Li Mingbai sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.
According to the book, the first step was to circulate qi within the body for one full cycle.
However, this circulation route was vastly different from the known pathways, even passing through many meridians that were considered impossible to cultivate!
Attempt after attempt, failure after failure…
Although Li Mingbai's talent was mediocre, his perseverance was remarkably strong.
After countless failures, he finally managed to open a small section of an undeveloped meridian.
It was only about a finger's length, but that was enough to make Li Mingbai ecstatic!
Calming his excited emotions, Li Mingbai re-immersed himself in cultivation.
In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.
This year's exchange大会 (jiao liu da hui - exchange conference) was hosted by the Ziyun Sect, and the entire sect was busy.
The sect masters from nearby regions brought their disciples and set off towards the Ziyun Sect aboard flying ships.
They had previously received news.
A demon king from Fire Feather Mountain had dispatched a雕妖 (diao yao - sculpted demon, likely a type of bird demon) at the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage to the Ziyun Sect.
Afterward, that雕妖 had never reappeared!
This meant that the Ziyun Sect most likely possessed a Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox!
A Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox was a top-tier spirit pet that every cultivator dreamed of!
Their participation in this exchange conference was merely a pretense; their true objective was the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox!
In the sky, eight flying ships represented the other eight major sects in the vicinity.
Among them, the flying ship of the Tianqing Sect was the most opulent and dazzling.
The Tianqing Sect, along with the Ziyun Sect, was at the forefront of the nine major sects in terms of strength.
The Tianqing Daoist's strength at the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage was something other sect masters could only gaze at from afar!
Even though he was only two minor realms higher than the Ziyun Zhenren, these two minor realms represented a vast difference!
If it were merely a gap of one minor realm, they could still put up a fight with sheer numbers.
The previous雕妖 was a prime example.
In fact, if the雕妖 had been willing to risk its life, the Ziyun Zhenren and the others would likely have perished.
The雕妖 did not do so simply because there was no need.
If one minor realm was like this, then two was beyond comparison.
It was no exaggeration to say that the Tianqing Daoist alone could obliterate all the other sects.
He had not done so simply because excessive killing would harm his karma and be detrimental to his cultivation.
However, now that such a treasure as a Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox was involved, it was uncertain what the Tianqing Daoist would do.
The sect masters of the other seven sects understood that they were merely accompanying players this time.
If the Ziyun Sect willingly handed over the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, things might be manageable.
If not…
It was likely that they would soon be reduced to eight major sects!
Around ten in the morning, the eight flying ships landed in unison outside the Ziyun Sect's mountain gate.
The reception disciples of the Ziyun Sect, clad in brand-new Daoist robes, warmly welcomed the personnel from each sect.
The Ziyun Zhenren, along with a retinue of elders, had been waiting for a long time: it was a matter of etiquette, not strength.
After the Ziyun Zhenren personally arranged the accommodations for the eight sect masters, there was essentially nothing else to do for the day.
The formal exchange conference would not begin until tomorrow.
However, the Ziyun Sect, from top to bottom, was not optimistic about this exchange conference.
The disciples at the Golden Core stage were doing alright; their gap with the other eight major sects was not significant.
But the disciples at the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining stages were somewhat lacking.
As expected, the Ziyun Sect's performance this year would be rather dismal…
At eight in the evening, in the Ziyun Peak's council hall.
"Sect Master, why don't you go and ask Ye Fan?" the Grand Elder suggested.
If Ye Fan were to participate, there would naturally be no suspense.
It would be akin to going up there and bullying them…
Although doing so was somewhat shameless, Ye Fan's age fully qualified him to participate.
The other elders also looked at the Ziyun Zhenren with hopeful eyes.
Being a little shameless was better than being disgraced…
"I asked him before, but my precious disciple refused," the Ziyun Zhenren said dejectedly. "Let's just go with the flow. At least Ziyan can salvage some honor tomorrow."
The Ziyun Zhenren's meaning was clear.
The Ziyun Sect had been consistently at the bottom for years; one more time wouldn't make much difference.
However, she no longer cared about these things.
Compared to Ye Fan, her precious disciple, rankings and scores were all ephemeral!
