Chapter 89 : The Thing Always Forgotten
Chapter 89: The Thing Always Forgotten
Long Tao returned to the small house he rented, his mood unusually light and comfortable.
On one hand, Xiao Ying had taken the initiative to come see him, and that heartfelt gesture genuinely warmed him to the core.
The little girl had not become arrogant after suddenly leaping to the status of a Peak Master’s personally transmitted disciple; she still remembered him, her former master, which made him feel deeply gratified.
On the other hand, the table of home-style dishes prepared by Luo Yusi—rich in color, aroma, and flavor—had also left him thoroughly satisfied.
With no System blaring those life-threatening death missions into his ears, his spirit had finally been able to relax completely.
Coupled with the fact that a beautiful woman of another race had personally cooked to entertain him, for Long Tao—who had long suffered under the System’s torment—this moment could practically be called one of the rare moments of contentment since the System had latched onto him.
However, the moment he thought of the System, the string of vigilance in his heart involuntarily tightened again.
Even though that mysterious “senior transmigrator” claimed that the System’s tasks all carried hidden meaning, Long Tao was not about to fully believe it because of that alone.
If there truly was hidden meaning, then at the very least the difficulty of the tasks should have been kept within the limits of what he could handle, right? Yet every single time, was it not pushing him straight to the brink of death?
Of course, there were far too many mysteries surrounding the System and that so-called senior.
The cause-and-effect involved behind the scenes likely far exceeded his current level of understanding.
Long Tao shook his head, deciding to temporarily set aside those things he could not figure out.
What was more practical right now was to infer the possible direction of the System’s next task.
The Sect Grand Competition!
This classic “standard feature” in all kinds of fantasy cultivation novels from his previous life was absolutely a key focus for System tasks.
According to the usual formula, the protagonist would typically hide his strength in the early stages, remain obscure, then suddenly amaze everyone at the competition—sweeping the field as a dark horse, slapping the faces of everyone who had once looked down on him, ultimately winning the championship, obtaining generous special rewards from the sect, and conveniently catching the eye of some beautiful female master or powerful high-level figure, from then on embarking on a smooth, soaring path to success.
This was practically the standard starting point for a protagonist to establish himself within the sect and rise steadily through the ranks.
But the problem was… Nan Yuchen already seemed to lack nothing! A beautiful master, top-tier pets, supreme-grade cultivation methods, divine weapons and magical artifacts—everything was already at peak configuration.
This left Long Tao completely baffled as to what kind of task the System could possibly issue to push the plot forward for this “Child of Destiny” during the competition.
The competition system of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect was similar to that of most sects, divided into an annual “Minor Competition” and a “Grand Competition” held once every three years.
The “Minor Competition” was essentially rookie-on-rookie fighting among Qi Refining disciples, usually with little to see.
After all, truly gifted seedlings were snatched up by the various Peak Masters and elders at the moment of entry, taken in as personally transmitted disciples.
These prodigies would never waste time on the “Minor Competition”; their goal was to establish their foundation as quickly as possible and make a stunning appearance in the more prestigious “Grand Competition.”
However, for Outer Sect Disciples and Menial Disciples, the “Minor Competition” carried tremendous significance.
The rules stipulated that if one could break into the top eight and was not an Inner Sect Disciple, then even a menial could be exceptionally promoted directly to Inner Sect Disciple.
For bottom-tier disciples, this was no different from a carp leaping through the dragon gate.
Unfortunately, such cases were exceedingly rare.
Each year, the top eight slots were basically monopolized by Inner Sect Disciples.
The rewards for the Minor Competition were usually some relatively rare—but not overly precious—magical artifacts and pills.
Occasionally, a disciple with extraordinary luck might be noticed by a Peak Master or elder and gain the opportunity to follow them in cultivation, greatly increasing the chances of becoming a personally transmitted disciple in the future.
Since Nan Yuchen had already reached Foundation Establishment, it was impossible for him to participate in the Qi Refining–restricted “Minor Competition,” so Long Tao had not paid much attention to it before.
Still, he had considered the System’s small probability of “being despicable,” such as forcibly requiring Nan Yuchen to win the Minor Competition championship.
If that were truly the case, then Long Tao might as well lie flat and wait for death—after all, Foundation Establishment disciples did not even have the qualification to register.
Of course, although the System constantly sabotaged him, it probably would not be so utterly without a bottom line.
