Jiang Li’s main body was rushing. The sword cultivator clone and his four junior brothers and sisters rode their swords along the way, but they returned to the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak faster than him.
The Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak, as its name suggested, consisted of five steep mountain peaks that reached into the clouds.
The five mountain peaks were exquisite, like five sharp swords that pierced through the clouds.
The clouds and mist that coiled around the mountain peak, no matter from which angle, made the mountain terrain look majestic and imposing. The sight was extremely awe-inspiring!
Anyone who looked at them would undoubtedly think that they were five immortal mountains.
With Jiang Li’s current knowledge, he was even able to discern that these five mountains were each situated above the positions of the five elements, and they relied on each other to directly form an enormous natural formation.
No wonder it was said that the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak was impregnable. Such a natural array formation used the five spiritual mountains as the array cores. How could it be possible for humans to break it?
After returning to Shu Mountain, as Jiang Li had guessed, they conducted a series of checks on his Dao Foundation and soul.
However, this was the power of the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra. If this was the incarnation of that mighty figure, it would be impossible to tell even if one had cultivated to the Golden Immortal realm.
Although Jiang Li’s understanding of the Heart Sutra was only superficial, no one in the current cultivation world had ever heard of a cultivator successfully ascending to the Immortal Realm, and practically no one had the ability to see through his parallel mind.
With just the two Core Formation elders, they were still far from being able to see through Jiang Li’s clone.
In fact, after he displayed his cultivation level and his initial awakening of the Sword Heart, no one doubted him anymore.
They only believed that the clone had benefited from a disaster and that he had awakened his Sword Heart after surviving the calamity.
Therefore, after his identity was verified, the sect paid even more attention to him. Because of his memory loss, they directly opened up all the spell techniques for Foundation Establishment and below, allowing him to study them for two months.
During this time, whatever the clone learned became Jiang Li’s as well.
…
Two days later, Jiang Li landed at the entrance of the Scripture Storage Valley. Under the influence of the illusion array, the huge valley looked desolate and barren from the outside.
He did not immediately enter the Scripture Storage Valley, but first found a hidden place and dragged out the dying Dragon Tortoise.
Jiang Li did not want to expose the existence of the coffin, so he could only trouble himself like this.
However, this Dragon Tortoise’s vitality was really tenacious. Two days ago, it was already beaten to the point of near death by him. He did not expect that it was still alive now.
Slowly, Jiang Li dragged the 50-meter-long Dragon Tortoise closer to the entrance of the Scripture Storage Valley.
After he took out the inner sect disciple token, a hole was immediately opened in the defensive formation. Jiang Li easily stepped in, and the scene before his eyes became a familiar and flourishing cultivation sect.
“Senior Brother Jiang Li, welcome back!”
When the two registered disciples verified Jiang Li’s identity, their eyes were completely focused on the Dragon Tortoise, afraid that this huge thing would wake up and give them a bite.
However, Jiang Li did not mind.
Originally, outer sect disciples in the Qi Refinement realm did not have the ability to take on important duties like guarding the sect entrance.
However, this mission required a long period of exposure to the sun and wind. There was not much to gain, so the precious inner sect disciples were not willing to sacrifice themselves.
Therefore, the inner sect disciples thought of a method. They built an elegant small building not far from the entrance of the valley.
On the pretext of holding down the fort inside, they would issue missions and let outer sect disciples at the late-stage Qi Refinement realm or registered disciples of the Internal Affairs Hall take up the missions. They would take over the duties under the scorching sun and rain.
This kind of strategy that had its own assurance and countermeasures was not a big deal. As long as it did not affect the execution of the mission, the sect would not say anything.
After completing the test, the two of them bowed and sent him off. Jiang Li nodded and walked towards the inner area of the sect.
However, he had only taken a few steps when he stopped. He waved his hand and summoned the two disciples guarding the door over.
“What’s going on over there?”
Jiang Li pointed into the distance. In the sky above the sect, a huge platform about a hundred meters in length and width floated.
That thing seemed to be a floating spell arena, but wasn’t the outer sect competition over already? What was the sect doing?
“Senior Brother, that’s the stage for the sect martial arts competition.” A disciple respectfully replied.
“When was the sect martial arts competition decided? How could I not know?”
The sect martial arts competition was naturally a martial arts competition between the entire sect’s various halls. It was a grand event between inner sect disciples, and it was no longer a competition between outer sect disciples.
However, Jiang Li was slightly surprised. Why had he not heard of such an important matter before?
The disciples of the Demon Vanquishing Hall were all hot-blooded. This should be the most exciting thing to them. No one had mentioned it in the hall before.
“Senior Brother, the martial arts competition was set about half a month ago.”
