The night had pa.s.sed. There had not been a centipede or a spider in the room. Xiao Chen felt his head heavy when he woke up. Maybe he really had drunk too much yesterday.
Xiao Han glanced at him and said, "Can you do it? If not, you"d better go home. Then you won"t be embarra.s.sing yourself in public."
"Humph..." Xiao Chen turned over and jumped up from the bed.
"Speaking of which, I dreamed that Shangguan Yan will be there in the test..." After his voice fell, the two youths both shivered.
"It"s early in the morning! Don"t tell ghost stories!"
A total of four senior brothers came to arrange the people who were here for the entrance test. However, there were about three or four thousand people here, making the four senior brothers" job more difficult. Thanks to their aura of Immortals, n.o.body dared to cause trouble. The chaos and clamor lasted only for a few moments, and then the order was restored among the crowd.
The large group of people marched to the Lingtai Mountain in the east. Two hours later, they came to an empty area in a valley. Numerous mountains towered in the distance, and one of them pierced through the clouds. It was the Lingtai Mountain.
The crowd had waited here for about 30 minutes. The fog was so thick that they could barely see what lay ahead. Suddenly, four rows of sword radiance descended here and turned into four youths in white. They stood on their swords and looked down at the crowd as if they were looking at creeps.
Xiao Chen looked at the four youths and found out that they were just at Lv 3 or 4 Qi Refining Realm. Also, they could only ride on swords with the help from the formation of the sect.
Thousands of people, who were chattering just now, instantly became quiet under the aura of Immortals.
Then, two of the four youths landed on the ground with gentle faces. The other two deadpan youths kept still in the air.
Over 90% of the partic.i.p.ants came here themselves, and the left was introduced here like Xiao Chen and his company.
In the utter silence, a senior brother on the ground said with a gentle smile, "Everyone, don"t be nervous. I think you already knew the rules before you are here, and I"ll speak no more about the rules. After the entrance test, you will take a Spiritual Meridian test. So I hope you won"t make other plans."
A senior brother in the air said coldly, "It means that those without Spiritual Meridians can get the fu*k off now. Don"t try to be some fishes in troubled waters! Otherwise, I"ll throw you into the mountains to feed those wolves!"
His words scared many partic.i.p.ants. The senior brother on the ground smiled bitterly and said, "He"s just joking. Anyway, you have to have a Spiritual Meridian to join our sect. Do your best in the test because those who get the highest scores will be more likely to directly become Inner Disciples."
The one in the air scanned the crowd and noticed a 70-year-old hunchback old man. He said coldly, "Hey, that grandpa over there, your grandson has arrived. The wind is too big here. Please go home."
The hunchback old man shivered and said, "Uhh... Senior brother, I"m here for the entrance test..."
"What!"
The crowd booed and looked at the old man.
The senior brother in the air was shocked for a moment before saying, "Come on! Grandpa! You"re almost over 70 years old! What"s the point for you to cultivate?"
The hunchback old man giggled, revealing the remaining few teeth. "My wife told me that I have 12 Spiritual Meridians. Then here I am. Hahaha..."
"Please! Grandpa! This is not a place for fun. Please go home!"
Another moment later, the senior brother in the air noticed a bald man and said coldly, "Hey! Hey! Hey!" "That monk, I"m talking about you! Stop looking at the others! Which temple are you from? Don"t you know that we are a Daoism sect? Are you here to make troubles?"
The bald man shivered and said, "Senior... Senior brother, don"t get me wrong. I"m bald since I was a child."
"Bald? It"s too bad for the sect"s image. Go, now!"
"Hey! Hey! Hey! That fatty over there! Stop eating! You are so fat that you might even break the sword when you stand on it. Go, go, go!"
"Your honored Immortal, don"t get me wrong. I"m here to serve my young master. I won"t take part in the test..."
Just like this, after a round of selecting, there were only less than 2000 people left, and their talent was rather good since all of them had Spiritual Meridians.
At this moment, the Three Princes triplet stepped forth as each one of them took out a letter and handed it over to the senior brother on the ground. The senior brother took a look at the letters and was a bit shocked. He then nodded and said, "So you"re introduced by the Forth Elder. Good."
The three princes immediately looked c.o.c.ky and glanced at the crowd. Prince Yan said to the other two princes beside him, "Since we"re already Cultivators, shall we adopt nicknames that are cool and unvulgar?"
Prince Zhao said, "Sounds great. What about the Three Swordsmen?"
"Good! The Three Swordsmen! Cool enough!"
The crowd snorted and said, "Is it proud to be introduced? Humph! Three c.u.n.ts!"
At this moment, Xiao Wan"er walked forth with her hands on her back. She looked so cute and adorable that men around her kept staring at her. She asked in a sweet voice, "Senior Brother, isn"t Brother Cheng Ying here?"
"You... Do you and Senior Brother Cheng Ying know each other?" The disciple on the ground was a bit surprised.
The truth was, there were five major elders in the Three Pure Sect, and Cheng Ying was the Pro-disciple of the Third Elder. The fact that the Third Elder sent Cheng Ying to pick up Xiao Chen and the other two people proved that the Perfected Immortal Zixu, the Sect Leader of the Three Pure Sect, paid much attention to the Xiao Family.
