Volume 3 Chapter 14

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Volume 3 Chapter 14: Settling In

"Now, let the competition begin, fellow taoist friends, please enter the array." Xuan Jian seemed quite pleased with the impact of his words, pointing to the teleportation array behind the disciples with a slight smile.

Upon hearing Xuan Jian’s words, the thousands of disciples present were momentarily hesitant, as the way Xuan Jian described Huandao Island made it sound terrifying. It was filled with human-level advanced demon beasts and even included one with a power close to Earth-level. Just surviving on this island seemed formidable to the disciples, let alone capturing ten Seven-colored Deer.

As a result, nearly two hundred disciples who were to participate in the Newcomer Competition remained motionless after hearing Xuan Jian. Instead, whispers spread among them, or they looked quite anxious and indecisive, especially glancing up at their sect leaders on the jade platform with hopeful eyes, longing for their opposition as they had little confidence in this task.

At the same time, upon hearing the announced competition details, the sect leaders and elders on the platform exchanged bewildered looks, clearly surprised by the difficulty of the task. They hesitated, knowing that the disciples representing their sects in the Newcomer Competition were the cream of the crop. Losing them to such a challenge seemed too great a risk.

However, the faces of the Sect Masters of the six Holy Lands showed no change. The Newcomer Competition was co-hosted by these six Holy Lands, and the competition’s content was jointly decided by them. Therefore, they were not surprised by Xuan Jian’s announcement.

Sitting in the second row on the platform, Man Tian, the grand master of the Eight Wilderness Hall, and the Sect Master of Liuhe Gate showed a brief change in expression upon hearing Xuan Jian but quickly returned to normal, appearing confident in their disciples’ capabilities. Man Tian, in particular, seemed to cast a mocking glance at the Holy Land sect leaders, though the reason was unclear.

Thus, after Xuan Jian announced the competition’s content, both the sect leaders on the platform and the thousands of disciples below fell into silence, and the entire Zhantai was eerily quiet.

After a long pause, a sect leader sitting in the second row of the platform hesitated before slowly speaking, "Fellow taoists, isn’t the competition a bit too challenging? It’s hard for these junior disciples to accomplish. Despite being an internal challenge among new disciples, these students have admirable talents. It would be a shame if they were lost due to this competition."

As soon as this sect leader finished speaking, other sect leaders and elders began to agree, clearly worried about any accidents befalling their disciples.

Hearing this, Zeng Lianxian, the sect master of the Five Elements Sect, turned back with a smile and said, "No need to worry, Sect Leader Gu. We’ve devised the competition based on the participants’ abilities. This year’s competitors are significantly stronger than in previous years, so if we followed earlier difficulty levels, it would be too easy for them."

As Zeng Lianxian’s voice fell silent, an elder from the third row representing Penance Valley smiled and said, "Penance Valley has already sent twenty-eight cultivators to Huandao Island two hours ago to secretly protect the safety of all disciples participating in the competition, so there’s no need to worry about danger."

Hearing the back-and-forth between Zeng Lianxian and the elder of Penance Valley, the sect leaders and elders of other factions no longer said anything, knowing that their disciples were not in danger. However, each of their expressions seemed somewhat unnatural, clearly feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Although the Newcomer Competition has always been jointly organized by the six Holy Lands, the factions were dissatisfied that the six Holy Lands arranged such a dangerous competition without informing them. However, since Xuan Jian had already announced the content of the competition, changing it was obviously impossible.

Zeng Lianxian mentioned that the difficulty of this Newcomer Competition was raised because the strength of the disciples participating had improved. However, the sect leaders and elders knew well that their disciples participating in the competition were not significantly stronger than in previous years. Therefore, Zeng Lianxian’s remark about the obvious improvement in strength was surely referring to the disciples of the six Holy Lands, making others uncomfortable seeing their disciples lag behind.

Apart from the six Holy Lands, only the leaders and elders of "Eight Wilderness Hall" and "Liuhe Gate" did not show any signs of discontent, and some even had a hint of a mocking smile on their lips.

Below the jade platform, upon hearing Xuan Jian announce the competition content, the disciples saw their sect leaders and elders remain silent and were unsure what to do. They felt that competing posed no chance of victory and even life-threatening danger. Consequently, no one moved towards the teleportation array, and everything remained silent.

