Shen He walked quickly toward the registration site for the competition with a heavy look.
His master's words echoed in his mind.
["Xiao He, that boy who passed by earlier looked in my direction very firmly. It seems clear that he knows about the necklace, or about me. And the two guards hidden in the void should be no different. Be prepared for the possibility of the plan starting earlier."]
Old Liu warned him, but did not stop him from participating in the competition. He wanted to see what kind of reaction those people would have in the end. He was confident that no matter what they did, in the end, by burning his soul, he would win.
'Understood, Master,' he replied seriously, with a trace of bitterness.
Shen He then headed to the place where he could catch a public flying boat in the city. Many people were already waiting there.
He let out a soft sigh as he joined them.
There, he inserted a low-grade stone into a white pedestal available at the side, from which a thin and simple token appeared after payment.
Taking the token, Shen He moved to the side and waited.
Fortunately, he didn't wait long until a flying boat full of people stopped beside them.
People quickly entered as the tokens in their hands disappeared into the formations of the boat. Many were also leaving, as they had reached their intended destinations.
With everything completed, the boat departed under the driver's control.
Due to the flight prohibition in the city, it was necessary to use transportation to solve locomotion issues across its massive area, thus avoiding the sight of people running everywhere.
With transportation so cheap and fast like the public flying boats, many used them without hesitation.
There were also slower options paid with mortal coins, such as common carriages. Many others chose simply to walk, since a spirit stone was still not entirely irrelevant for low-level cultivators.
But most residents of the region under the Infinite Dao Sect did not face such obstacles, since the territory of this sect was extremely wealthy, with a great influx of money, enriching its population.
On the boat, Shen He calmly watched the city pass by with complex eyes as the vehicle floated above the street, taking countless people to various points of the city at high speed.
Seeing the passengers on the boat—and many others on the street—interacting with a light screen projected by a Token in their hands, the boy sighed and pulled an identical token from his storage bag as well.
["This little thing is quite interesting."]
His master's voice emerged.
'Mm…' Shen He agreed inwardly while interacting with the token's light screen.
[[Web]
[Message Transmission]
[Bank Account]]
There were only these three options on the screen, and Shen He selected the first.
[[Cultivation Web]
[Mortal Web]
[Global Web]]
Once again, he selected the first.
[[News]
[Dialogues]
[Commerce]
[…]]
Thus, he began browsing the public news with interest, accessing some tabs of reliable news—mainly the Infinite Dao Journal, which possessed extreme credibility.
[Suspicious forest believed to contain 5 early-stage First-Level beasts is discovered in a possible ancient spiritual mine and is currently being explored. Three casualties reported so far.]
[The auction held by the Solar Fortune Auction House on the 5th day of the Dragon Month in the year 19246 of the Unified Beixu Calendar will feature a petal of the Black Earth Dandelion as its main item. The petal can be used to…]
[The top 5 pills to assist in…]
He scrolled through the news quickly, curiosity gradually replacing the panic he felt about what might happen in the coming days.
His master was not very interested in those low-level events and knowledge, but out of boredom ended up losing himself in the territory's news.
That tool used both by Shen He and by the people around him was called the WebToken, one of the most successful creations of the spiritual science and human development department of the Infinite Dao Sect.
The token basically worked like a cellphone from Aotian's past life, but with reduced functions adapted to the current reality. In other words, without very modern screens with icons, nor strange names like "forums," "blogs," or "chat," although it still contained such functions.
To function, the tokens connect to the city formations and exchange information—projecting and receiving data stored in a massive repository, or rather, a "server," safeguarded within the mountain of the Infinite Dao Sect after passing through several layers of security filters.
But there were still problems with this new spiritual technology. To function, the token had to be within the boundaries of the city and sect formations.
This happened because, to ensure secrecy and authenticity, information was transmitted directly through matrices rather than through satellites or towers that broadcast information via open signals. In the cultivation world, it was far too easy for someone to intercept that kind of transmission.
Because of this, Aotian was still working on secure encryption methods, ways to confirm sending and receiving information, fix the recipient's real-time location, and ensure that sender and receiver were authentic.
Transmitting information through matrices allowed these cases to be handled without errors, but open-signal transmission still required study and refinement.
Due to this limitation, he restricted the range to cities in the sect region, since the ambient energy—thanks to Feng Shui—was sufficient for information to flow through prepared and protected channels without astronomical costs.
Other cities and regions would still have to wait until he improved things, since creating networks between distant locations required material resources and many spirit stones to maintain protection formations along the transmission routes.
Of course, he could create versions with problems and insecurities, since the internet in his previous life was not exactly confidential or inviolable. But Aotian felt he could do differently—and better—in this life, if he had enough time, so he was in no hurry.
Confidential for outsiders, of course. For him, well… his real objective, besides helping the world develop, was to eventually accumulate all existing information with the growth and evolution of this new internet: techniques, spells, inheritances, and everything that could be shared.
It was his wish that everything from the past and the future would one day be recorded in his WebToken.
The boat ride passed quickly, and soon a firm announcement from the pilot sounded:
"Competition registration square."
'Here it is.' Shen He nodded inwardly and stepped off the floating boat at that stop.
Crossing the crowd walking along the sidewalks, he quickly reached a huge square where hundreds of stone pedestals were available, and several cultivators formed small lines to access them.
Shen He joined one of them and, a few minutes later, it was his turn.
A light screen appeared before him.
