Cultivating Immortality from the Book of Life and Death

Chapter 425 Strategy. (Second update!)

Bloodstained Tongguan Pass.

On the hillside shrouded in blood mist, the soil was hardened and solid as iron, barren of any vegetation, yet strangely covered with a kind of flower that was intertwined with red and white.

This flower has three petals, one white and two red. The white petals are as white as snow, and a faint ghost face is visible through the translucent surface. The red petals are as bright as blood, almost dripping, and emit a faint sweet fragrance, which is like the sweet and pungent smell of fresh blood. The surrounding area is shrouded in pure yin energy.

Three cultivators emerged from the mist. They were all at the Foundation Establishment stage, and their robes were embroidered with inconspicuous mountain peak patterns, a mark of cultivators from Fengzhou under the rule of Dali.

Looking at the sea of ​​flowers in full bloom before them, all three of them felt a surge of energy.

"The Burial Orchid!"

"Let's take over this hillside first, and then establish a base nearby. That way, we'll have three points right from the start!"

"Wait! There are talismans here. It seems someone got here before us."

"It is indeed a talisman for setting up an array, but since the array is not yet complete, this place is not yet their territory."

"Yes! Let's go in and take a look!"

With that, the three of them walked up the hillside.

Visibility was poor amidst the pervasive blood mist. The three carefully avoided the lush Heart-Burial Orchids on the ground, trudging along with their feet sinking into the deep fog. Soon, they saw a row of cultivators gradually appearing in the mist ahead.

The row of cultivators were doing nothing at the moment; they were all motionless with their backs to them and made no sound.

Although they could only see a back view, the three cultivators from Fengzhou all changed their expressions. These were cultivators from Maozhou!

When they gathered on the snow-capped mountain, they had some impression of these cultivators!

The one in the lead is Qin Shanfeng, the grand-nephew of the Prefect of Maozhou. His cultivation has reached the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and he is about to break through to the late-Foundation Establishment stage. These three are not to be trifled with!
Thinking of this, the three quickly exchanged a glance, and the cultivator in the middle immediately cupped his hands in apology, saying, "Fellow Daoist Qin, the three of us accidentally wandered into this place and had no intention of competing with you for this Burial Heart Orchid."

"Please, fellow Daoist, show mercy and spare the three of us!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the row of cultivators remained with their backs to them, showing no reaction.

The three of them immediately sensed something was wrong and were hesitating whether to leave immediately when the row of cultivators finally turned around stiffly and in unison.

These cultivators were all pale-faced, their eyes empty as if their eyeballs had been gouged out, their cheeks crisscrossed with bloodstains, a horrifying sight, and their bodies were shrouded in an aura of death.

This is……

All the cultivators in Maozhou, including Qin Shanfeng, are dead!
The three cultivators from Fengzhou paled and, without a second thought, desperately fled away.

But soon...

"Ahhhh!!!"

A piercing, desperate scream rang out from the hillside covered with orchids.

A gust of wind swept by, and the orchids swayed in unison, their red and white colors becoming even more vibrant.

※※※

On the snow-capped mountain, the once spacious platform was now filled with various tables, chairs, and even soft couches, screens, and small red clay stoves, where people began to boil spiritual spring water and arrange tea sets.

Many examiners passed the time while glancing occasionally at the blood mist below the mountain.

One of the examiners, a middle-aged man dressed in official robes and wearing a turban, held a compass in his hand. The pointer on the compass was changing rapidly. After observing for a moment, he calmly said, "So far, the number of candidates who have lost their positions is 1,053."

Upon hearing this, the other examiners showed no surprise and remained calm.

The Great Li Dynasty occupies a vast territory, encompassing a total of fifteen prefectures and sixty-four counties. A total of seven thousand two hundred and eighty-one candidates participated in this imperial examination.

Of these 7,281 cultivators, the top 200 can be listed on three lists and pass the imperial examination for immortals.

However, these examiners, who had also participated in the Immortal Examination, all knew that the number of people who could actually make it onto the three lists after this examination would never exceed two hundred!

To be precise, any cultivator who survives until the end of the Immortal Examination will have their name appear on the Human Ranking!
The points ranking is actually only used to filter out the geniuses on the Heaven and Earth lists.

At this moment, another examiner dressed as a middle-aged female cultivator spoke up: "Those cultivators who have trouble even surviving in Blood Pass are no different from rogue cultivators."

"If you die, you die."

"If the disciples of the six major sects are all at the ninth level of Qi Refining, they would have no problem taking over the resource points on the outskirts of Blood Pass."

Upon hearing this, the other examiners nodded in agreement. One of the examiners, who was brewing tea, added, "In the Imperial Examination, besides strength, strategy is also very important."

"The first jade slips issued during the Immortal Examination contained illustrations of common ghosts and monsters found at Blood Pass."

"Many ghosts have relationships of mutual generation and restraint."

“A truly astute candidate should understand that the information recorded on this first and separately issued jade slip must be extremely important.”

"After entering Xue Tong Pass, the first thing to do is to thoroughly understand the hints here. Then you will realize that the most urgent task is not to capture resource points, but to find the ghosts in the encyclopedia."

"Once you can enslave a ghost from the encyclopedia, you can then replace your ghost servants one by one with ghosts from Blood Pass according to the relationships of mutual generation and restraint in the encyclopedia."

"With such a significant increase in strength, the risk of capturing resource points can be minimized."

"Once we capture a resource point, we can slowly develop our territory at Blood Pass..."

"Following this procedure, even if your cultivation level is only at the ninth level of Qi Refining, it's enough to persevere to the end, pass the assessment, and with a bit of luck, you might even make it onto the Earth Ranking! Or even the Heaven Ranking!"

"Those who rush to seize resource points or head straight for the depths of Xue Tong Pass are all people who can't see the situation clearly."

"The court will not accept such mediocre people!"

Hearing the tea-brewing examiner's words, the other examiners nodded in agreement. However, upon hearing the last part, one of the examiners, who was leaning against the soft couch, suddenly laughed: "That Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment cultivator is now moving deeper into the realm."

Upon hearing this, the tea-brewing examiner's expression stiffened slightly, then he shook his head and said, "This boy is different. His two ghost servants are very strong and do not need to be replaced."

"That's a bit strange. His two ghost servants, one at the third level of the [Scissors Hell] and the other at the fourth level of the [Scissors Hell], are just ordinary [Hanging Woman] among 'vengeful spirits'. How could they kill a ghost at the sixth level of the [Scissors Hell]?"

Another examiner, seated on a cloud bed, gazed into the blood mist and calmly replied, "Those two [female hanging] creatures are quite intelligent; they must have received some kind of fortuitous encounter."

The tea-brewing examiner shook his head again and sighed, "That's even stranger!"

"The Ghost Control Technique shouldn't be able to control those two female ghosts."

"Even with a soul-summoning banner, it can only control one of them at most."

"Those two female 'hangers' seemed to be following that kid willingly..."

The examiners were talking all at once when they suddenly realized something and immediately turned to look at the stone tablet on the Earthly Ranking.

Above the once empty stone tablet, a name gilded in silver suddenly appeared: "Yin Congyi".

All the examiners were taken aback when they saw the name. The celestial examination had only been going on for two hours, and the name had already appeared on the earthly list.
At this moment, the chief examiner, Ning Jiushan, nodded slightly and said calmly, "It's that promising talent from the Duke of Dingguo's family, at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining, with a chance to be ranked on the Heavenly Ranking. Not bad!"

(End of this chapter)