Chapter 478: The End of the Great Competition

Since it has been confirmed by Sheng Qingqing that these extraterrestrial Soul Transformation cultivators cannot die, everything being done now has meaning.

There has been no progress from Tian Gui's side, and Xuan Xing dared not force the issue.

After all, according to Mu Yong's past-life memories, they used forceful methods—and were thus refined by Tian Gui…

Therefore, unless at a life-or-death moment, he would never launch a direct assault on Tian Gui!

Then, he could only follow Sheng Qingqing's example and seek another path from these extraterrestrial Soul Transformation cultivators.

Go be a dog…

He simply could not bring himself to do it.

Fortunately, Lin Changsheng, who had previously interacted with him, had lost—so he could use this as an excuse to act.

Thus, he could quell the chaos within the Tian Ling Sect's territory while deeply embedding the idea that "he is Lin Changsheng's friend" into the minds of the remaining extraterrestrial Soul Transformation cultivators.

Make them unconsciously classify him under Lin Changsheng and the faction behind him.

A two-for-one opportunity with extremely low risk—there was no reason not to do it!

Just as his thoughts raced like lightning.

"The Scale of Ages!"

Beneath the dome of heaven, a roar echoed through the nine heavens.

Ding~!

Amid a resonance rising from the depths of the world, an impossibly vast "scale," as if forged from the laws of reality itself, slowly emerged.

No longer half-phantom, half-real—every single groove and line was crystal clear!

Sun, moon, stars, and constellations revolved upon it; mountains, rivers, earth, and land shifted and changed, lifelike and vivid.

In the span of a single instant, the age difference between the two sides was weighed.

Xuan Xing's exquisitely detailed face, which had filled the entire sky and stretched to the horizon, twitched slightly.

He could feel that the moment the scale appeared, his once thick and boundless cultivation base began to shrink without warning.

The rate of decline was even faster than when he had first harbored murderous intent toward Mu Yong!

In just one ten-millionth of an instant, his cultivation plummeted from the peak of Void Sublimation, through the late stage, mid stage… until it finally halted at the early stage of Void Sublimation.

Hm?!

When did these extraterrestrial Soul Transformation cultivators become this powerful?

Weren't they previously only able to affect one or two minor realms at most?!

He was stunned inside.

But outwardly, he maintained calm.

And he blew gently at the blazing, sunlike fist intent surging upward.

Hu~

A frigid wind flowed like a river; the entire sky instantly darkened.

As if gathering all yin energies of the world, millions of steel blades poured down.

Wherever it passed, all things froze into frost; empty space solidified into ice.

That blazing fist intent became a spark in a blizzard—easily snuffed out.

Even the body cultivator who threw the punch felt his blood stagnate, his magic power frozen within his meridians, his skin turning frost-blue as he plummeted straight to the ground.

Though suppressed to Void Sublimation's early stage, as the king of watered-down Void Sublimation cultivators…

With an entire major realm's suppression, defeating a single contestant was still simple.

Watching the figure falling from the sky, Xuan Xing suppressed his murderous intent and spoke as if unconcerned:

"I have no intention of opposing any of you; I acted only because my friend suffered injustice."

These extraterrestrial Soul Transformation cultivators compete among themselves—now he need not lift a finger.

"And please, do not harm the ordinary people in the city. Xuan Xing thanks you."

Having firmly established his image and achieved his goal, Xuan Xing vanished, and the sky returned to its former clarity.

As if nothing had ever happened.

…

…

In Shenshan.

Only when the face in the sky had completely vanished did Chang Xiao's eyelid twitch.

"…"

This was too surreal!

Could Old Lin be one of those legendary protagonists with a built-in stupidity aura?

Just by shaking his mighty frame, he draws in eight-directional followers with royal aura?

Hmm…

Now that he thought about it, Old Lin did have a touch of protagonist aura.

Born into the Lin family, and promoted to Soul Transformation at a young age.

He stood out in the last Great Competition, directly winning the Soul Transformation division championship, drawing the affection of a beauty (Old Yue).

Never mind whether he's a celestial or not—just ask if he's handsome!

This year was even crazier: the beauty (Old Yue) was obsessed with finding him.

Within the world, a beauty (a fraud?) who had fallen from Void Sublimation was纠缠 him.

Even after being eliminated, a Void Sublimation cultivator personally intervened to avenge him!

This this this…!

If this isn't fraud, then everyone in this world has lost their sanity!

If not for the fact that the previously released auxiliary modules didn't include any system like "Dumbdown" or "Hypnosis."

He'd almost suspect Old Lin had really gotten a Dumbdown-series system.

Chang Xiao kept muttering inwardly, but his feet never stopped.

