Chapter 322: "I quite enjoy this backdoor feeling, it's quite refreshing."

Chapter 322: "I quite enjoy this backdoor feeling, it's quite refreshing."

Before the Ascension Assembly officially began, there would be three days in Zhongzhou City for various cultivators to engage in transactions, such as setting up stalls and auctions. During these three days, Chen Qiu didn't do anything else.

On the first day, he accompanied the members of the Mock Heaven Sect around the city.

For the remaining two days, they split up and explored on their own, as everyone's interests differed, and it was impossible to visit all the places together.

For instance, some people, well, let's just name one—Qu Gui insisted on visiting the brothel to see if the girls in the immortal realm had any unique qualities. Some wanted to stroll through the street of stalls again, while Fat Dragon was curious about local immortal delicacies.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened during this time.

After all, all the powerful cultivators in the Tide Immortal Plane would gather here during these days, and no one knew the background of those they might offend. Everyone was relatively restrained, and no one dared to provoke others.

Moreover, most of them were at the Celestial Immortal or Earth Immortal stage, and it was unlikely for them to act so dishonorably.

As for the young patriarch of the Chao Zong, he was an exception. After all, there were always a few nonconformists everywhere.

During these two days, Chen Qiu visited a teahouse.

There was no storyteller in the teahouse during those days; instead, people gathered to discuss cultivation techniques. A group of people shared their insights on the effects and possibilities of various codex entry combinations. After listening for two days, Chen Qiu gained a profound understanding.

However, it was evident that everyone was being cautious, not revealing their core codex entry combinations. This was understandable, as these combinations were closely guarded secrets, and no one would openly discuss them.

Time passed by, and soon the three days were over, and the Ascension Assembly was about to officially begin.

On this day—

The Ascension Assembly officially commenced, and numerous cultivators had already gathered outside Zhongzhou City, waiting for the appearance of a teleportation portal in the open space.

Chen Qiu glanced at Deceptive Buddha beside him with a complicated expression, "I thought you would change your appearance."

It wasn't that he was discriminating, but Deceptive Buddha's image was indeed not very righteous. Even under the scorching sun, he gave off a rather eerie feeling, making people feel a bit unnerved.

Deceptive Buddha shrugged indifferently, "Is it necessary? Do I stand out in this crowd?"

Chen Qiu's mouth twitched slightly, and he didn't say anything for a while. It was true that although Deceptive Buddha's appearance was a bit eerie, he didn't stand out in the crowd at all.

There were many others who were more eye-catching, like Badan and the group of Maan Clan members.

The towering giants stood out like a crane among chickens in the open space, drawing everyone's attention.

Aside from them, the appearances of the other cultivators were also not very normal.

Even the Xuan Tian Continent, a First Rank Continent where cultivators had relatively low cultivation levels, had a more standardized appearance, as they all wore Daoist robes, giving off a more authentic immortal vibe.

However, these true immortals didn't exhibit any trace of the Daoist demeanor.

For example, the immortal on the left was just a ball of black mist, and it was impossible to tell what race he belonged to, let alone his cultivation.

Although there were many people present, no one released their divine sense, as doing so would be considered a provocation. It was easy to be disciplined by those with higher cultivation levels who might take offense.

Everyone was quite well-behaved.

Among them, Chen Qiu was the most normal-looking.

Without wasting much time on catching up,

"Boom!!!"

Accompanied by the sound of heavenly thunder, a white teleportation portal slowly appeared in the air in front of them. As soon as the portal opened, many cultivators flew into it.

There was no rush, and they entered one by one.

In fact, there was no need to rush, as it made no difference whether one entered early or late.

After waiting for a while,

Chen Qiu and the others followed Badan into the teleportation portal.

As they stepped through the portal,

A familiar square made of bluestone appeared before their eyes.

"Hmm,"

Chen Qiu silently nodded, accepting this setting. He discovered that the Heavenly Dao and the Mock Heaven Sect had something in common—they both seemed to favor this style of bluestone square. It was unclear who copied whom.

