Chen Xuanhai and his two companions felt their hearts sink to the bottom, realizing that in this Martial Arts Meet, their faction might end up at the bottom once again. Originally, they had brought Lu Ye as an external aid and verified his strength, making them hopeful of securing second place with some effort. However, now it seemed they had underestimated the foundation of the other two factions. They sighed deeply, feeling a sense of powerlessness. The Sun Blaze Realm cultivators from the South and West troops were currently observing each other's camps, as for the East... no one paid attention. Upon seeing how formidable the opposing camps were, the Sun Blaze Realm cultivators from both factions were taken aback. The Southern faction took the lead in confronting: "A Late Stage and three Mid-Stages, since when did you Westerners hide so many hands? Could it be that you've violated the rules by bringing in Late Stage external aid?" The Western side certainly wouldn't admit it, and someone immediately jumped out to curse: "Second Zhu, you're talking nonsense. Bringing in Constellation Late Stage as external aid is against the consensus of the three factions. How could our Western faction break this rule? Besides, if it's external aid, it will be found out later. But you in the South, having such a strong foundation this time is truly surprising; last Martial Arts Meet, you only had two Constellation Mid-Stages. How come this time you suddenly have a Late Stage? I now have reason to suspect that the Late Stage one isn't from the Dwarf Race!" "Nonsense, why is it that only you can have a Late Stage, and not us in the South? Look, did the East say anything at all? It's just you talking too much!" Chen Xuanhai's face darkened: "If you want to argue, then argue, why drag the East into it? Do you really think I, Chen, don't dare to come over and beat you up?" Already in a bad mood, he was even more upset at this moment, feeling the urge to fight. Although the East had been in decline for many years, Chen Xuanhai's personal strength was well recognized, and the Sun Blaze Realm cultivators from the other factions present dared not provoke him easily, so they continued to bicker among themselves, accusing each other fervently. Until a certain moment, when an additional light orb suddenly appeared in the projection within the Black Abyss, the argument finally ceased. Second Zhu from the South laughed out loud: "Heaven helps me!" It was because the location of this light orb appeared was extremely advantageous for the Southern faction under the rules! In the next instant, under the observation of the Sun Blaze Realm cultivators, twenty-seven light points, divided into three directions, rushed towards the newly appeared light orb's position rapidly, but it was very evident that the nine from the South were closest to this light orb position, which undoubtedly meant they would be the first to make contact with it. Just moments earlier, the nine Constellations from the East appeared in a certain part of the Black Abyss. From the outside, the Black Abyss was a bottomless chasm, with swirling eerie mist within, yet inside it was a vast area. It resembled a part of stellar space, as this area wasn't empty but filled with many large and small meteorites flying by. Throughout the interior of the Black Abyss, countless such meteorites moved in various directions, differing in speed and size. Only three massive meteorites stood unmoving, like nails fixed in this stellar space. The place where Lu Ye and others appeared was one of those meteorites. Calling it a meteorite, it might as well be a platform, as its surface was smooth and even, as if cut by a sword or blade. Lu Ye, having familiarized himself with the various rules of the Martial Arts Meet before, naturally knew that this place was the camp of their faction's cultivators. What their faction's cultivators needed to do was compete with the other two Dwarf Race factions for something called Spirit Orbs, which would appear randomly near the center of the Black Abyss. There would be a total of nine appearances, meaning nine Spirit Orbs. The cultivators not only had to compete for the ownership of these Spirit Orbs but also needed to bring them back to their own camp. At the end of the Martial Arts Meet, the number of Spirit Orbs in each camp would determine how much foundation they would divide among themselves. Based on past Martial Arts Meets, generally, the South and West would compete for three to four portions of the foundation, while the East could only obtain two portions of the foundation. Comparing two portions to four portions, that was a twofold difference; in the short term, the domain's development wouldn't be significantly affected, but over time, the impact would be substantial. This contention wasn't just about simple combat, as defeating someone wasn't enough; because even if you killed someone, the cultivator would reappear at their own camp's location. Mount Fangcun's three factions shared nine portions of the foundation. Lu Ye previously wondered where the remaining one portion went, and finally, with Hai Tang's explanation, he understood that one portion of the foundation was used to maintain the connection between the three factions of Mount Fangcun and couldn't be divided. This was also the ingenious nature of Mount Fangcun; it was after all a stellar space supreme treasure and naturally possessed various incredible abilities. Appearing at the camp, the nine Constellations began to familiarize themselves; although they already had enough understanding of everything here, they had yet to experience it physically. Lu Ye quickly noticed that he didn't seem to have truly entered here in the flesh but rather in a mystical projection, which was likely the fundamental reason cultivators had Undying Bodies here; otherwise, no matter how mysterious the Black Abyss, it couldn't make people rise from the dead. It bore some resemblance to the experience on the Ghost Ship, where in those cycles, Lu Ye went through many deaths, but those deaths never truly occurred. The physical body showed no signs of unusualness, nor did the