Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 80: Ning'an Province

Chapter 80: Ning’an Province

The prizes for the Mingxin Mountain Tournament were generous, and the tournament was split into the Sea of Qi division and the Dao Foundation division. By using either the jade identity tablet of the Peak or the key jade slip to the courtyard, it was possible to directly register for the tournament.

For the top 10,000 ranks in the Sea of Qi division of the tournament, each person would receive 10 spirit stones. For the top 5,000, each person would receive 50 spirit stones!

Generally speaking, the grand majority of the people participating in the tournament were at the peak Sea of Qi stage, but there were still quite a few early Sea of Qi stage disciples.

The number of Sea of Qi stage disciples participating in the tournament was usually around 20,000, but there were times when it was a little less, only numbering somewhere above 10,000. So the reward for the top 10,000 rankings was pretty much like a participation prize. It wasn’t that hard for even the most ordinary of disciples to enter the top 10,000 as long as they were a bit lucky.

But the top 1,000 ranks were all relatively outstanding Sea of Qi stage disciples. Each of them would receive 100 spirit stones, which was quite generous on the sect’s part.

Even further above that were the top 100 ranks of each of the Mountain Ranges! They would represent their Mountain Range in participating in the Mountain Range ranking placement battle in the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament!

Countless eyes would be focused on these peak battles.

At the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament held every 50 years, there were countless geniuses and talents who appeared and made their names!

Those who could suppress their peers at the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament were all dazzling geniuses, without fail!

The two disciples who earned rank 1 in Sea of Qi division and Dao Foundation division of the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament would even be bestowed a title as a Sacred Youth of the Shangqing Sacred Sect!

The amount of resources allocated to them were unimaginable.

At the Sea of Qi stage, the disciple bestowed with the title of Sacred Youth would be granted a Mountain Peak and showered with countless resources. Although they would only be at the Sea of Qi stage, their treatment would be at least a hundred times better than an ordinary Dao Foundation stage disciple!

As for the Dao Foundation stage Sacred Youth, they could join the best Mountain Peak, Shangqing Mountain, to cultivate!

The Shangqing Sacred Sect had existed for countless years. Every disciple who had once received the title of Sacred Youth at some point were all outstanding, unrivaled talents who shone like brilliant suns.

Take for example, the rank 1 disciple of the Dao Foundation division 50 years ago, Sacred Son Feng Shao.

Sacred Son Feng Shao came from the Fourth Mountain, the Mountain of Law. Although he was at the Dao Foundation stage at the time, he had been a complete nobody, blending into the crowd. It was only once he entered the Inner Disciple Tournament that his fame soared!

It was rumored that while he was out on a mission, he unexpectedly happened upon the several tens of thousands of years old inheritance of Saint Lord Xingyuan. By catching this one chance opportunity, Sacred Son Feng Shao’s luck could be said to have been truly heaven-defying.

Basked in radiant glory, he soared towards the skies in a completely unstoppable fashion! Just by relying on Saint Lord Xingyuan’s mysterious body refinement technique and the psychic Magic Treasure, the Star Beheading Sword, he managed to sweep all of the Dao Foundation stage geniuses at the time. After an epic contention for the top spot, he was given the title of Sacred Son!

In his hand, he only had the Star Beheading Sword, that one Magic Treasure! The other top Dao Foundation stage competitors all had several extremely powerful Magic Treasures and countless hidden trump cards, but they had all been ruthlessly suppressed by him all the same! From this, it could be seen just how powerful the inheritance of a Saint Lord was.

Before Sacred Son Feng Shao rose to fame, the most promising candidate to win and receive the title of Sacred Youth was Du Yuhuan. He was a direct descendent of a Peak Master of Wenyuan Mountain Range, and he had several incredibly powerful Magic Treasures. He had countless secret techniques passed down to him, and he was even given an exotic beast by the Peak Master to serve as his helper!

The finals match between them two was an amazing, earth-shattering battle that even caused Divine Core stage Spirit Masters to raise their eyebrows in surprise.

Du Yuhuan was such a talented genius, but in the end he couldn’t beat Sacred Son Feng Shao. He came up short by one move and was defeated, making him second place in the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament.

Fifty years passed, and by now, Sacred Son Feng Shao had already long since broken through to the Divine Core stage and was granted the title of Spirit Master. However, Sacred Son Feng Shao hadn’t chosen to cultivate at Shangqing Mountain. Instead, he stayed with the Mountain of Law and held power over several of the top ranked Mountain Peaks there. At the same time, he held a concurrent position as the Chief Elder of the entire Disciplinary Hall of the Mountain of Law, possessing a truly heaven-shaking amount of authority.

There had even been hearsay in the Mountain of Law that if Sacred Son Feng Shao broke through one more time, he might have the qualifications to acquire the highly coveted position as Mountain Lord of the Mountain of Law.

Other Mountain Ranges all had two Mountain Lords. However, for the past ten thousands or so years, the Fourth Mountain only had one Mountain Lord. In the Mountain of Law, almost all of the Divine Core stage Spirit Masters had control over some of the top ranking Mountain Peaks. They would fight openly and maneuver covertly over the position of the Mountain Lord, and eventually they had ended up in a mutual stalemate.

However, Sacred Son Feng Shao emerged as a force to be reckoned with, becoming the most likely one to be able to smash this delicate balance.

The total strength of Mingxin Mountain Range which Xu Disheng was a part of was still far from that of the Mountain of Law. Out of the more than 300 Mountain Peaks in Mingxin Mountain, Morning Dew Peak was only ranked 45th. The Peak Master, Lu Changge, was still only at the Dao Foundation stage.

