“Teacher, it’s nothing. It’s just that the disciples felt their hands itch and wanted to know the power of the other holy lands. That's why we decided to spar a bit.”
Xu Zhu slightly bowed with respect, and his eyes shined. Daoist Fu Qing was satisfied with his anger. Although everyone knew what had happened, if it was actually said out loud, it would be very different.
Everyone could see the grievances between the disciples among the various holy lands, but the battles among the younger generation didn’t matter. These battles wouldn’t change anything. Only the people at the top like them could make any real impact, and as long as they were still around, everything else was insignificant.
No one spoke up against Xu Zhu. Everyone here was an elite disciple, and none of them were stupid. Zhao Jiuge took a deep look at Ye Aotian and Xu Zhu. He remembered the two of them. Currently, Xu Zhu had a faint smile on his face and was completely different from before.
Fortunately, Jiulian’s group of four hadn’t suffered much; only Zhao Jiuge’s blood flow was a bit messy. He looked at Jian Wuxian and chose to remain silent. He hadn’t really suffered any losses, and he could vent any unpleasant feelings once he was stronger.
“You’re all adults now but still fight like children. Since this was just a spar, then let us talk about the important matters.” Hei Changqing waved his sleeves and sounded like he was displeased. His sect’s disciples hadn’t suffered any losses, so he had decided to change the topic. After all, everyone here was smart, and there were some things better left unsaid.
Song Rujing unhappily pouted and muttered something. Ling Bo Re looked at her. Even Ling Bo Re couldn’t help but sigh at the strength she had displayed.
Who would have expected that such a lively scene would calm down so quickly? It was as if nothing had happened.
At this moment, Bai Wufeng arrived in the middle with a smile. He and Hei Changqing were playing good cop, bad cop. “We have discussed a few things, and due to certain matters, there will be some changes to the rules this year.”
The disciples were a bit shocked. They didn’t know what could have happened to cause the Seven Holy Lands Exchange to suddenly change. In particular, it was Zhao Jiuge’s first time participating in this kind of thing, so when he heard that there was a change, he inevitably felt nervous. He looked toward his teacher and saw that Jian Wuxian was still calm, so he relaxed. It was clear that his teacher had agreed to this matter earlier.
Aside from Elder Black, Elder White, and Elder Dawn Wind, who were still full of spirit, the Shadowless Old Lady had retreated back to the back of the Hundred Flower Valley’s group. With her aura withdrawn and her back hunched, she looked like an ordinary old lady.
“Due to the devil cultivators being overly rampant, we came to an agreement. The Chief Head Disciples of the various holy lands will form two groups and go on a mission. You will head to the nest of the devil cultivators and exterminate them.” Bai Wufeng’s voice gently echoed.
His voice wasn’t very loud, but it was like throwing a stone into a lake, setting off a shockwave. The disciples felt excitement and regret. They hadn’t expected such a fun thing to arise during the exchange. However, it seemed like only the Chief Head Disciples could participate.
Zhao Jiuge’s mouth became a bit dry. He had been inside the sect for a while, and the thought of fighting against evil cultivators made him excited. His body trembled, and he knew this was due to his excitement.
Devil cultivators were different from spirits beasts or evil spirits—they were cultivators. However, their cultivation methods were very different.
No matter how these holy lands cultivated, there was one common premise: to absorb the essence of the spiritual energy from the world. Then they would turn that spiritual energy into spirit force with various cultivation methods. The absorption of spiritual energy could be called the process of cultivation. This method was extremely slow but very steady.
Devil cultivators were different. Some of them might have been orthodox cultivators who felt that cultivator was too slow and pursued more power through cruel methods to quickly enhance their strength. They would do whatever it took, including killing innocent people and doing heinous deeds. These people were referred to as devil cultivators.
Within the Huaxia Dynasty’s 13 provinces, there were countless evil sects of various sizes, but the most famous of them was the Devil Sect. However, the Devil Sect had been very low-key recently and no one had heard of them doing heinous deeds. As for those smaller forces, the holy lands were naturally too lazy to care.
