Chapter 551 - The Scum Is Bookish

Suddenly, Pai Lie appeared before the participants. Before any of them could react, a bright light suddenly flashed, catching them all off-guard.

"AH!" they cried when they felt their eyes stung, shortly becoming blinded thus they didn't see Pai Lie made an array surrounding them. So, they felt there was nothing beneath their feet. Before they could even catch their breaths, they fell. "AAAAAH!!!" they screamed. They were shocked they forgot to board their swords.

"Aiyo. These children are poor in aptitude." Pai Lie shook his head as he watched the participants fell down the array before closed the array.

Zheng Fu Gong and Zheng Yi carried the large Cleansing Stone on the stage and everyone saw the projected images inside the special space Pai Lie sent the participants to.

"It is the Cleansing Stone!" the audience exclaimed when they recognized the Cleansing Stone from the last competition.

"So, those stones they gave to the participants are actually pieces from the Cleansing Stone?" they said.

"It was just like the previous Intersect Competition!" someone said. "Now that I think about it, isn't this point system also like the previous one?" they asked.

"You said it." Someone answered.

The audience chattered excitedly while the sect leaders and elders are calm. But, the participants are neither excited nor calm, since they are still falling.

"AAAAAH!!!" they screamed as they tried to grab something to hold on to. But, what can they grab mid-air?

"Use your swords!" Wen Yan spoke as he drew his sword and boarded it, grabbing Wen Wen who was still screaming.

"Yes!" the others answered.

Zhu Xi also boarded his sword and grabbed Cui Xiao while Su Mi grabbed Su Yi. Fei Yinzi grabbed Cui Xiang. Just from this, everyone realized that half of the Xinfaxian Sect disciples are mages.

Although Su Yi is also a sword cultivator, he is a spell caster more. Unlike his master Li Tian who balances both the sword and spellcasting, Su Yi is more interested in spellcasting rather than the tiring training with sword skills and martial arts. He leaves that to his elder sister Su Mi.

Su Yi, you can say, is more bookish than Li Tian. He is even frequently visiting Cheng Sheng in the Jixu Peak to learn more about spellcasting. He only learned and trained the sword for defense. Wen Wen, on the other hand, is a pure mage like Cui Xiang and Cui Xiao.

Wen Wen, with his master and his master's husband both talisman mages, he also focused on talisman making only unlike Cui Xiao who can make potions and also use spells. Cui Xiang also didn't focus in only one area of alchemy. She is a potion brewer and pill refiner, the two of three areas of the alchemy that are the most essential, aside from talisman making. But, since the array drawing and spellcasting, the remaining two areas, are energy consuming and time consuming, are almost ignored.

And the most ignored one is array drawing, which is the most difficult. That is why array masters are rare, like Pai Lie and Cheng Sheng.

Cui Xiang who is silently crying with her face pale in horror hugged Fei Yinzi's arm tight. Fortunately, she knew not to scream unlike Wen Wen so she can't disturb Fei Yinzi who is focusing on maneuvering his sword for them both. Although she is the elder sister, she is more delicate than her younger sister Cui Xiao who is a tomboy.

The others like Qi Lan, Jin Yu, Wu Tie, Chen Wu, Wu Lian, Fei Luo, Sun Yan, Xi Bing, Qian Jue, Jing De, Tang Li, Li Yan and Ling Yun who are the calm type had reacted fast like Wen Yan, the older brother of the Xinfaxian Sect, and also boarded their swords for them to not become a meat paste when they hit the ground. The three sisters of the Tuanhui Sect Hui Na, Hui Qu and Hui Lu also aren't the delicate type to cry. They are strong so the three of them grabbed their other two fellow female disciples who didn't react fast.

Qi Lan grabbed He Shun who is flailing his limbs. Chen Wu and Wu Lian grabbed Chen Yu and Chen Su each. Fei Luo grabbed Fei Huo with a frown on his face. Sun Yan grabbed Sun Ri and Xi Bing… well, he didn't need to grab Xi He since the other also finally reacted after he saw Wu Tie is calmly flying beside Jin Yu. Qian Jue grabbed Qian Meng and Jing De grabbed Jing Xu.

