Chapter 1739: Ancient Mystery, The Devil’s Palm Over the Universe, First Round.

Half an hour later, Wang Lin left the jungle. His expression was calm, but inwardly he sighed. That serpent was indeed one of the Eight Gates, but it was not the True Gate.

"The Eight Gates are varied. If I search for them one by one, I have a chance to find the True Gate. However, even if the Cloud Dao Heavenly Art is cultivated to Perfection, the reversal of the third soul's memories will still not be intense enough… In that case, it is very difficult to search for the Eight Gates one by one."

"For now, I can only wait for the Donglin Sect Grand Competition in a few months. This Grand Competition was extremely unforgettable for the Seven-Colored Immortal Venerable back then. If I can reverse his memories more thoroughly during the Grand Competition, I should be able to find the True Gate during the moment his memories are in chaos!" Wang Lin was in mid-air, lost in thought.

His figure turned into clouds and mist, speeding towards the Donglin Sect.

Time passed in a flash. Three months later.

To be precise, it was the fifth month since Wang Lin began self-studying the Cloud Dao Heavenly Art, and the Donglin Sect Grand Competition began!

As one of the Nine Sects and Thirteen Gates in this region, the Donglin Sect held a Grand Competition for low-level Disciples every thirty years to select outstanding individuals for key cultivation.

There was also the qualification to Cultivate in the Donglin Pool for a few days, which made every Grand Competition extremely intense.

The path of a Cultivator is the law of the jungle; it is naturally a cruel matter. Therefore, although every Grand Competition requires participants to stop before going too far, casualties still occur. Regarding this phenomenon, as long as it is not continuous slaughter, the Sect usually ignores it.

The Donglin Sect had a total of three hundred and twenty-one mountain branches. Each branch would send three to five people to participate in the Grand Competition. The winning branch would receive generous rewards, so the competition within the Grand Competition was quite cruel.

The competition involving over a thousand people often lasted for a period of time. Whenever this happened, it was a rare lively time for the Donglin Sect. Moreover, Donglin Star was too vast, and the Disciples within the various mountain branches rarely knew everyone. The Grand Competition was often an opportunity for them to get to know each other.

On this day, Su Dao's Master came out of seclusion again. After gathering all the Disciples, he selected three people to participate in this Grand Competition. Wang Lin and Zhou Li were naturally among them. The third person was a woman. This woman was beautiful and smiled before she spoke.

This woman was named Qin Mei. In the memories of the Seven-Colored Immortal Venerable's third soul, he had a somewhat deep impression of this woman, and there seemed to be some admiration for her. Unfortunately, after this Grand Competition, this woman became Zhou Li's Dao Companion, severing Su Dao's thoughts.

Outsiders could hardly imagine that Su Dao at this time would become the decisive and cunning Seven-Colored Immortal Venerable of the future. But on this point, Wang Lin felt the same. He still remembered himself from over two thousand years ago; he was a completely different person compared to now.

Environment can change everything, and experience can change personality. This is fate, whether good or bad.

"Junior Brother Su, I haven't congratulated you yet on obtaining the qualification to Cultivate the Cloud Dao Heavenly Art. I haven't seen you around lately, and only encountered you today." While Wang Lin was lost in thought, a voice as sweet as a lark reached his ears.

It was Qin Mei, looking at Wang Lin with a beautiful smile. Her words were gentle, like a fragrant breeze brushing against his face.

Wang Lin smiled slightly, very composed, and did not speak.

But his smile, falling into Qin Mei's eyes, caused surprise in her heart. In her memory, Su Dao was always shy. If she spoke to him, he would definitely blush and be at a loss for what to do.

But the ease revealed in the other party's smile now was very different, seeming to contain an indescribable feeling. Su Dao was already a very handsome person; at this moment, with Wang Lin's smile, he naturally possessed a unique charm.

Not far away, Zhou Li watched this scene with a gloomy expression. He looked the same as he did five months ago, but in reality, the bloodshot eyes and exhaustion clearly revealed the torment he had endured in his heart over the past five months.

Qin Mei seemed to want to speak again, but her Master flicked his sleeves, and a cloud of auspicious mist enveloped the three of them, whistling into the sky and heading straight for the Donglin Main Sect.

The battlefield for the low-level Disciples' Grand Competition was on the plaza of the Donglin Main Sect. At other times, if Disciples from various branches were not summoned, they were not allowed to step foot in this Main Sect.

Only during the Grand Competition could the Disciples of the various branches enter here. In fact, for many, this was the only opportunity in their entire lives.

The plaza was not large, but it could accommodate thousands of Cultivators. However, if they were to compete here, the range would naturally be insufficient. But for the Donglin Sect to be one of the Nine Sects and Thirteen Gates, its foundation was unfathomably deep.

Within this plaza, successive Sect Masters and Elders of the Donglin Sect would constantly set up Formations and Restrictions. During every Grand Competition, they would open a small part of them, tearing open the world and entering the Donglin spatial Rift belonging to the Donglin Sect.

That was the true battlefield for the first round of the Grand Competition.

At this moment, on the Donglin Main Sect plaza, long rainbows whistled in the sky, constantly arriving here. Within each long rainbow was a branch Master leading their Disciples.

Because it was a Grand Competition for low-level Disciples, and it was very likely that future Prodigies would appear within it, the Donglin Sect did not invite any outsiders to watch every time. It was entirely an internal affair of the Sect.

