For the Qi Refinement cultivators who had made it to the finals, they were only a single thought away from Foundation Establishment.
Not a few among them had been capable of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage a month ago, but had stubbornly held back no matter what, holding it in until now just to break through right on the spot.
The two fighters in the first match were named Chen Chenxi and Su Youdao.
Chen Chenxi broke through to Foundation Establishment and believed victory was well within his grasp, never anticipating that his opponent was thinking the exact same thing.
"These two juniors have some clever ideas, though who knows which of them will win."
Watching on, elders from various sects murmured among themselves, unable to tell who would hold out till the end.
Both possessed identical cultivation levels and identical foundations; right up until the very end, either could stage a comeback.
"It will definitely be my Lock Heart Sect disciple who wins." Chen Chenxi hailed from the Lock Heart Sect, and the Lock Heart Sect Master stepped forward to back him up.
"Is that so? Are you looking down on my Void Shattering Sect?" The Sect Master of the Void Shattering Sect narrowed his eyes, his tone loaded with meaning. Su Youdao was a disciple of the Void Shattering Sect.
The Lock Heart Sect Master smiled like a gentle spring breeze. "Just speaking the plain truth. How could it be considered looking down on you?"
"A wager, then?"
"What are the stakes?"
"Bet on who gets the Great Yu cultivators."
"Fine, let's bet! Who's afraid of whom!" The two were comparable in strength and their sects were evenly matched, having always looked upon one another with disdain. If either backed down now, he would surely be subjected to endless ridicule by the other in the future.
The matches in the Qi Refinement division proved far more intense than anticipated. According to incomplete statistics, ninety-six percent of the Qi Refinement Great Perfection prodigies chose to break through mid-battle, drastically inflating the division's average combat power.
Ultimately, the victor was a core disciple from the Qi Control Sect.
"Take note of everyone in the Qi Refinement division who didn't break through mid-battle. They are prime targets for observation," Jiang Qun instructed his subordinate, suspecting that these individuals might be ancient cultivators who had dispersed their cultivation to start anew.
"Understood." Jiang Qun received the telepathic reply, yet no figure was visible. It was a Luoshui Guard concealed in the shadows.
The Luoshui Guards were professionally trained, adept in concealment arts, and skilled in farming; detecting any trace of them was exceedingly difficult.
Yesterday, when Jiang Qun brought the Luoshui Guards to the Dao Seeking Sect, they had been caught right away by the river spirit.
Jiang Qun nodded in satisfaction, not expecting to make progress so quickly.
"Speaking of which, I had hoped to pay my respects to you seniors yesterday, but I couldn't find anyone, which was truly a pity. May I ask where you seniors were yesterday?" Jiang Qun had arrived at the Dao Seeking Sect before the festivities even started.
After the sacrificial rites concluded, he had wanted to visit the masters of the immortal sects. But after searching around, he found only Luo Hongxia. At the time, Luo Hongxia was chatting with the Sixth Elder, communicating via divine sense. Jiang Qun had assumed they were exchanging flirtatious glances, so he hadn't dared intrude.
The Immortal Fairy naturally lumped herself into the category of "seniors" and spoke up: "I received intelligence at the last minute claiming that Great Yu cultivators intended to sneak into our Dao Seeking Sect and sabotage the celebration."
Qiu Jin'an played along with the Immortal Fairy's words quite naturally, saying, "Upon receiving Sect Master Lu's message, a plan came to mind. We hid inside the treasure box, waiting for the Great Yu cultivators to walk right into the trap."
Jiang Qun was bewildered. How had the Luoshui Guards received no such intelligence? And why on earth hide inside a treasure box?
Beside them, Yang Ding added, "My good nephew might not know this, but that treasure box is a supreme treasure of the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace. It possesses the power to bewitch the mind; high-level cultivators can easily fall under its sway and walk into the box."
"It possesses such wonder?" Jiang Qun was stunned. He had never heard of a supreme treasure with such capabilities; the Five Great Immortal Sects were unfathomable indeed.
"Then why wasn't I bewitched?"
"Your cultivation is too low."
Jiang Qun: "..."
"Then where are those Great Yu cultivators now?"
