Early the next morning, Zhai Bairong departed as early as he had the previous night.
Nie Shiyun rested in his room for a short while. When he judged the time was right, he headed straight for the Pinyin Pavilion’s main plaza. The area, which had already been bustling two days prior, was now even more crowded due to the addition of various rogue cultivators. However, the notice boards standing in the plaza were massive, with dense lists of names engraved upon the jade. With just a single sweep of his gaze, the information was imprinted into his spiritual sense as if it were a secret manual. This spared the cultivators the arduous task of standing before the boards and searching with their naked eyes. Most people simply scanned the lists quickly before heading straight to their assigned preliminary groups.
The crowd in the plaza was even larger than expected. Nie Shiyun felt a hint of regret; he should have arranged to meet the others from Yunqing Pavilion beforehand. Waiting here was truly like searching for a needle in a haystack.
After a cursory and fruitless look around, Nie Shiyun took the lead and left, heading toward the venue designated for his group.
The Pinyin Pavilion had randomly divided the cultivators into sixteen groups to conduct the preliminaries simultaneously. This initial stage consisted of four consecutive battles. Although there were short intervals for rest and the consumption of Spirit Recovery Pills, it remained a test of endurance for a cultivator’s spiritual energy and overall condition. While moving toward another mountain peak, Nie Shiyun carefully reviewed the list in his mind. At the very least, he had not been placed with any acquaintances in this group, which he considered a stroke of good luck. He knew that aside from those few old acquaintances, there likely wouldn't be any "dark horses" emerging mid-race in this competition. He didn't need to worry too much about today's preliminaries.
In the original novel, the protagonist's group, along with the newly encountered Du Zhi and Qi Miaohan, had ingeniously avoided each other in the early brackets, with all of them making it into the top eight. In the end, Du Zhi and Zhai Bairong suffered narrow defeats at the hands of Xu Yehua. On the other side, Rong Lü could not bring himself to strike Duan Mingyu, and Qi Miaohan was blinded by jealousy and spite. Ultimately, it evolved into a grand show where Xu Yehua and Duan Mingyu appeared to be fighting on the surface, but were actually flirting. Though Xu Yehua held the upper hand, after teasing Duan Mingyu enough, he voluntarily jumped off the stage, yielding the Cold Ice Sword to the ice-rooted Duan Mingyu.
This time, the groupings of the original characters had not changed, but Nie Shiyun had been added to the mix. He calculated based on the status of the top sixteen from the original book and discovered that, by some stroke of terrible luck, the first person he would collide with was Du Zhi, who had been pulled into Yunqing Pavilion this time. If he managed to win against Du Zhi, he would face Xu Yehua in the quarter-finals.
Nie Shiyun silently retracted his earlier assessment of it being a "stroke of good luck." As expected, the Heavenly Way would not let him off so easily.
Fortunately, Nie Shiyun had zero interest in the first-place prize, the Cold Ice Sword. Winning it in front of such a large crowd would only draw the ire of Duan Mingyu’s entourage. He only wanted to fleece the medicine garden for some rare spiritual herbs to support his household. If he could win against Du Zhi, it wouldn't matter if he had to retreat or concede against Xu Yehua later if things looked grim.
As soon as he entered the competition grounds, Nie Shiyun felt the unpleasant sensation of a spiritual sense sweeping over him. This feeling did not come from a cultivator of similar cultivation, but from someone far above him, as if he were being kept under surveillance. He figured that the elders, or even the sect leaders of various large and small sects, had likely arrived. They were probably concealing their true identities and observing the state of this generation’s competition from within the reach of their spiritual senses.
Knowing he was being watched, Nie Shiyun was even more careful not to stand out. However, his opponents in the first two rounds of the preliminaries were both at the late stage of Qi Refining. There was an entire major realm of difference—the Foundation Establishment stage—between them. Forget Nie Shiyun having no intention to show off; even the opposing cultivators lamented their bad luck and had no heart for the fight. Both matches ended after a couple of polite exchanges of moves, without even a hint of hostility. Nie Shiyun didn't even have to summon a single treasure.
