They arrived at Heixi Gorge not long after sunset.
There were already thousands of disciples gathered around the perimeter of the gorge. There were disciples of all ranks and sects milling about: those in the green and blue silk robes of Fan Yao Peak; those in the red and blue high-collared scholarly robes of Shi Li Peak; and those in the efficient white fighting robes of None Left Mountain. Since no one was allowed to enter before the start of the tournament, everyone was pulling and setting tents to sleep in overnight.
This was how the Nine Sects' Tournament always went: since it began at dawn, everyone arrived the night before to set up camp and sleep. The next day, the disciples would be released into the gorge at daybreak, where they would spend twenty-four hours competing.
The Jade Cloud Sect, being greatly renowned for its poise and wealth, had a special spot reserved at the edge of Heixi Gorge. Hired workers had already set up a slew of warm tents, with one for each disciple. Thus, upon landing, the Jade Cloud Sect disciples scattered to claim tents and go and lay down their bedrolls.
Qiu Yunru nodded goodbye to Li Chenyuan and went to go set up in his own tent.
After laying out his bedroll, he began to count through the alchemical supplies he had brought to make sure he wasn't missing anything.
Disciples were allowed to bring only these things into Heixi Gorge: up to two weapons, and an alchemical kit. No alchemical ingredients could be brought into the arena in order to prevent undue advantages. If someone was rich and acquired some fancy poison or demon-catching herb, how would that be fair? So, only kits of glass bottles, heating equipment, mortars and pestles, and the like could be brought in.
Seeing that he had all of the alchemical equipment he'd meant to bring, Qiu Yunru laid back on his bedroll, contemplating his plans.
It would be a difficult competition. However, he had come prepared.
The winner of the Nine Sects' Cultivation Tournament was the one who could kill the most Shadow Demon Puppets by the end of twenty-four hours. A spell had been cast over the entire gorge to keep track of numbers.
As for the Shadow Demon Puppets--they were entities created by those who helped organize the tournament. Each year, they gathered demonic qi from ancient demons trapped beneath mountains and combined it with talisman-activated dummies. This allowed those dummies to attack and move in the manner that demons would, without having full sentience. As a precaution, none of the dummies were granted enough demonic qi to kill a contestant, and each contestant was given a red flare. In case of emergencies, this flare could be set off to call for help and notify overseers of real danger.
Seeing as these dummies weren't very smart and often milled around until someone who could be attacked stumbled by, Qiu Yunru had developed a solid idea for capturing and killing many of them at once. If he could set a trap and lure them into once place, then disintegrate them, he might be able to efficiently increase his score by large numbers at a time.
As for how to set up these traps and brew disintegrating conoctions, he wasn't worried.
He would easily be able to set up such traps and brew potions from the rare herbs of Heixi Gorge ahead of time. This was because, while the tournament started at the next break of dawn, Shadow Demon Puppets could not become active until night fell. Thus, most disciples used the first twelve hours of the competition to set traps, practice techniques, and explore the area. He would certainly have enough time to set traps and extract flora in in this section.
What's more, he had a large advantage.
While the rest of the cultivation world was largely unfamiliar with the unique flora of Heixi Gorge, he knew every leaf and its properties. It actually turned out that every playthrough of Spring Blossoms, Autumn Fruits involved an area containing these sorts of blackened plants, so he had plenty of experience working with them!
Qiu Yunru thanks the devs for the first time in his life, closing his alchemical bag. Sometimes, being an avid gamer did bring him some luck!
As he lied down, he considered the main problem with his plan.
How could he stop other contestants from killing the groups of Shadow Demon Puppets he had gathered in his traps before he could get to it?
He had a few ideas. As he pondered them, his tent flap suddenly flew open, and someone stepped inside, clutching blankets and pillows.
It was Li Chenyuan.
"What's wrong?" Qiu Yunru frowned, sitting up.
Li Chenyuan's pale face was strangely gaunt, as though he'd seen a ghost.
"I don't feel good. I feel like something bad is going to happen," He muttered, setting down his bedroll and pillows next to Qiu Yunru's.
Seeing this, Qiu Yunru didn't even bat an eye.
In the past few months, it had become more and more common for Li Chenyuan to knock on his door and ask to sleep in his room--so much so that it happened several times a week. At first, Qiu Yunru had tried to turn him away, telling him that he needed to learn how to deal with his nightmares as a grown man. However, of course he was unable to refuse Li Chenyuan's fallen face in the end, and always let him in.
After all, wasn't he a contributor to Li Chenyuan's nightmares about turning into a monster? He hadn't trusted this kid, and had treated him like a monster even when he wasn't one. So, he reasoned, to atone for this, he'd let him sleep in his room to feel a little more comfortable.
Little did he know, the fact that they often slept in the same room had become hot gossip on Li Hua Mountain!