Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 487: Those Who Didn’t Break Through Mid-Battle Are Key Surveillance Targets

Chapter 487: Those Who Didn’t Break Through Mid-Battle Are Key Surveillance Targets

The Qi Training cultivators who had fought their way to the finals were but a single thought away from the Foundation Establishment Stage. Among them were many who could have broken through a month prior, yet they refused to, suppressing it until this very moment to break through mid-battle.

The first match featured two contenders: Chen Chenxi and Su Youdao.

Chen Chenxi broke through to the Foundation Establishment, believing victory was certain, only to realize his opponent had thought the same.

“These two juniors have some clever ideas, though who will prevail remains to be seen.”

The sect elders whispered among themselves, unable to predict the outcome. Since the two had similar cultivation and foundations, the tide could turn as long as the battle hadn’t concluded.

“Without question, victory will belong to our Heart-Locking disciple.” The Heart-Locking Sect Leader stepped forward to back Chen Chenxi, who hailed from the Heart-Locking Sect.

“Is that so? Are you looking down on our Void-Breaking Sect?” The Void-Breaking Sect Leader narrowed his eyes, backing their sect disciple, Su Youdao.

The Heart-Locking Sect Leader smiled like a gentle spring breeze. “I’m merely stating the facts. How is that looking down on you?”

“Shall we make a wager then?”

“What are the stakes?”

“The ownership of the Great Yu cultivators.”

“Sure, let’s bet then! What’s there to be scared of?!”

The two sect leaders were evenly matched in power, and their sects were of comparable strength. Having been at odds with each other, backing down now would only invite mockery for years to come.

The Qi Training battles proved far fiercer than anticipated. By unofficial counts, ninety-six percent of Great Perfection Qi Training prodigies chose to break through mid-combat, elevating the Qi Training category’s overall combat power.

In the end, victory went to a core disciple of the Qi-Commanding Sect.

“Note every Qi Training contestant who didn’t break through mid-battle. They’re key surveillance targets,” Jiang Qun ordered his subordinates. He suspected these individuals to be archaic cultivators who had dispersed their cultivation to cultivate anew.

“Understood.” The reply was received as an auditory message from the Luoshui Guard hiding in the shadows.

Having undergone special training, the Luoshui Guard excelled in stealth arts and agriculture. Detecting them was nigh impossible, though just yesterday, Jiang Qun and his Luoshui Guard were caught by the River Spirit upon arriving at the Dao-Seeking Sect.

Jiang Qun nodded in satisfaction, not expecting results so swiftly. “Speaking of which, I had hoped to pay my respects to you seniors yesterday but couldn’t locate you. Truly a pity. Where were all of you yesterday?”

He had reached before the celebration began. After the rites, he wanted to seek out the immortal sect leaders and only managed to find Luo Hongxia chatting with Sixth Elder. The two were using their spiritual consciousness to communicate, but Jiang Qun mistook it as they were casting flirtatious glances at each other and didn’t dare to disturb them.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy effortlessly categorized herself as one of the “seniors” and replied, “I received urgent intelligence that Great Yu cultivators plan to infiltrate our Dao-Seeking Sect and sabotage the ceremony.”

Qiu Jin’an seamlessly continued, “After receiving the news from Sect Leader Lu, we devised a plan. We’d conceal ourselves in the treasure box and wait for the Great Yu cultivators to walk into our trap.”

Jiang Qun was baffled. Why didn’t the Luoshui Guard receive this intelligence? And why hide in a treasure box?

Yang Ding added, “You might not be aware, dear nephew, but this treasure box is a supreme treasure of the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace. It possesses the power to beguile the mind, easily bewitching high-level cultivators and luring them into the box.”

“So mystical?” Jiang Qun gasped. I’ve never heard of a supreme treasure with such features. The Five Great Immortal Sects’ waters truly run deep.

“Then why wasn’t I beguiled?”

“Your cultivation is too low.”