After waiting for a long time, the white teleportation portal behind them gradually closed, and everyone had entered the secret realm. Although they all stood on the bluestone square, it didn't feel crowded at all.

The bluestone square was large enough to accommodate even more people without any issues.

Everyone's faces showed traces of expectation and excitement.

After all, the Ascension Assembly only opened once every ten thousand years, and none of those present had ever attended it before. Their understanding of the Ascension Assembly came from historical records and ancestral traditions, which were incomplete at best.

No matter how much knowledge one had, it couldn't compare to the awe-inspiring feeling of standing here in person.

The next moment—

An ancient and emotionless voice slowly sounded in everyone's ears.

"The Ascension Assembly, which opens once every ten thousand years, has officially begun."

"The Ascension Assembly offers numerous opportunities for everyone to seize."

"The Ascension Assembly will last for three days."

"The first day is the Masked Banquet."

"The second day is the Peaches of Immortality Banquet."

"The third day is the Ascending Immortal Road."

"This time, a total of one hundred and ninety-eight teams have entered the Ascension Assembly. Each team leader is required to name their team within ten breaths."

"Naming completed."

"Next, each cultivator will be randomly assigned a unique identity. This identity will last until the start of the Peaches of Immortality Banquet, and most identities will be ordinary mortals. However, a few identities will have special effects that will help you gain better opportunities during the Masked Banquet."

"Random start."

"Random pause, delay for a hundred breaths, then start randomizing again."

"A masked ball?"

Chen Qiu glanced at the panel that popped up in front of him, enveloped in clouds, and realized that this Ascension Assembly was also a large secret realm, but it was the first time he had encountered such a realm, and it seemed to have unique identities.

What a pity.

There were 198 teams in total, which meant a considerable number of people. In this situation, the chances of randomly obtaining a special identity with a unique effect were slim.

He didn't hold any expectations for it.

After all, he didn't even know what effects these special identities had, and they might be useless.

Moreover.

His primary purpose was to join the festivities, and once he had experienced it all, he would return to Cao Tian Palace with all the disciples of Mock Heaven Sect to seclude himself.

His plan was to prepare for the upcoming awakening of the Heavenly Dao.

However, he wondered if something was wrong, as the randomization of identities had only reached halfway, and yet it could still be paused.

Just then—

Little Shuai, who had quietly approached him, whispered, "Senior, the Spirit of this secret realm is one of us."

". . ."

Chen Qiu's expression changed slightly as he turned to Little Shuai and said in a hoarse voice, "Is this true?"

"Why are you only telling me now?"

"I just discovered it. The Spirit of this secret realm has awakened its self-awareness, but it only acts once every ten thousand years. It doesn't have a way to establish contact with the outside world. I just told it about my plan to establish a clan for the Spirits, and it was very excited. It kept saying it wanted to join us."

"I told it that you are my boss, and as long as you have enough opportunities in this secret realm, I will take it with me when we leave and let it join the Spirit clan."

"Of course, this still requires your approval. It's waiting for my response, and if you don't want it to join us, I'll go and refuse it right now."

"I'm willing!"

Chen Qiu nodded seriously and sincerely, "Why wouldn't I be willing? I warmly welcome this new partner to join our big family."

"So, what about this random identity pause?"

"I'm waiting for you to choose an identity you like first, and then we'll start randomizing again."

"Hmm."

Chen Qiu took a deep breath and murmured, "I like this backdoor feeling, it's kind of exciting. What are we waiting for? Let's begin."

Soon—

A panel shrouded in clouds appeared before him, listing all the identities and their effects.

"Ordinary Immortal": No effect. (No limit on quantity)



"Gatekeeper Immortal": Can freely travel to any corner of the secret realm. (Limited to 5)



"Furnace Immortal": Immune to the burning of Triumphant Flame. (Limited to 5)



"Peach Immortal": Possesses an extra Immortal Peach, which can deal high damage to puppets. (Limited to 5)



"Sea Immortal": Can freely control seawater. (Limited to 5)



"Earth Immortal": -

There were a total of 10 identities.

