Chapter 16: Competition

In her cultivation Room, Xiao Hong's form floated in a cross-legged position, glowing with a starry light as she breathed in and out in a strange, halting rhythm.

The Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth reacted to her breaths, surging with her exhales and sinking with her inhales. 

"Phew…" Xiao Hong breathed out a mouthful of turbid air. Her eyelids slowly parted, revealing a pair of resplendent red orbs, radiant like stars. 

As her body descended, her legs unfurled into a standing pose, landing on her toes with the grace of a cat.

She took out a token that was flashing yellow, indicating that it was time for the Trial to begin.

She took a deep breath and exhaled it. "Let's do this!"

Having made sure that she had everything, Xiao Hong walked out of her home. After completely deactivating the Formations, she wistfully looked at her home for 2 years now, "I'll see you in three years, I guess."

After gazing at her home for a while longer, she decisively turned away and shot into the sky.

***

The Purple Spirit Mountain Range that was occupied by the Purple Spirit Sect had a valley named Sky Reigning Valley. This was where the Immortal Ships of the Sect took off.

Usually, it wasn't very crowded and was only occupied by a few members of the Sect at any given time. Today, however, the valley welcomed a startling number of people. With just a glance, one could see hundreds of people in the Valley. Some people stood alone, with their eyes closed; some stood in smaller or larger groups, discussing something; some stood in pairs; some sat down; and some were even found sparring casually.

"... Who all do you think are gonna be among the Alchemists this time?" A disciple wondered.

"Yeah, I'm kinda curious. We'll be depending on them, after all. I hope the Sect has chosen some good ones. You wouldn't believe what I heard from my Elder Brother!

"In the Trial 30 years ago, some dandy with connections managed to sneak in and wreak havoc with his subpar Alchemy, causing a lot of trouble. That year we had the lowest score among the three Super Sects. Even some of the Top Sects had better scores! What an embarrassment!"

"Tsk, yeah, I heard about that… It was truly a shame, we had some of the best disciples participating that year too. Just because of that one idiot we had to face embarrassment for 10 years until Senior Brother Han came along and brought us a great victory."

"How did the Sect even allow that dandy to participate?!"

"You don't know, but that dandy's Ancestor is a Core Elder!"

"Fuck! No wonder!"

A handsome-looking disciple with sword-like eyebrows asked, "I don't get it, this is a mission right? Why are we so concentrated on competing instead?"

"Oho! A newbie, aren't you~?" The disciple with the Elder Brother smirked and swung his arm around the disciple with sword-like eyebrows, "Listen, here kid-" he began but was interrupted.

"Who're you calling a kid? He's a Divine Sea Peak stage cultivator. You still dare call him 'kid' with your puny mid-stage Divine Sea Cultivation?!" Another disciple mocked. 

The disciple with the Elder Brother froze, and then smoothly changed his tone, "Ahem, I meant 'Listen well, Senior Brother'. My tongue slipped. The cultivation of my Seven Murderous Hidden Sword Qi really messed up my vocal cords and tongue. Forgive me, Senior Brother!"

"... It's alright, Junior Brother" This Senior Brother with sword-like eyebrows was a little stunned by the other disciple's level of shamelessness.

"Thank you, Senior Brother, for your understanding!" The disciple cupped his fist gratefully.

"Please continue your explanation, Junior Brother. I'm still very curious."

"Ahem. You should know that there is a cultivation limit to the Secret Realm, right?" The Sword-Brows Senior Brother nodded. "This applies to the Demon Beasts as well. Moreover, the Demon Beasts in the Secret Realm are not very smart either. 

"They attack in waves rather than all at once, making it easier for us to deal with!

"Plus, over the years they haven't changed their patterns at all, while we consistently came up with more and more efficient ways to deal with them - dividing up the waves, using Formations, Alchemy, Treasures etc. to make it easier to deal with. So, we can basically win every time with very few losses on our side. And most of those losses are due to the random teleportation at the beginning.

"Anyway, the Mission Leaders, those who all have cultivation at the Wind-Thunder Disaster, never even had a chance to make a move!"

