Jade Pendant

Although others didn't know he was buying this for the sect's yet-to-be-built Library Pavilion, Lin Xiao still felt a bit embarrassed.

This was their sect's privacy! Naturally, it couldn't be seen by outsiders.

Early the next morning, the Talisman Master Convention's competition to narrow down two thousand five hundred participants to five hundred began.

The rules this time were more ruthless than any previous screening.

A total of two thousand five hundred people were divided into five groups, with five hundred in each group.

This meant that only one out of every five people would pass the assessment.

The members of each group were not randomly assigned, but evenly distributed based on their rankings from the previous assessments.

Basically, the Talisman Master Convention internally ranked these two thousand five hundred people roughly, and then, using a balanced pairing format, allocated a similar number of top, middle, and bottom tier talisman masters to each group.

Finally, within each group of five hundred people containing a similar number of top, middle, and bottom scores, through a rolling comparison of competition results, the final remaining one hundred people would pass the assessment, while the remaining four hundred would all be eliminated.

With one hundred people remaining in each group, the final total number of people left would be five hundred, which was the number for the final roster.

Therefore, this competition could be said to be the final hurdle in the Talisman Master Convention's screening process.

Passing this competition meant officially becoming a talisman master recognized by the Talisman Master Convention, and being able to obtain the talisman master token that almost all talisman masters in the Northern and Southern Spirit Domains yearned for.

Naturally, Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu would not miss such a crucial competition.

They ran over before dawn to secure a spot with an excellent view.

Then, having nothing to do, they pulled out a pile of snacks and ate them with relish to pass the time.

Of course, although these snacks were all made by Fuzi, they were just ordinary snacks without any spiritual energy.

After all, in this place where cultivators gathered, if others discovered they had a seemingly endless supply of spiritual food as snacks, the two of them could forget about leaving Banxiang City alive.

But even so, their eating deliciously in the audience seats for over half an hour still attracted some people's attention.

Although the snacks Jiang Youfu made contained no spiritual power, there was no denying how fragrant they were.

Plus, Lin Xiao and the other were essentially doing a live eating broadcast right there.

There were also many gluttons in the cultivation world.

At this moment, a heavily built person approached the two of them and spoke with a buzzing voice:

"Two little brothers, how about sharing some of that food in your hands with me?"

Hearing this, Lin Xiao turned his head and met the other party's squinting eyes that were almost reduced to slits.

He silently gulped.

Good heavens, so there were such plump figures among cultivators too.

Compared to this person, Fuzi could practically be called slender, with a very fitting figure.

Jiang Youfu was clearly shocked by his figure as well.

This person didn't look young. Although it was hard to tell a cultivator's exact age, judging merely by his appearance, he looked like a middle-aged uncle.

It was probably Jiang Youfu's first time being asked for food by someone so much older than him, so he subconsciously took out a small cloth bag of snacks from his storage bag and handed it over.

"We don't have much left, but you can have these, Uncle."

The man seemed not to expect being addressed like this while out and about. Surprised for a moment, he looked at the snack bag Jiang Youfu handed directly to him, paused, and then smiled amiably at them:

"My surname is Yue, you can call me Uncle Yue."

Jiang Youfu smoothly called him Uncle Yue, and Lin Xiao followed suit.

Anyway, in the cultivation world, any cultivator was likely older than the two of them, so calling him Uncle wouldn't hurt.

The cultivator named Yue originally only intended to come over and ask, fully prepared to exchange spirit stones for the food. Unexpectedly, before he could even offer the spirit stones, they gave the items to him for free.

Looking at Jiang Youfu's pure eyes, he felt an unprompted sense of fondness.

This cultivator surnamed Yue did not linger. With a flip of his hand, he took out two smooth white jade plaques and handed them to Jiang Youfu and Lin Xiao, saying:

"Good children. Since you've called me Uncle, I can't let you do so for nothing. Here is a meeting gift for you, keep it well."

Hearing this, Jiang Youfu and Lin Xiao, not understanding why, politely extended their hands and accepted the jade plaques he handed them.

They only glanced at the smooth white jade plaques in their hands, but when the two looked up again, they found that Uncle Yue, who had been standing in front of them just a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.

Jiang Youfu turned to look at Lin Xiao in great surprise, as if wanting to ask something.

However, before he could ask, Lin Xiao had already sent him a voice transmission:

"I completely didn't notice when he left."

Hearing that Brother Xiao, who was already at the Golden Core stage, say this, Jiang Youfu was even more shocked.

Didn't this mean that the Uncle just now had a cultivation base much higher than Brother Xiao's?

Lin Xiao quietly observed the people around them again.

Only to find that in the surroundings where many spectators were already waiting, even though quite a few people had been glancing at them happily eating just moments ago, right now not a single person was paying attention to their side.

It was as if everything just now was an illusion.

It seemed they hadn't seen a person appear on their side just now, asking them for food, nor the interaction between them, and so on.

Lin Xiao shared this situation with Jiang Youfu.

The two fledgling little cultivators were greatly shocked.

That person just now must have been a legendary almighty cultivator with incredibly high cultivation.

Lin Xiao and the other even felt that the Uncle from just now was very likely much more powerful than Senior Liao.

Then, Lin Xiao suddenly noticed a prompt pop up in the system in his mind.

It was that previous quest to befriend cultivators in the cultivation world.

At this moment, under "Befriend five cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage or above," the count had evidently changed from the previous 1/5 to 2/5.

The first was naturally Shopkeeper Zhong of the Treasure Pavilion, and this second one, very clearly, was that Uncle Yue from just now.

Lin Xiao hurriedly signaled Jiang Youfu to put away the jade plaque the senior had just given them.

It seemed this jade plaque was quite important.

After that almighty cultivator gave them this jade plaque, the system directly determined that they had successfully befriended this person.

Because of this interlude, when the Talisman Master Convention started shortly after, both of them seemed a bit absent-minded.

It wasn't until Liu Chun appeared that they regained their attention.

This competition was a rolling elimination.

That is to say, there were five hundred people in each group, and one hundred passing seats would be set up. After the first one hundred people came out, they would automatically occupy these one hundred seats. Later, when the one hundred and first person came out for the assessment and got their score, they would be compared with the person who had the worst score among those one hundred.

Whoever was worse would be eliminated.

Thus, until the very last person finished their assessment, the talisman masters who ultimately remained in those one hundred seats would successfully enter the final roster of five hundred people.