Chapter 546: The Huge Base of Cultivators

Three days later, the three-day Dongxuan Academy exam officially began, and the Star Fall Continent fell into a rare calm in the past ten years.

Although a small number of students gave up this exam for various reasons.

But most of the new generation of cultivators in the entire Star Fall Continent, as well as the older generation of cultivators, were preoccupied by the Dongxuan Academy exam.

Therefore, since the beginning of the Dongxuan Academy exam, the activity of cultivators in various parts of the Star Fall Continent had significantly decreased.

This Dongxuan Academy exam involved assessments in various dimensions such as the students' cultivation speed, the progress of spell cultivation, basic knowledge of cultivation, and at least one of the four arts of cultivation.

The final total score of the exam would be ranked based on the sum of the scores of each dimension assessment.

Those who ranked at the top of the total ranking, whether it was the students themselves or the Dongxuan Academy branch they were in, would receive generous rewards from Dongxuan City.

And those who excelled in individual assessments would also be cultivated and rewarded by Dongxuan City, but the intensity of the rewards would be one grade lower than those at the top of the total ranking.

After the calm came the noise.

After the three-day Dongxuan Academy exam ended, it was the upcoming Qi Refining Realm cultivator competition for the new generation of Dongxuan City.

Although the total score ranking of the academy exam had not yet come out, the students who had finished the competition had already thrown it behind them and began to concentrate on preparing for the Qi Refining Realm competition one day later.

The number of low-order cultivators gathered near the major prefecture cities of the entire Star Fall Continent had more than tenfold compared to before.

Among these cultivators, some were the new generation of Qi Refining Realm teenagers from Dongxuan City who came to participate in the Qi Refining Realm competition and their accompanying elders, and some were the few remaining loose cultivators in the Star Fall Continent.

Looking at the battle platforms being set up outside the major prefecture cities, these gathered cultivators couldn't help but have expectant and excited expressions.

Of course, there were also a few loose cultivators who came to watch the fun, but at this time, they felt annoyed.

Outside a certain prefecture city.

The loose cultivator Li Yuanxing looked at the many battle platforms that had been set up for the Qi Refining competition, his mood was low, and he said somewhat annoyedly:

"If I had known, I should have joined Dongxuan City directly ten years ago. Now that I've lost the opportunity, I don't have any channels to join Dongxuan City for my son's future."

Whether it was the current Qi Refining Realm competition, or the future Foundation Establishment Realm competition, or the Purple Mansion Realm competition.

Although they were all events involving the entire Star Fall Continent, in reality, only cultivators belonging to Dongxuan City could participate.

And Dongxuan Academy, as long as they were children with spiritual roots among the commoner residents of the villages, small towns, and cities under Dongxuan City, or children of cultivators belonging to Dongxuan City.

Regardless of the level of spiritual root talent, they could directly enroll in Dongxuan Academy and enjoy a series of welfare treatments from Dongxuan City.

As for those with spiritual root talent in the Star Fall Continent who did not belong to Dongxuan City, including the children of many loose cultivators in the Star Fall Continent, they all needed to pass certain assessments and have their spiritual root talent reach the minimum limit to enroll in Dongxuan Academy and join Dongxuan City.

Only the battle platforms established by Dongxuan City in various parts of the Star Fall Continent had no restrictions, and loose cultivators in the Star Fall Continent could also go on stage to fight.

If they achieved a ten-game winning streak, loose cultivators, like cultivators under Dongxuan City, could also receive corresponding rewards.

But now the number of loose cultivators in the Star Fall Continent had been reduced several times, and wanting to achieve a ten-game winning streak in the same realm would inevitably mean facing cultivators under Dongxuan City.

Wanting to defeat cultivators cultivated by Dongxuan City's respective resources as a loose cultivator, how could it be so easy?

Not to mention other things, just talking about the protective spells cultivated by cultivators.

Loose cultivators might only be able to come into contact with a dozen or even only a few types of spells to choose from in their entire lives.

And cultivators under Dongxuan City could easily come into contact with thousands or tens of thousands of different types of spells and choose the spells suitable for their own cultivation to protect their path.

Coupled with the backing of Dongxuan City, as long as their contribution points were sufficient, they could obtain various corresponding heavenly materials and earthly treasures to assist in the cultivation of spells.

Accumulated over time, the foundation of cultivators in the same realm under Dongxuan City was naturally much deeper than that of loose cultivators.

Since the wormhole passage of the Star Fall Continent was destroyed by the Green Demon Realm, not only the major forces in the Star Fall Continent, but also the major mid- and high-order loose cultivators had successively left the Star Fall Continent to seek other developments.

Even some low-order loose cultivators with cultivation bases below the Golden Core Realm were also finding various relationships to leave the Star Fall Continent and go to other provinces with wormhole passages to settle down.

So in the years that followed, the number of loose cultivators in the Star Fall Continent had become fewer and fewer.

Especially after the Star Fall Continent was completely controlled by Dongxuan City, Dongxuan City once again recruited loose cultivators and small forces in various parts of the Star Fall Continent, causing the number of loose cultivators in the Star Fall Continent to fall directly into a low period.

