Mortal: Starting with the Seven Mysterious Sects, I proved my Dao through sacrifice.

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The Huangfeng Valley Small Competition aims to test the disciples' cultivation progress. The winners can receive five rewards: cultivation resources, qualification to cultivate in secret realms, the opportunity to be personally taught by an elder, participation in high-level trials (such as the Blood Trial), and the qualification to transfer from outer sect to inner sect.

Although the small competition was not a major exam, it was an opportunity to show his talent. Murong Fan had been lying low in the Qingluo District for three months, and his cultivation had been stabilized at the twelfth level of Qi Refining. The fragment of the "Grass and Wood Manual" that the altar had fed him with gave him a unique understanding of the circulation of spiritual energy and elixirs. This was the key moment for him to break through.

The registration area was located in the plaza east of the Hall of Deacons, and it was bustling with people. While Murong Fan was in line, he overheard the new assessment rules for this year… and the disciples began to discuss them amongst themselves.

"I don't care about any new rules, I just want to be in the top twenty to participate in the Red Trial."

"Top 20? Last year, even those at the 12th level of Qi Refining had a hard time making it into the top 30. This year, with several senior disciples participating, the competition is even fiercer."

……

Murong Fan's expression remained unchanged as he silently memorized this information: "While his Heavenly Spiritual Root possesses outstanding talent, his practical combat experience is quite lacking. The real threat lies with those older disciples who have been stuck at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining for many years. And he must now conceal his true strength, participating in the 'Minor Competition' with only the eleventh level of Qi Refining cultivation!"

When it was his turn, the registering disciple glanced at the jade slip and looked up: "Murong Fan from Qingluo District? The one who grows flowers?"

"Exactly."

A low chuckle came from behind him, but Murong Fan seemed not to hear it. He took the number plate engraved with "Bing 73"—the third match of the seventh arena in Group C.

The competition will officially begin in three days.

The training ground was located on the mountainside of the main peak, divided into four zones: A, B, C, and D, with ten arenas in each zone. The seventh arena in Group C was already surrounded by disciples watching the battle. When Murong Fan arrived, the previous match had just ended—a disciple at the eleventh level of Qi Refining had his right arm broken and had been carried away.

"Next match: C73 vs. C74!"

Murong Fan slowly stepped onto the stage. Opposite him was a burly man as tall as an iron tower, at the twelfth level of Qi Refining, wielding a heavy sword, and a disciple specializing in body refining.

"Kids from Qingluo District?" The burly man grinned, revealing yellow teeth. "I hate flower growers the most, all sissies. If you know what's good for you, get lost!"

Before the words were even finished, the burly man suddenly attacked, his heavy sword whistling through the air with tremendous force, creating ripples in the air. The audience gasped, "It's the 'Stone-Splitting Sword'!"

Murong Fan slightly shifted his body to dodge, his heavy sword striking and creating spiderweb-like cracks. He unleashed his divine sense, nurtured by the altar far surpassing that of others of the same level, taking in the burly man's movements and finding flaws in his seemingly ferocious attack.

The burly man unleashed seven consecutive sword strikes, but Murong Fan narrowly avoided each one, his green robe fluttering without getting dusty.

"All you do is dodge!" the burly man roared, his sword thrusts becoming even more frantic.

Murong Fan suddenly spoke: "Your old injury to your left shoulder hasn't healed. Forcing yourself to use the Stone-Splitting Sword has already sluggish your meridians by 30%. Three more strikes and you'll collapse."

The burly man's pupils constricted, his sword strike faltering. Murong Fan's fingers, like a sword, struck the vital point on the man's wrist. Half of the man's body went numb, and he dropped his heavy sword, kneeling on the ground.

"C73, win!"

After a moment of silence, the audience erupted in uproar. No one had expected that this "flower-growing fool" would subdue a Qi Refining Stage 12 cultivator with just his agility and eyesight, without using any magical artifacts or spells.

Murong Fan stopped his stance and stood still, his expression calm. Using his keen perception of the flow of meridians from the "Herbal Secrets," he succinctly revealed the old injury on the strong man's left shoulder.

In the next two rounds, he accurately identified and exploited the weaknesses in his opponent's techniques. Sharp-eyed disciples noticed that before each strike, his gaze would lock onto his opponent's shoulder, knee, or dantian, and then he would strike with deadly accuracy.

"This kid can spot flaws in other people's techniques?"

"Impossible! Unless they've cultivated a special eye technique or their divine sense is ridiculously strong!"

In the fourth round, Murong Fan encountered a formidable opponent.

His opponent was a sinister-looking young man, a half-step Great Perfection cultivator at the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, wielding a pair of twin hooks with tricky moves. This man had studied Murong Fan's matches and immediately established distance for long-range grappling upon entering the arena.

