Since a large number of casual cultivators signed up to participate, the venue for the Qi Refining Competition was quickly packed.
Because no matter where you are, the grassroots population at the bottom of the pyramid will always be the largest.
Beings who are strong enough to build foundations like Jiang Li, and weak enough to be rookies who have just mastered spiritual energy and can't even use a talisman. They are essentially monks in the Qi training period.
As long as you meet the age limit, you are actually eligible to participate.
Due to the previous agreement on profit distribution among the sect disciples, each sect can only send fifteen people to participate, which is divided into five foundation building and ten Qi training.
And since casual cultivators do not have the right to participate in the resource allocation of the Medicine Garden Secret Realm, and it is an alternative disciple recruitment activity, there is no limit on the number of casual cultivators participating.
So for a while, the venue was filled with a huge number of Qi Practitioners who signed up.
They are a mixed bag of good and bad, and there are even some casual cultivators who want to try their luck in the middle or even early stage of Qi training.
Especially those who were in the early stage of Qi training were really ambitious. This was not a martial arts competition within the sect, but it could kill people. Even Jiang Li, when he was still in the early stage of Qi training, had never attempted death like this.
At this time, nearly 3,000 people poured in, forcing the United Competition to call an emergency stop.
After deliberation, several registration rules were temporarily issued. The monks participating in the competition need to pass several simple tests, such as speed, strength, and the power of spells.
In fact, the requirements for passing the test are not high at all, and you only need to pass one item to be considered successful. But even so, a large number of applicants were still received.
For this reason, a gray industry has spawned near the registration venue.
Some unscrupulous merchants specialize in selling some low-quality talisman papers that are extremely short-lived and extremely unstable. It is said that they can just meet the registration standards. After collecting a fortune of spiritual stones in this way, they still send a group of cannon fodder looking for death.
The race circle.
The day of the big competition arrived not long after.
Due to the number of monks participating in the competition, the normal arena competition obviously cannot accommodate such a number of monks, so this competition and the Qi Refining Period Competition temporarily added a cruel survival match.
Jiang Li withdrew from the retreat and came to the venue of the survival competition with a group of fellow disciples.
As disciples of the Sutra Valley, they received some preferential treatment even in the competition.
For example, the casual cultivators all stand and wait for the competition to begin, but they can sit down and not only sit, but also enjoy tea and cakes.
There are even beautiful girls waiting on Jiang Li's side.
"Senior Brother Jiang Li... your shoulders are so stiff... the moisture is so heavy..."
The person who came over to give Jiang Li a massage was a registered disciple of the Huichun Hall. After all, it was the Huichun Hall next door, and there were actually quite a few female cultivators who were interested in him.
This is him, others don't get this kind of treatment.
It's just that Jiang Li's skin is rough and thick, and the little girl feels like crying without tears. This massage is so difficult even for a bull demon.
After Jiang Li reluctantly thanked her, he declined the other party's offer of further help, and instead, like most participating monks, observed the venue he was about to enter.
Said to be a venue, it actually requires many monks to start from the inner perimeter of the Misty Mountains, pass through the mountains that are actually distributed in a ring, and finally arrive at an end point set on the outside of the Misty Mountains.
Normally, for a group of monks in the Qi Refining Stage, passing through this level of maze is tantamount to courting death.
But the maze was originally set up to drive away creatures, and it was not very lethal. It was naturally very difficult to get in from the outside.
But walking from the inside to the outside is much less difficult.
Moreover, the joint competition team composed of many sects has figured out the formation terrain in this area, cleared away some too powerful monsters on the mountain, and also deliberately suppressed the power of the phantom formation on the ground along this route.
As long as the competing monks don't make desperate detours, don't fly in the air, and follow the designated route, it will still be within the difficulty range that monks in the normal Qi refining period can handle.
Jiang Li has also seen the route map, which is four connected mountains that can directly penetrate the ring of misty mountains.
Each of the monks participating in the competition will be assigned a flying talisman, and then these uncontrolled flying talismans will randomly drop everyone onto the first mountain.
While overcoming the harsh environment, monster attacks, and competition from rivals, we trekked all the way to the finish line at the foot of the fourth mountain.
During this period, you may also encounter some other difficult levels. Whether the monks unite or fight, as long as they can reach the end, they will have the opportunity to participate in the next round of competition.