As long as Ye Fan could grow smoothly, the Ziyun Sect would inevitably become the foremost among the nine major sects.
Perhaps, they would even have a chance to contend for the throne of the first sect in the Eastern Wilderness!
Subsequently, they began to discuss the details of the exchange conference.
Outside the Ziyun Sect.
Li Mingbai slowly opened his eyes.
For the past half-month, he had attended lectures in the inner sect punctually every day and continued to cultivate the Wangu Buming Jue (Eternal Undying Art) upon his return.
The other outer sect disciples were incredibly envious: being permitted by the Sect Master to attend inner sect lectures guaranteed their future status as inner sect disciples.
After half a month of effort, Li Mingbai had successfully opened half of a meridian.
At this rate, in about two more months, he would be able to open the entire meridian.
Cultivating the Wangu Buming Jue required opening ten un-developed meridians. Only after all ten were opened would one be qualified to formally cultivate.
Tucking the cultivation manual back into his trousers, Li Mingbai prepared to get something to eat: he had been too busy cultivating to have dinner earlier.
"Mingbai, come here for a moment." Just as Li Mingbai reached the courtyard, he saw the outer sect steward elder approaching.
"Wenqing was injured during his training a couple of days ago. You'll be replacing him for tomorrow's exchange competition," the steward elder instructed. "Don't feel any pressure; just perform as well as you can tomorrow."
After the steward elder left, Li Mingbai was completely stunned.
Senior Brother Wenqing was at the fifth level of Qi Refining, while he was only at the fourth.
If he were to fight in his place, wouldn't he be beaten into a pulp?
The Wangu Buming Jue did seem very formidable, but everyone knew the nature of cultivation techniques.
Regardless of their actual combat effectiveness, their names were always more impressive than each other.
Take the Wanlian Mieji Jue (Myriad Refining Annihilation Art) he had cultivated before, for instance. Wasn't its name impressive?
In reality, it was just an introductory cultivation technique for the Qi Refining stage…
Of course, something produced by a monstrous genius like Senior Brother Ye would certainly not be ordinary. Li Mingbai also firmly believed that after being fully developed, its power would be absolutely formidable.
The problem was that he had only cultivated for half a month at most, and he hadn't even reached the introductory stage yet…
The following morning.
The exchange conference officially began.
The reality was as everyone had predicted.
The Ziyun Sect's performance was unusually dismal…
The Golden Core group's matches were somewhat better; the Ziyun Sect had mixed wins and losses, essentially breaking even.
The Foundation Establishment group fared much worse; except for Ziyan, who was at the tenth level of Foundation Establishment, everyone else had failed…
Soon, it was the turn of the Qi Refining group.
"Ziyun Zhenren, don't be discouraged. The disciples haven't fully grown yet, and their current performance doesn't determine their future achievements," the other eight sect masters began to taunt.
The Ziyun Zhenren's face turned dark…
She didn't want to speak…
The Ziyun Zhenren could only comfort herself inwardly: Go ahead and gloat, but when my precious disciple grows up, you'll be crying!
Half an hour later, the Ziyun Sect lost three more matches.
"Next match, Hei Mu of the Tianqing Sect versus Li Mingbai of the Ziyun Sect," the referee announced loudly.
The disciples of the Ziyun Sect immediately looked disheartened.
Hei Mu was at the fifth level of Qi Refining, while Li Mingbai was only at the fourth.
He would likely be blown away with a single palm…
The disciples felt incredibly dejected.
Senior Brother Ye was so powerful, yet he refused to participate…
If Senior Brother Ye had fought, they wouldn't have been beaten so badly…
Li Mingbai walked towards the stage, trembling.
The difference of one minor realm was already difficult enough, and his opponent was Hei Mu…
He knew Hei Mu very well; the guy was notoriously brutal!
Those who had competed against Hei Mu from other sects had, afterward, lain in bed for half a month before they could barely get up…
He was a minor realm lower, and if his opponent was careless or deliberate, he might end up crippled!
Li Mingbai immediately made a decision.
As soon as they engaged, he would immediately fall to the ground!
Being embarrassed was better than being injured!