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Chapter 331: The Jade Token
🕑 Added 2024-10-13 10:07:13 +0000 UTCAlthough they might not have known that Lin Xiao was buying these books for their sect's yet-to-be-built "library," he still felt a bit embarrassed. This was a matter of their sect's privacy! He couldn't just let outsiders see it.
The next morning, the competition to narrow down the 2,500 participants to 500 in the Talisman Master Tournament began.
This time, the rules were stricter than ever before.
A total of 2,500 people were divided into five groups, each group containing 500 participants.
This meant that for every five people, only one could pass the test.
The participants weren't assigned randomly; instead, they were distributed based on a balanced ranking from the previous rounds. The tournament organizers had internally ranked the 2,500 participants and evenly distributed them into groups with a mix of high, medium, and low performers.
In each group of 500 people, through a rolling elimination process, only 100 would remain, while the other 400 would be eliminated.
Once each group was narrowed down to 100 participants, the final list would consist of 500 individuals, all of whom would officially be recognized by the Talisman Master Tournament and awarded the coveted Talisman Master's token.
Given the importance of this round, Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu were determined not to miss it. They arrived early, securing a spot with an excellent view.
With nothing else to do while waiting, they pulled out a variety of snacks and began to eat, passing the time.
Of course, although these snacks were made by Fufu, they were all ordinary snacks without any spiritual energy.
After all, in a place filled with cultivators, if others discovered that they had seemingly endless spiritual snacks, they might not be able to leave Panshang City in one piece.
Despite this, their open display of snacking for nearly half an hour attracted some attention.
Even without spiritual energy, the snacks were irresistibly fragrant.
And with Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu openly enjoying their food, it was hard for others to resist.
Suddenly, a large figure approached them, and a deep voice buzzed, "Little brothers, how about sharing some of that food with me?"
Lin Xiao turned his head and was met with a pair of squinting eyes, nearly lost in the folds of a chubby face.
He silently swallowed. My goodness, he thought, I didn't know cultivators could be this... large.
Compared to this person, Fufu could be considered quite slim and well-proportioned.
Jiang Youfu was also stunned by the man's size. The person looked much older, and although it was difficult to determine a cultivator's age by appearance alone, he certainly had the look of a middle-aged man.
Perhaps feeling it would be rude to deny someone much older, Jiang Youfu instinctively pulled out a small cloth bag filled with snacks from his storage pouch and handed it over.
"We don’t have much left. Please take this, Uncle."
The man seemed surprised to be addressed as "Uncle" and hesitated before smiling kindly and saying, "My surname is Yue. You can call me Uncle Yue."
Jiang Youfu, following his lead, called him Uncle Yue, and Lin Xiao did the same. After all, in the cultivation world, it was likely that most cultivators were older than they appeared, so calling someone uncle wasn’t a big deal.
Uncle Yue had initially approached them just to ask and was prepared to offer spirit stones in exchange. However, before he could make the offer, Jiang Youfu had already given him the snacks for free.
Looking into Jiang Youfu's pure eyes, Uncle Yue felt a sudden affection for the young man.
Without lingering, he flipped his hand and produced two smooth jade tokens, handing them to Jiang Youfu and Lin Xiao, saying, "Since you called me uncle, I can't let you do so for nothing. Here’s a small gift for our first meeting. Keep it well."
Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu, not understanding the significance, politely accepted the jade tokens. But when they looked up again, Uncle Yue had vanished without a trace.
Jiang Youfu turned to Lin Xiao in shock, seemingly wanting to ask something. Before he could speak, Lin Xiao transmitted his thoughts directly to him, saying, "I have no idea when he left."
Hearing this from Lin Xiao, who was already at the Golden Core stage, Jiang Youfu was even more astonished. This could only mean that the uncle's cultivation level was far beyond Lin Xiao's.
Lin Xiao discreetly scanned the surroundings, noticing that although the area had been filled with spectators earlier—many of whom had occasionally glanced at them as they snacked—now, no one seemed to pay them any attention at all.
It was as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.
He shared this observation with Jiang Youfu, and the two young cultivators were left in awe.
That man must have been one of those legendary, highly advanced cultivators. They even suspected that this Uncle Yue might be far stronger than even Senior Liao.
Lin Xiao suddenly noticed a notification pop up in his system. It was regarding the task to make connections with five cultivators at the Foundation Establishment level or higher. The count had just increased from 1/5 to 2/5.
The first connection was, of course, the shopkeeper from Duobao Pavilion, while the second was evidently this Uncle Yue.
Lin Xiao quickly signaled Jiang Youfu to put away the jade token given by the senior cultivator. It seemed that this token was indeed important.
After this brief but significant encounter, the Talisman Master Tournament resumed, but Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu found it hard to focus.
It wasn’t until Liu Chun took the stage that they managed to concentrate again.
This round of the competition was a rolling elimination. In each group of 500, the first 100 participants would occupy the available slots. After that, the 101st participant would undergo the trial, and their score would be compared to the lowest-scoring individual among the 100.
Whoever had the lower score would be eliminated.
The process would continue until every participant had been tested, and only those who remained in the top 100 in each group would secure their place in the final 500.
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