Chapter 965 - 50: Clash of Divine Sense! (Double Updates)

Chapter 965: Chapter 50: Clash of Divine Sense! (Double Updates)

Mu Qingge froze. "It’s starting already!" It was so abrupt and concise that she hadn’t had the slightest mental preparation.

She looked around at the people on her left and right, only to see calm faces all around. Clearly, they were already used to this. One could infer that previous Dao debates had also entered the main topic this quickly.

"Where is the Dao Platform?" Mu Qingge asked Zhuang Shan beside her.

Zhuang Shan said in a low voice, "We just follow the crowd."

Mu Qingge lightly inclined her head.

As soon as the words fell, everyone began rushing toward the Dao Platform.

Groups of young disciples swept past in that snow‑white world, ethereal like immortals; the scene was incomparably beautiful.

Zhuang Shan turned his gaze to Mu Qingge and said to her, "The Dao debate contests are all individual matches. Whoever can squeeze into the top hundred relies entirely on their own ability."

Mu Qingge’s eyes tightened slightly; she understood in her heart.

The Dao Platform of Zhong Shan Domain was located in a place encircled by ranges of mountains.

These mountain ranges were all towering Snow Peaks, rising and falling, high and low. Seen from afar, this ring of encircling Snow Peaks looked like a gigantic crown, standing steady between heaven and earth.

Amid the clustered peaks, that enormous circular platform was the Dao Platform of Zhong Shan Domain.

Upon reaching the Dao Platform, everyone descended one after another, standing on the flat surface of the platform.

Mu Qingge swept her gaze around but did not discover anything particularly special.

However, she saw that the people to her left and right had all sat down cross‑legged. Zhuang Shan beside her also cast her a meaningful look. Mu Qingge blinked, then followed the crowd and sat cross‑legged on the snowy platform.

Once seated, she unconsciously began searching the crowd for traces of Si Mo.

He had said he wouldn’t participate in the contest.

She searched around and, sure enough, did not find him. A trace of doubt rose in Mu Qingge’s heart; she did not know where Si Mo was. She lifted her eyes to look toward the mountain peaks, and only then did she discover that there were quite a few people on those undulating peaks as well.

At a single glance, she immediately picked Si Mo’s figure out from among the crowd. Even though his appearance and build had changed, his aura altered, she could still recognize him in an instant.

"Senior Brother Zhuang Shan, those people..." Mu Qingge asked in a low voice.

Zhuang Shan raised his eyes for a look, then withdrew his gaze and said to her, "Those people are also from the Four Divine Domains, only they are merely watching and not participating."

Mu Qingge’s brows lifted slightly.

Zhuang Shan supplemented, "Among them, some are elders of the Divine Domains who came together to hold the line. Some disciples feel their strength is still lacking, yet don’t want to miss such a grand event, so they came to observe—consider it learning some experience in advance."

With this explanation, Mu Qingge understood.

Si Mo’s current disguised identity was that of a disciple of Wei Yi Domain; most likely he had used this second reason, allowing him to watch without competing.

"All participants, pay close attention." That dignified voice rang out once more.

Mu Qingge immediately steadied her mind and focused on waiting.

At this moment, a fierce, unmatched power descended from the heavens, drawing the attention of everyone on the Dao Platform; they all looked up.

Mu Qingge did the same; she lifted her head and saw a streak of radiance falling within Snow City. A man in silver robes, with silver hair, suddenly appeared.

Under his feet, an Ice Lotus bloomed, bearing him as he slowly descended.

"Ice Skin Jade Bone!"

She did not know why, but when Mu Qingge clearly saw the man’s face, the words that leapt into her mind were precisely these four characters.

This silver‑haired man’s age could not be seen, but his features were like an ice‑carved sculpture—flawless and perfect. He gave off an impression of holy clarity, making one not dare to profane him, not dare to offend.

"Divine Emperor Zhong Shan!" Zhuang Shan said softly, at the same time telling Mu Qingge this man’s identity.

He was one of the Four Divine Emperors of East Divine Land—Divine Emperor Zhong Shan.

"We pay respects to Divine Emperor Zhong Shan—!"

"We pay respects to Divine Emperor Zhong Shan—!"

Voices of greeting rose and fell in succession. Not only those seated on the Dao Platform, but even those standing atop the peaks all bent at the waist.

The corner of Mu Qingge’s eye swept over the spot where Si Mo had previously stood, only to find that he had vanished.

When everyone straightened up, he reappeared within the crowd, without having drawn the slightest attention from anyone.

Knowing that he could protect himself well, Mu Qingge withdrew her thoughts and no longer concerned herself with him.

"Begin." Divine Emperor Zhong Shan’s voice was very pleasant, carrying a trace of ethereality.

Having spoken, he also sat cross‑legged on that Ice Lotus. His posture, however, was extremely casual—one leg raised, his elbow resting on it, his palm propping his cheek.

Mu Qingge noticed that a hint of icy blue lingered in his eyes. It was as if those eyes were made of ice shards.

The instant she looked, she drew Divine Emperor Zhong Shan’s attention. Those icy blue eyes swept toward the place where she sat. Wherever they passed, the disciples seated on the Dao Platform all felt their breathing stifle, their entire bodies as if crushed.

Mu Qingge quickly lowered her gaze, diminishing her sense of presence, yet she still felt that look brush past her, her skin prickling as though stuck by needles.

Divine Emperor Zhong Shan withdrew his gaze, and everyone on the Dao Platform—disciples of every Divine Domain—secretly let out a breath of relief.