"Inside the treasure box." Luo Hongxia patted the treasure box with a look of sullen grievance. With the box's perceived value skyrocketing, her own status had risen with the tide as well. On her way over just now, everyone had urged her to protect the box at all costs, to ensure it wasn't bumped or scratched, and told her that if she encountered any danger, she should shout for help at the top of her lungs so they could rush over immediately.
The person basked in the reflected glory of the box.
"They've all been captured?"
Jiang Qun felt thoroughly humbled. Just moments ago, he had been smug about flagging a few suspects who might be ancient cultivators dispersing their cultivation to start anew. Who could have imagined that the Dao Seeking Sect had practically wiped out the Great Yu remnants in one fell swoop?
The Immortal Fairy nodded sagely. "More or less. Only their Imperial Preceptor is left. According to confessions, he's a half-immortal expert. We don't know where he's hiding right now, but Girl Yun said to leave the matter to her."
Upon first hearing that the Great Yu Imperial Preceptor was a half-immortal, Jiang Qun had tensed up. But the moment he heard that Yun Zhi was handling it, his hanging heart settled right back down.
Wait a moment. What did Sect Master Lu just call Yun Zhi?
Jiang Qun's heart gave a violent quiver. No wonder Imperial Father had told him to cultivate good relations with Sect Master Lu—the bond between Sect Master Lu and Yun Zhi was far more intimate than he could have ever imagined!
Master Jiesha's hand paused as he fingered his Buddhist prayer beads. Looking toward the Immortal Fairy and the others, he felt profoundly grateful that he was cultivating Silent Chan.
Amitābha, Amitābha. Monks must not utter falsehoods.
The matches in the early Foundation Establishment and middle Foundation Establishment brackets also featured quite a few prodigies who chose to break through mid-battle, though such occurrences were far rarer than in the Qi Refinement division.
Not every prodigy had cultivated to the great perfection of early Foundation Establishment or middle Foundation Establishment.
The two victors came from sects Lu Yang was unfamiliar with, while the Immortal Fairy hadn't even heard of their names before.
One was a second-rank sect, the other a third-rank sect.
None of the Five Great Immortal Sects had fielded participants in the first three divisions. Currently, the lowest cultivation level among their disciples was late Foundation Establishment. If the immortal sects were forced to enter candidates into the first three brackets, their only option would be to send ingredients into the ring.
"Did you record those individuals from earlier?" Jiang Qun transmitted his voice to the Luoshui Guard behind him, still unable to see any sign of the guard.
"All recorded."
"Investigate their backgrounds once we return."
Qiu Jin'an shifted slightly and kindly said toward the empty space behind Jiang Qun, "Fellow Daoist, why not just show yourself? You're hiding there, but it's not like the rest of us can't see you.
"And as for divine sense transmissions, we can all hear them too. Why don't you two just speak out loud?"
Qiu Jin'an and the others could hear and see every bit of Jiang Qun and the Luoshui Guard's exchanges with total clarity. What was the point of all this mystical cloak-and-dagger posturing?
Left with no choice, the Luoshui Guard showed himself.
Filtering out suspicious cultivators was judged primarily by combat experience. Those rich in combat experience were highly likely to be ancient cultivators cultivating anew; a smaller possibility was a mighty expert playing the pig to eat the tiger; and the least likely possibility was a body seizure.
The tournament rewards were exceptionally generous, making it entirely plausible that mighty figures would disguise their prowess to play the pig and eat the tiger.
Both the first and third scenarios fell under prime targets for observation.
Great Xia did not inherently hold hostility toward ancient cultivators. Dispersing cultivation to start anew was not against the law; at most, it made one an unregistered resident. A fine and household registration were usually enough to settle it.
The real issue was that the vast majority of ancient cultivators refused to abide by Great Xia's laws, carrying over the ancient habits of murder and arson right into Great Xia. Only then did Great Xia step in to punish these lawless relics.
If an ancient cultivator woke up and behaved honestly, Great Xia wouldn't bother them in the least.
In truth, Lu Yang was rather suspicious himself—rich in combat experience, able to thoroughly thrash a veteran Tribulation Transcendence expert like Master Jiesha; none of it defied common sense any less.
However, considering he was Yun Zhi's junior martial brother, and Yun Zhi had pulled off similar feats before, no one suspected Lu Yang of having any issues.
Chapter 487