Deep within the secret realm, in a strange valley shrouded in a thick, inseparable gray-white mist.
Mu Wenyan stood silently atop a massive black rock, dressed in his sapphire-blue disciple robes.
His face was handsome beyond compare, and he radiated a gentle, jade-like aura.
However, a trace of faint gravity flickered within his usually mild eyes.
It wasn't that he didn't want to regroup with his juniors.
In fact, shortly after entering the secret realm, he had tried to follow the sensing of the Soul-Sound Bell to meet them.
But as he traversed a seemingly ordinary woodland, an abnormal spatial fluctuation suddenly appeared ahead, blocking his path.
Mu Wenyan originally intended to bypass this peculiar area, only to find that the range of these strange fluctuations was extremely vast and continuous; it was not something that could be circumnavigated in a short time.
An uneasy suspicion immediately formed in his heart.
He reached out to touch the void in front of him. His fingertips met a resilient resistance, as if an invisible wall stood in his way.
He attempted to circulate his Nascent Soul stage spiritual energy, a faint glow flickering at his fingertips. However, the barrier only emitted an imperceptible ripple, easily neutralizing his power.
"The handiwork of a Soul Transformation stage expert..." Mu Wenyan withdrew his hand, a look of realization flashing in his eyes.
With his suspicion confirmed, Mu Wenyan expanded his divine sense to carefully investigate the area covered by the barrier.
The barrier was incredibly vast, completely obstructing the road ahead.
The scenery inside was no different from the outside—still the usual mountains and trees of the secret realm, with dense spiritual energy and no signs of anything bizarre.
"So that's how it is," Mu Wenyan sighed helplessly.
This was not a cage, but a boundary—a line drawn to separate Nascent Soul stage cultivators from the Golden Core stage and Foundation Establishment stage disciples.
The intention of the Soul Transformation expert who set this barrier was clear: to prevent high-level cultivators from intervening in the lower-level disciples' competition too early, maintaining the fairness and the trial-like significance of the Sect Competition.
"It seems the Nascent Soul battlefield has been partitioned off separately," he murmured to himself.
Since he couldn't break through by force, he temporarily set aside the idea of meeting up with his juniors.
The priority now was to understand the situation within this Nascent Soul combat zone.
With this thought, his divine sense spread deeper into the area.
This region was extremely vast. With his Nascent Soul stage divine sense, he couldn't immediately find the edge, nor did he detect the obvious auras of other Nascent Soul cultivators right away.
However, a moment later, his divine sense locked onto a deep canyon about a hundred miles to the northwest.
A pure and powerful spiritual energy fluctuation of a flag was clearly discernible. Guarding beside it was a violent and ferocious demonic beast aura, whose strength had remarkably reached the Nascent Soul level as well!
"A Nascent Soul stage guardian beast..." Mu Wenyan felt a slight chill in his heart, but then he relaxed.
Just as he suspected, beasts of this strength were restricted to this area, which meant his juniors outside wouldn't encounter such high-level dangers.
He naturally had no idea that his little junior sister, Li Nanzhu, had already performed heroic feats. He simply felt that this measure truly ensured the safety of the low-level disciples.
He pondered for a moment, his thoughts racing.
Since Nascent Soul cultivators were restricted here, there must also be flags placed here for them to fight over.
Otherwise, if they were trapped here with nothing to do and no way to gain points, it would be a great injustice for the competition.
However...
Mu Wenyan's gaze swept across the vast forest before him as he speculated.
The number of flags here would certainly be far fewer than in the outside world.
The vast majority of flags should be scattered outside for the Golden Core and Foundation Establishment disciples to contest.
Placing some flags here was both to give Nascent Soul cultivators points to fight for so they wouldn't waste their time, and also a form of balance—to prevent teams with Nascent Soul cultivators from accumulating a massive point advantage in the early stages.
"This can be considered a blessing in disguise," Mu Wenyan nodded slightly.
Though he couldn't fight alongside his juniors for the time being, at least he wasn't idle here and could still earn points for the sect.
Furthermore, the competition here would be a pure duel of high-end combat power, making it more direct and intense.
Meticulous by nature, he soon thought of another crucial point.
According to the rules of the competition, the elimination circle for the entire participating area would continuously shrink over time, forcing teams to meet and eventually decide a winner.
If the elimination circle kept shrinking while they, the Nascent Soul cultivators, were trapped here by this Soul Transformation barrier, wouldn't that mean they would be trapped to death within the barrier and ultimately eliminated for being outside the circle?
This was clearly illogical.
The Soul Transformation expert had set this barrier for balance, not to strip the Nascent Soul cultivators of their qualification to compete.
"The only explanation is..." Mu Wenyan's gaze swept over the barrier, "this Nascent Soul combat zone is likely located in the core region of the secret realm, or rather, it is designated within the range of the final circle!"
He surmised that the organizers of the competition had already taken this into account.
The shrinkage path and final range of the elimination circle would inevitably include this Nascent Soul combat zone.
It was even possible that this area was one of the stages reserved for the final decisive battle.
In this way, it ensured that Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't interfere with the early accumulation of low-level disciples while also ensuring they could participate in the ultimate peak duel in the later stages, contributing points and determining the final ranking.
"In other words, no matter how the elimination circle shrinks, it is impossible for us to be excluded before the final critical moment arrives." Mu Wenyan reached a conclusion, and the last trace of worry in his heart vanished.
And because of this, he also needed to pay attention to the surrounding terrain to determine an action route for his juniors during the final chaotic battle.
Lastly, he ran through the list of Nascent Soul cultivators likely trapped here in his mind.
Aside from himself, the Nascent Soul cultivators who met the age requirement for the competition should include Qi Yunze of the Sword Heart Sect, Yun Wuya of the Tianyan Sect, Qin Lie of the Beast Taming Sect, Chu Chenzhou of the Water Moon Sect, and Huixin of the Mingguang Sect.
He deduced that these people should also be blocked by this Soul Transformation barrier and remain within this Nascent Soul combat zone.
After all, the presence of Nascent Soul cultivators had too much of an impact on the competition of lower-level disciples. Concentrating them here was the most reasonable arrangement.
However, what Mu Wenyan didn't know was that there was an exception regarding Qin Lie of the Beast Taming Sect.
Because Qin Lie had been heavily injured by Mo Lin during the previous Nascent Soul stage competition, his injuries had yet to heal, and his strength was greatly diminished.
More importantly, his life-bound contract beast had suffered damage to its origin in that battle and could not easily be deployed, requiring a long period of recovery.
A Nascent Soul cultivator from the Beast Taming Sect who had suffered severe damage and lost his strongest combat asset could likely exert less than fifty percent of his full strength. He might even only be equivalent to a peak Golden Core level.
For this reason, when the higher-ups of the Eight Sects discussed the details of this team competition, they decided—following deliberations with the other sects—not to include Qin Lie in this Nascent Soul combat zone.
The reasoning was sound: placing a severely weakened Nascent Soul cultivator into a Nascent Soul battlefield was no different from sending him to his death, which would be unfair.
In the end, Qin Lie was teleported to the normal competition area.
And this precisely explained why Li Nanzhu and the others were able to deal with and escape from Qin Lie during their brief encounter—they weren't facing a Nascent Soul cultivator in perfect condition, but an opponent whose strength had fallen to the Golden Core level.
Mu Wenyan was naturally unaware of these internal details.
He simply finished listing his potential opponents in his mind, composed himself, and wasted no more time.
Selecting the direction of the flag he had just detected, he moved his body and began to travel stealthily toward that location.
Rate on N.U.
