One could see encouragement and mirth in Li Qinghou\'s eyes

Bai Xiaochun quickly landed in front of Li Qinghou and paid his deep respects to him.

“Stand behind me,” Li Qinghou noticed Bai Xiaochun’s bloodshot eyes, seemingly understanding his endeavor. This decision, for Bai Xiaochun, was an extremely difficult one.

Straightening his body, Bai Xiaochun took big strides, taking a spot behind LI Qinghou. Standing behind Bai Xiaochun was Hou Yunfei, evidently participating in the inner sect training during his time in the North Bank. Hou Yunfei was already an inner sect disciple, and with the assistance of his household, his cultivation had increased by leaps and bounds, reaching the Tenth Level of Qi Condensation!

Their eyes met, Hou Yunfei’s eyes shined with encouragement while Bai Xiaochun nodded his head in greeting. At the moment, there was a large number people in the area so it wasn’t suitable for Hou Yunfei and Bai Xiaochun to converse. A brief moment later, the doors of the great palace slowly opened.

Following the opening of the doors, Zheng Yuandong’s aged voice echoed out from within the palace.

“Ancient Spirit Cave. Although the time it came into existence was not the best, but before, there was only the Secluded Mystic Realm, and that was the only place where Earthen Pulse gathered in the entire Eastern Vein of the Cultivation World. Surrounding the Spirit Cave was countless conflicts until it finally fell into the control of the three great sects. Ever since the rise of our Spirit Creek Sect, it has been controlled by the four great sects!”

“Secluded Mystic Realm. Ten thousand years ago, it suddenly appeared in the Spectre Forest. It was a wasteland completely void of life. There were, however, evil Earthen Pulse beasts, and along with it coming into existence, conflict started once more. Finally, it was claimed by the four great sects, shared by them as it became the second sacred land of Foundation Establishment.”

“Meteoric Sword Abyss. Five thousand years ago, an indescribable great sword fell from beyond our sky, its size surpassing that of over a hundred Spirit Creek Sects, holding in its form a terrifying power feared by all. It pierced the vault of heaven, descended down, and embedded itself into the Bi Fang Mountain. Its Sword Qi went through the Nether Realm, and its body absorbed the Earthen Pulse Qi.”

That caused the inside of the sword body to form an area like the other two sacred lands, spawning uncountable amounts of Earthen Pulse evil beasts. Killing them will provide us Earthen Pulse Qi of different measures. With enough Earthen Pulse Qi collected, one could embody an earthen pulse Qi attractor, thereby attracting the earthen pulse Qi from inside the sacred land for their own use!”

“According to the great Ancestors of the four sect’s research results and judgement, the Meteoric Sword’s interior possibly holds a thread of Sky Pulse Qi. As it came from beyond our sky, there is that slight chance, that during its descent, the energy of the Heavenly Dao was absorbed into it!

As a result, the Sky Pulse Foundation Establishment became known as the Tian Dao Foundation Establishment!” Zheng Yuandong, after speaking to this point, paused a while as he raised his head, sweeping his gaze across the crowd like lightning.

“The path to cultivation grows narrower with each step. Only by stepping on countless corpses of your enemies could any of you reach… The greatest dao with nothing else above it!”

“During your journey towards the three Sacred Lands of Foundation Establishment… I request of you to annihilate the disciples of the other three sects as much as possible! This is a test, but it is also a great war of the four sects. Furthermore, it is also connected with the fate of our Spirit Creek Sect! I will announce the cause and effect upon your return!”

“At the same time, I believe, that the disciples of the three sects will also do all that is possible to kill anyone from a different sect. The Sacred Lands of Foundation Establishment is not a place where just anyone can go, as not everyone has the fate to reach Foundation Establishment. Resources are scarce, and this is ultimately the struggle to the peak of the great dao!” Zheng Yuandong swept his sleeve, emitting a sound like a crackling of thunder. As it rumbled, the two hundred inner sect disciples all made a low growl.

Like the lightning, their might shook the sky!

“For this Foundation Establishment test, the Ancestors of Iridaceae Mountain and Purple Cauldron Mountain, along with the Enforcement Department’s Elder Ouyang shall be leading. You have all been assigned to different places. One hundred to the Meteoric Sword Abyss, and two groups of seventy-five to the Secluded Mystic Realm and Ancient Spirit Cave. Activate the Spirit Creek teleportation array, and march onward to the three sacred lands of Foundation Establishment.

