The Mingyi Hexagram Position, Blades Crossed

"All cultivators participating in this Recruitment Tournament, assemble at the Welcoming Hall at once!"

A deep, commanding voice rang directly through every cultivator's sea of consciousness, jolting their minds.

Everyone swiftly gathered again.

The Teleportation Array lit up once more with dazzling radiance. Their vision blurred, and the next moment, they stood in the center of an enormous plaza.

The plaza was meticulously paved with lustrous white jade and obsidian, arranged into an immense taiji diagram of the twin yin-yang fish.

Spiritual light flowed where yin and yang met, its mysteries beyond words.

Towering mountain ranges encircled the plaza. Several magnificent halls were built along their contours, even more exquisite than the grandest dragon towers and phoenix pavilions of the mortal world.

Cloud and mist wreathed the terraces and pavilions, Immortal Cranes wheeled and gathered, and Spirit Birds sang—a true vision of an immortal sanctuary.

The plaza was now a boiling sea of voices. Cultivators clustered in groups of three or five, some marveling at the spectacular sights within the immortal sect, others boasting of their own abilities and spells.

The shrewder cultivators sought out fellow practitioners everywhere, hoping to secure a little extra support during the tournament.

Suddenly, a strange ripple of Dharma Power came from above the plaza.

The next instant, the clamoring voices cut off.

It was not that everyone had been frightened into silence by an oppressive aura. They were still talking, plainly watching their own mouths open and close, yet not a single sound emerged.

The cultivators exchanged bewildered looks, and panic swiftly spread through the crowd.

Hold on, fellow Daoist.

What was this supposed to be?

Mo Chen opened his mouth, but he too made no sound.

Then a middle-aged cultivator in a blue-green Daoist robe appeared above the plaza, standing in midair. He cupped his hands toward all four directions in apology. "Please remain calm, fellow Daoists. I cast the Silence Spell merely to quiet everyone down. I meant no offense."

Only then did the crowd gradually settle.

"Emerging Cloud Peak's Recruitment Tournament is about to begin. Shortly, please proceed to the appropriate buildings according to the groups indicated on your Contest Tokens and follow the examiners' instructions."

As soon as he finished speaking, the tightness in their throats abruptly eased.

"We can speak again."

"Obviously. The senior lifted his spell."

"The Silence Spell may only be a minor Qi Refining Realm spell, but to control so many people at once, this senior must be at least a Golden Core Realm elder, right?"

The discussions became much quieter, their tones carrying a new measure of reverence.

The written examination was straightforward enough.

Following the directions of Emerging Cloud Peak's disciples, Mo Chen was assigned to a small, separate room. Each compartment had a restriction against Divine Sense; any attempt to probe through it would trigger a piece of Fluorite to light up in warning, immediately invalidating the examinee's result.

The examination lasted two hours. Each paper would be reviewed jointly by at least three examiners, scored on the spot, and the examinee informed whether they had been accepted.

The entire paper contained just one question.

Discuss how to balance relations among the various tiers of sects administering a jurisdiction while avoiding an uprising by rogue cultivators.

Mo Chen stared at the line for half a cup of tea's worth of time, then picked up his brush and wrote.

After finishing, he read it over, decided it was not quite good enough, and revised several passages.

He read it again after the revisions. It still was not quite good enough.

Two hours later.

Unsurprisingly, however...

He failed...

Even if he had spent nearly a hundred years steeped in the Scripture Pavilion, this was not the sort of question a rogue cultivator like him could answer brilliantly.

The cultivators selected by the examiners beamed with delight and congratulated one another.

Passing the written examination made them civil officials of the Immortal Alliance. In the future, they would do work such as helping people make tokens or Storage Bags at the Welcoming Hall. That counted as a promising future.

Mo Chen withdrew his gaze.

Having failed the written examination, he still had the martial tournament.

And he still had a month to prepare for it.

Mo Chen returned to his Cave Abode at the foot of the mountain and continued diligently cultivating the Flame-Drinking Art.

This time, he dug out the Sixty Na Yin Compendium and tailored his cultivation to the key characteristics of his fire spiritual root.

Fire was the favorable element in his Eight Characters, and his Five-Note Resonance was fire in the furnace. If he gathered flames in a place of intense heat to simulate the environment of a Pill Furnace, he could accelerate his Heavenly Cycle by half.

Thus, Mo Chen summoned eight firebirds in his cultivation room to wheel around him.

The temperature in the room soared. Sitting cross-legged in the heart of the sea of fire, Mo Chen swallowed flames and regulated his breathing according to the Flame-Drinking Art, supplementing it with several Qi Cores.

As the month drew to a close, Mo Chen slowly exhaled a stream of scorching white breath.

Whoosh!

He had finally perfected the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, and it seemed that only the slightest opportunity stood between him and a breakthrough to the ninth.

Mo Chen was secretly delighted. Cultivating according to his spiritual root's Five-Note Resonance really did allow him to advance at tremendous speed.

Three more days passed, and the day of the recruitment martial tournament arrived.

Mo Chen reached the foot of the mountain on time.

Although the written examination had already selected some cultivators to serve as civil officials, the foot of the mountain was still a sea of people. The status of an Immortal Alliance disciple was simply too enticing for anyone to give up lightly.

Suddenly, the plaza's ground shook violently. Amid thunderous rumbling, sixty-four enormous stone platforms slowly rose from it beneath the crowd's astonished gazes.

Each stone platform stood about ten feet high, with a spacious surface. The names of the sixty-four hexagrams were engraved around their sides.

Water and fire in harmony...

Coming to meet...

The lettering was ancient and bold, faint spiritual light flowing through it. A thin barrier enveloped the edge of each platform.

