[Why is Qiao’er-jie not even a bit nervous? Here I am, a transmigrator, about to die of nerves. No! I can’t embarrass myself here!]
Wang Hao thought to himself, feeling rather confident in his own talent, and even suspected that Hu Qiao’er’s aptitude might just be that of an average person.
Just then, a man whose voice sounded rather rough and whose appearance was quite sleazy walked over to strike up a conversation.
“Hey there, little brothers, little girl, where are you from?”
Jia Xianren glanced left and right, suddenly spotting two conspicuous children in the crowd.
The girl had an excellent foundation—she’d definitely become a beauty in the future!
But she looked awfully familiar. He instantly remembered he’d seen her in Shuiquan Village—the same Shuiquan Village that had been destroyed.
He couldn’t help but go up and talk to them.
Wang Hao gave this rather sleazy-looking uncle a side glance; the man’s squinting eyes made him feel uneasy.
“Uncle, what do you want? What business is it of yours where we’re from?”
“Unc— Uncle? You little brat, I’m only thirty-three! I’m not that old! I just aged a bit faster than most!”
“You brat! Since you won’t say, let me calculate… You must be from Shuiquan Village!”
Jia Xianren started pinching his fingers and pretending to divine, as if he could really figure something out.
Wang Hao raised an eyebrow, eyeing the man with some suspicion.
What the heck? He can even figure that out?
Could he really be the real deal in disguise?
Jia Xianren proudly raised his chin, waiting for the kids to admit he was right.
Hmph! Such rude children.
He even imagined the scene where this brat would praise him and beg to become his disciple.
But after waiting a while, he turned his head only to find the two kids were already gone.
Damn, where’d they go?
Damn it! He’d only come here to ask about that little blind kid!
What am I supposed to do now!
Jia Xianren stomped his feet in anger. The reason he was here in the first place was because Shuiquan Village had been destroyed, and the only clue left about that little blind kid was the Shenxiao Sect Token.
Who would’ve thought he’d run into two kids from Shuiquan Village here—live clues!
But did these two kids not know what happened to their village?
Jia Xianren stood there, thinking.
Meanwhile, Wang Hao had already been dragged off by Hu Qiao’er, shaking off Jia Xianren.
“Hey Haozi, didn’t you recognize that guy? He was the one who came to our village to exorcise the demon last time, but ended up getting scared off!”
“So it was him! No wonder he knew we were from Shuiquan Village.”
Wang Hao grumbled a few more complaints as he spoke.
Back then, when Jia Xianren was invited over, the village had spent quite a bit, but he ended up doing nothing at all. And just now he even tried to trick them.
At the same time.
Jiang Che had already prepared his escape plan.
Xu Qianlan had gone out early that morning. Although he felt guilty toward Xu Qianlan, Jiang Che still wanted to find Hu Qiao’er.
Every day here was uncomfortable; every night he would dream about his time in the Shenxiao Sect.
As for the Shi Ling Gu, whatever—was he supposed to stay here forever? Tied together with Xu Qianlan? And then wait for Lin Yin to return?
Might as well just kill him now.
He’d rather die.
Jiang Che had agreed with Yun Fan that after Xu Qianlan left for the new disciple recruitment, Jiang Che would head down the mountain. He still remembered the way—though it would take some time, reaching the mountain gate wouldn’t be a problem.
Then Yun Fan would meet him there.
Jiang Che regained his spiritual awareness, successfully avoided the Jin Zhi Xu Qianlan had set, walked out of the wooden house, found a branch to probe the path, and started heading down the mountain.
On the other side, Hu Qiao’er and Wang Hao had reached the end of the ladder.
They found themselves in an expansive area.
It looked like a giant plaza, large enough to hold several hundred people.
Hu Qiao’er felt a bit strange. How could there be such a vast space atop a mountain?
But since this was the Shenxiao Sect, perhaps all sorts of oddities were normal here.
Just then, a figure flew in on a cloud from the sky, dressed in the attire of an Outer Sect Disciple.
Hu Qiao’er rubbed her eyes and confirmed again—it was truly someone riding a cloud.
“Greetings, everyone. My surname is Chen, and I’m responsible for guiding you through this entrance trial. The Shenxiao Sect has stood for ten thousand years; when accepting disciples, the most important qualities are temperament and perseverance, followed by innate talent.”
He swept his gaze over the crowd, his face sporting a friendly smile.
“Sigh, it’s always so many people. Looks like we need to cut down on the numbers a bit.
Everyone, look over here.”
With a wave of his hand, everyone turned to the direction he indicated.
At some point, a cliff had appeared there. On the opposite side stood a wall and a door painted bright red.
A rope bridge, made of planks and rope, spanned the two sides. The bridge was five or six meters wide and could hold quite a few people walking at once.
“As you can see, this is actually the first trial. It’s simple—just cross over.”
Suddenly, someone in the crowd burst out laughing.
“That’s it? I could just jump across!”
The crowd grew rowdy.
But Hu Qiao’er didn’t think it would be so simple.
“Qiao’er-jie, why do I feel like there’s something fishy about this?”
“Shut up, just watch.”
Hu Qiao’er was much calmer than Wang Hao in this situation.
Soon, someone noticed something was off. Some tried to circulate their spiritual power, but found nothing happened.
“You’ve probably all realized it by now—your cultivation has been suppressed. That’s a feature of our trial. In fact, you’ve already entered the Formation; your powers will be suppressed, and now everyone is on equal footing.”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you on the other side.”
With that, the Outer Sect Disciple flew across on his cloud.
On the other side of the cliff, inside the walls.
Was a scene invisible unless you passed through the gate.
Inside was an enclosed plaza, with disciples lined up along the walls, all at least at the Foundation Establishment stage.
On the high platform to the north of the plaza, Yun Yan sat atop, looking rather bored, even yawning.
From his attire, Yun Yan truly had the bearing of a sect master.
“Sect Master, mind your image.”
Wen Ping, Yun Yan’s peer, sat beside him.
“What are you talking about? I always mind my image.
But, someone should be arriving soon. Even if the new disciples aren’t here yet, those restless ones should be coming, right?”
“Sect Master means them? Don’t worry, one’s already here. They’ve already passed through the Mountain-protecting Grand Array.”
Wen Ping finished speaking calmly. Suddenly, the weather seemed to shift, and Yun Yan glanced in that direction. On both sides of Yun Yan were several seats.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man in black robes appeared in one of them.
“Yuyuan Sect Master, are you waiting for me? Even prepared a seat—how considerate!”
Yun Yan puffed his beard in irritation.
He wanted to curse inwardly.
The newcomer was Luo Yan, Vice Sect Master of the Holy Demon Sect.
“Heh, why is Vice Sect Master Luo here today? Where’s your sect master?”
“The Sect Master is busy with important matters and couldn’t come, so I came to pay my respects to Yuyuan Sect Master instead. How has your health been lately?”
Yun Yan forced a smile. Every time they recruited new disciples, other sects would show up, hoping to poach disciples.
If it wouldn’t affect the sect’s reputation, Yun Yan would have loved to smack them all away!
“Look, what’s that?”
A disciple below pointed to the sky, and everyone looked up.
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