Chapter 566

565. Chapter 560: The Struggle for Promotion Slots

The first-place team in the Sword Array Competition has always carried the greatest prestige in the group stage.

So after all award-winning teams took the stage, the Yonghuang Shentong Academy team, as the first-place team in the Sword Array Competition, was the first to receive their prize.

Seeing Seeing Ji Xing represented the team to collect the first prize: one Immortal Emperor promotion Dao-vibration sphere, three Immortal Sovereign promotion Dao-vibration spheres, and ten Immortal King promotion Dao-vibration spheres.

Looking at the fourteen promotion Dao-vibration spheres on the tray in his hands, not only Seeing Seeing Ji Xing, but all eight students who participated in the group stage clenched their fists tightly, trembling slightly.

They, who had always been trash, had somehow stood here today, receiving the highest award from the Dao Law Academy.

Facing countless envious and longing gazes.

All eight students in the Sword Array group competition knew it was only because they were lucky enough to be assigned the top Dao Master, Dao Master Ding Huan.

After Seeing Seeing Ji Xing, Lin Zhenruo represented the team to collect the individual prizes for the group stage.

The individual prizes were equally generous: each received one high-grade Immortal Spirit Vein, fifty million high-grade Immortal Crystals, one Immortal King promotion Immortal Pill, and one identity token for first place in the Dao Law Academy Grand Competition.

Of course, the most important was the qualification token for cultivation at Great Dao Mountain.

The award ceremony lasted a full half-hour.

After the ceremony ended, Seeing Seeing Ji Xing and the others immediately returned excitedly to the rest room.

"Yunmu, activate the rest room's sealing barrier," Seeing Seeing Ji Xing's first words were to have his teammates seal the rest room, then he pulled out a teleportation array plate.

Everyone understood what Seeing Seeing Ji Xing intended to do; no one objected—it was what they should do, and what they must do.

Without Dao Master Ding Huan, they wouldn't have won anything, not even the qualification to come here.

Seeing Seeing Ji Xing swiftly placed one Immortal Emperor Dao-vibration sphere, one Immortal Sovereign Dao-vibration sphere, and one Immortal King Dao-vibration sphere into the teleportation array plate.

The teleportation array plate activated, and those three Dao-vibration spheres were instantly teleported away.

In his heart, Dao Master Ding had not yet reached Immortal King rank, so even though Ding Huan hadn't asked for an Immortal King Dao-vibration sphere, he still sent one over just in case.

"What about mine?" Qian Xunhaoyi also pulled out a teleportation array plate.

Seeing Seeing Ji Xing reached out and took Qian Xunhaoyi's teleportation array plate as well, placing it beside his own, then swiftly destroyed it.

Not only that—he finally summoned a burst of flame that reduced the broken array plates to nothingness.

"Seeing Seeing Ji Xing…" The others stared at him in confusion.

Seeing Seeing Ji Xing said: "I'm just following Dao Master's instructions—he told us to send the items away and immediately destroy the array plates."

Seeing Seeing Ji Xing had spent years surviving in the wilds and traveling between major markets, associating with all kinds of people.

Though usually quiet, his survival experience far surpassed the others'.

This was also one reason he had previously demanded they not discuss Dao Master Ding.

Zhuo Qi and the others were puzzled—Dao Master Ding had indeed given them two teleportation array plates, but he never said they had to destroy them.

While everyone was still confused, the sealing barrier at the door was torn open.

The first person to walk in was still Xie Kuangren.

Xie Kuangren's expression was grim; his gaze settled on them, and he spoke slowly:

"Do any of you still have teleportation array plates left by Ding Huan?"

Upon hearing this, no explanation from Seeing Seeing Ji Xing was needed—the others immediately understood.

The last time Xie Kuangren met them, he had left marks on their bodies.

That mark could even record their conversations.

Everyone's expression turned unpleasant.

This amounted to a violation of personal privacy—within the Ten Thousand Laws, such an intrusion was forbidden even in the Great Dao Corridor.

