Chapter 466: The Reborn One, Discovered

Apart from the one who had been chasing from the very start, counting Chi Jiuyu and the four others who had noticed the movement and followed along nearby,

a total of six contestants had joined in the pursuit.

Moreover, each person's escape speed was unusually fast, closing a great stretch of distance in just a few seconds.

At this stage, every point is hard-won.

It was rare to come across someone being hunted like this, so naturally one had to seize the chance—who knows, in the melee the points might just end up in one's own hands?

Gradually, contestants farther away also noticed something was off, one after another showing a tendency to converge over…

But it was precisely at this moment!

Through the real-time map, they discovered that the contestant being chased had suddenly accelerated!

Escape speed leapt up several levels in an instant, and the distance that had already been closed was once again stretched wide in a heartbeat.

The escape speed was so fast it even surpassed every one of the pursuers.

Immediately, the six contestants who witnessed this scene stopped outright, no longer continuing the chase.

By now they all understood what had happened.

Especially the contestant who had set off in pursuit first—seeing that absurdly fast escape speed, a chill of belated fear crept into his heart.

Damn it!

To actually pull a sting operation—what a treacherous bastard!

High above the clouds somewhere, a streak of sword-light appeared without warning, blazing brilliantly.

Boom!

The air currents of the vast sky detonated; wisps of invisible sword-qi, fine as a hair yet incomparably sharp, rained down in all directions, tearing apart the clouds.

As the light dimmed, a figure abruptly appeared within, a long sword of blue-gold held in hand.

It was Chi Jiuyu.

That person's terrifyingly sudden burst of escape speed also made her abandon the plan of rushing over to have a hand in it.

Better not fail to grab the points and end up getting planted there instead…

That would truly be delivering one's head across a thousand miles!

"What a damn dog!"

"Running that fast—what the hell are you pretending for."

Escape speed does not correlate directly with combat power.

A person strong in frontal combat does not necessarily have fast escape speed.

But a person with fast escape speed… they definitely won't be easy to deal with!

After grumbling and cursing a few times, Chi Jiuyu once again mounted her sword-light and drifted away into the distance.

The commotion caused this time was rather big; some of those fifty- or sixty-year-old things might track it down nearby. Better find a place to lie low first, wait for the fuss to blow over, then talk…

Another half a minute or so later, the red dots constantly moving on the map finally vanished.

The first real-time coordinate display had ended!

……

……

Not long before, a streak of pale-gold qi cut across the vault of heaven, slowly descending into a spirit city within the borders of Tianji Palace.

A spirit city, as the name suggests, is a city for cultivating spirit-items.

It was vastly different from Zhitui Xiancheng.

All the mortals living within the city were nothing more than "nutrients" for the spirit-plants inside.

Through formations laid out within the city, essence-qi, desires, and other special powers were drawn out and supplied to the spirit-items planted in the city, promoting their growth.

Therefore, those living in the city would generally suffer depletion of body and spirit and perish before the age of twenty-five.

It was rather similar to the "Fruit Domain" of the Tianling Sect, only not divided in such fine detail…

As the pale-gold qi drifted in, the great city-protecting formation seemed to lose its effect, failing to block it in the slightest, and let it lightly float inside.

The qi landed atop the towering city wall, transforming into a man in a grey Daoist robe.

Slender of frame, long of build; the yin-yang fish pattern slowly rotating within his eyes was fading bit by bit.

"Nearly became the target of everyone…"

He had originally intended to feign weakness by slowing his escape speed, lure them to a remote spot, and then deal with them. But instead, it made others think he was a soft persimmon, and they chased after him too.

If it were only one or two more, it would still be fine—setting up in advance, it wasn't impossible to handle. But six people…?

That wasn't as simple as one plus one.

Even calling Old Lin over to join him, it wasn't certain they could hold out.

If they really caught up, he wouldn't believe that group would pass up the chance to eliminate him.

"Sigh~"

At this stage, the weaklings had mostly been weeded out; even if he wanted to grab some points himself, it wasn't easy.

He glanced at the small map in the upper-right corner of his vision and saw the red dots had vanished:

"Time's up too."

Real-time coordinates were no longer displayed; this blank interval still required him to keep finding people…

But before that.

He had to first deal with the two Soul Transformation cultivators within this city, lest they expose his whereabouts.

Although there was a high probability they wouldn't detect his movements, but…

What if?

Besides that, there were also those twelve Nascent Soul cultivators—perhaps also Soul Transformation in disguise—and they had to be dealt with too.

Jin Dan…

The quantity is a bit much, but just in case, I still can't let them go.

As for Foundation Establishment… I'll just pick some from those at Perfect Foundation Establishment.

