Chapter 24: Ascension Meeting, Second to Last!

The three layers of Body Tempering for a Body Cultivator are already considered Small Success for the Ten Directions Strong Body Art.

Although Su Ping is not well-versed in techniques.

However, all paths lead to the same destination; once the realm is reached, aside from ultimate skills that require special talent to execute, most martial arts can be used with ease.

After Su Ping came out of seclusion, he went to the study.

Linyue Villa already had a collection of books, and after Su Ping became a Body Cultivator, wealthy families even took the initiative to send over relevant texts.

From the dense collection of hundreds of various mortal martial arts, Su Ping found punching, kicking, and other force-generating techniques suitable for his cultivation method.

Afterward, he spent more time reading notes on combat experience written by actual combat masters.

"Good heavens, the actual combat of master martial artists is also mainly about gouging eyes, grabbing crotches, and sneak attacks from behind!"

"Hmm... there are also methods for fighting while running when dealing with encirclement by many people."

"Although it cannot be entirely applied to the Body Cultivator combat mode, it still has reference value."

Su Ping read ten lines at a glance, and in less than an hour, he finished reading two books of experiential advice.

He touched the third book and discovered it seemed to be an appraisal record of the pleasure quarters in various large cities within the territory under the jurisdiction of the Chiyuan Immortal Sect, painstakingly visited by a master martial artist.

Su Ping became interested and was just about to properly critique whether there was any exaggeration.

The voice of the maid Ping'er came from outside the door.

It was the City Lord Mansion of Jinque City sending someone to notify that the Ascension Meeting had been set up, and those from surrounding towns who were supposed to come to the city to participate had mostly arrived.

"Coming to this Jinque City to attend the meeting, the wealthy families in the city naturally don't care, but for those who traveled from afar... the fewer days they stay, the less they spend."

"And for me, finishing the task early can also reduce some risks."

"After all, there are bad people among the Loose Cultivators mingling in the mortal world!"

Su Ping silently put the unfinished book into his Storage Bag.

Then he took a carriage with his servants and headed to Jinque City.

Before long, the sound of gongs and drums rang out in the streets and alleys of Jinque City.

"The Ascension Meeting officially begins today!"

"Starting at the Hour of the Dragon, ending at the Hour of the Rat!"

"It will be held for three days; anyone who has not participated before may attend!"

"Hurry up and line up; participants with proof can get white porridge to drink!"

"Those who can be favored by the Immortal Sect can become Immortal Master lords!"

The night watchmen, constables, and the hangers-on who relied on them all took action to spread the word.

The two Outer Sect cultivators whose morale had been boosted by Su Ping were stepping on the roofs of the City Lord Mansion and the Library Pavilion respectively, their eyes bright and piercing as they patrolled in all directions to prevent any evil cultivators from fishing in troubled waters.

Although they were only at the first or second layer of Qi Refining, they had undergone systematic training from the Immortal Sect, plus they had Dharma Artifact robes, sharp swords, and Talismans for assistance.

Against those Loose Cultivators in the mortal world with the same cultivation level, they could completely take on two at once!

After Su Ping entered the city, he felt the changes in this city.

It seemed to have become more and more vibrant? And those pedestrians looking at him on the streets... there was more light in their eyes! "Is it because they harbor a glimmer of hope that they or their relatives and friends might be chosen and then rise to power?"

"This Ascension Meeting is indeed more stable than the imperial examination system."

"It's just that the imperial examination looks at knowledge, while the Ascension Meeting looks more at talent!"

"By comparison, it seems that this Ascension Meeting, which purely looks at talent, is more fair to the lower and middle classes?"

After all, except for the children of wealthy families like the Ji Family who can be in contact with Qi Refining and study from a young age, ensuring they have a Spirit Root.

For most participants, whether they have a Spirit Root or not can only be known at the Ascension Meeting.

Su Ping walked into the venue and took out the Dharma Artifact for detecting Spirit Roots given to him by that Patrol Envoy from his Storage Bag.

It included a full set of sixteen 20mm-long Dharma flags and a palm-sized Copper Mirror.

"Rise!"

