Chapter 91: Matriculation Ceremony
The surrounding clansmen were in an uproar.
This was the first person in Meng family’s history to enter Archean Mountain. It naturally made the clansmen feel extremely proud.
“He ranked first? He entered Archean Mountain?” Fairy Meng felt immense joy when she heard this. “Good, good.”
After saying just two words, she smiled and slowly walked towards her residence.
Too many thoughts arose in her mind. Times when her family seniors taught her when she was a child. Scenes of her G.o.dfiend comrades dying at Calm Sea Pa.s.s after she became a G.o.dfiend.
I didn’t let down the Meng family’s ancestors. Now, the Meng family has a successor who is ten times, a hundred times more outstanding than me. My old pals, my Meng family descendant has entered Archean Mountain. He will be much more powerful than us in the future. I believe that he will kill more demon monarchs than us. Fairy Meng smiled as she walked towards her small courtyard.
…
Archean Mountain.
Meng Chuan, Yan Jin, Zong Sha, Li Ying, Ji Yuantong, Yan Chitong, and the other disciples were waited upon by servants. After breakfast, they waited for the ceremony to begin patiently.
“Junior Brothers and Sisters,” said the elderly w.a.n.g with a smile. “The ceremony is about to begin. Junior Brothers and Sisters, please follow me.”
“Let’s go.”
“The ceremony is about to begin.”
“It’s time for us to join Archean Mountain officially.”
The twenty-one disciples were filled with excitement and antic.i.p.ation. Yan Chitong was the happiest. He ran all around barefoot. Since he was the youngest, everyone treated him as their junior brother.
The group of people walked up the mountain path to the main peak extremely quickly.
“A long time ago, the matriculation ceremony was held in the main hall—Yellow Reverence Hall. However, it has been held at Blood Red Cliff for the past few centuries,” said w.a.n.g as he walked ahead.
“Why was it changed?” Yan Chitong asked.
w.a.n.g pondered for a moment before saying, “You will know soon.”
Blood Red Cliff had lots of empty s.p.a.ce. Beside it was a steep cliff. There were already many G.o.dfiends gathered in the empty area.
Meng Chuan, Yan Chitong, and the others could only stand aside and wait.
“Ah Chuan.” A familiar voice rang out.
Meng Chuan turned around in surprise and saw Qiyue. After not seeing her for half a year, Qiyue’s aura had changed. She was more energetic, and her aura was stronger.
“Qiyue,” said Meng Chuan with a smile.
“We agreed to cultivate together in Archean Mountain,” said Liu Qiyue with a smile. “You’re finally here.”
“Yes.” Meng Chuan nodded. “By the way, my father and Uncle Liu have returned to Eastcalm Prefecture. If you want to send a letter in the future, send it directly to Eastcalm Prefecture.”
Liu Qiyue nodded and immediately instructed, “After the matriculation ceremony, they’ll let you choose your own cave abodes. My cave abode is at Bright Scenic Peak. There are two other empty cave abodes there. If you want to choose quickly, choose Bright Scenic Peak.”
“I’ll remember.” Meng Chuan nodded. He was naturally willing to live on the same mountain as Liu Qiyue.
As the two chatted, a series of clanging bells sounded. The sound of the bells echoed in all directions.
“The matriculation ceremony is about to begin.” After Liu Qiyue informed Meng Chuan, she immediately walked to the side and stood with the other disciples.
The 21 newly-recruited disciples stood elsewhere.
Hu! Hu! Hu!
Three figures descended. Standing in the middle was a purple-robed, white-haired elder. Beside him were King East River and Elder Yi.
“Greetings, Mountain Lord.” Nearly three hundred G.o.dfiends stood and bowed respectfully. There were also some who had yet to become G.o.dfiends like Liu Qiyue.
The 21 new disciples bowed as well before standing up.
“Today is a good day,” said the purple-robed, white-haired elder with a smile. “It’s the day our Archean Mountain takes in new disciples. I’m always happy to see new disciples join us every year.”
The G.o.dfiends listened.
“Twenty-one new disciples.” The purple-robed elder looked at Meng Chuan and company. “This is Blood Red Cliff. It’s the place where every Archean Mountain G.o.dfiend leaves and takes a commemoration photo after they are done with their cultivation.”
As he spoke, the purple-robed elder waved his hand.
Whoosh.
Blood Red Cliff’s wall immediately emitted a brilliant glow as numerous G.o.dfiend figures appeared. They all gave off heroic vibes! Some wore armor and carried a blade on their backs, while others wore robes and carried swords on their waists. Some carried bows and quivers on their backs. Every single one of them had smiles on their faces, and their eyes were filled with fighting spirit.
“For Archean Mountain disciples, they can leave the mountain and join the battlefield once they clear the Nine Mystical Caves,” said the purple-robed elder. “The wall contains a total of 15,271 G.o.dfiends. All of them have protected humans and engaged the demons in battle. Among them, 11,968 have died on the battlefield. More than half of their remains were never found. There are only about 3000 G.o.dfiends left. Although they can retire in peace, all of them choose to spend their lives fighting.
