...

Lu Qing was not in a rush; instead, he first looked toward Lingtai County. Whenever the Formation was triggered during his seclusion, he would be able to sense it.

There was also no aura of a Sound Transmission Talisman here. Looking down, aside from the white snow having vanished and been replaced by a blazing midday sun, Lingtai County showed no changes compared to before his seclusion.

A trace of suspicion flashed across his mind, and he looked toward the Lingtai River. The water of the Lingtai River was emerald green, so deep that its bottom could not be seen, and the ports along the riverbank were still as bustling as ever.

Had those people not returned yet?

This thought crossed Lu Qing's mind.

This seclusion had directly brought him to June.

He looked at his disciple Token. The White Crane Boy had indeed sent a few greeting messages. After Lu Qing replied to him first, he turned his attention to the Jade Slip.

Lu Qing calculated the time; this grand competition should have already ended.

He looked at the messages inside.

【The list of quotas for entering the Inner Sect Courtyard from the Outer Court grand competition is as follows...】

Aside from those messages, this list of quotas was also considered intelligence information.

Lu Qing cast his gaze forward and looked straight to the very bottom. The last person to enter was an Outer Sect Disciple named Li Feng. His cultivation was a sliver higher than those who barely scraped by in the past, being at the Eighth Stage of the Purple Mansion, but it was followed by a bracket stating that he had already entered the Ninth Stage of the Purple Mansion.

Clearly, this Li Feng was not someone who had just entered the Eighth Stage, but had rather waited in the Eighth Stage for a long time, breaking through to the Ninth Stage of the Purple Mansion on the spot right after the grand competition.

Unsurprisingly, not a single person from his batch who entered last year was able to make the cut.

【This year's grand competition was postponed simply because manpower could not be spared temporarily. Saying it was for the sake of certain people before was complete bullshit.】

【The grand competition was truly wonderful! Although it concluded a month ago, I still can't forget it. Who would have thought spells could be unleashed in such a way?】

【Previously, I thought that batch of geniuses sent down from the inner Sect was meant to let them sneak into the grand competition, but it turned out I was overthinking it. The reason they were able to enter the Purple Mansion in the first place was precisely because they had Divine Soul treasures and contracted Spirit Beasts, allowing them to be so fast and break that divine child's record.】

【Indeed. But because of this, their Realms are probably somewhat unstable now. I just find it puzzling—even if it was postponed to the end of the year, it's impossible for their cultivation to reach the eighth or ninth stage of the Purple Mansion in just a year, right?】

【Stop talking about it. Although they can't go from Purple Mansion to Core Formation in a year, they are geniuses after all, and isn't it normal for them to lose this time? They only entered the Sect last year, and being able to enter the Purple Mansion this year already shows exceptional natural talent. The next grand competition will be when they steal the spotlight.】

As Lu Qing read on, his brows involuntarily furrowed. He had no interest in rankings, slaughtering everywhere, or any dark horses that suddenly rose to fame.

The few messages he saw were all about those monstrous talent geniuses, as well as some news regarding Earth Grade geniuses. The Jade Slip encompassed countless pieces of information.

Although the grand competition had ended, discussions about it remained a hot topic. As for this unprecedented batch of people from the Outer Court, they likewise lacked no attention, though it was much less than before.

"Just entered the Purple Mansion? An unstable Realm?" Lu Qing suddenly realized a problem: was his current cultivation speed normal or abnormal?

The ones Lu Qing originally compared himself to were precisely these famous prodigies. They were prodigies with high cultivation and rapid progress; wasn't that normal?

With this batch of people holding the weight at the top, as a slightly exceptional High-Grade disciple, his Realm was just a bit faster.

Could he compare to these people reaching the Late Stage of Qi Nourishment in less than a month, and then directly reaching the middle or Late Stage of Foundation Establishment a few months later? Making such a comparison, as long as it wasn't scrutinized by someone with ulterior motives, blending in among them meant he wouldn't stand out all of a sudden.

