Ten days later.
Jin'an Country, Biqiu Mountain.
Autumn had dyed the peak in blazing reds and golds. The mountain rose about three hundred zhang, making it the second-highest peak within Jin'an Country.
It was said that centuries ago this peak was called Old Woman Mountain, until the founding ancestor of the Biqiu Sect established a gate here and it was renamed Biqiu Mountain.
The Biqiu Sect’s founding ancestor was also a Qi Sea Realm cultivator. After him, the sect’s master position passed through three generations before finally reaching Gongsun Kang.
Gongsun Kang was the second Qi Sea Realm cultivator in Biqiu Sect’s history.
That Biqiu Sect could cement its position as Jin'an Country’s leading cultivation sect was largely thanks to him.
Now Gongsun Kang’s cultivation sat at the Peak Qi Sea Realm, though he still had a distance to go before Spirit Connection, and a breakthrough within the next two years was out of the question.
However, if he could advance to Spirit Connection within six years, it would mean Biqiu Sect would receive an invitation to the next Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent.
Yet by agreement of the Five Great Sects, the Dao Inquiry Assembly scheduled six years from now would proceed as normal at full scale.
That served as a pacifying assurance.
Only by holding the next Assembly properly could the cultivation world of Chenping Continent be convinced that everything remained under the control of the Five Great Sects.
The so-called order of the Chenping Continent cultivation world would thus remain intact.
As for Biqiu Sect’s second round of selections, Chen Yan had also passed the evaluations smoothly and secured one of the twenty inner disciple slots.
A total of four hundred people took part in the second-round evaluations.
When the selection ended and the aristocratic offspring who had left were excluded, only about two hundred thirty seekers remained and chose to join Biqiu Sect.
Among those twenty inner disciples, Chen Yan’s talent ranked on the upper-middle.
That was Chen Yan’s real talent.
After all, in his first life, even with scarce cultivation resources, Chen Yan had still managed to reach mid Energy Channeling by his own effort.
A mid Energy Channeling cultivation level was already enough to be appointed a manager disciple or an administrator in a small sect like Biqiu Sect.
With more seniority and some work experience, he might even land a Supervisor position.
Two months after joining Biqiu Sect, Chen Yan had already touched the threshold of mid Body Forging Realm.
Restoring his cultivation as fast as possible had always been Chen Yan’s top priority.
...
“One week until the entry competition, Yan Chen, how are you planning to prepare?”
After another day of training, Xing Ziang deliberately came to the sect’s arena to find Chen Yan and asked.
The entry competition was a long-standing Biqiu Sect tradition.
Forty-nine days after new disciples join, the sect holds an entry competition that all newcomers must attend.
Inner and outer disciples alike.
Xing Ziang had always looked after Chen Yan, the youth who came from the Xing Mansion's training ground.
“It’s hard to say for sure. I just hope to do well,” Chen Yan replied.
“I heard Elder Wang say that this entry competition has the most generous first-place prize in the sect’s history,” Xing Ziang lowered his voice.
“The champion’s reward is a Tempering Pill.”
A Tempering Pill?
As a disciple of one of the Five Great Sects, Chen Yan had seen a lot and naturally knew that a Tempering Pill was extremely precious for Body Forging cultivators.
A Body Forging cultivator who took a Tempering Pill could greatly extend the time spirit energy lingered in their muscles and bones, thus improving training effectiveness.
Refining such a pill was not easy, and the materials were relatively rare.
On some rogue cultivator black markets, one of these pills would go for about eight high-grade spirit stones.
For a sect the size of Biqiu Sect to offer such a quality pill as the entry competition’s prize for new disciples was really investing heavily.
As for why they were so lavish, Chen Yan also knew well.
Gongsun Kang had been in a very good mood lately.
Within Jin'an Country, Biqiu Sect was currently unrivaled. In such a state, Gongsun Kang naturally wanted to expand his power.
The largest obstacle in that expansion was a neighboring cultivation sect, Wind Sand Manor.
In recent years, disputes and friction between Biqiu Sect and Wind Sand Manor had been constant, and tensions were escalating.
Gongsun Kang had already prepared for all-out war with Wind Sand Manor, ready to fight to the death.
Yet against this backdrop, a bit over a month ago, Wind Sand Manor unexpectedly relinquished all the disputed spirit farmlands and mineral rights with Biqiu Sect.
Their deputy manor head, Li Zhong, a late Martial Spring Realm cultivator, even personally ascended Biqiu Sect’s gate to apologize to Gongsun Kang and voluntarily ceded some former Wind Sand Manor interests to Biqiu Sect.
Gongsun Kang was stunned.
He could not fathom what Wind Sand Manor was up to.
In his worldview, a free lunch never existed.
There had to be a trick.
At first Gongsun Kang suspected exactly that.
He cautiously accepted the disputed farmlands and mines.
Only after those cultivation resources and spirit stones flowed into Biqiu Sect’s warehouses did Gongsun Kang relax and begin voraciously swallowing the resources Wind Sand Manor had abandoned.
Meat that’s already in your mouth counts as yours.
It could be said Biqiu Sect was now rolling in wealth.
That was why Gongsun Kang could afford to offer a Tempering Pill as the entry competition’s champion prize.
“If you can take that Tempering Pill, it would be equivalent to saving you three months of drawing heaven-and-earth spirit energy to temper your body,” Xing Ziang said.
“Besides those few disciples from cultivation families and those who’ve trained inside the sect since childhood, you, Yan Chen, are the only one with a real shot at the champion spot.”
“Senior Xing flatters me,” Chen Yan bowed in thanks.
“Here.” Xing Ziang took several bound pages of paper from his chest and handed them to Chen Yan.
“May I ask, Senior Xing, what is this…?”
“The Xing Family Fist Manual. It’s the orthodox secret fist technique of my Xing family. Though it’s just martial tricks, for Body Forging cultivators, these close-range offensive techniques are quite helpful.”
“No way. Even though I once trained for a while at the Xing family training ground, I’m still an outsider. The Xing family’s secret fist manual—”
“Heaven and mortal ways diverge;
we are both cultivators now. Are you really going to keep longing for the Xing manual after you finally reach Energy Channeling someday?” Xing Ziang smiled and shook his head.
“If I give it to you, then you should accept it.”
“Then, junior brother thanks Senior Xing.” Chen Yan bowed again.
Martial fist techniques and routines indeed had great utility for Body Forging cultivators. To unleash maximum strength, one must use martial moves.
No matter what, Chen Yan had already made up his mind.
That Tempering Pill, he was determined to obtain.
After all, to Chen Yan, an entry disciple competition was at most a chance to catch easy fish.