As they landed, the beasts from other carriages quickly cowered and retreated few steps back. The monster birds should at least be of level 6 given their ferocity. From above these beasts got down four powerful warriors.
Two strong men and women who each represented their sect. Behind these four representatives there are five young men and women under each of them.
"Yin/Rin/Wu Mou greets the four seniors" the clan lords greeted them. The four just nodded at them while the juniors even ignored them. Soon the four representatives quickly moved forward and bowed with respect.
"Wen Shan, deacon of True Spear sect has seen Miss Chu" a tall man greeted.
"Du Lin, deacon of Light palm pavilion has seen Miss Chu" a pretty woman saluted.
"Mai Hue, deacon of Pure Heart sect has seen Miss Chu" a seductive beauty whose dress revealed more than half her fullness and exuding strong luster has politely saluted.
"Zheng Min, deacon of Great Toad valley has seen Miss Chu" a burly man with ugly face and crumpled skin greeted.
Chu Yue faintly nodded at them "It's hard work !".
"Not at all, where is it hard work? Compared to Miss Chu taking up the mayor's post in such a small town, it is nothing" Mai Hue replied in sweet voice.
The three clan lords envied such high appreciation from the deacons, but they can only lament at their status.
"Man Shi has seen the four seniors" an old man has respected the four deacons.
"So this is the head of Forging pavilion which is directly under the Chu clan".
The four of them politely nodded to the old man and gave face to Chu Yue.
Soon they arrived at the huge venue and the important personnel have taken up their seats. Though the three clans might be hegemons in their own specialty in this town, the Ye Clan also has strong martial warriors, the Rin clan has one pill master and even the Wu Clan has people in these fields.
Hence the four types of assessments were conducted but most of the interest was placed on martial strength. The strongest fist in this world can grab all the other professions with might. The Forging pavilion is the only one with not much suspense as their skill is second to none in this town.
All the people who are below fifteen years were gathered and even with limiting to small amount of quotas, some foreign merchants, surrounding town hegemons, other city candidates have also joined to participate in these assessments.
There were roughly a thousand young men and women who were competing in various tests. The assessments took place for nearly four days and finally each sect made their selections. Some of them who could not pass the second stage were also selected if they possessed special traits.
Ye Ling was selected by the Pure Heart sect as part of their dan division. Ming Rui and Tai Xue followed her as an entourage.
Wu Peng from the Wu clan was chosen by Great Toad valley and Tai Xun was one of his followers.
Rin Laijun from the Rin clan was favored by True Spear sect and the Bai siblings followed him. Zhang Lao was also selected by the True Spear sect but his younger brother could not perform well and did not get chosen by any sect.
"Don't worry big brother, you don't need to console me. After five years, I will definitely get selected" Zhang Shao remarked as Zhang Lao approached after the results.
"It's good that you are not down, otherwise I would have smacked the shit out of you" the latter laughed.
"Enough about that big brother, did you bid your farewell to brother Tai Xun and 'your' Xue 'er?" he teased the latter.
Zhang Lao smacked his brother's forehead "If you got time to tease me, then go and become more stronger. Furthermore, this is not yet that time for these things".
"Ow Ow Ow ! If you are always think it is not the time yet, it will never be time yet" the former spoke taking the stance of a wise man.
"You brat !!" the latter started chasing him pumping his fists.
Five young men from the Forging pavilion were chosen by the Light Palm pavilion as a team. There was a huge banquet that night as the young men and women made preparations to leave for their respective sects the next day.
Ming Rui was looking at the east as she kept getting farther and farther away from her two most important people. Tai Xue also met her brother and felt sad that they had to leave for different cities and don't know when they will both be able to see the other.
Tai Xun comforted his little sister "Xue 'er, I only worry about you. Follow Aunt Rui and look after each other. I will become strong by any means possible and will not let anyone bully you" and patted her head.
"Big brother !!" she cried and rushed into his arms. "Stay safe, don't be foolish and arrogant when you go to new place" she advised him and bid her farewell.
The next day, each of the three young heirs with their five followers and the other young people who were selected boarded the monster beasts and left for the respective cities.
In Juuko village, things are as usual. The news of the monster beast attack on the convoy did not even reach any of the three villages except for Rin Meihun who just received the news through a bird from Henji town.
He quickly had to devise his plan accordingly for the oncoming monster beast attack in three years. Ming Jian though faintly worried about his family, he knew that were still two beads which still did not go off Ming Shin's bracelet and with Ning Shu in tow, he could be assured of his wife's safety.
He looked at the Holy tree and sighed. He could have guessed there must be something underneath it, but the last time he went with his son, there was no path as previously described. To use any violent means would make Ming Rui mad as this holy tree was the one where she was abandoned with a simple necklace.
Ming Shin finally devoted his time in learning the Boundless scripture which is to exceed his limits in all aspects and emotions and derive power from it. Days and months passed by with his regular routine and some similar scouting missions.
He was rewarded often for his tracking abilities and contribution to the team. There were many a times he saved the lives of fellow comrades. He used some of the merit points to purchase pills which were essential for his cultivation.
He also read various jades in opening up the meridians. He was first skeptical of the records when he opened up three meridians but still could not break through second layer of Qi Transformation. As months passed by, his strength kept on increasing steadily.
After one year he could not suppress his cultivation no matter how much he tried and broke through Qi Condensation and already opened thirty six meridians. His strength was so solid that he could fight on par with fourth realm Condensation strong man.
After discovering the wonders of the Boundless scripture, he felt confident and even motivated to strengthen himself in the coming three years.
After another two years Ming Shin had a solid foundation as Condensation expert in fifth layer. He made sure that every realm he broke through reached the perfect saturation and a rock solid foundation.
Despite being eleven years old, Ming Shin already grew tall to 1.7 meters. Everyone in the tribe take his age for thirteen years old for he has turned into such a fine young man.
During this time, he made quite a reputation for himself through various deeds. His martial combat was so powerful that it could rival the commanders of various divisions. Most of all he was liked by the elders due to his composed nature and humility. He was never arrogant and always pointed out things to the enemy during combat practice.
He was even invited by Si Juan multiple times to join the Martial unit only to be disappointed every time by his refusal. The former also got irritated seeing Li Sha sticking to him and following like a puppy in recent months.
On this day, there was an emergency report that monster-beast footprints in huge quantity were spotted far south and they seem to be travelling east. The elders and supreme chief were thoughtful in the hall.
"We have observed the same five years back for the first time" one of the elders commented.
"Yes, it seems so many low level monsters are in tow similarly" Si Huang also replied pensively.
"Should we let some of the juniors tail behind them again? It would also be a good practice for them" another elder commented.
"No, our core young geniuses cannot be dispatched" the fourth elder gravely replied.
"Who said no. Let's send the scouting team to follow the herd and determine their motive" the first elder said.
There were some murmurs and intense discussion going on.
Li Kui finally made a decision "Fine, let a strong team of five people follow them and they are to not engage in any battle. Their motive is only to find out the reason behind it".
"Yes, like always we just hide our tails behind and bury our existence" a strong voice sounded from outside the hall.
"I have seen vice chief Qing" the elders bowed with respect and some even trembling while Li Kui wrinkled her brows.