The remaining sixteen participants, with six rogue cultivators and ten disciples from other sects, saw them and followed them. But, unfortunately, there are still some who couldn't react fast and almost turned into a meat paste.

Everyone was about to close their eyes to avoid seeing a gruesome sight when they saw a flash of white in the corner of their eyes. Before they knew it, the other participants fell on the Shapeshifting Blanket.

"… Bai Tan?!" the participants recognized the Shapeshifting Blanket. After all, it was inside its space they trained before.

As if responding to them, the Shapeshifting Blanket twirled, making the participants it carrying become dizzy and almost puked. The participants then realized that this blanket had its own consciousness thus they didn't dare puke lest it threw them out.

"Woah! We thought… we thought…!" the audience clutched their chests when they thought that the participants would immediately die.

"The Righteous Alliance won't let anybody die." The host smiled.

The audience knows that if they said it, they really mean it.

"We offer our thanks to elder Cheng Sheng for lending us the Shapeshifting Blanket." The host continued and turned to Cheng Sheng and bowed. "The Shapeshifting Blanket will be there to assist our participants in case the situation would be more dangerous and is beyond their abilities to resolve." He explained.

"Oh." The audience now understood.

Cheng Sheng just smiled and took out his fan and fanned himself and Fei Yin.

"I thought Bai Tan was there to add 'liveliness' to the third stage." Jing Bai spoke as he turned to Zheng Yi who is sitting beside him.

Zheng Yi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Indeed, when the name 'Cheng Sheng' was mentioned, he is associated with the word 'liveliness'.

…

"Thank you, Er Zi." Cui Xiang thanked Fei Yinzi after everyone safely landed on the ground. She immediately ate some magic pills and the color of her face returned to normal. She also gave some to Wen Wen whose legs are shaking and if not him helped by Wen Yan, he would have fell face first on the ground.

The other participants also saw the medium-quality magic pills and they know that the magic pills that they currently have won't be enough for two weeks, not to mention that they have to fight against the demons which will definitely consume them, and some accidents might happen on the way.

But, they aren't in a hurry to buy magic pills and potions to the Xinfaxian Sect, which is currently the only sect that have the most number of mages, and have talisman makers and potion brewers, not to mention pill refiners – the magic pills that everyone needs.

However, although everyone needs magic pills, including the ordinary people, the supply does not meet the demand, since only a few can become pill refiners, like Cheng Sheng, You Rou and Cui Xiang. It comes down to natural talent. That is why pill refiners are in-demand. And currently, in this space, Cui Xiang is the only pill refiner.

It has to be mentioned that Xinfaxian Sect has the biggest advantage because Cui Xiang can refine magic pills anywhere and anytime, as long as she has the ingredients, which everyone knows that she definitely has since everyone has come prepared for two weeks.

Cui Xiang felt all the hairs on her body stood at their ends when she felt everyone's gazes on her. She naturally understands her worth. Of course, the Xinfaxian Sect disciples know this fact the most. Thus, they surrounded Cui Xiang in a protective stance.

Chen Wu, Chen Su and Chen Yu, including Wu Lian, naturally wouldn't just stand on the side and they also stood by the Xinfaxian Sect's side.

"Everyone is a civilized person. We can negotiate." Chen Wu, the eldest among the two sects' disciples, spoke. "You can buy from Cui Xiang-shimei. No need to use force. If you will, you will face both our sects." He warned them as he held the hilt of his sword.

Everyone naturally knows.

"Ge, I…" Sun Ri spoke.

"No need to worry about your friends." Sun Yan whispered. "Chen Wu and Wu Lian are formidable, not to mention Zhu Xi and Su Mi are the aggressive type. There is also Wen Yan who is cool-headed and Er Zi who is unpredictable." He told her.

Sun Ri calmed down.

"We can meet them later. Let us find a base for our sect for now." Sun Yan added.

But, his voice just fell when a loud voice filled with hostility yelled.

"Wu Tie, you stop there for me!" it was none other than Xi He.