The mother and child hooks transformed into two streaks of dark light, attacking from both sides. Murong Fan summoned the mid-grade defensive magic weapon, the Green Wood Shield, whose surface was engraved with his own enlightenment of plant patterns, making it sensitive to fluctuations in spiritual energy.

"Clang! Clang!"

Two crisp sounds rang out, and cracks spread across the green wooden shield. Murong Fan retreated, and three "Soul-Entangling Vine" seeds slid out from his sleeve—cultivated in the Spirit Herb Garden and mutated through altar sacrifices, their growth rate far exceeding that of ordinary plants.

Spiritual energy was infused, and the seed sprouted upon landing, its vines coiling around the opponent's feet. The sinister young man sneered as he cut the vine, and pale red paralyzing pollen sprayed from the severed vine—a concoction by Murong Fan using the "Herbal Formula," colorless and odorless, causing spiritual energy to stagnate for three breaths after inhalation.

The young man swayed slightly, and the trajectory of the mother-and-child hooks deviated by a third. Murong Fan seized the opening, and the Green Wood Shield struck the spiritual energy node between the mother hook and the young man.

"puff--"

The magical artifact backfired, and the young man coughed up blood and knelt on the ground, unable to get up.

"C73 wins! Advances to the round of 16!"

After this battle, no one underestimated Murong Fan anymore. The outer disciples below recognized him: "It's Murong Fan, the flower grower from Qingluo District!"

"What flower-growing nonsense? This is clearly a case of pretending to be weak to take advantage of others!"

"His magical artifacts and spells are all related to spiritual herbs; the patterns on his shield resemble the veins of a green vine flower leaf!"

Amidst the murmurs, Murong Fan sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing. Four consecutive rounds of competition had depleted more than half of his spiritual energy, but the altar's feedback allowed him to recover extremely quickly. The practical experience had deepened his understanding of the *Grass and Tree Manual*: the way of plants lies not in brute force, but in leveraging external forces to overcome strength with gentleness.

In the round of 16, his opponent was a familiar face—Triangle Eyes.

In the round of 16, his opponent was a familiar face—Triangle Eyes.

The man with the triangular eyes, punished by being confined to the mines for three months, somehow managed to advance to the thirteenth level of Qi Refining. He stared at Murong Fan with eyes full of resentment: "Today, I'll settle all scores, old and new!"

The contest began, and the man with the triangular eyes unleashed three magical artifacts: a throwing knife for offense, a bronze mirror for defense, and a bone bead suspended from the ceiling, scattering a grayish-white light to slow his movements.

Murong Fan felt as if he were trapped in quagmire, his movements slowed by thirty percent. The triangular-eyed man grinned maliciously, urging his throwing knife straight for his throat—a deadly move!

At the critical moment, Murong Fan activated the "Reverse Meridian Technique" of the Herbal Art, unleashing spiritual power at the cost of damaging his meridians. The Green Wood Shield blocked the flying knife, and he used the explosive force to break free from the bone bead's restraints.

"You—" The man with the triangular eyes was shocked and hurriedly activated the bronze mirror for defense.

But Murong Fan's target was not him.

Three Soul-Entangling Vine Seeds shot towards the Bone Bead. As the vines entwined, he infused it with the "Essence of Plants" accumulated at the altar—a gift he had received by chance from sacrificing a hundred-year-old spiritual herb, which could grant the plant a brief period of intelligence.

The bone bead was contaminated by the essence of plants, its grayish-white light becoming disordered. The triangular-eyed man's mind was injured, and blood flowed from his seven orifices. Murong Fan seized the opportunity to get close and struck his dantian with a palm, temporarily sealing his meridians.

"You've crippled my cultivation?" The man with the triangular eyes looked ashen.

"It's just a three-day ban; you'll be released after the minor competition." Murong Fan's voice was calm. "But you just tried to kill me; I will report this to the Enforcement Hall."

"C73 wins! Advances to the quarterfinals!"

This battle brought Murong Fan's name to the ears of the elders on the high platform.

The viewing platform was located directly north of the martial arts arena, where more than ten Foundation Establishment managers and three Golden Core elders sat. The red-clad female cultivator in the center was "Fairy Hong Fu," known for her strong and aloof nature, and one of the few female cultivators willing to take on disciples.

"Has anyone investigated that Bing Qisan?" Hong Fu's voice was cold.

The steward on the left presented a jade slip: "Reporting to my senior master, Murong Fan, a Heavenly Spiritual Root, has been tending to the Green Vine Flower in the Spirit Herb Garden for three months since entering the sect. The outer disciples call him 'Second Fool'."

