With only three days left until the Immortal Sect Grand Tournament, cultivators across the entire Xuantian Continent were in a frenzy.
As the host of this year's tournament, the plaza outside the Lingxiao Sect's mountain gate was already packed to capacity. Flying boats and spiritual mount beasts of every description were densely parked in mid-air, looking from a distance like a floating city.
"Make way! Make way!" A Lingxiao Sect outer disciple was directing traffic, drenched in sweat. "The Heavenly Sword Sect's flying boat, park on the left! The Hehuan Sect's spirit luan, move to the right! Don't block the entrance!"
Yet, the most jaw-dropping sight wasn't the sea of people, but—
The Lingxiao Sect's dining hall, from which wave after wave of enticing aromas drifted.
"Ten more portions of braised Spirit Carp!"
"Steamed jade bamboo shoots are running out! Dig up some more from the back mountain!"
"Steam three more massive pots of spirit rice over there!"
Inside the dining hall, twenty giant cauldrons were fired up simultaneously. Thirty chefs brandished spatulas so fast they left afterimages, and fifty chores disciples darted back and forth carrying platters.
The head of the Lingxiao Sect's dining hall—a Nascent Soul stage fire-root cultivator—stood right in front of the stove, forming hand seals to manipulate nine spiritual flames simultaneously stir-frying the dishes in nine cauldrons.
"Head! Guests from the Xuantian Pavilion say they want something light!"
"Tell them if they don't eat spicy, they can get lost! I don't have time to cater to picky eaters!"
Not far away, a group of cultivators from other sects stared at this scene in dumbfounded shock.
"Is... is this the Lingxiao Sect's hospitality?" A Heavenly Sword Sect disciple swallowed hard. "Didn't they say cultivators only eat Inedia Pills?"
The companion beside him had already picked up his chopsticks, popped a piece of braised Spirit Carp into his mouth, and instantly welled up with tears. "Wuwuwu... So delicious... I've never eaten fish this good in my entire life..."
Because there were too many visiting cultivators, all the guest rooms in the Lingxiao Sect were already packed to bursting, and even the newly expanded disciple dormitories had been requisitioned.
"This fellow Daoist," a Hehuan Sect female cultivator said pitifully to the deacon disciple in charge of housing assignments, "is there really no single room left? I'm not used to sharing with others, you see~"
The deacon disciple flipped open the ledger with a blank expression. "Only the spirit beast shed behind Sword Peak is left. Take it or leave it."
The female cultivator: "..."
Elsewhere, cultivators from a few minor sects almost came to blows over the last remaining suite.
"We got here first!"
"Bulls***! We registered first, obviously!"
Just as the dispute escalated, a chilling voice echoed from behind the crowd:
"Keep arguing, and you'll all be sleeping at the mountain gate."
Everyone turned around to see that Ye Wuchen had appeared in the hall at some unknown moment, radiating the pressure of a Mahayana stage cultivator all around him.
The entire place instantly went dead quiet.
The small towns and nations near the Lingxiao Sect had already been crammed to bursting with cultivators.
Every tavern and inn was fully booked, and even the horse stables had been rented out at exorbitant prices; the prices of spirit fruits and talisman paper at roadside stalls had multiplied tenfold, yet demand still outstripped supply; even the charlatans at fortune-telling booths were making a killing—
"This fellow Daoist, I see your glabella is darkened; you are bound to face a bloody disaster in the near future!"
"Really? Then what do I do?"
"Buy this calming talisman of mine, only five hundred spiritual stones!"
The most outrageous part was that the previously desolate brothels were now bustling with activity, and the Hehuan Sect had even temporarily set up a "Quick-Start Dual Cultivation Guidance Class," with enrollment costing a staggering one thousand spiritual stones per lesson.
"So this is the cultivation world's Golden Week..." Yan Luoluo stood at the mountain gate, gazing at the brightly lit towns down the mountain, unable to hold back a sigh.
