Previously, during the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai, the number of disciples who participated was about the same as now. But the meaning was different for this social gathering. The Celestial Sect of Wonders seemed to be hinting that they were going to challenge all the other sects.
Regardless whether it was the disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders or disciples from the other sects, they were prepared for this.
That was why when Shi Tianhao announced that everyone would be separated into groups, the disciples from the other sects seemed to object to the arrangement.
That was because the Celestial Sect of Wonders had the most disciples in this gathering. Once they gathered together, their overall strength was the greatest.
Even if the other sects collaborated with one another, they were not from the same sect after all. They would be unable to have good chemistry with one another. They were definitely not as close as the Celestial Sect of Wonders’ disciples.
Right now, Shi Tianhao suggested that those of the same sect could not be placed together.
Shi Jingyun, Shi Shaogan and the rest looked at one another. They were confused, but they soon found out that besides them who were shocked, the Successive Disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders were also stunned. Obviously, the contents of the competition were beyond their expectations.
Shi Tianhao looked around and said, "Today, all of you who are here to observe the ceremony are friends of the Celestial Sect of Wonders. It is important for us to get along with one another. This gathering is not just for all of us to spar with one another, but to socialize and communicate with one another too."
"If we collaborate now, this will be beneficial to any future alliances."
His words might be right. The cultivation world included many people and many paths to take. There were all types of treasures too. Maybe one might need the help of some other person another day.
Although most of the people present were from the larger sects, they might not get some things which they needed. Otherwise, they might have to pay a huge price for the thing they needed. But if they had any friends from outside, these friends might be of use to them.
Most of the people became silent, especially those from the Great Zhou and Great Qin Empire, as they looked at one another subconsciously.
Some of the cultivators also shifted their gaze between the Celestial Sect of Wonders and the Great Void Sect.
The disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders settled down quickly and stood where they were. They listened to Shi Tianhao’s instructions.
Chen Xingyu clasped his palm and fist together, "Elder Shi is right. The Great Void Sect has no opposition to the suggestion. We shall follow your arrangements."
Shi Shaogan was silent for a moment before saying, "We have no objections too." Shi Jingyun also nodded her head.
The cultivators from the Great Zhou Empire looked at Shi Jingyun and the rest before nodding their heads, "We shall follow what you want to do. We will abide by the rules."
Murong Yanran looked at Shi Tianhao. She had met him many years ago when he was still very young. But now, he was already all grown up and had changed a lot.
She said, "The Sword of Radiance Sect has no objections."
The cultivators from the other great powers also nodded their heads. Only the Path of the Heaven-Born and the Path of Humanity & the Path of Hell from the Samsara Sect seemed to be at odds with each other.
The leader of the Path of Hell was a tall and thin young cultivator, who was called Liu Hang. He looked at Yang Likun coldly and said, "Yang Likun, the disciples of the Path of Heavenly Man better watch themselves."
In the Samsara Sect, the other five Paths often referred to the Path of the Heaven-Born as the Path of the Heavenly Man.
Yang Likun squinted his eyes and he smiled, "All of you better wish to be in the same group as me. In that way, I will let you all off temporarily. If you are not in the same group as me, I will deal with all of you properly."
Inside the Grand Heavens Pavilion, Lin Feng sat in the main seat. Shen Qifeng turned to look at him and apologized, "The disciples are unruly. Sorry to have made ourselves a laughing stock in front of Master Lin and my fellow comrades."
While he might say this, he did not even look at Liu Zhikun, the Netherworld Holy Man (from the Path of Hell). Liu Zhikun and Yi Longbing from the Path of Humanity also treated Shen Qifeng as invisible.
Shi Yu also looked at Lin Feng and said, "Such an arrangement is indeed appropriate. But it was mentioned that there are 3 stages. Since the first stage is like this, will the future stages be the same?"
Lin Feng smiled, "There will be changes. You will know later on."
Inside the Dharma Hall, Shi Tianhao pointed his finger and a few light rings landed in mid-space. After that, tens of light balls with different colors appeared.
There were varying numbers of each colored light ball. The most was more than ten and the least was not even five.
As everyone looked at these light balls, they knew that they represented the cultivators from the different sects who took part in this gathering. Each color represented a particular sect or power.
There were 16 purple light balls, which represented the 16 disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
On closer look, there were words inside each of the light balls. Each light ball contained a name of the cultivators.
Chen Xingyu, Murong Yanran, Shi Jingyun and the rest found their names. After they entered the Dharma Hall, each sect passed information about themselves to Shi Tianhao.