Although they wouldn’t actively seek them out, they wouldn't allow such evil sects to appear near them, especially when they were harming mortals. Whenever such things appeared, the sects would generally wipe them out.
This forced the devil cultivators to become more cautious and commit these heinous crimes in secret. Otherwise, their cultivation won’t improve.
Later, Bai Wufeng explained the reason for this arrangement, which allowed them to understand the situation.
The Huaxia Dynasty was divided into 13 provinces, and aside from the Void Suspension Monastery, the other six holy lands all occupied a province of their own. The Void Suspension Monastery’s location was mysterious and they had very few people, so they were not listed.
Among the remaining seven provinces, two of them were close to the Southern Barbarian Forest near the Barbarian Province. The land there was barren, with many fierce beasts and poisonous insects. The environment was complex and there was danger everywhere, so no one had chosen to establish their sect there.
Among the remaining five provinces, one was an endless desert, and the environment was harsh. Although there were unique treasures and spirit beasts there, they were rare. Generally, people would only go there to train, so there weren’t many people there.
Among the remaining four, aside from the Southern Province, which was close to the Eastern Sea Archipelago, the remaining three were located in the central plains. It was a very lively location, and it was where most sects chose to establish themselves.
Because the Southern Province was connected to the Eastern Sea and had connections with forces of scattered rogue cultivators in the Eastern Sea Archipelago, no sect dared to try to hold power there.
For the last few hundreds years, the world had been in relative peace. Aside from Carefree Valley disappearing a few hundred years ago, even the devil sect had become more low-profile. There hadn’t been any major events, aside from someone going crazy in an attempt to quickly gain strength and committing inhumane atrocities. However, recently, those devil sects were showing signs of resurfacing.
The discovery of devil cultivators was somewhat abnormal nowadays, and the person to discover it was the mountain lord of the Great Barbarian Mountain, the Great Devil King. This was because the discovery was near their Great Barbarian Mountain, in the two provinces near their Barbarian Province.
There were no signs of these situations in the other provinces. Those two provinces were complex and dangerous, so people normally didn’t go there. Even if these devil cultivators were found, it would be easy to escape, which was likely why they had chosen those two provinces to do terrible things.
The higher-ups of the holy lands decided something was suspicious and wondered if it was a sign of things to come. They had decided to send the Chief Head Disciples of each holy land to deal with these devil cultivators. Their strength was enough to deal with these devil cultivators, and they could scope out the situation while getting some experience.
If they didn’t experience wind and rain, they could never grow. If it wasn’t for the fact that they wanted their disciples to grow, any one of them could take a trip and slaughter those devil cultivators.
The Great Devil King had proposed this matter and Daoist Fu Qing was the one who had advocated it. The other holy lands had no reason to refuse, even though they didn't know what Daoist Fu Qing was planning. However, since exterminating devil cultivators was the objective, they couldn’t refuse. As long as the safety of the Chief Head Disciples was ensured, they were happy to comply. In a way, this was a way of preparing for the Battle Competition in two years. Jian Wuxian had decided that once this matter was over, he would send Zhao Jiuge out to train. Then he would return to lead the disciples in the Battle Competition.
Bai Wufeng explained the situation and then glanced at the Chief Head Disciples of the various holy lands with a smile. Finally, his gaze stopped on Zhao Jiuge, and he said, “There are a total of two provinces, so divide into two groups. I think the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect’s Zhao Jiuge should get to choose. After all, your cultivation is the weakest here.”
As soon as he heard this, Zhao Jiuge’s mouth twitched and he thought, “You’re a Mahayana Realm cultivator, yet have to try to trigger junior like me with your words.”
The people here could naturally see through the cultivation of all the disciples here at a glance. The Song siblings and the Hundred Flower Valley’s Ling Bo Re were the strongest here, followed by Ye Aotian and Xu Zhu. Jiang Fuding and Zhao Jiuge were the weakest two, who hadn’t even reached the Nascent Soul Realm yet. Zhao Jiuge’s cultivation was even lower than some of the elite disciples.
