Every time Chen Jingzhai defeated his opponent, Pearl would cheer and clap.
Her little hands clapped enthusiastically, but she did not dare to make a sound for fear of being reprimanded by her master.
Inside the cave.
Su Qinghuang sat cross-legged on the stone bed and looked indifferently at Fuyunzi, who had suddenly appeared.
“Junior sister doesn’t seem to welcome my arrival?” Fuyunzi asked awkwardly.
“After becoming the headmaster, you have nothing to fear. You can even enter and leave my Xuanming Cave at will without caring about the Restrictions in the cave,” Su Qinghuang said calmly. “Why would you even care about this?”
“It’s my fault!” Headmaster Fuyun apologized. “Senior brother was rash.”
If he did not come in directly, he would not have been able to see Su Qinghuang.
Su Qinghuang clearly did not want to see him since she went through the effort of setting up the formation and Restrictions.
“Speak your mind. If not, get out!” Su Qinghuang said coldly.
“Yes, I have something to say. Junior sister, don’t be anxious,” Headmaster Fuyun immediately said. “Junior Brother Jingzhai participated in the battle forum and is fighting for first place!”
“The people of Daoxuan Peak must be very happy,” Su Qinghuang said calmly. “It has nothing to do with Hongluan Peak. So you don’t have to come over to tell me this specially.”
“How can it have nothing to do with us?” Headmaster Fuyun said patiently. “After all, Junior Brother Jingzhai was born in Hongluan Peak. He still belongs to Hongluan Peak. If he wants to start his own peak in the future, he will do it here.”
“And then?” Su Qinghuang looked at him.
“Junior Brother Jingzhai gave pointers to the disciples of the puppet lineage on the battle forum,” Headmaster Fuyun explained. “Now, the Puppet Hall has used this opportunity to explore new ideas. They have just created many popular new puppets. A hundred thousand new puppets were sold in less than three days.”
Su Qinghuang looked at him without blinking. She did not say anything.
“Junior Brother Jingzhai has contributed greatly. After discussing with Headmaster Mo Bei, I’ve decided that for every new puppet sold, a spiritual stone will be collected and sent to Hongluan Peak,” said Fuyunzi.
“Are you giving me charity?” Su Qinghuang’s eyes were filled with anger.
“This is what Hongluan Peak deserves.” Headmaster Fuyun shook his head. “Daoxuan Peak doesn’t care about this bit of benefit. Junior Brother Jingzhai doesn’t lack spiritual stones, so it shall belong to Hongluan Peak. But, junior sister, you don’t have to misunderstand. This isn’t charity but the sect’s rules. No one can go against them.”
“Which rule?” Su Qinghuang asked with a frown.
“The section of the hidden branch protection.” Headmaster Fuyun chuckled and continued, “If the hidden branch disciples make major contributions or bring huge benefits to a certain branch, a portion of it shall belong to the hidden branch.”
The hidden branch was completely dependent on the sects for survival. One of the reasons was that there were few people from the hidden branch, and many of them were single-member inheritances. One was the sect’s stipend, which was distributed according to cultivation level. The purpose of the hidden branch was to protect the sect’s heritage. They wanted to have a chance to transform from a hidden branch to a powerful branch. Therefore, there was a special rule to protect hidden branches in the sect.
“Since it conforms to the sect’s rules, the matter is settled. So I’ll accept the spiritual stones,” Su Qinghuang said calmly. “You can leave now. Don’t come and disturb me in the future.”
“Ahem, this matter isn’t over yet!” Headmaster Fuyun immediately said. “The second matter is that Junior Brother Jingzhai will go to Pulao Kingdom to participate in the Battle of Dragon after the battle forum is over. I intend to invite the sect’s Golden Core Sage to protect him, but Peak Master Yang of Daoxuan Peak doesn’t allow it, so the other peaks can’t send anyone either.”
“You want me to go down the mountain?” Su Qinghuang stared at him.
“Junior sister, how long has it been since you left the mountain?” Headmaster Fuyun did not deny it. “The Battle of Dragon in Pulao Kingdom is in a stalemate. Once the disciples of the immortal sects descend the peaks in large numbers, it will definitely be extremely intense. I originally wanted to invite a Nascent Zhenjun to be Junior Brother Jingzhai’s guardian, but it was impossible to invite him!”
“I need to comprehend a cultivation technique. I don’t have time to go down the mountain,” Su Qinghuang rejected indifferently.
“What’s the use of sitting alone in the cave?” Headmaster Fuyun shook his head and advised, “Why don’t you go down the mountain and become a guardian? After all, you don’t have to meet Junior Brother Jingzhai. Besides, Junior Brother Jingzhai’s luck is not bad. Since he can bring over the celestial scripture, maybe junior sister can achieve Nirvana in your cultivation technique by following him?”
