Chapter 197

Chapter 197: The Competition Ends

After hearing Yun Xi’s explanation, Cao Yi’s stern expression softened a little, but he still said, “Some formations can be broken by brute force, but some formations become more dangerous the more violently you attack them. Your method won’t work on every formation.”

Yun Xi immediately nodded. “Senior Brother Cao is right to teach me. Through this competition, Junior Sister also found my weakness, so I’ve decided to work hard and make up for my formation knowledge.”

She wasn’t just saying it. Of the four arts of cultivation, she was already practicing alchemy and talismans. Artifact refining and formations were the two she hadn’t touched.

Artifact refining was a craft that burned through spirit stones. Before you could take jobs independently, spirit stones flowed away like water. However, once you passed the assessment and gained a rank, you could earn back the spirit stones you had spent. She could look at the three robes she had bought as proof.

So Yun Xi didn’t plan to learn artifact refining for now, but she really did want to cram formations. Especially when going out to train, if she ran into a formation, she couldn’t just stand there clueless.

After hearing Yun Xi, Cao Yi brushed his storage ring and took out two jade slips, handing them to her. “These are Fundamentals of Formations and Practical Formation Compendium. You should be able to use them.”

“This…”

“They’re for you. I’ve already studied them. Leaving them around is just leaving them around. They’re not especially precious jade slips.”

Cao Yi still pushed the jade slips toward Yun Xi. Sensing that he truly meant it sincerely, Yun Xi smiled and accepted them. “Thank you, Senior Brother Cao. I’ll study them carefully.”

After that, the two of them exchanged imprints on their communication jade slips, forming an initial connection.

Yun Xi had just put the jade slips into her storage bracelet when she was stopped again, this time by Lin Ke Yang and Zhang Ling Rui.

“Two Masters, what can I do for you?” Yun Xi asked.

Lin Ke Yang cleared his throat, about to speak, but Zhang Ling Rui beat him to it. “Junior Sister Wei, don’t be so guarded. We just want to be your friend.”

Zhang Ling Rui bit down hard on the words “your friend,” making Yun Xi misunderstand. She looked him up and down twice, hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Senior Brother Zhang, I’m young. For now, I’m not considering developing feelings beyond fellow discipleship with the opposite sex. I also don’t want to seek a Dao partner with too big an age gap. You should go make friends with other female cultivators who are willing.”

Zhang Ling Rui froze at first. Once he understood what Yun Xi meant, his nostrils flared. He gritted out, “I… didn’t mean that…”

Yun Xi smiled slightly. “Then what do you mean, Senior Brother Zhang?”

Lin Ke Yang couldn’t stand it anymore. He had wondered why this good-for-nothing friend always attracted romantic trouble. It turned out he just couldn’t express himself properly and made people misunderstand.

Lin Ke Yang immediately spoke up. “Junior Sister Wei, you misunderstood. Senior Brother Zhang and I want to team up with you to explore the newly emerged secret realm in the Bao Hua Mountain Range.”

Hearing it was real business, Yun Xi put away her teasing and asked directly, “Is the information you got reliable? When will the secret realm open?”

“It’s reliable. This sect competition was for selecting disciples to enter the secret realm. Golden Core Stage cultivation is the minimum threshold for entry. But you saw it too. Our sect has plenty of Golden Core disciples, yet there are very few early Golden Core cultivators with real strength like you. So the competition will eliminate a large portion. At the very least, they can’t be sent in to die. A newly emerged secret realm usually has countless opportunities, but the danger level is also very high.”

Yun Xi had returned to the sect only half a day before the competition, so she was behind on the news. She had met Wei Family disciples, but they were all Foundation Establishment cultivators, so they likely hadn’t heard this kind of rumor. They probably thought it was just an ordinary sect competition.

“So you two want to recruit me into a team, and then enter the secret realm together when the time comes?” Yun Xi asked.

“Yes, that’s what we mean.”

Yun Xi didn’t refuse outright. She raised a question instead. “Two Senior Brothers, as far as I remember, entering a secret realm is usually random teleportation. The three of us might not be sent together. Also, we still don’t know how large the secret realm is. If we end up scattered north and south, even meeting up would take time, not to mention whatever obstacles we’d hit along the way. Teaming up like that would be meaningless.”

Zhang Ling Rui smiled. “Junior Sister Wei, your worry isn’t unnecessary. But most secret realms have a core, and the real treasures are at the core. If you want to fight for opportunities, you have to form a team. Going alone gives you no chance. Also, as far as I know, it won’t only be cultivators from our western region entering this secret realm. There will be cultivators from the other Four Domains too. They’re probably all coming for the treasures inside. When the time comes, the competition will be fierce. Can you guarantee you’ll walk away unscathed? By then, even if you don’t want to fight, you’ll have to fight. Even if you don’t want to seize, you’ll have to seize. So forming a team and alliance is the best choice.”

Yun Xi thought it over and nodded. “Alright. We’ll team up, but I want to invite one more person.”

“Who?” they asked.

“Senior Brother Cao Yi.”

Zhang Ling Rui’s tone turned sly. “The opponent you conceded to twice?”

Yun Xi smiled slightly. “Yes. If I can’t beat him, I’ll pull him into the group. And who knows, the secret realm might have natural formations. You’re a body cultivator and a sword cultivator, plus me as a spell cultivator. With a formation cultivator on top of that, at least we should be able to protect ourselves.”

Lin Ke Yang nodded after hearing that. “Junior Sister Wei really thought it through. I think it’s fine. As long as Senior Brother Cao agrees, we’ll invite him to join our team.”

“Alright. I’ll bring it up with Senior Brother Cao,” Yun Xi said.

Zhang Ling Rui nodded and continued, “The secret realm will probably take another half year before it fully opens. Everyone should cultivate and prepare on your own for now. Before we leave, we’ll gather again.”

“Okay,” Yun Xi said.

The three exchanged imprints on their communication jade slips and then separated.

Yun Xi walked toward the Wei Family disciples who were waiting for her.

The Wei Family disciples surrounded Yun Xi, all smiling as they cupped their fists to congratulate her. Yun Xi could now fully become the Wei Family’s support within the sect, so their congratulations were sincere.

Yun Ting also briefly reported the rankings the Wei Family disciples achieved this time. Yun Ying had only just reached Foundation Establishment, so she was eliminated fairly early. The other Wei Family disciples all lasted at least three rounds.

The best-ranked was Wei Zong Yu. With peak early Foundation Establishment cultivation, he charged into the top thirty of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Wei Zong Hao broke through on the spot and raised his cultivation to mid Foundation Establishment, but his real combat experience was lacking, so he only got thirty-fifth place.

As for Yun Ting, Zong Han, and Zong Jin, they were all after fiftieth, but still within the top hundred. At least they hadn’t embarrassed the Wei Family name.

“And what about Wei Yun Qing?” Yun Xi asked. She wanted to know Wei Yun Qing’s ranking.

Zong Hao answered coolly, “Her cultivation is mid Foundation Establishment right now, and she ranked twentieth in the Foundation Establishment Stage. I watched her fights. You can tell she’s accumulated a lot of battle experience.”

Yun Xi smiled slightly after hearing that. Wei Yun Qing was the girl of fate. On the way back to the clan, she had been forced into training to grind experience. If she still couldn’t place well after that, then the title of chosen girl of destiny would probably change hands.

Wei Yun Ting didn’t want the Wei Family disciples to become divided, so she smiled and said, “This time, we all performed well, and we all found our weaknesses too. Now we know what to work toward. I believe the future will be better.”

Yun Xi nodded and let the topic drop.