Chapter 109: The Struggle Between Sacred Lands, Advancing to the Top Hundred

Although Cao Xuan’s talent in swordsmanship might be considered ordinary by other sacred grounds, within the Ziyang Sword Sect, he was seen as a promising Daoist disciple. The Azure Sound Sword Immortal understood that if he were to stand out too much, the other sacred grounds would rather let a genius be overshadowed than allow the Ziyang Sword Sect to gain an advantage. Suppressing talented individuals was a common tactic among the sacred grounds.

Between the six great sacred grounds, appearances suggested peaceful coexistence, but in truth, centuries of covert struggles had been anything but rare. Seven thousand years ago, a divine child of the Blood-Transforming Demon Sect cultivated their sect’s forbidden Blood-Transforming Demon Technique in a mortal city. Midway through, half the population unexpectedly possessed a vast, righteous energy, born to be scholars. This caused the technique to fail. Although the divine child slaughtered the city, the cultivation ultimately shattered, and he was reduced to an ordinary disciple within the sect before perishing.

Some claimed it was internal strife within the Blood-Transforming Demon Sect; others alleged it was the work of the Qianyuan Academy, using righteous principles to sacrifice half of the scholarly seeds. Six thousand years ago, a natural-born sage of Qianyuan Academy, with heavenly mandate on his lips and eloquence like flowing scripture, fell in love with a female disciple of the Hehuan Sect. Their meeting, acquaintance, and mutual understanding seemed predestined. The woman preserved her purity for this scholar, even betraying her sect to marry him.

Yet during a grand examination at Qianyuan Academy—comparable to the “Dragon Gate” test—the scholar, having won first place, returned home eager to share the news with her. Instead, he found her drugged with a potent Hehuan powder and forced into the embrace of a group of burly men, publicly belittled as inferior to them in intimate matters. This shattered the scholar’s spirit; the sage departed, leaving only a common man behind.

Such acts were believed to be orchestrated by the Jade Maiden Sect to prevent Qianyuan Academy from producing another living sage. Five thousand years ago, the Daoist master of the Xuanhua Sect… Four thousand years ago, the Saintess of the Jade Maiden Sect… Three thousand years ago, the natural sword genius of the Ziyang Sword Sect… Two thousand years ago, the Golden Zen Master of the Holy Dragon Temple… Over the millennia, while the Great Dao was arduous, the sacred grounds constantly schemed against one another.

In the end, those who reached the pinnacle were often those with first-rate cultivation talent but poor spiritual roots, like the one Bai Tianxiang once mentioned. Even so, this did not mean they ceased recruiting talented disciples. Xian Xiangqiu, upon reaching the peak of the Transformation God stage, had faced countless fights and plots.

Now, as she was about to join the Xuanhua Sacred Ground, the Jade Maiden Sect emerged to snatch her away. Once she truly entered a sacred ground, far fiercer schemes would inevitably follow. No matter how much the Xuanhua Sect favored her, if she eventually chose the Jade Maiden Sect, the first attempt on her life might well come from Xuanhua itself. They would not hesitate, believing their actions to be righteous purging of rebellion and evil. For the safety of the sacred ground and the balance of the world, those who acted would deny affiliation, posing merely as wandering righteous cultivators.

In the Azure Sound Sword Immortal’s mind, the goal was to allow Cao Xuan to enter the Ziyang Sword Sect safely, without attracting undue attention as a genius. The great sacred grounds had countless disciples at the stages of Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and even thousand-year Transformation God. Among these, thousand-year Transformation God talents were rarest but not rare enough to prompt the six great sacred grounds to risk striking. Only those who could restore a sect’s glory or dominate an era were marked for elimination. Often, besides the primary attacker, other sacred grounds would secretly lend support. When survival and continuation of the sect were at stake, distinctions between righteousness, evil, or neutrality ceased to matter.

To many cultivators, the six great sacred grounds had always been these six. But ancient records within the sects revealed that the original six were different. If a new sect rose to prominence, rewriting history, later generations on the Xuanhua Continent would only know the new six as the unshakable powers, while other sects faded into obscurity.

When Cao Xuan’s final sword stroke completed and he returned to the Qingyun Assembly arena, he found he could no longer match opponents. Unwittingly, he had achieved a hundred consecutive victories and advanced into the top one hundred. Upon checking his identity token, a series of messages appeared:

“Congratulations, Yunzhou Qingyun Sect, Cao Xuan, advancement to Top 100.”

“Rewards: One Dao Foundation Pill, one Nascent Soul Formation technique, one hundred Spirit Condensation Pills.”

“Granted: Outer disciple status of Zhongzhou Qingyun Sect!”

Looking at these rewards, Cao Xuan sighed inwardly. Advancing into the top 100 meant officially joining the Zhongzhou Qingyun Sect. Though only an outer disciple, this status was fiercely contested. For instance, Yu Qingsong, head of Yunzhou Qingyun Sect, a mid-Golden Core cultivator, still held only the position of lower sect leader, never an outer disciple of Zhongzhou Qingyun Sect. The difference was that one could reside permanently in Zhongzhou, holding a permanent residence permit, while the other could only visit occasionally.

The Dao Foundation Pill needed no explanation; Ru Hanhan had come precisely for this treasure to increase her chances of forming a core. As for the Nascent Soul Formation technique, Cao Xuan had been pondering exactly how to form his Nascent Soul. The one hundred Spirit Condensation Pills were divine-grade pills for foundational cultivation.

With these pills, the formation technique, and the Dao Foundation Pill to boost success, Qingyun Sect had provided everything a foundational cultivator could hope for. After advancing, Cao Xuan found the matches dull, never needing to exert himself fully. Among the Yunzhou Qingyun Sect’s personal disciples, aside from Xing Mengfan and Li Yao, the others had been eliminated. Liu Yu had been unlucky, repeatedly facing late-stage foundational cultivators and was eliminated. Xing Mengfan hadn’t encountered late-stage opponents but had faced many mid-stage foundational cultivators from Zhongzhou, proving that strong cultivators existed in Yunzhou as well and that lower sects could challenge upper sects.

“Junior Sister Xing, here are Rejuvenation Pills, Meridian Shaping Pills, and Blood Nourishing Pills…” Though uninterested in the competition, Cao Xuan took the opportunity to distribute pills and gain goodwill.

“Junior Sister Xing, now it’s just you and Senior Sister Li Yao left. Keep it up—I’m rooting for you!”

“Junior Sister, feeling unwell anywhere? Need Senior Brother to massage you?”

Xing Mengfan either won with minor wounds or lost heavily injured. Now held in Cao Xuan’s arms, she could not push him away. No one could fault this; even Ye Caixuan admitted that Cao Xuan’s pills were superior to her own.

Though Xing Mengfan rarely spoke thanks, the system spoke on her behalf:

“Ding~ Xing Mengfan’s favorability +1.”

“Ding~ Xing Mengfan’s favorability +2.”

...

“Ding~ Xing Mengfan’s current favorability: 65.”