Su Ping was already at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, so using this set of Immortal Sect Dharma Artifacts, which were set to be drivable at the Qi Refining Third Layer, was naturally effortless.

In the blink of an eye, the array flags flew to the four corners of the drill ground, and after they were inserted into the ground with a bang, bang, bang in the shape of eight outer flags and eight inner flags, the array was completed.

"Whew!"

Su Ping slowly caught his breath; setting up the array still consumed a little bit. At the very least, it cost him one-tenth of his Dharma Power and one percent of his physical strength! After the array was set up, Su Ping sat on a tall wooden chair, with the City Lord and the City Defense Officer sitting to Su Ping's lower left and lower right respectively.

Boom! As the large copper gong on the high building was struck.

The Ascension Meeting was officially held in Jinque City!

The first to be tested, it goes without saying, were naturally the children of the local wealthy families of Jinque City.

The first one was a prodigy from the City Lord's family.

About twelve or thirteen years old, with a fair face and a youthful look, he first respectfully bowed in Su Ping's direction, then walked to the center of the inner circle of eight flags.

As the flags vibrated slightly, Su Ping looked at the Copper Mirror in his hand.

"Lower Grade Spiritual Root, qualified!"

Su Ping announced the result in a flat tone, while simultaneously activating the Dharma Array to mark the inside of the participant's wrist with a very faint red Chiyuan Mark to indicate they had passed.

The whole process had no human favors to speak of, nor did it require any on-the-spot performance like an exam.

Only talent was looked at; in just ten seconds or so, this person's future fate was decided.

The qualified were overjoyed, and the failures were dejected.

There were also a very few heartless ones who happily held up the faint black dot on their wrists that signified failure and ran elsewhere to eat vegetables and porridge for free.

Su Ping also saw the Ji Family girl from Ji Hu's family on the first day.

Su Ping's cultural level was average; he only felt that the other party was in the prime of her youth and very beautiful.

And Su Ping, who already possessed one-tenth of a Saint Body, vaguely felt that this girl might have a little bit of a special constitution related to charm? This made Su Ping somewhat alert.

A beautiful woman as a disaster is not just a saying in the Cultivation World.

Cultivators would not fight to the death simply for beauty.

But for a high-quality Dao companion or a top-tier cauldron... they would only fight even more viciously.

Especially if this kind of seductive constitution happened to be suitable for certain special cauldron cultivation arts that prolong life, I fear even Golden Core Old Ancestors above the Foundation Establishment realm would be tempted!

"I only want to be an Immortal who goes fishing and remains aloof from the world; I must absolutely not take in this kind of troublesome constitution!"

Su Ping, who could obtain a Saint Body by fishing, had no interest in such a cauldron.

Su Ping silently recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra in his heart and looked at the Copper Mirror, no different from before:

"Lower Grade Spiritual Root, qualified!"

The Dharma Array could not detect the Special Constitution.

However, having a Spirit Root was already enough; no matter how much the Ji Family tried to cling to power, it was impossible for them to keep their daughter from the Immortal Sect!

And once she went to the Immortal Sect, it would have nothing to do with an Inspector like Su Ping.

Su Ping recalled the name that had just been announced.

Ji Yufeng! Su Ping secretly noted it down; if he accidentally came into contact with her in the future, he must run as far away as possible!

The Ji Family daughter left happily.

In her view, once she entered the Immortal Sect, she would be able to shake off the family's control and gain the majority of her freedom! The Ascension Meeting continued to be held.

Su Ping soon discovered that the number of qualified candidates was not high.

Following the initial passing of the Qi Refining seeds from various families.

From noon until midnight, surprisingly, only one peasant child with a Lower Grade Spiritual Root had qualified.

After that, not a single person passed the Ascension Meeting Dharma Array test.

"It is abnormally low."

Su Ping frowned slightly.

When today's Ascension Meeting ended, he immediately went to the City Lord to request the records of previous Ascension Meetings.

Judging from the records he could flip through.

The number of qualified people at his first day of the Ascension Meeting... was shockingly ranked second to last!

And the time it ranked last, Jinque City had just suffered a great upheaval, and the population was not even half of what it was now!

(End of this chapter)