Boulder Mountain Saber, the storage sack, the storage ring, or even the storage space. Even the Talent Tree had no abnormalities, and Lu Ye could genuinely sense its existence. The grade of this projection is undoubtedly very high, because when Lu Ye turned his head and looked, everyone else seemed perfectly normal, as if real people were standing right in front of him. Among the crowd, he noticed the plump man who had blocked his way and attempted to rob him last time on the mid-slope of Immortal Spirit Peak. Sensing Lu Ye's gaze, the plump man smiled slightly: "Misty Peak's Han Molong greets Fellow Daoist Lu!" People from Misty Peak, who are disciples of Woo Qimo. Lu Ye had an understanding, certain that the initial probing was carried out under the instructions of the Sun Blaze Realm, otherwise, there was no reason for someone from Misty Peak to run to Immortal Spirit Peak. He smiled faintly and returned the salute. Originally, according to plan, Su Yuqing was supposed to bring Lu Ye and Hai Tang to join these people early on. The other Constellations comprised mostly Dwarf Race from the same faction, familiar with each other, but Lu Ye was the only outsider, only barely acquainted with Hai Tang and Han Molong, and didn't recognize anyone else. In such unfamiliar circumstances, coordination was naturally difficult. But due to the prior unexpected incident, Su Yuqing's schedule was delayed. When she arrived at Black Abyss, she found it hard to retain composure under the unusual attention from Chen Xuanhai and Woo Qimo. She promptly hurried Lu Ye and others into Black Abyss. This resulted in a lack of time to become familiar with each other. Now it was too late to get acquainted, because as everyone had just familiarized themselves with their bodies and circumstances, strange spirit force fluctuations were emitted from within the depths of Black Abyss. Hai Tang, who was leading the team, immediately became serious: "The Spirit Orb has appeared!" The timing of the Spirit Orb appearing was completely irregular, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, so all Dwarf Race troops needed to react the instant the Spirit Orb appeared, or if one step is slow, every step thereafter will be slow! Upon detecting the Spirit Orb, Hai Tang immediately flew forward first, followed closely by the other eight, forming a V-shape formation, which counted as a simple enemy-engagement formation for the group unable to form a tactical array. Hai Tang's cultivation being the highest, flew at the forefront, providing faster reaction ability to oncoming meteors, undoubtedly maximizing the team's speed. While flying, she didn't forget to transmit audio to Lu Ye: "Junior Brother Lu, our Dwarf Race is a race proficient in talisman-making, so in combat, we often rely on the power of the Spirit Talisman, differing from the cultivators you encounter outside, you have to be extra careful." "Understood." Lu Ye nodded. Actually, Lu Ye had learned about these matters from Hai Tang before, knowing some characteristics of the Dwarf Race. Take Han Molong's battle with him for instance, at that time, he only felt that Han Molong had high prowess in the way of magic and spells, effortlessly using various techniques. But actually, Han Molong relied on the power of Spirit Talismans, otherwise, he couldn't display so many element-sign spells. Follow current novᴇls on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✦𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚✦𝕟𝕖𝕥 Even when Han Molong displayed his physique cultivation foundation at the end, it was also the power of Spirit Talismans, not that he truly was a physique cultivator. There are Spirit Talismans in Nine Provinces, and when Lu Ye's cultivation was not high, he repeatedly used these things, but Nine Provinces' talisman-making level was not high, and outstanding Talisman Makers were very rare. As cultivators' cultivation improved, they seldom used Spirit Talismans. Yet the Dwarf Race has developed talisman-making to the utmost, each of them is a natural Talisman Maker, while focusing on their cultivation, they also enhance their talisman-making prowess. This makes it challenging to categorize Dwarf Race cultivators into normal factions since they can exhibit countless bizarre abilities by harnessing the power of Spirit Talismans. Lu Ye knew these, but because he thought he didn't need to participate in the Black Abyss Martial Arts Meet, coupled with his lack of interest in this path, he naturally didn't pay much attention. Yet now, he couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to. "Oh no, the position of this Spirit Orb is closer to others," Han Molong stated from Lu Ye's right side. The timing of the Spirit Orb's appearance was irregular, but its position had a certain pattern, mostly within a large area at the center of Black Abyss, occasionally appearing closer to certain factions of the Dwarf Race. When the Martial Arts Meet first begins, this undoubtedly grants a certain Dwarf Race faction an innate advantage. After flying for a long time, ahead came sounds of combat, clearly from the clash between the other two Dwarf Race factions. Hai Tang was leading such a conflict for the first time and was momentarily unsure of what to do. Plus, before departure, Su Yuqing instructed her, although she was visibly the leader of this Martial Arts Meet, she was also admonished to seek Lu Ye's opinion when undecided. Su Yuqing knew her disciple's shortcomings, because of Mount Fangcun's specialties, the Dwarf Race seldom roams the stellar space like cultivators from other domains. They mostly move with Mount Fangcun, rarely straying far lest they lose their way back. It's not just Hai Tang; it's the common state for all Dwarf Race members. This situation typically persists until they ascend to Moon Jade when their cultivation reaches Moon Jade. The Dwarf Race can utilize a special secret technique linking themselves closely with their domain, ensuring they won't get lost, granting them the eligibility to venture the stellar space solo. Thus, in handling spontaneous incidents, Su Yuqing believes her disciple is inferior to Lu Ye.