Covering the Sky: Fairy, I really need to control you properly.

The high-ranking officials of the five peaks of Zifu, the nine Supreme Elders, and the Holy Lord Lin Suwen had a secret meeting before the Dao Discussion Conference even began.

In this Daoist debate, with nine groups competing, the Purple Mansion Holy Land must secure two first-place finishes.

The disciple who takes first place will receive numerous benefits from their respective peak, including more resources, greater say in decision-making, and, most importantly, a very high probability that person will be the next Holy Son or Holy Daughter.

This is practically an open secret.

Whoever can win glory for the Purple Mansion in the Eastern Wilderness Dao Discussion will be qualified to take over the position of Holy Son or Holy Daughter.

Those disciples who lacked the necessary skills had already been eliminated from the internal selection process.

The peak masters are not fools. The performance of their disciples is not only a matter of personal honor and disgrace, but also closely related to the future resource allocation of the peak lineage and even the fortune of the next thousand years.

It's okay to lose to your own people; that's called friendly competition.

But if we lose too badly in front of outsiders, we will lose face for the entire Purple Mansion. Where will the Peak Master put his face when we go back?

Purple Bamboo Peak sent three people this time, and Yang Mo was naturally among them. He was the most promising young generation in the peak, having reached the second level of the Four Extremes Secret Realm.

There were also two disciples from the Dao Palace Secret Realm. Although they were not top-tier, they were both skilled individuals carefully selected by Purple Bamboo Peak.

On Tian Shu Peak, Fairy Zixia is undoubtedly the top choice.

With her innate Dao embryo physique, even among the many geniuses who have reached the peak of the Four Extremes Secret Realm in the Holy Land, few dare to say they can definitely defeat her.

In fact, everyone in the Purple Mansion already regarded her as the undisputed saintess.

With her talent, ability, and strength, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the position of Saintess is practically hers for the taking.

Even if people from other holy lands wanted to cause trouble, they would never be able to gain an advantage in front of Zixia. Unless the Divine Kings of the Ji and Jiang families took action, or figures like the Holy Son and Holy Daughter of Yaoguang came in person, there were very few people in the Dao Palace Secret Realm who could compete with her.

Misty Peak and Yundao Peak also sent several disciples, all of whom were quite strong and were the best among the younger generation of their respective peaks.

Only Baopufeng was the most direct.

Ge Shengwang, accompanied by three disciples, sat upright on the platform and uttered only four words throughout: "Just observe the ceremony."

He sent only one disciple, a Dao Palace Level 3 expert, who closed his eyes and sat in meditation after registering, remaining silent.

The disciple was thin and plain-looking, with a hemp rope tied around his waist and straw sandals on his feet. He exuded the air of an ascetic monk. Except for not being bald, he was practically a wandering monk in a Taoist robe.

"Is Baopu Peak not planning to compete anymore?" a disciple muttered quietly.

"What's there to argue about? That lineage has always been like this, detached from worldly affairs and indifferent to fame and fortune. The fact that they sent one person to participate is already a great honor."

"That's true. I heard that they don't even have many decent Dao artifacts in their peak, and they rely entirely on their own cultivation level to survive."

Several hours passed quickly.

The discussions, registration, and grouping among the geniuses of the various holy lands and the cultivators of the five peaks have finally come to an end. The jade book in the master of ceremonies' hand is densely filled with names. The list of nine groups for the competition has been initially finalized. The competition will proceed in stages, with winners advancing and losers being eliminated, until the champion of each group is determined.

In order, the first to begin was the competition for the first level of the Dao Palace Secret Realm.

This secret realm is rather special.

Generally speaking, when cultivators first enter the Dao Palace, the order of cultivation within the Dao Palace's secret realm is not fixed. Some open the Dao Palace of the Heart first, some open the Dao Palace of the Spleen first, and some open the Dao Palace of the Lungs first. The divine treasures they cultivate also vary.

Therefore, cultivators at this level have vastly different Daoist attributes.

With the reward of the Boundless Other Shore, the geniuses from various holy lands in the Eastern Wilderness were all eager to try their luck.