Bai Wufeng’s words were nothing but mockery for Zhao Jiuge’s weak cultivation. Mocking that the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect was getting weaker and weaker each generation.
“How about we exempt Zhao Jiuge this time? After all, his cultivation is weaker, and there might be some life-threatening danger. It would be bad if he got injured.”
Hearing this, Zhao Jiuge’s expression suddenly changed. He could allow others to mock him. After all, his cultivation was indeed low, but as long as he knew his own strength, it was enough. However, if he didn’t go because he was scared, then he would really bring shame to the sect. He wouldn’t allow himself to do such a thing.
“Elder Bai doesn’t need to worry. Cultivation is like walking against the flow. If I don’t advance, then I’m regressing. If I were afraid of a little danger, how could I talk about ascending to become an immortal? I’ll definitely participate.” Zhao Jiuge’s voice was a little cold. Even when facing a Mahayana Realm cultivator, his tone was not kind.
“Okay. It’s fine if your cultivation is weak, because no matter how weak you are now, as long as you’re determined and not afraid of danger, your cultivation will improve. Besides, which one of us wasn’t weak in the past? We improved step by step.” Originally, Jian Wuxian was too lazy to bother with Bai Wufeng’s taunts. However, Bai Wufeng had repeatedly attacked Zhao Jiuge, so he had to launch a rebuttal.
Facing this pointless verbal strife, the rest of the holy lands just watched with indifference. They were more worried about sending their disciples to deal with the devil cultivators.
“Okay, since that’s the case, Zhao Jiuge, you can choose your group.” Bai Wufeng smiled. He didn’t mind Jian Wuxian’s words at all.
After he spoke, everyone’s gazes landed on Zhao Jiuge. They wanted to see who Zhao Jiuge would choose. This was a matter of life and death, so the choice of companions was crucial. Otherwise, internal conflict would arise before anything happened.
“Teacher, it’s nothing. It’s just that the disciples felt their hands itch and wanted to know the power of the other holy lands. That's why we decided to spar a bit.”
Xu Zhu slightly bowed with respect, and his eyes shined. Daoist Fu Qing was satisfied with his anger. Although everyone knew what had happened, if it was actually said out loud, it would be very different.
Everyone could see the grievances between the disciples among the various holy lands, but the battles among the younger generation didn’t matter. These battles wouldn’t change anything. Only the people at the top like them could make any real impact, and as long as they were still around, everything else was insignificant.
No one spoke up against Xu Zhu. Everyone here was an elite disciple, and none of them were stupid. Zhao Jiuge took a deep look at Ye Aotian and Xu Zhu. He remembered the two of them. Currently, Xu Zhu had a faint smile on his face and was completely different from before.
Fortunately, Jiulian’s group of four hadn’t suffered much; only Zhao Jiuge’s blood flow was a bit messy. He looked at Jian Wuxian and chose to remain silent. He hadn’t really suffered any losses, and he could vent any unpleasant feelings once he was stronger.
“You’re all adults now but still fight like children. Since this was just a spar, then let us talk about the important matters.” Hei Changqing waved his sleeves and sounded like he was displeased. His sect’s disciples hadn’t suffered any losses, so he had decided to change the topic. After all, everyone here was smart, and there were some things better left unsaid.
Song Rujing unhappily pouted and muttered something. Ling Bo Re looked at her. Even Ling Bo Re couldn’t help but sigh at the strength she had displayed.
Who would have expected that such a lively scene would calm down so quickly? It was as if nothing had happened.
At this moment, Bai Wufeng arrived in the middle with a smile. He and Hei Changqing were playing good cop, bad cop. “We have discussed a few things, and due to certain matters, there will be some changes to the rules this year.”
