Just as Mo Fan’s true body set off on the journey back to Black Wind Mountain, his avatar far away in the Divine Domain also welcomed the grandest event of Tianlu Sacred Land, the once-every-ten-years sect grand competition!
The sect grand competition was the contest that all disciples of Tianlu Sacred Land yearned for most, because this event would affect the entire sacred land. Whether ordinary outer disciples, inner disciples, core disciples, or even direct disciples, all would undergo the test of such a competition.
For many disciples of low status, the sect grand competition was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to leap over the dragon gate!
Of course, for the current Mo Fan, it was naturally the same!
On this day, early in the morning, Mo Fan followed his nominal master Liu Zhengde to the Tianlu Daoist Arena of Tianlu Sacred Land.
The so-called Tianlu Daoist Arena was in fact the largest place for lecturing on the Dao within the entire Tianlu Sacred Land.
When Mo Fan arrived at the Tianlu Daoist Arena, he finally discovered that this so-called arena was actually the convergence point of several mountain ranges. However, here there were no vast mountains and rivers, but an extremely expansive plain!
The plain was covered with inch-long green grass, not a single blade protruding higher than the rest. This indicated that disciples regularly maintained the area.
At this time, many cultivators had already gathered in the Tianlu Daoist Arena. They were densely packed, with figures bustling everywhere.
This was the first time Mo Fan had seen so many human cultivators. Looking out, the sky and ground were filled with figures of cultivators coming and going. Conservatively estimated, there were over ten thousand!
“Worthily called a transcendent force among the human race, the sacred land has far too many disciples under its sect!”
Mo Fan murmured in his heart. Then he looked at Liu Zhengde beside him and asked, “Just how many cultivators are there in our sacred land altogether? Here alone, there must be no fewer than ten thousand, right?”
“This master is not very clear either. Probably only the Tianlu Treasure Mirror has the records. But this master estimates at least over thirty thousand!
What you see now is only a portion. More disciples are in seclusion, or out training, or carrying out some sacred land missions.
The Divine Domain is too vast. Many disciples sometimes go out for a single mission and are gone for several years or even decades.” Liu Zhengde said softly.
Hearing these words, Mo Fan secretly clicked his tongue in amazement. He had never imagined that the foundation of Tianlu Sacred Land was so profound. Even that fellow Jiang Wu did not know much about these details.
“How will the so-called competition be conducted later?” Mo Fan asked.
Although he had transformed Jiang Wu into a chang ghost, he had not made the other party transfer all memories to him. This was because possessing too many memories from others could sometimes affect oneself instead. As a result, Mo Fan was not particularly familiar with many detailed aspects of Tianlu Sacred Land.
“In Tianlu Sacred Land, apart from outer disciples having no limit on numbers, both inner disciples and core disciples have restrictions on their counts.
So the competition later will be a challenge system, lasting three days. Each day, one can launch a challenge against another disciple. If the challenge is won, one can continue to choose further challenges until defeated. Then the ranking is fixed.
On the second day, the challenge opportunities resume.” Liu Zhengde explained.
“There are rankings too?”
Mo Fan was very surprised.
“Naturally there are. Apart from outer disciples not qualifying for rankings, both inner and core disciples have them. This is also a means for the sacred land to motivate its disciples.”
Liu Zhengde smiled faintly. What he was saying was basic information about Tianlu Sacred Land, so he was not afraid of others overhearing. He continued to explain, “Tianlu Sacred Land has established two lists: the Heaven List and the Earth List. The Earth List ranks the inner disciples, with a total of one thousand positions. The Heaven List ranks the core disciples, with only fifty!
As long as one can make it onto the list, whether Heaven or Earth, the cultivation resources obtained will far exceed those for outer disciples.
Inner disciples will have the opportunity to be taken as disciples by inner elders, and the same applies to core disciples!”
“Sounds rather interesting!”
Mo Fan’s eyes flickered. At the same time, he secretly felt that the cultivation environment in Tianlu Sacred Land was not as leisurely as it appeared on the surface.
There were too many disciples in Tianlu Sacred Land. Tens of thousands competing for those one thousand and fifty spots. One could imagine how difficult it was!
Thinking of this, Mo Fan could not help but frown slightly.
Although this avatar of his had made tremendous progress in half a year, his cultivation had still not broken through to the late stage of Core Formation. Moreover, the main cultivation method, the Sun Heaven Scripture, could not be displayed under the eyes of the crowd. The only means he could use was the Tianlu Derived Spirit Art.
