Before him, where the platform had landed, was a lush green meadow, not far from which was a sparse grove of trees hiding neatly lined stone houses.
Liu Ming glanced a few times at the stone houses then turned his attention toward another side of the meadow.
He saw, some dozens of yards away, another identical platform from which many youths, both male and female, were emerging.
"Get down now, how long do you plan to stay up here?" An impatient voice came from behind Liu Ming, and as he turned around, it was the dark-robed man, with a slight frown on his face, hurrying him.
By this time, nearly all the people on the platform had already left, and Liu Ming standing still was indeed becoming conspicuous.
With a slight bow of his head to apologize, he then followed the crowd down the platform, only then lifting his head to take a glance at the distant peaks.
He saw that the mountain peak was unusually high; the lower half was densely dotted with various types of buildings, and a broad mountain path twisted and turned upwards, like a giant serpent, leading straight to the top of the peak.
The upper half of the mountain shot straight into the clouds, obscured by a mass of white mist that made it impossible to see anything clearly.
Moreover, clumps of grey clouds surged down from the upper half of the mountain; seated on them were people of all ages and both genders, clothed in various styles, but they flew too high to make out their faces.
These individuals were evidently disciples of the Barbarian Ghost Sect like the dark-robed man. As they passed over the meadow, some looked down curiously, while others didn't spare a glance and directly soared past on their clouds, sparking excited discussions among the boys and girls below.
Some even couldn't help but fantasize about their future, godlike lives as disciples.
At this moment, the dark-robed man too stepped off the stone platform. Seeing the disorderly crowd below, he gave an uncompromising command:
"This is the Barbarian Ghost Sect, not your own homes. Everyone shut up and line up, follow me."
No sooner had the summoner finished speaking than he strode off towards a narrow path leading to the cluster of stone houses, and after a bit of chaos, the several hundred youths managed to organize into a few lines and follow.
Meanwhile, on the other platform, a woman clad in a white cloak flew out on a cloud, leading another group of young men and women down another path into the woods.
A short while later, the two groups met at a crossroads in the woods.
Without needing any orders, they naturally merged together and soon emerged from the forest, arriving at an open area in front of rows of stone houses.
By then, more than a dozen men and women in uniform green attire were standing there, waiting respectfully.
"Junior Sister Xun and I have brought the people here; you can take over now and get them settled. There's still half a month until the Spirit Opening Ceremony. During this time, they can wander around near the Green Meadow Slope, but they must not leave the area or they will immediately lose the qualification to participate in the ceremony," ordered the dark-robed man, looking over the group of men and women with a cold command.
"Yes, Senior Brother Zhang, Senior Sister Xun, rest assured, we will handle everything properly," one of the men, who had a fierce look, stepped forward and replied subserviently.
"Hmm, I am quite confident in Junior Brother Fang Xiong's ability to manage things. Well, the sister and I will head to the Duty Hall to report our assignment," said the dark-robed man, nodding slightly with a softened expression.
Afterwards, he and the woman in the white cloak began muttering incantations, and upon forming a hand gesture, grey clouds materialized beneath their feet, lifting them into the air. With a tremble, they flew towards the peak.
"Alright, you little ones heard it too, you're going to be staying here for half a month. During this time, you are not allowed to step out of the forest at all. If I catch anyone disobeying and running out, the first time will be ten lashes with the python whip, thirty for the second time, and the third time, your qualification for the Spirit Opening will be canceled outright," declared the man named Fang Xiong, straightening his posture as soon as the dark-robed man left, speaking bluntly to the several hundred youths.
"What, didn't the envoy just say we could walk around nearby? How come we're not allowed to leave the woods now? We're here for the Spirit Opening Ceremony, not to be imprisoned," someone immediately protested unsatisfied with the order.
"Boy, what did you say?"
Fang Xiong's face darkened, and with a single sweep of his hand, the air in front of him seemed to ripple. Suddenly, a robust-looking youth at the forefront was pulled out of the crowd by an invisible force, stumbling several times before crashing to the ground, his face bruised and swollen.
When the youth stood up again, a short blade half a foot long appeared in his hand, his eyes blazing with anger as he glared at Fang Xiong across from him. But knowing full well the gulf between their abilities, he dared not charge at him again.
