Master, and you still say this isn’t a dual cultivation technique?

“This sacred Buddhist relic is truly extraordinary!”

Xiao Lingchen opened his eyes, unable to suppress a sigh of amazement.

Just moments ago, he had gained profound insights. His understanding of cultivation and various techniques and divine abilities had deepened significantly, and he could feel his own strength rising as a result! If he could sit beneath the Bodhi Tree to meditate for an extended period, his cultivation would surely soar!

Thus, Xiao Lingchen summoned all the Xiao family members who had been cultivating within the secret realm to join him.

“Lingchen, what’s the matter?” one of the Xiao family elders asked.

Xiao Lingchen got straight to the point, introducing the tree to everyone. “The tree behind me is the Bodhi Tree, a sacred Buddhist relic. Cultivating beneath it can drastically boost your cultivation and make it easier to comprehend the Great Dao. From now on, you should come here often to meditate and train.”

Then, he took out a storage ring and handed it to the elder. “Third Uncle, this storage ring contains the treasures I’ve gathered over this period. Distribute them among the clan. Father and Second Uncle are busy managing family affairs, so those of you staying here must elevate your cultivation and strength as quickly as possible to strengthen our Xiao family!”

His third uncle, Xiao Jing, accepted the storage ring with delight and chuckled. “Rest assured, no one has slacked off in their cultivation lately!”

In truth, Xiao Lingchen didn’t even need to say it. Ever since entering the secret realm of the Cauldron of Creation, every single one of them had cherished the abundant spiritual energy and resources here, cultivating tirelessly day and night. Especially after their aptitudes had been enhanced by the Qi of Creation gifted by Xiao Lingchen, their cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds. They wished they could train eighteen hours a day instead of just twelve. By now, several of them were already on the verge of breaking into the Dao Palace Realm!

After giving his instructions, Xiao Lingchen didn’t linger in the secret realm.

Upon exiting, he learned from Yun Zhanyi that the elders of the various sects had arrived to take their disciples back.

He hurriedly led Yun Zhanyi toward the gathering point. With the continuous use of Phantom Step and Instant Flash Technique, the two barely made it onto the last teleportation array back.

The teleportation array trembled violently, its light flaring brilliantly. The disciples participating in the sect’s grand competition returned to the Taixuan Sect in droves.

Soon, all the disciples from every sect had gathered in the Taixuan Sect’s plaza.

But at that moment, the plaza was steeped in a pervasive air of sorrow.

A month ago, they had assembled here as well, with millions of disciples in total. Yet now, after just a single month, fewer than a third remained. Their fellow sect members, their brothers-in-arms—most had perished in the Dark Forest.

“Everyone!”

At that moment, Elder Yun Zhu ascended the high platform and spoke in a resonant voice. “Do not grieve, do not despair. The path of cultivation has always been this way—death can come at any moment. Those who fall might be your friends, your family, or even yourselves! Though it is cruel, the pursuit of the Great Dao has never been smooth sailing. No matter how bitter or arduous it becomes, even if it costs your life, we cultivators must hold fast to our resolve—only then can we walk further!”

After his words of consolation, Elder Yun Zhu moved to the main topic.

With a wave of his hand, he summoned a swirling vortex array that materialized before the crowd. He then explained, “Everyone, the array you see before you is designed to tally the points you’ve earned in this grand competition. Next, disciples from each sect will take turns throwing their point tokens into the vortex. The array will automatically calculate each sect’s total points for this competition! If anyone has slain members of the Demon Clan, bring their heads to the side, where the sect deacons will record them uniformly.”

And so, the process began.

One by one, the sects started tossing their point tokens into the array.

It didn’t take long for the scores of the first few sects to be calculated:

Beast Mastery Sect: 1.85 million points.

Tianhe Sect: 1.56 million points.

Heavenly Sword Sect: 3.56 million points.

Baihua Sect: 2.22 million points.
…

As the host sect, Taixuan Sect naturally went last.

After the previous eleven sects had finished their tallies, it was finally Taixuan Sect’s turn.

Under everyone’s watchful gaze, the Taixuan Sect disciples began tossing their point tokens into the vortex array. The point counter on the array shot up like a rocket—1 million, 2 million, 3 million!

In the end, Taixuan Sect’s score settled at 3.3 million points—still over 200,000 points behind the leading Heavenly Sword Sect.

From the high platform, Elder Lin Chungang of the Heavenly Sword Sect chuckled smugly. “What a pity, what a pity! Elder Yun Zhu, your Taixuan Sect’s points still fall short of my Heavenly Sword Sect’s. The first place in this grand competition belongs to us!”

Elder Yun Zhu retorted indignantly, “What’s the rush? Our sect’s disciples might have killed plenty of Demon Clan members!”

At that, the elders of the other sects chuckled lightly.

“Elder Yun Zhu, don’t delude yourself,” one said.

“Exactly, haha! Everyone knows the Heavenly Sword Sect disciples specialize in swordsmanship. Their combat prowess is unmatched, and they’ve killed the most Demon Clan cultivators among us. It’ll be tough for your Taixuan Sect to close that 200,000-point gap!”

But as the elders bantered, Xiao Lingchen had already approached the deacons tasked with counting Demon Clan heads.

“Excuse me, everyone, please step aside,” he said politely.

Then, he released the Demon Clan heads that Yun Zhanyi had collected for him from the storage ring.

Crash!

With a thunderous clatter, countless Demon Clan heads spilled out, piling up across half the plaza like a mountain!

The sight stunned everyone present. Even the elders on the high platform were dumbfounded!

“What in the world?!”

Elder Lin Chungang of the Heavenly Sword Sect was so shocked his beard practically flew up.

“How is this possible?!”

“Where did all these heads come from?!”

“Are these all from the Demon Clan in the Dark Forest?!”

“This… this is insane! How many heads are there?!”