It was no wonder that in the original novel, the first day of the preliminaries was glossed over in a couple of sentences. Most cultivators had a significant gap in strength compared to the first-tier Golden Core cultivators. After two matches with almost zero consumption of energy, Nie Shiyun still won quite easily even when he faced two consecutive Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Recalling his cautiousness in the Misty Secret Realm and how he still had to tread carefully around the protagonist's group, and then comparing it to this current situation where he could easily win against Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators with a mere flick of his finger, Nie Shiyun truly realized for the first time the saying: "Before absolute strength, everything else is an illusion."
However, all of this was clearly just the calm before the storm.
As dull as the Immortal Cultivation Grand Assembly was now, it would be just as intense tomorrow and the day after. Those who entered the final ranks were almost all Golden Core cultivators, and most of them were interconnected—a situation practically unheard of in previous years.
Nie Shiyun could feel that as the preliminaries progressed from the first match to the last, the number of spectators gradually increased. These were likely cultivators who had already been eliminated coming to watch. He was not a famous figure, and though some had begun to learn his name after he reached the Golden Core stage this year, the "favored children of heaven" were all present. The crowd likely wouldn't spare him much attention, which suited him perfectly.
After Nie Shiyun’s matches concluded, the rest of the competitions ended as well. He returned directly to the Yunqing Pavilion’s residence to wait. By the time he arrived, several disciples were already there, and Qi Xuan'er was waiting as well. Seeing Nie Shiyun’s questioning look, Qi Xuan'er gave a bitter smile and shook her head, indicating she had not advanced.
Though it was a pity, Qi Xuan'er’s cultivation was not particularly outstanding to begin with, so her loss was within expectations. However, she hadn't lost right away; she had fallen in the fourth round. Given her lack of actual combat experience, it was already a fairly impressive record.
Not long after Nie Shiyun sat down, Du Zhi and Nie Xing'an also returned. After checking with one only another, it was as they had predicted: only the three of them from Yunqing Pavilion had advanced to the second day of competition.
"Congratulations to you all," Qi Xuan'er said, pushing aside her disappointment and smiling to celebrate their success.
"You were only a little bit away! You'll definitely make it next time!" Du Zhi could sense she was forcing it and immediately offered comfort.
"...The Grand Assembly measures bone age. By the next one, all of us will be over the age limit," Qi Xuan'er said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Had this man really come here with only a half-baked understanding of the rules?
"Haha, is that so..." Du Zhi scratched his head awkwardly.
"I understand your sentiment. My skills were inferior; I know where I stand," Qi Xuan'er shook her head gently. "I used to always avoid competition, thinking it was enough to just guard the peace of Yunqing Pavilion. When I lost just now, I was indeed very unwilling—but I was mostly unwilling because of how cowardly I used to be. I will work harder from now on."
Nie Shiyun found this expression on Qi Xuan'er quite rare. He used to think her personality was soft and delicate, bearing no resemblance to Qi Miaohan aside from their looks. But perhaps she had been inspired by the people around her; she was now showing a hint of that same refusal to lose that Qi Miaohan possessed.
Nie Shiyun felt a sense of gratification. Although he might be thinking too far ahead, if he truly managed to seize the Immortal Tool, reach the Transmutation stage, and ascend in the future, he would feel much more at ease knowing these few people were guarding Yunqing Pavilion.
"Boss, speaking of which, we're going to face each other tomorrow!" Du Zhi suddenly remembered something and said excitedly.
"That's right. Also, stop calling me 'Boss'..."
"Then what should I call you?"
Nie Shiyun was in a difficult spot. Du Zhi was currently only a temporary member of Yunqing Pavilion in name; without the Sect Leader's permission, he couldn't exactly call him "Senior Brother" or anything of the sort.
"Actually, although the age of a half-demon isn't calculated the same way as a human's, if we're strictly talking about bone age, you are older than me. You don't need to be so formal; just call me by my name for now," Nie Shiyun said.
Du Zhi hesitated. Despite that, he was used to considering himself a junior. It couldn't be helped; at his age in the demon race, he was indeed still an underage youth. "That... that would be a bit rude, wouldn't it? How about I call you Senior Nie for now?"
