Chapter 76: Since Ancient Times, My Dao Endures

At night, Seeing Xiao Fan sat cross-legged.

With each inhale and exhale, his abdomen rose and fell; two invisible currents circled his body, faintly shimmering with flowing seven-colored light, strangely mystical.

Several mosquitoes flew near him, swept up by the strange currents, and immediately fell to the ground—but did not die.

After landing on the bed, the mosquitoes quickly rose and quietly crouched around Seeing Xiao Fan.

At this moment, a full circle of such mosquitoes surrounded him, neatly arranged, as if paying homage.

Xiao Ming stood before the bedroom door, frowning at this strange sight.

'Seeing Xiao Fan's cultivation method… is peculiar.'

He could sense that the mosquitoes had undergone a strange transformation, making him instinctively uneasy.

'So, is Seeing Xiao Fan's recent beast-controlling ability related to this method?'

And are his recent changes also tied to this method?

Xiao Ming stared at the invisible currents swirling around him, the faintly shifting seven-colored light, and slowly felt a chilling dread.

'Brother, why are you here?'

A cold voice rang out; Xiao Ming looked up sharply and met a pair of eyes, utterly calm, like deep, still pools.

Impossible! Seeing Xiao Fan is only at Qi Condensation Ninth Layer—how could he have sensed me?

He forcibly suppressed his shock: 'I came to check on you.'

'Then have you noticed anything?' Seeing Xiao Fan's tone remained utterly cold.

In that instant, Xiao Ming seemed to see the same seven-colored light within Seeing Xiao Fan's eyes as within the currents.

Huh?!

That chilling dread instantly turned to bone-deep terror; his magic power sensed something profoundly terrifying, surging to force his blood to erupt.

Fortunately, Xiao Ming managed to suppress the erupting blood at the last moment.

'Nothing. Keep cultivating.'

'Alright.'

Xiao Ming closed the bedroom door and stepped out.

Standing at the threshold, he took a deep breath, as if making a crucial decision.

Yet shortly after he left, Seeing Xiao Fan murmured as if to himself: 'Disciples of the Tyrant Lord…'

He turned toward the window; the invisible currents around him suddenly accelerated, and the mosquitoes surrounding him were instantly shredded into ash.

'Using the Qi of my Cang Clan's destiny to nurture your human youth,' the voice still sounded like Seeing Xiao Fan's, yet carried an ancient, primordial weight, 'Huo, are you prepared to pay the price?'

Of all beings here, only this one commanded his attention.

'Seeing Xiao Fan' turned back, closed his eyes, and sank once more into meditation.

After a long while, Seeing Xiao Fan slowly opened his eyes, bewildered; his gaze was clear, no longer cold as before.

He had heard the voice again.

It was the same phrase he had heard when viewing the Secret Realm at noon—what was that phrase…?

'Since ancient times, my Dao endures.'

The moment he whispered those words, his vision blurred—he seemed to see a figure of ordinary appearance, gentle in aura.

Master Huo? The 'Master Huo' opened his eyes; his gaze shone like polished glass, swirling with seven-colored light.

…………

The next day, Central Plaza of Xuanjian City.

This was directly beneath the Secret Realm; around the plaza stood disciples of Silutang dressed in black uniforms.

In fact, not just here—important buildings like schools and city halls had also dispatched Silutang disciples to maintain order.

A short distance outside the plaza, on an open patch of ground, stood several strange huts built of packed earth and stone, with roofs of green wood.

These had been hastily constructed yesterday by several cultivators skilled in the Five Elements arts.

Li Qingyang lay on a reclining chair, holding a wine gourd, occasionally taking a sip—yet not a trace of wine's aroma lingered in the air.

This was the result of his deliberate control.

The cultivation level of those nearby was so low that even a whiff of the wine would render them permanently drunk, never waking again.

Setting down the gourd, Li Qingyang looked up at the sky.

'Which senior uncle or aunt could have caused such a commotion?'

The Secret Realm was hidden behind the celestial veil, not fully manifesting in reality.

'Deputy Head, it's about to begin.'

Jiang Jing walked over; she had changed into the black combat attire of Zhijian Tang, her long hair tied into a high ponytail, striking and spirited.

Compared to Silutang's uniforms, Zhijian Tang's black combat attire was simpler, devoid of any unnecessary ornamentation—ideal for sword cultivators in battle formations.

She was also a candidate in the third trial.

'About to begin?' Li Qingyang sat up. 'Go on. Aim for a good result.'

'Yes.'

Jiang Jing bowed, drew her sword, and walked into the plaza.

Soon after she entered, others gradually arrived at the plaza.

But when they saw the Silutang disciples surrounding the plaza, their expressions changed.

Some turned and left immediately; others paid no mind and entered the plaza.

The latter were mostly cultivators from Qitaxian Sect—the few disciples of the immortal sect who had arrived by flying vessel were among them.

'The Xiang Jianzong has cordoned off this place? How utterly tyrannical,' muttered the Artificer from Shenji Lianbao Pavilion. 'Trying to scare people away?'

A disciple of Ling Yin Fang shook his head slightly: 'This is just standard order maintenance—likely arranged by Xuanjian City itself, unrelated to the Xiang Jianzong.'

To put it bluntly, if not for this trial, even the main sect of the Xiang Jianzong wouldn't pay much attention to this place.

"The Xiang Jianzong sword cultivators may be a bit arrogant, but overall they're still decent; they wouldn't go this far." The alchemist from Jishi Valley also chimed in.

He had been on the Starry Sky Battlefield a few times before, and his favorite thing was teaming up with sword cultivators.

Sword cultivators may be arrogant, but when things get serious they really step up, and damn, they can really fight.

As for body cultivators... although they're equally unafraid and can also really fight.

Once they start fighting, the things they shout are just too filthy to hear—truly unbearable.

What a bunch of coarse, vulgar brutes!

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly felt a gaze. He looked up and saw it was that body cultivator from the Longxiang Qingtianzong.

"Is something the matter, Daoist friend?" the alchemist asked calmly and politely.

I suspect you're talking about me behind my back.

"Nothing," the body cultivator muttered.

And the artifact refiner from the Divine Mechanism Treasure Pavilion said nothing more either.

In truth, everyone could understand why he had suddenly spoken those words earlier.

In the previous Xian Sect Grand Competition, the Divine Mechanism Treasure Pavilion had a champion hopeful they pinned great hopes on—he was his cousin.

The result? That person ran into Chi Jiuyu in the very first round, and that was that—utter tragedy.

Chi Jiuyu not only beat his cousin within an inch of his life, but mocked him throughout the fight; that venomous tongue was just like a body cultivator from the Longxiang Qingtianzong.

In the end, he beat the poor guy into a complete mental shutdown.

Rumor has it he still hadn't recovered for quite a long time, so recently he was sent to the Longxiang Qingtianzong for treatment.

Sigh~ How tragic.

As time went on, more and more people gathered in the plaza; the disciples of the Qidaxian Sect had basically all arrived.

Emm... except for the Taishang Dao Sect.

By nine o'clock sharp, out of five hundred trial participants, fewer than a fifth had come to the plaza.

But whether they had come to the plaza or not, a line of golden text appeared before the eyes of every trial participant.

【Trial Begins】

Please collect, please follow and read!! (End of this chapter)