“These are all the Archean Mountain G.o.dfiends who fought with demons all their lives. Apart from that, we humans also have numerous G.o.dfiends from Black Sand Grotto-Heaven and Two World Island. There are also many ordinary G.o.dfiends among the outer sect disciples. They, too, have answered the call of duty.”
The purple-robed elder pointed at these figures. “In the future, I will also be one of them. You will also be amongst them.”
Meng Chuan and the others watched.
The ten thousand plus G.o.dfiends were like an army, all filled with fighting spirit.
But they were all dead.
They dedicated their entire lives for humanity.
“There are nine rules of Archean Mountain. The first rule is not to betray humans. You have to remember that if you dare betray the human race, all G.o.dfiends will hunt you down!” said the purple-robed white-haired elder solemnly. Following that, he said, “Now, new disciples will light up the Soul Lamp.”
The 21 disciples stepped forward.
Twenty-one G.o.dfiends each held a Soul Lamp as they walked over.
“Let a drop of blood fall on it,” a G.o.dfiend said to Meng Chuan.
Meng Chuan extended his finger, and his Quintessential Essence easily tore through his skin. A drop of blood fell onto the Soul Lamp’s core.
Pfft.
A blood-colored flame lit the lamp’s wick.
The 21 disciples lit their Soul Lamps.
“Send them to the Soul Lamp Hall,” instructed the purple-robed elder. The G.o.dfiends carried the Soul Lamps to the Soul Lamp Hall immediately. G.o.dfiends engaged in battle outside, and at times, they might die without anyone realizing it. The extinguis.h.i.+ng of the Soul Lamp informed people if a G.o.dfiend had perished.
Following that, G.o.dfiends came with robes, tokens, and other items before giving them to the new disciples.
Meng Chuan and company received them respectfully.
The words “Meng Chuan” were written on the cyan token. This was his ident.i.ty token.
I, Meng Chuan, am now a disciple of Archean Mountain. Meng Chuan looked at the countless figures of his predecessors and felt proud being a disciple of Archean Mountain.
…
After the matriculation ceremony, the new disciples like Meng Chuan began choosing their cave abodes.
“Every disciple can choose a cave abode. The cave abodes are scattered across more than 1000 mountains. You are free to choose. Every cave abode has ten servants. All you need to do is focus on cultivation. Just let the servants deal with miscellaneous matters.” A G.o.dfiend stood in front of a model of the mountain range and said with a smile, “Quickly start picking. There are still thousands of cave abodes left unoccupied.”
The twenty-one disciples changed into their disciple robes and carefully looked at the mountain range model.
“I’ll choose the one at East Sandalwood Peak.” Yan Chitong was the first to point at a cave abode on one of the mountains.
Meng Chuan took a look and found Bright Scenic Peak. Bright Scenic Peak was one of the more popular mountain peaks—only two cave abodes were empty. “I’ll choose this cave abode at Bright Scenic Peak” Qiyue and Meng Chuan had already made plans.
“Fluttering Snow Peak, the mountaintop,” said Yan Jin. The cave abodes on Fluttering Snow Peak were all empty because it was too remote.
“I’ll also choose Bright Scenic Peak,” said Princess Li Ying.
“Thunder Roar Peak.” Ji Yuantong pointed at a cave abode.
The twenty-one disciples quickly chose their cave abodes.
“All of you are done choosing your cave abodes,” said the cyan-robed woman indifferently as she walked in. “Let’s go. It’s time to choose your G.o.dfiend formulas.”
The disciples followed the cyan-clothed woman.
“When you were mortal, you only established a G.o.dfiend foundation. That doesn’t make you a true G.o.dfiend,” said the cyan-clothed woman. “Only after pa.s.sing the Life-and-Death juncture and having condensed a G.o.dfiend body will you be a true G.o.dfiend. G.o.dfiends have different grades as well. Low and middle-grade G.o.dfiends are the most common. When outer sect disciples acc.u.mulate enough credit to try their hand at breaking through the Life-and-Death juncture, they are typically low or middle-grade G.o.dfiends because most of them aren’t talented enough, and they are too old. It’s impossible for them to become high-grade G.o.dfiends.
“As for our Archean Mountain disciples, they have to be high-grade or transcendent-grade G.o.dfiends.
“In ten years, if you can’t become a high-grade G.o.dfiend, you will be expelled from the inner sect.” The cyan-clothed woman smiled and said, “Of course, all of you have great potential. Typically, only a handful out of hundreds of disciples are expelled.”
This group of new disciples secretly heaved sighs of relief. Their natural talent was typically enough to reach a high-grade G.o.dfiend.
“In the history of our human race, we have gathered a total of 12 transcendent-grade G.o.dfiend formulas and 27 high-grade G.o.dfiend formulas,” said the cyan-clothed woman. “You need to consider which formula you choose. A G.o.dfiend formula determines your future cultivation path.”