Time quietly passed in the cave dwelling, and only three days remained before the official opening of the "Wan Xiang Wen Dao Assembly." Tang Xiaoqi did not choose to go into closed-door cultivation for a final sprint like most participants. In his view, last-minute cramming, though useful, at their level, a few days of bitter cultivation had limited effect on raising strength. What was more important was adjusting one's state to its best, especially one's mindset and adaptation to the environment.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger. He decided to use this final time to more deeply understand Tian Shu City, especially to figure out the details of those potential opponents, and to familiarize himself with the environments the assembly might involve.
On this day, when morning light was just showing, Tang Xiaoqi ended his meditation and said to Zhao Tiezhu who was in the small courtyard breathing spiritual energy facing the rising starlight (Tian Shu City had eternal night, but star positions changed, simulating day and night) and exercising his body: "Iron Pillar, pack up, let's go out for a walk."
Zhao Tiezhu upon hearing this immediately stopped his practice, face showing excitement: "Senior, where are we going?" He had been憋坏 for a while; being able to follow his senior out to gain experience was something he could not ask for more.
"Just walk around, familiarize with the environment." Tang Xiaoqi said, and the rabbit spirit on his shoulder also immediately perked up its ears, ruby-like eyes flashing with expectant light, clearly also full of interest in this "outing."
The two and one rabbit once again left the secluded Bing Character area, merging into the seemingly never-ending human current of Starlight Avenue. This time, Tang Xiaoqi had a clearer purpose.
He did not go to those shops selling cultivation resources, but took Zhao Tiezhu, seemingly walking at random, but actually observing everything around with sharp eyes, especially those young cultivators with powerful auras and extraordinary bearing.
They first came to the plaza outside Star Oracle Hall. Here it was even livelier than a few days ago; besides the registration lines, many cultivators had set up stalls to trade and exchange information, forming a temporary market. All kinds of rumors about the assembly, discussions about the "Hidden Dragon List," gossip about geniuses from various sides, here spread and fermented at the fastest speed.
Tang Xiaoqi stopped in front of a stall selling simple intelligence jade slips, spent several dozen upper-grade spirit stones, and bought several copies of the latest "Hidden Dragon List Chronicles,""Brief Introduction to Tian Shu City Forces," and "This Assembly's Dark Horse Predictions." These jade slips were crudely made, and the authenticity of the content was hard to judge, but at least they could provide some basic reference information.
He walked while dividing a strand of spiritual sense to quickly browse the jade slip contents.
"Hidden Dragon List Chronicles" detailed the backgrounds, major battle records, and known trump cards of the top two hundred geniuses on the list. Tang Xiaoqi focused on memorizing the information of the top fifty, especially those monsters in the top ten. Ling Tianyu's Chaos Constitution, Huang Jiutian's Southern Ming Separating Fire, Luo Wuya's War God Diagram, Wonderful Sound Fairy's Heavenly Melody Sound... each one made him feel heavy pressure, and also stirred up stronger fighting spirit.
"Brief Introduction to Tian Shu City Forces" gave him a preliminary understanding of this giant city's power structure. Star Oracle Hall was the surface manager, behind which stood several immortal families and hidden sects passed down from ancient times. Central Plains Imperial Dynasty, Western Region Blazing Sun Sect, Northern Region Ice Plain Immortal Palace, Southern Frontier Witch God Sect, Eastern Sea Penglai Immortal Sect, etc., were all hegemon-level forces dominating one side, all having strong influence and strongholds here.
"This Assembly's Dark Horse Predictions" made him somewhat unsure whether to laugh or cry. It listed dozens of names, mostly geniuses who had recently emerged, defeated established experts, or had mysterious backgrounds. And at the end of the list, he actually saw his own name - "Tang Xiaoqi (Southeast Region Qingxu Temple)," followed by a brief comment: "Suspected Nascent Soul early stage, spiritual sense application exquisite, once silently intimidated Blazing Sun Sect's Yan Feng at a restaurant, strength unfathomable, possibly could impact top three hundred." Clearly, his actions at "Hundred Flavors Hall" had been noticed by some interested people, but he was still not truly taken seriously, merely regarded as one of the "possible" dark horses.
"Senior, you are on here!" Zhao Tiezhu also leaned over and saw it, immediately indignant, "They look down on people too much! Senior, you could at least make top one hundred!"
Tang Xiaoqi smiled, not taking it to heart: "Empty reputation only, no need to care. The more others look down, the more advantageous for us."
Putting away the jade slips, he took Zhao Tiezhu and continued forward. He did not go to those high-end restaurants and entertainment venues, but deliberately went to some tea sheds where rogue cultivators gathered, near low-end inns, and to some well-informed "know-it-alls" to listen to the discussions of bottom-layer cultivators. These places, though the information was messy, often allowed one to hear some more real voices that were ignored by the upper levels.
He heard about a certain genius actually bearing hidden injuries, about certain forces privately forming alliances, about some fragmentary rumors about the "Small Cave Heaven" secret realm interior (though authenticity was hard to judge), and even heard people discussing that Blazing Sun Sect's Yan Feng after suffering at "Hundred Flavors Hall" seemed to have found some helpers, wanting to get back at him in the assembly...
These scattered pieces of information were noted in his heart one by one, slowly piecing together the complex situation of dark currents surging beyond the assembly.
Besides gathering intelligence, Tang Xiaoqi also focused on familiarizing himself with Tian Shu City's geographical layout. He took Zhao Tiezhu, rode the city's public "Flowing Light Rainbow Bridge" several times, and roughly figured out the locations and functions of major areas. For example, the central area where Star Oracle Hall was located, the east area where various major forces' residences gathered, the south area with the most prosperous commerce, the relatively chaotic and free west area (where their cave dwelling was), and some forbidden areas where passage was prohibited.
He even specially went to look around the "Martial Arena" perimeter. It was still noisy with voices, the light screen showing fierce battles. He watched several matches between Golden Core late stage and even Nascent Soul early stage, roughly understanding the common combat styles and spell characteristics of Central Plains cultivators, cross-referencing with what he had learned.
The rabbit spirit played happily during this process. It was curious about everything, especially liking those sparkling decorations and spiritual fruit stalls emitting enticing fragrances. Tang Xiaoqi indulged it, occasionally buying it small snacks, watching it holding a spiritual fruit bigger than itself and gnawing until juice splashed everywhere, its adorable and naive appearance also making the somewhat tense pre-competition atmosphere much lighter.
Zhao Tiezhu benefited even more. Following Tang Xiaoqi, he not only saw the vastness and prosperity of Tian Shu City, but also learned much from Tang Xiaoqi's words and actions. His senior's steadiness, calmness, keen observation, and that poise of not changing color even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, all deeply impressed him, and he secretly determined to learn well.
Three days' time, in this seemingly wandering but actually tense and orderly preparation, quickly passed.
Tang Xiaoqi did not deliberately cultivate, but his mind was always in a highly concentrated and active state. He organized what he had learned, analyzed potential opponents, familiarized himself with the environment, adjusted his mindset.
When the night before the assembly arrived, he returned to Bing Character Seventy-Six cave dwelling, his heart already clear and calm.
All distracting thoughts had been eliminated, all preparations were ready.
His state had already been adjusted to its peak.
Like a drawn bowstring, just waiting for tomorrow, that earth-shattering arrow!
He stood in the cave dwelling's small courtyard, looking up at that eternal brilliant river of stars overhead, eyes sharp as blades, full of unshakable confidence and anticipation.
Wan Xiang Wen Dao Assembly, here I come!