Martial Immortality: Starting with the Spirit Beast Scroll

Chapter 311: Chapter 299: Zhao Lin, You’re Up

Spirit Dao Institute, the banquet hall.

Nearly six hundred people from the Spirit Dao Institutes of three provinces gathered together. The deans and elders shared a table, while disciples sat ten to a table.

Zhao Lin sat with Dong Lingcheng, Li Sancai, Tong Mu, Zhu Cong, and five senior-brothers.

"Juyan Province has so many disciples!"

After taking his seat, Li Sancai glanced around the hall and muttered under his breath.

The disciples from each province wore different attire, making them easy to tell apart. Nanhe Province and Western Ox Continent had similar numbers, around one hundred and fifty each, but Juyan Province had nearly three hundred.

"Juyan Province is rich in Spirit Veins, so it has a larger population of cultivators. I heard they select fifty to sixty disciples with Spiritual Roots from the mortal realm every year."

Zhao Lin answered casually. ’Interest really is the best teacher,’ he thought. Back when he was in school, history and geography had been a huge headache, but now he actively sought out books on such subjects.

"No wonder!" Li Sancai said, clicking his tongue in amazement.

Dong Lingcheng gave Zhao Lin a surprised glance but said nothing, picking up the cup of Spirit Tea on the table and taking a sip.

After a short while, Dean Pang of the Dongyang County Spirit Dao Institute stood up and raised his cup. "As your host, I have prepared this humble banquet today to extend my hospitality. Please, enjoy yourselves."

As soon as he finished speaking, mortal servants brought out plates of Spiritual Cuisine to each table.

Golden Finch Soup, Ice-Fire Snake Meat, Red-Eyed Silverfish, Eight-Treasure Spirit Valley Duck, Yellow Essence Mushroom Soup...

"It smells amazing!"

Zhu Cong sniffed the air, looking eager to dig in.

The Spiritual Cuisine was fragrant and beautifully presented, a truly mouth-watering sight. However, the Chenghua Sect emphasized etiquette and respect for seniority. Since Dong Lingcheng hadn’t touched his chopsticks, no one else dared to start.

Noticing this, Dong Lingcheng picked up his chopsticks, plucked a piece of Ice-Fire Snake meat, and said with a smile, "The taste of Spiritual Cuisine far surpasses mortal delicacies. Go on, everyone, try some."

"It really is delicious!"

"This is so much better than mortal food!"

Everyone was full of praise after tasting the food.

Zhao Lin took a bite of the Spirit Valley Duck. It was exceptionally savory, and after he swallowed, he could instantly feel Spiritual Qi brewing and spreading from his stomach.

Strictly speaking, even cooked Spirit Rice counted as a form of Spiritual Cuisine, albeit the simplest kind.

To create truly delicious dishes, one often needed to pair Spirit Beasts with Spirit Grass, supplement them with special spices, and not only preserve the food’s essential qi and Spiritual Qi but also remove any impurities or turbid energies. It had to be a feast for the senses, a task only a Spiritual Chef could accomplish.

There were eight courses of Spiritual Cuisine in total, along with a pot of Spirit Wine for each table. Everyone ate and drank, and the atmosphere grew quite lively.

Zhao Lin happened to glance at the main table and noticed it was very quiet. The three deans all wore stern expressions and weren’t speaking, looking like they shared some deep-seated grudge.

"What’s going on with the three deans?"

Zhao Lin asked Dong Lingcheng in a low voice.

"I don’t know. It wasn’t this tense last year."

Dong Lingcheng also lowered his voice.

"They’ve always been at odds?"

Zhao Lin sensed there was more to the story and pressed on.

"I heard something from a former instructional senior-brother, but I don’t know if it’s true or not."

Dong Lingcheng raised his wine cup to cover his mouth. "When the three deans were young, they all pursued the same female cultivator, so... you know."

Zhao Lin was taken aback. ’I can’t believe something like that happened.’

But on second thought, it made sense. He had just noticed that female disciples only made up about twenty-five percent of the attendees, which meant at least sixty percent of the male disciples wouldn’t be able to find a cultivation partner.

It was only normal for all three deans to fall for a female cultivator with outstanding looks and aptitude.

"So what happened in the end? Who won her over?"

"None of them did."

Dong Lingcheng took a sip of wine and added, "That female cultivator is now in the Late-stage Purple Mansion Realm, serving as a Sect Level elder in charge of the Spirit Plant Lineage."

...

After the banquet, at the lakeside courtyard.

"The Dharma Assembly lasts for two days. The first day is for demonstrating dao arts, and the second day is for combat."

