Chapter 46
Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Grand Dao Tournament (4)
The Grand Dao Tournament kicked off with a grand opening ceremony, filled with praises for the Golden Sun Plain, proceeding through the scheduled program.
In the meantime, participants entered the first testing ground one by one, and I slipped in among them, settling into a cross-legged position on a suitable stone platform.
Most entrants in the Grand Dao Tournament were Core Formation cultivators, but there were no shortage of Foundation Establishment Perfected cultivators either. It was a miracle worth chasing—if they won, they could attempt a Core Formation breakthrough in the Archaic Secret Realm—so everyone joined with a sliver of hope.
It made sense.
Breaking through to Core Formation in the Archaic Secret Realm would be a massive boon for future cultivation.
The path of cultivation was an incredibly narrow one.
From birth, whether you could even enter the gates depended on having a spiritual root. Even after becoming a cultivator, your aptitude determined if you could reach Foundation Establishment or not.
During breakthroughs, insights into higher realms bubbled up from within. The better your aptitude, the more profound and refined those insights.
This difference in insights directly translated to differences in strength. As realms advanced, lower-aptitude cultivators simply couldn't compete with their high-aptitude peers.
In this way, the path of cultivation ruthlessly excluded those without talent or blessing—narrow and cruel.
Amid all this, the one thing cultivators could choose was their breakthrough environment.
What conditions to prepare, what setting to break through in. This was a truly vital matter.
To overcome the tribulations that came with Core Formation breakthroughs, using a special environment and formations with supportive dharma treasures could allow a tribulation-free advance.
Even low-aptitude cultivators could then ascend realms with ease.
And among such breakthrough environments, the pinnacle was the Archaic Secret Realm... more precisely, its 'Immortal Realm conditions.'
The Archaic Secret Realm wasn't just some ancient hideaway. It preserved the environment from when the mortal world's heavens and earth were newly formed, still tightly linked to the Immortal Realm.
Those who broke through there had a chance for 'Immortal Realm insights' to descend upon them.
The higher-realm insights emerging during breakthrough, combined with the lingering Immortal Realm connection, transformed into Immortal Realm insights.
If even one such insight took root, merely reflecting on and comprehending it would skyrocket one's cultivation, granting far higher odds of ascension than others—essentially a free pass to the Immortal Realm.
Of course, the odds of gaining such Immortal Realm insights were slimmer than winning the lottery.
But no matter how slim, as long as it wasn't zero, every cultivator would crave a breakthrough in the Archaic Secret Realm.
This was why cultivators obsessed over aptitude-boosting fortuitous encounters and superior breakthrough sites.
They'd even wait decades without breaking through, solely for that chance.
'High Heaven Sect's outskirts must be total chaos right now.'
With war-prep formations active, every patrol unit, guardian hall disciple, and elder would be out battling invading cultivators.
Enforcement hall disciples would prowl aggressively, hunting for intruders.
Among them, folks like Yeom Suk—lurking for decades without breaking through, eyeing the Archaic Secret Realm.
A few cultivators around me fretted about the sect getting breached, but I had no worries.
'In the original story, Yeom Suk won at this tournament and entered the Archaic Secret Realm, so the sect holds. I just need to focus on the event.'
As I idly pondered to kill the boredom, the tedious formalities wrapped up. An elder ascended the dais and declared,
"Very well! Let the 155th Grand Dao Tournament begin!"
A tournament held every fifty years, now on its 155th edition.
As I marveled anew at cultivators' sense of time, a Core Formation cultivator stepped forward, unfurling a scroll to reveal two characters.
Divine Sense.
"Many factors define a cultivator, but the foundation—the root—is the divine sense emanating from one's spirituality. Stronger divine sense amplifies spell and dharma treasure power, bolsters resistance to formations and illusions, and heightens resonance with heaven and earth."
After emphasizing divine sense's importance, the elder dove straight into the test details.
"You're wondering why the preamble. For those unfamiliar with the Grand Dao Tournament, I'll say it once—commit it to memory."
With hands clasped behind his back, the elder strolled leisurely and began.
"Traditionally, High Heaven Sect selected winners through Dao Debates in the arena. But not everyone here can take the stage. Many reasons, but chiefly, with so many cultivators, pure Dao Debates would take forever."
Thus, High Heaven Sect filtered through five rounds of tests to select just eight for the Dao Debate arena.
Murmurs rippled through the participants at the elder's words.
"Eight?!"
"Only eight make it...?"
"Three fights to win the whole thing."
"One hit KO!"
Shocked by the revelation—only eight from this crowd—the outer sect entrants stirred. The elder bellowed,
"From now, for one day-night cycle, I'll pressure you with divine sense—and it will intensify relentlessly. Only those who endure it all advance!"
His firm voice quelled the din. Sweeping his gaze over the cultivators, he murmured,
"Begin."
With that, immense divine sense erupted from the elder, crushing everything around.
