Chapter 207: The Grand Mystical Sect Competition

Late at night.

A dark red silhouette appeared silently atop the tower, watching the man tending a pill furnace below with a teasing grin.

“Night Abyss, do you know what your little disciple said to me today?”

The man across the room didn’t reply, acting as though he hadn’t seen him at all. He simply turned and pushed a tray of freshly shaped cookies into the furnace.

Eryun didn’t mind. He conjured a chair, sat down lazily, propping his chin on one hand as he continued to talk to himself.

“We all know the immortal realm gets restless every now and then, and every time that happens, the mortal realm suffers the fallout. Even I can’t do much about it. But your little disciple—oh, she wants to fix the entire Three Realms problem from the root!” His voice carried a hint of laughter. “Night Abyss, you’ve really taken in quite the disciple this time. Even my underworld is starting to get a little tempted.”

Night Abyss’s hand stilled. His gaze turned icy in an instant.

The temperature on the tower dropped sharply. Frost spread outward with a hiss; shards of ice formed in midair, and even the flames of the furnace went out with a sudden sizzle.

“Whoa, whoa, easy there!” Eryun yelped, springing up just in time. His form blurred into a puff of black smoke, barely avoiding being frozen solid.

“Get out.”

Night Abyss finally turned, his gaze sharp as blades.

“Alright, alright! I won’t mention your disciple again, okay? Honestly, what a temper…” Eryun raised both hands in surrender, then hesitated. His expression shifted slightly as something occurred to him. “Wait… you still haven’t remembered, have you?”

Night Abyss gave no reply—his face only grew colder. Frost crystals formed in the air, long and deadly, pointing directly at Eryun like silent words carved into ice: If you don’t leave, you die.

“Fine, fine! I’m going!” Eryun waved his hands hurriedly. As he vanished into the air, he threw one last glance back and said with a faintly mocking smile, “You guard that little disciple of yours so fiercely… let’s hope, when you do remember, you won’t regret it.”

Swish—crack!

Dozens of ice spears shot through the air, impaling the floor where Eryun had just been standing. He barely escaped in time, fleeing as fast as he could.

Can’t afford to provoke, can’t afford to provoke…

The ice spears quivered briefly before shattering into powder. Night Abyss’s face remained cold as he turned back to the furnace, adjusting the array. In moments, all traces of frost vanished—as though nothing had happened at all.

He reached into the furnace, picked up one of the cookies, and took a bite.

Soft, sticky—soggy.

…It had gone damp.

(╰_╯)#

His brows twisted into a deep scowl, irritation rising again.

A flash of white light—

And a second later, screams and wailing echoed from the direction of the back mountain, carrying through the forest like a storm.

“Ah—choo!”

Yun Jiao sneezed in her sleep, pulling her blanket tighter.

The frogs sure were loud tonight. Living in the mountains really did have its drawbacks. She sighed, rolled over, and drifted back to sleep.

---

The classes at the Mystical Sect Academy were progressing smoothly.

At first, Yun Jiao had worried that the disciples wouldn’t adapt to this kind of structured learning. After all, Mystical Sect disciples had always trained while completing missions, learning through experience. Would sitting in classrooms make them soft?

But Hall Master Xu reassured her otherwise. Ever since the academy started, the disciples had become more active in taking missions. Especially after the new teleportation network was completed, commissions delivered to the Celestial Masters Hall were being snatched up faster than ever—so fast that the sects were calling it “one task per thousand hands.”

In fact, things had gotten so competitive that disciples were literally fighting over assignments, forcing the hall to distribute them by class rotation.

The instructors were baffled—but Yun Jiao understood perfectly.

It was like being a student buried in endless academic lessons: the moment someone announced “P.E. class,” everyone suddenly found their energy.

Missions were their version of P.E. class.

Then, one day, a teacher accidentally joined one of the disciples’ private message groups and overheard this:

“Obviously we’re taking missions! Who wants to stay here doing test papers all day? Exams are scarier than exorcising ghosts!”

All the sect masters: “…”

So that’s why they were so “motivated”—just to escape homework!

The masters’ expressions didn’t even flicker. If anything, they concluded that clearly, the problem was too few tests. The solution? More tests.

And thus arose a new idea.

“The Grand Mystical Sect Competition?” Yun Jiao blinked at the group of eager sect masters before her.

“Yes!” Hall Master Xu stepped forward, eyes gleaming. “The first semester’s over, and the Celestial Masters Hall’s midterm assessments are approaching. We thought—why not combine them into a grand competition for the entire Mystical Sect?”

“Exactly!” another elder chimed in enthusiastically. “It will both inspire diligence and test what the disciples have learned.”

Xu held out a detailed plan. “We’ve already drafted it. The competition will cover five fields—Talismans, Arrays, Artifacts, Divination, and Medicine. It will be held in three rounds. Afterward, the top ten in each field—fifty disciples total—will advance to the final dueling round. The top three will receive major rewards. Their rankings will also count as their semester grades.”

“Mm.” Yun Jiao nodded, reading through the plan carefully. Her gaze paused at the third event. “Monster subjugation? This one is…”

“Oh, that.” Xu smiled. “Exorcising demons and banishing evil are core duties of our sect. But the world’s been peaceful lately—hardly any monsters or spirits remain. It’s nearly impossible to find suitable test subjects. Most missions get taken before we can even post them!”

He coughed. “So… we reached out to the Demon King. He’s agreed to send a few demon allies to help us with the exam. Of course, it’ll just be a mock battle, and the elders will ensure their safety.”

“…” Demon allies? Since when were you all on friendly business terms with the Demon King? Sending staff for internships now?

“Well, alright,” Yun Jiao sighed. “The plan’s solid anyway. But since it’s called ‘exorcising demons,’ we can’t forget spirits and ghosts. Let’s merge those into the same event—let each participant draw lots to determine their opponent.”

“But… ghosts?” Xu frowned. “Where do we even find those? The underworld’s been too efficient lately—rogue spirits are rare these days.”

“Don’t worry,” Yun Jiao said calmly. “Leave that to the old man. He’s Yama, after all. Getting a few wandering souls on loan for an exam shouldn’t be a problem. Just prepare the venue.”

Xu’s face lit up. “Excellent! Then it’s settled!”

(End of chapter)