Volume 1 Chapter 20

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

Recruitment of Editors: https://gravitytales.com/recruitment-of-editors/

Volume 1 Chapter 20: The Competition

In the days that followed, Xu Qingfan added a new activity to his daily meditation and practice, which was collecting seeds from various plants and refining them into his body.

Since that day, when Xu Qingfan accidentally learned about the wonderful uses of "The Formula of Wither and Flourish," he became very interested in different plants, especially those with special functions. For others, they may be just curious, but for him, they could very well evolve into his own powers. To understand these plants better, he even borrowed a book from Yue Qingru called "Strange Tales of Mountains and Seas—Essays on Plants and Trees."

"Strange Tales of Mountains and Seas" is considered a remarkable book in the cultivation world. It is widely known, and almost everyone who enjoys collecting in the cultivation world has a copy, and it is even shared among ordinary people in the world.

This book is said to have been written by a rogue cultivator known as "Yunyouzi" three thousand years ago. Yunyouzi’s cultivation was only at the Fake Golden Core Stage, which does not count as top-tier in the cultivation world. However, this elder loved to travel. Realizing that he could no longer advance his power, he gave up the illusory notion of immortality and instead began to wander the world. In this regard, he was quite similar to Xu Qingfan.

After spending over three hundred years, he ventured into the desolate and silent Southern Wasteland plagued by demon beasts, traveled deep into the wild and sandy Western Desert, explored the mysterious and stormy Eastern Sea, and left his footprints on the endless glaciers of the Arctic.

After visiting every place humans could reach, he returned to Middle-earth as an old man. His many years of adventures left him with numerous internal and external injuries that could never be healed. Soon after, he passed away. After his death, he left behind eleven volumes of travel notes called "Strange Tales of Mountains and Seas." These were discovered by a friend of his while sorting through his belongings. The great value of these notes was immediately recognized by the people of the cultivation world, and from then on, the name Yunyouzi became famous throughout the cultivation world alongside "Strange Tales of Mountains and Seas."

"Strange Tales of Mountains and Seas—Essays on Plants and Trees" is one of these eleven volumes. The others are "Mountains and Water," "Birds and Insects," "Spirits and Monsters," "Demon Beasts," "Strange Techniques," "Strange People," "Spiritual Treasures," "Human Emotions," "Curious Stories," and "Miscellaneous Essays." These eleven volumes almost contain all the knowledge a cultivator should know, along with many strange and mysterious descriptions.

The various strange flowers and plants described in "Strange Tales of Mountains and Seas—Essays on Plants and Trees" opened Xu Qingfan’s eyes. Although he only learned a little about these extraordinary plants from the book, it was enough to leave him in awe. The Shenzhou Continent is vast and boundless, filled with countless amazing flowers and plants. The plants Xu Qingfan refined, like Explosive Flame Flowers, Blade Grass, and Iron Vine, are just unique to the Jiuhua Mountain area, and compared to the entire Shenzhou Continent, they are just a drop in the ocean.

Therefore, Xu Qingfan felt an unprecedented confidence; although his talent was still lacking and his skills were still low, he now had a path to follow.

Unknowingly, ten years had passed.

During these ten years, Xu Qingfan collected all the plant seeds he could find within his reach. However, even though he gathered many seeds, only a few were truly useful to him.

Now, the only ones he could use were those like the Explosive Flame Flower, which would explode upon contact, the Blade Grass, as sharp as a sword, the Iron Vine that can entangle people and is tough, the Iron Cattail that can withstand blades and fire, and the fluffy flowers used for detection.

Because he often went to the "Herb Garden" filled with many plants to collect seeds, Xu Qingfan became very familiar with Martial Uncle Liu, who managed the garden. Martial Uncle Liu is a thin old man who knows the characteristics of various plants very well, helping Xu Qingfan tremendously. Martial Uncle Liu also noticed that Xu Qingfan loved plants, especially strange flowers and plants, which made him feel that Xu Qingfan was a worthy student. Thus, he was always willing to share his knowledge, feeling a sense of finding a kindred spirit.

Over the years, as Xu Qingfan absorbed more and more seeds from various plants, he was amazed to find that not only was his power growing faster and faster, but he was also gaining stronger control over the Spirit Qi within him. Xu Qingfan had now begun to practice the "Finger of Wither and Flourish" again.

In just ten short years, Xu Qingfan had progressed from the early stage to the late stage of the Inedia Stage. Although the Inedia Stage is known for its rapid advancement and the "Wood Spirit Pill" given to him by Lu Huayan had clear effects, Xu Qingfan believed that the subtle changes in the Spirit Qi within him after absorbing seeds were also an important reason.

Over the past ten years, besides practicing, Xu Qingfan spent most of his time following Yue Qingru to study. While Yue Qingru often reminded Xu Qingfan to read more, it was mostly Xu Qingfan’s own love for reading. Since he was a child, Xu Qingfan had loved to read, and now that he had been at Jiuhua Mountain for twenty years, unable to leave, he relied on the knowledge from books to imagine the outside world. He was already very familiar with "Strange Tales of Mountains and Seas," "Turtle Vault," and "Shenzhou Continent Chronicles."

After ten years of continuous reading and learning, Xu Qingfan’s calm eyes gained an added elegance and scholarly air, representing the quiet determination of his nature, and the grace of his thoughts shaped by years of reading.

