92: First place in the competition, late-stage Qi Refining cultivation technique

The once lush dense forest was now covered in traces of battle, with broken ancient trees and scorched earth visible everywhere.

At this moment, only seven hundred-plus people remained in the Secret Realm. After eight days of slaughter, these seven hundred-plus Disciples had become exceptionally cautious. The air was thick with tension, and even the slightest fluctuation of spiritual power could make anyone feel as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

At this point, some Disciples who were confident in their points were no longer hunting Yao Beasts everywhere, but had instead hidden themselves. This was because the Yao Beasts within the Secret Realm had already been mostly hunted down, and more importantly, they feared that showing too much would lead to them being besieged.

The Secret Realm now resembled the "Dark Forest" mentioned in your past life; everyone was a hunter, and everyone was also prey. All the Disciples wanted to plunder others while simultaneously fearing being plundered themselves, but this had nothing to do with you; you just needed to lie low until the time ran out.

Finally, the ten days were up, and everyone was teleported out of the Secret Realm.

After final calculations, your score was the highest, and you ranked first in this trial; unfortunately, being first in this trial held no real meaning.

However, this competition made most of the Azure Cloud Sect remember you, and they all felt that you were someone not to be easily offended.

After all, they couldn't believe that someone capable of cultivating such a profound stealth Spell lacked talent; you were definitely a cunning schemer in reality.

Everyone wants to be a cunning schemer, but everyone also hates them, and even more so, they don't want to offend one.

"From today onwards, you are all True Disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect. I hope you will Cultivate diligently and not tarnish the prestige of our Azure Cloud Sect."

Having said that, Sect Master Yun Qingzi waved his sleeve, and your disciple tokens soared into the air, enveloped by a brilliant white light.

When the light dissipated, the original Inner Sect Disciple tokens had transformed into True disciple tokens of blue and gold, radiating an aura of awe-inspiring majesty.

Of course, the Inner Sect competition was not over yet; even with the True disciple tokens, you still had to participate in the third stage of the competition.

This third stage was a knockout tournament format.

The one hundred of you would spar in pairs; the top ten would be rewarded by the Sect with one hundred thousand contribution points and a Low Grade Spiritual Artifact, while the top three would be rewarded with a High Grade Spiritual Artifact.

The venue for the third stage of combat was still the competition platform.

Seeing Sect Master Yun Qingzi wave his sleeve, amidst the surging of immense energy, the massive competition platform instantly disassembled and reorganized into ten smaller, yet still spacious, arenas.

For this battle, you continued to use your stealth tactics. During the match, you directly cast the Obscure Breath Technique to conceal your form. Your opponents could only stare blankly, as those at the sixth level of Qi Refining could not yet use area-of-effect Spells to cover the entire arena.

You appeared behind your opponent while still invisible, then slapped the back of their head. After receiving this slap, the opponent fainted directly and fell straight to the ground.

This was one of the Spells you had improved, named the Sleep Spell, which you had refined by referencing Spells like soul-confusion and concussion; those struck by it would fall into a deep sleep.

The result of the competition was without suspense; no one could endure a single slap from you. With a crushing posture, you once again took first place in the competition.

The Inner Sect competition officially concluded, and you True Disciples now had to choose your own destinations.

In the Azure Cloud Sect, after becoming a True Disciple, one could choose to study under those Elders in the Purple Mansion Realm. If one performed exceptionally well, one might receive training from the Elder, making the path after the Dao Foundation Realm easier to traverse.

However, doing so meant being bound to that Elder; when one prospers, the other prospers, and when one suffers, the other suffers.

You did not choose to take a master because the cultivation philosophies of those Elders did not align with yours, and you preferred free exploration; the degree of freedom was poor after joining an Elder's floating mountain peak.

You left the Inner Sect Disciple courtyard where you had lived for several years and headed to the area where the True Disciples resided.

Azure Cloud Mountain was incomparably vast with numerous peaks; every True Disciple could possess a small mountain peak of their own.

In your view, Azure Cloud Mountain was like an enlarged version of the mountains from your past life, and the peaks possessed by True Disciples, when calculated by proportion, should actually be considered as mere rocks on the main peak of Azure Cloud Mountain.

The Spirit Land and Spirit Pools possessed by True Disciples were larger than those of Inner Sect Disciples. Some True Disciples who specialized in refining Spirit Medicine would fill their Spirit Land with Spirit Medicine and hire Outer Sect Disciples to tend to them.

This was also the main source of tasks for Outer Sect Disciples.

You used a Formation to clean the entire mountain peak, and finally entered the bedroom, took out your True disciple token, and selected a Cultivation Technique for the Late Stage of Qi Refining.

The Late Stage of Qi Refining was no longer just about increasing spiritual power and expanding the Dantian.

Because one's Essence, Qi, and Spirit must be powerful to forge a Dao Foundation, the Late Stage of Qi Refining was actually the process of strengthening one's Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

Golden Muscle and Jade Bone, Complete Cycle, and Divine Sense Manifestation were the Foundations for forging a complete Dao Foundation.

Golden Muscle and Jade Bone: the flesh and blood take on a pale golden hue, the speed of wound healing far exceeds that of ordinary people, and the bones faintly reveal a jade-like luster, capable of snapping a Medium Grade Magical Artifact with bare hands without sustaining injury.

Complete Cycle: spiritual power turns into liquid, forming a vortex of spiritual power, and the speed of spiritual power circulation and Spiritual Qi absorption increases significantly.

Divine Sense Manifestation: spiritual consciousness transforms into Divine Sense, perception increases significantly, enabling one to observe at a Microscopic Level and multitask.

Achieving one of these three states meant reaching the seventh level of Qi Refining, and achieving all three meant reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining.

You quickly selected three Cultivation Techniques from the True disciple token, each for cultivating Essence, Qi, and Spirit respectively.

These three Cultivation Techniques were "Nine Turns Body Refining Art", "Nine Turns Qi Condensation Art", and "Nine Turns Spirit Refining Art".

It was said that these three Cultivation Techniques were the most chosen ones in the Azure Cloud Sect; as long as one cultivated these three techniques to the sixth turn, one could meet the standard for forging a Dao Foundation.

According to the techniques, cultivating these three to the ninth turn could provide the Foundation for forging a Flawless Dao Foundation.

In this world, the Dao Foundation was divided into four levels: Cracked, Complete, Spirit-Enriched, and Flawless.

A Cracked Dao Foundation was a Dao Foundation Realm achieved by forcing a Breakthrough when the Foundation was insufficient; one would be forever stuck at the Early Stage of the Dao Foundation Realm.

A Complete Dao Foundation was a Dao Foundation Realm achieved through the normal process and normal Breakthrough; under normal circumstances, one could Cultivate to the Perfection of the Dao Foundation, but without a great Opportunity, there was no hope of reaching the Purple Mansion in this lifetime.

A Spirit-Enriched Dao Foundation meant a solid Foundation, possessing the possibility of achieving the Purple Mansion.

A Flawless Dao Foundation meant a perfect Foundation, capable of increasing the probability of breaking through to the Purple Mansion by seventy percent.

However, starting from the sixth turn, the difficulty of cultivating these three techniques skyrocketed; each turn was harder than the last, and to reach the ninth turn required nothing less than a peerless Genius.

However, you had great confidence in yourself; if even you could not break through to the ninth turn, then no one in this world could.

With this thought in mind, you couldn't wait to begin comprehending these three Cultivation Techniques.