Not long after, the steward's hall announced the date of the minor competition, and Senior Martial Brother Zhou brought specific information.
The minor competition of Aura Refining cultivators in the seventh layer and above could register. In this minor competition, the top 30 would receive a Foundation-Building Pill as a reward, as well as spirit stones and so on.
Everyone looked happy when they heard the news.
The top 30 would receive a reward. It seemed the sect's pill-concocting this time went very smoothly.
Although the Foundation-Building Pill wasn't an ancient miraculous medicine, its materials weren't common. Usually, the sect would spend several years to concoct one furnace of pills, and the success rate of this furnace would affect the rewards of the minor competition.
When luck was bad, there would only be about ten finished pills from one furnace. After deducting the quota for eleventh and twelfth layer Aura Refining disciples, as well as some reserved for disciples with great contributions, the rest would be the rewards of the minor competition. In this way, only the top 10 would receive a reward.
But this time, the top 30 would receive a reward. Their luck was really good.
The minor competition was also a ring competition, but after drawing lots, they would fight each other in pairs. The winner would advance until the first place was decided.
Therefore, this kind of competition made many people feel lucky. If the opponent they drew wasn't strong, it would be easy for them to get a high ranking.
However, entering the top 50 basically couldn't rely on luck. There were about 400 cultivators in the seventh layer and above, and after three rounds of competition, only those who entered the top 50 would enter the top 50.
Aura Refining disciples in the seventh layer and above began to prepare one after another. For a while, the prices of talismans, medicinal pills, and spirit tools increased by two times compared to usual.
Mo Tiange rejoiced that she was prepared long ago. Otherwise, she wouldn't have any money to buy things — the spirit stones she had were almost used up during her two years of Closed Door Meditation.
This time, Second Uncle prepared a lot of talismans and medicinal pills for her. When she found out, she discovered that Second Uncle sold some of his belongings.
Because of this, Mo Tiange secretly made up her mind. Even if it was for Second Uncle, she had to obtain the Foundation-Building Pill.
Soon after, Senior Martial Brother Zhou brought another piece of news.
Zixia Sect invited the three groups to hold a minor competition together to motivate their disciples.
This wasn't the first time in the history of the three groups. In the past, the three groups indeed held a minor competition together, but this was the first time they held one together with such a huge difference in strength.
For this reason, Jindao School's School Head Jin wasn't happy about it. In the end, Zixia Sect's School Head Li proposed that Zixia Sect take out some Foundation-Building Pills as the reward for the overall ranking. As for the rewards for the internal ranking of the three groups, the three groups would distribute them among themselves.
This made Jin Zhangmen feel a little more comfortable. Even if no disciple of Jindao School received the reward, they wouldn't lose anything. It was just that they would lose face.
However, if they refused, they would become a laughing stock, and people would gossip that the Jindao School was weak and timid. Therefore, they could only bite the bullet and agree, hoping that one or two disciples could live up to expectations.
She couldn't understand Zixia Sect's purpose.
Although Zixia Sect expressed that they would only take out ten Foundation-Building Pills, these ten Foundation-Building Pills could possibly add one or two Foundation Building cultivators to their sect. Was it really necessary to make such a contribution just to save face?
While the four of them were chatting in the small living room, Jiang Shanghang, who rarely came out, snorted coldly when he heard what Mo Tiange said. "It'll look good on your face, so it'll be much easier for you to recruit disciples with good aptitudes in the future. In the long run, the benefits will be much greater than having one or two Foundation Building cultivators."
Everyone was silent. Although no one liked Jiang Shanghang, he was still a disciple of Jiang Clan, so the way he looked at things was very different from them.
What he said was also very reasonable. If they became famous, in the future, all the children with spiritual roots in this area would go to Zixia Sect first, and they would be able to pick those with good aptitudes first. If a few of them had single or mutated spiritual roots, in the future, the gap between them and the other two groups would only grow bigger and bigger. This wasn't something that one or two Foundation Building cultivators could pull back.
After he finished speaking, Jiang Shanghang once again returned to his room. In the past few years, he still ignored everyone and only focused on cultivating. Now, he only lacked Foundation-Building Pills, so it seemed he was determined to win this minor competition.
Xu Jingzhi stared at the door of Jiang Shanghang's room and asked the three people in amazement, "Did you guys see that?
Senior Martial Brother Jiang actually talked to us! Is that true? "
His tone made Mo Tiange laugh. "It's not like Senior Martial Brother Jiang doesn't talk to us." It was just that his tone wasn't very good and he didn't talk to us too often.