[Insert your spiritual energy into the orb along with your name, age, and the competitions you wish to participate in.
If you wish to see the list of competitions, insert the intention: View list.
Attention, this year's competition will be divided by age. Lying about your real age during the registration process will disqualify the candidate from receiving any kind of reward at the end of the competition.]
Aside from the static light screen, there seemed to be nothing else except the upper part of a black orb in the center of the pedestal, along with a narrow rectangular opening on one side and a circular slot on the other.
The boy didn't rush and stood still for a few moments, waiting for something.
That was when his master's voice reached him.
["I explored it. There's nothing unusual besides collecting information and generating a token. You may apply."]
"Thank you, Master…" Shen He murmured, placing his hand over the orb and infusing energy and intent into it.
As soon as he did that, the information on the light panel changed.
[Participant name: Shen He
Age: 21 years
Competitions: Duel, Alchemy.]
[Confirm the operation on the orb, or cancel the operation to restart.]
The boy nodded lightly and touched the orb again, confirming the information.
He wasn't lying about anything. After all, Little Brick already knew his real name, which he hadn't hidden from his savior back then. So he saw no reason to hide it now and bring suspicion upon himself when he wanted to join that sect… even though he was already surrounded by suspicion because of the necklace.
[Participant, your age group is classified as belonging to the Minor Tournament. Insert the registration fee.]
[Tournament Price List]
[Minor: Under 25 years.
Fee: 100 low-grade spiritual stones for each competition]
[Middle: Between 25 and 100 years
Fee: 1,000 low-grade spiritual stones for each competition]
[Major: Over 100 years
Fee: 10,000 low-grade spiritual stones for each competition]
[Do you wish to request exemption?]
[[Warning: Exemption is granted upon formal justification, which will be inquired up to one hour before the competition. Failure to justify will nullify tournament participation.]
[Possible justifications: Insufficient income, accidental loss of money, low realm incompatible with power classification and cost of spiritual stones, income destined for vital purposes, inability to…]]
Shen He and his master, who was following the process naturally, couldn't help but feel their mouths twitch at the strangeness of the situation.
["This is… well, it's quite conscientious… I've never seen anything like this before."]
The old man was forced to admit, with a touch of admiration and confusion.
He had seen many things in his life, but waiving the entry fee for people simply because they had no money was something he had never seen or even heard of. After all, competitions required expenses such as alchemy materials, talismans, and other resources. Acting with such generosity was truly strange.
'Hum…' Shen He also nodded, once again renewing his perception of the apparent fairness and generosity of the Infinite Dao Sect. 'But I imagine many people will try to cheat to benefit and participate in the competition without paying,' he added, as he began placing the spiritual stones into the circular slot of the pedestal, which were immediately absorbed.
What they didn't know was that the cost of the competition materials was insignificant compared to Aotian's fortune, and that the influx of people coming to the city and spending money on various things — the spiritual stones collected alone — would have already allowed him to make the entire competition free. However, he preferred to charge a fee to gain an additional profit and to make the event feel more serious and solemn.
The entry fee wasn't even expensive; in fact, it was quite cheap.
As for the possibility of being deceived by granting exemptions? Aotian could only smile maliciously at anyone who thought they could lie in front of his inner elders from the Punishment Pavilion.
Aotian's goal this time wasn't just to make the name of his sect and its disciples resound, but also to hunt for talents in the crowd even before recruitment.
As for those who cheated despite having money, they probably didn't have the proper character to be admitted into the sect anyway, so eliminating them from the competition would only improve the competitive atmosphere.
As soon as Shen He completed the payment, a rectangular card-shaped token was ejected from the rectangular slot beside the orb.
[[Your Registration Token has been generated. Bring it to the competition venue to participate.]
[Reminder: After the marked start time of the competition, late participants are forbidden from entering.]]
[Good luck, competitor.]
Shen He finished reading the messages carefully, picked up his Token, and departed.
The first competition he would participate in would only begin in about 4 hours.
So, with so much free time, he headed to watch, as a spectator, another competition that would begin in about an hour.
Crossing the registration plaza, he continued forward for a while until he reached a gigantic coliseum that seemed to almost touch the clouds with its immense size.
A long shadow extended from the building, accompanied by a dignified and solemn aura on its walls, making a weak cultivator like Shen He swallow dryly as he couldn't help but admire it.
Upon reaching one of the "spiritual turnstiles" at the entrance, he inserted 10 low-grade spiritual stones and was allowed to enter the premises.
When he was about to proceed and look for a seat in the audience, one of the coliseum guards approached, making Shen He stare at him in confusion.
The guard suddenly bowed and spoke respectfully.
"Sir. One of the noble disciples of the Infinite Dao Sect asked me to invite you to join him in his VIP box," the guard revealed sincerely, though there was a hint of admiration and envy in his gaze, due to Shen He having such connection and honor.
"This… show me the way." The boy was confused by the sudden approach, but soon remembered his brother Brick and smiled lightly while following the guard.
The old man in the necklace didn't react much upon hearing this, but as they walked toward one of the boxes, Grandpa Liu decided to release a trace of aura to explore and avoid mishaps — and then his expression changed.
["No! Xiao He, it's not Little Brick!"]
As his words echoed, the door of the box ahead of them suddenly opened, revealing a handsome young man with black hair and black eyes who smiled strangely at them, sitting beside a beautiful blonde woman who watched the invited boy with confusion.
Upon seeing the couple, Shen He's pupils dilated.