Ten in the morning.

"Welcome to the 103rd Intersect Competition!" the host of the competition, someone from the Righteous Alliance, spoke. "The competition will be held for two months." He said.

"WHAT?!" the crowd exclaimed in shock. Those who aren't in the know, particularly the rogue cultivators who didn't acquire the information about this year's Intersect Competition beforehand, were surprised. "Two months… that's freaking very long, isn't it?!" they said.

The host continued as if he didn't hear what the people said. "There will be a registration that is to be held for three days." He spoke. "In the third day, the registration will be held from the morning only until the afternoon, when the sun sets. Then, a banquet will be held in the evening as the competition's opening ceremony." He explained.

"Woah… the registration is longer this year than the previous competition." Someone spoke.

"This is because more sects rose during the five years so many cultivators want to join these sects." His friend said.

"One day will be given for the participants to prepare for the elimination stage that will be held the next day. The elimination stage will last for one week." The host spoke and read the rules.

"Oh… this will be exciting, with so many cultivators joining!" someone said.

"The elimination stage will have single battle, duo battle, and group battle." The host continued. "During the single battle, it can be martial cultivator vs. martial cultivator, mage vs. mage, or martial cultivator vs. mage." He spoke. "In the duo battle, it can be both martial cultivators vs. both martial cultivators, both mages vs. both mages, both martial cultivators vs. both mages, both martial cultivators vs. a martial cultivator and a mage, both mages vs. a martial cultivator and a mage, or a martial cultivator and a mage vs. a martial cultivator and a mage also." He explained. "As for the group battle, the minimum is three people and the maximum is five." He suddenly made a pause. "Of course, to ensure fairness, those who have participated in any battle can't participate in the other two battles. You can only participate once." He said.

"WOAH! This is entirely different than the previous competition!" someone said.

"Yeah. And this year is more exciting!" the others nodded in agreement.

"But, I am worried for the group battle." Somebody said. "What if it will be three against five?" he said.

"Are you an idiot? If they feel confident fighting five people with just three people, then they do it!" someone told him.

"Then, this will increase their points, right?"

"Of course!"

The people continued to chatter while closely listening to the rules of the competition.

"One day will be given to the participants after the elimination stage for them to rest, or prepare for the next stage, which is the advancement stage." The host spoke. "The next stage will be held for two weeks. The first week will be for the solo and duo battle, while the second week will be for the group battle." He said.

"Huh? Isn't this the same with the elimination stage, then?" someone muttered.

"Yeah… but it is longer, though? Why is it held longer?" someone asked.

It's as if the host head their doubts as he continued. "The stages after the elimination stage isn't just advancement stages." He spoke. "Each advancement stage will be ranked." He said. "The matches will still be determined by drawing lots, until the final winner is determined." He added.

"WOAHHHHH!!!!! Amazing!" the crowd cheered. "We can see which disciple and sect is the strongest, then!" they said.

"Why can't it be rogue cultivators? Watch out for them!" someone said.

"In this stage, each battle will be ranked – single, duo and group." The host continued. "The second advancement stage will be against the demons." He said.

Silence fell and the atmosphere became more serious. Their faces are grave. The demonic cultivators have already been eliminated, but now the whole continent is plagued by the demons.

"Just like the previous stages, there will be singles, duo and group battles." The host spoke with a light voice to eliminate the heavy atmosphere. "But, in this stage, the winner will be decided by the points accumulated from the singles, duo and group battles of their sect. As for the rogue cultivators that will win in this stage, there will be an appropriate prize for them." He explained.

The heavy atmosphere was lifted. "Oooh… so this stage will be a battle between the sects as well as the rogue cultivators?!" the crowd exclaimed in both surprise and excitement.

"This must be to cultivate teamwork!" someone spoke and agreed with the others.

The host smiled and continued to read the rule for the last stage. "The last stage will be a trial. The contents regarding the trial will be given to the participants when they finally reached this stage." He finished.