Sai Fang gave the monks half an hour to memorize the topography of the four mountains.
Because the place where you will be dropped is completely random. Under the cover of thick fog in the sky, you can't even use the sun to identify the direction. You can only rely on the topography and the memorized map to judge your location and the direction of progress.
direction.
Of course, a good memory is not as good as a bad writing, and most disciples are working hard to copy maps.
How many qi-training monks can memorize and draw in half an hour may determine the success of their trip in the next few days.
Soon, the jade wall recording the detailed map was removed, which also meant that the martial arts competition began.
One hundred monks came forward in turn, and after being affixed with flying charms, they turned into a hundred crooked meteors and disappeared into the thick fog before flying into the mountains.
Covered by this thick fog, even the subsequent flight trajectory is unpredictable.
Affected by the formation, it is difficult for spiritual energy fluctuations to spread over long distances, and the communication spirit stone cannot be used at all.
It seems that after entering the mountain, it is quite difficult to join up with my fellow disciples.
"Brothers and sisters, this is for you. If you are in danger, blow this sound. If I am nearby, I will try my best to rush to support you."
Although Jiang Li calls the others senior brother and senior sister, it is obvious that the other nine people default to him as the leader. After all, the gap in strength is there, and there is nothing to fight for.
Jiang Li handed out nine white metal whistles, and he kept one in his hand.
The white whistle is just a short tube the size of a finger. In the middle of the short tube, there is a carefully polished reed stuck.
This thing does not have any spiritual energy fluctuations, so when other disciples got it in their hands, they all looked confused.
They are not so ignorant that they do not know what a whistle is.
The problem is that there are more than 4,000 monks participating in this round of competition. There are only ten people in the Sutra Valley. Under such circumstances, they have no hope of successfully reuniting.
If a signal is sent out at this time, if your companions don't receive it, a bunch of malicious enemies will come first.
Jiang Li didn't think they could understand any scientific knowledge. Facts speak louder than words. He just blew a long breath on the whistle in his hand.
The sound of this white whistle was not loud at all. Instead, it only made a slight buzz like the flapping of mosquito wings.
Just when the other nine people thought that Jiang Li's whistle was broken, the whistles in their hands began to tremble slightly, and the trembling arc became more obvious, and soon they also made the same buzzing sound.
"The ring... it was ringing... and there was no spiritual energy fluctuation."
The nine people looked at the things in their hands in surprise, unable to understand how such an ordinary gadget could suddenly vibrate in their hands.
Jiang Li didn't explain to them what resonance was. This thing actually didn't have much use outside. Only in places where the spiritual energy fluctuations were disturbed could it be used to convey some simple information.
Several inner sect disciples have lived in the world of spiritual cultivation and immortality for too long, so they will inevitably feel novel about things outside of other systems. But that's all.
Infrasound waves are vibrations in the air. Their propagation does not depend on aura and cannot be captured by ordinary human ears. This is its advantage.
However, its scope of communication and the content it conveys are indeed limited. This kind of small prop can only let them know that there are people nearby. No matter how many there are, they can't even point out the direction, which is only slightly better than nothing.
Unless...someone among them has super hearing that surpasses ordinary humans, such as someone who masters the Guanyin Heart Sutra.
After they made a rough advance plan and whistled the signal together, it was their turn to set off.
Jiang Li looked at everyone's expressions and found that he was more excited than afraid. The whistle was just for insurance. After all, they were also disciples of the four major sects in Dazhong Mountain, so if they were to be afraid, it would not be their turn.
It was probably the other monks who were trembling in front of them.
"My fellow disciples, may your fortune be prosperous!"
"Prosperous fortune!"
Then Jiang Li attached the flying talisman to his body, and the gravity on his body suddenly disappeared, and a force pulled him high into the sky.
This was fine at first, but after entering the fog-shrouded area, he felt that he was spiraling into the sky, and his flight path was so wavy that he felt like he was "sick".
That's because the effects of the maze were applied to him and the talisman respectively, but the misdirected directions were inconsistent. This situation occurred after the directions were confused.
After flying for a certain distance, Jiang Li could feel that the spiritual energy of the talisman on his body was exhausted, and his altitude gradually dropped.
Finally, after descending to a certain height, we escaped from the fog range.
