Chapter 227 | You Said You Only Wanted to Die

Li Nanzhu hurriedly pushed open the door, nearly colliding with everyone who had just returned.

"Junior Sister!" Duan Xianxing was the first to rush forward, his eyes shining brightly. "You're finally awake!"

Feng Qingping scrutinized her closely, a flicker of doubt crossing her eyes. "Why haven't you broken through?"

Only then did Li Nanzhu realize that her cultivation stage remained at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. However, as she sensed her condition more carefully, she found that beyond the increase in her divine sense's strength, the spiritual energy flowing through her meridians was more than twice as dense as before.

"Then congratulations are truly in order for our junior sister." Everyone was overjoyed after hearing her explanation.

"This should give you an even greater chance of victory in the Foundation Establishment stage matches," Mu Wenyan said gently. "Rest easy, you haven't missed the Sect Competition. Today's main event was drawing lots for opponents."

Li Nanzhu finally breathed a long sigh of relief, the weight lifting from her heart.

Suisui hopped onto her shoulder and produced the memory stone it had placed by the door earlier. It showed Feng Qingping setting up a protection array before the door, Jiang Yifan quietly leaving several bottles of pills on the windowsill, and even the busy Zhu Yinxi coming by late at night to check on her.

"Thank you, Senior Brothers and Senior Sister." Her nose felt a little sore with emotion.

"Why the formality? We're family," Duan Xianxing said with a grin, stuffing a paper-wrapped bundle into her hand. "I specifically saved you some demonic beast meat buns. They're still warm!"

Li Nanzhu said, "...Can we maybe not mention demonic beast meat?"

Mu Wenyan shook his head helplessly. "You, all you think about is eating." He took out a memory stone. "The specific schedule was announced at today's mobilization meeting. Let's talk about that first."

Light and shadow projected onto the wall, displaying the detailed arrangements:

"Phase one: Individual Arena Battle. A total of one hundred and fifty arenas have been set up. All registered participants will battle according to their drawn numbers, advancing through a points system. There will also be age restrictions for participants."

"Fifty years old for Foundation Establishment, eighty for Golden Core, and one hundred and fifty for Nascent Soul."

"The top two hundred will advance to the second round, which will then determine the top fifty. Among those top fifty, the three sects with the most points will enter the second phase. Naturally, the top ten individuals of the individual matches will also be decided."

"Since disciples of the Eight Sects will also participate, the points for the top fifty will be determined by skipping over those disciples and moving down the list accordingly."

"Once they have been excluded, the top ten point-earners can draw lots to face the chief disciple of the Eight Sects. Winners will not only receive extra rewards from the Eight Sects, but their previously earned points will also be doubled."

"If a sect ranks fourth in points but someone from it defeats an Eight Sects chief disciple, their points will double. If they then exceed the third-place sect's total, that sect will replace the original third-place sect to enter the second phase."

"The Sword Heart Sect has shown us special consideration," Jiang Yifan sneered, pointing to the last line of red text on the schedule. "Because the Five Elements Dao Sect has not participated for a thousand years, we are required to start from the small sect qualifying matches."

"Aren't they just bullying us because we have so few people?" Duan Xianxing looked indignant.

"If that's the case, our points won't be enough to break into the top three," Li Nanzhu frowned. They only had seven people this time. Even if they won every match, their points would likely fall short of the larger sects.

"That doesn't matter," Feng Qingping said with a slight smile. "Don't forget we have Master. Since it's a fact that we have few people, Master forcibly added two new rules."

"First, if it's a consecutive win, points will be calculated at double the current rate."

"Second, if a cultivator of an auxiliary profession defeats a sword cultivator or a body cultivator, their points will also be doubled."

"These two rules can be stacked simultaneously."

Li Nanzhu's eyes lit up. Except for the First Senior Sister and Seventh Senior Brother, her fellow disciples of the Five Elements Dao Sect were all practitioners of dual cultivation! When the fighting actually started, those who practiced dual cultivation would have a massive advantage!

Even if the senior brothers and sisters drew their swords to fight, the rules didn't forbid it. Their primary occupations would still be recorded as auxiliary, meaning they could still calculate their points with the doubling rule!

This was basically exploiting a bug!

Furthermore, she had absolute confidence in her seniors' strength. As villains capable of opposing the top-ranked Sword Heart Sect, how could they lose to other sects?

This way, their disadvantage of having few members became an advantage. After all, not just anyone could manage dual path cultivation!

Seeing how excited everyone else was, Mu Wenyan smiled and continued.

"Phase two: Sect Team Battle. The specific content of the matches hasn't been announced yet, but the only thing we know is that the final ranking determines resource distribution for the next fifty years."

"If a sect from the original Eight Sects is defeated by another sect in the team battle..." Feng Qingping said meaningfully, "they will be kicked out of the Eight Sects' ranks."

"That's the strangest part," Jiang Yifan mused. "According to tradition, no matter the final ranking, the status of the Eight Sects wouldn't be affected. But this year's competition changed the rules, actually allowing other sects to participate in the struggle for Eight Sects status."

Li Nanzhu's gaze sharpened at the news. No wonder Rong Yuying and the others were so worried. Any sect capable of fighting their way out from the others was definitely no simple opponent. No wonder they were seeking cooperation.

She unconsciously rubbed the disciple token at her waist, her mind quickly calculating potential opponents. Suisui seemed to sense her thoughts and gently tugged at her sleeve with its bone claws.

"It doesn't matter." Mu Wenyan's bell swayed slightly, emitting a clear, crisp sound. "We will take first place." His tone was calm, yet carried an unquestionable certainty.

"The schedule is tight," Zhu Yinxi said with a slight frown. "The first round begins tomorrow at the hour of Chen. The interval between matches will be no more than two hours."

Li Nanzhu thought for a moment. "So different types of cultivators will have staggered match times?"

"Correct," Feng Qingping nodded. "Auxiliary professions like talisman cultivators, pill cultivators, and refinery masters will have specialized matches, all scheduled for the latter half of the individual matches. Naturally, the Eight Sects can also participate in these, though points earned here won't be added to the previous individual match totals."

"Then we don't have to worry about auxiliary sects' scores directly pulling other sects down."

Seeing that the schedule was mostly settled, Duan Xianxing finally couldn't help but chime in. "It's finally my turn to speak! Junior Sister, you have no idea. That Sovereign of the Sword Heart Sect—a sword cultivator! He could actually drone on incessantly for an hour!" He gestured exaggeratedly. "I counted. He drank tea at least six times and wiped his sweat three times, but his mouth never stopped!"

Li Nanzhu thought to herself, "For real?"

Feng Qingping remarked, "Seventh Junior Brother, you usually talk quite a bit yourself."

Li Nanzhu added, "Rejecting sword cultivator stereotypes starts with me."

"Every sect and faction is trying to probe our background," Zhu Yinxi said, tapping the memory stone. The image shifted to show several cultivators observing them in the shadows. "They are particularly curious about the junior sister and Suisui, who haven't appeared yet."