- Chapter 53 (1/2)

Shocking Contribution Points

The twenty deacons entered Demon Sinister Forest along with the hundred and sixty candidates.

Every candidate was given a jade disc. It was the Contribution Jade Disc, its name was derived from its function which was used to record the contribution points.

The contribution points could not only be used to exchange for cultivation techniques, magical treasure and dans, but also to promote one’s position.

There was a glittering ‘five’ on the jade disc. It meant that every candidate who was present here had been awarded with five points from the first examination.

Furthermore, only the disciples of Sinister Sparrow Sect could hold the Contribution Jade Disc. These group of candidates were considered outer disciples when they entered the Demon Sinister Forest. Thus, they had the qualification for that.

If they died in the forest, their identity as a disciple would be lost. They would only become an official disciple of the sect after staying alive for a month in the forest.

The forest was divided into nine regions. The year when Sinister Sparrow Sect was established, the peak Gold Core ancestor of Sinister Sparrow explored the Demon Sinister Forest but stopped at the fourth region because he was injured by a Nascent Soul ghost king. Thus, Demon Sinister Forest had become a forbidden place of Sinister Sparrow Sect.

Clearly, this forest didn’t contain Dark Yin Qi but there were many things that were unknown. The ancestor of Sinister Sparrow only had the detailed information until the fourth region because he knew there would only be danger after that region.

The only fortunate thing about the ghosts in Demon Sinister Forest was that they were restricted to leave the forest. They would disintegrate and vanish the moment they leave the forest. Furthermore, every region in the forest was limited and categorized by their cultivation grade.

When the corpses of enemies were left outside the forest, it wouldn’t take several years for them to become ghosts. And this was inexplicably strange.

There was a saying in Truth Cultivation, ‘the more evil the mountain, the better the chances of getting the secret of immortals.’ Half of the forest should have some kind of heaven defying secret.

The second examination venue was in the first region of the forest. The candidates could move freely within thirty miles radius.

They were allowed to fight, kill, hunt and harvest. And it was also permitted to hide in one place for a month without doing any of those things.

The road of evil cultivation was full of hardships and dangers. One needed bravery and persistence in order to improve. One could hide for a month but not for life. As such, one should confront the danger head on.

In the first region, there were ghosts of Vein Opening. Killing any of them would give the candidate some points. Killing a ghost below level three Vein Opening would gain them one point. As for level four to six Vein Opening ghosts, they would get two points, and for level seven to ten, they would get ten points.

The level of difficulty increased as the cultivation of the ghosts got higher and, obviously, the reward would also be higher. An early Harmonious Spirit ghost was worth a hundred points, an intermediate Harmonious Spirit ghost was worth two hundred, a late Harmonious Spirit ghost was worth five hundred points and lastly, a peak Harmonious Spirit ghost would be worth a thousand points.

However, one had to enter the second region in order to find Harmonious Spirit ghosts. Of course, it wasn’t a place where the new candidates could enter. Even the Harmonious Spirit elders would need to be extra careful when they enter the second region.

Aside from the fact that hunting ghosts would bring them points, the candidates would also be able to learn how to survive and most importantly, be competitive.

Well, if you were afraid of danger, you could choose to harvest some herbs. The first region was grown with many herbs of mostly ten years old. Normally, only twelve kilograms of it could be exchanged for one point.

Due to the entrance examination happening every ten years, the young herbs wasn’t worth a lot.

Besides those ways of getting points, one could also use a more direct way—rob.

Once the person robbed the other person’s Contribution Jade Disc and destroyed it, the points would be transferred to him automatically.

As for the victim who’s disc had been robbed, he could purchase another one for ten immortal jades, which was quite cheap, but he had to accumulate his contribution points again.

The moment they entered the forest, they all scattered around. Most of them chose to go alone, while some had allied with their friends. As for the twenty deacons, they hid in an unnoticeable place to monitor the candidates’ movements. They wouldn’t interfere unless the situation became really critical.

The examination would last for a month, but if someone left the forest within that time frame. He would automatically be disqualified and lose the identity of being a disciple of the sect.

The atmosphere in the first region of Demon Sinister Forest was damp, dull and dark. Some of them could feel that some ghosts were staring at them.

Ning Fan groaned while holding the black jade disc. He was reading the ancient map gifted by Lan Mei. There were nine regions on the map. Three regions were dotted with the location of herbs and danger, but only half of the fourth region was dotted. It must be where the ancestor of Sinister Sparrow Sect had been injured, so he stopped exploring any further.

There must be ghosts that were even more terrifying than the ghost king after the fourth region.

“I didn’t expect that this forest would be so unusual. I wonder what is hidden in its deeper regions.”

A signal was sent out of the Yin Yang Locket in Ning Fan’s dantian, as if the locket had noticed something interesting in this forest.

It was unlikely to be Dark Yin Qi but it might be many times greater than the Dark Yin Qi.

Ning Fan pondered on the possibilities. With his current strength, it wasn’t a problem for him to dominate the first and second region, if he was careful enough. He could even pass through the third region by being invisible. However in the fourth region, he would surely send himself to hell because there was a Nascent Soul ghost king there.

Fortunately, Lan Mei had given him the map, or else he would probably go in these dangerous or unexplored regions to find something out, given his excessive curiosity. When that happens, he wouldn’t know how he died.

Of the hundred and sixty candidates, none of them dared to work together with Ning Fan after knowing his true identity. There were some females eyeing him, hoping to marry a man with such a great background. But the thing was that he wasn’t interested in these women even if they volunteered themselves, the thing that he didn’t need to worry about was the possession of beauty.

While talking about this, there were still seventeen delicately pretty evil women waiting to be plucked by him.

As he was immersed in his contemplation, he unknowingly walked deeper into the region. On the way, he had found ten-year-old herbs but they didn’t caught his eyes. He continued to walk further and some level one and two Vein Opening ghosts sneaked attacked him.

Ning Fan only had to make a slash at these ghosts with his Separation Slayer. In about half an incense stick time, fifteen ghosts were killed and his contribution points had reached twenty.

As he killed the fifteenth ghost, Ning Fan’s eyes sparkled as he saw a fingernail-sized soul bead materializing in the dust of the ghosts.