The Hunt Begins

Zhongming shifted his gaze around, observing the various groups of cultivators that had also come for the Great Hunt.

Currently, everyone was separated into groups based on their sects. For the smaller sects, some had only sent three or four members for this competition, while for the more prominent sects, some had sent up to thirty or forty people.

So far, Zhongming had seen quite a few of the various well-known sects in the State of Ming. For instance, there was the Deng Sect, the Yin Sect, and the Hui Sect; this trinity was known as the Three Pillars of Ming. Indeed most of the cultivation talent in Ming had come from these three large sects.

Typically for the Great Hunt, groups of around ten to twenty cultivators were preferable. This arrangement was usually preferable because you had enough firepower to handle most situations while not having too many people divvying up the spoils.

Quite a number of groups had actually approached the Mo Sect members, hoping to work with the prestigious Sect.

So far, Xue Jian had rejected every single group that had approached them.

The Mo Sect, although only five in number. Could easily contend with the larger groups of fifteen to twenty cultivators.

This was due to the highly unique and potent Dao's that Xue Jian, Hualing, Xiuying, and Gao Liang had in their arsenal. And thus, even a Conceptual Transcendent realm cultivator would have to tread carefully around the small Mo Sect group.

In particular, for the Great Hunt, joining together with any other groups would only serve to dilute their rewards. Therefore, unless they wished to practice charity, it was detrimental to invite other groups to join them.

The exception to this, of course, was Lihua.

Yesterday after Zhongming, Gao Liang, and Xuiying had finished roaming the marketplace. They had brought Lihua to the rendezvous with their two seniors.

After some chatting, mostly pleading by Xuiying, Lihua had been permitted to join their group.

The reason for accepting her was threefold.

Number one, she was only one additional person and thus didn't dilute the rewards too much.

Number two, she and Xuiying seemed to enjoy each other's company.

Number three, she had comprehension of a very impressive Dao.

She was a wielder of the Dao of Change. When mastered, it had an almost unfathomable potential.

Actually, before Xue Jian and Hualing had allowed her to join the group. She had demonstrated her prowess against Xuiying's Dao of Information.

The demonstration was relatively straightforward; Xuiying was to overwrite her location and move her around against her will.

Lihua's only goal was to prevent that from happening.

The result was not too unexpected, Lihua who embodied the concept of change itself could dictate what changes were allowed and what changes were rejected.

It was not difficult for Lihua to cut off Xuiying's manipulation of her locality with such an ability.

"Attention, fellow cultivators of Ming!" A Ming official who stood at the forefront of the podium had announced.

The time for idle chatter and organizing groups had ended. Now, it was time for the official announcements regarding the rules and regulations of the Great Hunt.

On the stage, one could see a panel of state officials; they were the judges for this particular event. Each one was there to grade each group for their performance. The key indicators that they were looking for were adaptability, creativity, cohesion, and individual ability.

As potential State officials of Ming, these were the most valuable traits.

Adaptability was needed so that they would change with the times, not adhering to outdated methods.

Creativity was needed so that out-of-the-box solutions and new progressive methods could be used to solve the people's needs.

Cohesion was needed so that they could coordinate harmoniously and compromise with the other bureaucrats.

Individual ability was needed so that each piece of the state apparatus could function like a well-oiled machine, efficient and without wasted effort.

The Great Hunt was actually a peculiarity, an event where cultivators would "hunt" spirit beasts.

Spirit beasts were creatures that had become powerful, intelligent, and sentient beings through countless millennia of cultivation.

The most powerful among them could contend with even the greeted Dao Immortal realm cultivators.

For most of recorded history, humans and spirit beasts had existed alongside each other; this was no longer the case.

Spirit beasts, or rather, their body parts, were precious to cultivators.

The effects of soul crystals, many modern cultivating pills, and most Qi meditation techniques had paled in comparison to the effects that these rare spirit beast parts could provide.

Because of this, cultivators had routinely hunted these spirit beasts, and in turn, great destruction was wrought.

And as the cultivators had become more and more powerful, likewise the beasts that they sought to hunt were more ancient and more powerful.

In the end, the clash between cultivators and spirit beasts had torn all of every fundamental aspect asunder. And thus, all of creation was vanquished.

Only the most powerful transcended beings who were beyond the duality of existence and non-existence were left.

In order to restore order and to save all living beings, the remaining cultivators and spirit beasts had agreed to a truce.

And together, they rewove the fabric of reality.

And thus, the concept of truth itself was in a state that could be described as a superposition, for lack of a better word.

When observed, the truth would "collapse" in a certain way depending on the observer.

And so, for humans, they would observe and experience a reality in which spirit beasts didn't exist.

For the spirit beasts, it was also the same; they would observe and experience a reality in which humans didn't exist.

And thus, even though both were living in the same layer of reality.

Interaction between the two, for the most part, became fundamentally impossible.

Of course, there was an exception; otherwise, the Great Hunt wouldn't exist.

The Great Hunt was made possible when a Dao Immortal cultivator was experimenting on an array that would alter the fundamental principles of metaphysics itself; the resulting outcome was a small pocket where reality and the truth itself was reverted back into its original state.

Eventually, cultivators and the spirit beasts had reached a consensus. Every year, cultivators would be able to "hunt" and gather materials from the beasts. This was to be strictly non-lethal. In turn, the cultivators would be tasked with defending and warding off powerful beings from invading their territory.

So far, this symbiotic relationship has been quite beneficial to both sides.

"Let the Great Hunt commence!"

Upon hearing those words, a giant and intricate array of seals had filled the sky; in the center, a tear in the fabric of reality was forming, violent and chaotic energies spewed forth from the wound.

Loud, thunderous sounds reverberated throughout the area as the purple void was forcefully expanded.

This was the first layer of defense for the spirit beasts. Even for cultivators that knew how to access the realm, it was still a violent ordeal.

For anyone else who wasn't in the False Immortal realm or higher, tapering with this seal was essentially tantamount to suicide.

Suddenly the portal stabilized, the violent energy and thunderous noise abated.

One by one the groups of cultivators were directed to enter the portal.

Once the Mo Sect was called to enter, Zhongming clenched his fists, surely this time he would break into the Nascent Soul Realm.