Reversing the Milky Way

Xuan Taiming: "I'm sorry to have kept you both waiting."

Li Yunqi: "Hey, there's still one person?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than another man appeared, flying in on a sword from afar, immediately drawing the attention of those around him. The newcomer was Xuan Taiming's elder brother, Xuan Molin, who was also the guardian of Hejia Village, adjacent to Yujia Village, and possessed a cultivation level at the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm.

After sheathing his flying sword, Xuan Mo looked around and said, "Why choose a place like this to discuss matters?"

Xuan Taiming: "Hey, big brother, it's only in public that we can avoid gossip. We both belong to the Wuling Town Supervisory Office. Although we have different jurisdictions, it's perfectly normal for us to discuss things together often."

Xuan Molin: "Alright, enough with the small talk. What brings you here?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yunqi stepped forward and said, "It's like this. A few days ago, my junior sister and I were training on the outskirts of the Yunluo Mountains when we discovered a Golden-Winged Thunderbird's nest on a cliff. When we observed from a distance, we found that there were two birds in the nest, a male and a female. The female bird was not moving in the nest, and my junior sister and I suspected that the female bird was incubating the eggs. We would like to ask Fellow Daoist Xuan Molin to help us distract the male bird that is hunting around here."

Upon hearing this, Xuan Molin's expression changed drastically, and he said seriously, "Are you all crazy? That Golden-Winged Thunderbird is a high-level demonic beast, far beyond what you and I can handle. Not to mention me, even Liu Yuntian, the garrison commander of Wuling Town's Surveillance Office, might not be able to deal with it. How could you two Qi Condensation stage cultivators dare to even think about it?"

After saying that, Xuan Molin waved his hand and continued, "If you came to me because of this matter, then I am afraid I can't help you. Brother, I think you'd better not get involved in this matter. How can you deal with a high-level demon beast without the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation?"

Xuan Taiming: "Brother, that's not true. Do you know that the Golden-Winged Thunderbird is a high-level demonic beast that is hard to come by? It usually only moves deep in the Yunluo Mountains. Now that it has appeared on the outer side of the mountains, that is our opportunity. Although we can't deal with this adult Golden-Winged Thunderbird, we just need to lure it away. Our target is the Golden-Winged Thunderbird's egg."

Xuan Molin: "You're going to steal eggs? But the female bird shouldn't leave the nest, so how will you manage to steal them?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yunqi immediately stepped forward and said, "Actually, my master specially gave me a talisman."

After speaking, he displayed a talisman before everyone. Upon seeing the talisman, Xuan Molin's expression immediately changed: "This is... the Heaven-Slaying Talisman?"

“Indeed, this Heaven-Slaying Talisman contains my master’s most powerful attack, the Wind Fang Absolute Sword. This is the most powerful attack of a cultivator in the early stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, and it should be enough to kill that female bird.”

Upon hearing this, Xuan Molin pondered for a moment before asking, "What benefits will I receive?"

“The Golden-Winged Thunderbird is a treasure from head to toe. If you can help us kill the female bird guarding the nest, in addition to the Golden-Winged Thunderbird’s eggs, Brother Mo Lin can take any part of it, and even more. You should know that even the feathers of the Golden-Winged Thunderbird are impervious to ordinary swords and are excellent materials for refining weapons.”

After listening, Xuan Molin nodded. "Alright, let me make this clear: if the situation becomes critical, don't blame me for abandoning you all."

Li Yunqi: "Of course. Brother Molin, your own safety is the most important thing. As long as we can successfully kill the female bird, the reward will still count."

Xuan Taiming: "Then it's settled. The time will be four days from now, on the day of the Wuling Town Grand Competition. We'll meet here at Chenshi (7-9 AM)."

After saying that, the group went their separate ways and scattered.

Those who are going back are on their way.

Tang Rou: "Senior brother, why do you insist on looking for those two?"

Li Yunqi: "Although their cultivation levels are not high and their aptitude is not good, they are still people from the Surveillance Bureau. If any accidents happen later, they will also bear responsibility."

At this point, Li Yunqi changed the subject: "Tsk, in the end, how could they possibly get into the Heavenly Fire Academy with their aptitude? It's all because they have a good father backing them up. They've been cultivating for over thirty years, and Xuan Taiming is still only at the early stage of Qi Condensation. In another two years, I'll be almost at the middle stage of Qi Condensation."

After saying that, he showed a disdainful look on his face, and then the two returned to their temporary residence in Yujia Village.

