only to run straight into the Painting Academy.]
--[What a coincidence. The Outer Sect disciple who accepted the mission there was also from the Painting Academy.]
Lu Qing finally learned who this unfamiliar enemy was. It was that old demon thief from the Demonic Path last time; the entire chain of events had become clear.
"Good. It died well."
"No wonder it said it would remain here for a month. A month later, that Blood Demon happened to die just before I emerged from seclusion."
He recalled his experience in Profound Heaven City last time.
And the secret in the room next door while he had stayed at the inn.
Thinking back carefully now, that secret was most likely the Demonic Path's plan to come and assassinate this batch of Immortal seedlings in Profound Heaven City.
They had selected and killed those with good aptitude.
That younger son of the Liu Family had likely been targeted for that very reason.
There was one less enemy in Lu Qing's little notebook.
This enemy, who would originally have taken the most time to kill, had died just like that due to a coincidence.
Who could have expected that disciple to have connections with the head of the Painting Academy?
Had Lu Qing gone himself, he would certainly have met the same fate as in the Ominous Hexagram.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
When he went outside, the White Crane Boy flew over.
"Lu Qing, you owe me one Spirit Stone this time. Pay me back when you have Spirit Stones later."
The White Crane Boy was easy to talk to.
He was already accustomed to people buying on credit.
"Naturally."
Transforming into a rainbow Escaping Light and flying was an ability belonging to Foundation Establishment cultivators. To fly before then, one could only rely on spiritual artifacts, yet low-level cultivators lacked sufficient Spiritual Power and could barely control them.
Not to mention that those who had only just entered the sect had no extra Spirit Stones to spare.
"Spirit Stones are hard to earn."
"Exactly, exactly." The White Crane Boy agreed wholeheartedly.
His impression of Lu Qing improved even further.
Anyone who understood that Spirit Stones were not easy to earn naturally earned the White Crane Boy's goodwill.
As for the other Spirit Cranes belonging to those filthy rich people, the White Crane Boy suffered bitterly as well.
"Ah."
One man and one White Crane sighed in silence high in the sky.
After arriving at the designated gathering place.
Lu Qing bid farewell to the White Crane Boy.
Quite a few people had already gathered atop the mountain platform.
Some were chatting, while others had taken out tokens or other strange spiritual artifacts to communicate with others.
Lu Qing held the Jade Slip in his palm. With a thought, he looked over the latest messages that had appeared.
Lu Qing now deeply understood that the Spirit Stones spent on the Jade Slip had indeed been worth it.
Once purchased, it was essentially lifelong after-sales service.
These message posts appearing one by one on the Jade Slip gathered from every corner.
--[The venue for this minor tournament is a Trial Micro-Realm. I heard an Elder acquired it from a Minor Realm.]
--[Jealous, jealous. There are so many good things in a Trial Micro-Realm. Isn't this treating these disciples too well?]
--[A Trial Micro-Realm has many benefits, but you need to live long enough to claim them. The great dangers inside have certainly been cleared away, but places that pose no danger to Elders may not be the same for these disciples.]
Just like the disciple Jade Token, these miraculous cultivation methods were not something new disciples could comprehend.
The assessment used for the minor tournament was not the traditional arena-fighting format, but a Trial Micro-Realm.
A Trial Micro-Realm, a level above even secret realms and Grotto-Heavens.
As Lu Qing read through the messages one by one, he sighed in admiration. "I never expected them to use a Trial Micro-Realm."
"There are many treasures within, and while opportunities abound, danger lurks at every turn."
Lu Qing checked his mind. The Ominous Situation Panel had not appeared, and his heart relaxed slightly for the moment.
Perhaps it was because the Trial Micro-Realm had not yet opened and the ominous situation had not yet formed.
Lu Qing waited quietly.
Another group of people arrived.
These young men and women were like Heaven's Pride, each arriving while controlling spiritual artifacts. The few at the forefront were even more striking.
They rode spirit beasts beneath them—not the White Cranes ordinary disciples paid Spirit Stones to ride when going out, but other spirit beasts.
Phoenix feathers shone brilliantly, tails trailing streaks of golden cloud. Then Flood Dragons appeared, each with a single horn upon its head and white scales like weapons of war, followed by a feathered crane suffused with spiritual energy that let out a cry.
For a moment, the entire scene fell silent.
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