"AH! This is the same as not saying anything!" the crowd complained. But, no matter how much they complain, if the Righteous Alliance won't say anything, then they can't do anything about it.

"Everyone, good luck and continue to work hard to become immortals!" the host said and bowed. Finished with his task, left and the registration for the 103rd Intersect Competition started.

Yunxiao Inn.

"Cheng Sheng, you really managed to be able to hide from your founder and shifu." Sun Rong laughed as he poured tea on Qie Shi's cup before he filled his and Cheng Sheng's cups. "As well as everybody." He added.

Cheng Sheng picked up his cup and took a sip. "They already know that they won't see me, so why bother looking for me?" he asked. "Also… they should have more pressing matters to deal with." He grinned. Then, he looked at Sun Rong.

Sun Rong hollowly laughed and subconsciously shivered. "How can I not tell them? Sun Yi would hate me and they also would beat me." He said and looked aggrieved. "Also, I don't want them to interrogate my Qie Shi!" he added and hugged Qie Shi.

Cheng Sheng smiled. "I know. That's why those are the only things that I told you." He said.

Sun Rong sighed in relief and drank his tea. "But, they really went to the Righteous Alliance, huh." He said, referring to Xie Lan, Fan Wen, Chen Jing and Wu Fan.

"They can't find anything from you, and they know that Qie Shi is your reverse scale so they don't dare to touch him." Cheng Sheng spoke. "They also know that they won't be able to make me spill anything, so they went to the Righteous Alliance as their only clue." He said.

Sun Rong's expression became serious. "But, what really is happening on Fei Yin?" he asked.

Cheng Sheng didn't answer and just drink his tea.

Qie Shi looked at the both of them before he heaved a sigh. "Fei Yin… the heaven seems to not allow him to die." He spoke.

Sun Rong's eyes widened and he looked at his beloved while Cheng Sheng didn't react. "What do you mean?" Sun Rong asked Qie Shi.

"Fei Yin didn't die, and even if he fell into the Abyss, his corpse remained intact." Qie Shi spoke and glanced at Cheng Sheng. "Fei Yin… the heaven won't allow him to die." He said. This time, his voice is filled with conviction.

Sun Rong's mouth fell open, shocked. He looked at Cheng Sheng and saw that Cheng Sheng remained indifferent. So, what Qie Shi said is true. "Then… why is he still not waking up?" he asked after a while.

"Dunno." Qie Shi shrugged.

Silence fell and only the sound of the wind and the chatter of the people around them can be heard. After a while, Sun Rong spoke again.

"Then… what is in the Righteous Alliance?" he asked.

Righteous Alliance.

"Sheng-er went to see elder Su Yuan?" Chen Jing was surprised after they heard what Zheng Fu Gong and Pai Lie spoke.

Zheng Fu Gong nodded.

"What does he want with elder Su?" Wu Fan asked.

Pai Lie looked at him. "We don't know." He honestly answered.

The atmosphere turned heavy.

Zheng Fu Gong sighed seeing their grave expressions. "That day, Cheng Sheng called for elder Su. It was only the two of them. Even Fei Lin, Xi Ling, Shu Mu, Xiao Le, Xi Ming and Xi Xing don't know what the two talked about." He said. "Not even elder Pai and I." he added.

Silence fell. Xie Lan, Fan Wen, Chen Jing and Wu Fan have already gone to Fei Lin, Xi Ling, Shu Mu, Xiao Le, Xi Ming and Xi Xing to ask them what did they come to the Righteous Alliance for but they shook their heads, saying that they don't know. They actually didn't know that Cheng Sheng asked to see Su Yuan.

"Elder Su is in a closed-door cultivation today." Zheng Fu Gong reminded them.

Xie Lan, Fan Wen, Chen Jing and Wu Fan nodded indicating that they understood. Su Yuan was gravely injured during the battle against Wu Ran five years ago. If he wasn't, then the Righteous Alliance would have already come to the Zunjingde Sect to help cure Jing Rui in any possible mean.