According to normal wish-fulfillment novel logic, sending a Foundation Establishment expert to go slaughter Qi Refining contestants would be far too undignified and low-class, completely incompatible with the bearing of a “Child of Destiny.”
Therefore, the key still lay in the Grand Competition.
The triennial Grand Competition was the true grand event of the entire sect.
It was usually scheduled during the same period as the Disciple Recruitment Ceremony held once every three years.
The purpose of this arrangement was obvious: to allow newly entered disciples to personally witness the spectacular battles of the sect’s Foundation Establishment prodigies, greatly stimulating their pursuit of the Dao and motivation to improve, while also strengthening their sense of identity and belonging to the sect.
Long Tao himself had been a firsthand witness.
In the year he entered the sect, the champion of the Grand Competition had been Fang Wuqi, who at the time was only at the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer.
In the finals, Fang Wuqi defeated another prodigy, Senior Sister Qin, who was at the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer, overcoming the strong with the weak and shocking the entire audience.
He became an idol worshipped by countless new and old disciples alike, leaving an extremely deep impression on Long Tao.
As for the previous Grand Competition three years ago, the champion had been Jian Xuan, the third disciple of True Person Zhiying—Xiao Ying’s third senior sister.
This senior sister was also a ruthless character.
Although she had failed to inherit her master’s Time Sword Intent, her swordsmanship alone was already unfathomable, and she was publicly acknowledged as one of the strongest sword cultivators of the younger generation.
And this Grand Competition… Long Tao counted on his fingers.
There were only about three months left.
By then, he would have been in the sect for a full six years, while Nan Yuchen would have just reached his third year.
“Three years, and then another three years…” Long Tao could not help but sigh at how swiftly time passed.
“Before I knew it, I’ve gone from a newly arrived menial to a six-year veteran.”
Long Tao slapped his cheeks, dispersing those chaotic thoughts about the System and the upcoming competition.
Then he lit the fire candle on the table.
The most urgent task at hand was to complete the assignment given by Vice Sect Master Shi Manyu—writing the detailed report of their previous secret realm expedition.
For Long Tao, who in his previous life had endured countless work summaries and project reports, this kind of basic paperwork was naturally no challenge.
The core ideas were already there; he only needed to reorganize them with standardized, clear wording based on the version he had previously reported to the Sect Master and the various True Persons…
Wait!
He suddenly remembered something.
Right—there was that matter of the suspected tributary of the Nether River he had seen in the secret realm.
In front of the Sect Master and Shi Manyu, he had forgotten to mention it twice in a row.
Sigh… it was probably because he had been too nervous.
He felt that despite his young age, his memory was already failing—most likely a case of neurasthenia from being tormented by the System.
Fortunately, this time he could write it directly into the report.
……
More than one shichen later.
The candlelight illuminated Long Tao’s slightly weary yet satisfied face.
After repeated deliberation, revision, and polishing, a task report he personally found quite satisfactory was finally completed.
After all, this was his first official document submitted for review by the Vice Sect Master.
It did not need to be perfect, but at the very least it could not contain typos or obvious phrasing errors.
He strove to leave his new superior with an impression of rigor and reliability.
He held the final draft in his hands and quickly skimmed through it from beginning to end once more.
After confirming there were no issues, he picked up the special envelope he had prepared earlier and carefully folded the report in half, ready to insert it.
However, just as the paper was about to slide into the mouth of the envelope, Long Tao’s movement froze again.
A faint, inexplicable sense of discord quietly welled up in his heart, like an undercurrent beneath the water’s surface.
It seemed… that something which should have been written in this report… was not present on the page.
This feeling was extremely vague.
Long Tao frowned deeply, unfolded the report again, and scanned every paragraph and detail word by word.
From how he had accepted the intelligence from the Itinerant Merchant, to purchasing supplies in advance and boarding the Cloud Vessel Lianxing, to the various experiences within the secret realm—especially the cause and effect behind that Deification-level divine soul fluctuation at the end…
All the key nodes should have been included.
“Am I overthinking it?” Long Tao rubbed his slightly throbbing temples and muttered to himself in a low voice.
“It’s probably because this secret realm mission was too stimulating, and my nerves have been taut the whole time.”
He reviewed his memories repeatedly, ultimately attributing that inexplicable sense of discord to nervous hypersensitivity caused by excessive tension.
Then he put the report into the envelope with peace of mind, stretched lazily, and went to bed to sleep.