The spirit beast, named Meatball, looked much different from his memory. For instance, its barrel-like body had grown transparent now. He could see its insides, and that created even more confusion, because the beast's insides didn't quite match what anyone expected in a natural creature.
Instead of a digestive system, skeleton structure, or muscles, numerous tiny lamps emitting a variety of colors twinkled within the confines of its voluminous body.
The lamps were slowly moving as well, but only in two directions, up and down. But the speed of movement was quite slow, almost at a snail's pace.
Han Xuhan carefully got closer for a better look and realized that each of the lamps contained a unique shape of flame blazing inside.
As his eyes moved downwards, he found a lamp that confirmed his growing suspicion. This lamp was one of the low-flying ones, containing a familiar shape, the six-headed snowflake.
These lamps represented the sects taking part in the tournament! So their specific elevation inside the beast pet would indicate...progress?
"Hey, look! There are numbers below each lamp!" exclaimed a fellow disciple who had followed him, arriving beside the spirit beast. Han Xuhan hadn't noticed the detail before. But as he squinted his eyes hard and squished his face on the beast's transparent hide for a closer look, he finally saw them.
Almost microscopic in size, the numbers under each lamp were in the thousands. The topmost lamp, displaying flames shaped like a cockroach, boasted the highest number- 31,123.
Han Xuhan had no idea why any sect would choose a cockroach as their sigil. Maybe they practiced some sort of undying body technique...?
The lower they went, the lower the numbers were. During the half-minute in which they investigated the bizarre display, some of the numbers changed, causing the lamps to float in either direction based on the nature of the change, increasing or decreasing.
"So...this seems to be a ranking system to evaluate the performance of the sects in the tournament," remarked the disciple. Han Xuhan agreed, his eyes stuck on the lamp representing their sect.
799.
This disparity was way too huge, right?
How were they supposed to close the gap?
The rest of the disciples had created a crowd once again after not being able to trace the whereabouts of the monstrous centipede. A murmur ran through them as they too, noticed the details and began to question the fairness of this tournament. Since Luo Yi had left the spirit beast here, this was clearly the main purpose- to keep the disciples updated on their position in the rankings.
After sticking around a while longer, he realized that it would be a futile attempt to make any headway by fervently discussing this sudden development. He quickly made his way out of the crowd and slipped inside the empty central pavilion.
A wooden message board had been constructed there, divided into many sections, each reserved for a single mountain peak. Han Xuhan found the section belonging to the Heavenly Hailstorm mountain peak quite easily, as it was the only section without any messages.
He began to survey the rest of the message sections first, attempting to get a clear-cut picture of how things worked here.
The Silent Snow mountain peak requires food supply for twenty-one disciples within 2 days.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The Heaven Grazing Snow mountain peak requires 2 kilograms of solidified qi (purity>50%), 500 grams of stoneheart leaves, and a new latrine for public use.
The Unbreakable Frost mountain peak requires manpower to guard the treasury. Disciples above the 4th Layer may apply. Additionally, we'll be needing a regular supply of freshwater from tomorrow.
All he could see was need, need, and need. There were no suppliers, no resources in excess, and manpower seemed to have been mismanaged. There were hundreds of disciples in their sect. Surely, the level of service required in this round was manageable by sheer manpower...?
Sighing, Han Xuhan picked up a chalk and got to work.
These fellow disciples of his were undoubtedly hardworking. What they needed right now was a guide, a direction to follow, and some basic knowledge to use to their advantage. He, Han Xuhan, could provide some of those.
"Let's see how this affects our tournament ranking..."
* * * *
1. The current floating island our sect embodies is surrounded by portals that lead us to other sects in the archipelago. The portals are invisible, mobile, and a large number of them are blocking the bottom of our island, roughly three hundred feet above the surface of the sea. When the portals move away, the seawater has direct access to our island, and accordingly, floods strike soon after. The guards patrolling the edge of the island may test the positions of the portals by dropping small stones below.
2. If any mountain peak has disciples who practice movement techniques focused on speed, teams consisting of these disciples can go down to catch fish from the seas through gaps among the portals.
3. If the second solution is not viable, our only option is to rob other sects for food and resources. Teams of scouts, frontal assault, guerilla assault, and plunderers can be created for convenience and smooth operation.
4. A research team analyzing the nature of the portals should be constructed, in case their findings create opportunities for us.
5. A second team should be created to research the ocean below us. We need some basic information, for example- how deep the sea is here, the concentration of aquatic life, the properties of the seawater, etc.
6. A third team must run experiments on the portals, as well as the dark voids inside the portals. The treasures discovered by disciples inside the portals may carry foreign threats. Treasures that might be related to each other, for example, parts of armor, should be brought together to test for compatibility.
At this point, Han Xuhan stopped himself. Most of his clues were inferred from his observations and were not concrete. It would be unwise to put too much reliance on his guesses and endanger his fellow disciples somehow.
The last point, related to the treasures found in the void, was mostly a selfish move. His armor piece, the knee-guard was almost useless right now. If he could sell it this way...a decent profit could be made.
People have an obsession with complete, symmetrical things. If anyone had found the other knee guard, or wanted to collect the rest of the armor's parts, they would buy it despite knowing its fragile condition.
Hahaha... hahaha...moneyyyyyy!!!
Feeling extremely pleased with himself for coming up with this nefarious business bait idea under the name of Heavenly Hailstorm mountain peak, Han Xuhan made a swift exit.
He had done his part. Whether his fellow disciples could follow his instructions was up to them.
It didn't really matter to him whether they qualified for the next round or not. After all, nothing was at stake here for him. Even if his sect got eliminated in the first round, he'd lose no sleep. Besides, he had more important things to be concerned about...for example, how to get his hands on the weight allotment map in Xuan Zi's possession.
The sect master's residence wasn't far away from the centerpoint of the island. A few minutes later, Han Xuhan reached the artificial mountain where Xuan Zi lived. On the foot of the mountain sat a familiar man, meditating under the shades of some trees that looked uncannily perfect; every branch, every leaf, even the small flower buds appeared measured, symmetrical, synthetically created.
On several occasions he had examined them. They were actually real and living organisms, but their growth seemed to have been under the influence of a robotic governor.
"How did the trip go?" asked the man, squinting open an eye lazily.
"Better than you were hoping for, I would guess," Han Xuhan answered. Fang Xie seemed to be in a good mood today for some reason.
"Oh I was hoping for the trip to go well and bear some fruits, actually. After all, the Crimson Snow sect needs to advance to the next round if the tasks I've set for you are to be accomplished. Trust me, boy, you don't want to suffer the consequences of elimination in the first round. I would be more than happy to personally make sure of that."
"...."
Dang, I had to go and jinx myself!
Han Xuhan could only curse himself silently.