"These light rings will represent the groups later on. I set up mana restrictions, thus only at most two light balls of the same color can land inside one light ring. Each of these light balls have your names inside. Later, I will toss the light balls into the light rings randomly to decide the groups."
As Shi Tianhao said, he swung his hands and the light balls converted into a streak of flowing radiance. This radiance spun around in space before eventually exploding. Like it was raining, the broken pieces of the radiance landed into the different light rings.
As expected, when two light balls of the same color landed in the same light ring and a third one came, the third one would be rejected and bounced up. After that, this light ball would enter another light ring.
It was very bright, but everything was quickly settled.
The Nascent Soul Stage cultivators in the Dharma Hall watched this process carefully. The Immortal Soul Stage Elders in the Grand Heavens Pavilion also observed this process. But all of them were calm and could verify that Shi Tianhao was not cheating.
As the host of this entire thing, the Celestial Sect of Wonders would not perform such lowly tricks that would undermine their credibility.
After all the light balls had settled inside the light rings, each of the light rings shot out a thin light ray that revealed the names of the owners of the light balls.
The results were revealed at this point.
There were 16 light rings, representing the 16 groups that everyone had been divided into. Each of the light rings contained 5 light balls, while some of them contained 4 light balls only.
Huang Zhenting looked at these light balls before asking, "Master, when you said that our results are tied with our group, what does that mean?"
Shi Tianhao replied, "There will be 3 stages in this gathering. The first stage requires all of you to climb the pagoda. There is a total of 16 groups. Only the first 8 groups to reach the top can proceed to the second stage. For those who land in the bottom half, they will be eliminated."
"The faster you reach the pagoda, the faster you can start the second round. You must be mindful of your time, but there’s something else all of you must take note." Shi Tianhao laughed. "As you reach the top of the pagoda, everyone in the group must reach before the stage is completed. In other words, the last person will determine when the stage ends. The first person of the group who reaches the top has to wait."
As he said this, the expression of everyone changed.
The groups were assigned randomly. There were naturally stronger and weaker ones among those who participated. And most of the people around did not know whether their groupmates were strong or weak. If they were strong, it’s still fine. But if they were weak, they were likely to pull down their group.
Shi Tianhao looked at them before adding on, "Otherwise, what’s the point of the groups? Those in the same group can help one another to ascend the pagoda. But using one’s powers to drag his or her groupmate up is forbidden. All of you have to climb up with your two legs."
"You can choose not to help your groupmates. If you want to reach the top first on your own, it’s fine. But you’ll have to wait there. Only when everyone reaches can the next stage begin."
After pausing for a moment, Shi Tianhao revealed a gentle smile on his face, "Oh yes, those who reach the top first will not only have the chance to start the next stage first, they will also be given rewards."
He grabbed his hand in space and a light figure flashed in space. Most of the people were shocked as they saw what was in front of them.
Those who were present were all the best in their own sects. They might not have seen many magic treasures before, but they had heard of them before. But now, the rewards of the Celestial Sect of Wonders certainly left them dizzy.
Even the Nascent Soul Stage Elders in the Dharma Hall that saw these magic treasures were excited.
"Dragon Tattoo Rock, Exquisite Jade Heart, Millennium Ice Soul, Void Space Divine Rock, Purple Golden Star Metal…the Celestial Sect of Wonders is indeed very generous. They are giving such generous rewards for such a gathering?!"
Shi Tianhao smiled, "These are the rewards given to the victors. After that, there will be other rewards in the later stages."
The entire Dharma Hall was quiet for a second.
Inside the Grand Heavens Pavilion, Shen Qifeng smiled and said, "This is indeed very generous from Master Lin." To an Immortal Soul Stage Elder, they naturally did not bother about such treasures. But they knew what these magic treasures were worth. To those in the lower cultivation realms, these magic treasures were very valuable.
Lin Feng smiled, "You are too kind with your words. It’s rare that we have guests. It’s only right that we host all of you well."
He scanned all of the Immortal Soul Stage Elders, "All these are actually just supplementary. The final victor of this gathering will receive the Baptism of the Original Stellar Light. Take it as a gift to all of you who have kindly graced the Sect-Opening Ceremony."
Of course, whether it landed in the hands of their own disciples or the successors of the other sects and powers, it had to depend on the disciples themselves.
Even so, as he said this, even Lin Daohan, Yan Mingyue, Shi Yu and Zhu Hongwu were stunned. They nodded their heads, "Regardless of what the result is, we will like to thank Master Lin for your generosity."