Jiang Qun didn’t know what to say to that. “Then where are the Great Yu cultivators now?”

“Inside the treasure box.” Luo Hongxia patted it with an expression of quiet grievance. As the treasure box’s value increased, so did her status. On her way here, everyone urged her to guard it meticulously and shout for help if she encountered any danger; they would rush to her aid immediately.

A human borrowing a box’s power.[1]

“All of them have been caught?” Jiang Qun flushed with shame. He had taken pride in identifying a few suspected archaic cultivators who had dispersed their cultivation to cultivate anew, yet the Dao-Seeking Sect was already close to wiping out Great Yu’s forces.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy nodded steadily. “More or less. Only the Imperial Preceptor remains; he’s supposedly a half-immortal powerhouse. We don’t know where he’s hiding, but Lass Yun has said to let her handle this.”

Jiang Qun had tensed up at hearing that the Imperial Preceptor was a half-immortal, but his heart settled down once he heard Yun Zhi would deal with the matter.

Wait... What did Sect Leader Lu just call Yun Zhi?

Jiang Qun’s heart quivered. No wonder Emperor Father exhorted me to foster good relations with Sect Leader Lu. His relationship with Yun Zhi is much closer than I’d imagined.

Master Jiesha stopped rolling his prayer beads and gazed at the Everlasting Immortal Fairy and the others, secretly thankful he was cultivating the Mouth-Shut Chan Meditation.

Amitabha, a monk does not speak falsehoods.

The Basic and Intermediate Foundation Establishment matches also saw a number of prodigies choosing to break through mid-battle, though such cases were much fewer compared to the Qi Training category. After all, not all prodigies had reached Great Perfection.

The two winners hailed from sects that Lu Yang wasn’t familiar with, while the Everlasting Immortal Fairy hadn’t even heard of the sects’ names. One was a second-class sect, and the other was a third-class sect.

The Five Great Immortal Sects didn’t send representatives for the first three categories. Their disciples were minimally at the Advanced Foundation Establishment Stage. If the immortal sects must participate in the first three categories, they could only send in food ingredients.

“Did you note down those individuals?” Jiang Qun transmitted an auditory message to the unseen Luoshui Guard behind him. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“Yes, all noted.”

“Investigate their backgrounds later.”

Qiu Jin’an sidestepped, addressing the Luoshui Guard behind Jiang Qun kindly, “Fellow Daoist, why not reveal yourself? It’s not like everyone can’t see you ‘hiding’ here.

“And everyone can hear your spiritual consciousness communication too. Why not just speak aloud?”

Qiu Jin’an and the others could hear the exchange between Jiang Qun and the Luoshui Guard as clear as day. So what are you two acting all secretive for?

The Luoshui Guard helplessly showed himself.

Suspicious cultivators were filtered mainly by combat experience. Those seasoned in combat had a high chance of being reforged archaic cultivators, a smaller chance of being an expert pretending to be weak, and an even slimmer chance that their body had been taken over.

The lavish prizes could have tempted experts to feign weakness; the first and third scenarios were considered key surveillance targets.

It wasn’t that Great Xia bore hostility toward archaic cultivators. Dispersing one’s cultivation to cultivate anew wasn’t illegal. At most, they were unregistered individuals. Paying a fine and formally registering themselves would suffice.

However, most archaic cultivators refused to comply with Great Xia’s laws, bringing their old ways of murder and arson into the Great Xia Dynasty. This was why Great Xia had to crack down on these lawless old relics. If archaic cultivators behaved after waking from their slumber, Great Xia wouldn’t bother with them.

Actually, Lu Yang himself was very suspicious. His rich combat experience and ability to beat an old-timer like Master Jiesha defied logic.

But since he was Yun Zhi’s little junior brother, and considering Yun Zhi’s similar feats in the past, no one found anything wrong with Lu Yang.

1. This is a play on the idiom of “a dog relying on their master’s authority,” which means someone borrowing someone else’s authority to commit evil deeds. ☜