"Zhuang Shan Senior Brother, why are Divine Emperor Zhong Shan’s eyes tinged with icy blue?" Mu Qingge asked in a low voice.

Zhuang Shan replied quietly, "I seem to have heard it’s related to the Cultivation Technique he cultivates."

Mu Qingge understood in her heart and no longer pressed curiously.

The disciples of Zhong Shan Domain had come directly from Snow City, while the disciples of the other Three Divine Domains had come from Spring City.

The disciples of the Four Divine Domains were all now on the Dao Platform, waiting quietly.

That dignified voice sounded again: "All disciples heed the order. The first round of Dao debating will last ten days in total. Within these ten days, you will see five thousand Daoist Collections. Use your Divine Sense to comprehend them and memorize them by heart. After ten days, whoever can recite the most will advance. In this round, only the top two hundred will be taken. The five with the best results can have their final ranking boosted when it is determined."

Five thousand Daoist Collections!

Reading five thousand Daoist Collections within ten days—how powerful must one’s Divine Sense be? Memorizing the Daoist Collections is no easy task; it relies not on the eyes, but on Divine Sense.

Once the rules were announced, the disciples of the Four Divine Domains on the Dao Platform all started discussing them.

Only, with Divine Emperor Zhong Shan present, they only dared whisper and did not dare raise their voices.

On the Dao Platform, there were as many as a thousand participants. And this round would take only the top two hundred; the cruelty of the competition was evident.

The ten people from Huan Yue Domain were all seated together in a circle.

And Mu Qingge also noticed that near their group of ten, there were quite a number of disciples—around two to three hundred—who all wore Tokens of Huan Yue Domain.

Mu Qingge’s eyes brightened as she recalled what Zhuang Shan had said before, that Huan Yue God Emperor did not oppose disciples of the domain voluntarily coming to participate in this Dao debating. She instantly understood.

"Third Brother, your Divine Sense is very strong. Try to seize a spot in the top five this round; it will be beneficial for your final overall ranking," Li Chao secretly instructed Mu Qingge.

Mu Qingge pressed her lips together and nodded.

Although she wasn’t very clear on how that top-five position would help with the final ranking, since that voice and Li Chao had both said so, she would just go and take it.

Regarding Divine Sense, she was very confident. The tempering of Divine Strategy Middle Volume had made her Spiritual Sense, once transformed into Divine Sense, extraordinarily powerful. This only further solidified her resolve to obtain the Divine Strategy Lower Volume.

Five thousand Daoist Collections were the comprehension of the Dao by a thousand people, a summary, and also a kind of insight.

If she could memorize them all, it would be a rare opportunity for study and refinement of her own Dao comprehension.

Only, wanting to memorize all of them within ten days was indeed too difficult.

Golden light flared from the snow-peak walls encircling them on all sides. Those rays of golden light twisted in the void, transforming into one character after another, constantly changing.

The golden light enveloped everyone on the Dao Platform. Each person calmed their mind and focused, using their own Divine Sense to continuously remember the contents of those Daoist Collections.

Using Divine Sense incessantly for ten days was itself a kind of test.

This competition seemed somewhat monotonous.

The first day passed in calm.

The second day likewise passed in calm.

Not until the fifth day did a disciple of Zhong Shan Domain on the Dao Platform exhaust his Divine Sense, spit out a mouthful of blood, faint on the platform, and get hastily carried away, thus shattering the calm.

Once there is a first, there will be a second, a third...

On the Dao Platform, disciples of the Four Divine Domains kept vomiting blood and falling unconscious.

After three more days, the number of those carried away had already reached a terrifying three hundred and fifty.

Yet there was still a large gap before the final two hundred victors.

Eight days had passed; only the last two days remained.

And this was not the end. After the ten days of memorization, they still had to use Divine Sense to engrave the memorized content into the Jade Scrolls; only then would the assessment be considered complete.

On the ninth day, nearly another hundred people collapsed.

At this time on the Dao Platform, although many still remained, their number was already much reduced compared to the beginning.

Divine Emperor Zhong Shan had sat in the Ice Lotus all along; in these nine days he had not even changed his posture. On the mountain peaks, the spectators observing the Dao debating also waited in silence; no one left.

Ten days, for a Cultivator, were too short. Yet using Divine Sense throughout those ten days made them feel endlessly long.

At last, the tenth day arrived.

The golden light suddenly vanished, and fewer than five hundred people remained on the Dao Platform.

Having finally made it through this stage, most of those who still stood on the platform secretly exhaled in relief.

Stewards of Zhong Shan Domain handed blank Jade Scrolls to everyone on the Dao Platform. Mu Qingge lifted her gaze, and suddenly met a pair of gloomy, hostile eyes.

She paused; that hostility was unmistakably directed at her. That person’s appearance...

Mu Qingge quickly ran through her mind and reacted. ’So it’s him!’ The one filled with hostility toward her was the Zhuoyu Domain disciple who had tried and failed to flirt with Xuan Qiang in Spring City, and had been snapped at by her—his name seemed to be Ji Lun.

"You have three days to engrave the Daoist Collections you have memorized into the Jade Scrolls in your hands. Once three days are up, whether you have finished or not, you must stop. The five who have memorized the most will be the winners of this round. The top two hundred will advance; all others will be eliminated." The dignified voice sounded again.

The nearly five hundred remaining on the Dao Platform did not dare waste any more time and swiftly began engraving into the Jade Scrolls in their hands. At this moment, writing down even one more entry might be the key to victory...