“I think it’s said that they’re holding a martial arts competition in the sect to select excellent disciples for the distribution rights of a mystic realm.”
Half a month ago?
At that time, Jiang Li had already left the Demon Vanquishing Hall’s base and was traveling alone in the wilderness. No one would specially use a communication spirit stone to inform a mid-stage Qi Refinement realm disciple to participate in this kind of martial arts competition. Therefore, Jiang Li was unaware of this matter.
“The distribution rights of the mystic realm?”
However, when he heard this reason, Jiang Li recalled some things.
His master, Elder He, had already left the sect for several months. Later on, he learned from his conversation with Liu Mulan that he seemed to have gone out to develop a new mystic realm.
Many important figures in the sect, including Eldest Senior Brother Chu Yunxuan, also went over to help.
Other than that, the people from the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak, Benevolent Travel Temple, and Hundred Tempering Mountain were also present. They had all shown great interest in that mystic realm.
In fact, the news that his clone was still alive was also obtained from Chu Yunxuan by the elder stationed there.
At that time, he had heard that the mystic realm seemed to have quite a lot of benefits and the distribution method was still undecided.
It was said that due to the awkward geographical location of the mystic realm, it affected more than half of the sects in the Great Mountain Region. Countless high-level cultivators were wrangling there.
From the looks of it now, the distribution method should have been set. It was planned to be decided by the competition between the disciples of the various sects.
Jiang Li thanked the two disciples guarding the entrance, leaving the two registered disciples feeling overwhelmed by the treatment.
He dragged the huge Dragon Tortoise back to the Demon Vanquishing Hall.
All along the way, when those outer sect disciples saw this giant beast, they were terrified to the point their legs and stomachs trembled, and all of them hid far away and did not dare approach.
In the crowd, Lu Qianqian, Qu Qianfan, Wang Liuliang, and others who were familiar with Jiang Li also saw this scene. While they were afraid, they also had mixed feelings.
Not long ago, they were all outer sect disciples. In fact, Qu Qianfan and Wang Liuliang had high-grade spiritual root aptitudes. They had even felt superior in front of Jiang Li.
However, Jiang Li’s cultivation suddenly advanced by leaps and bounds. In that accident, he surpassed everyone in the outer sect and was the first to enter the inner sect.
Later on, their interactions ended. Their small group wanted to work hard to try and enter the inner sect to be on equal footing with Jiang Li again.
However, seeing this scene made their hearts tremble.
The gap between the inner sect and the outer sect… was it really that big?
Jiang Li had only joined the inner sect for a few months, yet he was able to hunt such a terrifying monster by himself. Did they really still have any hope of catching up?
Jiang Li did not care about the worship of the outer sect disciples. He dragged the heavy beast and entered the Demon Vanquishing Hall with ease.
What entered his sight was the familiar Demon Vanquishing Hall’s square. At this moment, the square was bustling with training disciples.
Almost all the disciples of the Demon Vanquishing Hall that Jiang Li could name were present.
Many new faces that he usually did not see were also sweating on the field as they practiced their cultivation methods.
The ten arenas of the Demon Vanquishing Hall were also fully occupied. The intense battles above were to their heart’s content, and spell techniques and artifacts were unleashed continuously.
However, in Jiang Li’s eyes at this moment, those battles were already no different from children fighting.
The disciples in the hall were especially interested in cultivating during this period of time. Clearly, they were extremely enthusiastic about this sect martial competition.
Of the twelve inner sect halls in the Scripture Storage Valley, the Demon Vanquishing Hall was probably the most enthusiastic about this matter.
They usually liked to exchange pointers when they were free. Now that they had the chance to display their muscles in front of the entire sect and even the entire cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region, how could they not be excited?
Jiang Li walked into the Demon Vanquishing Hall and instantly attracted the gazes of most people. The Dragon Tortoise that was nearly 50 meters long was simply too conspicuous.
However, Elder He often captured demonic beasts to teach disciples in the past. They were naturally not as surprised as the outer sect disciples. They were taken aback for a moment but did not lose their composure.
However, Jiang Li who was carrying the Dragon Tortoise also became the focus of attention. Many senior brothers and sisters immediately recognized him, and they waved their hands and greeted him from afar.
“Junior Brother Jiang Li, what’s that thing you’re dragging? Is it still alive?”
“Dragon Tortoise! This looks like a Dragon Tortoise. Did the Head Elder capture it?”
“I heard that the Dragon Tortoise has the bloodline of the Dragon Race and is extremely powerful. Junior Brother, you have to be careful not to be injured by it.”
A group of people surrounded the Dragon Tortoise, but none of them thought that this thing was captured by Jiang Li himself.