Among the disciples of the Three Pure Sect, their status could be ranked from low to high as follows: Outer Disciple, ordinary Inner Disciple, elder"s Pro-disciple, elder"s Core Disciple, and Sect Leader"s True Disciple. The people in front of the crowd were only ordinary Inner Disciples.
Xiao Wan"er giggled and said, "Yes, we do. A few days ago, it was the Perfected Immortal Zixu that invited us here!"
"You mean... The Sect Leader introduced you here. So are you the Xiao Family members?" The disciple on the ground looked surprised and then looked at Xiao Chen and Xiao Han.
Immediately, the crowd uttered with discontent, "Humph! What is this?! You even claimed fair compet.i.tion. It turns out that there"s something going on behind the scene!"
The disciple in the air swung his sleeve and said coldly, "No matter who introduced you, you will be tested! Now begins the first round of the test! Team up on your will! Three people for each group! Go, go, go!"
Xiao Wan"er giggled and ran to the other two companies. "Shall we have a nickname too? What about the Three Heroes in the Wind and Dust? I"m the Woman with the Red Duster. You are Li Jing. Ice Face is Qiu Ranke. What do you think?"
"Humph. Not interested." Xiao Chen turned around, while Xiao Han was still standing there, gazing at the sky.
"You! Hum!" Xiao Wan"er stamped her foot in anger.
A moment later, the partic.i.p.ants had all teamed up. The disciple on the ground said with a smile, "Well. Let the first round begin. Who"s first?"
"Of course it"s us, the Three Swordsmen!" The three princes swaggered forth.
Lil Ruo pulled Xiao Chen"s sleeve and said, "Young master, shall we go?"
"No. Just let that three c.u.n.ts be the first. We can just watch what happens."
The disciple on the ground smiled lightly and said, "Good." He then waved his arm as the clouds and fog dispersed. An endless abyss came to their sight. A strong iron chain connected both sides of the abyss, swaying with the wind. Some white cranes were flying above the chain. The crowd could not see the other end at all, which was frightening.
"What! What the heck is this?!" The Three Princes were scared as h.e.l.l and held each other in their arms. The crowd booed. "This... We can"t ride on a sword like you. How can we pa.s.s?!"
"What if we fall and die? Is the Three Pure Sect responsible for this?"
"If you fall and die, it is your destiny! Those who can"t pa.s.s this can leave now!" The disciple in the air thundered coldly. He looked very impatient.
The disciple on the ground smiled and said, "He"s just joking. We will catch you if you fall. This is only the first round. The last round will need you to reach the top of the mountain. Of course, even if you cannot pa.s.s all rounds, you still stand a chance to join the sect. You just need to do your best."
The crowd looked up to the top of the mountain out of their sight. How could they take the final round if they couldn"t even pa.s.s the very first round?
The disciple on the ground smiled gently and said, "Okay. The first round now begins. The three princes, please get ready. You only have 30 minutes to get to the other end. The quicker you finish; the higher scores you"ll get. By the way, no magic tool is allowed in the test. Otherwise, your score will be counted as zero." After saying so, he lit up an incense stick in his hand.
Prince Yan hurriedly shouted, "Don"t, don"t, don"t hurry! We are not ready yet!"
That incense stick burned much faster than a normal one did. In the blink of an eye, it had already burned 20% of it. Prince Zhao shouted, "Have you bought fake incense sticks? How can it burn so fast?"
Prince Qi"s voice cracked, saying, "Let"s go, brothers! Time is running out!" He then climbed up to the chain. The other two princes also followed.
After they climbed for about 16 meters, the chain suddenly swung violently. Prince Yan screamed and fell off directly as the crowd screamed in shock.
The disciple in the air frowned and looked extremely impatient. He moved his fingers quickly to cast out a spell that turned into a row of sword radiance dashing downward and taking Prince Yan to the other end. In the first round, naturally, he failed and got zero points.
Prince Zhao, who was behind him, also fell off the chain carelessly. Prince Qi made it halfway on the chain but fell off when two cranes suddenly came to peck him.
"Alas..." The disciple on the ground shook his head and sighed. "Next group."
Xiao Han went forth and directly played lightness skill. He pa.s.sed smoothly and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The disciple"s eyes lit up upon seeing this. The crowd clamored, "He can play lightness skill! It"s not fair! His score must be deducted! This is pure cheating!"
The disciple in the air looked impatient and thundered coldly, "If you don"t agree with him, you can go home, practice lightness skill for ten years and then come back!"
Xiao Chen stepped forward and pointed at Lil Ruo, saying, "This is my sister, and she won"t take the test. Senior brother, would you send her to the other end later?" His words meant that he would definitely pa.s.s the chain.
The disciple on the ground knew that he was introduced by the Sect Leader. He smiled and nodded, saying, "Sure thing."
"Many thanks." Xiao Chen then stepped to the chain, when Xiao Wan"er suddenly said, "Cousin Xiao Chen, take me there."
Xiao Chen turned his head and said, "What? You can also play lightness skill."
"But... But I"m scared..." Xiao Wan"er trembled and looked at the bottomless abyss.
"I don"t have time for you."
After saying so, he jumped onto the chain. His move looked even swifter and cooler than that of Xiao Han. Illusions appeared one after another. His move was as swift and elegant as a moving wyrm. This was exactly the Immortal-override Steps created by Ling Yin herself. Xiao Chen changed a bit and made himself look like a beautiful young man.