Indeed, every single green lotus beneath Wang Xianmao's feet was purely for show.
Though they looked incredibly flashy, resembling the manifestation of so profound divine ability, they were ultimately nothing more than costic flair. They offered visual splendor but absolutely no practical stat improvents.
Even so, it was more than enough.
As a fellow practitioner of wood-elent cultivation, Mu Chunze, the Town Guardian Cultivator, naturally saw through Wang Xianmao's grandstanding. But could he openly call him out on it?
Of course not. They all operated within the sa system; unless they reached a point of complete and utter enmity, no one would spark a confrontation over sothing so trivial.
Would Mu Chunze be foolish enough to start a feud just because soone else was showing off a bit too much?
Hardly. If he were that foolish, he would never have endured the humiliation of being a matrilocal son-in-law for so long.
The only reason this Town Guardian Cultivator had achieved his current status was his ability to tolerate what ordinary people could not.
Since Mu Chunze—the only one capable of exposing the display—remained silent, the other Foundation Establishnt cultivators present, whose mastery over wood-elent techniques fell short of Wang Xianmao's, naturally failed to see the truth.
To the entire audience, excluding Mu Chunze, the Wang Clan appeared profoundly enigmatic.
When they considered that Patriarch Mangxiang was currently attaining Golden Core, that the Wang Clan possessed a Foundation Establishnt cultivator who was a Core Disciple of the Red Lantern Illumination Sect, and that even the clan's external disciples had reached Foundation Establishnt, their awe only deepened.
mbers of certain ancient clans, such as the Second Elder of the Gu Clan who had arrived today, began to take a serious interest in the Wang Clan.
Inside the VIP lounge, standing between Wu Jinyan and Mu Chunze, the Second Elder of the Gu Clan recalled his clan's historical records.
'The Wang Clan of Anbei Kingdom... if I rember correctly, that family has endured for at least a thousand years.'
A thousand-year-old Foundation Establishnt Immortal Clan possessed deep roots. In the future, there was a very high probability they would produce a Purple Palace realm cultivator.
'Considering the situation if Mangxiang achieves the Golden Core realm... yes, I must report this to the Patriarch. Our clan should make every effort to forge a close alliance with the Wang Clan.'
"Now, let us welco our second judge: a Core Disciple of the Red Lantern Illumination Sect, a disciple under the tutelage of Perfected Man Fujiao, and the Town Guardian Cultivator of Clear Stream Market—Senior Mu Chunze!"
As Zhong Ningyao's voice faded, Tang Nianqiu, who was attending to the guests in the VIP lounge, reminded Mu Chunze that it was his turn to step forward.
Stepping out of the lounge and looking down at the massive crowds filling the spectator stands, Mu Chunze recalled Wang Xianmao's recent grand entrance.
He leaped forward, activating a divine ability mid-air as his form blurred and reshaped into a white spiritual deer.
The spiritual deer bounded through the sky, radiating a vibrant aura of flourishing life. This was Mu Chunze's signature divine ability—Transform into Auspicious Deer.
In this form, Mu Chunze retained no human characteristics whatsoever. His snow-white fur emitted a soft, ethereal glow, and his erald antlers left faint afterimages in the air.
His eyes shone as brilliantly as rubies. While the color red often evoked thoughts of blood and malice, the auspicious deer instead filled everyone who looked upon it with a profound sense of vitality and the warm embrace of nature.
Thus, the auspicious deer elegantly descended from the heights toward the center of the arena.
However, halfway through his descent, Mu Chunze realized sothing was amiss.
Sothing was wrong.
Very wrong.
Though he couldn't imdiately pinpoint the issue, he felt an undeniable sense of discord.
'Wait. Zhou Yingxi, why did you stop playing your zither?'
Mu Chunze finally realized what was missing.
When Wang Xianmao made his entrance, Zhou Yingxi had provided a beautiful musical backdrop. Yet now, when her own father was stepping onto the stage, she had gone completely silent!
In this unspoken battle of grand entrances, the lack of background music ant Mu Chunze had already lost a round.
Suppressing a surge of irritation, Mu Chunze landed beside Wang Xianmao and reverted to his human form.
He then began nodding to the surrounding crowd. While Wang Xianmao had offered a polite bow, Mu Chunze rely gave a nod.
'Xianmao, no matter how grandly you display your skills, I will always hold authority over you.'
It was a aningless comparison, yet Mu Chunze's competitive nature had been thoroughly stoked.
However, having just deactivated his deer form, Mu Chunze was still in a state of high spiritual arousal. In this condition, his divine sense was temporarily amplified several tis over.
