Chapter 124: Chapter 123: Immortal Sect Monster Room

Li Xiaoshuang, who smelled strongly of perfume and was glowing with delight after what seemed like days of celebratory foot soaks, called Chen Che into his office. He handed over a dozen or so Jade Scroll admission notices:

"After the practical skills competition, these Yiben Daoist Schools sent you invitations. You don’t have to take the entrance exams. You don’t even have to finish your senior year. You can enroll directly at one of these Yiben Daoist Schools this September."

Chen Che flipped through the notices, a little surprised.

"More than half of the famous Twenty-Eight Constellations schools are here."

The Four Great Daoist Schools are named after the Ancient Four Gods of the Directions: Jumang, Zhurong, Rushou, and Yuqiang.

The Yiben Daoist Schools, on the other hand, are named after the Twenty-Eight Constellations, and each admission notice is marked with its corresponding constellation. Although there seem to be many Yiben Daoist Schools, in reality, only about the top fifty of the two-thousand-plus graduating students from Six Continents First Middle School get in each year.

"Every student who advanced got some, but you received the most. Er... with the exception of Zong Yudao."

After a brief pause, Old Li added another sentence.

Li Tingyu had told him that because there was no precedent for such a case in past provincial competitions, there was a huge debate within the Immortal Sect. Interestingly, some of the younger-generation disciples believed the guy was a complete fraud who had slipped through the cracks and recommended that his advancement spot be revoked.

The older generation, however, thought Zong Yudao might be a Son of Fortune and was worth observing for a while.

This was because Sons of Fortune always managed to unexpectedly befriend powerful individuals, becoming their sworn companions, which would be of great benefit to the future development of the Immortal Sect.

"...Old Zong."

Chen Che chuckled. He glanced at the admission notices before him but slowly shook his head.

"Is it okay if I don’t enroll...?"

The Immortal Sect Grand Tournament was in October and was limited to senior-year high school students. If he enrolled early, he would lose his eligibility to compete.

"It’s fine to refuse. These schools are just trying to scoop up a bargain."

The answer was just as he’d expected. Li Xiaoshuang smiled and began to explain the situation to Chen Che.

There was a group of students who knew they couldn’t get into the Four Greats. So, they specialized in the competition track. If they got good results, they could just pick their favorite Yiben Daoist School and enroll after their senior year.

Of course, there were also some students who could have gotten into the Four Greats but underperformed on their entrance exams.

Since the Immortal Sect forbids students from repeating a year, their only option was to choose a Yiben Daoist School, and they could still use these admission notices to enroll then.

After all.

The Yiben Daoist Schools weren’t bad; they just seemed a bit lackluster when compared to the Four Greats.

"Teacher Li, um..."

Seeing that Old Li had no objections, Chen Che scratched his head.

"I know what you want. The files on the Immortal Sect Grand Tournament, right? I’ve already prepared them for you."

Li Xiaoshuang’s expression turned much more serious. He opened his Micro Crystal Brain, pulled up a huge compressed file, and sent it directly. "After you passed the provincial competition, I had my old classmates help me collect information. Once I got the files, I organized them."

To that end, he had even promised each classmate who helped him the full-service treatment.

"There’s this much?"

Chen Che was stunned for a moment. The file was named "The Immortal Sect’s Monster House."

The data for the provincial competition was only 900 terabytes, but this data package was a full four times larger.

"Of course it’s a lot."

Li Xiaoshuang closed his Micro Crystal Brain and said casually,

"The Immortal Sect has 365 provinces. A total of 3,596 people advanced, and this file contains information on over six hundred of them..."

"Teacher Li, is there something you want to tell me?"

Chen Che nodded and glanced at Old Li again, noticing that his teacher seemed to have something more to say.

"It doesn’t matter if I say it or not; it’s all in the files. You’ll understand everything once you’ve read them! You must be tired after two competitions. Tomorrow and the day after are the weekend..."

With that, Li Xiaoshuang opened his thermos and took a sip of tea.

"Go home and get some rest."

"...Goodbye, Teacher Li."

Though curious, he could only suppress his doubts since his teacher had put it that way.

’It’s all in the files?’

’What will I understand after reading them?’

"Chen Che, you did great on the exam! Congratulations on advancing in the provincial competition!"

"It was okay, it was okay!"

On his way home, as he passed the locksmith’s shop, Wu Neng called out to him from a distance.

