The Card Cultivation System
CCS-253

SHUSUH!

Behind the dense trees, a group of people moved quite quickly. The group consisted of five people. All five had met quite a number of disciples along their journey, but none were able to impress them. As a result, they sent all those disciples out of this round.

Those five people were the ones that Zhen Fang had recruited, namely Xika, Li Tang, Tian Li, and Di Lang. The five take turns eliminating those who are not worthy. But in some fights, Di Lang deliberately did not intervene. He wanted to see how the true strength of Xika and Li Tang was.

After all, Xika was the weakest among them all. Even though Di Lang suspected Xika of hiding her strength, at most she was only at the level of Forming Qi 8 right? There was no way that xika could hide her strength to two levels. Only a top-tier expert could do that. Only those who were at the level of the teachers in the academy could do that.

Xika was obviously not on the same level as the teachers of the academy. What made Zhen Fang invite him? Was Xika really on par with Tian Li who came from the Sky Devouring Castle? Although hard to believe, but there are some things that make him doubt.

First, who said that Xika was on par with Tian Li was Zhen Fang. Zhen Fang was not the type to lie, let alone in a situation like this. If he was indeed a liar, then the Immortal Pearl Pavillion would have lost its buyer a long time ago.

Second, Tian Li. The man only snorted when Zhen Fang said Xika was on par with him. If you remember the arrogant character of Sky Devouring Castle, then they will definitely immediately refuse to be equated with someone. But Tian Li was silent.

Other than Xika, there was still Li Tang. This man is as mysterious as his clan. He did not talk much as if afraid of mispronouncing and revealing the secrets of his clan. His strength was at the average level, Forming Qi 8. Di Lang was not sure whether Li Tang was hiding his strength or not, but it did not seem that there would be much of a difference.

Even though his strength was at the average level, but Li Tang did not show anything special. It looks like Xika. There was nothing that could be seen from the two. Right, Xika did manage to shock Di Lang when his body fused with the wind, but after that what?

If he only had the ability to escape, then he would not need to enter this competition. After all, what will be seen in the last round is the fighting ability of each individual, not the ability to escape.

Unfortunately, Di Lang still could not see Li Tang and Xika's true strength. When the two eliminated those who were unfit, both of them only gave out ordinary attacks. Their movements were indeed more effective and deadly than other cultivators, but other than that there was nothing special about them.

They continued to search until the sun started to set. Zhen Fang ended the search that day. The night is the time for the participants to rest. Although there were some participants who launched attacks at night, there were very few. Not necessarily they met.

They stopped on the sloping ground. They are not looking for a hidden place. Besides, who needs it? Those who are foolish and intend to attack the five, are welcome to come forward. It seems that the five agreed to it.

Zhen Fang took out some meat from his spatial ring. Then he took the wood and burned the meat. At a certain cultivation level, a cultivator can create artificial elements, such as fire, water, earth, and wind without having to master them.

It was just that the elements made were too weak that they could not be used in a fight. The use of the element was only for simple things like burning meat, or drying clothes. So no one was surprised when he saw Zhen Fang being able to create fire with his qi.

"Please." Zhen Fang distributed his flesh evenly. He was intending to chat a word and two with them, but Tian Li and Li Tang seemed to have no interest in talking. Moreover, it seemed that Tian Li was somehow paying special attention to Xika.

He noticed Xika quite often during their journey. Zhen Fang begins to suspect that Xika actually has an extraordinary identity. After all, only extraordinary people can attract the attention of those from the Sky Devouring Castle right?

"Brother Zhen, do you still have another name to recommend?"

Unexpectedly, it was Xika who started the conversation first.

Zhen Fang replied with a dry smile, "It's a pity, Brother Xing. Other than Brother Di and the representatives from the Academy, I have no other recommendations. Maybe Brother Di or Brother Li have a recommendation?"

Li Tang and Di Lang both shook their heads. Zhen Fang called out their names in order to get the two to join the conversation, but it didn't seem to work out.

"By the way, Brother Zhen, isn't this too time-consuming?" ask Xika again.

"Hm, it's true what Brother Xing said. But other than observing their fights one by one, there seemed to be no other way to find out the rest of the participants were worthy enough."

Xika shook her head, "That's not what I meant. Moving together in this group of five people is too time consuming right? Shouldn't we split up? That way we can observe various battles faster right? Besides, we can trace this place faster."

Zhen Fang widened his eyes. He nodded his head several times. "As expected of Brother Xing. That's a good idea. But how should we split up?"

"I don't mind wandering around on my own. How about a"

"Hey, hey......Is Brother Zhen sure? Letting a Qi 7 Forming cultivator wander around alone did not seem like a good idea. What if he was attacked in the middle of the road?" said Di Lang mockingly. "In addition, is his judgment trustworthy? What if he brought everyone he met?"

Xika gave a small grunt accompanied by a thin smile that contained insults. But other than that, he did nothing.

"Heh. Wh why? Do you mind? Try to fight me here, if you mind!"