Jingzhe on her shoulder let out a "chirp" and suddenly perked up its ears—
In the distance, a pink figure was approaching, surrounded and fawned upon by a crowd like the stars around the moon.
Chu Qingyao.
Yan Luoluo narrowed her eyes. "The good show is about to begin."
Meanwhile, the major sects were—
The Heavenly Sword Sect:
Disciple A: "Senior brother, shouldn't we go practice sword techniques?"
Disciple B: "What sword practice! The Lingxiao Sect's roasted spirit beast meat is almost sold out!"
The Hehuan Sect:
"Junior sister, your rouge smeared on my clothes."
"Aiya, senior brother don't be upset~ Let me help you wipe it off~"
The Xuantian Pavilion:
"According to astrological calculations, tomorrow's auspicious direction for the tournament is southeast..."
"Elder! The dining hall's braised pork belly is about to run out!"
"…Wait for this old man to go grab a bowl first."
The Lingxiao Sect:
"Make way! Make way! Freshly baked spirit-honey roasted wings coming through!"
"Give me ten skewers!"
"I want twenty!"
(Ye Wuchen stood on the clouds rubbing his temples: "...Just what kind of disciples have I raised all these years? And what is going on with these cultivators?!")
Yan Luoluo paid no attention to Chu Qingyao's affected posturing, turning around and leaving on her flying sword. She couldn't be bothered to entangle herself with the other woman at a time like this; after all, with the Immortal Sect Grand Tournament imminent, she had more important matters to attend to.
For instance, studying her skyrocketing cultivation base.
Ever since breaking through to the Golden Core stage, she clearly felt that her cultivation speed was several times faster than before. Her Hùndùn spiritual root seemed to finally be activated, and her Spiritual Power circulated like a surging river without the slightest obstruction. In just these few short days, her realm had already stabilized from early Golden Core to the peak of Golden Core tier one, with faint signs of breaking through to tier two.
"Isn't this way too fast... Even though Master set up a restrictive Formation before I came out of seclusion, there's no guarantee someone won't see through it. I'd better find Master to strengthen it as soon as possible!"
Yan Luoluo muttered to herself, condensing a wisp of Spiritual Power at her fingertips and carefully sensing the power contained within. Compared to the Foundation Establishment stage, her current Spiritual Power was much more solid, and when circulating, it even faintly carried the aura of a Heavenly Dao lightning tribulation.
Was this probably the benefit of getting struck by lightning too many times?
She couldn't help smiling, then reined in her focus and sped up her flight toward Ye Wuchen's Cave Abode.
Ye Wuchen was already waiting for her outside the Cave Abode.
Seeing her land on her flying sword, his gaze shifted slightly, and with a flick of his hand, he cast a spell, instantly suppressing her cultivation back down to the Foundation Establishment stage.
"Master?" Yan Luoluo blinked, somewhat puzzled.
Ye Wuchen said indifferently, "The Immortal Sect Grand Tournament is at hand. Your true cultivation level shouldn't be exposed."
Yan Luoluo instantly understood what he meant.
Hùndùn spiritual roots were rare to begin with, and coupled with her heaven-defying cultivation speed, if she caught the eye of anyone with ulterior motives, it would likely invite unnecessary trouble.
Like that remnant soul of the Demon Lord hiding inside Chu Qingyao's bracelet.
"Then what cultivation level do I look like right now?" she asked curiously.
"Foundation Establishment (early)." Ye Wuchen glanced at her. "It matches your previous fake 'Tribulation' facade just right."
Yan Luoluo nodded.
For her safety, the Heavenly Dao had intentionally held back the lightning tribulation until she reached the Golden Core stage before dropping it, so to outsiders, she had merely undergone a Foundation Establishment tribulation rather than forming a Golden Core. In this way, her true strength was perfectly concealed.
Only she, Ye Wuchen, and the Heavenly Dao knew she was already a Golden Core cultivator.
