Chapter 130

Tomorrow the Imperial Sect will open the mountain.

Whether one can change fate depends on whether this opportunity can be seized.

I heard that Qing Yun's disciple recruitment mainly looks at character and perseverance; talent, although important, is only secondary, because if your character and perseverance are insufficient, you won't even pass the first trial.

To ease the pressure, tonight the immortal city is in revelry, lights everywhere, and tonight's theme is Sleepless Immortal City.

「Take a look, these are the must-see items for participating in the Qing Yun assessment. 」

「Do you want to become a Qing Yun disciple? 」

「Do you want to reach the pinnacle of life? Do you want to become a great figure in others' mouths? 」

「Only ten top-grade spirit stones, you won't lose out, you won't be swindled! 」

「Mist grass! Immortal city guards! 」

The hawking stallholder, seeing this, took off running.

「Haha, this person is really funny. 」

Seeing this, a curvaceous woman in green not far away laughed and said.

「Hey! I'm talking to you, Xuan'er, what are you thinking about? Why are you always absent-minded? 」

Xiao Xuan'er heard and immediately came to her senses, saying: "Nothing, it's just that we sneaked out like this; you say, will our two families come looking for us here?"

「What if they come? If we pass the test tomorrow we'll be Imperial Sect disciples; they won't even have time to praise us. 」

Gu Qingcheng beside her said indifferently, her eyes full of anticipation.

「Hmm, let's hope so. 」

After Xiao Xuan'er murmured, she turned to look toward the Qing Yun Imperial Sect direction, thinking: "Sunrise brings hope, sunset brings longing, the heart has its expectation."

Thus, amidst the revelry, a night of fish and dragons dancing.

The next day. The sky faintly brightened.

From the direction of Qing Yun Immortal City, an endless stream of figures flew toward the Qing Yun Mountain Range.

「The Imperial Sect opens its mountain gate; we must quickly ascend Qing Yun! 」

「Charge! 」

Whoosh whoosh whoosh.

Vast and mighty figures continually stepped through the void and came.

There were youths following their elders, and women.

There were young masters accompanied by family guards.

There were lads harboring aspirations for Qing Yun, and lovely girls.

Above the void, great powers' ships continually came, crossing domains.

Colossal ships that blotted out the sky continually rumbled toward the Qing Yun Mountain Range.

Today the Imperial Sect opens its mountain gate, shocking the Five Domains; the influence of Qing Yun Imperial Sect has already swept across the Barren Martial Continent.

Those who come have only two purposes: to fulfill their inner aspirations, or to pursue the Dao and attain supremacy, with the grand ambition of becoming emperors through the Dao.

Or they simply want to come and curry favor, to ingratiate themselves with the Imperial Sect, the great powers of each domain.

As long as one gains the Imperial Sect's support, thereafter one can walk arrogantly through the Five Domains, and even stepping out will mark one as having great background.

Qing Yun Mountain Range, beneath the mountain gate of Qing Yun Sect.

Here the spiritual energy is extremely dense; layers of green leaves and flowers, to fully absorb the spiritual energy, all grow facing the direction where Qing Yun Sect radiates spiritual energy outward; viewed from below, they wholly display the aspect of pilgrimage.

At this moment, crowds packed tightly gathered at the mountain gate.

「Xuan'er, you're actually here! 」

「No wonder I went to your family to look for you and couldn't find you. 」

A familiar voice came from behind; Xiao Xuan'er and Gu Qingcheng turned to look.

A youth in embroidered white robes, with a face like a jade crown, walked over.

「Lin Bu Fan, are you annoying! 」

「How is it that you're everywhere I go? 」

Gu Qingcheng, seeing the person arrive, spoke first, her face full of disgust.

This Lin Bu Fan is truly a persistent ghost; he chased people all the way to the Eastern Domain; if not for his Lin family behind him, I would have already struck him down.

「Lin Bu Fan? Really him! 」

Hearing the sound from here, a man exclaimed.

This drew the attention of those nearby, who asked: "Who is Lin Bu Fan? Brother, is it really necessary to shout so loudly?"

「A hundredth-ranked heaven's pride on the Five Domains' list, you say, isn't that impressive? 」

「I didn't expect such heaven's pride figures to come; there will surely be even more impressive ones later, today's competition looks even fiercer. 」

Lin Bu Fan, hearing their conversation, curled his lips, even more confidently saying: "Miss Gu, what do you mean by that?"

「I came for Xuan'er, rain you no melon. 」

「Truly a scoundrel," Gu Qingcheng said disgustedly, then pulled the arm of the nearby Xiao Xuan'er and said: "Let's go, Xuan'er, let's wait elsewhere, stay far from this scoundrel."」

「Master Lin, please conduct yourself properly; we are not acquainted," Xiao Xuan'er coldly said to the man ahead. 」

「Why? Xuan'er! 」

「Isn't my expression of affection clear enough? Why do you never look at me properly! 」

Lin Bu Fan said, bewildered, feeling quite annoyed in his heart.

