Jian Ning gazed in awe at the Lingyun sect before him.
'I must admit, this sect has excellent taste in architecture,' Jian Ning commented silently as he dismounted from the carriage with the rest of the Jian family disciples and elders.
Jian Ning turned his head, looking around with curiosity. "I wonder if the Lin and Ding families have arrived yet," he thought to himself, but he quickly got his answer when he saw tents guarded by members of the Lin and Ding families.
Jian Ning continued to observe and noticed that they must be among the last to arrive, as it was already 11 a.m., and the selection was to start at 1 p.m.
The other participating powers had arrived well before them, most having arrived yesterday or the day before.
Even though the Lingyun sect is relatively weak compared to other nearby sects, it is still affiliated with the Tianwu Academy, which is one of the three suzerain of the celestial cloud continent.
"Children of the Jian family, gather around," said the great elder, summoning all the disciples who were going to participate.
Within minutes, all the disciples had gathered silently around the great elder.
"Given our swift arrival, we won't set up tents. So, for the next two hours, you will all meditate to calm your minds and achieve peak performance," the great elder announced loudly.
Following the elder's advice, all the disciples, including Jian Ning, sat cross-legged to meditate.
Although most did not cultivate but simply waited for the trials to begin, Jian Ning was an exception as he had the confidence necessary to succeed easily in the trials.
[Ding, congratulations to the host for meditating for 1 minute, you have gained +40 cultivation points, +40 W.E]
[Ding, congratulations to the host for meditating for 1 minute, you have gained +40 cultivation points, +40 W.E]
[Ding, congratulations to the host for meditating for 118 minutes, you have gained +4720 cultivation points, +4720 W.E].
Time passed slowly as Jian Ning and the other members of the Jian family meditated or quietly conversed among themselves.
Eventually, the large dragon-carved gate, which had been closed, slowly opened, revealing three figures to the wide-eyed participants.
Two of them were visibly aged, and their aura made the hearts of the participants pound violently.
"These old men must be powerful cultivators!" This was the thought of the participants at that moment.
The two elders wore imperial golden robes, embroidered with black dragons in mid-roar.
On their robes, one could also see the sect's symbol, a white cloud crossed by a blue lightning bolt.
While the two old men exerted an overwhelming pressure on the participants and even the accompanying elders, the third figure belonged to a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties.
He was dressed in a traditional blue Chinese suit with the sect's symbol in the middle, like the two older individuals.
The third figure stood in front of the two old men, barely daring to breathe.
In fact, he was just an inner disciple at the 7th level of Qi Gathering, who had miraculously been able to participate in this year's selection.
It's important to note that sects place great importance on the selection of new disciples. As a small sect, it is crucial for them to receive talented disciples, so usually, two elders and a principal disciple take the time to oversee the selection.
You might wonder why a principal disciple and not a deacon or another elder.
The reason is simple: to show the talented principal disciples the selection through the eyes of the elders, and to highlight the main strengths they should focus on during the selection.
This is to teach them and make them future good elders who will help the sect prosper.
This idea is actually excellent because it allows the older generation to instill fundamental values in the younger generation.
Unfortunately, this time, no principal disciple could come!
More precisely, the elders and the patriarch prevented them, and at this moment, the principal disciples were surely cultivating or training outside in preparation for the upcoming great event.
So, we can say that this disciple is here by chance. And the elders are not going to teach him anything!
"Anyone with cultivation below the 7th level of tempering body should leave immediately to avoid risking their lives," one of the two elders announced loudly. This was a great disappointment for some participants whose cultivation did not meet the prerequisites stated by the elder.
Only about a dozen people among the thousands present left.
None of the Jian family children left.
After all, Jian Shi had the lowest cultivation among the children of the family.
At least, that's what the other children thought.
Seeing the few people who had left, a trace of disdain appeared in the eyes of the elders, though it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
"We can now begin the trials," said one of the great elders as he took out thousands of jades from his spatial ring and threw them in one motion.
Each jade flew towards a participant in the selection and attached itself to their wrist.
Jian Ning looked at the jade that had just attached to his wrist, and as he was about to remove it, threads emerged from the two pointed ends of the jade and wrapped around his wrist.
The same happened to the other participants.
Some angry participants immediately thought of causing trouble, but fortunately for them, or unfortunately for us, the other elder started speaking before the angry ones could open their mouths.
"I am Xang Jin, one of the seven elders of the Lingyun sect. You can call me Elder Xang. The one next to me is Tan Gu, also an elder of the sect. You can call him Elder Tan. Now we will begin the selection for our sect, which consists of a single trial: the monster hunt!" Elder Xang Jin began with a voice full of wisdom and authority.
"As the name suggests, the trial involves a grand monster hunt in the Jiangnan forest, which belongs to our sect. These jades on your wrists serve as point counters. Each time you kill a monster, a certain amount of spiritual energy is released from its body and absorbed by the jade. The most powerful monsters in this forest are merely rank 2 monsters, and there are only about ten of them, all in the depths of the forest. So, as long as you don't seek them out, they won't attack you," Elder Tan Gu explained.
"The points are as follows: 1st level tempering body = 1 point, 2nd level tempering body = 5 points, 3rd level tempering body = 10 points, 4th level tempering body = 20 points, 5th level tempering body = 50 points, 6th level tempering body = 100 points, 7th level tempering body = 150 points, 8th level tempering body = 300 points, 9th level tempering body = 1,000 points. If you happen to kill a 2nd rank monster, you earn 5,000 points per kill. Also, if you take another participant's jade and bring it close to your own, you will take half of their points. Only the top 500 can join the sect as outer disciples. There will be rewards for the top 10," Elder Tan finished explaining quickly.
The candidates looked at each other, forming their strategies. Some were already thinking about forming teams.
"Follow us; we will show you the way to the Jiangnan forest. And don't think about forming teams because points can only be obtained by the one who delivers the final blow," Elder Xang said, crushing some candidates' hopes.
The two elders and the inner disciple began walking towards the dragon-carved gate and then turned left.
The candidates quickly followed.
During the journey, Jian Ning continued to reflect: "This kind of trial is quite cliché, but it's the most useful for me, as I can gain a good amount of W.E. Given the participants, I might even gain a chance or simply steal my brother's chance if I can," he thought.
"Ling, show me the status of the inner disciple and the elders Xang and Tan," Jian Ning ordered.
[Ding]
[Displaying the status of ....]