The disciples were a bit shocked. They didn’t know what could have happened to cause the Seven Holy Lands Exchange to suddenly change. In particular, it was Zhao Jiuge’s first time participating in this kind of thing, so when he heard that there was a change, he inevitably felt nervous. He looked toward his teacher and saw that Jian Wuxian was still calm, so he relaxed. It was clear that his teacher had agreed to this matter earlier.
Aside from Elder Black, Elder White, and Elder Dawn Wind, who were still full of spirit, the Shadowless Old Lady had retreated back to the back of the Hundred Flower Valley’s group. With her aura withdrawn and her back hunched, she looked like an ordinary old lady.
“Due to the devil cultivators being overly rampant, we came to an agreement. The Chief Head Disciples of the various holy lands will form two groups and go on a mission. You will head to the nest of the devil cultivators and exterminate them.” Bai Wufeng’s voice gently echoed.
His voice wasn’t very loud, but it was like throwing a stone into a lake, setting off a shockwave. The disciples felt excitement and regret. They hadn’t expected such a fun thing to arise during the exchange. However, it seemed like only the Chief Head Disciples could participate.
Zhao Jiuge’s mouth became a bit dry. He had been inside the sect for a while, and the thought of fighting against evil cultivators made him excited. His body trembled, and he knew this was due to his excitement.
Devil cultivators were different from spirits beasts or evil spirits—they were cultivators. However, their cultivation methods were very different.
No matter how these holy lands cultivated, there was one common premise: to absorb the essence of the spiritual energy from the world. Then they would turn that spiritual energy into spirit force with various cultivation methods. The absorption of spiritual energy could be called the process of cultivation. This method was extremely slow but very steady.
Devil cultivators were different. Some of them might have been orthodox cultivators who felt that cultivator was too slow and pursued more power through cruel methods to quickly enhance their strength. They would do whatever it took, including killing innocent people and doing heinous deeds. These people were referred to as devil cultivators.
Within the Huaxia Dynasty’s 13 provinces, there were countless evil sects of various sizes, but the most famous of them was the Devil Sect. However, the Devil Sect had been very low-key recently and no one had heard of them doing heinous deeds. As for those smaller forces, the holy lands were naturally too lazy to care.
Although they wouldn’t actively seek them out, they wouldn't allow such evil sects to appear near them, especially when they were harming mortals. Whenever such things appeared, the sects would generally wipe them out.
This forced the devil cultivators to become more cautious and commit these heinous crimes in secret. Otherwise, their cultivation won’t improve.
Later, Bai Wufeng explained the reason for this arrangement, which allowed them to understand the situation.
The Huaxia Dynasty was divided into 13 provinces, and aside from the Void Suspension Monastery, the other six holy lands all occupied a province of their own. The Void Suspension Monastery’s location was mysterious and they had very few people, so they were not listed.
Among the remaining seven provinces, two of them were close to the Southern Barbarian Forest near the Barbarian Province. The land there was barren, with many fierce beasts and poisonous insects. The environment was complex and there was danger everywhere, so no one had chosen to establish their sect there.
Among the remaining five provinces, one was an endless desert, and the environment was harsh. Although there were unique treasures and spirit beasts there, they were rare. Generally, people would only go there to train, so there weren’t many people there.
Among the remaining four, aside from the Southern Province, which was close to the Eastern Sea Archipelago, the remaining three were located in the central plains. It was a very lively location, and it was where most sects chose to establish themselves.
Because the Southern Province was connected to the Eastern Sea and had connections with forces of scattered rogue cultivators in the Eastern Sea Archipelago, no sect dared to try to hold power there.
For the last few hundreds years, the world had been in relative peace. Aside from Carefree Valley disappearing a few hundred years ago, even the devil sect had become more low-profile. There hadn’t been any major events, aside from someone going crazy in an attempt to quickly gain strength and committing inhumane atrocities. However, recently, those devil sects were showing signs of resurfacing.
The discovery of devil cultivators was somewhat abnormal nowadays, and the person to discover it was the mountain lord of the Great Barbarian Mountain, the Great Devil King. This was because the discovery was near their Great Barbarian Mountain, in the two provinces near their Barbarian Province.
