Watching the Mountain

Chapter 46: Chapter 40: Stop

Xu Ran looked at the young man before him, puzzled. The man was dressed in a flame Daoist robe, and the people behind him wore the same attire—clearly a sect uniform. There was nothing strange about that.

Everyone attending the sect competition dressed this way. Xu Ran himself had shed his usual gray robes and changed into the Profound Pure Sect’s cyan and white Daoist robe. In fact, it was the first time he had worn it since joining the sect.

The young man was handsome, with an extraordinary bearing, and he emanated the spiritual power fluctuations of the Foundation Establishment Stage. Aside from their leader, he was the only Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator in the group.

He clasped his hands in a return salute and asked, his expression puzzled, ”I am Xu Ran of the Profound Pure Sect. I greet you, Senior. May I ask your name, and why you are thanking me?”

The young man smiled awkwardly. ”I forgot to introduce myself.”

He then formally clasped his fist in salute to Xu Ran and said, ”Qin Yufeng, a True Inheritance disciple of the Flame Sun Sect.”

After speaking, his gaze fell, his expression tinged with melancholy. ”As for why I’m thanking you, Fellow Daoist Xu, you’ll understand if you just look at the team behind me.”

He shook his head slightly and sighed. ”If it weren’t for you, Fellow Daoist Xu, our sect honestly wouldn’t have known whether we should even come to the competition.”

Xu Ran froze for a moment at his words, recalling the intelligence he’d previously read about the various sects.

The Flame Sun Sect was considered a long-established Nascent Soul Sect in Changqing County. In the ten thousand-plus years since its founding, every generation had been presided over by a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.

For some reason, however, in all those millennia, they had never managed to produce a second simultaneous Nascent Soul cultivator, except during the transitional period with Elder Qing.

This time, after completing the succession, both Nascent Soul Stage cultivators had gone to the battlefield. But the newly promoted one had perished, and the remaining Old Sect Leader was already over 2,700 years old. With a Nascent Soul Stage lifespan of three thousand years, it was uncertain whether the Flame Sun Sect could manage a new succession in the time he had left.

Furthermore, it was said the sect had suffered heavy casualties on the battlefield. Not long ago, they were also attacked by a group of Evil Cultivators, which resulted in equally devastating losses.

Recalling this information, Xu Ran glanced again at the people behind Qin Yufeng. In their group, aside from him and one other Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, the rest were all at the Qi Cultivation Stage.

This was clearly not the kind of delegation a Nascent Soul Sect ought to send.

Seeing their situation, Xu Ran fell silent.

Qin Yufeng saw his reaction and chuckled. ”Now you should understand why I wanted to thank you, Fellow Daoist Xu. If it weren’t for you, all the sects wouldn’t have tacitly agreed to send teams led by Qi Cultivation cultivators. We really wouldn’t have known whether to show up or not.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Xu Ran asked tentatively, ”Senior, is your sect’s situation really so dire?”

Qin Yufeng shook his head with a bitter smile. ”It’s even worse than you know.”

If he could, he would never have brought up his sect’s decline in front of an outsider. But the Flame Sun Sect’s situation was now common knowledge; there was no hiding it. He figured it was better to be upfront about it and appear more open-minded.

He had genuinely come to thank Xu Ran. Xu Ran’s participation had resolved the Flame Sun Sect’s awkward predicament. They could have simply not attended, but doing so would have been tantamount to announcing their withdrawal from the ranks of Nascent Soul Sects.

He then slapped his forehead and quickly added, ”Oh, right, please don’t misunderstand, Fellow Daoist. I’m not mocking your strength. The fact that you can preside over the Instructor Hall in a major sect like the Profound Pure Sect while at the Qi Cultivation Stage is a testament to your own ability. I truly admire you for it.”

He looked at Xu Ran and the group behind him with a hint of envy. He’d heard that the Profound Pure Sect had suffered some setbacks in recent years and had also fallen into a bit of a decline.

But now, on the Evil Demon Battlefield, their prodigies were emerging one after another. It was truly enviable. ’If only the Flame Sun Sect had such good fortune,’ he thought.

It seemed Qin Yufeng had really come just to say thank you, as he’d claimed. After a brief chat, he took his leave.

After he left, the members of the other sects finally came over to greet them.

There was no hostility whatsoever; everyone was polite and courteous. While the Purple Mansion and Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators greeted each other, those at the Qi Cultivation Stage also gathered around Xu Ran. They studied him with curiosity while echoing Qin Yufeng’s sentiments of gratitude.

”Thanks to you, Fellow Daoist Xu, we finally get to experience what it’s like to lead disciples to the sect competition.”

”That’s right. During the competition when I first joined the sect, I wasn’t chosen to participate. I was so envious of my peers who were selected. I never had the chance to come here in person. Now, my wish has finally been granted, filling a long-held regret.”

”It seems we’re all in the same boat. We should all be thanking Fellow Daoist Xu.”

As they talked, everyone began to laugh, and the atmosphere became very relaxed and lively.

Among cultivators, unless there was a conflict of interest or some other deep-seated grudge, meetings were typically amicable. No one would go out of their way to offend someone else.