The next morning, Bai Cheng went to the street where he had been the day before and saw the woman from yesterday playing with Xiao Mei from afar.

Upon seeing this, Bai Cheng hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Xiao Mei, this is the windmill I promised you before."

After saying that, Bai Cheng handed the windmill he had made the night before to Xiao Mei. Xiao Mei looked at the windmill in her hand, and after a gentle breeze, the purple windmill spun rapidly, and magical patterns immediately appeared on it. Xiao Mei was surprised when she saw this.

Her mother then spoke up, "Um, your name is Bai Cheng, right? I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you before. Please forgive me."

Bai Cheng: "It's alright, Madam Gu. By the way, am I that famous?"

Madam Gu: "Hey, we all know that you defeated Zhao Bo. He's the kind of person who does all sorts of evil things. The fact that you taught him a lesson is a great relief for us."

Hearing this, Bai Cheng scratched his head and said, "I only fought because he provoked me first, and I was just forced to fight back."

Upon hearing this, Madam Gu smiled slightly: "Oh dear, young brother Bai Cheng, you don't need to be so modest. However, recently when I passed by Zhao Haiming's house, I kept hearing strange noises coming from inside. I wonder what he's up to now. You'd better be careful."

Bai Cheng: "Madam Gu, I will be careful."

After saying goodbye to Madam Gu, Bai Cheng headed to Renhui Academy in Wuling Town. The Wuling Town Grand Competition was in three days. It was previously said that the participants would be decided three days in advance. Bai Cheng had originally planned to eliminate one of the ten participants, but now it seemed that he could only replace Yue Ling in the competition.

Two hours later, Bai Cheng arrived at Renhui Academy.

Upon seeing Bai Cheng arrive, Zheng Tianzhuang hurriedly stepped forward, "Bai Cheng, you've finally arrived! Today is the last day to confirm the participants, and we thought you weren't planning to participate."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng sighed and said, "Well, Instructor Zheng, let me be frank, I'm here to compete in place of Yue Ling."

Zheng Tianzhuang was not surprised when he heard this. After thinking for a while, he said, "I have heard about Yue Ling's situation. I believe that good people will be blessed by heaven. Don't worry."

After saying that, Zheng Tianzhuang patted Bai Cheng on the shoulder and continued, "Then, I'll report the list to the dean." With that, Zheng Tianzhuang turned and left.

Seeing this, Bai Cheng also left Renhui Academy. However, he did not go back. Instead, he continued to wander around Wuling Town. Learning from his previous experience, Bai Cheng planned to buy some useful but inexpensive items.

Inside the study of Renhui Academy, Su Boran was looking at the book in his hand when Zheng Tianzhuang walked in with a furrowed brow.

" How about it?"

"Just as you guessed, Principal, Yue Ling will be unable to participate in this Wuling Town competition."

Hearing this, Su Boran slowly put down the book in his hand and said, "In the past two days, many people from various sects have come here. They all want to recruit good talents before the Wuling Town competition, so that they won't have to compete with other forces after the competition."

Hearing this, Zheng Tianzhuang couldn't help but feel a little regretful: "Alas, what a pity. With Yue Ling's talent, she could probably have entered a major sect directly."

Su Boran: "You don't need to sigh. Yue Ling has her own path."

After saying that, Su Boran stood up and said, "Alright, now that the list is finalized, I need to go to the Supervisory Office to inform the town mayor and Liu Yuntian."

Then, with a flick of his hand, a flying sword flew out of his sleeve and slowly grew larger. At the same time, Su Boran leaped onto the flying sword and then flew away.

In the backyard of the Wuling Town Supervisory Office.

Besides Liu Yuntian, there are two other principals in Wuling Town: Xue Qianfu, the principal of Wuling School, who is also the mayor of Wuling Town and manages most of the town's affairs.

Another person was Zhu Yingjie, the principal of Nachuan Academy. In addition, there were several cultivators from major forces present, who had gathered here to learn about the situation of these elite body-refining students.

As Su Boran arrived on his sword and landed slowly, everyone's eyes turned to him. "Hey, Brother Boran, we were just waiting for you," Xue Qianfu said as he stepped forward.

"Mayor Xue, I rushed here as soon as the list was finalized." After saying that, Su Boran took out a list, under each person's name was a brief introduction of their cultivation level and aptitude assessment.

