**Chapter 101: An Invitation to the Xuanmen Skills Exchange Conference**
1107 Words
Hearing this, Jiang Tingyun forgot all about trending topics and sob stories. She immediately opened the forum app.
Today, the Pig Protection Forum was indeed very different from usual. A giant red banner stretched across the homepage, with large black text flashing rapidly:
> *“An Invitation to the Xuanmen Skills Exchange Conference — Please Sign for It!”*
She bolted upright in bed.
Oh my god! The Xuanmen Skills Exchange Conference was actually happening!
Ever since Pei Jingmo had posted his bounty on the forum, no one had claimed it — whether because the high-level cultivators looked down on the forum or because nobody actually knew the answer.
So everyone had pinned their hopes on this conference.
From the information gathered on the forum, the Xuanmen Skills Exchange Conference was the truly official event of the modern cultivation world.
It gathered cultivators from all over — a genuine gateway into the modern cultivation community.
In addition, the conference featured a Talent Skill Competition, with generous prizes including long-lost cultivation techniques and magical artifacts.
Most importantly — it was said that outstanding performers in the competition could receive an invitation to Mount Ziggai, the headquarters of the Xuanmen Mutual Aid Forum.
Many on the forum speculated that Mount Ziggai might have already uncovered the secret of talent upgrades.
Because most of the top-tier experts who had undergone first or second talent upgrades had visited Mount Ziggai.
Legend had it that the only living Golden Core cultivator with a third-tier talent upgrade resided on Mount Ziggai.
The call was still connected. Liu Yanghe said smugly,
“Sect Master Jiang, did you know? In the past, this conference only sent invitations to the big, famous sects — small, unknown sects could never attend! After we ran the forum for a few years, we old members kept raising hell. Finally, for this year’s conference, they sent invitations to everyone on the forum!”
Jiang Tingyun, sect master of a small, unknown sect, said, “Really?! No wonder Grandfather never went to any conference. We‘re so lucky! Thanks to you guys for raising that hell!”
“You’ll go, right?” Liu Yanghe asked.
Even though she knew he couldn‘t see her, Jiang Tingyun nodded furiously. “We’ll go, we‘ll go, we’ll go!”
“The invitation has the time and place. Read it carefully. See you at the conference!”
After hanging up, Jiang Tingyun threw on her down jacket without even brushing her teeth or washing her face, and rushed downstairs.
It was nearly noon. Qionghua Restaurant had already woken up. The dining hall was warm with the heater on, and everyone was sitting there comfortably eating tangyuan.
When they saw her come down, Zhu Lili called out, “Boss, you‘re up! Come have some tangyuan.”
Jiang Tingyun was out of breath. “Stop eating tangyuan for a second! Check the forum — the invitation for the Xuanmen Skills Exchange Conference is out!”
“What?!”
Now everyone forgot about food. Even the usually expressionless senior disciple had a flicker of eagerness on his face.
They all opened their phones and checked — sure enough, the invitation was right there on the forum homepage.
Jiang Tingyun finally sat down and opened the invitation carefully.
Her eyes lit up. The conference started on the fifteenth day of the new year — the Lantern Festival — and it was being held in Suzhou!
Suzhou was practically her hometown — she‘d worked there for so many years. She knew the place well!
But the address was strange: No. 99, Tujing Road, Xiangcheng District, Suzhou.
She had always imagined the conference would be deep in the mountains or at least some remote wilderness. This place wasn’t downtown, but it was still inside the city.
Jin Feifan had already opened his map app.
“No. 99, No. 99 — found it! Suzhou International E-Sports Arena?”
“??”
“...”
Hosting a Xuanmen Skills Exchange Conference in an e-sports arena felt odd, but somehow fitting.
The arena was large enough to hold a big crowd. And even if a bunch of strange people showed up, the locals probably wouldn‘t bat an eye — they’d think it was a cosplay event.
Jiang Tingyun stopped worrying. Wherever it was held, they were going.
Zhu Lili was already reading through the schedule.
“The invitation says the conference lasts a week. The first two days are for information and artifact exchange — maybe Senior Brother‘s problem could be solved in those two days! The following days are for the skill competition. There’s also a lucky draw — it sounds really fun, like a cultivation carnival!”
Jiang Tingyun didn‘t look so relaxed. “The information exchange might not solve the problem. If it could, someone would have already claimed the bounty on the forum.”
“Our focus should be on the skill competition. Only by winning a prize there can we get invited to Mount Ziggai. And Mount Ziggai has a good chance of solving Xiao Pei’s problem.”
Pei Jingmo nodded. “Yes. I‘ll compete. I must win. I have a feeling — my turning point is at Mount Ziggai.”
“What kind of competition is it? What do they compete in?” Uncle Liu had been squinting at the tiny text on his phone.
Jiang Tingyun read carefully. “The competition is divided into attack-type and support-type divisions. The attack division doesn’t care about talent type — if Xiao Pei competes, that‘s the one.”
Uncle Liu looked nervous. “So he has to fight people? What if someone throws fireballs or water blasts or shoots lightning? Xiao Pei is so small — just with a sword — I don’t know if he can handle it.”
Pei Jingmo was calm. “I can.”
Jiang Tingyun had seen how powerful Pei Jingmo‘s swordsmanship was — he could slice off a chunk of their mountain.
Still, she was anxious. She didn’t know what the broader cultivation world was really like. She fully understood that there was always someone better.
And though the cultivation world had seemed friendly so far, any competition, any contest for gain, would inevitably bring conflict — and bloodshed.
“Xiao Pei, winning is important, but know your limits. Don‘t get hurt,” Jiang Tingyun advised.
Then, thinking of her disciple’s personality, she amended, “At least don‘t get hurt so badly that you’re paralyzed or dead.”
- Writer
