Chapter 112: Chapter 113: Chance Encounter at the Exam Site

Six Continents wasn’t far from He City. The trip was only twenty minutes by Crystal Rail Train, and even a bus on the expressway took just an hour.

The journey itself was unremarkable.

But the moment they crossed into He City’s borders, Chen Che felt an immediate difference. Everywhere he looked, cultivators on Flying Swords zipped past, carrying briefcases and hurrying on their way. There were even designated stations for Demon Beasts lining the streets.

"Now this is a big city!"

Chen Che felt it was a real eye-opener, watching an Earth Traveling Beast pull up to a stop and its passengers disembark in an orderly queue.

And He City wasn’t even considered a top-tier city.

The areas where the Four Great Daoist Schools were located were the Immortal Sect’s most prosperous cities. According to internet chatter, if you waited outside certain Immortal Sect department buildings at closing time and threw a stick, you’d hit at least seven or eight Golden Core Cultivators.

Zong Yudao, Lin Yi, and Su Peng, who were on the same bus, were in no better state.

They were shouting "Holy shit!" the entire way, especially when they saw a row of dark-skinned Kunlun Slaves tilling the fields by the roadside, which made them gasp in astonishment.

"What are they doing?" Chen Che asked curiously.

"Planting watermelons."

Old Li was patient, explaining things to the students as they drove. "The Immortal Sect prohibits intermarriage with Kunlun Slaves, as well as teaching them Cultivation Techniques. Violators will have their Cultivation crippled and all property confiscated. That’s why Kunlun Slaves can only perform tedious, low-paying manual labor."

"Why?" everyone asked, not understanding.

"Those who are not our kin are sure to have a different heart."

Li Xiaoshuang said casually.

"How wise our ancestors were!"

Lin Yi didn’t seem to understand the implications, but Chen Che’s praise was heartfelt.

Soon, the bus arrived at its destination.

This competition was being held in Great Shu Mountain Park.

Great Shu Mountain Park was dozens of times larger than Six Continents People’s Park and often hosted various competitions, including large-scale Immortal Sect tournaments. The hotels outside the park were already surrounded by high school buses from all over, each decorated with banners.

Since they were traveling on the public dime, Old Li splurged, booking three of the best suites available.

He took one for himself.

Chen Che and Lin Yi shared one, while Su Peng and Zong Yudao took the other.

"Let’s go!"

Before they could even drop off their luggage and get a good look at the rooms, Li Xiaoshuang was already calling everyone to head to Shushan Park and scout the competition grounds.

"I know you’re all somewhat familiar with the rules, but I need to repeat a few key points. The competition will last for three days. You are not allowed to bring any personal items into the competition area. Anyone who violates this rule will be considered to be cheating and will be disqualified."

"Also, the format of the provincial competition is vastly different from the city-level one. The old strategy of capturing and holding a single location won’t work here..."

Chen Che took in his surroundings as he listened to Old Li’s explanation. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

If the theme of the city-level competition was ’survival’...

Then the theme of the provincial competition was ’struggle’—a true contest for the Great Dao!

When the competition begins.

Ten Jade Talismans, each with a special mark, will be released into the competition area. These talismans will appear at random locations. Every two hours, the Jade Talismans will emit a flash of light, revealing their position.

The contestants’ task is not just to find a Jade Talisman, but to hold onto it until the very end of the competition.

This means only the students holding a Jade Talisman at the end will be able to advance.

There was almost no room for clever loopholes.

"As for specific strategies, it’s useless for me to say too much, because the battlefield is constantly changing."

"If you charge in aggressively at the start and are the first to grab a Jade Token, you’ll easily find yourself surrounded. But if you always opt for the ’Hidden Light and Hidden Strategy’ approach, and the Jade Tokens are all snatched up by powerful contestants, you’ll be too weak to take one back by yourself at the end and can only watch helplessly!"

So it was all about choosing the right moment...

Chen Che understood what Li Xiaoshuang was saying. The question of *when* to make a move was something they would have to decide for themselves in the heat of the moment.

In a situation like this, the experience and strategies of past competitors were utterly useless.

"Teacher Li, if I manage to snatch every single Jade Talisman in this competition, can I get an extra 100 points on the college entrance exam?"

At that, Zong Yudao posed an outlandish question.

"You?"

Old Li shot him a look and almost laughed in exasperation. ’A Qi Refining Second Layer... where does he get the nerve to say something like that? He’ll be lucky just to survive until the end of the competition!’

"If you could actually pull that off, and I were the chief examiner, forget a hundred points—I’d give you ten thousand!"

There were quite a few people scouting the competition grounds.

Along the way, they even ran into an acquaintance: Xiao Yang from Seventh Middle School.

He was also there with his teacher, scouting the grounds.

Ye Chao, who would normally go out of his way to avoid Old Li, approached them with great enthusiasm this time. He grabbed Li Xiaoshuang’s hand with one of his own and Chen Che’s with the other, speaking with an eager warmth:

"Old classmate, I’ve been trying to call you, but you’ve always been busy. Do you have some time? Let me treat you all to a meal today... And Chen Che, you and Xiao Yang are both students from Six Continents. You’re here to bring glory to our city."

’The cultivation circles in Six Continents aren’t that large,’ Ye Chao thought. ’How could I not know that Chen Che reached the Qi Refining Seventh Layer at the very start of the school year?’

’I need to get on their good side. Even if they don’t help during the competition, it’s one less enemy, which increases our chances of advancing.’ At this thought, Ye Chao’s enthusiasm grew even warmer.

"We’re on a tight schedule," Old Li said, politely declining.

Ye Chao lowered his voice. "The full package tonight. My treat."

"Well... if we squeeze things around a bit, I suppose we can make time."

Li Xiaoshuang held up two fingers. Ye Chao nodded, his expression pained, and a smile Li Xiaoshuang couldn’t suppress bloomed on his face.

The two groups joined up and continued to scout the competition grounds together.

As expected, the scale of the provincial competition was far greater than the city-level one. The students scouting the grounds were clearly the top aces from their respective cities. Along the way, Chen Che even spotted a few contestants from his ’Attention Group’ list, all obviously there for the same reason.

Besides the contestants, Chen Che also saw some staff members. Others stood nearby, pointing and discussing; they were the examiners, inspecting the Arrays within the competition grounds.

While there, he also spotted Li Tingyu.

Her hands were clasped behind her back as she performed a final inspection of the grounds. She and Old Li exchanged a brief glance before walking past each other like complete strangers.

Only Chen Che gave her a second look. If he hadn’t learned about her Realm from Li Xiaoshuang, he would have assumed she was just an ordinary—albeit exceptionally beautiful—person had he passed her on the street.

"Alright, we’ll come back to see the rest tomorrow!"

Seeing that it was getting dark, Old Li clapped his hands after they had viewed the last location, preparing to head back.

Just then, a large group came walking down the mountain path toward them. They looked like teachers, all chatting and laughing without a hint of the tension seen on the faces of the other schools’ staff. Chen Che glanced over curiously and was surprised to see that the person at the very center of the group was Weng Dazheng.

’It’s him?’

Chen Che froze, recognizing him instantly.

’Doesn’t that mean...’

Sure enough, as his gaze swept past the teachers, he saw several students in He City school uniforms trailing behind them. Every one of them was a name from the ’Dangerous Group’ list. And walking right behind Weng Dazheng was Jiang Jingyuan himself.

Their large entourage came sweeping down the mountain path, blocking the entire road.

When Weng Dazheng saw Li Xiaoshuang, he was visibly surprised for a moment before calling out a greeting.

"Xiaoli! Bringing your students to scout the competition grounds, are we?"