Chapter 3

The smell inside the carriage was clearly unpleasant, which was hardly surprising given that the carriage, intended to hold only a dozen or so people, was crammed with nearly thirty children. Although children are much smaller in build than adults, it still made the interior of the carriage incredibly crowded.

Han Li nimbly shrank his thin, weak body into a corner of the carriage and secretly sized up the other children inside.

The children who had come to participate in the entrance examination were clearly divided into three types based on their attire and background.

The first type were those sitting in the center of the carriage, surrounded by the majority of the other children—the young masters in brocade clothing.

This youth was named Wu Yan; he was thirteen years old this year, the oldest person in the carriage. Originally, his age had exceeded the regulations, but he had a cousin who was married to a person of power within the Profound Heaven Sect, so the age issue naturally ceased to be a problem. Wu Yan's family ran a martial arts school and was quite wealthy. He had also practiced some fist and foot techniques since childhood; although they were not particularly brilliant, they were more than enough to deal with a child like Han Li, who only had some brute strength and had never practiced martial arts.

It was very clear that people like Wu Yan, who had money, power, and knew a few martial arts moves, naturally and spontaneously became the "big brothers" to the majority of the children in the carriage.

The second type of people were the children surrounding Wu Yan. These people came from all sorts of backgrounds—some families ran shops, some worked for others, some made a living by their crafts, and so on—but they all shared one characteristic: they had all grown up in towns and had naturally learned, to a greater or lesser extent, how to read people's expressions and act in their own self-interest. Therefore, these people all crowded around Wu Yan, calling him "Young Master Wu" on one side and "Big Brother Wu" on the other. Wu Yan seemed to have long been accustomed to this and found these titles very gratifying.

The last type of people were those like Han Li. These people all came from remote, impoverished backwaters, and their families generally relied on the mountains or waters for their livelihood, living in extreme poverty. This type of person was the fewest in the carriage, only five or six in total. Most of them were timid and fearful, not daring to speak loudly, forming a stark contrast with the other children who were laughing, talking, and making a loud ruckus from time to time.

The carriage set off from Qingniu Town and sped westward. Along the way, it stopped at several more places to pick up a few more children, finally arriving at Colorful Cloud Mountain, the location of the Profound Heaven Sect's main headquarters, on the evening of the fifth day.

As soon as all the children got off the carriage, they were deeply mesmerized by the beautiful scenery of the colorful sunset over Colorful Cloud Mountain. It was not until the urging of Dharma Protector Wang that everyone woke up and continued walking forward.

Colorful Cloud Mountain was originally named Fallen Phoenix Mountain. Legend has it that in ancient times, a five-colored phoenix fell here and transformed into this mountain. Later, because people who came here discovered that the mountain was exceptionally beautiful at sunset, as if shrouded in colorful clouds, it was renamed Colorful Cloud Mountain. Of course, ever since this mountain was occupied by the Profound Heaven Sect, outsiders naturally could no longer come here to admire such beautiful scenery at will.

Colorful Cloud Mountain was the second-largest mountain in Jing Prefecture. Apart from the other mountain, Mount Bai Mang, this mountain occupied the largest area, with its mountain range extending for over ten miles in all directions. The mountain possessed over a dozen peaks of various sizes, each of which was extremely perilous, and thus they were all occupied by the various branches of the Profound Heaven Sect. The main peak of Colorful Cloud Mountain, "Sunset Peak," was even more treacherous and incomparable; not only was it exceptionally high and steep, but there was only one path from the foot of the mountain to the summit. After the Profound Heaven Sect placed its main headquarters here, they set up thirteen overt and covert sentry posts along the perilous parts of this path, which could be called foolproof and worry-free.

As Han Li was sizing up his surroundings while following the people in front, the procession ahead suddenly stopped, and then a hearty voice rang out.

"Younger Brother Wang, why have you only just arrived? You're two days later than the scheduled time."

"Hall Master Yue, we were delayed by some time on the road. I've troubled you, elder." Dharma Protector Wang stood in front of the crowd and bowed respectfully to a red-faced old man, changing his usual overbearing demeanor from the road and revealing a few traces of obsequiousness on his face.

"Is this the how many-th batch of disciples sent to the mountain?"

"This is the seventeenth batch."

"En!" This Hall Master Yue looked at Han Li and the others with a haughty air.

"Send them to the Guest Reception Courtyard and let them have a good rest for the night. Tomorrow morning, we will begin selecting qualified disciples. For those who don't pass, have them leave the mountain early to avoid violating the rules of the mountain."

"As you command, Hall Master Yue."

Walking on the stone steps up the mountain, all the children were incredibly excited, but no one dared to speak loudly. Although they were all young, they knew that this was the place that would determine their future destiny.

Dharma Protector Wang led the way in front while greeting the people he met on the road with a smile. It could be seen that he had many acquaintances within the sect and was quite popular.

Most of the people they met along the way were dressed in green satin robes, either carrying swords at their waists or wearing them on their backs. Occasionally, some who were empty-handed had bulging waists, and it was unknown what they were carrying. From their behavior and demeanor, it could be seen that these people were agile and all possessed decent martial arts skills.

Han Li and the others were taken to a shorter mountain peak, where there was a patch of earthen houses at the summit. Han Li and the others stayed here for the night. In his dreams that night, Han Li dreamed that he was dressed in brocade, holding a golden sword, and possessed peerless martial arts, giving a sound beating to the blacksmith's son from his village whom he had never been able to defeat. It was truly majestic, and he was still savoring it when he woke up the next morning.

After waking up in the morning, Dharma Protector Wang did not let everyone eat breakfast and led them directly to a large slope covered in bamboo at the foot of the mountain. There, the Hall Master Yue they had met yesterday and several other young people they didn't recognize were already waiting.

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