Against Di Lang's challenge, Xika kept quiet. He did not even bother to look at Di Lang and preferred to focus on his grilled meat. At Lang it is getting up the black because of it. But before he spoke further, Zhen Fang had already mediated the two.

"Sad." Di Lang threw his face away while cursing the annoyance in his heart. Actually, he had deliberately provoked Xika. Out of curiosity for Xika's power, and not succeeding in seeing her true power, so Di Lang tried to make Xika show her power by provocation.

Even if he knew Zhen Fang would definitely mediate, but if Xika was provoked, he could at least see Xika's strength a little. Unfortunately, he was not at all provoked.

"That's it. Since Brother Di was less sure if it was just one, how about everyone go together? Brother Xing with Brother Li, Brother Di with Brother Tian. While I am, I can look for Brother Han Feng. Otherwise, I wouldn't be alone."

"In a moment, you grouped the two of them together? The one in the Qi Forming and the other the mysterious pretentious. Do you think anyone would be interested in such a group?"

"Ahahaha.....then I have to ask Brother Di to recruit as many people as possible."

"God." Di Lang smiled proudly while Zhen Fang repeatedly gave an apologetic smile to Xika.

Fortunately, Zhen Fang's remark managed to silence Di Lang. He no longer protested. To Zhen Fang, such a group formation was the best.

There was a reason why he was grouping Xika with Li Tang, not with Tian Li or Di Lang. First, Tian Li and Xika were enemies. He met the two while they were fighting. If he left the two of them just like that, it was likely that they would continue the fight back then. After all, the fight of both of them had stopped because of him.

Second, Di Lang was very suspicious of Xika. He was not satisfied that Xika who was in the Qi 7 Forming could be in the same group as himself who was in the Qi 9 Forming. If he left both, Di Lang would have started the fight first.

At Lang would definitely give the phrase "Because I'm not sure, so I tried to check his abilities. It turns out he's too weak. You better find another finalist." or something. Although he did not know how the end result would be if Di Lang and Xika fought.

The last one was Li Tang. Zhen Fang wanted to test both of them, Li Tang as well as Xika. The seemingly weak but extraordinary Xing Xika in her own way, with the mysterious all-rounder Li Tang. What happens when the two are combined?

He had a feeling that the finalists brought by Xika's group would be surprising compared to Di Lang's group. After all, his goal of joining this competition was to know the strength of the big and small sects that existed, as well as to establish relationships with those with potential.

If Xika could bring forth hidden potential, then it would definitely benefit the Pavilion as well. So, why not?

Moreover, Di Lang and Tian Li's combination was also actually quite good. The Clan and Sky Devouring Castle. Surely a small and medium sect who was still sane would not dare to disturb the two. So the finalists that the two will bring include representatives of the academy, those who have power, or social status.

So it could be said, that the finalists that Di Lang would bring should not be doubted. But the other side, a little too boring. While Xika's group, on one hand the finalists brought may raise many questions, but on the other hand it could be a surprising thing.

As the day grew darker and the moon began to rise, the five decided to go to sleep. But without the others realizing it, Zhen Fang quietly approached Xika.

"Gts.....Brother Xing? Have you slept?"

"Brother Zhen? No, I haven't slept. What's the problem?"

"Actually, I wanted to apologize for that. Brother Di's words were rather wearless. I-"

"No problem. Not a big thing. Brother Zhen need not worry about such a small thing."

"If Brother Xing doesn't mind, I'm personally willing to compensate for this."

Xika chuckled softly. "No need, Brother Zhen. Like I said, it's no big deal. After all, this cooperation only applies to the top 16, right, Brother Zhen? Who underestimates who, will only be seen at the end."

Zhen Fang was silent. It took a while for him to talk back. "It's good that Brother Xing doesn't hold a grudge. I beg her for help in the future then."

"certain."

Zhen Fang returned to his place with some thoughts in his head. Something disturbed him. Given that Xika was protesting at the Pavilion when it had already passed for quite a while, it felt strange that she let Di Lang ridicule just like that.

In addition, Xika's remarks concerning cooperation and the top 16. First, he had already promised Xika would qualify until the top 8 at least. Why did he say the top 16? Doesn't Xika trust him? Or is Xika sure to escape to the top 8 with her own ability?

Second, Xika said cooperation as if he could not wait to be free from this cooperation quickly. Does that mean Xika doesn't believe it yet? Although, cooperation like this is indeed a fairly fragile thing.

In addition, the reason Xika did not bother with Di Lang was apparently because Xika did not consider Di Lang from the beginning. Indeed, he did not choose the wrong person. Most participants would definitely be daunted when faced with the name of a big sect like Di Clan, Sky Devouring Castle or others.

But Xika did not even consider them at all. This reinforced Zhen Fang's conjecture that Xika was indeed confident of being able to escape the top 8 with her own abilities. In fact, maybe the top 8 is not the end. Who knows? He was impatient for the finalists like what Xika would bring later.