That night, Xu Qingfan returned to the usual place where he practiced with Jin Qinghan and, as usual, closed his eyes to meditate. Although with Xu Qingfan’s Inedia Stage mastery, he no longer needed to meditate deliberately to boost the Spirit Qi within him, he still enjoyed meditating at a set time every day for self-cultivation.

Xu Qingfan liked the serene and distant feeling he experienced while meditating, combined with the beautiful mountain scenery in the back, the bright moon, and the gentle breeze, which made him truly feel like a person among the immortals.

When Xu Qingfan opened his eyes again, he found that Jin Qinghan was not leaving after his usual practice but was quietly standing in front of him, seeming to want to say something.

Looking at Jin Qinghan, Xu Qingfan felt a surge of emotion. While he had made fast progress over the past ten years, he never expected that Jin Qinghan had advanced even faster. Four and a half years ago, he had already reached the late stage of Inedia Stage, and now he was just one step away from the Lingji Stage. Perhaps fate always favors geniuses more.

Indeed, Jin Qinghan was a genius among geniuses.

"Is something wrong?" Xu Qingfan smiled gently and then asked.

"Um." Jin Qinghan continued to be very quiet; besides their two long talks, Xu Qingfan had never seen this guy talk much.

"What is it?" Xu Qingfan asked curiously.

"Are you going to join the competition this year?"

"Competition? What is that?" Xu Qingfan asked.

"Every sixty years, the six great Holy Lands hold a Newcomer Competition together. Only disciples who have been in their sect for less than one hundred years can participate. This event helps strengthen the connection between the six great Holy Lands and encourages the newcomers to improve together. In ten years, it will be time for the Newcomer Competition. To prepare for the Newcomer Competition, our sect has decided to hold an internal competition ten years before the event. Only newcomers can join, and the top five disciples will receive prizes and represent our sect in the Newcomer Competition held by the six great Holy Lands ten years from now." Jin Qinghan patiently explained, knowing that Xu Qingfan had never heard anything from the outside world in his twenty years at Jiuhua Gate.

"Oh? There’s something like that? I really haven’t heard of it." Xu Qingfan said in surprise. Indeed, since he began cultivating, he had been sheltered by Lu Huayan for the first ten years, focusing on training in "The Formula of Wither and Flourish," and since Lu Huayan was reclusive, Xu Qingfan had little contact with others from Jiuhua Mountain. After Lu Huayan’s death, Xu Qingfan moved to the back mountain and lived in almost complete isolation, only familiar with his senior brother Yue Qingru, Jin Qinghan, and Martial Uncle Liu from Herb Garden.

In some ways, Xu Qingfan, who likes quiet over noise, is indeed a bit reclusive.

Looking at Jin Qinghan, who was quietly waiting for his response, Xu Qingfan asked back, "Are you going to join?"

"Yes, Feng Qingtian is participating," Jin Qinghan said calmly.

"I will not participate," Xu Qingfan said after thinking for a moment.

"Why?"

"You know me, I don’t really like crowds, and I especially don’t like fighting," Xu Qingfan explained.

Hearing this, Jin Qinghan nodded but said nothing more and turned to leave.

Watching Jin Qinghan walk away, Xu Qingfan shook his head; he thought Jin Qinghan was great, but too competitive. The defeat from ten years ago still lingered in his mind.

When Xu Qingfan returned to his place, he found his senior brother Yue Qingru sitting in his room, looking a bit strange.

"Senior brother, is something wrong?" Xu Qingfan asked.

"Junior brother, do you know about the upcoming big competition inside the school?" Yue Qingru asked.

"I know, Jin Qinghan just told me. What happened?" Xu Qingfan said.

"Are you going to join, junior brother?" Yue Qingru asked again.

"You know, senior brother, I’m not really into this," Xu Qingfan said with a slight shake of his head and a faint smile.

After hearing this from Xu Qingfan, Yue Qingru hesitated for a moment and said, "Junior brother, you probably don’t know what the reward is for the top five, do you?"

"No, I don’t. It’s probably some magical items or spirit medicines. But I don’t really care much about these things," Xu Qingfan replied. At the same time, he felt a little curious. Could the reward really be that good, to make even the usually refined senior brother want to compete?

Yue Qingru took a deep breath and then slowly said, "You should be very familiar with the prize for third place in this competition."

"What is it?" Xu Qingfan couldn’t help but ask curiously after hearing what Yue Qingru said.

"It is the magical tool that our master used to use often—’Three Meters Green Silk,’" Yue Qingru said, carefully pronouncing each word.

"What?" Xu Qingfan exclaimed in surprise.

In a daze, Xu Qingfan seemed to have returned over twenty years ago, where an old man with gray hair and a stern face was flying quickly in the sky with a refined-looking young boy, walking on clouds.

"Master, how can this blue silk scarf turn into clouds? Can it really carry people to fly?"

"This is a magical item of mine, called ‘Three Meters Green Silk.’ It is the first magical item made by your master’s wife in her lifetime, and after hundreds of years of refinement by me, it has many wonderful uses and has been with me for over a hundred years."

When Lu Huayan said this, a sad and nostalgic expression appeared on his face, and Xu Qingfan still vividly remembered it.

This ‘Three Meters Green Silk’ was definitely not one of Lu Huayan’s best magical items, but it was absolutely the one he used the most, as it represented his memories with his master’s wife.

"Senior brother, are you participating?" Xu Qingfan snapped out of his thoughts and asked.

"Yes, are you joining too, junior brother?"

"I will join too," Xu Qingfan said firmly.