So he did not think he could necessarily stand out among the many disciples.
At this thought, Mo Fan felt inexplicably depressed. He had eagerly wanted to join Tianlu Sacred Land in hopes of obtaining the complete version of the Tianlu Derived Spirit Art, yet it turned out to be so difficult.
“Could the only path really be the demonic seed?”
Mo Fan frowned, then asked again, “What about direct disciples? How does one become a direct disciple?”
Liu Zhengde glanced at Mo Fan and said calmly, “The method to become a direct disciple is very simple. One only needs to have a sufficiently outstanding performance in the sect grand competition, then be noticed by the Nascent Soul ancestors above in the sacred land, thereby gaining promotion and ascending to the heavens in one step!”
“However, you can just think about such a good thing, because currently there are only three direct disciples in the entire Tianlu Sacred Land!
No, to be precise, two, because one has already fallen!”
“It is said he was killed by a demon general of the demon race. I do not know which heavenly prodigy of the demon race it was that could actually kill a Tianlu direct disciple. Truly terrifying!”
The last sentence was transmitted by Liu Zhengde to Mo Fan. The latter immediately touched his nose. Setting aside the matter of Jiang Wu, becoming a direct disciple of Tianlu Sacred Land was indeed somewhat tricky.
However, he did not mind. If he really could not become a direct disciple, then he would just take the demonic seed path!
The so-called demonic seed was the Heavenly Demon Thousand Illusion Seed that he cultivated. It could condense countless heavenly demon seeds, then plant them in the seas of consciousness of some disciples. In this way, he could silently steal their spiritual force and part of their cultivation!
When needed, he could directly harvest the heavenly demon seeds from those disciples, thereby appropriating their spiritual force and that portion of cultivation for himself!
Back then, Jiang Wu had cultivated this very method. Later, after his body perished, his wandering soul was detained by Mo Fan and transformed into a chang ghost. Naturally, the Heavenly Demon Thousand Illusion Seed fell into Mo Fan’s hands!
If possible, Mo Fan did not want to use this method, because it was completely an evil technique, a demonic art that seized others’ foundational paths.
But its effect was similar to the Tianlu Derived Spirit Art, with the only difference being that the Tianlu Derived Spirit Art, when cultivated to later stages, possessed divine sense attack methods.
However, Mo Fan’s initial goal had been to strengthen his own spiritual force, so that he could better control both bodies simultaneously. Therefore, if cultivating the Tianlu Derived Spirit Art was hopeless, then he would have no choice but to cultivate the Heavenly Demon Thousand Illusion Seed.
“I have already been a demon. I do not mind becoming a great devil feared by all once more!”
Mo Fan took a deep breath. Finally, his gaze calmed down again.
Just at that moment, the crowd ahead suddenly surged, and chaotic noises rose in a clamour.
“Look quickly!”
“Good heavens! It is actually Lin Yi. I did not expect even he would come!”
“My goodness! This is Senior Brother Lin Yi, first on the Earth List? He really is so handsome!”
“Senior Brother Lin Yi, I want to marry you!!”
“Pah! A woman at only the ninth level of Qi Refining like you also deserves to marry Senior Brother Lin Yi?”
“No… Senior Brother Lin Yi’s cultivation is strong, but he seems to look very ordinary. Is he really that handsome?”
Watching a group of female disciples pinching and fighting nearby, a group of male disciples turned their heads to glance at the proud fellow in the distance with a face full of pockmarks and fell into contemplation…
“Holy crap! Senior Brother Wang Lin has come too!”
“What? Even Senior Brother Wang Lin is here? Where? He is first on the Heaven List!!”
“Wow! Senior Brother Wang Lin is so handsome!!”
“I have decided. I will not marry Senior Brother Lin Yi anymore. I want to marry Senior Brother Wang Lin!!”
“You shameless woman, did you not just say you wanted to marry Senior Brother Lin Yi? Why are you coming to snatch Senior Brother Wang Lin from me?”
“What does Senior Brother Lin Yi count for? He is only first on the Earth List, but Senior Brother Wang Lin is first on the Heaven List! Of course I choose the first on the Heaven List!”
“…”
This scene left Mo Fan dumbfounded.
Good grief, you lot are even picking and choosing now?
