Chapter 127: Overt and Covert Struggles
This plane has a vast territory. Although the ancestors have painstakingly mapped it, for thousands of years, it would be a fantasy to say that someone could leave footprints all over it, let alone those endless sea areas. What unknown secrets exist in those endless sea areas? Even those who have cultivated themselves to the heavens cannot tell, because on the map of the world, those places are just a piece of blue. In the eyes of cultivators, the unknown represents danger, and danger represents opportunity. Cultivation is to fight against the world and make the impossible possible. Therefore, some strong people go deep into these unknown areas, striving to break through themselves and move towards higher strength. Advancing to the peak, but within the records, these powerful men have never returned to people's sight for a long time. If they don't really break through the sky, they will completely fall.
Among the five distinct continents, except for the central continent, which has always been ruled by the Imperial City and the Holy Palace, the other four continents have countless countries, large and small, which are far from as simple and clear as the central continent. In these countless countries, there is more or less imperial power, but it is the sects in this country that truly stand at the pinnacle of power. The royal family was only created to ensure long-term peace and stability for the country, while the sect was established for the pursuit of strength. Sect management is completely different from imperial leadership. Perhaps, the royal family also has cultivators, but in real comparison, its strength is far inferior to that of some sects. Not to mention those behemoths, even some second-rate forces, sometimes the royal family has to take care of. to their faces. Its existence is reasonable. Although its strength is inferior, the royal family has its own reasons for existence. If some sects want to annex it, they must weigh their own weight. It does not matter whether the top forces can agree, even if the top forces want to do it In this matter, threats from other forces must also be considered. The royal family survives in this kind of mutual restraint. After a long period of time, its strength has gradually developed. Although it is relatively weak on the surface, no one dares to touch it easily. In this cruel world of the jungle, if you don't want to be eliminated, you have to strengthen yourself.
The Nanzhao Empire in the southern continent is truly a huge country. Looking at the entire world of cultivation, no other country can compare with it. Of course, this is only in terms of the area it governs. I heard that the Nanzhao Empire was just a very small country at the beginning. I don’t know when, but in such a small country, a peerless genius was born. After successfully surviving the fourth inner demon tribulation, This peerless genius's temperament has undergone tremendous changes, and he has given up on the pursuit of higher strength. After gaining the right to rule this country, under his leadership, the country continued to expand through conquests in the east, west, south, and north. In just a few hundred years, this small country has become the behemoth it is today, covering an area of Nearly half of the entire southern continent. The strong man who gave up his practice enjoyed all the glory and wealth and lived a splendid life. After his death, due to his outstanding management ability, the Nanzhao Empire did not fall with it and still stood firmly. Its strength is even slightly inferior to the top forces in the country. The nearly 100 countries in the west that are not favored by that strong man do not even dare to show the slightest offense.
Decades ago, there were three major forces in the Nanzhao Empire. It can be said that the huge foundation of the Nanzhao Empire was basically controlled by these three major forces. These three major forces did not divide the huge territory into three separate administrations, but the forces intertwined with each other and jointly maintained the operation of this huge empire. But one day, the Izumo family was exterminated, and the Heiyun family became the dominant family, faintly rivaling the royal family. Since then, the situation in this country has gradually become a little strange. Although there have been no large-scale conflicts, some scrambles, fights and even assassinations have occurred one after another. The originally harmonious relationship has slowly begun to falter.
One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers. This may be what the strong man thought back then, so he deliberately created a three-party lineup to restrict each other. After the Izumo family was exterminated, this restriction instantly collapsed. If they weren't afraid of each other's background, perhaps the relationship between the imperial family and the Black Cloud family would have broken down long ago. Decades have passed, and the Nanzhao Empire is in urgent need of a third party to restrain its opponents. Otherwise, once the conflicts are intensified, the hard work of its predecessors will eventually be in vain. Facing these two behemoths, although there are countless sects in the country, there are almost no sects that can truly reach this level and are qualified to compete with them. It was not until the development of the Immortal Saint Meeting in the Imperial Capital that such a force finally emerged, because from a small Feiyu Sect, a strong man in the late stage of the Immortal Realm actually appeared. Not only did he show off his talents in the Immortal Saint Meeting, but he also achieved Qualified to enter the Holy Palace. He is Zhang Yue. After coming out of the treasure land, his strength has reached the peak of immortality, and even the leader of the Heiyun family, Du Shang, has been left behind by him.
Strength always represents everything. Returning to Feiyumen, Zhang Yue quickly gained leadership status, and with the secret support of the royal family, the Heiyun family could only acquiesce in its entry into the joint management system of the Nanzhao Empire.
Nanzhao City is a large city in the Nanzhao Empire, and it is also the central city. The headquarters of the royal family, the Heiyun Family and the suddenly rising Feiyu Sect are all located here.