Gazing at the real-time coordinates displayed in the upper-right corner of his vision, he transformed into a streak of Jin Guang and sped toward the direction where the body cultivator had fallen.

Free points—if you're late, they're gone.

In truth, despite his complaints, he knew perfectly well.

The world they currently occupied was a complete world, and every Void-Refining expert within it had emerged from among billions of living beings.

To think they were fools—that would be the real stupidity!

Though he didn't yet know why the Void-Refining was acting this way, he was certainly using Old Lin's name to achieve some goal.

One of the Ten Golden Rules of the "Cautious Survival Guide"—never underestimate anyone!

When you think someone's an idiot, you're very likely the biggest idiot yourself.

…

…

The mountain golem's location: a cave halfway up the mountain.

Zhao Ruohan stood at the cave entrance, watching the moving red dot on the real-time mini-map.

Of the remaining ten contestants, four who had confidence in their own strength were rushing toward the direction where the body cultivator had fallen.

"This won't be easy…" Zhao Ruohan frowned.

Forget Chang Xiao, who placed second in the Soul Transformation division of the last Xian Sect Grand Competition and was her own sectmate.

The other three contestants were no pushovers either.

In a one-on-one fight, she wasn't a match for any one of them—not unless…

She used the Spirit-Plant Golem!

But once she activated the Spirit-Plant Golem, she'd inevitably become the target of all remaining contestants' attacks.

Just like how she'd once planned to ambush that Triple-Union Divine Mechanism Unit.

"I still need to hide my full strength… can't reveal everything…"

Then, a shadow shot swiftly from deep within the cave and halted before her.

It was a dark green, handleless flying sword, its blade translucent, with intricate purple patterns swirling inside.

This was the Spirit-Plant seed she'd traded for at the Outer Sect market—she never imagined that after cultivating and transforming it into a Spirit-Plant Golem, it would grow into this…

Perfect—wait until this round's coordinates fade, then pretend to be a sword cultivator and lure them here.

With a thought, her Dao robe shimmered with flowing light and transformed automatically, finally taking the exact same form as Chi Jiuyu's fitted attire.

Then she pulled out a mask that covered half her face and put it on.

It was something Chi Jiuyu had made out of boredom while recovering from injuries and had given her.

………

In the Xuanxiang Realm's main timeline, the Soul Transformation division had been pushed prematurely into its final stage due to Xuan Xing's intervention.

If anyone had suffered the most…

It was undoubtedly Cen Qingqing, whose long-planned scheme had fallen apart.

She had intended to have her true body intervene at the final moment to rescue him, then "interrogate" him to uncover the whereabouts of her avatar.

She planned to disguise her true body as the avatar's enemy, thereby setting up the third phase.

But she never expected a sudden, ultra-long-range spiritual energy cannon to eliminate Lin Changsheng outright!

The Triple-Union Divine Mechanism Unit's overall strength neared that of an unimpaired Xuanxiang Realm fake Void-Refining.

Cen Qingqing wasn't a Void-Refining at peak perfection like Xuan Xing, and she was in the midst of exchanging her origin with her avatar—she had no time to act.

All her arrangements were now wasted…

Even if Xuan Xing hadn't intervened, she'd have moved to ambush and destroy that Divine Mechanism Unit herself!

Inside the Inner Sect hall of the Xiang Jianzong.

As a streak of light descended from the Xuanxiang Realm.

Lin Changsheng appeared among the audience seats, his eyes still clouded with daze.

He blinked, stunned for two seconds, then finally came to his senses.

But meeting Zhou Kongming's strange gaze, he felt another wave of confusion.

"Uncle Zhou, I—"

Before he could finish, Zhou Kongming cut him off: "We'll talk after the competition—or let your elders explain it to you."

The eliminated contestants couldn't see it, but these Void-Refining peak experts saw it clearly.

Huh?

Elders have to explain it?

Explain what?

Lin Changsheng grew even more puzzled.

He then met the resentful, slightly envious stares of others.

He read only one message from those glances—"This guy deserves to die."

"…"

He awkwardly scratched his head, realizing his experience this time had truly been… unusual.

He turned his gaze to the screen projecting the Soul Transformation division's match footage.

Four contestants were fighting in a melee around the frozen body cultivator.

However, Chang Xiao relied on his own raw strength to fight while retreating, and soon withdrew to the side of that frozen body cultivator.

His divine ability erupted without hesitation!

The previously stalemated situation was broken in an instant, and that frozen body cultivator was instantly drowned in Lei Guang.

After collecting the points, Chang Xiao lingered no longer, swiftly leaving the battlefield and fleeing into the distance.

One contestant had wanted to chase after him, but after pursuing him for a stretch, discovered that the other two had not followed…

He could only drop down in dejection.

