“As expected of a Sword Cultivator, truly formidable.”
Several Disciples of the Azure Green Sect murmured from the side.
Hearing this, the Grand Elder immediately shot them a cold glance, scaring them into quickly shutting up.
“How did the people from Zhenshan Sect and Thousand Dharma Hall come together? This is truly rare!”
Watching the rolling dust clouds suddenly emerge from the distance, Li Wei frowned slightly in surprise.
A cloud of dust, like a yellow Dragon, swiftly rushed over from afar. Only when it got closer did everyone clearly see what was within the dust.
On the other side of the sky, a huge grey-black stream of light flew in.
“This Zhenshan Sect is truly impressive; they actually just ran here directly.”
Watching the group covered in dust from one of the dust clouds, Qin Xuan felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
“It’s one thing for these people not to use Magical Artifacts, but why don’t they even catch some Spirit Beasts for transportation? They actually just ran over.”
Seeing that the Zhenshan Sect members had indeed run all the way, the people present shook their heads.
“They’re truly a bunch of madmen. To pursue physical strength, they stop at nothing, even thinking of training their bodies while traveling.”
Everyone present sighed with emotion.
That the Zhenshan Sect would use such a method for Body Refining can only be described as formidable.
The stream of light in the other half of the sky also flew over, revealing itself to be a gigantic Spirit Beast.
“Greetings to all Fellow Daoists from Thousand Dharma Hall, welcome, welcome.”
Thousand Dharma Hall was riding an extremely large Spirit Beast, with all their Disciples sitting cross-legged on the Spirit Beast’s back.
Unlike Zhenshan Sect, the people from Thousand Dharma Hall were spotless because they had flown over.
Thousand Dharma Hall and Zhenshan Sect truly were two extremes.
Qin Xuan hadn't paid too much attention to the Body Cultivators of Zhenshan Sect.
At this moment, his gaze was entirely focused on the Spirit Beast ridden by Thousand Dharma Hall.
To be precise, it should be called a Spirit Insect rather than a Spirit Beast.
It was a Centipede-shaped Spirit Beast, appearing several tens to a hundred zhang in length. Every zhang, a pair of sharp, blade-like long legs grew from its sides.
No matter how one looked at it, this thing resembled a Centipede more.
Looking at this creature, Qin Xuan’s heart stirred, and he suddenly recalled the Gu Insect Compendium he had read before.
In that Gu Insect Compendium, to facilitate the refining of Gu, a significant portion was dedicated to introducing various strange insects.
The Centipede before him indeed looked like a strange insect described within it.
However, this Centipede was still somewhat different; he couldn't be certain yet.
“Fellow Daoist Li Wei, how have you been?”
At the head of the Centipede, a white-robed old man stood up, gracefully cupping his hands towards Li Wei and the Grand Elder below.
However, looking at the dust-covered Zhenshan Sect members nearby, he immediately shook his head in disdain.
“They are truly a bunch of barbarians, utterly ridiculous. To train their bodies in such a manner is laughable.”
The Elder leading Thousand Dharma Hall mocked them without reservation.
“Bai Ming, didn’t you, old man, say you’d arrive earlier than our Zhenshan Sect? What, is the beast under your feet not listening to you?”
The leader of Zhenshan Sect was also a white-haired old man, but unlike Elder Bai Ming of Thousand Dharma Hall, it was evident that this old man possessed abundant Qi and blood, looking nothing like an old man.
“Hmph, old man, your Zhenshan Sect’s so-called physique is nothing special. We’ve been competing for over a thousand li, and you haven’t arrived here before us!”
Hearing this, the leader of Zhenshan Sect sneered.
“Our Zhenshan Sect ran all the way here. You just relied on that Heavenly Poison Centipede, didn’t you? Without that Heavenly Poison Centipede, do you think you could have caught up to us?”
The Elder of Zhenshan Sect mocked them in various ways.
Hearing this, the Elder of Qianfa Hall shook his head disdainfully.
“Calling you barbarians is an overstatement. The reason humans are humans is because of various tools. This Heavenly Poison Centipede, our Thousand Dharma Hall has raised it for hundreds of years. It is inherently a part of our Thousand Dharma Hall; why can’t we use it?”
As he spoke, the Elder walked to the black Centipede, stroked its head, and took out a bottle of Medicinal Pills, tossing them into the Centipede’s mouth.
“Everyone, take some antidote. Be careful not to get poisoned.”
After doing all this, the Elder of Qianfa Hall suddenly gave an order.
Hearing this, the many Disciples of Thousand Dharma Hall immediately nodded, taking out detoxifying Medicinal Pills and eating them.
“You Thousand Dharma Hall had best be careful not to poison so many Fellow Daoists to death. This Heavenly Poison Centipede has been raised for so many years; if you continue, you won’t be able to control its toxicity.”
The Elder of Zhenshan Sect mocked them.
“That’s none of your business. Our Sect’s Cultivators use poison if they want to use poison, what’s it to you? Brother Li, when does our grand competition begin?”
“I don’t want to waste time with these annoying people here. Let’s quickly decide the victor and head to the capital; that’s the proper course of action.”
Hearing this, Li Wei quickly nodded.
“Soon, the venue over there is already prepared. We have one day today and one day tomorrow. After the top twenty are decided tomorrow, we can proceed to the capital for the final selection.”
Li Wei said with a smile. Since everyone had arrived, there was indeed no need to waste time.
“I wonder if the Fellow Daoists from Zhenshan Sect need to rest, after running for such a long time…”
Li Wei suggested.
Hearing this, the Zhenshan Sect members shook their heads.
“No need. What our Zhenshan Sect is best at is Body Cultivation, improving ourselves through various extreme challenges.”
“Our Sect is not worried at all, unlike other Sects.”
The Elder of Zhenshan Sect declared with soaring pride.
Since Zhenshan Sect themselves had no objections, Li Wei naturally led them directly to the plaza.
Then, the competition began.
“Today is the preliminary selection, to determine the top forty. It’s already getting late, so the final twenty will be decided tomorrow, before heading to the capital.”
After briefly explaining the situation, Li Wei signaled for the competition to begin.
After drawing lots, Qin Xuan drew a Disciple from the Ling Shou Sect.
Qin Xuan, of course, didn't expend much effort dealing with this type of Beast-Controlling Cultivator. He directly used beast-controlling techniques to make the Spirit Beast go mad, easily defeating his opponent.
This also made many people look at Qin Xuan, regarding him as a formidable opponent.
Qin Xuan, however, was indifferent to this.
At this time, there was no concept of hiding one's strength.
For a Cultivator, strength was everything.
Only by demonstrating greater strength and talent would one obtain more cultivation resources.
After the competition, Qin Xuan looked at the Disciples of Thousand Dharma Hall.
These Disciples should all be poison users; he wanted to see how these people fought.
“Actually, you’re trying to get ideas about that Centipede, aren’t you? That’s the Heavenly Poison Centipede from the Strange Insect List; are you tempted?”
