Daoist Competition

Zhang Yan flew rapidly toward the source of the golden bell’s chime. With his swift sword escape, he crossed a hundred miles in just moments and soon spotted a valley abundant with verdant grass and towering trees.

Rising from the four corners of the valley were copper pillars, each with an old Daoist sitting cross-legged on top, holding a banner in hand.

From the base of the copper pillars, smoke would sporadically rise and weave its way toward the center, forming an intricate net that coalesced into a dense cluster. This mist stretched out across the hundred miles ahead, blocking the path—it was a Great Array.

Zhang Yan halted his tunneling light and scanned the area. At the valley’s entrance stood a stele. Finding it suspicious, he descended from his cloud and walked toward it.

The characters on the stele were peculiar and seemed to be enchanted by a Prohibition. From a distance, they were illegible, so he stepped closer to examine them in detail.

After reading the inscriptions, he finally understood the intent behind this place.

It turns out that during the Hua Dan Cultivation competitions held by the Mountain Gate, the sect ensured disciples couldn’t exploit loopholes by varying the trial methods each time.

Perhaps as a result of the Three Pools conflagration’s ultimate Breaking Array battle, the sect had, in the past two tournaments, consistently set up Forbidden Arrays for the disciples to break through.

Only those who could overcome the array gates were allowed to proceed to the Ten Peaks Mountain.

In the previous competition, participants only needed to pass the array gate guarded by the sect elders to succeed.

But this time was far more arduous—any disciple attempting to break through had to cross a whopping sixteen array gates to reach the Array Gate.

That wasn’t all. Each gate allowed passage for only one person at a time. If competing disciples met within the array, they were forced to fight. The loser would be expelled from the Array Gate and redirected by the shifting array, possibly requiring them to start anew.

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Consequently, any disciple within the array could potentially be an adversary. The more losses a participant suffered, the less likely they were to break through the array.

Zhang Yan, undeterred by the challenge, smiled faintly, flicked his sleeve, and strode boldly into the array.

While Zhang Yan was studying the stele, several Hua Dan Cultivators chatting among themselves landed nearby, intending to examine it as well.

But upon catching sight of Zhang Yan standing there with his hands behind his back, their faces changed drastically. With a low exclamation, they hesitated to approach. Only after he left did they finally muster the courage to step forward and examine the stele.

After reading the inscription, one of them sighed wretchedly, saying, "I hadn’t expected him to enter the array before us. If we enter now, we might encounter him inside."

Another immediately suggested, "Let’s wait a bit. Once he goes deeper into the array, it won’t be too late to step in."

The group all agreed with this proposal.

Upon entering the array, Zhang Yan was enveloped in a swirl of fog, as if a gauzy veil had been placed before his eyes, obscuring his vision. Unhurried, he released clouds underneath him and began flying through the array. With each shift in the formation’s patterns, he paused every mile to concentrate and calculate.

It wasn’t long before Zhang Yan discerned clues about the array’s workings.

This formation wasn’t overly complex. With patience and some understanding of array principles, most cultivators, barring interference, would likely succeed in breaking through.

However, if someone tried to seize control of a gate, matters would become far more complicated. The array gates rotated according to a set timing, so a slight delay could cause one to miss their chance.

This meant that competing disciples had to defeat rivals quickly to pass through the gates.

Thus, the trial forced entrants to reveal their full power.

Yet, with four Nascent Soul cultivators maintaining the array’s operation and ready to intervene, the sect ensured no disciple’s life was genuinely endangered.

Zhang Yan couldn’t help but muse that this array not only tested a disciple’s cultivation but also examined their temperament—a clever method to screen potential candidates.

After calculating the array’s changes for a moment longer, Zhang Yan fully grasped its mechanics and confidently adjusted his positioning to proceed through the shifting formation.

Within moments, the sound of a gong echoed, and an array gate appeared out of thin air, spilling out trails of smoke and ethereal light.

Just as he was about to ascend on clouds and fly into the gate, a figure suddenly emerged from the side, attempting to dart across the gate ahead of him.

If this person succeeded, the entire formation would shift, requiring Zhang Yan to recalculate from scratch—a frustrating waste of effort. Chuckling aloud, Zhang Yan called out, "Fellow disciple, no need to be so hasty. Please stay your hand."

With a flicker of intent, his sword light streaked through the air, blocking the array gate. If the figure pressed forward, they’d risk being struck.

Startled, the person was taken aback. Confident in his stealth techniques, he thought no one would notice him. Believing himself unassailable, he hadn’t anticipated Zhang Yan’s sword light to be so swift. Panicking, he immediately twisted away from the sword light, narrowly avoiding it, and prepared to retaliate.

But before he could act, Zhang Yan extended a finger, and the sword light surged forth once more, directly targeting his face. Forced to dodge clumsily, the figure retreated a step, only to unwittingly leave the gate unobstructed.