It took Mo Chen some effort to find the fighting platform marked "Mingyi."

From a distance, it had not seemed especially large. Only up close did he realize that its surface had a radius of ninety feet.

That was ample room for cultivators to fight without holding back.

Sixty-four examiners descended from the sky, each landing on a stone platform. All possessed extraordinary bearing, and their cultivation was impossible to discern. Clearly, they were Elite Disciples of Emerging Cloud Peak.

The examiner on the Mingyi platform announced the rules in a ringing voice that reached every spectator clearly.

"Once the tournament begins, two cultivators' names will be drawn at random. Those whose names are called must immediately come onto the platform to fight. Anyone who fails to arrive within half an hour will forfeit, and their opponent will advance directly."

After a brief pause, the examiner continued, "This tournament is divided into groups according to the sixty-four hexagrams of the Book of Changes, with five hundred and twelve participants in each group. Eight will ultimately be selected to enter the finals. Fifteen days after the preliminary rounds conclude, the sect master and elders will personally attend the finals at the Dao-Seeking Platform."

The examiner took two dark beads from his sleeve. "Before each match begins, both participants will receive a Mystic Pearl. During the match, you need only activate it with your hand or divine sense to shatter it. Shattering the Mystic Pearl constitutes surrender, and the examiner will immediately activate the formation to separate both sides."

Then the examiner's tone abruptly grew stern. "If you do not shatter your Mystic Pearl, life and death on the fighting platform are left to fate. The examiners will not intervene under any circumstances. Although our sect understands the dangers of magical combat, we hope that all fellow Daoists will uphold martial virtue and stop once the outcome is decided."

Mo Chen committed these rules to memory.

Since each group's examiner called numbers at random, no one dared leave without permission. They could only remain beside the Mingyi platform, meditating and attentively observing every movement on it.

"Number one and number one hundred and eighty-one. Number one, take the yang position. Number one hundred and eighty-one, take the yin position."

The examiner's voice was loud, yet carried a touch of indolence.

Mo Chen looked him over. He appeared to have established his foundation in his forties or fifties. His face shone with oil, and his body was corpulent. Even the specially tailored, oversized robe Emerging Cloud Peak had provided could not conceal his protruding belly.

The moment his words fell, two figures leaped onto the platform.

One wore a blue-green robe and had a lithe build. The other wore an ocher robe and looked exceedingly composed.

"Please present your Contest Tokens." The examiner casually cupped his hands.

The two cultivators respectfully returned the gesture, then presented their tokens with both hands.

The examiner swept them with his divine sense. "Go stand over there and fight!"

"Your Contest Tokens will be returned after the match. Take these—your Mystic Pearls."

The two dark beads landed precisely in their hands.

The entire process was brisk and efficient, without a single unnecessary movement.

The examiner then rose into the air, hovering above the fighting platform, and pointed down from afar.

"The first match of the Mingyi group begins."

In an instant, a translucent protective dome rose from the stone platform's edge, enclosing the entire arena.

The two participants saluted each other, then immediately took their stances.

Mo Chen held his breath and focused, knowing that watching others fight was an excellent opportunity to study the application of spells.

The blue-robed cultivator in the yang position extended his right hand. A short saber shimmering with blue-green light appeared in his palm, its blade a little over a foot long and radiating a biting chill.

The yellow-robed cultivator in the yin position immediately flipped backward, his hands already forming seals while he was still airborne.

In moments, dust flew across the arena. A thick haze rapidly spread, obscuring the view.

The blue-robed cultivator's lips curved slightly. He pointed lightly toward his opponent, and the short saber became a streak of light, slicing through the dusty haze toward him.

Yet the yellow-robed cultivator remained unhurried, making a grasping motion before him with one hand. The swirling dust rapidly gathered into his palm, forming a solid stone shield in the blink of an eye.

Clang.

The short saber struck the stone shield, sending sparks flying, but its tip could not advance another inch.

The blue-robed cultivator's expression shifted slightly. Clearly, he had not expected such formidable defenses.

Seeing this, the yellow-robed man pressed his palm downward. The stone shield slammed heavily to the ground, taking the short saber with it. He then lightly tapped a falling stone with his toes and used it to propel himself forward, bringing forth an ocher halberd that went straight for his opponent's vitals.

"This match is already over."

Just then, the blue-robed cultivator flickered and vanished from where he stood.

The Earth-Escape Technique?

Mo Chen raised his brows slightly. Using an earth escape in front of an earth-element cultivator took some nerve.

The yellow-robed cultivator sneered. "Showing off your ax before the master carpenter? This arena is only so big. Where can you hide?"

He pressed a single palm downward. The entire arena shook violently, and countless sharp spikes burst from the earth, covering every corner of the platform.

Suddenly, the blue-robed cultivator shot out of the earth near his short saber. Channeling the Giant Strength Technique through his right hand, he shattered the stone trapping the weapon with a palm strike and seized it again.

As he poured Dharma Power into it furiously, the short saber blazed with blue light. Then it conjured two blade phantoms indistinguishable from the real thing, attacking the yellow-robed cultivator's head from three directions.

Their speed was more than twice what it had been before.

Three blades, three directions.

Not bad. I learned something.

The Dark Gold Sword Art he had obtained from that old prince also contained a method for splitting sword light into three.

After splitting, they abruptly accelerated, weaving and changing course to seal off the opponent's movements before finally forcing them into a dead end.

Since they share the same source, I can learn all of it!

At the sight, the yellow-robed cultivator's pupils abruptly contracted. He knew it was already too late to form a shield and block the attack.

At this moment when his life hung by a thread, the yellow-robed cultivator reached into his Storage Bag without hesitation, took out his Mystic Pearl, and crushed it.