This was especially true for a formal occasion like this. Even if relations between the sects weren’t as harmonious as they seemed, and even if there were feuds among them, they would all restrain themselves—especially upon first meeting—and present a harmless facade.

Any real conflict would have to wait until the competition officially began. That was when everyone would reveal their true colors.

The Qi Cultivation Stage leaders chatted for a while longer, making plans to sit down and discuss the Dao when they had time. Then, they returned to their respective teams to await the next steps.

*

*

*

The location for the great sect competition rotated among the sects. This time, it was hosted by the Celestial Feather Sect, located in the heart of Changqing County.

From a distance, the Celestial Feather Sect’s main gate resembled a peacock with its wings spread, which is how it got its name.

After the sects had exchanged greetings, the host, the Celestial Feather Sect, sent a Nascent Soul True Monarch to formally welcome everyone.

The Nascent Soul True Monarch spoke only a few brief words of welcome before departing. He would return to give a lecture on the Dao after the competition, which was one of its perks.

The competition was set to officially begin in seven days. In the meantime, the Celestial Feather Sect arranged accommodations for all the visiting sects.

「That evening.」 The Purple Mansion Stage cultivator leading the Profound Pure Sect delegation summoned Xu Ran and the other five team leaders for a meeting.

Once everyone was present and seated, the Purple Mansion Stage cultivator looked at Xu Ran and asked, ”Steward Xu, is it true that among the participants from your Spirit Stream Peak, there is someone at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer?”

The rosters for the competition were drawn up by the team leaders of each peak, and the sect generally didn’t interfere. He had only discovered this fact after Shen Wuchen had boarded the Flying Ship.

As soon as he finished speaking, the others all turned to Xu Ran, their faces a mixture of different expressions.

Before they set out, many had assumed that the participants from Spirit Stream Peak would be the weakest of all the branches. After all, the other Instructor Halls were now run by Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators. ’What could someone at the Qi Cultivation Stage like Xu Ran possibly teach his disciples?’

But contrary to their expectations, there was actually a Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer cultivator in the team.

The difficulty of cultivation in the Qi Cultivation Stage changed completely starting from the Seventh Layer. Not only did it require a deeper comprehension of Dao Rhyme, but the sheer amount of Spiritual Qi one needed to absorb and refine for the Seventh Layer alone was more than all the previous six layers combined.

For example, if it took a person five to ten years of purely refining Spiritual Qi to go from the beginning of their cultivation to the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer, reaching the Seventh Layer would take roughly the same amount of time. The time required for the Eighth and Ninth Layers would then increase exponentially. Furthermore, breaking through each Small Realm also required comprehending an even deeper level of Dao Rhyme.

Among the disciples sent by the various sects to this competition, there were plenty at the Qi Cultivation Fifth and Sixth Layers, but only a handful at the Seventh Layer. As for the Ninth Layer, Shen Wuchen was the only one among all the sects.

”Shen Wuchen from our Spirit Stream Peak is indeed at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer,” Xu Ran confirmed. ”However, his situation is somewhat special. His actual strength is far weaker than that of a typical cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer.”

Hearing this, the leading Purple Mansion Stage cultivator cried out in excitement, ”Excellent! Heaven is truly blessing our Profound Pure Sect!”

He turned to Xu Ran with praise. ”The sect has gained another prodigy! Steward Xu, you deserve the highest credit for this.”

’Even if he’s weaker than a normal cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer, how much weaker could he possibly be?’ he thought, completely ignoring the second half of Xu Ran’s statement.

”I’ll report this to the sect right now.” He excitedly took out a Communication Jade Talisman and spoke into it for a long time.

Xu Ran couldn’t hear what was said, but he saw the man’s face grow redder and redder with excitement. When the conversation ended, the steward slammed his hand on the table and roared:

”Alright, that’s all. Go back. For the next few days, make sure you watch that disciple closely. We can’t let anything happen to him. Once the competition begins, we will all be great heroes of the sect!”

Xu Ran was utterly bewildered. He didn’t understand until the next day, when all the sects gathered to discuss the resource-gambling segment of the competition. He watched as his own Purple Mansion leader stood up, pointed an arrogant finger at several people in the crowd, and spoke with a cold, challenging tone:

”You, you, you, and you. Do any of you dare to make a big wager with our Profound Pure Sect?”

Xu Ran followed his pointed finger and instantly recognized the targets. They were all sects that had engaged in fierce conflicts with the Profound Pure Sect in recent years.

Seeing the confident look on his leader’s face, Xu Ran suddenly understood. ’No wonder he was so excited last night! He’s planning to use this opportunity to make a wager with those sects.’ And the source of his confidence, without a doubt, was Shen Wuchen.

The realization struck Xu Ran like a lightning bolt. ’This is bad! Shen Wuchen can’t handle that kind of pressure!’

Forgetting everything else, he rushed forward to intervene. ”Steward Chen, no! Shen Wuchen is very weak! He can’t be entrusted with such a heavy responsibility! You can’t pin all our hopes on him!”