The Four Directions Assembly welcomed cultivators from all over the world to participate. A total of 136 registration spots were set up across the Sea Market, and every single one was packed to the brim with surging crowds of people—or rather, demons.
“What swindlers! Total crooks! Demanding a registration fee of fifty middle grade spirit stones per person—this is basically extortion with zero upfront capital!”
Clutching her storage bag, Nan Zhi squeezed out of the crowd with an aggrieved look on her face. Hai Ying, who was standing on the outer perimeter, spotted her and quickly waved:
“Ma Jiu!”
One human and two demons—Hai Ying, Tu Jiuxiao, and Hongluo—were currently standing before a stall selling Spiral Shell Sugar.
Afraid that Hongluo might get squished by the crowd, Hai Ying had hoisted the child directly onto Tu Jiuxiao’s shoulders. Sea Dragon bones were naturally too soft and pliable to bear much weight.
Holding her treat, Hongluo was surrounded by youngsters from various clans, all staring enviously at the Spiral Shell Sugar in her little hands, drool practically dripping from their mouths.
“We’re all registered. Here are our team’s jade slip identity plaques. We just need to imprint our basic information onto them using our divine sense.”
Nan Zhi strode over, took Hongluo, and placed the girl onto her own shoulders before continuing:
“I asked a bit more just now. Although there are some tweaks to the tournament rules this year—adding the ‘Heaven’ and ‘Earth’ Demon Slaying Boards to track the number of demon beasts and Sky Demons slaughtered by participants—the overall structure remains unchanged. It’s still divided into three stages. The first stage is ‘Picking Flowers and Fighting for Fruit,’ which tests one’s skill in seeking treasures and gathering spirit herbs. The second stage is ‘Eliminating Demons of the Four Directions,’ which tests cultivation strength and combat prowess. As for the third stage, that’s when the Wuwang Sea officially opens to post bounties for demon slaying. Only by ranking in the top ten of either the Heaven or Earth Board will one have a chance to vie for the grand prize.”
“Quite a lot of tricks, aren’t there?”
Hai Ying curled her lip:
“To put it bluntly, they’re just dangling elixirs in front of us rogue cultivators to get us to clear out the Sky Demons in the Wuwang Sea. Those cultivators from the major sects always have so many convoluted schemes up their sleeves—ah, Tu Jiuxiao, I didn’t mean you.”
“No matter.”
Still holding a Spiral Shell Sugar, Tu Jiuxiao’s expression remained unchanged, though his gaze shifted toward Nan Zhi:
“Fellow Daoist Ma’s spiritual radiance is well-restrained. Have you had a breakthrough?”
“Fellow Daoist Tu has quite the keen eye.”
Nan Zhi could not help marveling at how sharp Tu Jiuxiao’s perception was to catch onto subtle clues at a single glance. Not wanting to elaborate, she vaguely replied:
“From fighting in the Wuwang Sea earlier, I had an epiphany, and only recently made a breakthrough after sudden enlightenment. It must be the blessing of the Heavenly Dao.”
—She was currently at Foundation Establishment Level 7, far surpassing the two of them, yet he had still managed to vaguely sense it.
Evidently, Tu Jiuxiao harbored no fewer secrets than she did.
“Ma Jiu, you advanced?!”
Hearing this, Hai Ying was genuinely thrilled for her. She quickly hooked an arm around Nan Zhi’s shoulders and beamed:
“Now we have another trump card! You really are blessed with immense fortune, Ma Jiu! First escaping with your life from the Wuwang Sea, and now gaining an enlightenment breakthrough—this definitely calls for a celebration! My father booked the Purple Moon Pavilion at Taotie Pavilion for us. Tonight, we must drink our fill and not leave until we’re thoroughly drunk!”
With a second-revolution demon core cultivation, Hai Ying knew the waters surrounding the Wuwang Sea like the back of her hand. As a purebred Sea Dragon, she could dive into the deep ocean to explore mysteries and recount the internal affairs of the twelve nations of the four directions off the top of her head.
Although Tu Jiuxiao’s cultivation was slightly lower—only at Foundation Establishment Level 1—he understood teamwork, knew when to advance and retreat, and excelled in the Dao of the sword. Though his background was shrouded in mystery, his status as a Wuwei Sect disciple alone would help ward off plenty of trouble for their squad.
As for Hongluo?
Nan Zhi gave the chubby little hedgehog demon perched on her shoulder a gentle bounce. The little girl, whose cheeks were beginning to fill with baby fat, smiled sweetly and rested her head atop Nan Zhi’s hair, acting cute:
“Mistress, Mistress, Hongluo is very capable too! I won’t embarrass you!”
