Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Chapter 576: The Final Effort

"The remaining eleven immortal sects consist of the ones in your alliance—the Mount Shu Sect, the Buddhist Cloud Monastery, the Valley of the Three Absolutes, the Great Astral Sect, and the South Melody Conservatory..." Ye Yongxing continued, "and the ones in my alliance—the Celestial Pivot Pavilion, the Celestial King Sect, the Sea King Sect. Then there's the Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals, the Penglai Supreme Sect, and the Endless Sword Sect."

Chu Liang nodded. That was pretty much what he knew as well.

Now that the Competition of a Hundred Sects had reached this point, the strength of the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten was clear. All of the remaining teams were part of the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten, with eight of the eleven teams representing sects in the Divine Nine.

Some teams' survival was certainly due to alliances, but the alliances between the sects in the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten formed only later on. Shortly after entering the illusory realm, many smaller sects had formed alliances, yet none of those had lasted until now.

Overall, this year's competition had a high level of strength and intense rivalry.

Many dark horses that emerged when the illusory realm opened had been eliminated, including Yang Shenlong, who was once regarded as the strongest of the younger generation. By the seventh day, the end of the competition was drawing near.

"One more team to eliminate, and this Competition of a Hundred Sects will be over," Chu Liang said.

He had come to find Ye Yongxing precisely for this reason.

"Brother Chu, are you suggesting…" Ye Yongxing looked at him.

"The remaining scattered sects should already have enough soul crystals and have started hiding to wait out the seventh day," Chu Liang explained. "However, the two alliances we've formed don't have enough crystals to guarantee that all the sects in both alliances can advance to the next round. If things continue like this, we'll have to eliminate one of the sects in either alliance, and that would be a very difficult decision."

Chu Liang was discussing a very realistic problem. Although all the teams in the alliances worked well together, there would eventually be an issue of distribution. How could they decide who to take more and who to take less if there just was not enough soul crystals? Even if someone volunteered to give up their share, they wouldn't be happy about it.

The scheming wouldn't just occur within the alliances themselves. The two alliances led by the Celestial Pivot Pavilion and the Mount Shu Sect would also be plotting against each other, trying to get the other alliance to eliminate a sect in their own alliance.

The original purpose of forming alliances was to compete against external forces, but with limited resources, they could quickly fall into a vicious cycle of internal competition.

The Celestial Pivot Pavilion was all too familiar with this kind of infighting. It was due to such internal conflict that the once-powerful Heavenly Star Divine Cult fell apart and split up into different factions.

"If we don't want things to end up like that, the best solution is for us to work together to eliminate another faction," Chu Liang continued. "That's why I came to you, Brother Ye."

"Alright." Ye Yongxing nodded in agreement. "Then let's join forces and search again."

Those who had collected enough soul crystals were undoubtedly hiding by now. The ones that weren't hiding would be the brothers of the Endless Sword Sect, who had scattered to different places and were difficult to handle.

Eliminating a team at this point would be much harder than before.

However, if the alliance led by Chu Liang and the alliance led by Ye Yongxing were to work together, their combined strength would be overwhelmingly powerful. At this stage, the competition had essentially turned into a game of hide-and-seek, and they were the seekers.

After Chu Liang and Ye Yongxing reached an agreement, both teams immediately split up. Since everyone else was hiding as best they could, even Ye Yongxing's divination couldn't pinpoint exact locations—only a few general directions. As a result, the teams divided to explore each of those directions.

They scoured the mountains and searched the seas.

For the alliance led by Chu Liang, they were fortunate that all the teams were friends willing to risk getting eliminated so that they could all succeed. If they were more selfish, they could simply just kill the one paralyzed person in the alliance, instead of going out to fight more people. With Chu Liang gone, there would be more than enough soul crystals for all the remaining teams in the alliance.

