Immortality Starts With Ignorant Heart Sword Art

Chapter 136: The Tree Wants to Be Still, but the Wind Keeps Blowing, Approaching a Great Battle

The Observation Heaven List is officially issued by the Cloud Firmament Sect. It is rumored that many Gold Core Perfected Beings are paying attention to the list, preparing to recruit disciples from it.

This rumor, coupled with the fact that in the first round of the Observation Heaven List, disciples from humble backgrounds surpassed those from prestigious families, has made both inner and outer disciples highly interested in the list.

Of course, ordinary cultivators are just watching for fun.

The most interested in the Observation Heaven List are the disciples who have had fortuitous encounters in other realms.

Their strength has greatly increased due to these encounters, and naturally they want to be listed on the Observation Heaven List, to be seen by Foundation Building and even Gold Core Perfected Beings.

Even those who have already taken on disciples cannot avoid the desire to be listed.

As for the reason, it is as Zhong Cang mentioned before - the mountain masters and peak masters do not have only one disciple.

And most mountain masters and peak masters do not always fulfill their disciples' requests.

Those inner disciples who have taken on disciples still need to compete and find ways to attract their masters' attention.

Being listed on the Observation Heaven List and gaining fame is definitely the best way to catch their masters' attention.

Therefore, whether they are inner or outer disciples, everyone is paying attention to the release of the list.

...

Xuan Yuan Realm, a small world that has been mostly explored by the Cloud Firmament Sect. The spiritual energy in this world is weak, and the highest cultivation level for human cultivators can only reach the ninth level of Qi Refining.

However, although this world is small, it has many rare minerals that the Cloud Firmament Sect needs.

The most crucial thing is that there is a type of mineral here that has already disappeared in the Hong Xuan Realm.

The existence of this mineral has made the Xuan Yuan Realm a strategic location for the Cloud Firmament Sect.

For this reason, many teams have settled in this world.

Zhou Cang and Yan Ying lead one of these teams.

At the same time, although they were the second group to settle in, the inner disciples and disciples from prestigious families are ultimately stronger than the disciples from humble backgrounds, and they have more means.

In their team, there are many people who are naturally talented in treasure hunting, or who have practiced secret methods for exploring treasures, or who have rare pets such as treasure-seeking rats and spirit-seeking ferrets.

In addition to their stronger strength, they can explore more areas, and their gains are not inferior to those who came in the first group.

With more gains, their cultivation speed naturally increases.

Most of the members of Zhou Cang and Yan Ying's team have greatly improved their cultivation.

Zhou Cang, the leader, and Yan Ying have even improved their cultivation by a whole level.

The rapid improvement in cultivation also brings them joy.

At this moment, they are resting in a restaurant in the imperial city of the Xuan Yuan Realm, chatting with each other, and waiting for the delivery of the Observation Heaven List.

During their conversation, they couldn't help but mention Zhong Cang, who ranked first in the previous Observation Heaven List.

"What do you think Zhong Cang's cultivation level will be after this year?"

"Maybe just one small level."

"Huh? That's underestimating him. Although he is timid, he does have talent."

"You got it wrong. He hasn't been cultivating for a year. He only cultivated for one month."

This statement left the person who wanted to refute speechless. Then, he shook his head and said, "...... I was foolish. He didn't enter the other realm, and his cultivation time is indeed not as long as ours."

"Hey, if I only cultivate for a month, can I surpass him?"

This statement instantly stirred up the emotions of the crowd.

"You cultivated for a year and even found seven 300-year-old Zhu Guo fruits. Your cultivation level went from the sixth level of Qi Refining to the seventh level of Qi Refining... You really have a chance to surpass him!"

"Wait, I found an 800-year-old Di Yu gem. Although it can only enhance earth attribute cultivation, I happen to have an earth attribute. I always feel like I can surpass him too."

"And me... I obtained an Ice Ghost Grass. I have to thank Brother Zhou Cang. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to dive into the thousand-meter deep cold pool."

"You're welcome. Since I formed the team, naturally I won't let everyone leave empty-handed."

"Brother Zhou is righteous..."

At the Xuan Yuan Realm Restaurant, the people who had gained something were comparing themselves to Zhong Cang and contemplating whether they could surpass him.

Zhong Cang had become the benchmark for comparison among the crowd.

And most people believed that they could surpass Zhong Cang.

This kind of thinking is not arrogance, but because they have really gained a lot during this period.

Moreover, their cultivation time is ten times longer than Zhong Cang's.

Under these circumstances, they naturally dare to compete with Zhong Cang.

While excitedly comparing themselves, some people sighed for Zhong Cang.

"Not daring to come to the other realm for an adventure was his biggest mistake."

"Who says it isn't? Originally, comparing the speed of cultivation improvement with such a genius was something I didn't even dare to think about. But now, I have really achieved it and surpassed him."

"If this continues, in one or two years, he will be completely left behind. At that time, his master will no longer value him."

"It shouldn't come to that... That Zhong Cang is just timid, not stupid. Seeing how fast our strength has improved, he should come down."

"It's too late. The easily collectible resources in this world have already been collected by us. Now, the resources on each of us can last for three to five years. Even if he comes down, he can't compare to us."

"One step slow, step by step slow. Dare to go against the trend, this is the price..."

The cultivators below were discussing whether they could surpass Zhong Cang, while the top cultivators like Zhou Cang and Yan Ying didn't even bother to discuss it.

They stopped considering Zhong Cang as their opponent months ago.

At this moment, they were only wary of each other.

And the Observation Heaven List was sent to the Imperial City Restaurant in the Xuan Yuan Realm under these circumstances.

Upon receiving the list, the cultivators here immediately searched for their rankings.