The two people and one demon all broke into smiles, clearly melted by how adorable the little girl was.
Great, the team now had its mascot.
To keep a low profile, they had decided to name their squad the “Drunkard Team.”
—For no other reason than that everyone on the team except Tu Jiuxiao—including their logistics support, Wanniang—was a drunkard who loved fine wine and rejoiced at the scent of a feast.
Who would have thought that the shrimp soldier responsible for registration was half-deaf and had mistakenly written it down as the “Ghostly Team”?
By the time they noticed, what was done was done, and it could no longer be changed.
Hai Ying had complained quite a bit about it and voiced her confusion:
“We have sea race members and human cultivators. Why didn’t we just call ourselves the ‘Human-Demon Team’ from the start?”
Nan Zhi had unanimously vetoed this suggestion with a single vote.
With tens of thousands of participating cultivators, disciples of the Three Great Sects accounted for more than half. The team names were bizarre and eccentric across the board.
Names like “Master, Don’t Tell Me to Refine Pills,” “Startled Awake from My Deathbed,” “Formations Are So Hard I Want to Become a Monk,” “Refusing Morning Exercises,” “Senior Sister Don’t Draw Your Sword”...
—These belonged to Wuwei Sect disciples.
“Senior Sister Love Me One More Time,” “Junior Brother Don’t Fight Me for Senior Brother,” “Dual Cultivation Is the Best,” “Martial Aunt Is Gorgeous, Grandmaster Still Has Her Charm,” “Junior Brother’s Ice-Pure Jade Skin,” “Your Daddy I Am Breathtakingly Gorgeous,” “Hehuan Twin Beauties,” “Qingjing Sect Disciples Look Over Here,” “Wuwei Sect Muscle Men Get Lost”...
—These belonged to Hehuan Sect disciples.
“Sea Race Is the Best, Humans Are **,” “Do This One Job Then Go Home and Have Cubs,” “Weeping Tears into Pearls,” “I Want to Be Lady Dragon Girl’s 108th Consort,” “Poison Dragon Island’s Number One Bully,” “Chuyun into the Mud,” “Yaksha Is the Strongest,” “Sea Dragons Are North Province’s Number One”...
—These belonged to the twelve nations of the four directions.
Consequently, the many Qingjing Sect team names—such as “Leisurely Clouds,” “Wild Cranes,” “Seizing the Crown,” “Pinning Flowers,” and “Demon Slaying”—ended up being the most normal among the thousands of teams.
...
The first day of the Four Directions Assembly began at the White Sand Pool in the Yaksha Nation.
Near the Yaksha Nation lay a sizable island rich in resources and studded with peculiar rock formations.
On the island’s northern coast stretched an endless expanse of flat, snow-white sand, fine as grains of salt, from which it earned its name.
The shrimp soldiers and crab generals of the Sea Dragon Palace had worked diligently for days, aided by high-level cultivators who split mountains and filled the sea, carving out a horseshoe-shaped spectator venue capable of holding five hundred thousand people on the beach.
Right in the center of the venue stood a colossal stone arena a hundred zhang wide and a hundred zhang long. Above it hovered ten light screens veiled in clouds and mist, glowing with a soft, shimmering light.
The spectator stands were tiered and tightly packed, bustling with surging crowds of both humans and demons.
There were shrimp soldiers, crab generals, Yakshas, Sea Dragons, Chuyun female immortals, Peony Kingdom folk, Black Crows, and Alligator Dragons; one could even spot fox women from Qingqiu and Jiao people from the deep ocean.
The fox clan was peerlessly gorgeous and alluring to the extreme; even by human aesthetic standards, every one of them was breathtaking.
The Jiao people, regardless of gender, possessed delicate, clear, and enchanting features, with an androgynous grace that made it difficult to tell male from female.
Meanwhile, disciples of the Three Great Sects sat upright on one side in high spirits, each clad in their respective sect robes, radiating an ethereal immortal demeanor that made them stand out from the crowd like cranes among chickens.
Five hundred thousand was merely the seating capacity of the venue, by no means the upper limit of attending cultivators.
Those who failed to enter had rented treasure ships and skiffs, watching from across the ocean surface from afar.
Beneath the azure waves, Jiao people sang and Sea Dragons chanted as layers of white foam crashed against the shore, stirring up speckles of white sand.
High in the sky, a Qingjing Sect cultivator standing atop an immortal crane had a voice-amplifying transmission microphone floating before them.
As the crimson morning sun gradually rose above the sea like an orange-red disc, more than a dozen figures faintly settled into their seats above the clouds.
—The Deity Transformation cultivators of the Three Great Sects had arrived.
Rate on N.U.