Yan Luoluo rubbed her chin and suddenly thought of a question. "Master, when I participate in the grand tournament, won't I have to pretend to fight at the Foundation Establishment stage?"
Ye Wuchen raised an eyebrow. "What, feeling stifled?"
"That's not it..." She gave an awkward laugh. "I'm just afraid I'll accidentally use Golden Core stage strength and give the game away."
Ye Wuchen let out a soft hum, raised a hand, and tapped her between the eyebrows. "This restriction will help you suppress your Spiritual Power. Unless you are in a life-or-death situation, your strength will remain strictly at the early Foundation Establishment level."
Yan Luoluo tested it out and indeed found that the circulation of Spiritual Power within her body had grown much more sluggish, as if restricted by an invisible barrier.
The feeling was like fighting while wearing a thick, heavy cotton-padded jacket—bound hand and foot.
She sighed, but quickly cheered up again. "It doesn't matter, I can still fight at the Foundation Establishment stage!"
Watching her eager-to-try expression, Ye Wuchen caught a hint of a smile in the depths of his eyes.
(The Heavenly Dao nodded in gratification from the clouds: My girl's mindset is truly great!)
Just as Yan Luoluo and Ye Wuchen were conversing, outside the Lingxiao Sect's mountain gate, Chu Qingyao was surrounded by a crowd of cultivators like stars around the moon.
Her smile was sweet and her manners elegant, completely putting on the airs of a favored daughter of the heavens. However, the jade bracelet on her wrist faintly shimmered with black light, and a chilling voice sounded in her mind:
"That Yan Luoluo... something is off."
Chu Qingyao's gaze flickered slightly as she replied in her heart: "What is it?"
"The aura on her... doesn't look like the Foundation Establishment stage." The Demon Lord's remnant soul carried a trace of wariness. "Be careful, don't capsize in the gutter at the Immortal Sect Grand Tournament."
Chu Qingyao smiled indifferently. "Rest assured, she's just good-for-nothing trash relying on her master. With her garbage spiritual root, she has to burn incense and pray just to cultivate to Foundation Establishment."
(The Heavenly Dao sneered: Heh, what an idiot.)
Returning to her own quarters, Yan Luoluo sat cross-legged on the bed and began sorting out her current situation:
1. Her true cultivation is the Golden Core stage, but outwardly she displays early Foundation Establishment.
2. At the Immortal Sect Grand Tournament, she must control her strength and not expose herself.
3. Chu Qingyao and the Demon Lord's remnant soul seem to have already set their sights on her.
"Tch, what a pain..." She rubbed her temples, but a crafty smile quickly surfaced on her face again. "Still, playing the pig to eat the tiger... is my absolute specialty!"
Jingzhe on her shoulder let out a "chirp" to show its agreement.
Yan Luoluo stroked its little head when sudden inspiration struck: "Oh right! Jingzhe, can you help me conceal the fluctuations of my thunder Spiritual Power?"
Jingzhe tilted its head in thought, then flapped its wings, and a trace of subtle lightning wrapped around Yan Luoluo's fingertip, vanishing in an instant without a single shred of Spiritual Power leaking out.
Perfect!
Yan Luoluo's eyes lit up. "Terrific! That way, even if I use lightning-type spells, nobody else will notice anything unusual!"
(Sensing the fluctuation of thunder Spiritual Power from the neighboring Cave Abode, Ye Wuchen shook his head helplessly: This rascal, what kind of mischievous scheme is she cooking up now...)
[Mini-Theater: Master's Worries]
Ye Wuchen: (frowning) "At the Immortal Sect Grand Tournament, you are not allowed to run amok."
Yan Luoluo: (obediently) "Understood, Master! I'll definitely keep a low profile!"
Jingzhe: (secretly discharging electricity) "Chirp~"
The Heavenly Dao: (crackling melon seeds) "Son-in-law, you're still too young. How could our girl possibly behave?"