In the early morning of the seventh day, the east door of Wind and Snow Pass slowly opened under the gray-white skylight.
The first batch of contestants were already waiting outside the door. Some were still stained with dried blood, some had deep claw marks on their armor, and some were supporting each other with frivolous steps. No one spoke, only the sound of boots on the frozen soil was intertwined with the sounds of heavy breathing.
Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan were in the middle of the queue, slowly passing through the city gate with the flow of people.
Both of them were not clean. Qin Tiexin's leather armor was torn open on the left shoulder by Shadow Devil's claws, revealing the silver inner armor inside. Duan Xuan's red costume had a corner missing, which was burned off by the tongue of fire spewed by Flame Demon. She had cut the edge herself, so you couldn't tell without looking carefully. Apart from that, the two of them had no obvious injuries.
After checking that everything was correct and entering the customs, people gathered towards the square. A temporary registration office had been set up in the square. Several long tables were lined up, and behind each table sat a deacon responsible for verification. The contestants lined up and poured out the Devil Core they had hunted. The deacons counted, classified, converted points, and registered them one by one.
The one in the front is a team of five, all with strength-based physical training. Qin Tiexin was impressed by them when they came out of the customs. The five people's cultivation level is all at Body Tempering Ninth Layer. Two of them are even dual cultivation of body and law. Qi Refining's cultivation level has also reached Foundation Establishment Early Stage. They are well-equipped and full of confidence.
But the situation at this moment was obviously not right. Four of the five people came back, one of them had his right hand cut off, and the others were dejected and silent. After counting their Devil Core, the deacon made a note in the book, reported the points, and the four people took the registration card and turned around to leave.
In the team ahead of them, only the captain was left alive. He was wrapped in a blood-soaked cloth belt from his collar to his waist and abdomen. He was slightly stooped when he walked, as if he was conserving strength with every step. He handed over only five Devil Cores, all of them Devil Soldier level.
Duan Xuan stood next to Qin Tiexin, looking away from the crowd in the square, and whispered, "There are many fewer people coming back than when we set out."
Qin Tiexin didn't answer. He made a silent calculation in his mind - when he set off, there were more than 500 people gathered in the square, and now Devil Core turned in the square, no more than 400 by visual inspection. Many people stayed in the gray-black forest forever.
The team slowly moved forward, and it was the turn of two people.
Qin Tiexin placed the bag on the table, untied it, and poured out the Devil Core inside. Dark red, gray black, dark green - Devil Core of various colors were scattered on the wooden table, some were small and some were large. The largest one was nearly the size of a fist, with a gray-black luster. It was the Devil Core of the mid-level Horned Demon General. The deacon's eyes swept across the table, counting one by one, and occasionally flicking the smaller Devil Core with his fingers to estimate the grade. After counting, he raised his head and glanced at Qin Tiexin: "Nineteen pieces of Devil Soldier level, six heads of Demon General level - three low-level heads, three mid-level heads. The total points are four hundred and twenty-two."
The deacon made a note in the book and added, "Except for those Qi and Blood Realm, your points are considered high."
According to their request, the points were divided equally. They put away their registration cards and left the place side by side. They didn't go far. They found a place to sit cross-legged and rest, waiting for the final results of the first round and the distribution of rewards.
There were gradually more people in the square. There were returning contestants chatting in low voices, and monks responsible for treating wounds were treating the wounds of the wounded. The air was filled with the smell of blood and herbs, mixed with the smell of sweat and earth, but those who came back alive had a somewhat relaxed look on their faces after the disaster.
The elder deacon stood in the center of the square. After the registration of each team was basically completed, he raised his voice and announced, "The first round of rewards will be distributed based on hunting points. All returning teams will receive the Refined Blood Pill reward. The higher the ranking, the greater the share."
The lists were read one by one, and the called teams came forward one after another. When it was the turn of the "Ding-Sixteen" team, Qin Tiexin stepped forward and took two jade bottles from the deacon's hands. Each jade bottle contained ten Refined Blood Pill, dark red in color, The surface had an oily luster. "According to the rules, the Devil Core obtained from the hunt belongs to you and will not be recycled by the conference." The deacon added, "If you want to exchange Refined Blood Pill, go to the west side. There is a special exchange point over there."
Qin Tiexin nodded and walked towards the side hall with Duan Xuan.