And those who had gained something really saw themselves on the Observation Heaven List.

"I made it onto the list, hahaha, I'm ranked thirty-third."

"I made it onto the list too, ranked seventeenth."

"Ah, it's a pity, I was so close to making it into the top ten."

"Thirteenth, you're not just a little bit away."

"I saw the boss, Brother Zhou Cang is in fifth place... Why is he so low."

"This is normal. Brother Zhou Cang is strong, so naturally his progress is slow. However, the difficulty of his progress is even greater than that of Low Level cultivators, as it is two levels harder."

"That's true."

"By the way, has anyone seen Zhong Cang?"

"Not yet... Huh?!"

"He couldn't have not made it onto the list."

"If that's really the case, then it's ridiculous..."

"Don't say that, it's actually possible. After all, one month is too short to cultivate anything, it's normal."

Lower level cultivators look at the list because they want to find themselves, so they mostly look from the bottom up.

As a result, they didn't notice Zhong Cang for a while.

This also spread laughter throughout the tavern.

But soon, some people noticed that something was wrong.

Their leader, who was originally relaxed and joking, was now looking at the Observation List with a shocked expression.

"What's happening? Our leader's face doesn't look right?"

"I don't know... how is this possible?!"

Shock and silence were originally present on Zhou Cang and Yan Ying, but this atmosphere, like an infectious disease, quickly replaced the expressions of most cultivators in the tavern with shock and disbelief.

Such silence made some cultivators who hadn't seen the list feel uneasy, and subconsciously they asked their friends around them.

"What's going on? Why is everyone silent?"

In response to this inquiry, the person didn't answer, but handed the list in their hand to the inquirer.

Then, they fell silent too.

The reason that made everyone in the tavern silent was simple: on the Observation List, the first place was still Zhong Cang.

"It's impossible!"

"We have Zhu Guo, Di Yuan Essence, Bing You Cao, and other rare items. We have also been cultivating for a year. How did he surpass us?"

They couldn't quite understand the first-ranked Zhong Cang.

On the other hand, Zhou Cang, Yan Ying, and others at the top, although still somewhat incredulous, quickly accepted this fact.

"He truly deserves the attention of Old Qin."

"Although Old Qin provided resources, you are indeed strong to catch up with us. However, it's only for now. When the Sacrificial Array is completed, we may break through Foundation Building in one go, and you still won't be able to compete with us."

Yan Ying: "You won't be one of the disciples competing for the true transmission spots this time."

Although they were shocked and couldn't figure out how Zhong Cang cultivated so quickly, the existence of the Sacrificial Array made them feel that they still had the advantage.

However, just when they were full of confidence, a cultivator covered in blood suddenly ran into the tavern where the cultivators were resting.

"Something bad happened! The people from the Wuling Demon Sect have taken over Tianxing City!"

"What?!"

"How dare they? Didn't we agree that each person would occupy their own territory?"

"Forget about that for now. Let's go and reclaim Tianxing City."

The disciple's words instantly ended the rest period for the group of cultivators. With a fierce killing intent, they rushed towards Tianxing City.

And what unfolded before their eyes was an event that the sect had not reported.

The other realm was indeed full of opportunities, but it also held dangers.

We won't mention the dangers within this world. Every day, disciples would die during their exploration for treasures.

But what troubled the cultivators of Cloud Firmament Sect the most was that it wasn't only their sect's people who had entered the other realm. There were also the Ten Thousand Spirit Demon Sect and another major Immortal Dao sect.

Even the Beiming Demon Nation had sent a large number of demons and Demonic Beasts to contend with humans.

Because of resources, because of treasures, battles in the mortal realm were constant.

Although Zhou Cang and Yan Ying were strong, there were still casualties within their team.

This was also the reason why Zhong Cang had been unwilling to come down earlier.

At that time, he was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining and hadn't even started learning the Heaven and Earth Eight Trigrams Diagram. With his current strength, he could contend with a cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining, but any cultivator at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refining could potentially kill him.

Indeed, if Zhong Cang joined the team, he would be well protected.

But the enemy wasn't foolish; they would definitely prioritize attacking the protected individuals.

Therefore, at that time, the probability of Zhong Cang dying if he went down to the mortal realm was at least twenty percent.

And that was only in the Xuan Yuan Realm, contending against Cloud Firmament Sect. If the Demon Nation entered the Xuan Yuan Realm, the probability of Zhong Cang's death would skyrocket to fifty percent.

If there was no other way and resources were urgently needed, even if he knew the danger, Zhong Cang would still venture into the mortal realm.

But he had the Heaven Rewards Diligence and a massive supply of resources from Old Qin.

This allowed Zhong Cang to improve himself as long as he cultivated peacefully.

Since he could cultivate peacefully, Zhong Cang naturally didn't want to risk death by entering the mortal realm.

...

"Speaking of which, if I had chosen to follow Zhou Cang and Yan Ying into the mortal realm, my cultivation speed should have increased again. However, compared to speed, I prefer stability."

"A twenty percent risk is still too high."

Zhou Cang and the others could see Zhong Cang's progress in cultivation, and Zhong Cang could naturally see theirs.

He couldn't help but feel a bit emotional when he noticed how quickly these people were catching up to him, who had been diligently cultivating.

He even fantasized about what it would be like if he entered the mortal realm.

However, soon, this idea was cast aside by Zhong Cang.

He preferred to cultivate peacefully and steadily.

Unfortunately, the world of Immortal Cultivation was never peaceful.

The next day, a piece of news spread throughout Cloud Firmament Sect.

In the Xuan Yuan Realm, Cloud Firmament Sect's base had been occupied by more than half, and the counterattack had ended in a major defeat. They urgently needed reinforcements.

(End of this chapter)