After responding, Chen Che’s eyelid couldn’t help but twitch. He noticed the man had actually changed his shop’s sign.

It now read:

"Master Wu’s Locksmith Shop—Highly recommended by Chen Che, finalist in the Provincial Practical Skills Competition!"

And it wasn’t just him.

In front of the bluestone archway, two women, one old and one young, also enthusiastically invited him for tea—on the house.

Chen Che quickly waved his hands and refused.

He truly had no affinity with these two characters. Besides, their dealings were extensive and their karma ran deep; he didn’t want to get involved in the slightest. In fact, his greater fear was that one day, these two women would also hang up a sign that said, ’Highly Recommended by Chen Che.’

...

Along the way, many of his neighbors congratulated him.

Even.

The property manager of his residential complex personally came to his door with flowers, announcing that his property management fees would be waived for the next three years.

Back at home.

Glancing at the file that was only halfway done downloading, Chen Che went straight to the kitchen. He took out half a Demon Bull carcass he had brought back from Yunzhou from the preservation Array, rinsed it, and with a few swift chops, sliced it up.

He then brought out his Pill Furnace, poured in a hot pot soup base, and tossed in the offal and meat slices all at once.

He enveloped it with his Pill Fire, and it immediately started bubbling.

"Smells amazing!"

He picked up a piece. As the spicy, numbing, and delicious slice of meat entered his mouth, Chen Che couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

He had eaten many fine meals in He City over the past few days. Although many dishes were advertised as being raised with Spiritual Qi, he had found them all rather bland.

When it came to flavor and Spiritual Qi, how could any of that compare to this Qi Refining Third Layer Demon Bull?

DING~

The file finished downloading.

Chen Che carried his Pill Furnace over to the computer and immediately unzipped the file. Information on over six hundred students instantly filled the screen, and even the computer lagged for a moment.

"No wonder Old Li had that expression on his face. This path is even harder than I imagined. If anyone else saw these files, they’d probably want to drop out of the competition..."

He froze after just one glance, and a moment later, he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

The file contained information on over six hundred people. In addition to the previous "Attention Group" and "Dangerous Group," Old Li had added a new one: the "Foundation Establishment Preparation Group."

The Attention Group had over five hundred people, all of them students at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.

The Dangerous Group, though it only had about a hundred people, consisted of students whose Cultivation Realm had reached the Ninth Layer.

As for the Foundation Establishment Preparation Group, there were only thirteen people. Everyone in this group was either on the verge of Foundation Establishment or was already preparing to begin the process. By grouping them together, Li Xiaoshuang was implying that these thirteen had a high chance of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm during the Immortal Sect Grand Tournament!

"No wonder the Immortal Sect Grand Tournament is always called the ’Immortal Sect’s Monster House.’ These people are absolute monsters..."

After looking through it, only a single thought remained in Chen Che’s mind.

The Immortal Sect’s policy of universal Cultivation education seemed to spread resources thin, but in return, it produced a batch of monstrously talented students like this every year. Even more frightening was the vast number of low-level Cultivators who had also received a complete education.

He had heard that every year, Nascent Soul Cultivators would even venture out to explore the cosmos in search of Cultivation resources.

"It seems the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall really instilled a strong sense of crisis in the Earth Element Star..."

Chen Che understood that everything the Immortal Sect was doing was, naturally, to prevent a second Calamity of Heaven’s Fall.

Because.

The Evil Cultivator who had descended and caused the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall had made the Cultivators of the Earth Element Star realize that other cultivation civilizations existed in the vast universe. Among them, the Earth Element Star might not be anything special.

If another Evil Cultivator were to descend, it was uncertain whether the Earth Element Star would have the strength to resist.

Staring at the thirteen students pinned to the top of the list, Chen Che fiercely chewed his beef. Ye Zhihan was in this group, ranked first.

Ye Zhihan:

A second-year student at Zhurong Daoist School Middle School.

Realm: Ninth Layer Great Perfection

Qi and Blood: Ninth Layer Great Perfection

Divine Sense: Foundation Establishment Fourth Layer

Year 517 of the Calamity Era, Top 100 Student of the Immortal Sect, President of the Zhurong Daoist School Middle School Student Council, Provincial Practical Skills Competition Winner...

This file, having been updated, was even more detailed than the version online. It even described his Cultivation Realm with perfect clarity.

Below the data, there was also a row of combat videos.

He clicked on one.