Before Seeing Seeing Ji Xing could speak, Dean Yuan You and Vice Dean Gu Min also entered.

No one spoke. Seeing Seeing Ji Xing, his face dark, stepped forward, bowed to Dean Yuan You and Vice Dean Gu Min, then addressed Xie Kuangren:

"Master Xie, according to the Ten Thousand Laws of the Great Dao Corridor, no one may place a divine-narrative mark on another without cause, especially not in a place like the Great Dao Corridor Plaza.

You, as head of the Great Dao Corridor Divine Surveillance Office, placed marks on us, students participating in the Dao Law Academy Grand Competition—this violation fills us with dread and unease."

Xie Kuangren's face flushed with embarrassment; he cleared his throat and said:

"I did place marks on you, but not without cause—I had a reason.

I needed to locate Dao Master Ding Huan; you are his students, so I could only seek information from you."

Upon hearing this, not only the eight students, but even Yuan You and Gu Min's expressions darkened.

Long Xiyue spoke loudly:

"Master Xie, Ding Huan is indeed our Dao Master, but where he went—or whether the Divine Surveillance Office is searching for him—has nothing to do with us.

We are merely student cultivators; we have no obligation to assist the Divine Surveillance Office in finding our Dao Master."

"Master Xie, you are head of the Divine Surveillance Office, and we deeply respect and support your impartial enforcement of the law—even I, Yuan You, am a member of the Divine Surveillance Office.

But the first article of the Ten Thousand Laws states: all people in the Great Dao Corridor are equal before the Ten Thousand Laws.

Therefore, Master Xie, placing a divine-narrative mark on my academy's students—I cannot comprehend it, nor can I understand why." Yuan You's expression was displeased.

If these were just ordinary students, it might be tolerable—but these are the heroes of Yonghuang Shentong Academy. As dean, he could not allow this.

Xie Kuangren's embarrassment deepened; he reached out and seized eight divine-narrative marks, then destroyed them publicly: "This was my mistake. I now destroy the marks and apologize to all of you."

Seeing Seeing Ji Xing and the others said nothing.

What could they say? He was the master—his marks were destroyed, and he had apologized. What could they do?

They knew that if any ordinary person had placed marks on competing cultivators, the punishment would have been at least the destruction of their cultivation, more likely death—how could such a light apology suffice?

"I still have one question: how many teleportation array plates do you still have for sending things to Dao Master Ding Huan?"

After destroying the marks, Xie Kuangren's first words were still about Ding Huan.

Hearing this, Yuan You felt an inexplicable sense of dread.

Seeing Seeing Ji Xing quickly replied: "Dao Master only gave us two teleportation array plates; we used them and destroyed them. We have none left."

When Seeing Seeing Ji Xing spoke, he was careful; he did not tell Xie Kuangren that it was Ding Huan who had told him to destroy it.

A lie like that, if he let his guard slip for even a moment, would let Xie Kuangren know he was lying.

Xie Kuangren stared at Seeing Seeing Ji Xing for quite a while, then finally nodded: "Fine."

He turned and left, feeling a bit annoyed.

He had actually failed to think of the teleportation array disk earlier — what a miscalculation.

If he had known there was a teleportation array disk, he could absolutely have used it to track down where Ding Huan had gone.

Unfortunately, the teleportation array disk was now destroyed, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The moment Xie Kuangren left, Yuan You said urgently: "What about the advancement Dao rhyme spheres?"

Seeing Seeing Ji Xing took out two Immortal Sovereign advancement Dao rhyme spheres and nine Immortal King advancement Dao rhyme spheres, and placed them on the table in front of him.

"What about the Immortal Emperor advancement Dao rhyme spheres?" Yuan You's heart sank; a bad premonition rose in him.

"I sent them to Daoist Master Ding." Seeing Seeing Ji Xing said calmly.