In the cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak. There's no such thing as being embarrassed to take action here. When opportunities arise, everyone relies on their own abilities. If you're too modest, others won't be so kind to you.

The first group of the Dao Palace sent two people from the Purple Mansion Holy Land, along with the thirty disciples finally selected from other holy lands, for a total of thirty-two people to compete in a progressive contest.

When the results of the first round of drawing were announced, everyone glanced at the list and some people gasped in shock.

The Holy Land of Ten Thousand Beginnings, the newly appointed Holy Son, Zhu Wuji.

The name was prominently listed, and it was in the very first group.

"What the hell?!" A disciple of the Purple Mansion immediately exploded. "A holy son of a sacred land, who looks to be twenty years old, how come he's only at the First Secret Realm of the Dao Palace? Are you kidding me?"

"Even if you suppress your cultivation level, it shouldn't be limited to only the first secret realm of the Dao Palace..."

"Could it be that the Holy Land of Ten Thousand Beginnings really has no one left? Are they sending out this short, scrawny guy to fill the ranks?"

"Is the Holy Land of Ten Thousand Beginnings trying to be funny?"

"Is this all the Holy Son's cultivation level is? I could do it too!"

Zhu Wuji himself stood expressionless in a corner of the battle platform. He was short, only a little over five feet tall, much shorter than ordinary cultivators.

His appearance was also quite strange. He had a round face, compact features, very light eyebrows, but unusually large eyes with unfathomable dark pupils. At first glance, he looked like a toad that had become a spirit, which made people feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

He did not refute or get angry; he simply waited quietly for the fight to begin.

The first round was about grudges, with Zhu Wuji facing off against a disciple of the first level of the Dao Palace in the Purple Mansion.

That disciple was an outstanding member of the Misty Peak, and he was selected to participate in the competition with the intention of bringing glory to the peak.

"Purple Mansion Misty Peak, Liu Chuan, please!"

However, Zhu Wuji did not stand on ceremony. He remained standing still, while the deity in his Dao Palace transformed into a golden light and rushed out. It was golden all over and only the size of a palm, facing the enemy directly.

The Dao Palace Deity is the natal deity nurtured by a cultivator within the Dao Palace. It embodies the cultivator's essence, energy, spirit, and cultivation. Generally, only cultivators at the peak of the Dao Palace can summon it out of their bodies.

At this moment, Zhu Wuji was only at the first level of the Dao Palace, yet he had already conceived a deity and was able to fight outside his body.

Liu Chuan's pupils contracted sharply. Before he could react, the golden deity struck him in the chest like a bolt of lightning.

"boom!"

Liu Chuan was sent flying backward, spitting out blood, and crashed into the railing at the edge of the battle platform. His Taoist robe was torn, his aura weakened, and he immediately fainted.

The entire room fell silent.

Zhu Wuji withdrew his divine power and stood there expressionless, silent.

That palm-sized golden deity knocked out a cultivator of the same realm with a single collision.

"What kind of sorcery is this?" someone asked.

"It's not sorcery, it's the deity of the Daoist temple..."

In the second encounter, by sheer coincidence, Zhu Wuji once again ran into a disciple of the Purple Mansion.

Having learned from the mistakes of his predecessors, the disciple became wiser. As soon as he stepped onto the stage, he unleashed his magical weapon. A small crimson sword shot out from the air, its light as sharp as a bolt of lightning, slashing across the distance in an attempt to wear down his opponent with a ranged attack.

The sword light intertwined into a net, sealing off all of Zhu Wuji's escape routes.

But the golden deity was moving with an eerie speed. Before the disciple could react, a golden light appeared before his eyes.

A solid punch landed on his face.

"Bang!"

The disciple fell backward, sliding seven or eight zhang (approximately 33-40 meters) along the ground, blood gushing from his nostrils and the corners of his mouth, staining half his face red.

The golden deity did not stop, and kicked him in the dantian, sending him flying off the battle platform and crashing heavily into the purple lake.

The disciples of the Purple Mansion below the stage had ashen faces.

This is not a contest, this is an insult.

Dao Palace deities generally possess only two or three tenths of their original fighting strength, and fighting outside their bodies is inherently an extremely risky endeavor.