Due to the fact that a large number of rogue cultivators had signed up to participate, the venue of the Qi Refinement Realm Grand Competition was soon filled to the brim.
Because wherever it was, the base population at the bottom of the pyramid was always the largest.
There were ones who could fight against Foundation Establishment cultivators like Jiang Li, and also those who were so weak that they had just cultivated a breath of spiritual qi and could not even use a talisman properly. In essence, they were Qi Refinement realm cultivators of all stages.
As long as the age criteria was met, they would all fit the competition criteria.
Due to the agreement made before the distribution of benefits, each sect could only send out 15 people to participate in the competition, five Foundation Establishment and ten Qi Refinement cultivators.
However, because rogue cultivators did not have the right to participate in the resource allocation of the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm, and it was a different kind of disciple recruitment event, there was no limit to the number of rogue cultivators participating.
In an instant, the number of Qi Refinement realm cultivators registering for the venue surged.
There were both strong and weak people mixed together. There were even some rogue cultivators at the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm or even the initial-stage Qi Refinement realm who wanted to try their luck.
This was especially true for those at the initial-stage Qi Refinement realm. They were truly ignorant. This was not a martial arts competition in the sect, so people could die here. Even Jiang Li had not courted death like this when he was still at the initial-stage Qi Refinement realm.
Almost 3,000 people rushed in at once, forcing the competition authorities to stop them.
After some discussion, there were a few temporary registration rules. The cultivators participating in the competition had to pass a few simple tests, such as speed, strength, power, and spell techniques.
In fact, the requirements for passing the test were not high at all, just getting a pass in one of the tests was enough. However, even so, a large number of applicants were still eliminated.
Because of this, a gray industry was created near the registration venue.
Some unscrupulous merchants specialized in selling low-quality talismans that had extremely short duration and poor stability. They were used so that they were just strong enough to meet the registration criteria. After using this method to loot a sum of spirit stones, they still sent a group of cannon fodder into the competition.
The day of the competition arrived not long after.
Due to the number of cultivators participating in the Grand Competition, it was obvious that an ordinary group arena could not accommodate so many cultivators. Therefore, in this Grand Competition, the Qi Refinement realm had temporarily added a cruel survival competition.
Jiang Li left his closed door cultivation and arrived at the venue of the survival competition with his fellow disciples.
As disciples of the Scripture Storage Valley, they had some preferential treatment even in the competition.
For example, the rogue cultivators were all standing and waiting for the competition to begin. However, they could sit. Not only did they sit, but they could also eat tea and snacks.
There were even beautiful girls serving Jiang Li.
“Senior Brother Jiang Li… your shoulders are so stiff…”
The person who came to help Jiang Li massage was a registered disciple of the Rejuvenation Hall. After all, it was the Rejuvenation Hall next door. There were actually quite a number of female cultivators who were interested in him.
This was his exclusive privilege, no one else had such treatment.
However, with Jiang Li’s rough skin and thick flesh, the young lady was on the brink of tears during the massage. Even massaging an ox demon was not so strenuous.
Jiang Li had no choice but to thank her and reject the offer. He turned around and observed the venue that he was about to enter like most of the participating cultivators.
Although it was called a venue, the competition actually required many cultivators to set off from the inner circle of the Misty Mountain Range and pass through an area that was like a maze. Finally, they would arrive at their destination near the periphery of the Misty Mountain Range.
Under normal circumstances, for a group of Qi Refinement realm cultivators, crossing a maze of such a level was no different from courting death.
However, the maze was designed to drive away creatures so it did not have much lethality.
It was naturally very difficult to enter, but going outside was far less difficult.
Moreover, the alliance competition authorities formed by many sects had already familiarized themselves with the array formation terrain in this region. They had cleaned up some demon beasts that were too powerful on the mountain and had deliberately suppressed the might of the illusion array on this route.
As long as the participating cultivators did not deliberately take a detour or fly in the sky, the competition would still be within the difficulty range of ordinary Qi Refinement realm cultivators as long as they followed the designated route.
Jiang Li had also seen the road map. It was a mountain that was connected to four other mountains. It could directly penetrate the circular Misty Mountain Range.
Every cultivator who participated in the competition would be assigned a flying talisman. Then, these uncontrollable flying talismans would randomly throw everyone onto the first mountain.
After overcoming the harsh environment, the demon beast attack, and the competition, they would trek all the way to the end point at the foot of the fourth mountain.
