The Transcendent Immortal Chapter 256 Forest of Illusory Moon

"Yes," Traceless for Ten Miles answered dully.

The Elder in-charge didn't ask any further and registered all of their names. "Which continent are you representing?" Even though asking this made him look unprofessional, he must admit that he didn't know where this so-called Fallen Immortals Sect came from.

One-dot Red smiled. "We don't represent any continent, only the Fallen Immortals Sect." His words made it clear that he couldn't care less about the five continents.

Frowning, the Elder in-charge handed them ten black-colored badges. These badges indicated that they were independents. For the past several hundred years, nearly no one had ever worn these badges.

He then handed them a pouch to keep the Hearts of Illusory Moon but One-dot Red didn't take it. With a weak smile, he said, "We don't need this."

The Elder's brows furrowed even deeper. It was obvious that he was getting upset. "You are free to be independents, but the Hearts of Illusory Moon are the proof of your participation in the Immortal's Sword Assembly. The Hearts of Illusory Moon can only be kept in the Illusory Moon Pouch or they'll disappear."

Traceless for Ten Miles folded his arms in front of his chest and said dully, "Elder, you need not worry about that."

The crowd under the platform belatedly realized what he meant. In the Forest of Illusory Moon, they could very well snatch another sect's Hearts of Illusory Moon. Traceless for Ten Miles was saying that they didn't have to collect any; all they had to was snatch.

This spurred discussions among those in the square. The seven-day excursion in the Forest of Illusory Moon had always the main event in every assembly. The Divine Mist Sect had won several consecutive rounds, with them winning the last round with more than seven hundred Hearts of Illusory Moon. The first runner-up, Yin-Yang Sect from the North Continent, won with more than two hundred while the second runner-up, White Mist Academy from the West Continent, won with more than one hundred. The sects from the East Continent were all eliminated after failing to pass the qualifying round.

With the participation of the Fallen Immortals Sect this time, the arrangement for the past hundreds of years seemed to have shifted. Many were ill at ease. They never thought of winning; they were content with collecting twenty Hearts of Illusory Moon and entering the Violet Illusory Land to cultivate for two months.

However, the might of the Fallen Immortals Sect meant that a lot of them would return empty-handed this time.

Yu Yifeng was frowning as well. In the previous assembly, all the sects in the East Continent placed their hope on the Jade Qing Sect. However, the Divine Mist Sect ended up stealing all twenty of their hard-won Hearts of Illusory Moon. With the sudden appearance of the Fallen Immortals Sect this time, the enemies they would be facing were simply formidable.

A female disciple named Qingyu next to him asked softly, "Senior Brother Yu, do you think we stand a chance this time?"

Yu Yifeng took a deep breath. "Let's just try our best."

Mu Shaoai scoffed. "In the previous round, I said to steal from other sects at the last minute, didn't I? But you insisted on your ways, saying something about 'don't do unto others what you don't want to be done unto you'."

Yu Yifeng frowned. "Junior Brother Shaoai, the other sects collected their Hearts of Illusory Moon with painstaking effort as well. It's not the way of us cultivators to reap what we didn't sow."

Mu Shaoai sneered. "Pedantic."

Qingyu's brows furrowed. "Senior Brother Mu, how can you say that about Senior Brother Yu? For the past ten years, he has been at work cultivating. Do you think those from the Divine Mist Sect will dare to come up and steal from us this time?"

Mu Shaoai sneered but didn't respond. Right then, several disciples of the Divine Mist Sect walked past them. One of them glanced at the Illusory Moon Pouch in Yu Yifeng's hand and smiled. "Yu Shiyi, be more careful this time."

His sarcasm was obvious. Xiao Chen glanced at them and said nonchalantly, "It's some people who should be more careful. You don't want your hard-stolen Hearts of Illusory Moon to be stolen by the Fallen Immortals Sect."

"B*stard, what did you say?!"

The Divine Mist Sect hated bringing up the matter of someone from the Fallen Immortals Sect defeating all of them. When the disciple of the Divine Mist Sect heard what Xiao Chen said, his anger immediately flared up. His fellow disciple tugged on his sleeve after recognizing Xiao Chen. "Junior Brother, don't. Let's just go."

But the angry disciple didn't recognize Xiao Chen. Refusing to the drop the matter, he pointed at Xiao Chen and said through gritted teeth, "Just wait and see, Jade Qing Sect!"

With a sneer, Xiao Chen spread his hands. "I welcome you to snatch from us anytime."

The registration soon came to an end. Compared to the battles to determine the top ten best fighters, the subsequent seven-day qualifying match was the more popular topic. The top ten rankings were a faraway dream to most of them, after all. It was more practical to collect twenty Hearts of Illusory Moon and enter the Violet Illusory Land to cultivate.

