Chapter 319: Fourth Level Candidate in the Mystic Spirit Quadrant
One was at a certain disadvantage if they were challenged too often. Therefore, it was quite reasonable that the one who had been challenged more often would rank further ahead when multiple people had the same win rate.
“I’ve already explained the basic rules to you. The majority of you are in the yellow spirit quadrant. The keeper of the yellow quadrant will a.s.sign you to various levels according to your ranking in the first selection. Those who are first shouldn’t be proud, and those who are fourth should not lose hope. This is because you have three months to change your destiny. Will you rise to the mystic spirit quadrant or be eliminated? You have three months to decide what kind of fate you want.”
“If you don’t rise to the next level this time, you still have eleven more chances. There are still many opportunities, and you yourself will decide if you’re a worm or a dragon. The strong control their destinies and the weak complain about their fates. I hope that you are all of the former and don’t complain about the rules or whine that they’re unfair. All of you are under the same rules and although there are possibly some differences in difficulty, they are still fair overall.”
The overseer had gone to quite a bit of effort to warn these candidates.
“Alright, this concludes the explanation of the general rules. Each quadrant is different, and the keeper of each quadrant will explain things in greater detail when you enter the mountain. Now those who were ranked in the top ten please step forward. The others can follow this path and go up to the yellow quadrant.”
When he looked at the top ten cultivators of the initial selection, the overseer’s expression grew a bit warmer and he smiled slightly, “I will personally lead you to the mystic spirit quadrant.”
The yellow quadrant was filled with ordinary pract.i.tioners and so there was no point in the overseer overly fawning up to them.
These ten however, were the strongest in the first selection and so they had a bit of a future ahead of them.
Thus, it was understandable that the overseer would have a slightly better att.i.tude towards them.
The overseer placed his hands behind his back and he walked in another direction, while they followed.
They finally reached another pa.s.sageway after four hours. The words ‘Mystic Spirit Quadrant’ were carved on a stone marker in large, ancient script. A powerful, ancient presence exuded from them, as if dragons were flying and phoenixes were dancing.
“Come, you will be candidates of the mystic quadrant once you enter. There are advantages and disadvantages to being here.”
“The advantage is that your starting point and environment is different to the yellow quadrant.”
“The disadvantage is that your opponents are sect disciples. As low as their levels may be, they are still sect disciples in the end.”
The overseer admonished them repeatedly, “It’s best that you know beforehand that sect disciples aren’t like the opponents that you met previously. Any of the sect disciples that could make it to this place are not ordinary characters. Even a fourth level disciple in the mystic quadrant is stronger than the most exemplary of the ordinary pract.i.tioners. You must conduct yourself well when you enter and eke out s.p.a.ce for survival amidst the cracks. For you, if you can ensure that you aren’t demoted at the end of the first cycle, that will be a great victory already!”
The overseer’s heart still tilted towards sect disciples. Even if an ordinary disciple was at the peak, they were still heavily disadvantaged when it came to sect disciples.
Therefore, he felt that although these ten had been sent to the mystic spirit quadrant, their final destiny was still demotion and being beaten back to the yellow quadrant in three months time.
Shaking his head, the overseer didn’t seem to want to overly knock down their confidence. He smiled, “All is possible within the world of martial dao, and there is no meaning in merely overtaking others. You must continuously improve and trample your opponents beneath your feet. This is the true path to a genius’ rise. Let’s go! We reach our destination, which is in front of us.”
Jiang Chen also heard the overseer’s words. However, his heart was like a boulder and so he treated those words as only reference. He didn’t become dejected because of his words, and he wouldn’t become too full of himself because of the overseer’s encouragement.
Jiang Chen had his own rhythm and plans.
He would remain true to his own heart and walk his path.
He sensed the subtle ripples of spirit power along the way and he couldn’t help but sigh that the Eternal Spirit Mountain well deserved its name. The concentration of this spirit qi was extraordinarily high.
It was a type of enjoyment to be able to cultivate in such surroundings, especially when it was compared to the ordinary world.
“The spirit power ripples of the mystic quadrant area are already thus, then what about the earth and sky quadrants? What kind of strong power is encompa.s.sed in those?”
A hint of expectation grew in Jiang Chen’s heart regarding the earth and sky quadrants.
“Three months!” Jiang Chen thought silently. “I must be part of the top ten in these three months and enter the earth spirit quadrant. I’ll only have the right to compete for the sky quadrant from there!”