Excluding the Ordinary Immortal, there were 9 special identities. None of them seemed particularly powerful, and they appeared to be highly specialized. Regardless of which identity he chose, it would only provide a certain advantage, but not a significant one.

Unless...

"Um..."

After hesitating for a while, Chen Qiu cautiously asked, "Can we give all these identities to the disciples of Mock Heaven Sect?"

The total number of special identity slots was 45.

There were 198 teams in total, with some teams having as few as a dozen members and others nearly a hundred. Altogether, there were nearly ten thousand people gathered, which meant only 45 people would have special identities, while the rest would be Ordinary Immortals.

Choosing a special identity didn't provide a significant advantage, almost as if it didn't exist.

But if all the special identities belonged to him, that would be a different story.

"Of course."

As Little Shuai nodded in agreement,

The next moment—

The ancient and emotionless voice sounded again.

"Identity randomization begins."

"Identity randomization complete."

"The first day's activity is a masked ball. Before the ball begins, teams must pass through nine checkpoints, and each checkpoint is an elimination round. Teams that pass each checkpoint will receive opportunities, and the team with the best performance will receive additional opportunities."

"Finally, one team will remain standing."

"This team will have priority at the masked ball."

As the voice slowly faded,

The Greenstone Square also underwent a transformation.

A green stone path emerged in front of them, leading to a white teleportation array with the words "Checkpoint 1" above it.

At that moment—

The crowd on Greenstone Square was in an uproar, and the disciples of Mock Heaven Sect were momentarily stunned. However, they soon became excited and couldn't help but shout out, but they quickly regained their composure and suppressed their emotions. They looked at each other in disbelief, wondering why everyone was so excited.

Fat Dragon, who was about to excitedly share the good news with Chen Qiu, saw the reactions of the other disciples and paused, looking a bit lost. "Why are you all..."

"Shh."

Chen Qiu made a subtle shushing gesture, indicating that everyone should keep a low profile to avoid drawing attention. Although there didn't seem to be a place to report them, it was still best to maintain a low profile. Otherwise, they might not be reported, but they would likely incur everyone's wrath.

Although he was unafraid of any individual present, the thought of incurring the wrath of the crowd made him a little apprehensive.

He randomly drew the special identity of "Furnace Immortal."

Yes, he didn't specify, it was a random draw, but only within the special identities.

The effects were more or less the same, with no particularly powerful ones, so it didn't matter which one he used. As long as he wanted it, he could use it.

The disciples of the Mock Heaven Sect exchanged glances, quickly understanding what had happened, and all of them took a deep breath. Just a moment ago, they thought it was their good luck, but now it seemed that the Patriarch had cheated again.

Although they didn't know how the Patriarch had managed to cheat.

But it didn't matter anymore.

Just then—

Chen Qiu heard the complaints of Badan coming from his side, "Is our luck that bad? The Maan Clan brought several dozen people, but not a single one of them drew a special identity. We won't have any advantage in the upcoming challenges."

"Is today just that unlucky?"

"Senior, did anyone in your group draw a special identity?"

"Yes."

"Really?" Badan's eyes lit up, "Which identity did they draw, and how many people got special identities? What are the effects?"

At that moment—

The entire square was filled with complaints, as almost every faction was wondering why their luck was so bad today. They had brought so many people, yet not a single one of them had drawn a special identity.

"Ahem."

Chen Qiu coughed lightly and whispered, "We'll talk about this later. Let's go to the first challenge."

"Oh, oh."

Badan nodded, a little puzzled, but it was indeed inconvenient with so many people around.

Soon—

Chen Qiu and the others stood at the entrance of the first challenge. The content of the secret realm for the first challenge was simple.

It was a head-to-head challenge between two teams.

One team would send out a member to perform gestures based on a specific idiom provided by the challenge, and then the representatives of both teams would guess the idiom based on the gestures.