"So, at some point, the Mission Leaders of each of the Super Sects got bored, and they came up with the idea of competing and betting to see who killed the most Demon Beasts in the shortest time.

"This was soon adopted by the later Mission Leaders and it became a sort of tradition!

"Then, among the disciples, a particularly talented Master Refiner collaborated with a Formation Master to create a Ranking Stele of sorts, allowing them to enumerate the number of kills an individual has through their token. There is an Individual Ranking, a Team Ranking and a Sect Ranking.

"Later on, even the Sect gave its approval and started to reward outstanding Disciples with the highest kill count…

"So, in the past hundreds of years, we have been using this Secret Realm as a competition of sorts to see who is the best among us…"

"So, that's how it is…" The Senior Brother looked so amazed, his sword-like eyebrows had disappeared under his fringe. "Thank you, Junior Brother."

"I'm happy to be of help!" The Junior Brother with the Elder Brother replied happily. "I can recommend you to some teams if you want. With Senior Brother's talent, you can definitely join a powerful Team and get a good score!"

"Alright, back to the main topic, who are the Alchemists?" The disciple who'd spoken initially looked dissatisfied.

"Right, right, I'm also curious."

"Let me see… I think there was Alchemist An Taiping, Alchemist Li Huo…

"Right! I remember that Chen Yu was going to take the Grade 3 Alchemist exam after this! Yeah, then he's definitely coming along!" The disciple thumbed towards a small group of people who were all wearing an Alchemist Token somewhere on their clothes. All but one girl that looked 30% similar to Chen Yu.

"Oh yes, there is also Alchemist Nangong Wan and Alchemist Qi Lijuan!

"Oh, the Twin Beauties of the Alchemy Hall?! What great luck, we get to go with the most beautiful Alchemists in the Outer Sect!" A 'simp' Junior Brother had his 'licking tools' ready!

"Heh! 'The most beautiful Alchemist'? That title doesn't belong to them anymore! Recently, I heard that the Outer Sect's No.1 Beauty - Junior Sister Xiao Hong recently became a Grade 2 Alchemist!" A fan of Xiao Hong exclaimed.

"The Outer Sect's No.1 Beauty? Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? There are plenty of beauties in the Sect, so 'No.1 Beauty' seems too much." The Senior Brother with Sword-like eyebrows was sceptical.

"Hehe, Senior Brother, you must be a cultivation maniac, right?" The Junior Brother who explained the competition said, his lips curving slightly, "Just wait till you see her, I guarantee you'll change your mind!"

"Speak of the devil, it's Junior Sister Xiao!" Another disciple said pointing towards the sky, at a red dot that quickly grew bigger as it came closer.

As the figure got closer, the people around could see the figure coated in the red aura better.

The distinctly female figure stopped in the sky briefly before floating down, like a Fairy from the Heavens.

As she floated down, a breathtaking visage slowly came into view. Her long, black hair flowed like a river at night, framing her flawless face that was like the peerless Moon reflected on it. Her luscious lips made one unable to hold back the desire to take them for their own. 

Her Sect uniform was loose and flowing, yet they couldn't hide those full curves or that thin waist that aroused desires in who knows how many men. 

Yet, it was that pair of phoenix-like eyes under her willowy brows that drew the most attention. Those resplendent orbs seemed to embody the colour red. They were neither blazing red like fire, nor crimson like blood - they were the purest red. An ethereal and mesmerising glow like that of the Northern Lights seemed to flow from the edge of her pupils to the borders of her irises, fading away slowly. They seemed to hold infinite mysteries within, making one unable to draw their eyes away.

Her entire being exuded a mysterious aura like that of a Celestial Being, ethereal and ephemeral. 

For a moment, the world seemed to dim and lose colour, as if unworthy of her presence. Stepping gracefully forward, she walked over to Chen Yu's group.

It was only after a long while that the disciples regained their senses. 

Xiao Hong's fan then turned to the Senior Brother - who according to him, had spouted blasphemous lines about the goddess in his heart - and smirked, "Well, what do you say?"

"... I stand corrected."