novellaaa Chapter 24 Breaking into the Inner Gate!
Chapter 24 Breaking into the Inner Gate!
Three months have passed in the blink of an eye.
Outside the Soul Refining Sect, a grand event was held as scheduled.
Tens of thousands of peripheral disciples gathered, forming a dense, dark mass that spread across the mountains and fields.
The Soul Refining Sect has set up over a hundred battle arenas, each surrounded by restrictions to prevent the residual effects of spells from spilling out.
Several inner disciples hovered in the air, looking down at the battle below.
The Soul Refining Sect has only one rule for its competition among its outer disciples: as long as you can win, the means and even life and death don't matter.
If you have the power, even if you kill everyone, no one will interfere.
Therefore, in each major competition, no more than half of the tens of thousands of peripheral disciples can survive.
Chu Yuan stood in the crowd, his expression calm, his gaze sweeping over the faces around him, which were tense, excited, or fearful.
On the first day, he stepped onto the field, his opponent a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator. Before the man could even make a move, he was sent flying by a burst of spiritual light from Chu Yuan's finger, coughing up blood and falling unconscious. One exchange, instant kill.
The next day, the opponent was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. The same result occurred; with a single finger strike, a flash of light appeared, and the opponent collapsed to the ground.
On the third day, at the early stage of Core Formation, Chu Yuan didn't even bother to raise his hand. He only glanced at the other person, and the man was struck as if by lightning, bleeding from all seven orifices, and collapsed to his knees, unable to rise again.
On the fourth day, the opponent conceded defeat.
On the fifth day, the sixth day, the seventh day... every time after that, without exception, every opponent who was drawn to fight against Chu Yuan surrendered before the match even began.
No one wants to fight to the death with an unfathomable and powerful opponent, especially since even if they did fight to the death, they still couldn't win.
Later, Chu Yuan didn't even bother to hide his cultivation level anymore.
The aura of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator emanated faintly, enough to instill fear in all the outer disciples.
Among the tens of thousands of outer disciples, the highest cultivation level was only late Core Formation stage. Faced with a mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivator, what could they do besides surrender?
As expected.
Chu Yuan emerged victorious in the competition with a perfect record.
After the competition ended, the inner disciple who presided over the competition descended from the sky and came to Chu Yuan.
He was a handsome young man with a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation level. He wore a black robe with dark red soul patterns embroidered on the hem. His smile was gentle and he had a friendly demeanor.
He clasped his hands in a fist salute to Chu Yuan and said with a smile, "My name is Wang Yu. Congratulations on winning the championship, fellow Daoist. Next time we meet, I will address you as Junior Brother. Now, please come with me to see the elder."
Chu Yuan nodded lightly, and the two transformed into a rainbow, flying one after the other towards the inner sect of the Soul Refining Sect.
The moment Chu Yuan passed through the inner gate formation, a clear view suddenly appeared before him.
Outside the great formation lay a gloomy sky and desolate mountains, while inside the formation was a completely different world.
A continuous mountain range stretches before us, its undulating peaks and overlapping ridges, with clouds and mist swirling among them, so abundant in spiritual energy that it almost solidifies into a tangible form.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the clouds, bathing the entire mountain range in a soft golden hue, creating a stark contrast with the desolate, lifeless landscape surrounding it.
Three towering peaks stand menacingly.
The three mountain peaks were extremely high and steep, like three sharp swords piercing the sky. The mountains were dark black, and their surfaces were covered with caves of all sizes, from which one could vaguely see cultivators moving about. At the top of each mountain peak floated a huge black banner, which moved without wind, emitting a faint black light, and from which the wails of ghosts and wolves could be heard.
"These three giant peaks are the three inner sects of my Soul Refining Sect."
Wang Yufei was in front, introducing the situation.
"The three sects of Soul Refining are Soul Refining, Soul Extraction, and Spirit Locking. Each sect has its own strengths. The Soul Refining Sect specializes in Soul Banners, the Soul Extraction Sect specializes in Soul Control Techniques, and the Spirit Locking Sect specializes in Sealing Techniques. Once you enter the inner sect, you can choose a sect to join based on your own preferences."
Chu Yuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the three mountain peaks as he silently memorized them.
Behind these three mountain peaks are rings of enormous golden halos.
The halo was layered, with nine rings in total, each several tens of feet wide, suspended in mid-air, slowly rotating.
Golden light flowed faintly within the halo, as if there were another world within it. From a distance, it emitted bursts of golden light, illuminating the entire inner sect of the Soul Refining Sect.
Within those nine golden rings emanated powerful spiritual energy fluctuations, each one as deep and profound as an abyss, far surpassing that of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
Transformation stage.
Moreover, they are all at the ninth level of the Nascent Soul stage.
"Those nine golden rings are the secluded cultivation sites of my Soul Refining Sect's nine Nascent Soul stage seniors."
Wang Yu's eyes revealed a hint of fanatical reverence, and his tone was full of longing.
"One day, I too will reach the Nascent Soul stage and become the tenth golden ring!"
Chu Yuan glanced at the golden ring, his expression calm, and said nothing.
"It's not a big deal to tell you these things, since you'll become an inner disciple anyway."
Wang Yu continued.
"Our Soul Refining Sect has two Nascent Soul Transformation Ancestors. Do you see that golden ring? Behind that golden ring, there are two blood rings, which are the secluded cultivation places of the two Ancestors."
Chu Yuan looked up, his gaze piercing through the nine enormous golden rings. In the distance, behind those rings and higher in the sky, he could vaguely see two faint blood-red shadows.
The two blood rings were much smaller than the gold rings, but they were more solid and emitted a dark red light, like two blood-red eyes, coldly looking down on the entire Soul Refining Sect.
Infancy transition period.
A powerful being in the Nascent Soul stage is someone he can't even begin to reach at the moment.
Even if one uses the Four Symbols Grand Array to raise their cultivation to the early stage of the Nascent Soul stage, they are nothing more than ants in front of the Nascent Soul stage.
Fortunately, the two founders of the Soul Refining Sect seem to be in seclusion year-round, so as long as he doesn't do anything out of line, he shouldn't disturb them.
As the two talked, they arrived at the central peak of the three giant peaks.
This peak is called Soul Refining Peak, and it is the location of the Soul Refining Sect, one of the three sects.
At the summit of the mountain stands a grand hall constructed from massive blue stones. The hall is ancient and imposing, devoid of any superfluous decorations. Only above the hall's entrance is a huge character for "soul," its sharp strokes conveying a sense of solemnity.
Wang Yu stopped outside the main hall, turned around, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Chu Yuan, and said with a smile, "We've arrived. Go in, the elders will make arrangements for you inside. I'll head back now; from now on, we'll be fellow disciples."
Chu Yuan nodded, his expression calm, and stepped into the main hall.
However, the moment he stepped inside, a powerful force that rendered him immobile suddenly descended, as if the entire sky had pressed down on him, pinning his body to the spot.
The spiritual energy solidified, the divine sense froze, and even the fingertips could not move an inch.
This is……
Chu Yuan's pupils suddenly contracted.
The next moment, the scene before my eyes changed dramatically.
The grand hall built of blue-green stone has disappeared, replaced by a dark red, blood-red world.
Two figures stood in front of him.