"What? A Heavenly Spiritual Root? Who would dare assign a disciple with a Heavenly Spiritual Root to tend the Azure Vine Flower in the Spirit Herb Garden? Why wasn't this reported to me immediately upon the appearance of a Heavenly Spiritual Root? If it were any other sect, wouldn't that be a huge loss for my Yellow Maple Valley? This is simply outrageous!"

"And what's with this 'idiot'?" Hong Fu's lips curled slightly. "To be able to defeat opponents at the thirteenth level while only at the eleventh level of Qi Refining, to overcome the strong with the weak and to break through brute force with skill—can that really be called an idiot?"

"Whether the spiritual root test was recorded incorrectly, or someone abused their power, or Murong Fan was framed and ostracized, I will personally investigate to find out the truth!" Hong Fu appeared furious, but inwardly she was overjoyed—this was all part of her scheme, because she had intended from the beginning to take this person with the heavenly spiritual root as her disciple, only giving Murong Fan three months of observation and training. She calmly gestured for the competition to continue.

She noticed the pattern on Murong Fan's palm—a green wooden shield—not an ordinary decoration, but one that resonated with the vitality of plants.

"That's interesting."

In the quarterfinals, his opponent was Lu Mingyuan, a favorite in the preliminary rounds and a disciple with dual spiritual roots. He was at the Great Perfection of the 13th level of Qi Refining and had already mastered the third level of the "Yellow Maple Valley Basic Sword Technique," namely "Sword Qi Differentiation."

Lu Mingyuan, dressed in pristine white, looked down at him and said, "I've heard of you, the flower grower. Getting this far is lucky; there's a difference even among those with celestial spiritual roots."

Murong Fan remained noncommittal, holding his shield horizontally before him, and three Soul-Entangling Vine Seeds fell into his sleeve.

As the competition began, Lu Mingyuan displayed the terrifying power of his dual spiritual roots. With a light tap of his sword finger, he divided seven sword energies to seal off any escape route—the mark of the third level of the Basic Sword Technique. The sword energies were so solid that they were practically real, and ordinary defensive magic weapons would crumble at the slightest touch.

Murong Fan's pupils contracted slightly; he couldn't dodge or block this attack.

But he never considered hiding.

Aoki Shield flew out of his hand to meet the densest point of sword energy, and the patterns of grass and trees lit up to deflect the three sword energies—this was his improved "Spirit Guiding Array," which could guide external spiritual energy.

Of the remaining four sword energies, two were dodged by the Reverse Meridian Technique, one grazed the shoulder, and the last one...

Murong Fan did not avoid it.

He allowed the sword energy to pierce through his left arm, and as blood splattered, three Soul-Entangling Vine Seeds from his sleeve landed within three feet of Lu Mingyuan under the cover of the blood mist.

"Trading injury for a life? Foolish." Lu Mingyuan sneered, pointing his sword again to end the battle.

But the vines did not attack him.

They grew wildly, not to entangle their opponents, but to weave a "grass carpet" about ten feet in diameter under Lu Mingyuan's feet. The grass carpet trembled and resonated with Murong Fan's divine sense—this was the secret technique of "Ten Thousand Leaves Grieve" from the "Grass and Trees Manual" that he activated with all his divine sense.

Lu Mingyuan felt the spiritual energy beneath his feet become chaotic, and half of his sword energy was absorbed by the grass carpet and backfired on him! The most unpredictable aspect of the Way of Grass and Trees is: to subdue the enemy without fighting, and to use the opponent's power against them.

"You—" Lu Mingyuan's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly withdrew his sword energy.

This momentary opening was enough. Murong Fan endured the excruciating pain and moved closer, his right hand pointing at Lu Mingyuan's brow. Pale golden light swirled around his fingertips—the essence of cultivation nurtured by the altar was forcibly activated by him through burning his meridians, transforming into a sealing restriction.

Lu Mingyuan's dantian felt as if it were frozen, his spiritual energy stagnated, and he could no longer release his sword energy.

"You've lost." Murong Fan's voice was hoarse. "If this were a life-or-death battle, you would already be a corpse."

Despite his injuries, Murong Fan insisted on participating in the competition.

……

In the end, Murong Fan came in first place in the competition. From then on, no one called him "Silly Boy" anymore.

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried throughout the training ground. The Foundation Establishment supervisor was stunned, and the two Golden Core elders were astonished—Hong Fu's strict disciple-acceptance system hadn't been broken in a century.

Murong Fan looked up and met the burning gaze, seeing both inquiry and opportunity.

Despite his injuries, Murong Fan was still secretly delighted—he knew that the transformation from "Silly Boy" to a talent of Huangfeng Valley would officially begin with this competition.

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