The talismans on his body turned into ashes, and the last bit of spiritual energy dragged Jiang Li slowly to the top of a tree.
When you look up two meters, you'll see fog, so it's no wonder that you can't fly.
If you are flying in the fog and spinning around in circles, it will be fine. If you accidentally fly to the top of another mountain, you will really be a matter of life and death, and your fortune will be in the sky.
Jiang Li took out his whistle and blew it. After waiting for a while, he did not receive any feedback. It seemed that his brothers and sisters were not within the coverage of the whistle.
He took out a map from his pocket, which was folded under the talisman paper and stuffed by the arena staff when he gave him the flying talisman.
Packed together with this map, there is also a small string of thunder.
Excellent disciples of large sects like them still have a way out if an accident occurs. This kind of sky thunder is obviously of better quality and can rise to extremely high altitudes, and there will always be flying boats patrolling the sky above the clouds and mists. Once someone
Send a signal and they will go to the rescue.
This was the reason why he joined the sect instead of practicing alone.
Since privilege and injustice exist in this world and cannot be eliminated, why not let yourself become one of the people who enjoy privileges.
Referring to the map, Jiang Li also judged the location and walked slowly towards the destination.
He took out the coffin from his arms. The lid of the coffin automatically slid open, and a black air floated out from inside. It fell to the ground and soon turned into a graceful shadow.
After Qin Shuman came out, he bowed down directly in front of Jiang Li.
"Sir, please find me."
Now Qin Shuman is very respectful to Jiang Li.
Jiang Li couldn't guarantee whether the other party was truly determined, but as long as he ensured that the female ghost couldn't escape his control and was useful enough, that would be fine.
"This place is located within a large maze. It was built by monks with the help of the natural terrain. Go and have a look. It will be very helpful for you to understand the Illusory Dharma and the Floating Life Record."
Jiang Li pointed at the fog above. He had no idea of letting the other party break through the fog. That was simply a dream!
It has only been a few days since this female ghost obtained Taoism. If she can break the secret illusion formation, how can other monks in the Dazhong Mountain Immortal World have the honor to live in this world.
But as he said, under safe conditions, it is not always possible to observe an illusion formation of this level at close range, which is of great benefit to the practice of illusion.
Especially when the power of the formation is deliberately suppressed, the context will undoubtedly become clearer.
"It's the young master."
Qin Shuman floated to his head and watched carefully under the fog. As Jiang Li moved forward, she followed slowly.
Jiang Li was not walking in a completely straight line, but was trying hard to find some pattern, and digging down into the soil from time to time.
For him, this grand formation was a top-notch teaching observation.
In terms of scale and the use of the power of heaven and earth, even the sect-protecting formation in the Sutra Valley is far inferior to this.
As he walked, his route, which was still barely moving forward, became even more zigzag, scurrying around the mountain like a headless fly.
After a long while, I finally found a location and took out a yellow-level middle-grade earth-attribute magic weapon.
That's a big shovel for digging soil.
This thing is amazing. To dig a hole and bury a corpse, you only need to move it towards the ground, and it will be a two-meter-square corpse pit. It is not troublesome at all.
This is a magic weapon that Jiang Li specially asked for from the Weapon Refining Hall, and he can easily master it without the need for earth-attribute spiritual roots.
Although it has no offensive power, it is extremely professional at digging holes and digging soil.
He dug a few shovels into the ground at random, just like playing "Minecraft". One after another, he dug out cubes of soil from the ground and placed them neatly aside.
In just a few moments, a pit more than ten meters deep appeared under his hands.
Ding!
Then the big shovel in his hand suddenly hit something hard. After Jiang Li peeled off a layer of soil, he felt slightly happy.
Sure enough, there is a base node here.
The terrain of this misty mountain is not as perfect as the Five Elements Peak of Shushan Mountain. If you want the formation to work well, you must use a man-made formation base to guide the earth veins.
This is where Jiang Li, after a lot of calculations, concluded that the formation nodes are most likely to exist.
This stone must be worth a lot of money.
Jiang Li rubbed his chin and thought for a while, but in the end he did not choose to dig this thing away. Instead, he took out a bunch of formation layout materials from the coffin and arranged them around the formation base.
It took a lot of effort to get here. As a rune array mage, of course he had to leave some backdoors here.