During this period, they might encounter some other difficult hurdles. Regardless of whether cultivators were united or fighting, as long as they could reach the end, they would be able to obtain the chance to participate in the next round of the competition.
The competition authorities gave the cultivators an hour to memorize the terrain of the four mountains.
That was because the location would be completely randomized. Under the thick fog in the sky, one could not even use the sun to determine the direction. One could only rely on the terrain to determine their location and direction based on the map they remembered.
Of course, a good memory was not as useful as a pen. Most of the disciples were working hard to copy the map.
In an hour, the Qi Refinement realm cultivators could memorize as much as they could. This might decide whether their journey would be smooth in the next few days.
Soon, the jade wall with the detailed map was removed, which meant that the martial arts competition had begun.
The hundred cultivators took turns to go forward. After being labeled with flying talismans, they turned into a hundred crooked meteors that entered the thick fog and flew into the mountain.
Being covered by the thick fog, even their flight trajectories could not be predicted.
Due to the influence of the formation, it was difficult for spiritual qi to travel far. As such, communication spirit stones were unusable.
It seemed that it was quite difficult to meet up with his fellow disciples after entering the mountain.
“Senior brothers and sisters, this is for you. If you encounter danger, blow this. If I’m nearby, I’ll try my best to rush over to help.”
Even though Jiang Li called the others senior brothers and sisters, it was obvious that the other nine had tacitly agreed to take him as their leader. After all, the difference in strength was obvious, so there was no need to compete.
Jiang Li handed over nine white metal whistles. He kept one in his hand.
The white whistle was only a short tube the size of a finger. In the middle of the short tube was a piece of carefully crafted mouthpiece.
This thing did not have any spiritual qi fluctuation. Therefore, when the other disciples held it in their hands, they had puzzled expressions.
They were not ignorant enough to not know what a whistle was.
The problem was that there were more than 4,000 cultivators participating in the Grand Competition this round. Their Scripture Storage Valley only had a total of ten people. Under this situation, they could not hope to successfully gather.
At this time, if a signal was sent out, not only would the companions not receive it, a bunch of enemies full of malice would come first.
Jiang Li did not think that they would understand any scientific knowledge. Facts spoke louder than words. He only blew at the whistle in his hand.
The white whistle did not sound at all. Instead, it emitted a slight buzzing sound like a mosquito flapping its wings.
Just as the other nine people thought that Jiang Li’s whistle was broken, the whistle in their hands actually also lightly trembled. Moreover, the shaking became more and more obvious, and soon, it actually released the same type of buzzing sound.
“It’s… it’s ringing. There’s actually no spiritual qi fluctuation.”
The nine people looked at the thing in their hands in surprise. They could not understand how such an ordinary small thing suddenly shook in their hands.
Jiang Li did not explain to them what resonance was. This thing was actually not very useful outside. Only in places where this kind of spiritual qi fluctuation was disturbed could one use it to send some simple information.
The few inner sect disciples had lived in the cultivation world with spiritual qi as the foundation for everything for too long. It was inevitable that they would find things outside of other cultivation methods novel. However, that was all.
Infrasound waves were vibrations in the air. They did not rely on spiritual qi to spread, nor could they be captured by the ears of ordinary humans. This was their advantage.
However, its range of transmission and content was indeed limited. This kind of small tool could only let them know that there were allies nearby. It could not even point out a direction, so this was just slightly better than nothing.
Unless… one of them had super hearing abilities that surpassed ordinary humans, such as someone who had the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra.
After they had settled on the rough plan of advancement and the whistle signal, it was their turn to set off.
Jiang Li looked at everyone’s expressions, and he was more excited than afraid. That whistle was only for insurance. After all, they were disciples of the four great sects of the Great Mountain Region, so it would not be their turn to be afraid.
The other cultivators should be trembling in front of them.
“Everyone, may the Immortal Fate flourish!”
“May the Immortal Fate flourish!”
Then, Jiang Li stuck the flying talisman onto his body. The gravitational force on his body immediately disappeared, and a force pulled him up into the sky.
At first, it was fine, but after entering the fog’s range, he felt as if he was spiraling into the sky. The flight trajectory made him feel dizzy.
That was because the effects of the maze were applied to him and the talisman paper, but the directions that were misled were not uniform. After the direction was messed up, this situation happened.
