We Seem to Have Been Fooled Again...

In the month following the crackdown, the 100,000 disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect gradually left Azure Cloud City.

Some of them built medicinal gardens within the Azure Cloud Sect's territory to grow spirit medicine, while others simply went to the mines.

Of course, some Azure Cloud Sect disciples went to the Cloud Mountain Empire, the Cloud Soaring Empire, or the Northern Sect Alliance.

The Azure Cloud Sect "rented" some areas from these places, and even "cooperated" with them to build some medicinal gardens and open up mines.

One hundred thousand Azure Cloud Sect disciples gradually scattered throughout the entire Azure Cloud Continent.

After these disciples left, Azure Cloud City immediately announced that the Arena Battle would begin!

"A challenge in the ring, but only if it's enough."

In a battle between equals, the winner retains the title.

If you achieve ten consecutive victories in the arena challenges, those below the Nascent Soul Realm will be rewarded with Law Artifact- grade Law Treasure and a pill of the same rank; those above the Primordial Spirit Realm will be rewarded with Treasure Artifact -grade Law Treasure and a pill of the same rank.

For every additional ten consecutive wins, the reward Law Treasure increases by one grade. That is to say, for twenty consecutive wins, those at the Nascent Soul Realm Treasure Artifact, and so on. If one achieves one hundred consecutive wins, one will be rewarded with a ninth-grade Spirit Artifact, regardless of their cultivation level.

The highest reward is a 100-game winning streak.

The Arena Battle are currently only open for the Golden Core Realm, Nascent Soul Realm, and Primordial Spirit Realm. Other realms are not yet open.

Welcome all fellow cultivators from all over the world to participate in the Arena Battle!

This information was published in the Azure Cloud Gazette, and other sects quickly received the news.

Then, the other sects began to tense up.

Over the past ten years, all the sects in the world have had to pay close attention to the actions of the Azure Cloud Sect.

Ten years ago, a military exercise by the Azure Cloud Sect forced all sects to follow suit and research weapons and elixirs, and recruit 100,000 disciples.

Five years ago, a price challenge by the Azure Moon Merchant Association caused all the major sects to lose tens of billions.

Now that the Azure Cloud Sect has started releasing information again, how can everyone not be nervous?

In the Langya Sacred Hall, the Sage Master, looking constipated, asked, "Tell me, what is the Azure Cloud Sect up to this time?"

The elders exchanged bewildered glances; how could they possibly guess the Azure Cloud Sect's intentions?

The Azure Cloud Sect has been causing trouble for ten years, and who hasn't been slow to realize it?

"Sage Master, let's not worry about what the Azure Cloud Sect is up to for now. What we need to discuss now is whether our Langya Sacred Land should participate in this arena challenge?" Tu Shan asked helplessly.

The Langya Sacred Land didn't participate in the military exercise, and the consequences were dire; they were almost dragged down by the Azure Cloud Sect.

If it weren't for the Sage Master's decisive alliance with the Azure Cloud Sect, the Langya Sacred Land would be in dire straits right now.

They actively participated in the second price adjustment by the Azure Moon Merchant Association.

Although the Langya Sacred Land was severely criticized by other sects across the land, they not only did not lose money like other major sects in this operation, but actually made billions of Spirit Stone.

So, should they participate in this third operation?

Even the Sage Master was uncertain; he had no idea what Zhang Yang was up to, so how could he make a decision?

After pondering for a long while, the Sage Master slowly said, "A arena challenge is not something that can be decided overnight. Let's send someone to the Azure Cloud Sect first to find out their strengths and weaknesses before deciding whether to participate. Anyway, our Langya Continent is not far from the Azure Cloud Continent, so we can participate at any time."

The other elders nodded in agreement, all agreeing that the Sage Master's idea was very sound.

But who should be sent to the Azure Cloud Sect to gather information?

The elders watched the Sage Master expectantly; if they wanted to find out any information, it would probably be up to the Sage Master himself to do so.

There are so many of them, and they're not familiar with the Azure Cloud Sect!

However, how could the Sage Master, as the lord of the Holy Land, be easily mobilized?

The Sage Master personally went to the Azure Cloud Sect the first time out of gratitude, and the second time because the matter was too urgent and time was too short, so Sage Master went in person.

Sending the Sage Master personally again this time... is he still the Lord of the Holy Land?

Why not just call him Passerby A?

The Sage Master was somewhat speechless. He was willing to throw away his pride and personally investigate the matter?

Besides, even if he didn't care about saving face, he might not get any information from Zhang Yang anyway.

He was certain that the changes in the Azure Cloud Sect were related to Zhang Yang.

Since that's the case, let's just target Zhang Yang.

"Let Xiu Ping go!" the Sage Master said decisively. "He has cultivated for so many years, let him try this arena challenge."

After his son's mind opened up, he acted much more prudently than before.

Another possibility is that, given their relationship, having Kong Xiuping pester Zhang Yang would surely allow him to find out some details about him, right?

Moreover, it would also allow them to hone Kong Xiuping's combat skills—what a great thing!

Jia Sheng up, and he hurriedly said, "Your Sage Master is wise!"

Since Xiu Ping is going to challenge in the arena, why not take a few of the most outstanding disciples from the Langya Sacred Land to observe the situation?

Of course, if we don't understand the situation, we should just prevent them from fighting.

Tu Shan nodded, finding the idea quite reasonable.

The other elders had no other objections, so the Sage Master made the decision.

"The matter of the Azure Cloud Sect's Arena Battle is settled." The Sage Master sighed and said, "Everyone, we need to discuss how to settle the affairs of those 100,000 disciples."

When the issue of 100,000 disciples was raised, the faces of many elders immediately turned sour.

Ten years ago, the Azure Cloud Sect recruited disciples on a large scale and trained them into an elite force.

Other major sects, including the Langya Sacred Land, also recruited 100,000 disciples.

Every major sect has invested a great deal of resources and energy in its 100,000 disciples, hoping to cultivate them into successful individuals.

As it turns out, this is simply unrealistic!

How could a continent with hundreds of millions of people possibly select 100,000 geniuses?

In other words, of these 100,000 people, only a portion are truly capable of cultivation.

This means that each sect has recruited a large number of mediocre talents.

These mediocre talents, if just a few, would be one thing, but tens of thousands of them have become a huge burden for every sect.

When there are many people, their thoughts become more complicated.

Especially those who are more mediocre have more complex minds.

Because of these tens of thousands of mediocre talents, the entire sect has become very unstable, not to mention that these tens of thousands of people have to consume a lot of resources to support them.

At first, all the sects felt that the Azure Cloud Sect must have other plans, so they all endured it and continued to support the 100,000 disciples.

However, now that the Azure Cloud Sect has dispatched its 100,000 disciples to cultivate spirit medicine and mines, all the other sects have realized that they seem to have been tricked!

Because the Azure Cloud Sect is already short of people!

The plan was to recruit 100,000 people, select the geniuses, and send the others who were not talented enough to cultivate Azure Cloud Sect spirit medicine and mine.

What about the other major sects?

They already had a large number of disciples engaged in cultivating spirit medicine and mining, and other industries were already saturated.

In other words, each sect suddenly gained an extra 100,000 disciples...

Of these 100,000 disciples, the vast majority are mediocre...

The Sage Master was utterly speechless.

The Azure Cloud Sect dug such a huge pit ten years ago; it's truly a terrible trap!