It was a straightforward challenge.

The winning team would proceed to the second challenge, while the losing team would go to the audience seats to watch the other teams' progress and patiently wait for the start of the Masked Banquet.

During this time—

Communication through any means, such as spiritual transmission or dream messaging, was prohibited. The performer would also be placed in a separate small space, unable to see the others, making even eye contact impossible.

Furthermore, the challenge would provide a list of 100 idioms in advance, and the performer would choose one from this list, significantly reducing the difficulty.

However, the list would not be revealed until the performer entered the small space to prevent any potential cheating.

This was to avoid situations like guessing the third idiom on the list by counting down from the 100th idiom.

It could be said that fairness was ensured to the greatest extent possible.

"Let's go!"

At that moment—

A middle-aged man standing next to them spoke solemnly, "Are you ready? If so, let's begin!"

Yes.

For fairness, the challenge was divided into two rounds.

In each round, both teams would send out a performer, and each performer would act out ten idioms, making a total of twenty idioms. The representatives from both teams would then guess the idioms, and the team with the most correct answers would win.

It's worth mentioning that—

Chen Qiu just then realized that Badan had named their team "Great Team," while the opposing team was named "Brave Forward Team."

Hmm, his evaluation was that he had no evaluation.

Although he wasn't sure why Badan was so fixated on the word 'great,' but never mind, let's not talk about that.

Soon—

Following the procedure, both teams selected a performer. The opposing team's performer was a slender young man who looked quite nimble, while their team's performer was Fat Dragon.

The opposing team's captain was the one guessing the idioms, while Chen Qiu was the representative for his team.

Yes, Chen Qiu was ready to take on the first challenge personally.

"Senior."

Badan smiled confidently, "If you're willing to take the stage yourself, there's no problem."

Then, as both teams stepped into the teleportation array—

They appeared on a stage.

The stage was surrounded by many spectator seats, and the other team members sat in the audience to watch. Chen Qiu stood with the captain of the "Brave Forward" team in the center of the stage, and in front of them was a cage where a slender young man stood.

He was the performer chosen by the "Brave Forward" team.

The first round began with the performer's performance.

"Kid, you're a little green."

Before the official start, the captain of the "Brave Forward" team, a man with a full beard, scrutinized Chen Qiu with narrowed eyes, "Are you from the Human Race? When did Badan become so close to the Human Race, and why did he send you out first, treating you with such importance?"

"Hmm."

Chen Qiu nodded slightly and casually said, "It's fine. It'll be hard for you to forget my name in the future."

Then—

Along with a hoarse and emotionless voice, the challenge officially began.

"Please begin your performance of the first idiom, Brave Forward Team's performer."

The slender man in the cage received the instruction and made many gestures.

He looked like a sly fox.

He would reach to the left, then to the right.

After the performer finished, the representatives had ten breaths to think.

The captain of the Brave Forward Team thought for a few breaths before hesitantly writing his answer on the paper.

He turned to look at Chen Qiu beside him and realized that Chen Qiu had already finished writing his answer some time ago.

Then, at the prompt, they both raised their papers.

"The first round's answer is 'stealing a chicken and dog!'"

"Both representatives answered correctly, earning one point each.

"Huh?"

The captain of the Brave Squad furrowed his brows, sensing a hint of danger. This challenge seemed like a fun game, but it was actually quite difficult. The biggest challenge wasn't interpreting the idiom correctly but rather making their team understand their performance while keeping their opponents in the dark.

The difficulty was too low otherwise.

This was the real challenge.

That's why their team's performer had made so many moves, as they had agreed on a secret signal. All the actions before scratching their head were decoys.

Only after scratching their head would the real actions begin.

This was within the rules; nowhere did it say they couldn't do this. If the rules didn't forbid it, they could do it.

Their performer had made over a dozen decoy moves, even intentionally leading them astray to other idioms, before finally performing the correct actions for the idiom "stealing a chicken and dog." Despite their meticulous planning, their opponent had guessed correctly and even faster than them.