It wasn’t long before the rumbling grew even more intense. In the blink of an eye, the two hundred fifty people within the teleportation array blurred as their figures all disappeared. Outside the teleportation array, Li Qinghou looked into the distance, anticipation and worry were all over his eyes as if watching a young eagle spread its wings. Although below him was a hundred thousand foot deep abyss, in the distance, there was only a red sky.

Bi Fang Mountain was located in the very middle of Zheng Island. Once it competed with the Vault of Heaven in height, surpassing any mountain in the Spirit Creek Sect; its size was comparable to the entirety of the Spirit Creek Sect’s area.

However, things were different for a long time now. Half of the mountain was completely gone, alongside the land where that half once stood. Moreover, in the unmeasurable range of the Zheng Gong Island, a deep and large crack where not even grass grew stretched past a vast part of half of the island.

The land was not hospitable for normal people as much as it was inhospitable for vicious beasts. Even a cultivator, should they live there long enough, would suddenly die, their body exploding open and letting out lingering Sword Qi.

The cause for all this was the great sword that fell from the sky. It was quaint, with uncountable dim runes etched onto it as the sword stood in front of the Bi Fang Mountain. The greater half of it was stuck within the earth, and there were a great amount of cracks around it. Even the narrowest ones were some tens of feet wide, and as for the largest one, it was a hundred feet wide. Inside was a great darkness, as well as some cold air rising up to the sky.

There was protective light enveloping it, sealing of all of the entry points.

This sword was too big. Even the hilt and the blade visible up from the ground far surpassed Bi Fang Mountain immensely, to the point where a comparison of the two giants would be the same as a comparison between a palm and an ant.

The Bi Fang Mountain, compared to a cultivator, would become the palm, and the cultivator, who was on its peak, would become the ant…

At this moment, above Bi Fang Mountain, two sects had already arrived and were holding their own areas. One side had eighty people, while the other had a hundred. Both were led by Foundation Establishment cultivators, with not a care in the world as they discussed. The disciples following behind them all were weighing each other up; hostility was heavy in the air.

The eighty disciples occupying the left area were all in white, with the emblem of a pill on their sleeves. A herbal fragrance could also be smelled coming from their bodies.

They were the Pill Creek Sect!

And the Qi condensation cultivators on the opposite side, on the other hand, had deep blue clothes, with a formidable ripple within all of their bodies due to their cultivation, strong enough that their figures were blurred upon closer inspection. It was quite strange.

They were the Mystic Creek Sect!

Just when the disciples from the two sects were sizing each other up, a sudden rumble in the layers of clouds and uncountable runes, which were vividly shining, formed an enormous purple cauldron, with some sword light coming out from it. In the end, it was as if there was a black dragon swimming inside, letting out great roars.

A middle aged woman, the leader of the Pill Creek Sect, raised her head to the sky. With her eyes shining, she mumbled softly.

“The Spirit Creek Sect has arrived.”

The one leading the Mystic Creek Sect was an old person who had protruding bulges. He looked very sinister because of his slit eyes. Every time he blinked, he gave people a strange feeling. In this moment, he similarly raised his head, staring at the Spirit River Sect’s Cloud Layer Formation Array in the sky.

Soon, a beam of strong light shot down from the sky, landing straight on an empty area on Bi Fang Mountain. Afterwards, over a hundred blurry figures slowly started to form. The moment Ouyang Jie’s figure appeared, the woman from Pill Creek Sect and the old man from Mystic Creek Sect all had a change of expressions.

“Jackal Taoist!”

“My friends, Ocean Daoist, Forest Daoist. It’s been so long.” Ouyang Jie laughed with a coarse voice and waited for all the disciples to be transported. Only after that finished, did he wave his hand, dissipating the protection of the array formation, leading the way out.

As he reunited with the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, Bai Xiaochun used a lot of pressure to rub his forehead. After the vertigo, he was immediately attracted by the colossal great sword. Raising his head, he saw that the end of the sword was hidden from surrounding clouds— it was very shocking.

Around him, people started inhaling and shouting out. The disciples of the Spirit Creek Sect were all taken aback by the great sword.