But from the Sect Master and Grand Elder down to the various deacons, everyone would appear to watch if there were any Prodigy-like figures among the low-level Disciples.

When Wang Lin arrived at the plaza, more than half of the Disciples participating in the Grand Competition had already arrived. Although there were many people, densely packed, it did not look chaotic at all. It was orderly, and there was not much noise.

As a result, an invisible pressure naturally permeated the minds of everyone here, and as the number of people increased, this pressure became more intense, pressing on their hearts, making their hearts beat faster while not daring to make any noise.

Half an hour later, the Disciples of all three hundred and twenty-one branches had arrived, standing in the plaza, each nervously silent.

Wang Lin's expression was calm, but Qin Mei beside him no longer had a smile. Her little face was very solemn, appearing somewhat restrained and uneasy. Zhou Li was slightly better, but it could also be seen that he was extremely nervous.

Wang Lin's composure, falling into Qin Mei's eyes, made her even more surprised, but for some reason, her heart slowly calmed down as well.

"Our Donglin Sect has produced generations of talents, making our Sect one of the Nine Sects and Thirteen Gates. All of this was exchanged by your predecessors with blood and has been passed down to your generation of Disciples.

Today is the day of the Grand Competition for your generation. I hope to see the future of our Donglin Sect in you, and I hope to feel the unyielding and decisive nature of our Cultivators in you!"

"The first round of the Grand Competition is to enter the Donglin Rift. The time limit is three days. Within three days, the top thirty with the most tokens from each other will pass!" A majestic voice echoed in the plaza. Then, as golden light flashed all around, hundreds of figures faintly appeared. These figures were all powerhouses of the Donglin Sect, currently sitting cross-legged in the air one by one, their gazes sweeping over the thousand-plus Disciples in the plaza below.

Among them, dozens of gazes fell on Wang Lin.

Wang Lin had seen the same scene in the memories of the Seven-Colored Immortal Venerable. The words were the same, the number of participants was the same, and even the golden light appearing in the sky was the same. The only difference was the sweeping gazes. In the Seven-Colored Immortal Venerable's memories, most of them were looking at Zhou Li.

As for Su Dao, although a few gazes gathered on him, under those gazes, Su Dao's heart trembled, he lowered his head and retreated, performing very miserably.

On the other hand, Zhou Li, although also trembling, did not retreat. Instead, he held his head high, gritted his teeth, and persisted. Relying on his talent and the qualification to obtain the Cloud Dao Heavenly Art, he could be said to have shone brilliantly.

But now, everything has changed.

Gazes also swept over Zhou Li, but no matter how he persisted, it was of no use. Those gazes only swept across him and mostly gathered on Wang Lin.

And Wang Lin, as always, had a calm expression, without the slightest change, as if the gathering of these gazes had no effect on him at all, and in fact, that was indeed the case.

Zhou Li clenched his fists. Within his lowered eyes, he revealed monstrous jealousy and hatred. He did not understand at all during these five months why things had turned out like this. Why had the cowardly Su Dao changed so much? In his mind, all of this should have belonged to him, but it was forcibly snatched away by Su Dao.

"Enter the pass!" At this moment, the majestic voice rose again. The entire plaza was immediately replaced by a dazzling array of colors. Amidst the flashing, brilliant light, a huge Vortex appeared above the plaza. The Vortex rumbled and rotated like a black hole, revealing a strange world inside.

The moment the Vortex appeared, all the low-level Disciples participating in the Grand Competition in the plaza had light surrounding their bodies, wrapping their bodies and turning into long rainbows, rushing straight towards the Vortex.

Over a thousand people, over a thousand long rainbows, entered the Vortex together. After a moment, they all disappeared without a trace. The plaza suddenly became empty. Only the Masters of the Disciples of various branches stood there, respectfully cupping their fists towards the figures in the golden light in the sky, then sat cross-legged and began to watch the ceremony.

After everyone had entered, the Vortex above slowly stopped rotating and turned into something like a mirror, clearly revealing everything inside the Donglin Rift. One only needed to merge their Divine Sense to see everything inside clearly.

In this way, the Donglin Sect's powerhouses of Divine Ability could deeply search for future Prodigies!

This was a boundless, pitch-black land. The sky was dim, as if filled with a rising dust fog at dusk. This was the spatial Rift opened by the Donglin Sect.

Everything was arranged to imitate a certain area of the Immortal Astral Continent.

When Wang Lin appeared, he was on a plain overgrown with weeds taller than a person. His location was exactly the same as in the Seven-Colored Immortal Venerable's memories.

Back then, Su Dao was eventually robbed of his token in this first round and failed. He could only watch as Zhou Li and several others who stood out from the other branches shone brilliantly in this first round.

And Su Dao was just an insignificant speck of dust under that light.

Such things stimulated Su Dao deeply. Here, Su Dao was even cruelly abused by Zhou Li. Although he was not killed, that kind of injury made Su Dao unforgettable for his whole life, and it was the key point of his personality transformation!

"I have arrived. Everything will change…" Wang Lin looked up at the dim sky and muttered to himself.

I have arrived in Chengdu, at the Kempinski Hotel. During the annual meeting, updates will continue as usual! This time, I can shout loudly for monthly votes!!