The truly evil ones were killed outright, while the few who still had some good in their hearts had all their memories from yesterday until today erased…

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly paused, then looked at his personal panel.

【Name: Chang Xiao】

【Age: 58】

【Realm: Early Soul Transformation】

【System Loaded This Session: Amplification Light Type-i】

【Current Points: 6】

【Current Ranking: 2】

【Evaluation: Truly steady!】

He continued scrolling down.

【Real-Time Rankings】

【Lin Changsheng (Sword Sect), currently ranked first, points: 8】

【Chang Xiao (Supreme Dao Sect), currently ranked second, points: 6】

Old Lin scored another point?!

No good!

He had to hurry too!

Later, he might even think of a way to lure Old Yue into entangling Old Lin…

His thoughts flashed like lightning. With a casual flick, he scattered several micro reconnaissance drones, and released a hexagonal crystal-shaped array virus.

Although his way of being 'steady' differed from that of his fellow sect members, he was still a member of the 'steady stream' of cultivators, so naturally he hadn't neglected the basics.

He simply and easily left behind six or seven contingencies, and only then finally felt at ease.

Afterwards, his figure transformed into a wisp of pale golden Qi, drifting directly toward the location of the Spirit City Lord's Manor.

……

……

After the fourth safe zone update, the fighting grew increasingly fierce.

In just the first precise coordinate display, five people were eliminated.

Among them were those two contestants from the Divine Mechanism Refining Treasure Pavilion who had eliminated Qiu Zheng.

There was nothing for it. Although the two ultimately eliminated Qiu Zheng, Qiu Zheng was, after all, in the first tier of this Grand Competition, and his combat strength was beyond doubt.

The counterattack before elimination directly caused severe damage to the Divine Mechanism constructs they had painstakingly built, shattering most of the armor.

As for the result…

It was that just as the two were healing, searching for mineral veins and spiritual materials to repair the Divine Mechanism constructs, the fourth safe zone update arrived right on cue.

And then tragedy struck.

After being surrounded and pursued for a long time, in the end even the battered Divine Mechanism construct was blown apart in the chaotic fighting.

The two also failed to escape and were eliminated on the spot.

Fortunately though, they were from other sects' points, none from Salvation Valley!

At this point, thirty-seven people remained on the main timeline where the Soul Transformation bracket was located.

And on the other two timeline branches.

The first timeline branch, where the Nascent Soul bracket was located, finally welcomed a wave of large-scale eliminations, with forty-five people remaining.

As for the second timeline branch, the Jin Dan bracket, which had been 'fighting for the thrill' from the very start of the Grand Competition…

Because before the fourth safe zone update they had also stormed the Heavenly Spirit Sect, and quite a few contestants were eliminated by 'Return to Void', the remaining number was the smallest—

Only twenty-one people.

Moreover, among these mere twenty-one remaining, nine contestants were from the Supreme Dao Sect.

Although there were a few oddballs, most were still relatively cautious…

It's worth mentioning that Lin Xuanxuan also got eliminated.

Zhang Yunlu, although not yet eliminated, had charged too far ahead when storming the Heavenly Spirit Sect, so one arm and half her right leg were broken, and now she was holding on by sheer willpower alone.

In her current state…

Presumably, true elimination wouldn't be far off.

……

……

Two days later.

Profound Manifestation Realm main timeline, Heavenly Spirit Sect.

Although the outside world was in turmoil, and there were even strange omens in the heavens conveying to all beings the message that 'great change was coming'—

Because the Ancestral Master personally transmitted a decree, explaining that the so-called 'great change' was merely a rumor and there was no need to worry—

And coupled with the inner and outer sect elders appearing to explain, some saying 'heavenly orbit tremors,' others saying 'spirit tide anomalies,' gradually the disciples of the Heavenly Spirit Sect stopped concerning themselves with the omen itself.

Even when occasionally mentioned, it was only to speculate on the cause of the omen.

Great change is coming…

Then we'll deal with it when it arrives!

Rather than spending time paying attention to this, wouldn't it be better to circulate Qi through a few more cycles and refine a few more wisps of spiritual power!

When the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up!

Even if it's true, it's the Founders and Grand Elders who should panic—they're just a bunch of cattle and horses, never treated as people, worthless lives.

Do whatever you want!

In fact, the Xuansheng cultivators of Xuanxiang really were panicking.

At the highest point of Tianling Sect.

The ancestral blessed land, where spiritual energy gathered into thick, mist-like clouds like a fairy realm, was now filled with an intensely oppressive atmosphere in every corner of the void.

Everyone frowned, occasionally glancing upward at Xuan Xing, who wore a purple-gold dharma robe.

After an unknown length of time, someone finally broke the silence:

"What do we do now?"