…

While the others scattered to search throughout the illusory realm, Monk Pushan stayed back on the mountaintop with Chu Liang, pushing his small cart and keeping watch. No one felt comfortable leaving Chu Liang alone, and they didn't feel safe with Pushan going along with them. So, they decided to have the two of them stay behind to keep watch.

"It's definitely worrisome," Monk Pushan mused. "Ye Yongxing's divination is strong, but the teams that remain aren't pushovers either. The Penglai Supreme Sect and Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals are skilled in stealth, and the Endless Sword Sect... well, they're monsters. Even if we find them, there's no guarantee we'll win. In the end, it'll come down to luck.

"If we can't make it in the end, I will just give up on taking my portion of the soul crystals. After all, the Buddhist Cloud Monastery made it into the top ten the last two rounds. If our abbot hears me saying this, he'll definitely scold me, saying, 'Does that make any sense? Does that make any sense? Does that make any sense…'"

Chu Liang took a deep breath and said, "I hope it will end well."

Monk Pushan was about to respond when they noticed a cloud of qi descending from the distant sky. As the cloud landed and dispersed, it revealed members of the Sea King Sect.

The person leading them was Wenren Yan.

Even though Chu Liang didn't know him, he knew Wenren Yan's elder brother.

Wenren Yan was the youngest among his family of four brothers, but he was the most capable one, with both cultivation and intelligence far surpassing his siblings.

"Brother Wenren, what brings you back?" Chu Liang greeted him.

"We searched in the direction Brother Ye suggested, but we found nothing, so we returned to protect you, Brother Chu," Wenren Yan replied with a smile.

"Protect?" Chu Liang repeated, eyeing him with a hint of amusement.

Wenren Yan's expression changed, and he said with a sigh, "Brother Chu, I'll be honest with you. Our alliance doesn't have enough soul crystals for all teams, and in terms of distribution, our Sea King Sect is unlikely to stand up against the other two sects in the Divine Nine. We're at the greatest risk of elimination… so I want to take a chance."

"Understandable," Chu Liang replied.

"If we could find enemies, of course, we would prefer fighting them," Wenren Yan continued. "But this illusory realm, while not vast, isn't small either. When three or four people are completely hidden, how are we supposed to find them? We searched for over half a day and found nothing."

"So, Brother Wenren, are you here to deal with me? To wrap things up a bit early?" Chu Liang asked.

"If Brother Ye and Feng Chaoyang return, they definitely won't let me kill you," Wenren Yan said as he gritted his teeth. "But at this point, I can't worry about friendship. In the worst case, I'll just apologize to you afterward."

"No need for formalities, Brother Wenren. The Assembly of Immortal Sects is just a test of our abilities," Chu Liang said with a slight chuckle. "Whether we win or lose, it won't affect our friendship outside."

Monk Pushan stepped forward, positioning himself between them.

"Pushan, you are the only surviving member of the Buddhist Cloud Monastery team. Are you really going to risk your life to protect him?" Wenren Yan warned with a frown. "If you just step aside, this will all be over."

"Amitabha..." Monk Pushan pressed his hands together and replied, "Benefactor Wenren, as the saying goes—"

"Alright, alright, stop talking."

Having dealt with Monk Pushan before, Wenren Yan was aware of how he would start rambling once he opened his mouth. If he kept going, others might return before they could kill Chu Liang.

Wenren Yan quickly waved his hand and commanded, "Attack!"

From his point of view, Chu Liang was essentially useless. Pushan was all alone, while he had his full team at his disposal. With only Pushan fighting, there was no way he could win against him and his three teammates, no matter how hard he tried.

The four members of the Sea King Sect closed in on Chu Liang and Pushan, unleashing their techniques with powerful motions that created a thunderous roar similar to crashing waves.

Pushan, who was all alone, looked like a small boat caught in the chaos of a turbulent sea.

Suddenly, a soft, crisp sound pierced through the deafening roar.

Snap.

GLTD Alternate Universe's Thoughts

Translator: GT