Xiao Chen also went home to prepare for the round. Taking advantage of the remaining daylight, he went down the mountain to buy some items that he could turn into tens of seal talismans. He then spent the entire night creating the talismans. Even though Luo Shangyan and Li Muxue were both in the Core Forming Realm now, the Forest of Illusory Moon was a dangerous place with a lot of Demonic Beasts with destructive powers. It would be good for them to carry talismans around.

His only regret was failing to enter the Nascent Soul Realm in time. Otherwise, he could have drawn formations on the talismans. He could have drawn the Nine Heaven-scorching Flames Formation on a talisman. The effect would have been quite strong if he threw it at his enemies.

By the time the first ray of the morning sunshine filtered through the Jade Terrace Mountain, the public square was already crowded with disciples from all sorts of sects. More than 400 sects were participating in the qualifying round this time, but ninety percent of them were destined to fail. Judging from the figures, it was obvious how intense the competition in the Forest of Illusory Moon would be.

The Heart of Illusory Moon grew inside a small animal called the Illusory Moon Beast. The rabbit-like animal might not have any offensive power, but it was difficult to catch because of its speed and cunningness. They would be lucky to catch three or four a day, but taking out the Heart of Illusory Moon was another problem.

Guarding the Heart of Illusory Moon afterward was yet another problem. Either way, the competition would be stiff. Seven days later, more than ninety percent of the participating sects would be eliminated. The remaining thirty or so sects would naturally be the cream of the crop.

The crowd in the square was gearing up for the match. The Forest of Illusory Moon was located several hundred miles away from Tianyuan City, but with the Teleportation Formation of the Daoist League of the Five Continents, they would be able to transport the participants to the forest immediately. Under the guidance of their respective Elders, thousands of the participants orderly headed to the rear mountain where the formation was located.

When they arrived at the rear mountain, Xiao Chen noticed that the place was rich with spirit energy and the undulation of vital force in the formation was particularly great. Seniors in the Apotheosis Realm must have worked together to lay down the Teleportation Formation many years ago.

Murong Xian'er tugged on his sleeve with a reluctant look. "Brother Xiao Chen, you have to be careful..."

Xiao Chen caressed her hair with a smile. "You don't have to worry about me. Stay put next to Senior Zi Mo when I'm not around. Don't go down the mountain and roam around."

Zi Mo walked over and pulled him to a side. He whispered, "Yu Yifeng is pretty pedantic, so you don't have to listen to him all the time. Remember, being benevolent to your enemy means being cruel to yourself. Fight when you have to. Millions of Spirit Stones are at stake here."

Xiao Chen smiled. Naturally, he understood what Zi Mo meant. "Rest assured."

Before the participants entered the Teleportation Formation in order, the Elder in-charge of escorting the participants gave them all a jade note each and a simple explanation of its use.

"Crush the jade note when you think you're in peril and you'll be instantly teleported out of the forest. Whenever you suffer a fatal attack, the jade note will break on its own as well. Of course, you'll be disqualified if you exit before the round ends."

Everyone understood that this arrangement was to prevent murders from happening in the forest. It also indicated that the training in the forest wasn't that cruel because there were protective measures set in place at least.

The participants would find themselves teleported to a certain area of the Forest of Illusory Moon once they stepped inside the Teleportation Formation. The areas of the dangerous forest differed drastically with unusual weather. Lucky ones would be transported to an area with clear skies and a stream passing through the forest. Unlucky ones would find themselves in an area with a dark canyon without sunlight or even underground caves with boiling lava.

Xiao Chen and his group were rather fortunate. They were transported to a forest filled with ancient trees that reached high into the sky and exotic flowers and plants of all kind. The air was permeated with the fragrance of flowers. They could even hear the gurgling of running water in the distance.

"The scenery here is pretty nice. We can amuse ourselves here just fine," Mu Shaoai commented as he looked at the clear, blue sky with a smile. He seemed to be enjoying the fragrant air.

Yu Yifeng frowned. "Junior Brother Shaoai, the Forest of Illusory Moon is a dangerous place. We must not let our guard down."

"Do you think I need you to tell me that?" Mu Shaoai sneered.

Yu Yifeng shook his head. He turned around to address the rest. "Junior Brothers and Sisters, remember to stay together. Don't act on your own..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Mu Shaoai stretched lazily and sighed. "I'm going over there to take a look. You can stay here and continue preaching." He went in the direction of the gurgling water.

"Junior Brother, come back!" Yu Yifeng yelled.

Mu Shaoai ignored him and continued to walk. Suddenly, a light whooshing sound rang as a silhouette hiding in the shadows revealed itself and attacked him at a high speed.

Chapter end