Chapter 154: The Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm

The remaining elders nodded and said to the middle-aged elder in the center, "Elder Luo, let us begin."

The one in the center was Luo Xiangming, the Peak Master of Sword-Wtesting Peak, who appeared remarkably young among all the peak masters.

At his acknowledgment, he formed a Dao seal, and a small tripod materialized out of thin air, suspended in mid-air.

Three other elders of the Foundation Establishment realm each held a dharma talisman, with Elder Xu Ziqing among them.

The three channeled their spiritual energy, and the seal scripts on the talismans activated, flashing with spiritual light.

"Hum—"

The intricate patterns carved onto the small tripod began to light up one by one—flowers, grass, trees, birds, beasts, insects, and fish, all appearing vividly lifelike.

The small tripod slowly descended to the center of the platform at the peak.

"Disciples participating in the sword test will be teleported into the grotto-heaven realm once the talismans in your hands are activated."

"The talismans are bound to each of you. If you sustain critical injuries and are on the verge of death within the mystic realm, or if your spiritual pattern jade tablet is seized by another, you will be automatically teleported out."

"After one day, the twenty-two disciples who ultimately survive within will advance to the dueling phase."

"Should there be an insufficient number of survivors, eliminated disciples with the highest recorded spiritual pattern scores will be brought in as replacements."

"The remaining rules have already been explained and will not be repeated."

With a sweep of his broad sleeve, he commanded, "Begin."

As his voice fell, the talismans in the hands of all the participating sword-testing disciples suddenly flared with brilliant light.

Then, their figures blurred, transforming into streams of spiritual light that surged into the small tripod.

...

The Minor Grotto-Heaven Realm, a deep forest.

"This is quite similar to that time in the Silent Valley..."

Thinking to himself, Song Yan took out the uniformly distributed map and glanced at it.

Having been teleported in, he had naturally been separated from Li Qingfeng and the others.

"...I've actually ended up at the very periphery, with only three fellow disciples marked nearby."

Putting away the map, he spread out his divine sense.

It was impossible to tell how many years this ancient forest had existed. Amidst the mountain mists, countless colossal ancient trees towered into the sky.

From the crowns of these ancient trees extended luxuriant, verdant branches and leaves.

Intertwining with one another, these branches and massive leaves sometimes stretched for miles, making it almost possible to walk directly upon them.

Song Yan leaped upwards, springing onto a moderately high branch, and then used it as a springboard to vault even higher.

He had no fear of being sniped from the shadows; on the contrary, he eagerly anticipated someone taking the initiative to attack him.

From the high vantage point, his view was wide and unobstructed.

"Hoh..."

Looking out into the distance, this minor world was boundless.

Song Yan retracted what he had just said.

This place could not be compared to the mystic realm of the Silent Valley; it was so vast that it could only be described as boundless.

"Now this is the true grandeur of an immortal's minor grotto-heaven."

Xiao He crawled out from the folds of his Dao robe and sniffed around, thoroughly enjoying the fresh air of this place.

Hanging from Song Yan's waist was a square jade tablet, upon which a glowing cyan spiritual pattern was carved.

"One."

This jade tablet was the instrument used to record scores for this event.

When the jade tablet was seized by another, the spiritual patterns upon it would vanish, and concurrently, the person stripped of their spiritual power would lose their qualification to continue and be eliminated from the competition.

In addition to this, there was another very interesting rule.

The designated area for the sword-testing trials would gradually shrink as time passed.

As the restrictive barriers marking the sword-testing zone slowly contracted inward, cultivators who lingered outside the boundaries for too long would likewise be teleported out.

The boundaries would shrink once every two hours.

"Out of over sixteen hundred cultivators, only twenty-22 will ultimately remain."

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

One could hardly call it anything less than brutal.

Of course.

It was also possible for only a single person to remain.

Whether influenced by inner demons or driven by the razor-edge of the Sword Dao, this thought naturally blossomed in his mind.