Su Qinghuang frowned and did not say anything.
Chen Jingzhai was indeed a lucky one. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to obtain the celestial scripture. However, Su Qinghuang did not believe that it could really allow her to achieve Nirvana. After cultivating for so many years, she had a deep understanding of cultivation techniques.
Even with the Dragon and Phoenix Consummation Seal Script, she had already comprehended the Meditation Plane and Foundation Establishment Plane. Therefore, it was not that she did not gain anything. She was just trapped in the cultivation method adaptation. It was not easy for the Hongluan Sky Scripture to absorb the Dragon and Phoenix Consummation Seal Script to gain a breakthrough.
“Junior sister!” Headmaster Fuyun said, seriously. “You don’t have much time left. If you can’t reach the Nascent Plane, you will die. So at that time, there will only be Junior Brother Jingzhai on Hongluan Peak. If anything happens to him, Hongluan Peak will be removed from the branches in the future!”
“I understand!” Su Qinghuang said calmly. “When he leaves the mountain, just get someone to inform me. Now, you can leave. Don’t suddenly appear in front of me again.”
“All right, all right, all right. As long as junior sister agrees!” Headmaster Fuyun chuckled and disappeared. Just as he had arrived, he did not reveal any aura and did not alarm Little Short Legs.
“Nascent Zhenjun? Heh!” Su Qinghuang sneered and became expressionless again.
She was wearing a veil, so she was not afraid of being caught.
Now that she thought about it, what Fuyunzi had said was true. If her cultivation method adaptation failed, she would face inevitable death. It did not matter if she died, but the lineage of Hongluan Peak could not end with her. There were other benefits as well if she went down the mountain. Other than guarding Chen Jingzhai, she could also choose two disciples.
The Hongluan lineage could not end with her!
In the blink of an eye, three more days passed.
It was the 21st day of the battle forum.
Day after day, the Beginning Foundation Plane disciples in the battle forum were eliminated. Now, there were only 100 disciples left on the stage.
Other than Chen Jingzhai, there were also 15 people from the Three Great Sword Branches and 24 from the other branches.
There were 40 Beginning Foundation Plane disciples, 38 Intermediate Foundation Plane disciples, and 22 Advanced Foundation Plane disciples.
In the past 20 days, other than the elimination of the Beginning Foundation Plane disciples, some Intermediate Foundation Plane disciples were also eliminated.
Every disciple who remained had more than 200 victories. In other words, each of them had fought at least 200 battles.
Cultivators had many methods, and their power varied. Other than the Beginning Foundation Plane disciples, the other Intermediate and Advanced Foundation Plane disciples emerged victorious by a one-hit kill.
Even so, 20 days had passed since the battle forum commenced. It was now the 21st day.
The remaining 100 disciples were the elite. This was also why Daoxuan Peak would reward the top 100 disciples this time. Several disciples of Daoxuan Peak were also eliminated. However, it was not a big problem. They could still claim their reward.
Daoxuan Peak.
The Heaven and Earth Palace.
“Not bad, not bad!” Sage Hao said with a smile, “There are eight people from Daoxuan Peak who entered the top 100 this time. There are six Intermediate Foundation Plane cultivators. That’s not bad at all!”
“They’re just using spiritual items!” Peak Master Yang saw it clearly. He had been paying attention to the performance of his disciples. “The spiritual items in the hands of these disciples are not bad.”
“That also means that they’re smart enough,” Sage Hao said, smiling. “In the first place, formation masters are at a disadvantage in battle. But, since they know how to use spiritual items to overcome their disadvantage, it’s obvious that they used their brains.”
Peak Master Yang nodded in agreement.
The disciples’ cultivation levels were still very low, and formations needed time to be set up. However, in reality, formation masters were very powerful. As long as one reached the Golden Core Plane, there was a high chance of comprehending the ability to set up a formation with a thought. At that time, even if they did not rely on external objects, they could fight the enemy with just formations.
Now that the current cultivation level of the disciples was low and their attainments in formations were not high, it was not bad that they could already enter the top 100 with the help of a spiritual item. However, in the past, even if the disciples of Daoxuan Peak had spiritual items, they could not obtain the 100th place!
“It’s all thanks to Peak Master for offering the reward,” Sage Hao said with a smile. “I think they were motivated by the reward and did their best. Peak Master is brilliant.”
“There’s no need to flatter me. This is because the disciples have worked hard.” Peak Master Yang shook his head. “If the future disciples are so obedient, that would be comforting.”
“In the future, not only will the disciples use spiritual items to overcome their shortcomings, but they will also use Restrictions to fight enemies,” said Sage Hao. “Peak Master, you should be rest assured.”
“That’s true.” Peak Master Yang’s frown relaxed, and he smiled.
Mrs. Yang stood at the side and remained silent the entire time.