Therefore, among the cultivators still active in the Star Fall Continent now, most of them already belonged to Dongxuan City.

However, the Star Fall Continent was a large province after all, and its territory was very vast.

There were always some loose cultivators who were used to being alone, and because Dongxuan City did not use force to coerce them, there were still some loose cultivators who did not choose to join Dongxuan City during the recruitment ten years ago.

Among them was Li Yuanxing, who had a Purple Mansion Realm cultivation base.

Later, after a chance encounter, Li Yuanxing accidentally gained an offspring.

Li Yuanxing, who had an offspring, finally had the idea of joining Dongxuan City for the future development of his offspring.

But at that time, Dongxuan City, because villages, small towns, and cities directly under Dongxuan City were established one after another in various parts of the Star Fall Continent, and Dongxuan Academy branches were blooming everywhere.

This gave the new generation of cultivators in Dongxuan City a stable source of birth, so not long after the large-scale recruitment ten years ago, Dongxuan City no longer accepted the joining of other loose cultivators.

If the children of loose cultivators wanted to join Dongxuan City, they could only pass the Dongxuan Academy assessment and join Dongxuan City after successfully graduating from Dongxuan Academy.

But very unfortunately, under the special secret method of Li Yuanxing's advance detection, his son was likely only a two-element spiritual root talent, which did not meet the minimum standard of three-element spiritual root talent for the Dongxuan Academy assessment.

So Li Yuanxing's son would likely not be able to pass the Dongxuan Academy assessment in the future and gain the opportunity to join Dongxuan City.

In fact, it wasn't just Li Yuanxing. Over the years, the wind of reform in Dongxuan City had blown across the entire Star Fall Continent, and the loose cultivators in the Star Fall Continent heard and came into contact with people and things related to Dongxuan City every day.

Under these circumstances, many loose cultivators had once again moved the idea of joining Dongxuan City.

After all, after the Star Fall Continent was incorporated into Dongxuan City's jurisdiction, even if they didn't join Dongxuan City, they still had to accept the rules set by Dongxuan City.

It was a pity that the opportunity was fleeting.

When they were faced with Dongxuan City's recruitment, they kept them out of the door, and now that they wanted to take the initiative to join Dongxuan City, they could no longer find a way.

"The Star Fall Continent Qi Refining Realm competition, now officially begins!"

One day later, over three hundred prefectures in the entire Star Fall Continent started the first round of elimination matches for the Qi Refining Realm competition at the same time.

For a time, the crowds around the battle platforms set up outside the over three hundred prefecture cities in the Star Fall Continent were surging and lively, and the dense crowds had already surrounded the major battle platforms tightly.

"Dad, Mom, look quickly, that's Brother, Brother knocked down the big bad guy."

In the crowd around the battle platform outside Yuanqing Prefecture, a little girl of three or more years old with two pigtails pointed at a figure on one of the battle platforms and excitedly pulled her parents' hands and shouted loudly. And the couple, who were pulled by their daughter, looked at their son who had won on the battle platform, touched their daughter's little head, and were also full of joy.

They were all commoner residents in Yuanqing Fucheng. Because their son signed up to participate in the Qi Refining Realm competition, as residents of Yuanqing Fucheng, although they were only commoners, they also gained the special right to watch the Qi Refining Realm competition.

The competition system for the first round of elimination matches was very simple, and even had a certain element of luck.

All cultivators who signed up to participate in the Qi Refining Realm competition in each prefecture were randomly assigned to duel in pairs.

The winner advances, and the loser is directly eliminated.

Until the last twenty people remained, they would then randomly duel in pairs again.

The winner acts as the defender, and the loser gets three chances to challenge. After winning the challenge, they can replace the defender and become the new defender.

After the defender loses, they can also get three chances to challenge.

But no matter how many times the identities of the defender and the challenger were swapped, everyone only had three chances to challenge.

After all twenty challenges were used up, or no one launched a challenge again, the final ten successful defenders could gain the opportunity to head to the commandery city to participate in the second round of elimination matches.

As for getting injured during the battle, leading to not being able to exert full strength in the next battle?

The wealthy Dongxuan City said this was not a big deal.

In order to ensure the smooth holding of the Qi Refining Realm competition and to select true elites from the new generation of cultivators in the entire Star Fall Continent.

Under Ye Qingxuan's authorization, Dongxuan City prepared a large number of elixir combination packages this time. As long as one didn't die, one could be resurrected on the spot after taking the elixir.

And on these battle platforms used for the competition, a special formation was set up.

As long as one's own cultivation base did not exceed the Purple Mansion Realm and the degree of attack suffered did not exceed the Purple Mansion Realm, when suffering fatal damage, there would be a force to protect the cultivator's body from destructive damage.

In order to let these cultivators participating in the competition experience the most real life-and-death battles as much as possible.

This force would not block the attack for the participants, but could only protect the core parts of the participants' bodies from being destroyed, while maintaining the participants who suffered fatal blows in a dying state so they wouldn't fall on the spot.

