149: On the eve of the competition (fourth update!)

The next morning, the sunrise over Kunlun seemed earlier and more magnificent than in the lowlands.

The Academy was no longer as quiet as it used to be.

Besides the two hundred students who were about to participate in the final selection, many unfamiliar Faces appeared around the Martial Arts Training Ground.

There were parents, dressed simply, yet with an undisguised pride and awkwardness on their Faces.

There were also official staff members in suits, with serious expressions, inspecting equipment and maintaining order across the venue.

After the initial shock, doubt, and fear, the family members (audience) of these children had now largely processed the absurd fact that their children were “Cultivators.”

In its place was a deep-seated pride.

Their children were Heavenly Immortals!

Who would believe it if they said that?

But the facts were right before their eyes.

“Old Fang, Old Han, are you nervous?”

Liu Lian walked, nudging Fang Yuan beside him with his elbow, his Face filled with unconcealed excitement.

“Today is a global live broadcast! We’ll be celebrities from now on! No, Immortal Celebrities!”

Fang Yuan, dressed in the Academy’s uniform cultivation attire, appeared even more composed. He nodded, speaking truthfully.

“A little.”

He was indeed nervous.

This was his first time fighting with all his might in front of so many people.

Although the Headmaster had cast a Spell, unfamiliar people would see them as blurry light and shadow, but parents and relatives could see them clearly.

Thinking of his parents watching from below the stage, Fang Yuan felt his palms slightly sweating. This ordinary young man, usually inconspicuous in a crowd, was about to step onto an unprecedented stage.

“Nervous my ass!”

Han Li, holding a tablet displaying a dense schedule of live broadcast procedures and scripts, retorted to Liu Lian without lifting his head.

“I’m not even afraid of being exposed, that’s why I volunteered to be the host. I want the whole world to see that I, Han Li, am awesome!”

Liu Lian chuckled.

“That’s because your combat power is no good, you’d just get beaten up if you went up there. Better to be a host and run your mouth.”

He patted his chest, full of heroic spirit.

“I’m different. I’ve been looking forward to this competition for a long time! Finally, I can openly show off in front of people! I’m going to fight ten!”

Han Li glanced at him sideways.

“Give it a rest. With your mediocre swordsmanship, it’ll be a success if you’re not instantly defeated by one move.”

“Screw you!”

Liu Lian was unconvinced and turned to Fang Yuan.

“Fang Yuan, if we Face each other later, you have to go easy on me! Let me get in a few more moves, even if I lose, I have to lose gracefully!”

Han Li spoke coolly from the side.

“Don’t worry, you’ll definitely be thrashed by Fang Yuan. When a bolt of lightning strikes, your hairstyle will probably turn into an afro, handsome, absolutely handsome.”

“Get lost!”

Liu Lian cursed with a laugh, then looked pitifully at Fang Yuan.

“Fang Yuan, did you hear that? Go easy, give your brother some Face!”

Fang Yuan watched the two jokers bicker, his tense facial lines finally softened, revealing a faint smile.

At the same time.

At the foot of Kunlun Mountain, several black commercial vehicles slowly came to a stop.

The doors opened, and Cai Xukun, Liu Tianxian, and their respective team members stepped out.

When they looked up at the perilous peak, shrouded in mist and almost invisible at the top, everyone fell silent.

“Brother Wang… are we… are we going to do a live broadcast here?”

Cai Xukun’s assistant, a young girl, looked at the mountain before them, which looked nothing like a path, and asked her agent in a low voice.

The agent, Brother Wang, also had a solemn expression.

He took a deep breath, feeling that the air here carried a refreshing coolness that cleared his chaotic mind somewhat.

“That’s right, the higher-ups said this is a top-level mission, so everyone give me your full attention!”

Liu Tianxian’s team was relatively calmer, but curiosity and awe were evident on everyone’s Faces.

“This school… is it really on the mountaintop?”

Liu Tianxian spoke, gazing at the mountain peak where the outlines of palaces faintly appeared and disappeared in the mist.

“Yes, Sister Tianxian.”

The liaison sent by Zhang He walked over and saluted them.

“Please follow me, the path up the mountain has been prepared for you all.”

The group followed the liaison, stepping onto the mountain path paved with bluestone slabs.

The higher they walked, the stronger their shock became.

This was not a road that could be built by modern engineering.

It was naturally formed, perfectly integrated with the mountain, as if it had existed there since ancient times.

When they finally arrived at the summit, panting, and saw the grand and ancient “Kunlun Cultivation Academy” mountain gate, which looked utterly unlike human creation, everyone stopped.

The entire team, including Cai Xukun and Liu Tianxian, who were accustomed to the world’s most luxurious settings, now stood with their mouths agape, unable to utter a single word.

Is this… really a school?

This was simply the Southern Heavenly Gate from myths and legends!

Grand, ancient, and majestic.

They could even feel an indescribable energy flowing in the air; each breath made their bodies feel an unprecedented sense of comfort.

“This… this…”

Cai Xukun’s agent, Brother Wang, a seasoned veteran who had been in the entertainment industry for over twenty years, was now stammering.

He finally understood why the officials were making such a big fuss, even going so far as to use drastic measures to clear public opinion for this live broadcast.

What the hell was this, a gimmick?!

This school, he feared, truly taught Immortal Cultivation!

Just as they were overwhelmed with shock, two students in cultivation attire walked out of the mountain gate, chatting as they went.

“Hey, what do you think, will Senior Lin Xiao still defeat everyone with one sword strike in today’s finals?”

“Hard to say. Fang Yuan’s lightning Spell is also incredibly fierce, and there’s Lu Miaomiao, that violent loli. Whoever runs into her is unlucky.”

The two students walked past Cai Xukun and his group, curiously glancing at them a few times, then headed straight down the mountain.

But it was just those casual glances that made Cai Xukun and Liu Tianxian’s team members feel as if they were being stared at by some terrifying creature, and all the hairs on their bodies stood on end.

Brother Wang swallowed hard. He grabbed everyone in his team, lowered his voice, and commanded them with unprecedented seriousness.

“Everyone, listen carefully!”

“From now on, put away all your bad habits from the entertainment industry—acting like big shots, putting on airs, all of it!”

“Here, we are apprentices; we are here to learn! If anyone dares to cause any trouble, don’t blame me, Wang, for turning my back on you!”

“Do you all understand?”

Everyone, including Cai Xukun, instinctively nodded repeatedly.

They looked at the Academy, like an Immortal Palace, with only one thought in their minds.

This world is about to change.