At dusk, as the sun set in the west, the red clouds illuminated the land.

The villagers of Qiushui Village finished their farming work and returned to the village, where faint blue smoke rose. With the protection of the Martial Cultivator lords, even though Qiushui Village was near the Yan Wind Gap, not many villagers worried about the monsters inside coming out.

As usual, after patrolling the areas near Qiushui Village where monsters were likely to appear, Chen Dali returned to the village.

On his way back, he suddenly felt the ground shaking, thinking it was an earthquake, he quickly ran to a tree and hugged it. Then he sensed something was wrong, the tremors were coming from a distance, getting closer to Qiushui Village.

Looking in the direction from where the tremors came, he saw endless black ribbons surging from the ground…

Boom! Yang Jiawei, the patriarch of the Yang Family, slammed the table hard and said sternly, "The disappearance of Qiushui Village is entirely the responsibility of the Ling Family, it must have been done by those monsters that escaped from Kugu Ridge last time!"

"Hehe~" Ling Jingtian, the patriarch of the Ling Family, sneered a few times and said, "Yang Patriarch really has eyes growing on his buttocks. Did you swallow the traces of demonic aura left by the monsters? Uttering nonsense all the time, smearing our Ling Family with unfounded accusations."

"I admit, there was an unexpected incident during the Kugu Ridge monster migration last time, for which the Ling Family bears responsibility. We will take responsibility by hunting down those escaped monsters. But whether other families were involved in disrupting the migration, I believe it's necessary to investigate."

Ling Jingtian stared at Yang Jiawei and said, "If it was another family that instigated the war, leading to the accident during the Kugu Ridge monster migration, that family should also be held responsible!"

"Why are you looking at me?" Yang Jiawei glared at Ling Jingtian, "If you suspect me, bring the evidence, otherwise you're just slandering us, provoking the Yang Family. Do you want to stir up a war between our two families and become a sinner?"

"Some people better not be too arrogant, you really think no one knows what you've done?"

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. We are discussing the disappearance of Qiushui Village now, not the matter of Kugu Ridge." The City Lord of Beifeng City interrupted the two, stopping the argument from escalating.

Looking at the other family heads present, the City Lord of Beifeng City said, "First, we need to find out where that group of monsters came from. Meanwhile, we should also strengthen vigilance around Beifeng City, to prevent that group of monsters from reaching the foot of Beifeng City unnoticed."

Ling Jingtian said, "I suggest starting the investigation from Kugu Ridge, as it's the only place near Beifeng City with traces of demonic aura, very likely that monsters eroded by Demonic Qi leaked out from there."

Yang Jiawei immediately said, "How do you know there aren't new cracks appearing elsewhere? If it's new cracks and we delay the time according to your theory, what if the cracks expand?"

Seeing the two about to argue again, the City Lord quickly said, "Here's the plan, the Ling Family will investigate Kugu Ridge, the Yang Family will check for new cracks, and other families will cooperate with the two for this monster extermination incident."

"Get results quickly, don't let the situation spiral out of control, otherwise we'll all lose our heads!" warned the City Lord.

The Great Zhou Dynasty has always taken severe measures against demons. City lords and officials allowing demons to roam and grow within their territories face the harshest punishments from the dynasty.

The news of Qiushui Village's disappearance was sealed by the government, only small rumors spread in Beifeng City. Not many paid attention upon learning that there were traces of demons near Beifeng City.

Several hundred years have passed since the era of demon chaos, not many remember the horrors of demons. Beifeng City is inland, few encounter demons; most people regard demons merely as monsters.

Upon learning this, Ling Yuyan rushed to the Skeleton Cave. However, there were no more monsters in the cave, which made her quite worried.

If it really was "it" being eroded and transformed into a demon, that would indeed be a very tricky situation, potentially spreading from Beifeng City to the entire Tianfeng Province.

She ventured into the inner part of Kugu Ridge and met Zhou Chisheng. Zhou Chisheng said he recently sensed some movements underground, but since all his energy was focused on suppressing the Demon General on Yujing, he hadn't specifically sensed what caused the underground movements.