Suddenly, a crisp clanging sound echoed, unusually loud in the silence. The disciples looked towards the sound and saw a childlike figure from "Eight Wilderness Hall" leading the way to the teleportation array. Four similarly dressed Eight Wilderness Hall disciples followed him from a distance, clearly also participating in the Newcomer Comparison. However, they stayed a cautious distance of ten feet away from the childlike person, not daring to approach him at all.

Under everyone’s gaze, the five disciples of Eight Wilderness Hall entered the teleportation array and disappeared in a flash of light, evidently having reached Huandao Island through the array.

Afterward, a proud-looking young Taoist from "Liuhe Gate" snorted, then led four Liuhe Gate disciples to the teleportation array, also disappearing in the flashing light.

Next, the weathered middle-aged man from Qingxu Gate, along with Lv Ziqing Shang Nianyao and others, the quintuplet brothers from Five Elements Sect, the girl in white from White Lady Palace, and the five young monks from Zen Cloud Temple, all proceeded towards the teleportation array. After all, reaching Huandao Island earlier could increase their chances of winning.

Seeing someone take the lead, and with the elders from their respective sects showing no special reaction, the disciples participating in the Newcomer Competition reluctantly headed towards the teleportation array.

"Brothers, let’s go too," Xu Qingfan said with a smile, looking back at Jin Qinghan Feng Qingtian and the others.

Actually, he wanted to go as soon as Xuan Jian announced the competition details, but since the disciples from other sects weren’t moving, Xu Qingfan hesitated to be the first. He stopped Feng Qingtian Jin Qinghan and the others, who were about to move, advising them to observe the situation first. Now that he saw the other disciples begin to move, Xu Qingfan decided it was time to act.

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, Jin Qinghan and the others nodded slightly and turned to head towards the teleportation array.

"Senior Brother Xu!" Just as Xu Qingfan was about to follow the four towards the teleportation array, Dongfang Qingling’s voice suddenly called from behind.

"Junior Sister Dongfang, is there something you need?" Hearing Dongfang Qingling’s voice, Xu Qingfan sighed slightly but turned with a smile to ask.

"This competition is very dangerous. Please be careful during these three days, Senior Brother Xu," Dongfang Qingling advised with concern. Since she heard Xuan Jian’s words earlier, she had been worried about Xu Qingfan. Now, seeing him about to leave made her even more anxious. After quickly glancing around to make sure no one else was near, Dongfang Qingling quietly added to Xu Qingfan, "If it doesn’t work out, your safety is most important. Don’t focus too much on the sect’s victory."

Hearing Dongfang Qingling’s somewhat daring words, Xu Qingfan smiled softly, feeling a warmth in his heart. Seeing that Jin Qinghan and the others had already ventured far, he quickly replied, "I understand, Junior Sister Dongfang. Don’t worry."

Seeing Xu Qingfan’s somewhat indifferent expression, Dongfang Qingling felt a bit anxious. Just as she was about to say something more, her expression changed slightly, and she hurriedly left after saying, "Senior Brother Xu, please take care."

Xu Qingfan noticed Dongfang Qingling’s hasty departure and found it odd. When he looked up, he saw Bai Qingfu approaching. He couldn’t help but recall that whenever Bai Qingfu appeared, Dongfang Qingling would leave in a hurry. This made him wonder if something had happened between Dongfang Qingling and Bai Qingfu in the past, causing Dongfang Qingling to fear Bai Qingfu. However, with the Newcomer Competition about to begin, Xu Qingfan decided to set aside his suspicions and plan to ask them clearly after the competition.

When Bai Qingfu reached Xu Qingfan’s side, he clasped his hands and said, "Junior Brother Xu, be cautious during the competition."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Bai, for your concern. With the strength of our team of five, handling those demon beasts shouldn’t be difficult," Xu Qingfan said.

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, Bai Qingfu glanced unintentionally at Jin Qinghan and the others who had already walked far away. A mysterious smile flickered across his face as he said, "Demon beasts aren’t scary because you know the threat they pose. As long as you’re careful, you can handle them. But the threats in the shadows are frightening; they often ruin people quietly. So, I hope you’ll observe carefully during the competition; you might discover something."

After saying this, Bai Qingfu didn’t elaborate further and just turned around and left.