Looking at the bronze incense burner in the center of the great hall and the wisps of sandalwood smoke curling upward, none of the disciples inside dared to make a sound. Yet those who believed they met the requirements had their eyes flickering with their own thoughts.
"Brother Han, are you going to participate?" After the sandalwood incense had burned nearly halfway, Silver Moon noticed that
"Participate? Why wouldn't I? Every other disciple looks thoroughly tempted. If I don't participate, that would only attract more attention." Han Li replied faintly through divine sense.
Hearing this, Silver Moon fell silent.
After a while, the sandalwood incense in the bronze burner burned to ash, and the middle-aged man who had been resting with his eyes closed opened them.
"Those who don't meet the requirements and those unwilling to compete may withdraw from the Cleansing Heart Hall."
"As you command, Ancestor!"
Most of the disciples bowed and slowly filed out of the great hall.
Inside the hall, aside from the Foundation Establishment cultivators, there were only three to four dozen young disciples remaining, including Han Li and the burly man.
The middle-aged cultivator sized up Han Li and the others, then nodded with satisfaction.
"Very good. Nearly all the qualifying disciples have stayed behind. I'm quite pleased. Even if you aren't selected in this sect's selection, going there to broaden your horizons and exchange pointers with fellow disciples from the other peaks will be greatly beneficial for your future cultivation. Now, let your senior brother explain the matters to pay attention to during the competition. Granduncle Yu and I have other business, so we'll be taking our leave."
With those words, the cultivator surnamed Xin stood up and walked toward the rear hall. The gray-robed elder followed silently behind him.
"Ahem! Since the Peak Master has entrusted this matter to me, I hope all of you junior nephews will listen carefully. After all, this competition is essentially an exchange between fellow disciples, and there are certain taboos to avoid." The gaunt-faced youth surnamed Miao coughed a few times, stepped forward, and addressed Han Li and the others in an unhurried tone.
"First of all, any techniques or artifacts that are overly venomous or can kill with a single blow are not permitted in the competition. Violators will be expelled from the sect at the very least, or have their cultivation crippled at worst. Also..."
...
A quarter of an hour later, the disciples remaining in the hall, Han Li among them, walked out through the doors once more, their faces flushed with excitement as they flew off in every direction.
Han Li watched the others' departing silhouettes, shook his head, and then flew off from Heavenly Spring Peak on his own magic tool.
Returning smoothly to his cave dwelling, Han Li immediately began preparations for next month's sect competition.
Since he needed to secure one of the twenty-four slots without revealing his true level of strength, the only option was to rely on talismans and several magic tools he hadn't used in years.
As for top-grade magic tools, to say nothing of the rest — just those Han Li had stripped from the Core Formation cultivators who had perished at his hands numbered over a dozen.
However, to avoid drawing attention, he could only carefully select a few.
For the sect competition, he didn't plan to deploy all his magic tools. Instead, he began mass-producing low and mid-grade talismans, intending to overwhelm his lower-level opponents with these in a single decisive surge.
However, that alone wouldn't quite be enough. Han Li also made a point of studying the "Flame Manipulation Technique" he had obtained many years ago from the old Daoist of the Xin
Speaking of which, Han Li had possessed this Flame Manipulation Technique for many years now. Back then, he had found the time to study parts of it and had gained considerable inspiration from the process.
But with his current late-stage Core Formation cultivation, the technique naturally was nothing remarkable. As a result, in just a few days, he had completely mastered the flame-transformation method, even surpassing the insights recorded in the original technique in its subtleties.
In the days that followed, Han Li devoted himself entirely to crafting various talismans.
During this period, his gold-and-silver Devouring Iron Insects finally began devouring each other.
Han Li took a moment to observe them and was naturally delighted.
He believed that after this further evolution, even if the Devouring Iron Insects hadn't fully matured, they couldn't be far from the legendary stage where nothing could escape their appetite.
As for the Howling Soul Beast next door, it gave Han Li quite a headache — it was still fast asleep in the spirit beast chamber, showing absolutely no signs of waking up.