Although Jiang Li was powerful, in their hearts, he was still in the Qi Refinement realm. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators would not have an easy time against such a huge Dragon Tortoise. They naturally did not expect Jiang Li to capture it alive.
Jiang Li did not try to explain but only spoke a few words with them.
After watching for a long time, someone finally asked about him.
“Junior Brother Jiang Li, I heard you participated in the demon extermination mission earlier. How was it? Was it dangerous?”
“Junior Brother Jiang Li, did you also return to the sect to participate in the martial arts competition?”
“In my opinion, with Junior Brother’s strength, you will definitely be able to obtain a good ranking in the martial arts competition. You will definitely be ranked first in the Qi Refinement realm!”
“When the time comes, let others see how powerful our Demon Vanquishing Hall is.”
The martial arts competition this time was divided into two parts: the Qi Refinement realm below 20 years old and the Foundation Establishment realm below 30 years old.
Ignoring everything else, Jiang Li was definitely an invincible existence among the Qi Refinement realm.
The disciples of the Demon Vanquishing Hall were very certain of this because Jiang Li’s iron fists had made them suffer greatly not long ago.
Now, the pair of fists were about to show their might to the outside world, making them feel excited.
The only thing Jiang Li had to worry about was that he should not use too much strength, lest he beat someone to death.
If an ordinary Qi Refinement realm cultivator received a punch from him, they would probably lose even if they had ten lives.
As he chatted with his fellow disciples, Jiang Li noticed a familiar figure in the distance.
It was a towering figure and a bald head covered in tattoos.
He took a closer look and was immediately overjoyed. Wasn’t that the Head Elder of the Demon Vanquishing Hall, his beloved master, Elder He?
Wind arose beneath Jiang Li’s feet as he carried the Dragon Tortoise’s corpse and ran towards Elder He. After such a long period of running through the jungle’s obstructions, his movement technique was already different from before, and his grasp of the Armored Horse Divine Travel had also risen to a new level.
He dragged the Dragon Tortoise like a train and quickly arrived in front of Elder He. He threw it to the side and cupped his hands to greet the other party.
“Master! You’re back.”
After all, the Demon Vanquishing Hall was the main combat force of the Scripture Storage Valley.
Apart from the Heaven and Earth Hall where the Valley Master’s faction was located, which took away most of the genius disciples, very few people could suppress the Demon Vanquishing Hall.
Right now, it was the critical moment of the sect martial competition and they had to select talents. The Demon Vanquishing Hall was an extremely important force, so Elder He naturally had to return to preside over the situation.
“Yes, I heard from Mulan that you went to hunt demon beasts yourself?” Elder He nodded.
Then, he looked at the Dragon Tortoise that still had some faint aura on the ground, doing his best to appear calm.
However, Jiang Li clearly saw the corners of the other party’s mouth twitching slightly.
What strength did such a huge Dragon Tortoise have?
How long had it been since he took Jiang Li in? He was actually able to hunt such a thing already?
Elder He’s inner thoughts were abnormally interesting. What kind of disciple did he take in?
“Disciple’s skills are not good enough. The beast blood tattoo on my body disappeared too quickly. I can only temporarily pause the extermination mission and go out to hunt demon beasts.”
“Afterwards, I momentarily forgot the direction and walked further and further away. When I succeeded in hunting, I did not expect that I would already be this close to the sect so I directly returned.”
Jiang Li had told Senior Sister Liu Mulan at that time. However, he was searching for demon beasts near the gathering point. Now that he had crossed such a distance to return to the sect, he felt that he still needed to explain things.
Elder He naturally did not believe his words. The distance between the Scripture Storage Valley and the temporary gathering point of the Demon Vanquishing Hall was huge.
Even if an ordinary Qi Refinement realm cultivator flew in a straight line, it would take them around a month. Jiang Li could not be assessed as an ordinary Qi Refinement realm cultivator, but he could not possibly get lost and wander off to this extent.
However, Elder He did not ask further.
Earlier, Jiang Li returned by sprinting while carrying the Dragon Tortoise. He saw the improvement in Jiang Li’s movement technique with his own eyes, so he had already “guessed” the reason why this kid wanted to run such a distance by himself.
While hunting for beast blood materials, he was also training to make up for his shortcomings.
“It’s your own ability to be able to return to the sect alone.”
“Is this the demon beast you caught? Where did you find this Dragon Tortoise?” Elder He asked.
Dragon Tortoises were quite rare in the Great Mountain. Because of its dragon bloodline, it could be said that the entire body was a treasure.
This Dragon Tortoise was clearly underage, so there would definitely be a male and female Dragon Tortoise living nearby.
Capturing them to make soup was not a bad choice.