After Xue Qianfu took the list and looked at it carefully, he handed it to Liu Yuntian. Liu Yuntian glanced at the list, his brow furrowing in dismay.

At this moment, a man dressed in sect attire stepped forward and said, "Sun Jianxin, a disciple of Fengqing Sect, greets Lord Liu." Sun Jianxin's meaning was quite clear: they had all seen the student lists for the other two academies, and now the only one missing was the list for Renhui Academy.

Liu Yuntian naturally understood his meaning and then showed the list in his hand. Subsequently, a group of other cultivators of varying strengths stepped forward to look at it, except for a middle-aged man who sat at the back and showed no intention of going forward to look.

After reviewing the list, Sun Jianxin frowned, because the person he wanted to know wasn't on it. He turned to Su Boran and said, "Brother Boran, isn't someone missing from your list?"

"No, there are still ten people on board."

At this moment, a faint spiritual energy fluctuation suddenly appeared on the list in Sun Jianxin's hand, and then it quickly slipped from his hand and flew into the hand of the man sitting to the side. Everyone's attention was drawn to this action by the man, and they all looked over.

The man remained expressionless as he carefully examined the list in his hand. Seeing this, Liu Yuntian realized the man was no ordinary person and stepped forward to ask, "May I ask where this fellow Daoist comes from?"

After listening, the middle-aged man smiled slightly. "I am Mo Yan, an outer sect elder of the Cangxuan Sect!" With that, he threw the list out and it flew straight towards Liu Yuntian.

Upon seeing this, Liu Yuntian dared not be careless. He immediately activated his spiritual power, instantly forming a protective shield in front of him. The moment the list collided with the shield, a huge surge of spiritual power emanated, and everyone retreated.

Liu Yuntian was even more shocked by the power of this attack. "Good, such strong spiritual power!" Liu Yuntian stared in astonishment at the paper in front of him, and then the spiritual power shield he had formed slowly began to crack.

With a loud bang, the paper pierced through the shield and struck Liu Yuntian heavily in the chest. Liu Yuntian staggered back several steps. After regaining his balance, he removed the list from his chest and stared coldly at Mo Lin. Mo Lin, in turn, looked straight ahead, his gaze fixed intently on Liu Yuntian, his expression serious. The atmosphere instantly became tense.

Everyone could see from that attack that Mo Lin was far stronger than them. Immediately afterwards, Liu Yuntian's expression changed, and he stepped forward respectfully and said, "So it is Elder Mo of the Cangxuan Sect. I did not recognize you earlier. I am truly sorry."

Mo Yan did not wear the robes of an elder of the Cangxuan Sect when he came to Wuling Town, so no one recognized him at first.

At this moment, Mo Yan's serious expression softened, and he said, "Hehe, Lord Liu, as the garrison commander of Wuling Town, your cultivation still needs improvement. I just wanted to test your strength. I hope you don't mind?"

Liu Yuntian smiled slightly, "Not at all, it is my honor to have Elder Mo give me some pointers."

Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward to flatter him. Mo Yan walked up to Su Boran and said, "Principal Su, I have heard that your school has a woman named Yue Ling, but I have not seen her on this list."

Su Boran frowned slightly upon hearing this. "Elder Mo, the student you mentioned is unwell and may not be able to attend the Wuling Town Grand Competition."

Mo Yan closed his eyes slightly after hearing this, then sighed and said, "Never mind, but when I was looking at the list just now, why were there students in the middle stage of Body Refinement Realm? Can't your Renhui Academy even muster ten students in the late stage of Body Refinement Realm?"

After hearing this, Su Boran said, "Elder Mo Yan, you should know that a person's cultivation aptitude cannot be judged solely by their physical refinement. Some people are exceptionally gifted and can sense the operation of spiritual energy even in the middle stage of physical refinement."

Upon hearing this, Mo Yan chuckled and said, "Principal Su, I just saw someone up there who is already twenty-one years old, but is only at the mid-stage of Body Refinement. I really don't understand if your 'extraordinary talent' is the same as my understanding of 'extraordinary talent.' On the other hand, I saw that female student He Tangyue, who is eighteen years old, is already at the late stage of Body Refinement. Such talent can be considered outstanding. I'll reserve this girl for now. What do you all think?"

After speaking, Mo Yan's aura suddenly surged, and violent spiritual energy swept across the entire area, causing everyone to gasp in surprise.

Xue Qianfu: "This aura, could it be the Qi Opening Realm?"

After the breath subsided, everyone present looked at each other in bewilderment.