Meanwhile, in the Mountain of Law, the number of Divine Core stage Spirit Masters was more than double that of the number in the Mingxin Mountain Range. The two Mountain Ranges couldn’t even be compared.

Looking at the prizes for the Sea of Qi division of the Inner Disciple Tournament, Xu Disheng’s interest was piqued. The sect clearly understood the disciples’ thoughts well. The disciples that were able to reach the top 100 were those that had great prospects of reaching the Dao Foundation stage. There were some that were already half a step to the Dao Foundation stage, and were only a bit away from breaking through, which would allow them to increase their lifespan to 800 years.

Therefore, not only would the top 100 disciples of the Inner Disciple Tournament be able to participate in the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament, but they would also get 5 Qi Boosting Pills as a reward! Qi Boosting Pills were very suited for Sea of Qi stage disciples, increasing their chances of breaking through to the Dao Foundation stage by a bit. Each of them was worth 80 spirit stones.

The top 10 ranks, on the other hand, would each receive a Foundation Establishing Pill, which were worth 500 spirit stones apiece! It was extremely difficult to purchase these pills, to the point that it wasn’t possible to place a market price on them. Even in the Spiritual Medicine Pavilion in Spirit Origin Hall, there was always an extreme shortage of these pills. They would occasionally bring a few out and sell them, but they would always sell out extremely quickly.

The Foundation Establishing Pills could increase the chances of breaking through to the Dao Foundation stage by 10%!

The prizes for the top 3 and the rank 1 disciple of the Inner Disciple Tournament made even Xu Disheng’s pupils constrict in surprise.

Each of the top 3 would receive a Magic Treasure! If the person who ranked first didn’t have a master yet, they could become the disciple of a Divine Core stage Spirit Master! If they already had a master, or didn’t want to accept a master, then they could receive a pinnacle quality Magic Treasure instead!

These rewards were indeed a bit overdone. However, among the upper echelons of Mingxin Mountain Range, aside from the two lofty Mountain Lords, the several Divine Core stage Spirit Masters all had their own considerations in doing this.

After all, the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament was right after the Inner Disciple Tournament.

Giving these top ranked geniuses these powerful Magic Treasures would be a big help to them later in contending for the Mountain Range’s ranking in the upcoming Eight Mountains Grand Tournament.

Although Xu Disheng had several powerful cultivation methods and even had a Magic Treasure, he wasn’t sure if he could make it into the top 100 in the Inner Disciple Tournament.

Even though the Sea of Qi division of the tournament wasn’t as intensely competitive as the Dao Foundation division, those that had an ample amount of resources and a strong backer would always have a leg up over ordinary disciples.

In the end, Xu Disheng concluded that he still didn’t have enough hidden trump cards!

Xu Disheng put down the information jade slip. Just as he was about to speak, Bai Zhehua gestured with his hand, interrupting him. He smiled and said, “Junior Martial Brother Xu, I know that you want to go to Mountain Affairs Peak to take a mission. I called you here exactly for this reason. I have a mission here, related to a newly born Malicious Ghost somewhere in the Ning’an Province. It has been slaughtering mortals left and right, causing a huge disturbance. It needs to be put down.”

Ning’an Province? Xu Disheng frowned slightly.

On their way back to the sect, on the purple Spirit Cloud, Lu Siwan briefly mentioned that she had come from the Ning’an Province, which was under the jurisdiction of the Sacred Sect.

Seeing that Xu Disheng wasn’t saying anything, Bai Zhehua continued, “Junior Martial Brother Xu. When I came back, I mentioned about you to Deacon Bai, and he said that he was interested in promoting you. For this mission, I will go with you, and it’ll be considered a bit of a test for you.”

This Deacon Bai he spoke of was none other than his father, who was at the Dao Foundation stage. He was one of the dozen or so Deacons on Morning Dew Peak.

A Malicious Spirit was lower than an Evil Spirit by one rank, and was approximately equivalent to the Sea of Qi stage. It was also the lowest rank for ghost beings. A newly born Malicious Spirit was even weaker, so this test wasn’t hard at all.

Xu Disheng’s previous performance was too impressive. Fourteen people went on that small-scale mission, and even the people who first accepted the mission had died. Despite that, he had still managed to bring several others back with him safely.

Aside from turning in that wolf demon corpse, he had also received the reward for completing the small-scale mission.

On the surface, the rewards that could be visibly attributed to his two trips out of the sect amounted to over 400 spirit stones.

Every Dao Foundation stage powerhouse had a generous amount of assets. However, Magic Treasures were easily over 1,000 spirit stones. Xu Disheng naturally didn’t really find himself drawn to Deacon Bai’s assets.

However, seeing Xu Disheng’s display of his comprehensive potential, Deacon Bai wanted to get him on his side. Although Xu Disheng’s recorded aptitude was only Rank 6 Spiritual Root, which allowed him to just barely be included among the middle class Spiritual Root, those that were able to survive until the end were always the winners.

Even though that ghost at Jade Water Lake had been at the Evil Spirit stage, it had exhausted most of its ghostly qi to prolong its life. Thus, its combat strength had been reduced to about 10-20% of its original power. If it weren’t for this, it wouldn’t have had to feign civility with Xu Disheng, and it would have long since materialized its true body and flagrantly attacked him.

Xu Disheng’s original idea was to find a similar mission to that one in order to strengthen his Soul Suppressing Vestment, so after he heard that this mission was related to a ghost, he readily agreed. After the two roughly talked over the details, they made some preparations and left the courtyard. They boarded Bai Zhehua’s massive flying sword and rode out into the clouds, away from Morning Dew Peak.

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