After some discussion, they decided to start the first round of testing half a month later. Anyone who passed the first round could directly enter the second round. Any cultivator above the Dao Integration Stage could also enter the second round. Any Earthly Immortal Ancestor could enter the third round. In the first round, the top three thousand would pass; in the second round, the top three hundred would pass.
Every ranking could be converted into points. For example, the first place in alchemy would get three thousand points, the second 2,999 points, and the third thousandth would only get one point. Then, the results of the four competitions would be added together to form the final ranking of the four competitions. Just like in previous years, only the top sixty in total and the top ten in each category could ascend the altar. Apart from them, even the peak Earthly Immortal Ancestor or the Sect Leader didn't have the qualifications to ascend the altar. The person in charge of the ceremony would be the one with the highest overall ranking.
Qin Di felt that there were good and bad sides to this kind of competition rules.
The good side was that through this competition, it could indeed stimulate the interest of all the disciples in studying alchemy, weapons, and talisman arrays. The bad side was that the disciples would focus all their energy on studying the Four Arts of Cultivation and neglect to practice their killing skills. In the long run, the sect couldn't be guaranteed. It was like a cripple walking with only one leg.
Therefore, he made a suggestion to see if they could add another competition, which was a martial arts competition!
The four Palace Leaders heard this and shook their heads, "Sect Leader, we all know this is a good thing, but it's very difficult to implement! If it's a competition between low level disciples, the result can still be controlled. But if it's a battle between Void Step cultivators and above, the movement will be too big. Not only will there be casualties, it will also break the harmonious atmosphere between the disciples. What should we do? "
"That's right. If a large number of disciples are injured or killed in this competition, wouldn't it be a loss?"
Qin Di couldn't help but frown and ask, "Do you know if other sects have similar martial arts competitions?"
"This is the most popular in devil sects! Goblin also likes to do this. But the internal competition of Senshu sects is much gentler. For example, in the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, during the competition, they place a boulder a hundred miles away from them. Then, they let their disciples release their flying swords, and see who can split the boulder, or stab a few feet deep into the boulder. This will determine the winner of the competition. "
"The Divine Arrow Gate is the same. Five hundred miles away, they erect a very thick wooden sign. Then, they let their disciples shoot arrows. Let's see who can shoot the most accurately."
"But our Four Sacred Sect is different. Our disciples mainly cultivate pills, tools, and talismans, and rely on studying these four skills to figure out the laws of the Heavenly Dao. Only then can they advance. Therefore, the disciples regarded the art of killing as a side cultivation, and when they fought, they also had their own methods. Some people specialize in using talismans. As long as they secretly throw out the talismans in their hands, they can restrain their opponents. Some people specialize in refining poisonous pills. They use poisonous pills to defeat their enemies. There are also people who like to use formations to trap their enemies … "
"Even if they use magic treasures to fight, there's a variety of them. Some like to use swords, some like to use sabers, and some like to use gourds … There's a huge variety of them. If we don't take the risk and fight them directly, then it's impossible to determine the winner. On the other hand, if we fight them directly, we're unable to control the outcome, and it will surely cause a huge amount of casualties! So it's very difficult! "
"Moreover, there's another problem in the competition, and it's that those with higher cultivations occupy an advantage. Our sect has so many disciples, so if all of them participate in the competition, then the final victor will surely be the Earthly Immortal Realm experts, followed by the Dao Integration Realm cultivators … Whoever has a higher cultivation and possesses a high-grade spirit treasure will be able to win! Since it's like this, then there's no need to compete, and it'll be sufficient to directly test their cultivation and the grade of their spirit treasures … "
"Alas, this matter is difficult to deal with! Otherwise, the rules of the competition would have been changed a long time ago … Sect Master, do you have any good methods? Let us discuss it together? "
Qin Di thought for a moment and couldn't help but shake his head. "I don't have any good methods as well. Since it's like this, then we won't make any changes for now. But please think about it properly after you return and strive to add this content before the next grand ceremony of the sect."
The four Palace Masters bowed and left.
After that, the grand competition officially began.
Every grand competition was the most lively time for the Four Divine Sect because the competitive hearts of cultivators would never change. Moreover, the result of the competition determined the position of the grand ceremony. The closer one was to the altar, the easier it was to withstand the heavenly flowers falling from the sky, and thus obtain great benefits. If one was lucky, he might suddenly increase his cultivation by eight hundred years. This had happened before.
In theory, the higher a cultivator's cultivation was, the longer his lifespan would be. For example, a cultivator could only cultivate to the Void Step and have a lifespan of ten thousand years, but if he could withstand more heavenly flowers during the grand ceremony, there was hope for him to cross the threshold of the Dao Integration Realm and have a lifespan of one hundred thousand years. It seemed that there was only a difference of one cultivation level, but the gap was too big! So it was said that this was a fight against the heavens!