He couldn't fully control this heightened divine sense. After all, transforming into the auspicious deer drained a significant portion of his spiritual energy and hindered his regular cultivation, so he had never actively practiced controlling the sensory overload that followed.
As a result, Mu Chunze inadvertently overheard the comntary of the spectators once again.
"Is he a human or a beast?"
"Hard to say. Probably a demi-human. Did you see his... deer whip down there? Ahem, best not to speak loosely, best not to speak loosely."
Mu Chunze's face turned even greener than Wang Xianmao's.
He had intended to use his divine ability to make a majestic impression, so why was the crowd's focus so utterly vulgar?
The ones speaking were rely two Qi Drawing realm cultivators—insignificant beginners who understood nothing.
His reason told him that a grand Foundation Establishnt cultivator shouldn't take the words of such ignorant fools to heart, but his emotions proved far harder to soothe.
'I am a powerful cultivator wielding a genuine divine ability, broadening your horizons. It is fine if your shallow vision cannot comprehend my strength; you are nothing but short-sighted rabble.'
'But to call a demi-human! And to actually... enough!'
'If you weren't re low-level cultivators, I would have Gao Jian execute you both the mont this ends!'
Failing to outshine Wang Xianmao and being labeled a demi-human left Mu Chunze feeling utterly cold inside.
"Fellow Daoist Mu's divine ability is truly extraordinary, truly remarkable," Wang Xianmao praised politely.
After a brief exchange between the two, Wu Jinyan also quietly entered the arena.
As the third judge to appear, he felt no pressure whatsoever.
Mu Chunze was a Purple Mansion disciple and a Core Disciple of the Red Lantern Illumination Sect.
Wang Xianmao was a Foundation Establishnt cultivator of a grand clan with deep, profound cultivation thods.
Wu Jinyan knew he had no right to compete with either of them.
---
"Let the preliminary round begin. All talisman masters, please take your places!"
Under Zhong Ningyao's structured guidance, the competitors took their positions one by one.
Before each of them stood a simple, unadorned wooden table. This would be their battlefield for the duration of the event.
The format of the Clear Stream Market Talisman Master Competition was straightforward.
The preliminary round would eliminate half the contestants using basic, fundantal tests.
In the subsequent elimination round, the remaining participants would blindly draw topics based on their respective spirit root attributes.
Each spirit root category offered multiple choices. After drawing their category, competitors could select the specific talisman they were most proficient in crafting.
Since all the participants were currently in the Qi Refining stage, the types of talismans they created generally aligned with their natural elental attributes. If a competitor still couldn't find a single talisman they excelled at under such favorable conditions, they naturally deserved to be disqualified.
Under the watchful eyes of three Foundation Establishnt cultivators, no one dared to attempt any form of cheating.
Faced with the preliminary requirent of mass-producing basic Spiritual Attraction Talismans within a strict ti limit, the participants began working so intensely that sweat poured from their brows.
Many experienced masters had long since forgotten how to draw a basic Spiritual Attraction Talisman on cheap hemp cloth. However, these individuals often possessed the highest fundantal skills, allowing them to rapidly adapt to the constraints of the competition.
Furthermore, these elite creators possessed high-quality talisman brushes and extensive experience.
Though they started slowly, they quickly accelerated to make up for lost ti, producing exceptionally high-quality Spiritual Attraction Talismans in the process.
For the competitors, there was no secret shortcut to victory; they simply had to produce as many high-quality pieces as possible within the tight window.
Ultimately, scores would be awarded based on the quality of the talismans produced, and the bottom half of the leaderboard would be eliminated.
The Spiritual Attraction Talisman served as the foundation for the vast majority of advanced talismans. Only by mastering it could one truly beco an exceptional talisman master.
In this regard, the structure of the preliminary round was entirely fair and practical.
Watching the competitors write furiously upon the yellow hemp cloth, Zhou Yingxi expressed her admiration.
"Your Wang Clan truly possesses remarkable foresight. By structuring the competition this way, you avoid wasting valuable spirit stones while imdiately exposing the true skill levels of the participants."
Hemp cloth could be manufactured easily by mortals. Because its texture was relatively coarse, it served as an excellent dium for honing one's brushwork, making it widely used by teachers training apprentice talisman masters and weaponsmiths.
"We save where we can and spend where it matters. The grand rewards are reserved for the final victors, so there is no need to waste spirit stones on the preliminaries.
Once we reach the semi-finals, our clan will provide the appropriate spiritual materials," Yulou explained with a smile. Having generated such imnse public montum, they couldn't afford to start with a bang and end with a whimper.
It was clear that every single phase and procedure of the Talisman Master Competition had been ticulously planned and thoroughly optimized.
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