After all, back when he was in Qi Nourishment, these prodigies were already about to touch Foundation Establishment, and they even had Shifus specially procuring Foundation Establishment spiritual items for them. Right after entering Foundation Establishment, it was around the time of demon slaying; Lu Qing had only sparred with others on the Dao Academy's arena without seeing any blood.

Those people, however, rushed straight to the front lines of demon slaying, with every blade drawing blood, and their Foundation Establishment combat power was also exaggerated.

With such a speed, Lu Qing would never think that only he was making progress.

But now, seeing this message, Lu Qing frowned. He had no interest whatsoever in being a crane among chickens or a bird that sticks its head out. Whenever he thought of titles like number one, outstanding talent among humans, peerless Genius, and the like, what he saw was not a Plot Armor, but rather trouble paired with a certain-death halo.

"However, I might be overthinking it. Perhaps they had some preparations. Cultivation is like crossing a bitter sea, and they were just a step faster." Lu Qing quickly swept away this shred of distracting thought.

Being a step faster was nothing; he only needed to continue avoiding calamities and cultivate steadily.

Putting this matter aside, Lu Qing sorted through his previous cultivation progress.

"In terms of my cultivation, there is no unstable Realm..."

"The Purple Mansion is related to the Divine Soul. Is my Divine Soul stronger than ordinary people across two lifetimes? That should be one point. Then there is the ancient tree spiritual liquid, and the Dao enlightenment session from before." Lu Qing sorted it out once and summarized the reasons for his current cultivation speed.

He had now entered the Purple Mansion Third Stage. Such a speed was indeed exaggerated, but Lu Qing thought about it thoroughly: aside from longevity and Averting Misfortune, hadn't he opened any cultivation cheats? He didn't make a big fuss about his breakthroughs, and even his explanation to the White Crane Boy was mostly centered around seclusion and cultivation.

With his tight lips and unostentatious personality, even if he returned to the Mountain Gate, it wouldn't cause a commotion.

He refocused his attention on the place he was guarding.

"However, Lingtai being peaceful during this period of time is also a good thing."

Without seeing those large ships with a unique Sect aura, Lu Qing was unsure what they ultimately wanted, but at least this situation meant that trouble had not yet arrived for him.

...

Walking north from Lingtai County, after a clear, emerald-green river wound past a mountain bend, the river water abruptly and gradually began to turn turbid.

The murky yellow river water mixed with silt flowed toward low-lying areas, and several black boats were docked beside a fishing village that lived off the water.

Beneath a withered tree at the entrance of the village stood several figures in dark cloud robes.

On the left and right sides of a wooden table used for playing Go, one side sat a Middle-aged Cultivator with half-white hair, while the other sat a wretched, impoverished old Daoist with a gloomy and distressed expression.

The impoverished old Daoist nagged, "Immeasurable Heavenly Venerate. The place deduced by this old Daoist cannot be wrong. As for a clear river, aside from that area of the Lingtai River, where else can be considered a clear river?"

This group of people was precisely several members of the Lingyun Sect who had come to settle accounts, along with the stubborn old Daoist they spoke of.

"Bullshit! You motherfucker only said four words, yet you led my younger brother to his death there!" The Third Brother gritted his teeth, clenching the fists in his hands.

Beside him, the Sixth Brother had a gloomy gaze and pulled the Third Brother back, saying in a low voice, "Don't cause trouble. Eldest Brother knows what he's doing."

The impoverished old Daoist's expression grew even more bitter. Those distressed brows drooped down, and a sense of bitterness emanated from him.

Behind them, the Third Brother seemed to have his sorrowful memories stirred up, and his eyes turned red again.

The Eldest Brother calmly half-raised his hand, and an invisible force appeared, instantly cutting off this psychological influence.

After being stunned for a moment, the several people behind him immediately filled their eyes with vigilance, their expressions toward the old Daoist suddenly turning even more guarded.

...