There was a queue at the exchange point for a while. When it was their turn, the exchange disciple took a look at the registration card and the Devil Core on the table. Without asking any questions, he converted according to the market price - two Devil Soldier grade for three Refined Blood Pill, and the premium of Demon General grade was higher. After some calculations, Qin Tiexin got one hundred and sixteen Refined Blood Pill. He handed half to Duan Xuan, and Duan Xuan did not refuse, took it and put it away, saying, "Happy cooperation."
The two separated at a fork in the road and agreed to meet at the square outside the west gate tomorrow morning. Duan Xuan returned to the Golden Sun Sect's station to rest, and Qin Tiexin turned around and walked toward the inner city.
He did not go back to his residence directly, but first went around to the logistics dispatch office. When he found Deacon Wang, Deacon Wang was sitting behind the table flipping through a booklet. When he saw Qin Tiexin coming in, he raised his head and looked at him. "The people are quite neat, what's the result?"
"Not bad." Qin Tiexin said, "There is something I want to report."
Deacon Wang put the booklet aside, leaned on the back of the chair, and gestured to him.
Qin Tiexin briefly recounted what the two discovered in Devil Domain Forest - the number of high-level Demon General was significantly reduced, and the patrol density of Devil Soldier dropped significantly starting from the fourth day. Deacon Wang didn't speak after listening. After a while, he nodded. "I will sort out the situation in your direction and report it. This kind of information needs to be verified by multiple parties." He paused and added, "But the matter you reported is indeed worth paying attention to."
Qin Tiexin said no more, said goodbye and left.
In the evening, Qin Tiexin returned to C Zone Number Seven.
After closing the door, he did not light the lamp. He stood in the darkness for a while, then took off Edgeless from behind, placed it across his knees, and sat down by the bed.
He had wiped the blood stains on the surface of the blade, but there were still dried dark red traces in the gaps of the blade. He took out a clean cloth, dipped it in some water, and slowly wiped it from beginning to end, wiping off every blood stain and putting away the excess water stains. The blade was dark, with Spirit Devouring soul tattoos on it. The blade's spine was looming, with a very faint luster. During this period of time, Edgeless absorbed a large amount of Sha Qi, and the Spirit Rune in the blade seemed to be more concentrated than before. Qin Tiexin grasped the handle of the knife and weighed it in his hand.
The weight is six thousand kilograms. After activating Thousand Jun Spirit Rune, it can reach more than seven thousand kilograms. For the Peak of the Body Refining Realm's physical training, this weight is very heavy, but for him, it has begun to feel a little light.
It's not like he hasn't thought about making Edgeless heavier. Edgeless itself has the ability to absorb spiritual materials. However, if the weight of Edgeless continues to increase, the size of the blade will inevitably increase, the handle will also need to be adjusted accordingly, and the proportions of the entire knife will change. He is used to the current feel and center of gravity, and rash changes may not be a good thing.
He took Edgeless back to the storage ring and did not make a decision in a hurry.
Qin Tiexin sat at the table and took out the gray Jade Slip from the storage ring - it was the Body Refining Master Conference information given to him by Duan Xuan. He had read it several times before and had memorized most of the content. But tonight he put Jade Slip on his forehead again and read the information inside again.
When his Divine Sense was passing through the records about previous conferences, he suddenly stopped. There was a record in Jade Slip about the second round of assessment, which he had not paid much attention to before - "The second round of previous conferences was usually held near the host sect, and usually the host sect would open a trial secret realm of the sect for the contestants to use."
This time, the organizer of Body Refining Master Conference is Ice and Snow Pavilion. Ice and Snow Pavilion does not have a trial secret realm open to the public near Wind and Snow Pass. However, the conference announcement clearly stated "a new secret realm".
He put down Jade Slip and looked at the darkening sky outside the stone room.
A brand new secret realm.
This means that most of the resources inside have not been taken away. Those rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and there may even be Cultivation Method and Law Artifact left behind by predecessors. No wonder there are many Qi and Blood Realm and Body Refining monks in this conference - their real target is probably this second round of secret realms.
[Third update]
[This book is about to reach 1 million words. I have received feedback from many readers that the title of this book is not very good. In fact, I have the same idea.]
[Good news, after 1 million words, you can take a final title test and choose the best one from the five titles. Dear readers who see this, if you have any names you want to give this book, you can leave it in the comments of this paragraph. If you are finally selected by the title test, you can get a reward from the author~ღ( ´･ᴗ･`)]