Every grand competition, there would be many spectators, mainly the disciples of the Four Divine Sect, but there were also many outsiders who wanted to come and watch. In response to this, Qin Di arranged for the first round of the competition to be held in the Sun Facing Valley, and then he sold tickets to allow outsiders to watch.
The location of the Sun Facing Valley was relatively spacious. It could accommodate many disciples competing at the same time, and it could also accommodate many spectators on the mountain next to it. As the saying went, it was suitable for both sides.
Qin Di felt that this kind of large-scale competition was also an opportunity to promote the reputation of the Four Divine Sect, just like the Tiananmen Gate military parade. Not only could it inspire the morale of the disciples, but it could also show the strength of the sect to outsiders.
There were many sects around the Spirit Mountain, and there were countless disciples. Almost every sect had to organize people to engage in the refinement of pills, tools, and talismans. Many people were interested in the four arts of cultivation. No matter who it was, as long as they embarked on the path of cultivation, they would come into contact with these contents. Therefore, when they heard that the Four Divine Sect was open to spectators, many people came to watch.
This allowed the Four Divine Sect to sell a lot of tickets, making friends and earning Spirit Stones.
The Palace Masters were very satisfied, and the deacons in charge of this matter were all smiles.
"Haha, I didn't expect to earn Spirit Stones from this grand competition!"
"Sect Leader is too smart! He actually thought of this method! "
"In my opinion, only Sect Leader Qin would dare to do this. Only his extraordinary strength can suppress all the guests, so that those with ulterior motives dare not cause trouble. If it were in the past, we wouldn't have dared to open it! We could only activate the array and wrap the Spring Rejuvenation Valley like a dumpling. We were afraid that someone would break in and cause trouble, and we were even more worried that someone would sneak attack the Four Divine Sect during the competition! "
Half a year later, the first round of the competition ended, and three thousand people were selected for each of the four competitions.
Then, Qin Di announced that the second round of the competition would be moved to the Spring Rejuvenation Valley and set up a level-four protective immortal array above the Spring Rejuvenation Valley. It was no longer open to all outsiders, and only a few disciples of friendly sects were allowed to come in and watch.
The reason for this was that the further the competition went, the higher the level of refining pills and tools would be. He didn't want to reveal too many refining techniques, so that other sects could secretly learn from him. Although the refining process was very complicated and one couldn't really master the core skills by watching it for one more time, there would always be some inspiration.
Some people felt that they had learned a lot after watching the first round of the competition, but they couldn't watch the second round of the competition. They couldn't help but scratch their ears and cheeks, wishing that they could leave their original sects and join the Four Divine Sect!
Two months later, the second round of the competition ended. There were a total of four competitions, and a total of 1,200 people stood out.
The people who lived at the top of the Divine Mist Peak were mainly Qin Di's relatives, friends, and disciples. Most of them had passed the second round. Some of them even passed more than one.
After a few days of rest, the final round of the competition began.
This time, Qin Di and all the Earth Level Deities personally participated. Earth Level Deities were qualified to skip the first two rounds of the competition and directly participate in the final.
The first round was alchemy. Every contestant could choose the immortal herbs provided by the sect, or they could use the materials they brought with them. This was because all the immortal herbs were very precious. Some of them couldn't even be found in the sect's treasure vault. If the contestants were allowed to bring their own, not only could they save the sect's reserves, but they could also stimulate the contestants to refine higher-level immortal pills.
For example, even Immortal Alchemists like Qin Di and Zhu Xianren had to challenge the fourth-level immortal pills. It would be very difficult if they relied on the immortal herbs provided by the sect. To be honest, the huge sect's treasure vault had stored many years of materials, but in some aspects, it was not as rich as Qin Di's collection.
In this competition, the Dao Integration cultivators from the top of the Divine Mist Peak all used the immortal herbs they brought with them. They had followed Qin Di to the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth peaks of the Spiritual Mountain and collected many immortal herbs. Even though they had been using them all these years, they hadn't used up all of them. The rest were stored in their grotto-heavens.
There were high and low levels of immortal herbs. Miao Yunjuan, Fan Yao, and the others were still slowly improving their alchemy realm. In the early years, they could only use low-level immortal herbs. Therefore, the ones left behind were usually higher-level immortal herbs.
If they didn't have a certain level of confidence, they wouldn't be willing to waste the higher-level immortal herbs. These immortal herbs were the stepping stones for future improvement. If they were used up, they didn't know where to find more.