Instead of letting the disciples go back to rest, Zhou Hongfang stood in the center of the courtyard with a grim expression, his eyebrows slanted upwards in anger.

"Normally, the combat is just a friendly spar; winning or losing isn’t a big deal. But I learned something today. Some people have no respect for the rules!"

The disciples exchanged glances, their hearts tightening.

The dean was usually all smiles and rarely got angry, let alone speak so harshly. They had no idea what could have infuriated him to this extent.

Hearing the word "combat," Zhao Lin’s interest was piqued.

The purpose of the Dharma Assembly was to showcase dao arts. To make things more entertaining, the three Spirit Dao Institutes would each pick two disciples skilled in Magic to have a combat exhibition after the demonstrations.

Over time, the combat gradually became the main event.

There’s no clear winner in scholarship, but there’s always a victor in combat. How could demonstrating dao arts possibly be as exciting as a real fight?

Zhao Lin had been very tempted when he first heard about the combat, hoping to use his strength as a Martial Cultivator to earn merit rewards.

However, after asking the instructional elder, he learned that the combat was primarily a test of Magic. A Martial Cultivator’s participation would be seen as cheating, so the Spirit Dao Institute had chosen two disciples who had been cultivating for three years.

Zhou Hongfang continued, "I just learned at the banquet that among the disciples competing for the Juyan Province Spirit Dao Institute is a Sword Cultivator, and Western Ox Continent has a Body Cultivator!"

HISS...

A collective gasp went through the crowd.

The disciples all thought, ’No wonder the dean is so furious. Those two Spirit Dao Institutes are completely shameless!’

The path of cultivation emphasizes gradual progress, but three types of cultivators are different.

Martial Cultivators, Body Cultivators, and Sword Cultivators.

Needless to say, Martial Cultivators have the highest starting point. An Innate Realm martial artist is no weaker than a cultivator at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, roughly equivalent to the fourth or fifth layer.

This is especially true in a limited arena, where Martial Cultivators, who excel at close combat, have an even greater advantage.

Body Cultivators infuse their flesh and blood with Spiritual Qi to gain a tyrannical physique and immense strength. In the early stages of cultivation, they have a crushing advantage over Magic Cultivators.

There’s a common saying in the Cultivation Realm: for the first five layers of Body Tempering, you add two to find the equivalent layer in Qi Refining. In other words, a Body Cultivator at the Body Tempering First Layer is as strong as a Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator.

This Qi Refining Third Layer equivalence is just a rough estimate; cultivators at the same layer can vary greatly in actual strength.

Sword Cultivators specialize in offense and killing. Although they are a type of Magic Cultivator, they are an anomaly within that category.

This is because, aside from the most basic spells, Sword Cultivators practice almost no other Magic. They are single-minded, dedicated solely to the Sword Dao, and can shatter all techniques with a single strike.

Sword Cultivators are also capable of fighting opponents above their level.

These three types of cultivators are not mainstream, but in the early and middle stages of cultivation, they all possess the ability to dominate cultivators of the same level. Only when Magic Cultivators reach the Late-stage of Qi Refining does the gap begin to close at equivalent realms.

However, there are always trade-offs. The further these three types of cultivators advance, the harder it is for them to raise their realm. Moreover, they can only accumulate merit through combat and killing, leading to an extremely high casualty rate.

The Spirit Dao Institutes generally don’t send these three types of cultivators to the combat exhibitions for a simple reason. It’s a magic competition, so how could it count if they don’t use magic? And it just so happens that these three types barely use any Magic at all.

Upon hearing this, many people turned to look at Zhao Lin.

"Since those two Spirit Dao Institutes are fighting dirty, why should we hold back?"

"Exactly! We have a Martial Cultivator right here."

"This is getting interesting. A Martial Cultivator, a Body Cultivator, and a Sword Cultivator... I wonder who’s stronger..."

The combat participants had already been chosen: two disciples who had been at the Spirit Dao Institute for a full three years, one named Yun Jinda and the other Yue Shengluan.

They were at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer and fifth layer respectively, and their proficiency in Magic was considered outstanding among the disciples.

Zhou Hongfang said in a deep voice, "In that case, we won’t be polite either. Yun Jinda!"

Yun Jinda stepped forward and answered, "Disciple is here!"

"You were originally chosen for the combat, but when it comes to combat power, there’s a better candidate. So, we need to make a change."

Yun Jinda’s expression fell at these words.

"For the second day’s combat..."

Zhou Hongfang’s gaze swept over the crowd, finally landing on Zhao Lin’s face.

Zhao Lin guessed the dean’s intention and boldly met his gaze.

"Zhao Lin, you’re up!"