Hearing the sounds, Bai Xiaochun realized that the amount of people here wasn’t correct. Before transportation, there were two hundred fifty people, but the people standing here, with him included, was only one hundred.

Zhou Xinqi wasn’t here, and Lu Tianlei wasn’t here. Shangguan Tianyou and Gui Ya, however, along with Beihan Lie, Gongsun Wan’er and Hou Yunfei were all in the crowd, all shocked by the great sword at the moment.

However, they soon stopped staring, crossing their legs and sitting down instead. Jade scrolls appeared in their hands as they started to attentively assimilate their Qi while they sized up the disciples from the other two sects.

The disciples from the other two sects also put their gaze in their direction, searching one by one for Bai Xiaochun. Their gaze was different— the Pill Creek Sect disciples had some dissatisfaction in their face, while the Mystic Creek Sect disciples had disdain in it.

While Bai Xiaochun was still lost in astonishment, Hou Yunfei went to his side and gave him a jade scroll, speaking quietly.

“You came late. Before you came, the three Ancestors and Elder Ouyang told us this time’s tragedy. They told us to kill off the other disciples from the other sects as much as possible without getting ourselves killed. They also gave each of us a jade scroll, with an introduction of the Meteoric Sword Abyss within it, and information regarding the disciples of the other sects. The information we have here is also possessed by the opponents.

Bai Xiaochun accepted the jade scroll, putting his Qi into it and instantly understanding the detailed introduction of the Meteoric Sword Abyss.

Meteoric Sword Abyss, also called the Meteoric Sword World— when it descended and impaled the Earth diagonally, half of it was left outside. The body of the sword formed a slanted world, stretching downwards. The further one went down, the stronger the Earthen Pulse beasts, and the greater the quantity of Earthen Pulse Qi it contained.

The entrance into the Meteoric Sword World was the tens of destroyed areas of the sword’s body.

Within the body of the sword, other than the Earthen Pulse evil beasts the Earthen Pulse Qi created, there also existed evil souls. According to speculation, everyone who was killed that year by this blade was hit by the impact of Earthen Pulse Qi. After that, while the souls didn’t possess the power they had when they were alive, they were still extremely dangerous. Fortunately, they didn’t have Qi Consciousness and won’t attack by themselves.

Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath. He was especially wary of the evil souls; that kind of thing wasn’t any different from the ghost images.

At the same time, the jade scroll also introduced the Earthen Pulse Qi. Earthen Pulse Qi is divided into two parts, one came from the evil beasts; upon their death, they would release a faint Earthen Pulse Qi, which could be collected into the Dao Jar to accumulate and form an Earthen Pulse Qi Attractor. Like lock and key, the other Earthen Pulse Qi was the ninety-nine percent of the total Earthen Pulse Qi in the Meteoric Sword Worl, which was spread throughout the entire Meteoric Sword World, and out of one’s reach through normal means. However, it could only be gathered through the attractor.

The Earthen Pulse Qi was limited. In Foundation Establishment, according to the person’s quality and fate, their bodies would endure more than one Qi Ocean Tide, and at that time, the cultivator needed as much Earthen Pulse Qi as the same amount of Ocean Tides he could sustain. Due to that, the earlier one reach Foundation Establishment, the greater their advantage. As such, for each successful person, there would be a decrease in the Earthen Pulse Qi throughout the entire Meteoric Sword World. Usually, before someone was able to withstand eight tides appear, the Earthen Pulse Qi in the Meteoric Sword World would only be enough for approximately thirty or so people to succeed.

So, the faster one could enter the Foundation Establishment, the better. If one was too slow, even if they embodied an Earthen Pulse Qi attractor, the Foundation Establishment wouldn’t be successful due to the lack of Earthen Pulse Qi during the tide

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This is the supposed sponsored chapter from two weeks ago. Special thanks to Nathanael C. for sponsoring chapter.

Announcement: As for the 10 guaranteed chapters that we missed, we will just have spread out in the coming weeks in order to catch up. Unfortunately, irl happened, mostly college, have doomed a bit of our schedule. We will try to catch up as soon as we can, and we very much apologize for the delay.

Translated by: Marcus

TLCed by: Ash

Edited by: Arch, Cannibaloid, Mantoulnv

From XianXiaWorld