A Name Revered; The Three Sect's Forbidden Ground

Chapter 638: A Name Revered; The Three Sect's Forbidden Ground

“Late Core Formation? Secluded cultivation?” The voice from the transmission was clearly taken aback. After a long sigh, no further sound came from it.

The white-robed cultivator from the Ancient Sword Sect did not say much either. He raised a hand, and a beam of white light shot onto a seemingly ordinary blue stone nearby. Immediately, light flickered within the pile of rubble. A flash of white light appeared, and the man vanished without a trace.

The rubble pile was a cleverly concealed teleportation formation.

The gray-robed elder, seeing the other man leave, found a nearby boulder and sat down cross-legged on his own.

At the other end of the teleportation formation, in a small stone room of the Hundred Ingenious Institute, the Confucian scholar’s figure appeared in the formation amidst a flash of white light. Standing around him were several high-level cultivators from the three sects, including the old man surnamed Fu.

“How is it, junior martial brother? Are preparations over there ready?” Elder Jiang asked first without hesitation upon seeing the scholar’s form solidify.

“Rest assured, senior brother. Everything at the Holy Land is in order. We can teleport over now,” the scholar replied with a smile.

“Good. Troublemaker Duan, please bring in those ten juniors. According to the agreement, each of our three sects will send one Core Formation cultivator to accompany them. We have Elder Wang from our side following along. The Falling Cloud Sect already has Peak Master Yu. Brother Jiang, who is going from your side?” the old man surnamed Fu said with a satisfied nod.

The red-robed old man, upon hearing this, pushed open the door and left without another word.

“What’s there to see in the Holy Land? It's not like we haven't been before. Let Junior Martial Brother Bai make the trip,” Elder Jiang replied, unconcerned.

“That works. I recall Fellow Daoist Bai wasn’t on duty at the Holy Land back then, but he was one of the ten disciples of the Sword Trial Assembly. Consider this a return to a familiar place,” the old man surnamed Fu said with a smile.

The green-robed scholar nodded calmly, agreeing without saying a word.

The white-robed young woman, however, smiled bewitchingly and came to stand beside him, shoulder to shoulder, looking very much like a loving couple.

Just then, footsteps were heard from outside the stone room. The red-robed old man walked in with a calm expression, followed by the ten who had placed in the top ten of the three sects’ competition.

This time, although the Falling Cloud Sect still hadn't taken first place, they had a full four disciples in the top ten, leading the three sects.

This made the old man surnamed Duan outwardly calm but secretly quite pleased.

Thinking this, he couldn't help but look at his own sect’s four disciples: the woman surnamed Mu from Heavenly Spring Peak, and a young man with a cold, resolute face from Blazing Cloud Peak named Sun Huo.

The other two were naturally Han Li and Du Dong.

Han Li was one thing. But whenever he saw Du Dong, the Blazing Cloud Peak Master’s expression would remain unchanged, yet a cold snort would sound in his heart, and a trace of mockery would flicker through his mind.

As for the one who won first place this time, it was a black-clad youth with the sharpness of an unsheathed sword. This youth was the Ancient Sword Sect disciple, Meng Di, who possessed the ‘Nine Spiritual Sword Body’.

The ‘Nine Spiritual Sword Body’ was said to be one of the three great sword cultivator spiritual bodies in the cultivation world—this was no joke. With a top-grade flying sword in hand, no opponent could withstand his sweeping, invincible sword aura for even a moment. He had obtained the final first place with absolute superiority.

Thinking of this, the red-robed old man couldn’t help but feel a little envious of the Ancient Sword Sect’s good fortune.

…

Han Li watched the room full of “Core Formation seniors” with no joy or surprise in his heart.

After three rounds of victories, he deliberately lost to a Foundation Establishment opponent from the Hundred Ingenious Institute whose strength was not weak. This put him into the competition for seventh to tenth place along with five others who had also lost.

In the end, he put on a show of using up almost all his talismans and barely managing to pass, snatching the ninth place.

As for that Du Dong, it seemed he had the same idea. He had also deliberately lost in the fourth round and then deliberately lost to him again, ending up in last place.

This left Han Li speechless.

The highest-ranking disciple of the Falling Cloud Sect was the youth named Sun Huo. His cultivation was quite formidable, and he had managed to grab the third place spot.

But in Han Li’s eyes, aside from the black-clad youth in first place, if Sun Huo’s magic tools had been compatible with his technique, defeating the second-place disciple from the Hundred Ingenious Institute would have been entirely possible.

As soon as the competition ended, each of the top ten disciples was given a top-grade magic tool. The black-clad youth named Meng Di received an additional jade box containing a single Settling Spirit Pill.

Han Li made a decision in his mind without even thinking when he saw that jade box.