Jiang Chen was well aware that only the most exemplary of disciples from the four sects had the right to take up residence in the sky quadrant.
The overseer had said that the disciples in that quadrant had all been carefully selected. There were only a hundred slots.
It was easy to see the fierce level of compet.i.tion that existed.
“The sky quadrant… ” That region had now risen in his heart as his goal.
“Long Juxue possesses an innate const.i.tution and she has enjoyed the various resources of the sect. She has more advantages compared to me, and her const.i.tution must’ve been fully deployed over the past two years. She must be in the sky quadrant this time. If I don’t go there, how will our previous grudges be resolved?”
Jiang Chen hated Long Juxue from the depths of his heart.
This wasn’t just that they had absolutely irreconcilable differences, but also because he was well aware of Long Juxue’s scorpion-like personality.
If she grew in strength, she would never let him off the hook.
Although Jiang Chen was confident, he didn’t think that he would be able to fight against the entire Purple Sun Sect by himself right now.
Even though Long Juxue wasn’t the equivalent of the Purple Sun Sect, the sect would absolutely pour forth all of its strength and resources for her.
An innate const.i.tution was an ultimate treasure for a sect on the Purple Sun Sect’s level — a treasure found once in a thousand years!
If they didn’t put her on a pedestal, a stronger power would steal her away sooner or later.
Therefore, Jiang Chen was clearly aware of the fact that the selection was likely the best opportunity to make a move against Long Juxue.
If he missed this opportunity and allowed her to soar to the skies, it would be much more difficult to kill her in the future.
The overseer’s voice sounded once again as Jiang Chen was deep in thought. “Here we are, follow me inside.”
An enormous building sat on the mountain, presenting a grand sight. It looked as awe inspiring as a sect.
There was a world all of its own within. It was an exceedingly s.p.a.cious area, giving one the feeling of an endlessly twisting and turning landscape.
The courtyard was even more majestic.
The expansive courtyard could accommodate tens of thousands of people.
Several thousand sect disciples were listening to some overseers’ lectures. All of them stopped when they saw that there were newcomers.
The keeper in charge was tall and stocky, with a well rounded forehead and a deep gaze in his eyes.
“Master Fang, these are the top ten from the secular disciples. I’ve brought them here according to the rules.” The overseer in charge of the secular selection smiled a bit fawningly at the keeper.
“Mm, allow them to approach.” The tall Master Fang had on a stern expression on his face.
“Alright, you guys, go on over and stand at the back.” The secular overseer said and turned to Master Fang again. “My mission is complete. I will take my leave then, Master fang.”
Master Fang nodded his head aloofly and didn’t keep him.
Jiang Chen and the other nine secular disciples all walked to the back of the formation.
When they pa.s.sed the sect disciples, all of them had hints of jeering smiles on their faces and their eyes were full of disdain.
It was obvious that the sect disciples thought nothing much of these so-called secular geniuses.
Genius?
It was almost public opinion that all the geniuses beneath the heavens came from the sects.
The ordinary world had geniuses? That was a colossal joke! In the eyes of sect disciples, all secular geniuses were village buffoons. They were wandering pract.i.tioners if put nicely, country b.u.mpkins when not.
Therefore, they didn’t bother concealing their disdain when they saw the ten secular disciples join the formation.
How were mere ordinary pract.i.tioners worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as sect disciples?
“Alright, your ident.i.ties are all the same from this moment on. You are all candidates of the mystic quadrant in the Eternal Spirit Mountain.” Master Fang said faintly. “That the ten of you could emerge from the ma.s.ses means that you have your uncommon areas. However, the rules are the rules. You’ve just arrived from the ordering world, and you can be ranked as only fourth level mystic quadrant candidates.”
As they’d expected, although the ten of them had been lucky enough to enter the mystic quadrant, they were a.s.signed to the lowest level in that quadrant.
The fourth level was the lowest and the bottom of the barrel in all of the quadrants.
However, Jiang Chen had no protests against such an arrangement. So what about the fourth level? There was no meaning to the current divisions in either case.
The real determinant of advancement wasn’t one’s level, but one’s win rate at the end of the cycle.
Jiang Chen’s heart was rather calm when he faced the blatant scorn from the sect disciples.
It was the natural order of things that sect disciples had their eyes on top of their heads and looked down on secular pract.i.tioners. Jiang Chen had no plans to huff and puff at them.
That was simply too boring!
True strength was gained through fighting!