'Old Chang is as underhanded as ever!'

Lin Changsheng grumbled inwardly.

Recalling how he had been hunted by him the whole way, he felt even more disgusted.

Sigh~

But he had to admit, although his fighting style was a bit cowardly, it was extremely well-suited to this Grand Competition.

If nothing unexpected happened, the first place of this Xian Sect Grand Competition would be his.

After the Grand Competition ends, I must definitely fleece him for a good meal!

Everything experienced in this Grand Competition kept replaying in his mind, from the very beginning to being eliminated at the end by a spirit-energy cannon blast.

But in the end, what remained in his mind was a purple-clad girl, bright and graceful, smiling sweetly.

'I wonder how Qingqing is doing…'

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh.

All these reactions fell into Zhou Kongming's eyes, leaving him utterly speechless.

'How about letting Lingling help contact Lin Ziyue, and send this kid to the Hehuan Sect for some lessons?'

……

……

The Grand Competition was drawing to a close.

Zhao Ruohan disguised herself as a sword cultivator, successfully luring one contestant near the Mountain Puppet, then directed her spirit-plant puppet army to eliminate him.

Gradually, the safe zone had shrunk to within the main sect of Tianling Sect.

Because the Mountain Puppet's target was simply too large, she had no choice but to abandon it, and instead had her spirit-plant puppet army enter the safe zone in batches.

Logically speaking, Tianling Sect had its sect-protecting grand formation.

If contestants wanted to break in, they would have to join forces and go through a bitter fight!

However, under Xuan Xing's orders, the grand formation simply stopped operating, and of the remaining eight contestants, seven were let in.

Only Chang Xiao alone was blocked outside the sect-protecting grand formation.

If you're putting on a show, you have to do the whole thing.

Xuan Xing's current persona was Lin Changsheng's 'closest friend'.

So facing Chang Xiao, who had once hunted Lin Changsheng, naturally he couldn't give him a pleasant face.

At the final moment, seeing the safe zone's boundary drawing ever closer, Chang Xiao, unwilling to be eliminated in such a frustrating manner, could only choose to force his way in.

But the result was obvious—Xuan Xing didn't even show himself in person, merely remotely controlling the sect-protecting grand formation to refine him to death on the spot!

Just like that, Chang Xiao ended his Grand Competition journey with a score of 10 kill points plus 2 placement points, totaling 12 points.

And after Chang Xiao was eliminated.

The atmosphere within Tianling Sect became rather strange.

The Ancestor… actually let those audacious Soul Transformation cultivators in?!

All Tianling Sect disciples, from the Supreme Elders at the Soul Transformation realm above, down to the seedling-level disciples who had just entered the Dao and been cultivating Qi for a short while, were all uneasy.

Afraid that one careless moment would mean being beaten to death by those audacious Soul Transformation cultivators.

But at this stage, the remaining contestants had no mind to pay attention to them.

Tianling Sect's main sect was not small, but after all, quite a few people lived within it; rashly clashing would mean no telling how many would be killed or injured.

So they all restrained themselves and did not make the first move.

It was precisely during this process that the Xuan-phase Return-to-Void cultivators陆续登场, seeking out the remaining contestants.

Their purpose was also very clear—

To be dogs!

They had also realized at this point that the range of activity of these extraterrestrial Soul Transformation cultivators was limited to Tianling Sect.

Coupled with the fact that they were competing with each other…

There was no better time to 'demonstrate loyalty'!

However, when they actually tried it out, their的想法 fell flat.

No matter how low their姿态 were, none of the remaining contestants accepted their offer of allegiance.

Especially those two Return-to-Void cultivators from Canglan Sword Palace.

When the two of them found the only remaining Xiang Jianzong sword cultivator and expressed that the two of them were willing to become his sword slaves…

That sword cultivator's expression changed drastically; he was even somewhat afraid, and sternly refused their request.

He also severely rebuked the extreme and inhumane practice of 'sword slaves' as unbecoming of the orthodox sword cultivator path.

One must know that the Xiang Jianzong once suffered a catastrophe: every sword cultivator in the sect who kept sword slaves perished in a single day.

None survived, regardless of cultivation level.

Therefore, any sword cultivator who had actually attended classes properly would never harbor such a suicidal notion.

As the Xuan-phase Return-to-Void cultivators returned empty-handed.

Xuan Xing also began arranging for the sect's disciples to evacuate, clearing the space for the remaining competitors to fight.

The whole point is coordination!

If I'm this cooperative, surely there must be some way out?

Soon, it was time again for the new round of coordinates to be displayed.

Aside from the three Gou Dao cultivators from Tai Shang Dao Sect who remained motionless, the other four gathered atop the largest arena of Tian Ling Sect. (End of chapter)