"...That works," Nie Shiyun agreed. Du Zhi’s cultivation was rising rapidly. If Nie Shiyun didn't have the time-dilation effect of his spatial realm, Du Zhi would surely surpass him by a wide margin within a few years. But for now, Du Zhi was still at the early Golden Core stage, so calling him "Senior" wasn't strange.
"Then I'll be in your care tomorrow! Senior Nie!" Du Zhi called out happily.
However, because of this, Nie Xing'an, who had a similar cultivation level to Du Zhi, was forced to become "Daoist Friend Nie." The group discussed titles for a while, and the scene became quite chaotic.
"By the way, Cousin, who are you facing in the next round? Have you met them?"
Nie Xing'an’s expression suffered a rare collapse. "...It's Qi Miaohan."
"Ah, my sister?" Qi Xuan'er exclaimed.
"Who? Who?" Du Zhi looked left and right, unfamiliar names popping up one after another, leaving him quite overwhelmed.
"She's my biological older sister, but she studies under the Pinyin Pavilion," Qi Xuan'er explained in a soft voice. "She sneaks out to play from time to time, so she's very familiar with both of my Senior Brothers."
Since the matches were held simultaneously, spectators could only choose one to watch. Although Qi Xuan'er was a bit conflicted since both sides were close to her, after thinking it over, she decided to go to Qi Miaohan’s side. Hearing that Qi Xuan'er was going to cheer for Qi Miaohan, the pressure on Nie Xing'an increased even further.
"Ah, I see..."
Nie Shiyun glanced curiously at Du Zhi. He felt as though there was a hint of disappointment in the youth's tone, though he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.
"If things end early on our side, the three of us will go watch your match together," Qi Xuan'er said.
Nie Xing'an nodded. "I think it should end very quickly. I'm no match for Qi Miaohan." He was being a bit modest, but he did have self-awareness. Although an early Golden Core could put up a fight against a mid-stage Golden Core, the two were well-acquainted, so Nie Xing'an naturally wouldn't fight with his full strength.
"You all have to do your best," Qi Xuan'er encouraged the three of them.
"Naturally," said the composed Nie Shiyun.
"...I'll try my best," said Nie Xing'an, feeling a lingering fear as he thought of how Qi Miaohan fought like a madwoman.
"O-Okay!" said Du Zhi, his eyes sparkling and full of drive.
After chatting for a while longer, they all needed to make preparations for the next day, so they parted ways for the time being. Nie Shiyun went to the spirit talisman shop at the foot of the mountain to buy plenty of stock for emergencies. That night, Zhai Bairong came over as well, though he arrived a bit late.
He hadn't been idle after his matches ended in the afternoon. Instead, he had gone down the mountain to rent an alchemy room and refined a lot of fresh pills. This matter couldn't escape the ears of Duan Mingyu and the others. Duan Mingyu assumed Zhai Bairong had made them for him, calling out "Senior Brother" repeatedly as he took quite a few. However, Zhai Bairong had pocketed most of the high-grade and top-tier pills. He simply used the excuse that his condition was poor in an unfamiliar environment to the others, but brought them all to Nie Shiyun at night.
Nie Shiyun naturally didn't keep them all for himself, but he didn't refuse them either, sharing them with Zhai Bairong. True Essence Pills and Marrow Cleansing Pills were the most basic pills for increasing cultivation; for Golden Core cultivators, they weren't exactly "charcoal in a snowstorm," but they were certainly "flowers on a brocade."
In addition, because of Duan Mingyu’s body-chill issue in the past, Zhai Bairong had refined many Fire-Condensing Pills and was very skilled at it. This was a basic pill that could improve the efficiency of absorbing fire-based energy, usually used by cultivators with fire spiritual roots. However, he thought of Meiqiu having phoenix blood and that he might also be fond of fire, so he refined some on the side and added some sweetness to make them into sugar pellets. As expected, Meiqiu loved them. He hadn't expected there to be such a wonderful thing that could both boost his cultivation and be chewed as a snack. He finished the entire bottle and still looked like he wanted more.