"You've got some skills, huh?"

The middle-aged man with a full beard felt a surge of battle intent and sneered, "I hope you can guess the next one correctly too."

". . ."

Chen Qiu lowered his head, rubbed his nose, and remained silent. He didn't meet the man's burning gaze, mainly because he didn't understand why the man suddenly felt so competitive, and also, he hadn't even guessed.

When he picked up the rice paper, the answer had already appeared on it.

There was nothing he could do.

This was their home turf; how could he lose?

Soon...

The Brave Squad's performer had finished acting out ten idioms.

Chen Qiu answered all ten correctly, while the bearded man only got seven right.

"How... How is this possible?"

The middle-aged man, who had been full of fighting spirit moments ago, now looked lost and disbelieving. He turned to Chen Qiu, unable to understand how the young man could guess so accurately, even with all the decoy moves their performer had made.

Was this...

Was this fair?

What was worse was that he always guessed faster than him!

"It's okay, it's okay."

The middle-aged man took a deep breath and muttered, "There's still the second half of the round."

The competition wasn't over yet; there was still the second half. Although they were behind in their own half, they would likely fall even further behind when it was the opponent's turn to perform. But as long as they hadn't lost completely, they had to keep going!

Miracles only favor those who persist, not those who give up halfway!

After silently encouraging himself, the middle-aged man, with a serious expression, turned to Chen Qiu and said in a hoarse voice, "Come on, I hope you'll have the same luck in the second half."

However...

When the second half began, the Fat Dragon in the cage made its first move, and the middle-aged man was stunned.

The Fat Dragon in the cage sat cross-legged on the ground, casually nodded, and then... nothing.

Ten breaths later...

The middle-aged man couldn't figure out which idiom it was and randomly guessed one from the 100 options.

"The answer for the eleventh round is 'Narrow Escape'!"

"The 'Great Team' has guessed correctly and earned one point!"

"Huh?"

The middle-aged man stared at the correct answer displayed on the panel and carefully recalled the Fat Dragon's actions, then turned to Chen Qiu, his voice rising in disbelief. "What does his action have to do with 'Narrow Escape'?"

"Is there even a sliver of a connection?"

"How did you guess this?"

". . ."

Chen Qiu cleared his throat softly and said, "Sitting cross-legged represents 'narrow,' and nodding represents 'escape.' It's quite understandable."

"Fine."

Soon...

For the next idiom, the Fat Dragon continued to sit cross-legged and then nodded.

"The answer for the twelfth round is 'Despondent'!"

"The 'Great Team' has guessed correctly and earned one point!"

"Alright, 'Despondent,' I get it. There is a connection, indeed."

In the next round, the Fat Dragon remained cross-legged and then nodded.

"The answer for the thirteenth round is 'Superficial Observation'!"

"The 'Great Team' has guessed correctly and earned one point!"

"Come on, you better explain how his actions relate to 'Superficial Observation'!"

"Sitting cross-legged represents riding a horse, and nodding represents looking down at flowers."

"Fine!"

The middle-aged man no longer cared about winning or losing. Even though it was a sure loss, as they were too far behind, his anger had turned to laughter. He wanted to see if the performer in the cage would repeat the same actions.

Finally...

In the last round, the twentieth, the Fat Dragon in the cage remained cross-legged and nodded.

When the final answer was revealed as "Anxious as Burning," the middle-aged man with the full beard, his face now flushed with anger, laughed in fury. "Come on, explain how his actions have anything to do with 'Anxious as Burning'!"

"How did you guess this?"

"That's enough, no need to explain!"

"I'm reporting this! They're cheating, and they're not even trying to act! I'm reporting this!"

After shouting several times...

What followed wasn't justice but the sound of defeat.

Hearing the sound of defeat in his ear, the middle-aged man with the beard, though unwilling to accept it, gradually calmed down. It was a done deal; there was nothing he could do. It was just too unfair! They were obviously cheating, and no one was doing anything about it!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end