There were no signs of these situations in the other provinces. Those two provinces were complex and dangerous, so people normally didn’t go there. Even if these devil cultivators were found, it would be easy to escape, which was likely why they had chosen those two provinces to do terrible things.
The higher-ups of the holy lands decided something was suspicious and wondered if it was a sign of things to come. They had decided to send the Chief Head Disciples of each holy land to deal with these devil cultivators. Their strength was enough to deal with these devil cultivators, and they could scope out the situation while getting some experience.
If they didn’t experience wind and rain, they could never grow. If it wasn’t for the fact that they wanted their disciples to grow, any one of them could take a trip and slaughter those devil cultivators.
The Great Devil King had proposed this matter and Daoist Fu Qing was the one who had advocated it. The other holy lands had no reason to refuse, even though they didn't know what Daoist Fu Qing was planning. However, since exterminating devil cultivators was the objective, they couldn’t refuse. As long as the safety of the Chief Head Disciples was ensured, they were happy to comply. In a way, this was a way of preparing for the Battle Competition in two years. Jian Wuxian had decided that once this matter was over, he would send Zhao Jiuge out to train. Then he would return to lead the disciples in the Battle Competition.
Bai Wufeng explained the situation and then glanced at the Chief Head Disciples of the various holy lands with a smile. Finally, his gaze stopped on Zhao Jiuge, and he said, “There are a total of two provinces, so divide into two groups. I think the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect’s Zhao Jiuge should get to choose. After all, your cultivation is the weakest here.”
As soon as he heard this, Zhao Jiuge’s mouth twitched and he thought, “You’re a Mahayana Realm cultivator, yet have to try to trigger junior like me with your words.”
The people here could naturally see through the cultivation of all the disciples here at a glance. The Song siblings and the Hundred Flower Valley’s Ling Bo Re were the strongest here, followed by Ye Aotian and Xu Zhu. Jiang Fuding and Zhao Jiuge were the weakest two, who hadn’t even reached the Nascent Soul Realm yet. Zhao Jiuge’s cultivation was even lower than some of the elite disciples.
Bai Wufeng’s words were nothing but mockery for Zhao Jiuge’s weak cultivation. Mocking that the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect was getting weaker and weaker each generation.
“How about we exempt Zhao Jiuge this time? After all, his cultivation is weaker, and there might be some life-threatening danger. It would be bad if he got injured.”
Hearing this, Zhao Jiuge’s expression suddenly changed. He could allow others to mock him. After all, his cultivation was indeed low, but as long as he knew his own strength, it was enough. However, if he didn’t go because he was scared, then he would really bring shame to the sect. He wouldn’t allow himself to do such a thing.
“Elder Bai doesn’t need to worry. Cultivation is like walking against the flow. If I don’t advance, then I’m regressing. If I were afraid of a little danger, how could I talk about ascending to become an immortal? I’ll definitely participate.” Zhao Jiuge’s voice was a little cold. Even when facing a Mahayana Realm cultivator, his tone was not kind.
“Okay. It’s fine if your cultivation is weak, because no matter how weak you are now, as long as you’re determined and not afraid of danger, your cultivation will improve. Besides, which one of us wasn’t weak in the past? We improved step by step.” Originally, Jian Wuxian was too lazy to bother with Bai Wufeng’s taunts. However, Bai Wufeng had repeatedly attacked Zhao Jiuge, so he had to launch a rebuttal.
Facing this pointless verbal strife, the rest of the holy lands just watched with indifference. They were more worried about sending their disciples to deal with the devil cultivators.
“Okay, since that’s the case, Zhao Jiuge, you can choose your group.” Bai Wufeng smiled. He didn’t mind Jian Wuxian’s words at all.
After he spoke, everyone’s gazes landed on Zhao Jiuge. They wanted to see who Zhao Jiuge would choose. This was a matter of life and death, so the choice of companions was crucial. Otherwise, internal conflict would arise before anything happened.