The selection competition for slots in the Divine Weapon Pavilion Secret Realm is about to begin.

All Divine Weapon Pavilion disciples from the Qi Cultivation Realm, Spirit Cultivation Realm, and Sea of Qi Realm can register for the competition. The contest is divided into three tiers, with separate rankings for each.

There are one hundred slots for the Qi Cultivation Realm, and it's the tier with the most registrants, reaching as many as 270,000 disciples with some confidence in their strength signing up.

Nearly one hundred thousand have registered for the Spirit Cultivation Realm competition, for fifty slots.

No concept of only a handful reaching higher realms exists in the Divine Weapon Pavilion; the ratio of strong individuals does not apply here.

If one cannot break through realms, it's either due to the Martial Cultivator not wishing to advance or committing to diligent training. It's never about resources and aptitude.

Nearly ten thousand have registered for the Sea of Qi Realm, vying for twenty slots.

Describing the competition for slots in the Divine Weapon Pavilion Secret Realm as one in a million is hardly an exaggeration.

The competition field for the Qi Cultivation Realm is set on the Teleportation Plaza where Lu Yu first entered the Divine Weapon Pavilion Secret Realm. This plaza is spacious enough to accommodate hundreds of matches simultaneously.

The competition's rule is a one-on-one elimination match; the defeated steps down, the victor advances, until the final one hundred are determined. There are no revival matches, only winning straight through allows a slot claim, lose once and it's either another try next year.

The only rule is the prohibition of using Spiritual Treasures.

Because in the Secret Realm, Spiritual Treasures cannot be used, not even storage bags can be opened.

Over 200,000 disciples gather on the plaza, with one hundred floating battle platforms in the sky, each presided over by an elder acting as referee, calling disciples up to fight when their names are read.

Amid the crowd, Huang Ying is selling a colorful batch of talismanic papers.

With Spiritual Treasures forbidden, talismanic papers become a viable alternative, hence some willingly spend money or Contribution Points for a shot at a slot into the Secret Realm.

Those disciples of the Divine Weapon Pavilion confident in their abilities and chances of securing a slot usually won't purchase Huang Ying's talismanic papers, aiming solely for breakthroughs in their own combat power in the Secret Realm, relying on external items detracts from potential combat growth.

Lu Yu stands among the crowd, helplessly watching his senior brother Kui, dressed in heavy armor specially crafted for Qi Cultivation Realm disciples by Kuidefa.

Lu Yu estimates his full-force attack likely cannot break this armor, provided he doesn't use the Demon-Breaking Saber.

The armor isn't spiritual armor, more like an iron can, relying solely on its strength to withstand attacks.

"Junior brother, when you're up there, let the opponent attack for a while before dealing with them, fully showcase the power of this super protective armor." Kuidefa earnestly advises beside him.

Lu Yu nods with difficulty, feeling encumbered by the thick super protective armor, even nodding brings effort.

Huang Ying approaches, face full of distress, "They all think it's expensive, not many willing to buy."

As consumables, talismanic papers typically used in the Qi Cultivation Realm only cost two to three hundred gold a piece; Huang Ying's selling for over a thousand naturally deters buyers.

Confidently Huang Ying states, "My talisman papers are the best, a little over a thousand isn't expensive!"

Seeing the super protective armor on Lu Yu, Huang Ying's eyes glint, a smile emerging at the corner of her mouth, "Little brother…"

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Um, there's an update burst event, the reward is an honor badge, earned by updating continuously for 30 days, or hitting over 10,000 characters in 10 days. I want it, so I'll be updating 6,000 characters daily for a while, saving some drafts.

This event runs from the 16th to the 29th, with badges for 8,000 characters daily, and also for 10,000 characters daily, so from the 16th, I'll update at least 8,000 characters a day, hopefully aiming for 10,000 for that badge (づ￣ 3￣)づ.

It's just my little hobby of collecting, remember to remind me to update over 8,000 characters each day after the 16th oh!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.