Chapter 635: Three Factions' Forbidden Land

"Late Core Formation stage, in secluded cultivation?" The man who conveyed the message was clearly taken aback. He then let out a long sigh, and no further sound emerged.

Without another word, the cultivator surnamed Bai from the Ancient Sword Sect raised his hand, and a white light struck a seemingly ordinary bluestone nearby. Immediately, light flickered among the pile of rocks. After a flash of white light, he vanished without a trace.

This pile of rocks was, in fact, a cleverly concealed teleportation array.

Seeing the other party leave, the gray-robed elder found a mountain stone nearby and sat down cross-legged, minding his own business.

At the other end of the teleportation array, in a modest stone chamber of the Hundred Refinements Pavilion, the scholar's figure appeared within the formation amidst a white light. Surrounding him stood several high-level cultivators from the three sects, including the elder surnamed Fu.

"How is it, junior brother? Are things almost ready over there?" the cultivator surnamed Jiang asked without hesitation the moment the scholar's figure emerged.

"Don't worry, senior brother. Everything is in order at the Holy Land. We can teleport there now," the scholar replied with a smile.

"That's good! Brother Duan, please bring in those ten juniors. As agreed, each of our three sects will send one Core Formation cultivator to accompany them. Elder Wang will accompany them from our side, and Cloudfall Sect already has Peak Master Yu. Brother Jiang, who will be going from your side?" the elder surnamed Fu nodded with satisfaction and said.

Hearing this, the red-robed elder pushed open the door and went out without a word.

"What's so great about going to the Holy Land? It's not like we haven't been there before. Let Junior Brother Bai make the trip," the elder surnamed Jiang replied nonchalantly.

"That works. I recall Fellow Daoist Bai, though he hasn't been stationed at the Holy Land, was one of the top ten disciples at the Sword Trial Assembly back then. Now, it'll be a trip down memory lane for him," the elder surnamed Fu said with a smile.

The green-robed scholar nodded in agreement with a calm expression, saying nothing.

However, the young woman in white smiled charmingly and came to stand beside the scholar, standing shoulder to shoulder with him, looking utterly affectionate.

Just then, footsteps were heard from outside the stone chamber. The red-robed elder walked in with a calm expression, followed by the top ten disciples from the three sects.

This time, although Cloudfall Sect still didn't secure first place, they had four disciples in the top ten, the most among the three sects.

This made the elder surnamed Duan appear calm on the surface, but secretly quite pleased.

Thinking this, his gaze involuntarily fell upon his four disciples: the woman surnamed Mu from Sky Spring Peak, and a cold-faced, resolute young man named Sun Huo from Fire Cloud Peak.

As for the other two, they were Han Li and Du Dong.

Han Li was of course fine! But upon seeing Du Dong, the Fire Cloud Peak Master's expression remained unchanged. Yet, he couldn't help but inwardly snort. A trace of mockery flashed in his heart.

As for the disciple who achieved first place this time, he was a black-clothed youth with an expression like a drawn sword. This youth was Meng Di, a disciple of the Ancient Sword Sect who possessed the "Nine Spirit Sword Physique."

The "Nine Spirit Sword Physique" was hailed as one of the three great sword-cultivation spirit physiques in the cultivation world; this was no exaggeration. Wielding a top-tier sword artifact, no opponent could withstand his overwhelming sword qi for more than a moment. He secured first place with overwhelming superiority.

At this thought, the red-robed elder felt a twinge of jealousy over the Ancient Sword Sect's good fortune.

Han Li observed the room full of "Core Formation masters" with a cool gaze, feeling neither surprise nor joy.

After winning all three rounds, he deliberately lost to a Foundation Establishment opponent from the Hundred Refinements Pavilion whose cultivation was not weak. This allowed him, along with five other defeated opponents, to participate in the competition for ranks seven through ten.

Finally, he feigned a scenario where his talismans were almost exhausted. He barely scraped by, securing ninth place.

As for Du Dong, Han Li wondered if he had the same plan. He also lost in the fourth match, and then deliberately lost to Han Li, placing him last.

This left Han Li speechless.

The highest-ranked disciple from Cloudfall Sect was the young man named Sun Huo. His cultivation was quite formidable, managing to seize third place.

But in Han Li's view, aside from the black-clothed youth who took first place, if Sun Huo's magical artifact had been better suited to his cultivation technique, defeating the Hundred Refinements Pavilion disciple who ranked second would have been no problem at all.

As soon as the assembly concluded, each of the top ten disciples received a top-tier magical artifact. The black-clothed youth named Meng Di, however, received an additional jade box containing a Spirit Stabilization Pill.

When Han Li saw the jade box, he instinctively made a decision.