"Ugh...!"
"Kuhk!"
Some cultivators crumpled immediately, vomiting blood.
'Insane...!'
I was startled too.
Full throttle right out the gate?
Realizing they couldn't tank it with divine sense alone, shocked cultivators deployed formations or dharma treasures. I summoned my own divine sense to resist.
'Worlds apart from Yeom Suk's!'
Yeom Suk's pressure was purely psychological, intangible.
But this elder's—befitting a Nascent Soul elder—carried tangible physical force.
Crack! Crackle!
Stone platforms split wide.
The pressure mounted. More cultivators spat blood or signaled surrender.
In those cases, other elders blasted divine sense to shield them from the dais elder's assault, then evacuated them.
"Holding up better than expected! So many talents—delightful! Shall we ramp it up?"
Evidently thrilled, the elder amped his divine sense with glee.
Rumble...!!
The reinforced pressure shook the entire tournament peak like it might collapse.
'Divine sense alone could crumble a mountain!'
I glanced around.
Yeom Suk endured quietly amid hovering talismans. Je Sang-woo shielded with dharma treasures.
Pyong Yu-ran—unseen back at the ruined ancestral hall—protected herself with fiery winged robes. Hyang Mae blocked with a spirit beast I'd never seen.
I considered donning the Heavenly Child's Golden Crown but figured I could hold longer.
My divine sense, bolstered by dual spiritual roots, outstripped same-realm peers; adding Five Skandhas Enlightenment Art pushed it beyond typical Core Formation.
'I can take more!'
Some might call it foolish, but I saw the future.
'High Heaven Sect rewards talent lavishly. These tests filter, not kill. No death risk, however grueling! The longer I endure bare-handed, the deeper the impression on the elders!'
More sect support meant faster cultivation. Time to show off to the higher-ups.
Without forming seals, I mentally recited my self-made Fusion Art incantation.
Fusing dual spiritual root power amplified divine sense; maxing Five Skandhas Enlightenment Art layered another boost. More bearable than expected.
Heightened senses from reinforced divine sense caught it—the elders' gazes locking on me.
"Now! The finale!"
The dais elder roared, unleashing divine sense dwarfing all before.
Clouds scattered under the pressure; the mountain screamed as if crumbling.
"......!!"
"Gaaah!"
Even the last holdouts fell to the final assault.
'...A standard Nascent Soul divine sense this fierce? No— he's amplifying it somehow, like me!'
Yeom Suk's talismans ignited; Pyong Yu-ran's fiery wings wavered. Je Sang-woo's treasures cracked; Hyang Mae's spirit beast vomited blood.
I couldn't hold back—formed the Fusion Art seal for extra divine sense.
"10! 9!"
The elder counted slowly, piling mental pressure.
"8! 7!"
Agonizingly slow—each "second" dragged 3-5 actual seconds.
"Urgh!"
Distracted by time, more cultivators dropped.
I shut my eyes to ignore his voice, but it resonated through my body, impossible to tune out.
"4! 3! 2! 1!"
At "1," relief washed over the survivors—"It's over."
But a chilling instinct kept my divine sense maxed. Sure enough, unrelenting pressure flattened the relieved stragglers.
"0!"
Finally counting the true last number, the elder withdrew his divine sense and chuckled heartily.
"Hahaha! I left about twenty percent—handle the rest, everyone!"
Hearing that, I scanned the weary surroundings.
The packed field was empty; roughly two thousand panted on.
All had sunk partly into the ground from resisting the physical force—severe cases waist-deep, needing sect disciples to haul them out.
"Surprising, though!"
As I rose, the elder—still on the dais, beaming—remarked,
"A Foundation Establishment Perfected barely sunk less than Core Formation Perfected!"
"...?"
I glanced at my stone platform.
Beyond severe dents, it looked much as when I sat—little change.
Naturally, every eye in the tournament—spectators included—turned to me.
The High Heaven Sect elders watched Yong Yoo under all those gazes and conversed.
"Is this wise? If he's truly Heavenly Church, maybe hide it."
"Nonsense. Heavenly Church can't be hidden. Flaunt him spectacularly now—show how much the sect values him."
"Agreed. Let them know High Heaven Sect cherishes Yong Yoo; no one dares touch him."
Chatting via divine sense transmission, the elders smiled warmly at Yong Yoo fist-pumping to the crowd.
"Kyaaa!"
"Young Master Yong!"
"So cool, Young Master!!"
Suddenly, some spectators shrieked his name at ear-splitting volume.
"...The guardian elder picked those escorts, so we'll trust them, but... can they guard like that?"
"...No idea."
"Sigh. The kid I eyed for direct disciple joined that Young Master Yong Fan Club or whatever—his progress stalled."
"Oh dear."
"Not good."
"Gotta warn our peak's disciples too."
Setting aside the elders' new headaches, the Grand Dao Tournament's second test began.