「I've done all this, and still you want more! 」

「Don't embarrass yourself here, Lin Bu Fan. 」

「Xuan'er already has someone in her heart. 」

By the way, I forgot to tell you—Xuan'er's love interest is a disciple of the Qingyun Emperor Sect.

Lin Bufan was first stunned upon hearing that, then looked up at the towering Qingyun Mountain.

"A disciple of the Emperor Sect? So what—who doesn't know that Qingyun's assessment hardly looks at talent? He must have sneaked in as a menial disciple."

"My talent is so high—how could I possibly be inferior to him!"

"Besides, although my Zhongyu Lin clan can't compare to the Emperor Sect, the status of being the Lin clan's heir is surely stronger than that of an Emperor Sect menial disciple."

Lin Bufan angrily demanded, ever since he saw Xiao Xuan'er two years ago, he's been attracted to her—he can't sleep at night!

Two years could warm a stone, yet it cannot warm this woman's heart.

"You're a disciple of the Emperor Sect, right? I'll challenge you!"

At the same time.

Qingyun Sect—at this moment, the disciples within the Qingyun Sect are orderly.

They have begun their daily cultivation again.

On the other side, the Qingyun Hall.

Several figures stand atop the majestic hall.

They are all inner and outer sect elders.

Outer Sect Elder Ye Bai clasped his hands and asked respectfully, "Sect Master, will we still recruit as we did last time?"

"No, this time the scale of our Qingyun's mountain opening far surpasses that of last time."

"The prodigies coming this time are from all over the Five Regions, and their numbers are great."

"For this trial, the first stage—the Illusory Heavenly Ladder—will definitely be held; afterward, the Nine Cauldrons Talent Assessment segment will be canceled, and the second stage will be overseen by the sect's inner and outer prodigies."

Seated on the main seat, Feng Qingyang spoke solemnly.

This was a decision he made after long consideration.

Now the sect's strong ones advance at breakneck speed, yet the disciples, due to time constraints, can't keep up with the sect's development.

Now there are few inner sect disciples, while outer sect and menial disciples are numerous; moreover, thanks to the Spacetime Tower, each of them has a decent cultivation level.

"Inner and outer sect disciples?"

The outer sect elders were all puzzled.

Only the inner sect elders who had discussed this matter—Mu Shuixian and Luo Chen—secretly thought it was indeed so.

The Sect Master decided to change the sect's disciple promotion rules.

"Exactly, the inner and outer sect disciples."

"This assessment will be overseen by the inner sect elders, after which all inner sect disciples and the top thirty outer sect disciples will jointly assist in the examination."

"Defeating an outer sect disciple grants entry to the outer sect; defeating an inner sect disciple grants entry to the inner sect."

"A draw also counts as passing."

"Those who pass the Illusory Heavenly Ladder but fail this round of testing can still become menial disciples as usual."

"The first stage's Illusory Heavenly Ladder is what truly matters—it emphasizes quality over quantity, first weeding out those with poor disposition and perseverance, then the rest are judged by strength."

"As for the number of recruits, as long as it exceeds the five thousand announced by the system, it's fine—after all, the more elite disciples, the better."

"Inner Sect Elder Mu Shuixian."

"Inner Sect Elder Luo Chen."

"We obey your orders."

Not long after.

A shocking piece of news spread throughout the sect.

Abolish the current inner and outer sect ranking promotion system.

"Those who reach the Void Cave realm may enter the outer sect; those who reach the Spirit Transformation realm may enter the inner sect; the rankings continue as usual, and the geniuses on the list are rewarded with various treasures."

"The new rule will take effect one month from now; those who fail to meet the realm requirements will be demoted in turn."

Shortly after.

Inner Sect Elders Mu Shuixian and Luo Chen led ten inner sect prodigies and the top thirty outer sect disciples from the rankings as they headed out of the sect.

At this moment, outside the mountain gate.

"Silence!"

"You're making this Emperor deaf! Don't even look where this is!"

A voice of heavenly might came from the mountain peak.

Then came a mighty, surging imperial pressure pressing down.

The dense crowd beneath Qingyun Mountain Gate immediately fell silent—so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone stared in shock toward the mountaintop.

A scrawny black dog stood on the mountaintop, looking down at them.

That pressure instantly receded like a tide.

The powerful cultivators present felt even more shocked!

"It-it-it! Imperial might!"

"The guard dogs of Qingyun are all Great Emperors!"

At that moment, many footsteps came from behind.

The Black Emperor turned his head, saw the sect's elders leading the way out, then looked downward and said, "I, the Emperor, announce that Qingyun's mountain-opening disciple recruitment officially begins!"