Unfortunately, the Spiritual Mountain's Heavenly Pillar had already collapsed. In this huge primeval world, where else could they produce large amounts of immortal herbs?
No one knew. Even Qin Di found it difficult.
If there were no more immortal herbs in the primeval world, they could only go to the Spirit Realm to find them.
However, if they wanted to go to the Spirit Realm, they had to increase their cultivation level to the Earth Immortal Peak. It would be best if they could become a Spirit Immortal before they could set foot in the Spirit Realm. Qin Di wasn't far from the Spirit Immortal Stage, but Miao Yunjuan and the others were only at the late-stage Dao Integration Stage. Some were at the Dao Integration Peak, but they were still very far away from the Spirit Immortal Stage!
The last round of the alchemy competition was very lively. There were countless people watching it, and it lasted for a total of forty-nine days.
Some of the participants finished in three days, while others took seven or nine days. There were even some who took eighteen days. These people had already finished their alchemy. Only Qin Di and Zhu Xianyun were still sitting quietly in front of their pill cauldrons.
Their pill cauldrons looked simple and unadorned. No one knew that these two pill cauldrons were already immortal artifacts.
After Zhu Xianyun received the third-stage pill cauldron Precious Restriction that Qin Di had provided, she prepared meticulously for many years. Finally, she attached it to her ninth-stage spirit treasure pill cauldron. Then, she ran to the South Sea and found an uninhabited island to let her pill cauldron undergo tribulation secretly. After the tribulation, she quickly hid in the South Sea Immortal Palace and hid in the immortal array for more than ten years. Only when she saw that there was no danger did she fly back to the Immortal Mist Peak.
In the huge plaza, only the two of them were left, sitting quietly. However, there were countless eyes watching them.
Everyone knew that these two Immortal Alchemists might be able to surpass their previous best results. In the previous grand competition, they had both concocted Tier 3 Immortal Pills and might even be able to concoct Tier 4 Immortal Pills!
Earth Immortal Gold Saint Ying had already finished the competition and concocted seven third-stage immortal pills. When he had just finished, he was very satisfied with his results. However, now that he looked at Sect Master Qin Di, he had no choice but to retract his complacent attitude.
He sighed in his heart. Sect Master is only 5,000 years old, but he has already started to concoct fourth-stage immortal pills. On the other hand, I am more than ten times his age, but I can only concoct third-stage immortal pills! Sigh, I can't compare to him. Looking at him like this, I should be feeling ashamed!
At this moment, Qin Di's body was surrounded by mist. Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple immortal light shone from the top of his head, representing his strength as a seventh-stage Earth Immortal. The immortal light started to flicker continuously. His entire body was like a dazzling seven-colored fluorescent lamp, causing the surrounding spectators to turn their heads away, not daring to look at him directly.
Someone exclaimed in surprise, "Aiya, Sect Master's realm is unstable. Is he going to go berserk?"
Before he finished, he was slapped on the top of his head. "You little brat, what nonsense are you talking about? The flickering of immortal light could also mean that Sect Master is going to advance! "
"Master, you are wrong! Sect Master just advanced a few years ago. How can he advance again at this time? "
"How dare you talk back! Sect Master is the reincarnation of Jin Xian. Do you know that? His advancement is like drinking cold water. There are no obstacles at all. Do you understand? Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand! "He slapped the top of his head again.
"Master, don't hit me. You are right, okay? "
The onlookers in the Rejuvenation Valley were all surprised and began to discuss in low voices.
"Aiyo, this is not good. Why is Sect Master advancing at this time? Won't this furnace of pills be wasted?"
"Yes, when advancing, one needs to be focused. If he can't focus, he won't be able to control the pills."
"Sigh. It doesn't matter if the pills are refined or not. As long as he can advance smoothly, Sect Master will be an eighth-stage Earth Celestial! Aiya, that's amazing! He's already an eighth-stage Earth Celestial at such a young age. It won't be many years before he can ascend! "
Of course, many people kept sighing. "Alas! Sect Master is advancing so fast. He can't stay in the Primordial World for long. I'm afraid it won't be long before he leaves us. If he leaves, what will happen to our Four Divine Sect? "
"Yes, if Sect Master is not here, the Four Divine Sect's strength will plummet! Who can resist the suppression of Spirit Cloud Palace? Just thinking about it gives me a headache. "
"What can we do? Sect Leader Qin couldn't stay here forever. One day, he would have to leave! Do you want him to be Sect Master forever? Dream on! "
"Alas, Sect Master Qin is already an advanced Earth Celestial. I wonder if he can refine a clone. It would be great if he could have a clone!"
"Clone? You mean the One Breath Sanqing? It's a pity that our Four Divine Sect doesn't have such a legacy. "
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