At this time, the annual athletic competition was in full swing in a special area of the city. It is not ruled out that various forces recruit troops privately to strengthen themselves, but the biennial competition conference is an officially recognized recruitment conference. This so-called official naturally refers to the royal family and the Heiyun family. Of course, now there is another Feiyu sect.
Under the joint supervision of the three parties, through the appraisal of Yuanli or Soul Power, only the top sixty people with higher strength were left to participate in the competition. There were two rounds in this competition, and each round was randomly divided into thirty groups. In a one-on-one competition, sometimes it is possible for the same two people to encounter each other in two rounds at the same time. Perhaps they didn’t want to expose too much of their strength, so after these two rounds of seemingly identical competitions, the competitive meeting came to an end. It was more of a casual discussion than a competitive meeting. This was unprecedented in the entire cultivation world. Say, it is a very different kind of competition.
Taking into account certain factors, in addition to the three major forces, there will be two additional quotas for the forces that are qualified to select these outstanding talents. These two quotas are naturally agreed upon by the three major forces.
There is an unwritten rule in this competitive competition. The first round of competition is just a warm-up. Only after the second round of competition begins, the five major forces can start to compete for people. They all have 60 number plates in their hands, corresponding to 60 players. As long as you like one of them, you can raise its corresponding number. Players compete on stage in pairs, and you can only choose one of them. Once multiple people choose the same person, the selected person can choose which force to join. If no one of them is selected, then This player can only leave with regret. As for whether there were some private recruitment actions afterwards, it is unknown. Once a player is selected, the force to which he belongs can leave a number plate symbolizing the player's identity, and the number plates corresponding to other forces will be collected. Because of such a rule, there are actually some skills between selection and selection, especially for the two extra forces selected. With such an opportunity, the addition of any player will bring They have a big advantage. If they are the only one to choose, the player will automatically join their camp, saving them the trouble of competing with other forces. The strength of these players is generally low, so joining the three major forces is naturally their first choice. However, if the three major forces look down on them, it is worthwhile to join the other two forces. After all, with the support of the sect, it is better than Just practice hard on your own.
Because you can only choose one of the two, there are many uncertain factors, which can test people's mental endurance and ability to speculate. Because the players are generally low in strength, the choice will not be entirely based on the one with the slight upper hand. Sometimes, in such a seemingly random but secretly competitive attitude towards selecting candidates, it is not impossible for those with outstanding abilities to slip through the net innocently.
The player selection will begin ten minutes after the players compete. For some reasons, these players rarely compete for a long time, because as long as one person shows his card, the competition will be forcibly terminated, and other forces must also make their own statements. , otherwise it will be considered as abstention.
Sure enough, ten minutes into the first group of contestants' trial, the person in charge of the Dayin Sect raised the No. 2 sign. Although they were treated as a substitute force to participate in such a selection opportunity, the Dayin Sect still valued it. . The person in charge was obviously a little excited. He also knew that he could not compare with Danxiangdian, who was also a substitute. Perhaps it was because they were famous for alchemy. In such competitive competitions, Danxiangdian would be present almost every year, but he was Yinmen, it took five times to get such an opportunity. Because of this, it is understandable that the person in charge of the Dayin Sect is a little excited.
The competition is over, and the selection of candidates will begin immediately. As other forces expressed their opinions, the person in charge of the Dayin Sect couldn't help but twitch on his face. Except for himself, the Black Cloud Family, Feiyu Clan and Danxiang Palace all chose No. 2. With these two forces here, He had given up his hopes.
"Everyone, I accept it." The person in charge of the royal family laughed.
Since only the royal family chose No. 1, that player automatically joined the royal family. Soon, the No. 1 sign next to the other four people was taken away by relevant personnel. When the No. 1 player saw that he was selected by the royal family, his whole body trembled for no reason, thinking he was too excited.
"Now it's the contestant's turn to reverse vote. No. 2, you can choose one of the Heiyun Family, Feiyu Sect, Dayin Sect and Danxiang Palace to join." The person hosting the meeting said loudly.
"I...I choose Feiyumen!" The No. 2 player did not expect that four people would choose him. After being excited for a while, he finally chose his destination.
Upon hearing his choice, Dayin Clan and Danxiang Palace were calm because of their self-awareness, but the Heiyun Clan was quite embarrassed. Unexpectedly, they lost to the newly rising Feiyu Clan in the first round. I secretly hate myself for not choosing No. 1. It would be better to lose to the Royal Family than it is now.
Because of the gap in strength, a somewhat boring selection meeting like this, although there are only five forces participating in the selection, and there are as many as 60 contestants, sometimes, it is not uncommon for some forces to return empty-handed. As mentioned above I have said that although the contestants are not very good, in such a public occasion, whoever selects more people will have a brighter face. If you come back empty-handed, even for a long time, you will not be able to win. It will become a running joke to many people.
As for why there is such a competitive conference that seems to have no great effect at all, it is unknown.