Yuan You's face darkened: "How could you make such a major decision on your own? You were representing the academy in the competition, and the rankings you earned belong to the academy as well. You simply…"

Yuan You struggled to rein in his fury — this was utterly topsy-turvy, the world turned upside down.

Gu Min hurriedly stepped forward to block:

"Dean, Daoist Master Ding's Path-Seeking Class entered the Dao Law Academy Grand Competition independently of the academy, and the immortal crystals were their own contribution.

According to the Hundred Thousand Laws, the rankings they obtain in the Dao Law Academy Grand Competition — the Immortal Emperor Dao rhyme spheres are theirs to handle as they see fit, and have nothing to do with our academy.

What our academy can handle is the portion of Dao rhyme spheres aside from the Immortal Emperor Dao rhyme spheres, and that portion still needs to be negotiated between the academy and the academy's cultivator-students themselves.

The cultivator-students' opinions should take priority, not the academy's. In other words, even if they threw all those Dao rhyme spheres away, the academy would have no right to interfere."

Yuan You was instantly struck dumb — it was indeed just as Gu Min had said.

His claim that Seeing Seeing Ji Xing and the others could not make decisions on their own was entirely his own wishful thinking.

Yuan You took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fury in his heart:

"You are cultivator-students of the academy. Even if you earned the rankings, these Dao rhyme spheres must be left for the academy to distribute.

Rules are rules, actual circumstances are actual circumstances — you cannot act on your own authority.

The loss of the Immortal Emperor Dao rhyme spheres in this group stage will be let go, but in the upcoming combat and array-path competitions, such behavior is absolutely not permitted."

Long Xiyue spoke up: "Dean, if the combat competition can yield an Immortal Emperor advancement slot, my Long Clan Immortal Race needs it and cannot give it away."

"You—" Yuan You had been about to say "How dare you," but after getting out just one word, he forcibly swallowed the displeasing words back down.

Yuan You did not want to say another word; he turned and left.

He simply refused to believe that he, as dean, could not control the advancement Dao rhyme spheres earned by his own academy's students.

……

"Oh? These disciples really did not disappoint me." Ding Huan looked at the three Dao rhyme spheres that had been sent over, and his heart leaped with joy.

The most troublesome matter of coming to the Grand Dao Corridor had been resolved by him.

Although his method of resolving it was far more difficult than Zuo Shanyi's, it only cost him an extra month or two.

"Brother, your cultivation progress is still a bit too slow." Seeing Ji Luo could not help but interject.

Ding Huan had been stuck at the eighth layer of Immortal King for quite a while, unable to make any further progress.

He had been with Ding Huan for so long that he knew Ding Huan's Grand Cosmos Art was a complete cosmos cultivation method.

A typical complete cosmos cultivation method has twelve layers per realm, not the castrated nine layers.

He was also eager for Ding Huan to advance sooner, so that he could help him search for the Nine-Colored Immortal Lotus, the Mist Jade Immortal Fruit, or even the Twin-Leaf Immortal Di would do.

At Ding Huan's current pace, to reach the twelfth-layer perfection would take at least another year or so.

Going from the eighth layer of Immortal King to Immortal King perfection in just over a year would, for other cultivators, be practically flying through advancements — but for Ding Huan, it was still not enough, far too slow.

Ding Huan sighed: "Let me get some top-grade immortal spirit rice to eat first."

His body had no pill toxins whatsoever, and almost no impurities either.

Although top-grade immortal spirit rice was a top-tier treasure, its effect on him was only so-so.

"Don't — hold onto that bit of top-grade immortal spirit rice you have. I have a way to raise its grade even higher. I have some divine crystals here; take these and use them first." Seeing Ji Luo waved out several dozen divine crystals.

These things had been prepared by him for restoring his physical body, but Ding Huan's cultivation progress was simply too slow — so slow it made him a little anxious.

He always felt that Ding Huan was unsafe right now, and the unsafe factor was that Ding Huan's cultivation realm was too low.

If anything happened to Ding Huan, the first one to suffer would be him, Seeing Ji Luo.