Qin Xi, who was drawing talismans on the table, raised his head. "Junior Martial Brother Xu, are you ready?"
This question touched Xu Jingzhi's sore spot. With a bitter expression, he said, "No, my big brother also wants to participate in the minor competition. My clan supports him, so I can only make do with some talismans."
"In any case, it's better than us." Liu Yidao stopped cultivating and said, "You still have your clan's support. We, on the other hand, are genuine individual cultivators with no one to rely on. Aside from the sect's supplies, we don't have anything else."
Xu Jingzhi jumped up and shouted, "Senior Martial Brother Liu, you're still talking! Last time, in Miwu Valley's competition, how many rewards did you get?!"
Liu Yidao scratched his head. "It's been two years, yet Junior Martial Brother Xu still remembers …"
Xu Jingzhi snorted. "Of course I didn't get anything. Otherwise, I would've advanced to the tenth layer like Junior Martial Brother Ye.
Ay, I really don't want to call Junior Martial Brother Ye martial uncle in the future … "
"How could it be that easy?" Mo Tiange sighed. "Senior Martial Brother Xu, it's not like you don't know that I have five spiritual roots. Being able to cultivate to the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm is already my good fortune. As for advancing to the Foundation Building realm … How many cultivators with five spiritual roots can successfully advance to the Foundation Building realm?"
At this point, Xu Jingzhi also shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Although I have four spiritual roots, my cultivation has always been mediocre, so I could only enter the sect through the Immortals Assembly … Ay, Junior Martial Brother Ye, being able to cultivate to this stage with five spiritual roots … You're indeed better than me."
The two of them looked at each other and sighed, making the atmosphere very depressing.
Qin Xi, who was still concentrating on drawing talismans, said, "Although aptitude is important, it's not the only thing. Some Nascent Soul cultivators aren't geniuses with single or mutated spiritual roots. More than half of them have double or even three spiritual roots."
Mo Tiange had never heard of this before. "Why is that?"
Qin Xi flicked his finger, burning the broken talisman. He then glanced at her and said, "Cultivators with single or mutated spiritual roots can advance through the realms very quickly and easily advance to the Core Formation realm. However, it's precisely because of this that their temperaments aren't firm enough, so they haven't been tested by their Inner Demons.
Once they reach the Nascent Soul realm, aptitude doesn't play much of a role, but temperaments do. They can easily cultivate to the peak stage of the Core Formation realm, but they often fail at the Inner Demons during the Nascent Soul realm.
On the other hand, it's not easy for cultivators with double or three spiritual roots to cultivate to the Core Formation realm. They usually have to go through trials, but their willpower is firm. When they reach the Nascent Soul realm, their lifespans are usually more than half, and their temperaments and experiences can withstand the trials. Therefore, although it's not easy for them to cultivate, it's much safer for them to form their Nascent Soul. "
The other three people had never heard of this before, so they were all amazed. "So doesn't that mean cultivators with double or three spiritual roots are better?
Why doesn't the sect attach importance to them? "
Qin Xi raised the corners of his mouth, looking like he was smiling. Now, he also smiled occasionally, so he looked a bit more human compared to when he first arrived. "That being said, how many people have single or mutated spiritual roots? Although double spiritual roots are a bit rare, triple spiritual roots are everywhere.
A cultivation group has five thousand Aura Refining disciples, but there might only be two or three with single or mutated spiritual roots, four to five hundred with double spiritual roots, and more than four thousand with triple spiritual roots.
As long as there are no accidents, these two or three people with single or mutated spiritual roots will advance to the Core Formation realm. However, among these four thousand people with double or mutated spiritual roots, only about ten people will advance to the Core Formation realm.
If they form their Nascent Soul, the former is half, while the latter … might not even have one. "
Speaking up to this point, even he sighed. "The path to the Nascent Soul realm … is indeed much more difficult than we imagined. Those with good aptitudes can smoothly advance to the Core Formation realm even if they don't have enough comprehension and effort. Those with poor aptitudes … not to mention the Nascent Soul realm, even reaching the Core Formation realm requires several times the effort."
Once he finished speaking, the other three people sank into silence. After a long time, Liu Yidao finally said, "Not to mention the Core Formation realm and the Nascent Soul realm, even building our foundation is a problem for us."
"Yes," Xu Jingzhi said, "Among more than four hundred Aura Refining disciples, perhaps only two or three will advance to the Foundation Building realm. I wonder if any of us will be able to move to the North Peak next year."