"Let me tell you the truth, we were like you ten years ago, also disciples participating in the Spirit Opening Ceremony but ended up staying here to serve because we didn't succeed. Don't be fooled by the seven or eight hundred of you now—being able to become disciples of spirit is already considered good if there are ten. Furthermore, at least two-thirds of you will die from backlash during the ceremony, and only the remaining will become outer disciples like us. So, shape up and drop your spoiled attitudes. If you dare disobey, we won't be gentle in our punishment. And what Senior Brother Zhang said before leaving was just pleasantries. The Green Meadow Slope is so vast; it's impossible to let so many people wander around. We have only so many people to watch over everyone. And let me add, the lowest among us has a cultivation of an advanced Qi cultivator, and I'm even a top-level Qi cultivator. If anyone disagrees, feel free to challenge me. If you can beat me, you can do whatever you want, and I won't say a 'no,'" Fang Xiong said to the youths, his face showing a ferocious expression.
Upon hearing this, the initial excitement of the young men and women vanished, and those of a weaker disposition even showed fear on their faces.
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The other party turned out to be a top-level Qi practitioner, which intimidated the group of mostly low-level Qi practicing young men and women, who then dared not to argue any further.
Liu Ming, upon hearing the intimidating words from earlier, remained expressionless, but when the term 'top-level Qi practitioner' was mentioned, his heart gave a slight jolt of surprise.
This Fang Xiong was only in his thirties, yet he possessed such astonishing strength; it seemed that even if he couldn't become a Spirit Apostle, as long as he stayed alive in the Barbarian Ghost Sect, he could still possibly acquire the formidable strength he needed.
He absolutely must survive the spirit-opening ceremony this time.
"Now listen up, we're about to allocate rooms. Step forward when your name is called," Fang Xiong said with satisfaction upon seeing his few words had subdued the young men and women before him.
Of course, among them were some individuals with significant backgrounds who still appeared utterly unconcerned!
But this didn't matter to the burly man.
As long as the majority complied with his management, that would be sufficient.
He wouldn't truly provoke those young men and women with special identities.
After all, setting aside the power behind them, their chances of passing the spirit-opening ceremony were much higher than the others.
At this moment, a woman in her thirties had stepped out from the outer disciples, revealing a light yellow booklet in her hand as she began to call names in a calm and measured pace.
Within a short while, over a hundred people had been called and were led by the woman towards a cluster of stone houses.
In this manner, each outer disciple called out a group of young men and women to take away, and in the blink of an eye, only the last group, around seventy or eighty people, remained.
Liu Ming, Gao Chong, Mu Mingzhu, Lei Zhen, and others were all conspicuously among them.
"No need to call the rest; you all come with me. I will personally arrange for you," Fang Xiong swept a glance over the remaining people, gestured with a wave, and said decisively.
Seeing this, the other outer disciples dispersed, all displaying an indifferent demeanor.
The remaining young men and women, upon hearing that the fierce and ghastly man himself would arrange for them, nearly half of them turned noticeably paler.
But Fang Xiong ignored their reactions entirely and turned to walk towards a cluster of stone houses in a certain direction.
"Heh heh," with a cold chuckle, a young man suddenly strode forward from the crowd, taking the lead to follow Fang Xiong.
It was Lei Zhen from the Lei Family.
Upon seeing this, the others plucked up their courage and buzzed after him like a swarm.
Liu Ming, however, walked among them with a calm and unhurried pace, not attracting the slightest attention.
After the group of young men and women had walked off into the distance, a large tree nearby shimmered discreetly and suddenly revealed two figures standing side by side.
One had a pale face, wearing a Confucian robe with a yellow wooden hairpin stuck in his head, his hands clasped behind him. The other had unkempt hair, barefoot and bare-chested, with a huge red gourd tied around his waist.
"Junior Brother, what do you think? Among these disciple children from noble clans, are there any promising talents?" the man in the Confucian robe asked his companion as he watched the young men and women in the distance.
"Hmph, Senior Brother Gui, aren't you just pretending to ask? Without the spirit-opening ceremony, how can we see anything? Don't the branches usually start picking out their candidates after the ceremony? So, why has Senior Brother come so early to observe these noble clan children? Even if you wanted to start early, shouldn't you be selecting from the Spirit Vein disciples cultivated by our sect?" The man with the wild hair muttered, his round face breaking into a smug smile.
"You also know the situation of our branch. Those disciples determined to have nine or more Spirit Veins have long been booked by other branches. How could we compete with them? If we want to really pick a few good seeds, we have to look among these noble clan disciples. Moreover, I heard that there are also rogue disciples participating this time. If we observe carefully, there might still be gains to be had," the Confucian-robed man spoke slowly.
"While Senior Brother makes a lot of sense, what can we see in such a short time? By the time the results of the spirit-opening ceremony come out, I'm afraid those peaks will once again swarm to snatch them up," the man with the wild hair said, frowning.
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