"Regardless, I shall first go find the two fellow disciples nearby and have a chat."

Song Yan's idea was simple.

Since he had been teleported to the absolute periphery at the start, he could first clear out the fellow disciples appearing in his vicinity.

Then, following the advancement of the barriers, he would move toward the more central regions.

Steady and calculated.

This would not only ensure that he accumulated a certain amount of spiritual patterns before the final moments, but also allow him to safely conserve a portion of his stamina before the ultimate melee.

"This location is at the southeastern corner of the designated sword-testing area. On the way to the central region, there is a lake."

On the map, next to this lake, was marked the symbol of a small blade of grass.

This indicated the presence of gatherable spiritual herbs and medicinal ingredients in this area.

"All gains within the grotto-heaven realm do not need to be surrendered to the sect."

"I imagine people will inevitably gather here, which will present a good opportunity to send them off properly."

Song Yan nodded to himself.

He flew straight toward the two small light dots nearby indicated on the map.

Whenever other cultivators were within a certain distance, the map would mark their locations.

This greatly enhanced Song Yan's efficiency in tracking down fellow disciples.

Those encountered were sent packing on the spot, while unoccupied areas were used for treasure hunting and herb gathering.

This was his specific strategy for the sword test this time around.

To his surprise, someone shared his exact train of thought.

As he traversed the ancient forest, Song Yan suddenly halted his steps.

His divine sense had been maintained at its maximum range the entire time, so the moment that fellow disciple—charging straight toward him—entered his perceptive range, sword Qi began to accumulate within his sleeves.

"That saves me the trouble of hunting them down."

Song Yan slowly executed the Hidden Sword and Spirit-Concealing stance, blending seamlessly into the ancient forest.

"Whoosh..."

A moment later, a figure leapt through the branches from the southwest, landing upon a massive cluster of leaves.

The protective spiritual Qi around him was exceptionally solid. Crouching halfway on a branch, he held a spiritual talisman between the fingers of his left hand while forming a Dao seal with his right, seeming ready to summon a magical artifact at any second.

"Hmm?"

He surveyed his surroundings thoroughly, yet failed to spot any trace of another person here.

"The map clearly indicated that someone was here."

Unlike other disciples, this cultivator was dressed in tight martial attire, making it impossible to tell which peak he belonged to.

The rules of the sword test did not mandate that everyone wear Dao robes.

His train of thought completely aligned with Song Yan's.

If one acted cowardly and cowering from start to finish, only to encounter a formidable opponent midway and get inevitably eliminated without a fight, it would truly be meaningless.

Striking first to judiciously clear out nearby cultivators before slowly following the barrier toward the center—even if one encountered powerhouses along the way, maintaining a sufficient quantity of spiritual patterns would ensure a high standing.

After all, with his cultivation at only the seventh layer of Qi Refining, striving directly for the top twenty-two was somewhat unrealistic.

Yet, securing a high ranking might still earn him the favor of certain elders, leading to personal guidance or the bestowal of treasures and spiritual resources.

His reasoning was clear, except...

"Where is this person?"

The tightly-dressed cultivator thought it rather bizarre, yet he did not lower his guard, activating the spiritual talisman in his hand.

The talisman instantly transformed into three balls of flame that slowly orbited and rotated around his body for protection.

Following that, he retrieved the map from his Qiankun bag.

"Gone?"

On the map, only a single light dot remained near him.

He froze for a moment, finding it hard to believe, but immediately realized something was amiss.

"No..."

"This person's location has overlapped with mine!"

His mind shook violently.

At that exact moment, a sharp, piercing aura leisurely drifted over.

Raising his gaze, he saw a slender figure standing upon a branch at the very apex of the ancient forest.

The silhouette, defying the natural light, was completely shrouded in shadow.

Only a pair of golden eyes...

At this very moment, looked down upon him from on high.