“All three of them are rapidly losing energy! One of them is about to lose consciousness!” one of the observers shouted.

“Do we have any information on where they are? Who exactly are they fighting that is giving them such huge problems?” a sect protector cursed.

“Should that be the priority at this point? Tell them to activate their jade tablets and get out of there!” another sect protector shouted.

“No, let’s wait a little longer! Otherwise, that will mark the end of their time in the mystic realm! Tell them to retreat instead!”

“Who cares about ending their time in there? If you wait any longer, they might even lose their lives!”

“You are only saying that because they are not from your Wei Faction, so you don’t want them to keep getting more benefits!”

“What a slanderous proposition! I am just being concerned about their well-being!”

“Touch your heart! Is there really no truth to what I am saying?”

“You selfish bastard!”

The two sect protectors stared daggers at each other while the observer watched on nervously, not knowing what to do.

Such heated arguments were not rare occurrences during the opening of the Four Symbols Mystic Realm.

The disciples’ achievements in the mystic realm had too great an impact on the prestige of the internal factions, so it was not uncommon for emotions to run wild.

And as long as it was not concerning a disciple whom the elders had their eyes on, the elders would leave all judgement to the sect deacons and protectors.

This made for a situation where conflicts constantly arose between sect protectors and deacons, especially between those from different factions.

“Erm, it really seems like they really can’t hold on much longer...” the observer said timidly, afraid of interrupting the protectors’ heated argument.

“Just how bad is it?” they asked in unison.

Unfortunately, the observer did not have the chance to respond.

Crack-!

A huge split appeared down the middle of one of the jade tablets, effectively dividing it into two.

Crack-! Crack-!

The other two jade tablets followed suit within mere seconds, similarly splitting apart and losing their glow.

Upon seeing this, the two sect protectors fell silent for a moment before shooting another glare at each other.

However, they did not continue arguing. Instead, they merely let out irritated harrumphs before moving on to oversee the other participants.

Most people saw the Four Symbols Mystic Realm as a land of opportunities, but it was not without its share of perils as well.

With the cracking of the jade tablet, it indicated the worst-case scenario for the corresponding participants – death in the mystic realm.

The Four Symbols Mystic Realm could be considered a separate realm on its own, and not some imaginary land where results did not translate to the real world.

This meant that participants could retain all the resources that they had obtained within. But on the same note, injuries and deaths that happened in the mystic realm would be effected in the main realm as well.

While it was not common for participants to die in the Four Symbols Mystic Realm, it still happened to the few unlucky ones every year.

It was a shame, but now that it had already been determined that these participants had died, there was no reason for the sect protectors to continue harping on the matter.

Even for inner disciples, few were truly indispensable.

Of course, some were much more valuable than others, but these three did not belong in that category.

As sect protectors, rather than arguing with each other over who was in the right or wrong this time around, they both understood that their time and effort would be better spent trying to oversee the other participants and ensure their well-being instead.

After all, it was not worth truly shredding all pretences with a fellow sect protector over some dead inner disciples.

“Tch! Bunch of indecisive idiots,” Fei Weng cursed under his breath before patting the observer on the shoulder. “It’s not your fault, so don’t worry about it. Let’s just focus on the rest.”

The observer could only let out a helpless sigh before continuing to observe the remaining participants under his watch.

Zhao Yunxiao felt for him upon seeing this.

Yes, it was not the observer’s fault since he had already reported on the issue. But despite Fei Weng’s assurance, having a few participants die under his watch was still going to have a negative impact on the observer’s performance assessment at the end.

Zhao Yunxiao could only hope that the same thing would not happen to him!

He turned back towards the twenty jade tablets in front of him, all of them glowing with a stable light. It was not stated explicitly, but Zhao Yunxiao understood that these twenty participants under his watch could be largely separated into four main groups.

Six of them belonged to Elder Ying Qingmu’s Ying Faction, five belonged to Elder Wei Huolun’s Wei Faction, seven belonged to Elder Mo Tianfeng’s Mo Faction, while the last remaining person was an anomaly who did not join any factions.

Since Elder Ying Qingmu was the one who had saved him in the past, he was definitely rooting for the six from the Ying Faction.

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However, he also could not help but pay more attention to the factionless participant.

Crimson Sword Cheng Kai.

More than a month ago, Zhao Yunxiao had encountered this senior martial brother during a hunting trip in the wilderness of Purple Plum Mountain. While he found that the latter was as eccentric as the rumours said, Zhao Yunxiao still did learn a thing or two from him back then, so he looked forward to seeing Cheng Kai’s performance this time.

People were often like this, seeking personal validation through the accomplishments of those who taught them.

Even though such accomplishments had nothing to do with them personally, it would still provide some sort of comfort, as though it was a validation of what they had learnt so far.

If he could see Cheng Kai do well, Zhao Yunxiao would naturally have more confidence in the things that he had learnt from the former!

***

Four Symbols Mystic Realm.

This was a vast world that stretched on for more than the eye could see, boasting a high density of world origin energy and covering various types of terrains that spread across large areas of land.

