From Zhu Chong’s explanation, Qin Xuan gained a general understanding of the Grand Competition’s rules.

The Vermilion Bird Grand Competition was held once every three hundred years.

Under the illumination of the Vermilion Bird Divine Monarch’s Nanming Li Fire, the elites of the various divisions were selected to determine the ownership rights of the stars.

Each competition lasted for at least twenty years.

The strongest competitor could even obtain a True Vermilion Bird Feather and become a Registered Disciple of the Vermilion Bird Divine Monarch.

It contained the legacy of the Vermilion Bird Divine Monarch, a Dao Venerable!

Qin Xuan was greatly surprised.

He never imagined that the so-called Grand Competition would offer such a lavish reward!

However, on second thought, Qin Xuan suppressed the greed in his heart.

’It lasts for at least twenty years... Forget it. I’ll just wait and see. Shen Xiyue will most likely participate. If I run into her, I’ll just head straight back to the Holy Sect.’

Qin Xuan had no intention of wasting his energy on this.

If he hadn’t heard there was a way to get to Star Jia Jiu, Qin Xuan wouldn’t have participated at all.

Heaven knows what other tricks this damn place was hiding!

"Little Brother Liu, the first round of the Vermilion Bird Grand Competition takes place in the Nanli Ancient Battlefield. Inside, there are ninety-nine Beacon Towers. Contestants must light the flames of at least three of them to qualify for the second round at the Holy Fire Altar."

"I see. I understand," Qin Xuan said with a slight nod.

He had already made up his mind. When the time came, he would let Old Zhao and the Longevity Spirit Turtles make an appearance first. He himself wouldn’t be in a rush to act.

... 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

「Deep within the Nanli Ancient Battlefield.」

The earth was cracked and fissured.

One hundred Purple Mansion Cultivators from the Star Jia Jiu Liaoyuan Sub-Branch, clad in short brown coats and beast-skin skirts, advanced slowly under the leadership of Golden Core True Monarch Zhu Chong.

Zhu Chong Daoist was, for once, wearing a precious red robe.

The Dao Rhyme of a Golden Core faintly circulated around his body.

Qin Xuan walked on the left flank of the formation. Dressed in snug-fitting, dark cyan clothes, he stood as straight as a pine, a longsword of an archaic design and deep gold color slung at his waist.

A faint light seemed to flow across the scabbard, giving him a heroic and dashing appearance.

"Thirty li ahead is the location of the Star Jia Jiu Teleportation Array, which corresponds to the Seventh Beacon Tower of the Nanli Ancient Battlefield."

True Monarch Zhu Chong’s voice clearly reached everyone’s ears.

"I am already a Golden Core, so I cannot enter the Nanli Ancient Battlefield. All of you must remember: once inside, follow Star Envoy Liu’s lead in all matters. Do not act rashly."

"As you command!" the cultivators of the Liaoyuan Sub-Branch shouted in unison.

Qin Xuan, for his part, was quite pleased with the arrangement.

He had originally expected a few clueless natives from the Liaoyuan Sub-Branch to jump out and challenge him, trying to put him in his place.

But to his surprise, every single one of them was remarkably obedient.

They truly did defer to him in all matters.

After giving his orders, Zhu Chong added a warning, "The auras of the Wing Fire Division and the Zhuyin Division are entangled up ahead. It’s unavoidable. Little Brother Liu, if you encounter enemies, focus on tying them down and preserving our strength."

"Don’t worry, Senior."

Qin Xuan cupped his fist, then led the group of Purple Mansion Cultivators into the Teleportation Array within the red mountain forest ahead.

BOOM!

The world spun, and the scene before him changed abruptly.

They had traveled no more than ten li when a foul, chilly stench suddenly seeped out from underground.

HISS—!

The ground abruptly exploded, and a dozen or so black figures shot into the sky.

The leader was a man clad in dark scale armor, his face long, narrow, and deathly pale. He had a pair of vertical, snake-like pupils.

He wielded a twisted bone staff, and the oppressive might of a Purple Mansion Fifth Level cultivator radiated from him without restraint.

"Xuanlin of the Zhuyin Division!"

An old cultivator behind Qin Xuan exclaimed in a low, tense voice.

Almost simultaneously, a scorching gale blew from the sky to their right. Seven or eight figures with mangled, fleshy wings on their backs dove down, wreathed in flames that radiated an oppressive heat.

Their leader was a demoness with a scorching-hot figure, covered only in crucial places by red scale armor. Her face was bewitching.

But her vertical pupils burned with a cruel flame, and the pair of short, crimson spikes in her hands hummed ominously.

"Red Feather of the Wing Fire Division!" another person cried out in terror.

The Demon Cultivators from the two divisions had actually been lying in ambush here all along.

Though there weren’t many of them—only about thirty—each was an expert at the Purple Mansion Realm. They were clearly a specialized team for hunting down advance parties like this one.

"Scum of the Liaoyuan Division, this road is closed!"

Xuanlin of the Zhuyin Division shrieked, and with a wave of his bone staff, a black mire instantly surged from the ground.

Two cultivators from the Liaoyuan Division failed to dodge in time and were instantly swallowed, unable to even let out a scream.

"Kill them and seize the flames!"

Red Feather of the Wing Fire Division giggled seductively as she crossed her twin spikes, slashing out two intersecting blades of searing fire straight for Qin Xuan’s face.

Following Zhu Chong’s instructions, Qin Xuan gave a grand wave of his hand.

A dense, starry brilliance with a Water Attribute suffused the air. When the Zhuyin Division cultivators opened their eyes again, the entire group of more than one hundred people had vanished without a trace!

???

The demoness from the Wing Fire Division, Red Feather, was dumbfounded. "Where did they go?"

...

Qin Xuan had merely obscured their Divine Sense, and he now swaggered away.

’So weak,’ Qin Xuan mused. ’Their Cultivation Realms seem to be Purple Mansion, but their true combat strength is at most Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment Ninth Level.’

At his current level of strength, he could have finished them all off in less than ten breaths’ time.

After traveling several hundred more li, they drew closer and closer to the Seventh Beacon Tower.

In the distance, two groups of people were locked in a standoff.

One group emanated waves of heat. Their skin was dark red, and they wore simple red copper armor.

Their leader was tall and powerfully built, with a single horn on his forehead. He wielded a giant axe that burned with intense flames, and his aura was frenzied and violent.

The other group was far more sinister and cold. Their bodies were covered in dark green scales, and their figures were slender. Their leader was a tall, thin demon snake whose forked tongue flickered in and out, hissing periodically.

"Tsk, another group of small fry from the Liaoyuan Division, here to get themselves killed."

Yan Zhu’s voice was coarse and boisterous. He swept a disdainful gaze over Qin Xuan and his men, his expression turning even more contemptuous when he sensed that Qin Xuan was only at the Purple Mansion First Level.

Viper Brave, on the other hand, let out a cold, hissing laugh.

"Yan Zhu, how about we get rid of these nuisances first, then fight over the flames?"

His gaze swept over Qin Xuan as if he were looking at a dead man.

Qin Xuan’s expression remained unchanged. He simply patted the Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist.