Immortality and Cultivation: This old man seeks enlightenment through mere survival.

This day.

Lu Zaian was meditating and cultivating in his cave, but his brows remained furrowed.

Lu Zai'an was troubled by the bottleneck he was facing in achieving minor success in the "Bibo Shuiyuan Zhu" technique.

What exactly does the phrase "still as a calm lake... turbulent as a raging storm" mean?

Calm as a still lake—Lu Zaian understood this, just like how he was now quietly cultivating every day, his magical power gradually improving.

As for its movement being as turbulent as a raging storm?

Lu Zaian still couldn't fathom the meaning behind this, and he was never able to reach the level of minor mastery of "Notes on the Source of the Azure Waves".

Suddenly, a sound transmission talisman flashed with light and flew into the cave.

Lu Zaian's expression shifted, and he grabbed her.

"Hahaha, Junior Brother Lu, come to the Gathering Spirit Hall quickly! I've brought what you asked for, and I also have another piece of good news!"

A lewd laugh came from inside the communication talisman.

Fatty Han?

Lu Zaian stood up.

The voice in the talisman was that of Han Yu, the stall owner from whom Lu Zaian had once bought the array plate.

For the past six months, Lu has been living a secluded life in the mountains behind the medicinal herb fields, focusing on his cultivation and rarely interacting with other disciples in the Spirit Medicine Valley.

However, when it came to repairing and improving the medicinal field formation, Lu Zaian approached Fatty Han several times to purchase the necessary equipment.

Over time, their paths crossed.

Speaking of this Fatty Han, although he is cunning and treacherous, greedy and stingy, he likes to play those crooked tricks.

However, it still has its merits overall.

Furthermore, because Fatty Han likes to go to Black Rock Market, he can often collect some precious spiritual materials.

Lu Zaian happened to need spiritual materials to cultivate the Flying Crane Demon, and some of them were bought from Fatty Han.

Although spirit stones are slightly overpriced, they save you a lot of trouble.

Such as now.

There should be more news about the other three spiritual materials that Lu Zai'an asked Fatty Han to keep an eye on.

With this thought in mind, Lu Zaian left the cave and sped towards the Gathering Spirit Hall!

Along the way, there were more disciples from the Spirit Medicine Valley flying in the air, seemingly all heading to the Spirit Gathering Hall.

"What's going on? It's not the end of the month, why are so many people heading to Juling Hall?"

"Could it be that Fatty Han has some good news to share?"

When Lu Zaian arrived at the Gathering Spirit Hall, he was startled.

In the open square in front of the Gathering Spirit Hall, a large number of disciples from the valley had gathered, a dense, dark mass of people.

Or they might gather in small groups to chat, creating a lively atmosphere;

Or perhaps he stands alone to one side, sword in hand, elegant and aloof;

Or put your hands behind your back, close your eyes and concentrate;

Or perhaps they were craning their necks, staring at the entrance of the Gathering Spirit Hall, as if expecting something.

Lu Zaian put away the yellow sand gourd, carefully looked around, and spotted Fatty Han in the crowd.

Fatty Han also saw Lu Zaian and was looking excited, so much so that the fat on his face was trembling slightly.

"Junior Brother Lu, over here."

Lu Zaian squeezed through the crowd to Han Pangzi's side.

Meeting so many people for the first time, Lu Zaian, who was already socially awkward, suddenly became a little nervous.

"Senior Brother Han, what's going on?"

"Hehe, I'll explain it to you in a bit. Here, this is the first-grade mid-level Wind-Fixing Yang Yuan Vine you wanted. It's three zhang long in total. The price... I'll just charge you twelve spirit stones."

Fatty Han took out a folded, twined yellow vine from his storage bag and handed it to Lu Zaian.

"...Okay, thank you, Senior Brother Han."

The Dingfeng Yangyuan Vine is one of the last three materials Lu Zaian needs to cultivate the Flying Crane Demon.

The price outside is about three spirit stones per zhang.

However, it's fine to let Fatty Han make some money. At least I've gotten a lot of information from the outside world from him, so I won't be completely blind to what's going on.

Fatty Han took the spirit stone from Lu Zaian and chuckled:

"Hehe, I heard that it's close to the end of the year and the valley will hold a disciple competition to rank people and select talents."

"Oh? This has been held before, hasn't it? What's so special about it?"

"It's different. In the past, there was a small competition every three years and a big competition every five years. It's only been a year since the last small competition, which is why so many people are curious."

"So, can all disciples participate this time? Is it just a competition of cultivation strength, or does it also include cultivation techniques?"

Lu Zaian stroked his stubble with one hand and asked with some curiosity.

Fatty Han stared at the entrance of the Gathering Spirit Hall without turning his head, and said without hesitation:

“In the past, the smaller competitions only ranked strength, while the larger competitions included separate skill-based contests. Although strength is the most important thing in the cultivation world, our Spirit Medicine Valley is still established based on planting and alchemy skills…”

"They're here, the elders are here. Don't speak yet."

Fatty Han suddenly stopped muttering and gestured for Lu Zai'an to look ahead.

The crowd surged and moved.

At the entrance of the Gathering Spirit Hall, a middle-aged cultivator with flowing sleeves walked out with a confident stride.

He stroked the few strands of his beautiful beard, and a majestic gaze unique to a Foundation Establishment cultivator swept over them like a lighthouse in the sea!

"Wow!"

The noisy crowd suddenly fell silent.

'Is it Elder Wei?' Lu Zaian's eyes widened.

This bearded elder was none other than Wei Yubai, the Foundation Establishment cultivator who proposed soul searching in the Medicine God Hall that day, and also the elder of the Spirit Gathering Hall of the Spirit Medicine Valley!

"It's Elder Wei who's stepping forward; this competition must be extraordinary."

Ahead, Fatty Han secretly sent a message to Lu Zai'an, expressing his surprise and disbelief.

Then, Elder Wei waved his sleeve, and a scroll suddenly flew out, slowly unfurling in the sky above the plaza outside the Gathering Spirit Hall...

At the same time, Elder Wei's majestic and powerful voice rang out:

"A disciple competition will be held at the martial arts arena in twenty days."

This competition primarily assesses strength, and all disciples are welcome to participate. The top 100 will receive generous rewards, as well as a special bonus.

The detailed competition rules and the list of prizes are all contained in the scroll; I hope you will all study them diligently.

All the disciples looked up at the scroll in the air and immediately began to chatter amongst themselves.

Wow! The 100th person actually gets 200 spirit stones?

One of the disciples was amazed.

"Exactly! The higher the ranking, the more outrageous the rewards become. It's practically double what we've always given in the competition. Did the Valley Masters and Elders make a mistake this time?"

Upon seeing the ranking rewards on the scroll, all the disciples gasped in astonishment.

The temperature around the Gathering Hall seemed to rise as a result.

"Bullshit, would a Foundation Establishment cultivator make such a mistake? I'm more curious about what this so-called special reward is. Just the written reward is already so generous..."

"But twenty days later? Time flies! I'm still stuck at the bottleneck of the sixth level of Qi Refining. Looks like I have to find a way to break through and give it a shot!"

One disciple scratched his head in frustration, finally deciding to gamble his entire fortune on buying elixirs in hopes of achieving a good result.

"It's a pity I haven't mastered one spell yet. If I had another month, I guarantee I'd go on a killing spree!"

"Keep bragging. Even if I teach you ten more spells, do you think you can beat Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother?"

"Hey..."

Amidst the noisy crowd, Lu Zaian also looked at the scroll in mid-air, and his pupils contracted when he scanned a certain spot.

[Eighty-ninth place, reward: 100 low-grade spirit stones and one hundred-year-old Vermilion Fruit.]

[The 70th place winner will receive one bottle of Silver Spirit Pill and ten leaves of Ethereal Grass.]