Due to an ancient agreement among the ancestors of the Four Great Symbol Sects, deacons and above were prohibited from entering the mystic realm in a bid to leave any resources and opportunities within for their disciples to grasp.

And without characters at the elder level to comb through the land, no one truly knew the actual limits of this mysterious world.

While all four sects tried to maintain an updated map of the mystic realm according to information gathered by the participants, there were always huge changes to the Four Symbols Mystic Realm with each year’s opening, making it difficult to know what was truly in store.

And at this moment, six participants from the Black Tortoise Sect were running along in a dense forest overgrown with tall silver-coloured trees.

These were none other than the six participants from the Ying Faction under Zhao Yunxiao’s watch.

After entering the Four Symbols Mystic Realm, the majority of participants would move around in groups for safety. While this also meant that any opportunities and rewards would need to be shared, most still believed this to be the superior method of tackling the challenges within.

“There is a huge snake-type creature up ahead!”

“We have information on three types of snake-type monsters in the Silver Forest, none of which we have an advantage over in a direct confrontation. It might be dangerous to engage without setting up beforehand.”

“Avoid contact! To the left!”

After hearing from the reconnaissance specialist and the combat analyst, the group leader decisively steered the group away from the potential conflict, looking for an easier target instead.

This group leader was a renowned inner disciple whose name Zhao Yunxiao was familiar with as well.

Huo Bubai.

He was the person whom Zhao Yunxiao’s old friend Liu Murou seemed to be hanging out with nowadays, though the latter did not seem to have made the list of participants this time.

That was to be expected as well.

Liu Murou had only been accepted into the inner sect for slightly more than a year, so how could it be that easy to join as a participant for the Four Symbols Mystic Realm?

On the other hand, Huo Bubai was one of the most established members of the inner sect, and had been consistently making the list of participants year after year.

It was no surprise that he was joining as a participant again this time around.

“Shit, it’s coming for us. Looks like it found us!”

“Enter battle formations. We shall engage it while retreating. If it proves to be weaker than expected, be prepared to turn around and take it down!”

His calm voice immediately returned a sense of stability and confidence to the group.

“Entering battle formations!”

***

Standing knee-deep in a world of black snow, five participants braved the heavy snowfall pouring down upon them as they stood before an ice pyramid.

These were the five participants from the Wei Faction under Zhao Yunxiao’s watch.

The pyramid stood around three metres tall and was made of a translucent black ice. They could see what resembled a wooden sword within, though they knew better than to just dismiss it as a regular wooden toy.

In this ancient world, anything could turn out to be a rare treasure.

There had been plenty of cases in the past when participants casually brought back insignificant-looking items, only to find out that they were precious treasures in their own right.

And for this wooden sword to be encased in such a manner and hidden in the depths of this snowy region, there just had to be something special about it.

They refused to believe otherwise!

Clank-!

One of the members struck the black ice with his dagger, only for the blade to bounce off without leaving as much as a scratch.

“We can’t break it by force, and fire doesn’t work either. It cannot even be stored into a spatial item. Do we really have no choice but to abandon it?”

“Are you crazy? Don’t you remember Senior Martial Brother Hua retrieving a ring from the Blacksnow Tundra last year? It turned out to be a complete jackpot!”

The leader of the Wei Group, Nuo Qianling, furrowed her brows while staring at the encased wooden sword.

“There’s absolutely no way that we are going to leave this here,” Nuo Qianling said with a determined voice. “We have to bring this back with us no matter what, even if we have to carry the entire block of ice back with us!”

***

A huge temple stood at the top of a hill, located at the very edge of a cliff while overlooking the vast lands beneath. Its exterior looked dilapidated, overgrown with vines and wild grass. But at the same time, the ancient aura that it exuded was unmistakable.

Right now, seven participants from the Black Tortoise Sect stood amongst the tall grass in front of the temple entrance.

They were the seven members from the Mo Faction under Zhao Yunxiao’s watch, led by the inner disciple San Wanfan.

Yet despite being right in front of the temple, they dared not carelessly enter.

The unknown dangers of the temple aside, the main reason stopping them was actually not related to the temple itself. Instead, it was due to the group of participants standing among the same tall grass right across from them.

“Everything has an order to it. We arrived here first, so we should have the opportunity to explore the temple first!” San Wanfan shouted.

“Everything has an order to it? I can’t disagree with that,” the leader of the opposing group stepped forward. “However, we might have a slightly different interpretation to that statement. In our eyes, the order goes this way – the strong always goes first, while the weak stays away. And if you don’t agree to that, why don’t you try challenging the basis of our claim?”

“You-!” the group from the Mo Faction was clearly angered by the other party’s taunts, but dared not take up the challenge.

After all, all of them had recognised the leader of the opposing group with a single glance.

How could they not?

Core disciple of the Vermilion Bird Sect – Infernal Claw Quan Hui.

When facing a group led by a core disciple, it would be difficult for anyone to remain confident of victory!