If this trip went smoothly and he could acquire the Spirit Eye Tree’s sapling and its pill formula, that would be ideal. If not, he wouldn’t mind borrowing this item from that proud disciple of the Ancient Sword Sect.

After all, having a Settling Spirit Pill when forming a Nascent Soul would make things considerably easier.

As Han Li was pondering this, the old man surnamed Fu had already begun having the disciples teleport over.

These young cultivators of the three sects also knew where they were going next, and most of them started beaming with joy.

Amidst flashes of white light, the white-robed cultivator and a middle-aged cultivator from the Hundred Ingenious Institute with a ruddy complexion teleported over first. Then, the disciples followed in pairs.

After a brief spell of dizziness, Han Li and the others found themselves in a desolate pile of rocks, surrounded by thick fog and damp air.

Squinting, Han Li subconsciously released his spiritual sense to probe the area, but his perception was blocked by some kind of restriction after extending only a few dozen feet.

His heart tightened. He knew that a very powerful magical formation had been set up here, and it would be best to accomplish his goals in secret.

The gray-robed elder, seeing they had all successfully teleported, unhurriedly rose to his feet. He raised his hand, and a yellow magical seal flew out, disappearing into the mist.

The thick fog around them began to churn. Then, right in front of them, the mist suddenly dissipated, revealing a moss-covered stone wall that looked as if no one had ever been there.

“Listen carefully. Because the spiritual water has been refined and must be used immediately to wash the eyes, you have been given this rare opportunity to enter the three sects’ forbidden ground. Under normal circumstances, even we are not allowed near this place. Once inside, you may only stay for one day and one night. You must leave by the second day. There are numerous restrictions within, and you are strictly forbidden from recklessly roaming around. If you do, you will bear the consequences yourselves.” The white-robed Confucian scholar seemed very familiar with everything inside. Before either of the other two could speak, he spoke first in a cold tone of warning.

These low-level disciples naturally all voiced their agreement.

At that moment, the voice of the man who had first transmitted his voice came from the direction of the blue stone wall.

“Alright. Whatever instructions you have, give them after you come in. I’m about to open a gap in the grand formation for you.”

As soon as the man surnamed Yue finished speaking, the stone wall began to ripple and blur, like the surface of water, before erupting in a blinding green light.

A short while later, when everyone had recovered and looked ahead, they were stunned to see what had happened.

The blue stone wall had vanished, replaced by a pair of enormous, tightly shut stone doors.

The doors were densely covered with talismanic script and symbols, and multi-colored spiritual light flickered incessantly, indicating that countless powerful restrictions had been placed upon them. Several layers of a hazy yellow light shield enveloped the doors, making it impossible to touch them easily.

But at that moment, standing before the giant gates, which were over ten zhang high, was a yellow-robed cultivator with his hands clasped behind his back.

This cultivator appeared to be around forty years old, with thick, dark, slightly downward-slanting brows and a face full of astonishing murderous aura. A single glance at him would make anyone’s heart pound with fear, and they would not dare meet his gaze.

“Hehe! Senior Martial Brother Yue’s ‘Ghost Fiend Art’ seems to have advanced a great deal. It appears that cultivating near the Sacred Tree has truly allowed your cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds,” the middle-aged cultivator of the Hundred Ingenious Institute murmured with a hint of envy upon seeing the fierce aura of the yellow-robed cultivator.

Though his voice was not loud, it was perfectly clear to the man surnamed Yue. The yellow-robed cultivator rolled his eyes and replied without any politeness.

“Hmph! If you were willing to be trapped in this forbidden ground for fifty or sixty years, you could come in and cultivate hard as well. I’m just afraid you wouldn’t have the patience, junior martial brother!”

Hearing this, the middle-aged cultivator of the Hundred Ingenious Institute looked visibly embarrassed.

“Junior martial brother only made a casual remark. Naturally, Senior Martial Brother Yue and the two seniors, Senior Martial Brother Wu and Senior Martial Brother Tian, have a very hard time guarding this place. I was just…”

“Alright, no need to say more. This restriction was jointly set up by several Nascent Soul stage uncles of our three sects. I can only open the restriction for a short moment, so you’d better hurry!”

Having said this, the yellow-robed cultivator flipped his hand, and a yellow token appeared in his palm.

His expression turned serious, and he began to chant.

The token suddenly erupted with brilliant yellow light. A sheet of yellow mist swept out from it, and wherever it passed, the light shields instantly melted and disappeared, revealing a passageway several zhang in size.

“All of you, get inside! Move quickly!” the Confucian scholar urged immediately upon seeing this, without a second thought. He then transformed into a white rainbow and shot through.

The gray-robed elder and the middle-aged cultivator of the Hundred Ingenious Institute also gave their orders and shot inside.

Seeing this, Han Li and the others dared not delay and quickly followed, riding their magical tools.