Chen Feng and Chen Lei practiced in the mountain for a month and they never saw anybody there except for some powerful monsters. Fortunately, their strength was not weak, so they never fell into danger.
The most powerful one they had encountered was a fire fox, which was covered with fire all over and burned black at the high temperatures. Its strength was equivalent to the Ling shape level of humans, but they finally joined hands to kill it.
One day, when Chen Feng completed his cultivation, a giant bird suddenly hovered in the air and then left.
Chen Feng looked at the big bird doubtfully. It was a Thunder Eye Eagle that was used by some large forces on the continent for communication and reconnaissance. It possessed incomparable reconnaissance capability and even the Chen family had raised one, although it was not so strong as the one in the air.
"Is it the Thunder Eye Eagle that was raised by the Council of Elders? A signal of something urgent?" Chen Feng muttered to himself.
Chen Lei had also just finished his cultivation and came to him, saying, "Third younger brother, we should leave now. The Council of Elders sent the Thunder Eye Eagle to convene all the disciples, so there must be something urgent to be announced."
"Well, I got it. You seem to have made some progress?" Looking at Chen Lei, he suddenly discovered something mysterious in his body.
"Aha, although the Ling in this mountain is not so abundant, I feel more relaxed in cultivation after the experience of the nightmare from that night. This place seems to be full of mysterious forces and I’ve finally understood a touch of Ling force. Although I have not made any breakthrough, I believe it should be a sure thing," Chen Lei said happily.
Chen Feng nodded. His cultivation also resulted in a big harvest this month. The Ling nature level had been completely consolidated and his practice of Overlord Fist Position had also been greatly improved. If he had a chance to challenge Chen Jun again, he could win even without exerting his mysterious martial art.
However, what made Chen Feng happy was that he made further improvement in his martial art. Every time when the breakthrough was going to be realized, a new operation route would appear. Once the cultivation had met the requirement, the new component of the martial art would be inexplicably revealed.
Although he didn’t know what would happen, Chen Feng still decided to continue his cultivation. And although the mysterious marital art didn’t show many magic effects, it had played a peculiar role; that is, no matter what martial art Chen Feng was practicing, it would become much easier for him.
Such a feeling was not discovered within just one or two days. Within one month, Chen Feng had made great progress in the Overlord Fist Position and Golden Sun Thunder Sword Art. Based on his Ling nature level, it was enough for him to fight against those at the general Ling shape level and he was even confident enough to challenge Chen Lei.
They both left the mountain and came to the village where the Council of Elders were staying. When they entered the cave once again, they found many people had gathered inside and the white-bearded elder was sitting in the center.
After Chen Feng entered the cave, the senior elder slowly opened his eyes and said, "Now everyone has gathered here. In a few days the land of trial practice will be open and the three major families will gather together. However, only six will be delegated for each family. What do you think about it?”
"The land of trial practice is open every ten years with both great dangers and countless opportunities. Every time when we recruit new disciples, we often make use of this opportunity to conduct a.s.sessment for them. I propose we give the opportunity to the five new disciples," one man standing on the right side of senior elder said.
The senior elder nodded and asked the old man on the left: "Third Elder, how do you feel about that?"
"I agree with the Second Elder. Just give the opportunity to the five new disciples. I believe they have made great progress in the past month, and it is a good chance for them to have some practice at this time. Without experiencing any hardships, how can they become the elite of our family?" the Third Elder said calmly without any expression, just like a Buddha statue.
Chen Feng found that among these elders, the senior, the second, and the third elders obviously enjoyed higher status. Their strength was so great that they might have reached the Ling spirit level.
"Okay, deal. Tomorrow, we will lead them to other families and check the strength of the disciples there." The Senior Elder waved his hand to make the final decision.
The next day, Chen Feng finally learned that one of the new disciples led by the other elders was unexpectedly Chen Jian.
Chen Jian was also surprised when he saw Chen Feng, saying, "Chen Feng and Chen Lei, how come you two are also here? I was wondering who the two guys brought back by the senior elder were. Unexpectedly, it’s you."
Chen Feng smiled slightly and it was at this time that he found Chen Jian was not so simple.
Although Chen Jian was not a member of the Chen family, everyone had regarded him as one of them. Moreover, Chen Jian’s strength had grown very rapidly, and he had even reached the Ling shape level within the past month. It wasn’t the level of an amateur, but his body was filled with a strong Ling force. Actually, he had reached the peak of the Ling shape level, which was comparable to that of Chen Lei.
Chen Jian looked at Chen Feng and grinned a little. He scratched his head and said, "Actually, I was selected as a disciple of the Council of Elders three years ago."
"What? No wonder. So you must have hidden your strength before," Chen Feng said.
Chen Jian nodded and he knew there was no need for him to keep this secret any longer.
The Council of Elders was the secret strength of the Chen family. There were three major families in the Hongyun Empire – namely, the Chen family, the Murong family, and the Baili family.
Despite the Council of Elders, the strength of the other two families was comparable to that of the Chen family. They were the top families in the whole empire and they had the Councils of Elders respectively.
This time, the Third Elder would take five new disciples, including Chen Feng, to the other two families.
One day later, Chen Feng and the others had already arrived at the Murong family. Of course, they had also decided on the disciples who would go to the land of trial practice, and that they would be led by an elder at the Ling spirit level.
Just when they arrived at the Murong family, a few strong breaths could be heard in the air and each person was carrying a big knife on their back while wearing arrogant expressions.
"Aha, we didn"t expect that our Baili family would arrive simultaneously with the Chen family. We are just about to set out." A big laughter bellow out from the Murong family, and then a figure rushed out; it was a muscular guy.
Among the three major families, the Murong family and the Baili family were both devoted to the practice of Qihai. All the family members were pract.i.tioners of Qihai acupoint, except for the Chen family which focused on both internal and external practices.
Among the three major families, there were tens of pract.i.tioners who’d reached the Ling spirit level in the Murong and Baili families, however, there were only a few in the Chen family; even the master, Chen Xiong, was only a pract.i.tioner of the eighth Ling sense level. It could be seen how big the disparity in strength was.
However, the Murong family and the Baili family were deeply aware that although the Ling level of the Chen family was usually low, each of the Chen disciples was a pract.i.tioner capable of challenging even ten opponents single-handedly.
Because the cultivation practice in the Chen family was very special and extremely difficult, that’s why they were more powerful despite their low levels.
The Third Elder who would lead them to the land of trial practice was a master at the Ling spirit level. In fact, his strength was much higher than that of the two elders from the Murong and Baili families.
"Hey, the disciples in the Murong family are not bad this time. They’ve unexpectedly reached the Ling sense level at such a young age," the Third Elder said as after he glanced at all the disciples of the two families.
At this time, Chen Feng also noticed the disciples standing behind the Murong and Baili families. They seemed not to be the weak type. At such a level, they could even dominate the whole continent.
The disciple who was purported to have reached the Ling sense level by the Third Elder turned out to be a girl. With a blue robe covering her from head to toe, her figure was obvious although she was very young. Her face was covered with a layer of white gauze, which made her temperament seem more ethereal.
After just one glance, Chen Feng seemed to be full of curiosity about her.