Chapter 98: The Rise of a Nation Through Displaced Technology, Part 13
Then, she heard the news that an internal sect competition was about to begin. It was said to be for a place in a secret realm. Well, no matter which cultivation world, secret realms were always an unavoidable presence.
Mu Yin wasn’t particularly interested because her main body’s cultivation relied on the most primal source energy. She didn’t care much for the enhancement of spiritual energy. What she was currently focused on was the spatial ring—she wanted to forge a soul-bound storage space for herself.
After all, the only space she had access to now was the one linked to the key she carried, but that space could only store mission-related items. Since she needed to bring some things to other worlds, she couldn’t store them there. So, she needed to create one.
“Hey, Yin Yin, have you signed up?” A girl named Liuli asked her while they were eating.
“Ah, no. I’m not interested,” Mu Yin replied.
“Not interested? But aren’t you trying to make a storage space?” Liuli looked confused. Mu Yin’s status had risen quite a bit over the past year; she had become an apprentice errand runner on the Artifact Refining Peak. Once she reached Foundation Establishment, she could become an outer disciple.
“Yeah, but what does that have to do with whether I enter the internal sect competition?” Mu Yin asked, puzzled.
“Don’t you know? This secret realm is called the Spatial Mirror, and inside it are Void Stones, which are essential materials for forging storage treasures,” Liuli explained, clearly impressed.
“Ah? How come I didn’t know that?” Mu Yin hadn’t expected that answer.
“What have you been doing all this time? Refining artifacts until you’re dumb?” Liuli gave her a disdainful glance. “Hurry up and sign up—the deadline is in an hour.”
“Oh, I’ll go right now.” Mu Yin immediately stood up and dashed out like the wind. Using her fastest speed, she just made it to the Office of Affairs before the cutoff.
“Whew…” After signing up, Mu Yin caught her breath.
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“Junior Sister Mi, why are you only signing up now?” Mu Yin was fairly familiar with the uncles at the Office of Affairs since they managed the sect’s finances. After joining the Artifact Refining Peak, she often ran errands and frequently came here.
They knew Mu Yin was doing well on the peak. Once she reached Foundation Establishment, she could become an outer disciple. Given her talent in artifact refining, it wasn’t unlikely she might be accepted as an inner disciple by a Golden Core cultivator, so they treated her well.
“I didn’t know the secret realm this time had Void Stones. I just found out,” Mu Yin shrugged.
She naturally knew of Void Stones and that they were rare and priceless, with no known sources. Just now, she learned they could be found in a secret realm. She thought to herself that she really should read more about this cultivation world because she still knew too little.
“You want to get Void Stones? Are you planning to forge a spatial treasure? With your current cultivation, that’s unlikely,” the steward said, surprised but still advising her. Spatial attribute formations were the hardest to master.
“First, I need to gather the materials. Otherwise, when I’m ready to forge, I might not even have enough materials, which would be troublesome,” Mu Yin explained her plan.
“You’re quite prudent,” the steward chuckled. “The first round of screening starts tomorrow. Don’t forget.”
“I know,” Mu Yin waved her hand and dashed out like the wind again.
The next day, Mu Yin arrived at the competition venue, set in a valley beneath the main peak. Mountainous regions naturally had many valleys, much like the southern mountain villages in Huaguo on Blue Star—just cross a few mountains and you’d find another village. The sect made good use of such places, whether for errand villages, markets, or other purposes. This particular valley was historically used for internal sect competitions.
There were ten arenas, each 20 meters in diameter, with stands on the side where sect cultivators could watch the matches. The first round was expected to be free-for-all battles, with matches for every cultivation level.
The Void Secret Realm was only accessible to Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators. However, the internal sect competition was not limited to these two levels; it extended to Nascent Soul stage. Of course, because of their smaller numbers, the latter did not need to participate in the free-for-alls.
Each arena held 50 people, with matches lasting half an hour—one hour in total. The last one standing was the winner of that free-for-all. The sect’s population numbered over a hundred thousand, with several thousand in the Qi Refining stage alone. Even if only a third participated, that was over a thousand people, so the free-for-alls lasted four rounds. Naturally, Mu Yin stayed until the end.
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Free-for-alls were not so much about casting spells as about physical endurance. With so many people, it was easy to injure oneself. Unlike in games, here you couldn’t hurt yourself. Physical cultivators and sword cultivators had an advantage in this environment. Mu Yin, as a physical cultivator at level 8, nearing Foundation Establishment, could easily hold her own.
There were 43 arenas in total. Each arena could have up to nine survivors, so 248 Qi Refining cultivators advanced to the next round.
Of course, that was just Qi Refining. After the Foundation Establishment free-for-alls, 87 remained. The Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators did not partake in the free-for-alls—38 Golden Core and 17 Nascent Soul cultivators participated in their own rounds.
Only 30 people could enter the secret realm this time, including 10 Foundation Establishment cultivators. Why did the secret realm, accessible to both Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment, not allow more Foundation Establishment participants? Because if all 20 Qi Refining spots were replaced by Foundation Establishment, only 15 could enter. With 20 Qi Refining yielding 5 Foundation Establishment spots, the choice was clear: more people meant more resources collected in the vast secret realm.
This was because their Illusion Immortal Sect was only allocated 30 spots. In this cultivation world, they were considered a second-tier sect, with four first-tier sects above them.
There were 10 second-tier sects, each first-tier sect had 30 Foundation Establishment spots, second-tier sects had 15, third-tier sects had 10, while roaming cultivator alliances had 20, and some great families had a few spots, usually five each.
With 20 spots, Mu Yin was confident she could secure one. The spots were won directly through arena defense victories. Generally, the later rounds offered an advantage. After each successful defense, there was a 15-minute rest period.
Mu Yin thought for a moment and went up to the arena first, wanting to claim a spot before others arrived. Others shared her thinking, confident in their abilities. Soon, Mu Yin faced her first challenger, a sixth-level Qi Refining cultivator she didn’t recognize.
“Please guide me, Senior Sister,” the challenger cupped his fists respectfully.
“Please,” Mu Yin responded in kind, then launched a swift attack. She was not the type to waste words; if a fight was to happen, she would strike first without formalities. The challenger was caught off guard. Although Qi Refining cultivators also hunted beasts in the mountains, none had battle experience comparable to Mu Yin’s.
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[End of text]