Only after the battle was decided would a strong expert from Dongxuan City take action to save the participants and let the participants recover as before.

Therefore, although this Qi Refining Realm competition was a competition between the new generation within Dongxuan City, it was a no-rules battle.

However, the new generation of Dongxuan City had not experienced true blood baptism after all, and the participants were all in the camp under Dongxuan City, so there were not many people who chose to kill on the battle platform yet.

Most of the matches between participants were mostly about stopping when the point was reached.

As time passed, the battle platforms in various prefectures of the Star Fall Continent had already fallen into multiple rounds of fierce fighting.

When the Star Fall Continent Qi Refining Realm competition officially began.

On Mount Wanling, Ye Qingxuan held a piece of data in his hand and pondered for a moment, his gaze faint, not knowing what he was thinking.

In the Di Xuan Realm, because of the nourishment of spiritual energy, the human body and meridians were fully developed at the age of twelve, and spiritual roots had also completely formed, so they could begin to guide spiritual energy into the body and step onto the path of cultivation.

If one wanted to shorten this process and let humans step onto the path of cultivation in advance, it was not impossible.

But to shorten the process of human natural gestation and growth, and not want to damage the cultivator's potential, one must use special high-order heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

Even for strong experts at the level of Mahayana Realm cultivators, spending special high-order heavenly materials and earthly treasures just to let their offspring step onto the path of cultivation a few years in advance was not worth the loss.

A mere few years of time was just a flick of a finger for mid- and high-order cultivators, so there was no need to spend too much effort to shorten it in the early stage.

What's more, artificial intervention was sometimes not necessarily better than natural development, so even the offspring of high-order cultivators rarely used high-order heavenly materials and earthly treasures to assist in stepping onto the path of cultivation in advance.

It was precisely because of this that in the Di Xuan Realm, spiritual roots were basically tested at the age of twelve, and they began to formally step onto the path of cultivation.

Because the villages, small towns, and cities in various parts of the Star Fall Continent were newly built, the commoner residents had not developed to the limit of capacity.

And among these commoner residents, with the nourishment of spiritual energy, even commoners could easily reach a lifespan of about 130 years.

So in the Di Xuan Realm, the proportion of children under twelve among commoner residents was generally only about 10%.

Among the 10% of children, only two or three out of a thousand were tested for spiritual roots.

Before, when the major forces of the Star Fall Continent withdrew, they took away a batch of commoner residents, leading to the fact that the commoner residents in the Star Fall Continent were basically at the bottom among the provinces of the Eastern Extreme Domain.

Now, the vast majority of the commoner population in the Star Fall Continent had been incorporated under Dongxuan City.

In these ten years, the number of new generation cultivators who had tested for spiritual roots and stepped onto the path of cultivation in the villages, small towns, and cities under Dongxuan City was far from reaching Ye Qingxuan's expectations.

But even so, the base of commoner residents originally in the vast Star Fall Continent was beyond ordinary people's imagination.

Under the huge commoner population base

On average, the new generation of cultivators participating in the Qi Refining competition this time had about five or six thousand people in each prefecture of the Star Fall Continent.

This was still because a part of the new generation had just stepped onto the path of cultivation not long ago and did not sign up to participate in the Qi Refining Realm competition.

Or the talent was only one or two-element spiritual roots, and the cultivation base had stayed at the first or second layer of the Qi Refining Realm after ten years of cultivation, and they had no face to participate in this Qi Refining Realm competition, and this group occupied the majority among the new generation of cultivators, and could even occupy a proportion of eight-tenths.

Otherwise, if all the new generation of cultivators born in ten years were counted, on average, there should be at least fifty or sixty thousand new generation cultivators in each prefecture.

Of course, before the Star Fall Continent was incorporated into Dongxuan City's jurisdiction, the major forces in the Star Fall Continent would only recruit those with three-element spiritual root talent and above.

Those with one or two-element spiritual root talent from commoner backgrounds, some might never have the opportunity to step onto the path of cultivation in their entire lives, and some became the loose cultivators in the Star Fall Continent before.

Not only the Star Fall Continent, but before the invasion of the Green Demon Realm, even the Eastern Extreme Domain, and even the entire Di Xuan Realm, were like this.

But this could not deny the huge base of cultivators born in the Di Xuan Realm every year.

There were so many new generation cultivators born in a prefecture in ten years.

The Star Fall Continent had over three hundred prefectures, so one could imagine how many new generation cultivators were born in the entire Star Fall Continent in ten years.

And the Star Fall Continent was just a large province where the commoner residents were at the bottom in the Eastern Extreme Domain now. The entire Eastern Extreme Domain had a full ninety-nine large provinces, and the entire Di Xuan Realm had nine large domains.

Coupled with the islands and continents like stars in the endless sea area.

It was hard to imagine how huge the number of cultivators born in the Di Xuan Realm every year was.

But perhaps it was precisely because of this that the unfathomable foundation of cultivators accumulated in the Di Xuan Realm.

Could they not fall behind in the battle with the Green Demon Realm, and have sufficient cultivators to constantly fight with the Green Demon Clan! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 547 =====