After flying for a distance, Jiang Li could feel that the talisman spiritual qi in his body was exhausted, and the height gradually decreased.
Finally, after descending to a certain height, he left the range of the fog.
The talisman papers on his body automatically turned to ashes, and the last bit of spiritual qi dragged Jiang Li to slowly land on the treetop.
Raising his head by two meters, he saw fog. It was no wonder that they could not fly.
If he were to fly in the fog, it would be fine if he spun around on the spot. However, if he were to accidentally fly to another mountaintop, it would really be up to fate and fortune.
Jiang Li took out the whistle and blew it. After waiting for a moment, he did not receive any response. It seemed that his senior brothers were not within the range of the whistle.
He took out a map from his bosom. That was the map that the staff member had stuffed under the talisman paper when he had given him the flying talisman.
Along with the map was a small bolt of lightning cracker.
For outstanding disciples of large sects like them, there was still a way out if something happened to them. The quality of this kind of lightning cracker was obviously better. It could rise to an extremely high altitude. There would always be flying ships patrolling the sky above the clouds. Once someone gave the signal, they would go down to rescue them.
This was the reason why he had entered the sect back then and not as a rogue cultivator alone.
Since there was privilege and injustice in this world that could not be eliminated, why not become one of those who enjoyed privilege?
Compared to the map, Jiang Li also judged the location and walked towards the end at a moderate pace.
He took out the coffin and it slid open automatically as a wisp of black qi floated out. It landed on the ground and quickly became a beautiful figure.
After Qin Shuman came out, she knelt down in front of Jiang Li.
“Young master, you are looking for me?”
The current Qin Shuman was rather respectful to Jiang Li.
Jiang Li could not guarantee that the female ghost was really loyal to him, but as long as he could ensure that the female ghost could not escape his control and was sufficiently useful, that was enough.
“This place is within a large-scale maze formation. It was built by a cultivator using the natural terrain. Go take a look. This will be very helpful for your comprehension of the Illusory Art Life Record.”
Jiang Li pointed at the fog above. He had no intention of letting the other party break through the fog. That was simply a fool’s dream!
It had only been a few days since this female ghost obtained the Dao Technique. If she could crack the illusion formation of the mystic realm, how could the other cultivators in the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region still live in this world?
However, it was just as he had said. Under a safe situation, one would not have a chance to observe such a level of illusion array at a close distance. This was quite beneficial to the cultivation of illusion techniques.
Especially when the power of the array formation was deliberately suppressed, the veins would undoubtedly be clearer.
“Yes, young master.”
Qin Shuman floated above him and observed carefully under the fog. As Jiang Li moved forward, she slowly followed.
Jiang Li did not walk in a completely straight line. Instead, he was working hard to find a pattern. From time to time, he would dig a hole in the ground.
To him, this grand array was also a top-notch lesson.
In terms of size and borrowing of the power of heaven and earth, even the sect protection formation of the Scripture Storage Valley was far inferior to this place.
As he walked, the path that he was originally barely walking on became even more crooked, running around the mountain like a headless fly.
After a long time, he finally found a place and took out a medium-grade Yellow-rank earth attribute artifact.
It was a shovel used to dig soil.
This thing was amazing. When digging a hole to bury a corpse, as long as it landed on the ground, it would be a two-meter square corpse hole. It was not troublesome at all.
This was an artifact that Jiang Li had specially asked the Weapon Refinement Hall to make. He could easily master it without needing an earth attribute spiritual root.
Although it did not have much attack power, digging pits and excavating soil was extremely convenient.
He dug a few holes into the ground as if he was playing a sandbox game. One soil cube after another was dug out from the ground and placed neatly at the side.
In a few moments, a deep hole more than ten meters deep appeared in front of him.
Ding!
Then, the shovel in his hand suddenly poked something hard. After Jiang Li peeled off a layer of soil, he was slightly happy.
Sure enough, there was a formation node here.
The terrain of this Misty Mountain Range was not as perfect as the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak. If they wanted the array formation to work well, they had to use the foundation of the array to guide the earth vein.
This was the place where Jiang Li had most likely found the array formation node after much calculations.
This stone must be worth a lot of money.
Jiang Li rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment. In the end, he did not choose to dig this thing out. Instead, he took out a pile of materials for setting up array formations from the coffin and set them up around the formation foundation.
It was rare for him to come here. As a Runic Array Master, he naturally had to leave a back door here.