If this trip went smoothly and he could obtain the Spirit Eye Tree's spiritual root and the pill recipe, that would be sufficient. If not, he wouldn't mind 'borrowing' the item from this Ancient Sword Sect disciple for a while.

After all, having a Spirit Stabilization Pill would make forming a Nascent Soul considerably easier.

While Han Li was pondering, the elder surnamed Fu had already begun to instruct the disciples to teleport.

These young cultivators from the three sects also knew where they were headed next, and most of them beamed with joy.

Amidst flashing white light, the Bai cultivator and a ruddy-faced middle-aged cultivator from the Hundred Refinements Pavilion teleported first. Then, the other disciples followed, two by two.

After a brief spell of dizziness, Han Li and the others appeared in a desolate pile of rocks, enveloped in thick fog and damp air.

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly, and instinctively released his spiritual sense to probe the area. However, his spiritual perception was immediately blocked and pushed back by a powerful restriction after extending only a few dozen feet.

A chill ran through him. He knew this place was protected by an extremely formidable magic array, and it would be best to achieve his objective stealthily.

Seeing that they had all teleported over, the gray-robed elder calmly stood up. With a raised hand, he cast a yellow spell-seal, which flew into the mist and vanished.

The thick fog around them began to churn. Then, in the direction they were facing, the mist suddenly dispersed, revealing a moss-covered stone wall not far away, looking as if no one had ever been there.

"Listen closely," the scholar surnamed Bai, who seemed very familiar with everything inside, warned them with a chilling voice before the other two could say anything. "Because the spiritual water has been refined and must be used immediately for eye-washing, you have this rare opportunity to enter the forbidden grounds of our three sects. Normally, even we are not permitted to approach this place. Once inside, you may only stay for one day and one night, and you must depart promptly on the second day. The interior is riddled with restrictions; you are strictly forbidden from wandering around, or you will bear the consequences."

These junior disciples naturally all agreed.

Just then, from the direction of the bluestone wall, came the voice of the man who had conveyed the message earlier.

"Alright. Any instructions can wait until you're inside. I'm about to open a passage in the grand array for you."

As soon as the man surnamed Yue finished speaking, the stone wall rippled and blurred like a water surface, then emitted dazzling green light, making it impossible to look directly at it.

A moment later, when everyone recovered and looked forward again, they were astonished to discover:

The bluestone wall had vanished, replaced by a gigantic stone gate, its double doors tightly shut.

The stone gate was covered in dense spell talismans, and multi-colored spiritual light flickered incessantly, indicating an unknown number of powerful restrictions placed upon it. Outside the stone gate, several layers of yellow light barriers enveloped it, making it impossible to easily approach the gate itself.

At this moment, in front of the colossal gate, which stood over ten zhang tall, a yellow-robed cultivator stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

The cultivator appeared to be around forty years old. His thick, dark eyebrows were slightly upturned, and his face exuded an astonishingly fierce aura, causing ordinary people to feel terrified and unable to meet his gaze.

"Heh heh! Senior Brother Yue's Ghost Fiend Art seems to have made considerable progress. It seems senior brother's cultivation has advanced by leaps and bounds while cultivating near the sacred tree," the middle-aged cultivator from the Hundred Refinements Pavilion murmured with a hint of envy upon seeing the yellow-robed cultivator's overwhelming fiendish aura.

His words were not loud, but they were clearly heard by the cultivator surnamed Yue. The yellow-robed cultivator immediately rolled his eyes and spoke curtly.

"Hmph! If you're willing to be confined to this forbidden area for fifty or sixty years, you can naturally come in and cultivate diligently too. I just fear you, junior brother, wouldn't be able to bear the solitude then!"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged cultivator from the Hundred Refinements Pavilion immediately looked embarrassed.

"Junior brother, I was just speaking casually. Senior Brother Yue and Senior Brothers Wu and Tian, guarding this place, naturally endure extreme hardship. I just..."

"Enough, no need to say more. This restriction was jointly set up by several Nascent Soul stage senior uncles from our three sects. I can only open it for a brief moment. You all should hurry!"

As soon as the yellow-robed cultivator finished speaking, he immediately flipped his palm, and a yellow token appeared in his hand.

His face showed a solemn expression, and he began to chant incantations.

Suddenly, the token emitted a brilliant yellow light, and a yellow mist swept out from it. Wherever it passed, the light barriers instantly melted away, revealing a passage several zhang wide. "Everyone, go in, and quickly!" Seeing this, the scholar urged them without hesitation. He then transformed into a white rainbow and shot inside first.

The gray-robed elder and the middle-aged cultivator from the Hundred Refinements Pavilion also gave a command and swiftly darted inside.

Seeing this, Han Li and the others dared not delay, and one after another, they flew in on their magical artifacts.