Early the next morning, news that the newly risen Evergreen Sect had wiped out the Myriad Demon Abyss spread for hundreds of li around.
After an entire night of pursuit by the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, Tie Dali and Liu Yurou, all the Myriad Demon Abyss cultivators who had been away were also slain.
Thus, the Myriad Demon Abyss, a demonic force that had roamed unchecked across this land for decades, ceased to exist.
When Tie Dali and Liu Yurou led the sect's disciples back to the Evergreen Sect, he also brought back a piece of news.
There was something strange deep within the Myriad Demon Abyss. Lin Feng made a mental note of it for now, without any intention of going to investigate.
Although Lin Feng had not accompanied them on this expedition, he had already prepared a welcoming feast at the sect for the returning disciples.
He had even personally caught several spirit sheep from the mountain behind the sect and handed them to Lu Daxi, who possessed the [God of Cooking in the World] trait, to prepare into dishes.
Although the antelopes on the rear mountain had yet to enter the Qi Refining Realm, nourished by the Evergreen Sect's terrifying concentration of spiritual energy, they already had traces of spiritual essence within their bodies.
Lu Daxi could perfectly preserve the food's spiritual essence during cooking.
Although it appeared to be food, it was actually a medicinal catalyst that could promote a certain increase in cultivation. This was the ability of Lu Daxi's trait.
The disciples who had suffered minor injuries eagerly dug into the whole-sheep banquet Lu Daxi had personally prepared.
As piece after piece of mutton and spoonful after spoonful of exquisite mutton soup entered their stomachs, they felt warmth spread throughout their bodies. Their minor injuries and the fatigue from traveling through the night vanished instantly.
After eating the meal, Tie Dali also found that the lingering hidden injury in his arm, sustained while fighting the Purple-Stripe Demon Ape during the second week's trial, had been cleared away. His right hand felt completely at ease.
Liu Yurou, who had fought the demonic lord of the Myriad Demon Abyss today, had suffered some internal injuries. Although she had taken several healing pills to stabilize them, she still needed several days to recuperate.
Yet after eating this mutton meal, she felt her condition recover instantly. Even the hidden injuries that might have lingered were cleared away at once.
Only then did the disciples realize how formidable Lu Daxi was, and only at this moment did they understand why the sect master had accepted him as a personal disciple.
This was also Lu Daxi's first time cooking food containing spiritual essence.
To his delight and surprise, he discovered that some of the spiritual essence in the food flowed into his body during the cooking process.
At this moment, he felt a mysterious current of energy cleansing his body, leaving his whole frame much more relaxed.
He privately guessed that this was the cultivation path the sect master had said belonged to him.
Lu Daxi's eyes shone with golden light. After all, no one wanted to remain nothing but a cook for their entire life.
Seeing the gratitude and admiration on countless disciples' faces, Lu Daxi also felt a sense of pride and belonging.
After eating his fill, Tie Dali patted Lu Daxi on the shoulder and said frankly:
"My good junior brother, your food is truly delicious, and it even healed my hidden injury. If anyone dares bully you from now on, just give them my name.
If any spirit beast catches your eye in the future, just tell me, too. I might want a taste of that spirit beast myself."
At this moment, Lu Daxi truly earned Tie Dali's and Liu Yurou's recognition.
Tie Dali decided to first forge a set of superior cooking utensils for Lu Daxi. After all, eating well and eating one's fill depended on the cook.
After the Evergreen Sect's disciples began resting and recuperating, another announcement came from Sect World 999. The third week's contest had begun.
[Sect World 999 announcement: The third week's contest has officially begun. This week's contest will measure sect disciples' progress in cultivating techniques.] [Technique cultivation progress includes the introductory stage, minor accomplishment stage, major accomplishment stage, consummate mastery stage, pinnacle stage, and so on.] [For a low-grade Yellow-tier technique, reaching the introductory stage awards 1 point; reaching minor accomplishment awards 5 points; reaching major accomplishment awards 20 points; reaching consummate mastery awards 50 points; reaching the pinnacle awards 100 points.] [For a middle-grade Yellow-tier technique, points at each stage are doubled compared with a low-grade Yellow-tier technique. The same progression applies to high-grade Yellow-tier techniques and Profound-tier techniques.] [If a disciple has cultivated multiple techniques to different stages, the total points for all techniques cultivated by that disciple will be counted.] [Note: There will be no trial this week. However, to accelerate all sects' technique cultivation progress, the flow of time within every sect will be increased a hundredfold this week. All sects, please make the most of your time and cultivate diligently.] [The ranking rewards for this week's contest are as follows: 1st place: Complete high-grade Profound-tier technique ×1, middle-grade Profound-tier technique ×1, Dao Comprehension Spirit Liquid ×3, high-grade spirit stones ×200. 2nd place: Middle-grade Profound-tier technique ×1, low-grade Profound-tier technique ×1, Dao Comprehension Spirit Liquid ×2, high-grade spirit stones ×100. 3rd place: Middle-grade Profound-tier technique ×1, Dao Comprehension Spirit Liquid ×1, middle-grade spirit stones ×5,000. 4th-10th place: Low-grade Profound-tier technique ×1, middle-grade spirit stones ×2,000. 11th-100th place: Low-grade Profound-tier technique ×1, middle-grade spirit stones ×1,000. Top 10%: High-grade Yellow-tier techniques ×2, middle-grade spirit stones ×800. Top 30%: High-grade Yellow-tier techniques ×2, middle-grade spirit stones ×500. Top 50%: High-grade Yellow-tier technique ×1, middle-grade spirit stones ×100. Top 80%: High-grade Yellow-tier technique ×1, low-grade spirit stones ×3,000.
Lin Feng looked at this week's ranking rewards. First place would receive a complete high-grade Profound-tier technique, a middle-grade Profound-tier technique, two portions of Dao Comprehension Spirit Liquid, and one hundred high-grade spirit stones.
What Lin Feng coveted most were that complete high-grade Profound-tier technique and the middle-grade Profound-tier technique.
Although the Evergreen Sect had ranked first in both the contests and trials of the previous two weeks, it still possessed only one low-grade Profound-tier technique. The upper limit of its techniques still needed to be raised.
When Lin Feng saw the other sects discussing in the world channel how the flow of time within their sects had changed a hundredfold, he finally realized that his own sect had shown no response at all.
It seemed the unique nature of the sect's golden trait, [One Day Like a Year], was taking effect. Sect World's hundredfold time acceleration did not work on their Evergreen Sect this time. Lin Feng was not surprised.
Even with the other sects also enjoying a hundredfold flow of time, one day outside amounted to only a hundred days within their sects. For their Evergreen Sect, however, one day outside was a year within, giving them a flow of time three times higher than the other sects.
Moreover, the Evergreen Sect had already enjoyed this during the previous two weeks. Its technique cultivation progress should have been far ahead of the other sects, so Lin Feng was not worried.
If the other top-ten sects, such as the Daoxuan Sect, could surpass the Evergreen Sect disciples' technique cultivation progress with just one short week of hundredfold time acceleration, despite those disciples having enjoyed the [One Day Like a Year] trait for a full half month already, then the Evergreen Sect might as well forgo first place.
Unfortunately, when this week's contest leaderboard appeared, the Evergreen Sect already sat firmly in first place.
Not only did its points far exceed those of the other sects, even the combined points of the top ten sects fell far short of the Evergreen Sect's.