Many immortal cultivators were gathering at the mountain gate of the Yuanzhao Sect. Some were flying through the air, some relied on artifacts, and others had no choice but to travel on foot. These were likely all participants of the uing ascension conference.


    However, not all of them were rogue cultivators.


    Senior Uncle Yue had warned them not to let their guard down against any opponents once they entered the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground. The Yuanzhao Sect was a prominent righteous sect, well-known in the local cultivation world. Disciples who broke through the tenth stage before the age of forty would be rewarded with a Foundation Building Pill. Many disciples from well-established immortal cultivation families participated in the ascension conference, and they were certainly not as poor and miserable as rogue cultivators. Each of them had deep foundations and were equipped with family-passed artifacts for protection.


    As Qin Sang gazed at the mountain from below, two immortal cultivators flew past him.


    Everyone was apetitor. It was very likely that they would meet again in the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground, where they would be rivals. There was no need for pleasantries.


    …


    "What is your name?"


    "My name is Qin Sang."


    "Where are you from?""I am from Ning Kingdom and once served as a general in the mortal world of Great Sui Kingdom."


    …


    When faced with the questioning of a Foundation Building Realm cultivator from the Yuanzhao Sect, Qin Sang answered truthfully as instructed by Senior Uncle Yue. If he passed the ascension conference and joined the Yuanzhao Sect, the sect might send someone to investigate.


    "Ning Kingdom... Great Sui..."


    The cultivator from Yuanzhao Sect thought for a moment and then said, somewhat surprised, "The participants in the ascension conference areing from farther and farther away these days."


    Qin Sang respectfully replied, "I have long admired the path of immortality but have never been able to find a way in. When I heard that the Yuanzhao Sect was willing to guide rogue cultivators like myself on the path to immortality, opening its doors wide, I couldn’t resist the urge and traveled thousands of li toe here."


    The Yuanzhao Sect cultivator stroked his beard and smiled. "For a rogue cultivator like yourself to reach the sixth stage of the Qi Refining Realm at your age is no easy feat. There’s no need to look down on yourself. Take this jade token, go to the dwelling behind the mountain, and rest up. Early the day after tomorrow, the sect’s cultivators will take you all to the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground. Do not miss the timing."


    "Yes!"


    Qin Sang took the jade token and followed a young cultivator from the Yuanzhao Sect toward the back of the mountain. Along the way, he crossed paths with a senior sister from the Kuiyin Sect. Their eyes met briefly, but both acted as though they didn’t know each other.


    Once he settled into the dwelling, Qin Sang took out the jade token and recalled the rules of the ascension conference that Senior Uncle Yue had exined to them.


    Unlike other immortal cultivation sects, the Yuanzhao Sect’s ascension conference was not apetition fought on tforms.


    The Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground was divided into nine regions. All participants would be randomly transported to one of the eight outer regions, each of which was separated by a barrier but connected to the core region.


    Among all the participants, the first twelve to reach the core region would be the winners of this ascension conference.


    Due to the barriers within the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground, even immortal cultivators couldn’t tell directions clearly. Each rogue cultivator participating in the ascension conference would have a jade token. Once inside, they had to seize jade tokens from others, and only after collecting ten tokens would the jade token show the direction to the core region.


    Without enough tokens, even if one managed to find the core region by sheer luck, they wouldn’t be able to enter.


    In the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground, fighting was inevitable. If luck was on one’s side and they encountered a weaker opponent, they could quickly gather enough tokens. But if they were unlucky and faced a bloodthirsty opponent, not only would they fail to obtain tokens, but they might even lose their lives.


    Moreover, there were many demonic beasts living in the forbidden ground, making every step a potential danger.


    …


    On the third morning…


    Qin Sang hurried to the gathering spot in front of the dwelling and found that three to four hundred people had already assembled, with more still arriving. When the time came, the cultivators from the Yuanzhao Sect exined the rules for the ascension conference, which werergely the same as what Senior Uncle Yue had told them.


    Finally, a cultivator from the Yuanzhao Sect summoned an unremarkable wooden raft. Listening to the murmurs around him, Qin Sang learned that this raft was called the Moon-Crossing Raft, a well-known artifact of the sect.


    Though the raft appeared small, it expanded with each person who boarded it, until it eventually grewrge enough to carry everyone and soared into the sky.


    As the raft flew through the clouds, a cold wind battered it, but the azure light it emitted kept the chill at bay. Despite carrying so many people, the raft moved with lightning speed, and the mountains, rivers, andkes below passed by in a blur, leaving everyone in awe.


    The mountain range where the Yuanzhao Sect was located was as vast as the You Mountain Range. The Moon-Crossing Raft flew through the mountains for two hours before finally descending onto a stone tform atop a deste peak.


    Looking around from the tform, all that could be seen were barren mountains and wilderness, a destendscape without the rich spiritual power they had expected. There was no sign of the so-called Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground.


    As Qin Sang nced left and right, puzzled, he noticed a cave dwelling next to the tform. Just as the raftnded, the doors of the cave opened, and four cultivators from the Yuanzhao Sect emerged. All of them had reached the tenth stage of the Qi Refining Realm or higher. They hurried over to the raft and bowed deeply.


    "Greetings, Senior Uncle!"


    The Yuanzhao Sect cultivator who had been controlling the Moon-Crossing Raft nodded and said, "The ascension conference begins today. Go and open the barrier."


    "Yes!"


    The four Yuanzhao Sect cultivators moved to the edges of the tform, each taking a position in one of the four corners. They sat cross-legged and began chanting softly.


    On the tform, spiritual inscriptions manifested, forming a mysterious array. Each of the four cultivators then summoned a short sword. The swords were all different, shining in four distinct colors: azure, red, yellow, and white. It was impossible to discern their material.


    The four cultivators’ expressions turned serious as they tapped the short swords several times. Instantly, the swords shone brightly, forming four fluctuating orbs of light that swirled around their fingertips.


    In the next moment, the orbs of light elongated, transforming into four towering swords, several zhang high.


    With a sudden movement, the four of them raised their hands, pointing the swords toward the sky, and shouted in unison.


    "Go!"


    The swords shot forward.


    <em>Swoosh!</em>


    Unexpectedly, the swords didn’t fly into the distant heavens. Instead, they seemed to collide with an invisible barrier, their momentum abruptly halted. Then, the space above the swords began to ripple, creating massive waves in the air. The surrounding winds howled, and clouds churned as the outline of the ancient barrier finally appeared before everyone''s eyes.


    It was as though the sky had been torn open, revealing a massive gaping hole. From the hole, fierce winds roared, and even visible wind des sliced through the air, threatening to tear anything apart. Multicolored divine lights shed and dissipated, sending shockwaves of terrifying pressure that made everyone’s scalps tingle.


    At the sight of this apocalyptic scene, the faces of everyone on the raft turned deathly pale. They had no doubt that if they were sucked into the barrier, they would be instantly torn to shreds.


    At that moment, the four cultivators let out a soft shout, and the four swords plunged into the hole, shattering into countless fragments.


    As the four swords disintegrated, their fragments scattered into the dark hole, and for a brief moment, the chaotic barrier seemed to calm. The Yuanzhao Sect cultivator controlling the raft seized the opportunity. With a slight tremor, the Moon-Crossing Raft shot forward, heading straight for the barrier.


    Amid cries of shock, just as they were about to enter the hole, the Yuanzhao Sect cultivator suddenly withdrew the raft, causing everyone to tumble into the abyss like dumplings being dropped into a pot.


    Qin Sang only felt the world spinning around him before he plunged into a sea of darkness. Everyone around him vanished.