The voice was soft and seductive, piercing to the bone—it was the female cultivator clad in a purple palace gown, her figure with exaggerated curves.

Her brows and eyes carried a trace of sorrow, pitiable to behold.

After truly seeing the vast, world-encompassing web of threads and the entity transcending all things, she could not even raise a thought of resistance.

That was a power on an entirely different level.

We, who stand atop the world as Xuansheng, were truly no different from ants before it.

"..." A silence followed, until finally the monk in the blood-red cassock sneered, "Surrender. The beings behind those celestial Xuansheng want this world—they'll need some loyal guard dogs."

The chilling tone sent cold shivers down the spine, yet one could clearly sense the helplessness in his voice.

Become dogs for the beings behind those celestial Xuansheng?

Actually, it's not impossible...

"Hah!" The Xuansheng of Canglan Jiangong scoffed disdainfully, "Surrender and become a dog? Have you even seen the beings behind those celestial Xuansheng?"

From start to finish, those beings behind the celestial Xuansheng never showed their faces.

Clearly, even if we wanted to become dogs, we lack the qualifications.

"Not the beings behind them," the Xuansheng of Xuejinkang Temple gazed into the distance.

Not the beings behind them?

Does that mean the celestial Xuansheng themselves?!

"We Xuansheng become dogs to Xuansheng?" The Canglan Jiangong Xuansheng could hardly believe it.

"Why not?" said the Xuejinkang Temple Xuansheng calmly.

"In our world, when we fight to the death, they are merely disposable pawns..." said the Xuansheng of Tianji Palace indifferently.

It's not impossible to surrender to a Xuansheng—but even if we become dogs, we must serve someone worthy...

"Disposable pawns? Do you still think they're disposable pawns?" the Xuejinkang Temple Xuansheng sneered at him.

"Then what?" said Xuan Xing suddenly.

He had revealed only a small part of what he'd heard from that celestial Xuansheng.

"Hehe, I think this is more like a 'trial'."

Facing Xuan Xing, the foremost Xuansheng of the Xuansheng Realm, his tone had clearly improved.

"Like breeding poison insects—using life-and-death struggles as trials to select the strongest."

Though he still felt something important had been overlooked, from the current situation, some clues were still visible.

The behavior of those celestial Xuansheng was simply too strange.

"And... what if those 'failed' Xuansheng aren't dead at all?"

"Impossible!" blurted the Xuansheng of Yanyu Mo Sect.

Each of those celestial Xuansheng had struck lethal blows against one another.

Not to mention the several Xuansheng I personally killed—how could they possibly still be alive...

But soon, he froze in place.

Really... impossible?

Whether the strange scales summoned by those celestial Xuansheng or the threads transcending all worldly essence, all were beings beyond his understanding.

The enchantingly bewitching female cultivator in the purple palace gown pondered, then turned her gaze toward the distance.

There, at the border between Tianling Sect and Tianji Palace, two figures were chasing and fleeing—one after the other, their speed far exceeding any Xuansheng she had ever known.

The pursuer held a curved, gradient-purple longsword glowing like arc-light.

'Becoming a dog... doesn't specify what kind of dog...'

Thinking of this, she licked her glossy lips, a faint smile curling at her mouth.

Xuan Xing's eye twitched; he had a faint suspicion.

She wouldn't be thinking of...

Suddenly, Xuan Xing's heart stirred—he sensed his hidden maneuver had been triggered.

"Yiye" disciples' quarters.

Inside the sealed stone chamber, the room was dim and dark; apart from a crude stone bed carved from a single block of blue stone, there were no other objects.

Seated on the bed was a figure, his chest rising and falling as golden-red, dragon-like qi currents flowed between his nostrils.

Flame-light rose in his throat, slowly refining the spiritual substance held in his mouth.

Pure medicinal power flowed through his body along the circulating golden-red spiritual force, reaching every limb and bone.

Huh~

Xi~

With the nourishment of the medicinal power, the spiritual sea, which in the past was rarely filled to capacity, was now gradually becoming full again.

The utilization rate of spiritual objects was far higher than that of ordinary cultivation practitioners!

This was the wondrous aspect of the *Hao Ran Yan Yao Yang Wu Xuan Gong*.

After a long while, his spiritual power underwent a silent, imperceptible transformation. Mu Yong slowly opened his eyes, and a flash of golden-red light darted through them and vanished.

Yet, the figure standing before him caused his pupils to contract sharply. He felt as if his heart had stopped beating at that very moment, and his throat was so parched he could not speak…

He saw that opposite him, Xuan Xing was watching him with curiosity.

"The *Mu Ling Yang Wu Hua Cang Zhen Jing*, the *Hao Ran Yan Yao Yang Wu Xuan Gong*, and also… a 'reborn one'?" (End of chapter)