Personal selection
The selection process for personal instruction does not take place within the Silver Bamboo Sect.
The location is a traditional ladder to heaven, with a total of 12,222 steps. And it's not an ordinary ladder; the higher you go, the greater the pressure becomes.
In addition to the forty-two new inner disciples, twenty disciples from the original inner disciples of the Silver Bamboo Sect were also selected for personal training.
There were a total of 62 people. The first ten disciples to reach the top of the Heavenly Ladder would be able to proceed to the final stage. However, many people believed that probably fewer than ten people would actually be able to climb all the steps.
Ye Hanyun took over from Qi Yuan on the first step and presided over the ceremony: "Twelve thousand two hundred and twenty-two steps. The first ten disciples to complete this will pass. The entire process will be broadcast via spirit stones. Anyone who can't continue will wave their hand five times, and we will bring them down, which will be considered a forfeit. Disciples participating in the second round of the inner sect selection can apply to be teleported up two hundred and twenty-two steps at any time. Ahem, that's all for your second senior brother."
Wu Rongqiu said confidently, "It's just a staircase, I can climb it with ease."
“These aren’t ordinary steps; they exude a sense of oppression,” Liu Huaxu said calmly.
Chen Jie nervously swallowed: "What should I do? I've never been here before."
"Don't be nervous. Just treat this thing like a normal step. It just sounds impressive. I've been there before, it's nothing to worry about." Nie Yi patted Chen Jie on the back.
"Where is Senior Sister Qi?" Liu Huaxu asked worriedly.
Ye Munian stepped out from behind and said, "Senior Sister asked me to tell you and Junior Brother Nie to perform normally. She will be here later."
Liu Huaxu was finally relieved.
"The sect leader and your martial uncles are waiting for you at the summit. Now, begin!" Ye Hanyun shouted passionately.
The disciples swarmed forward.
Ye Ting sighed, "If they keep charging like this, they'll run out of energy quickly, and the further they go, the less they can move."
“Isn’t there a disciple walking slowly over there? Nie Yi, right? What a pity, he’s too slow. I wonder what it would be like if he got up there,” Cheng Jin said slowly.
Sima Chu said, "Not necessarily. As far as I know, Nie Yi is the most talented disciple in this cohort. How could he possibly stop here?"
On the screen where the spirit stones were being thrown, the other forty-odd disciples were scrambling and running around, while only one red-clad youth was walking leisurely.
Ye Hanyun wasn't paying much attention to the selection process; she was only concerned about whether Qi Yuan could successfully enter Yun Xingjun's room.
On the other side, the Silver Bamboo Sect.
The main hall where Yunxingjun resides has three floors. Although Jinyanjun and Huiguangjun's rooms are located here, they don't live here often. Usually, disciples would guard them, but now that new disciples have entered the sect, everyone is busy preparing for the disciple-acceptance ceremony, and the main hall is unguarded, making it a good time to go in.
Qi Yuan climbed over the wall. There was a detection line at the entrance to the first floor. Since the two senior uncles were at the early stage of the Void Refinement stage, the standard for the detection line was that their cultivation level was higher than that of the early stage of the Void Refinement stage.
She displayed her late-stage Void Refinement cultivation level and walked straight in.
There were four rooms on the first floor. Qi Yuan peered into each room from the doorway, but none of them were Yun Xingjun's rooms.
She went up to the second floor, and the second room on the left of the main entrance faintly exuded the aura of the Mahayana stage. Qi Yuan knew immediately: Yun Xingjun lives here.
Qi Yuan pushed open the door, and to her surprise, there were no devices or detection lines for the Mahayana stage that could stop her.
She had already disguised herself as Zhu Rongfei, so even though the spirit stone recorded her appearance, Yun Xingjun only saw Zhu Rongfei's appearance.
The room was laid out normally: a wooden table, a bed, and chairs. It was so simple that you wouldn't even guess it was the room of a clan leader.
Qi Yuan noted down the layout and carefully flipped through the items on the table, finding only normal documents and the list of those who would accept disciples for the ceremony.
There was nothing under the bed; the only items in the closet were the sect leader's robes and several identical white robes.
Not only did she find nothing, she also couldn't find a trace of the "Wild Devil Artifacts Chronicle" she had seen that day.
Qi Yuan restored the room to its original layout. Just as she was about to go downstairs, she suddenly remembered something, turned a corner, and went straight up to the third floor.
There's a testing line on the third floor. This proves she wasn't wrong; Yun Xingjun's real room is on the third floor.
The ghostly energy within her body began to boil, as if it had sensed something.
Qi Yuan had already learned the tricks of the Underworld in the Ghost Realm, which allowed her to inflate her spiritual power in a short time to create an illusion.
She disguised herself as a Mahayana practitioner and passed the test.
There was only one very large room on the third floor. As Qi Yuan approached the door, she sensed an evil aura similar to the one within her body, but not ghostly.
Qi Yuan composed herself and pushed open the door to enter.
The room was filled with a thick demonic aura and cluttered with all sorts of random things.
Why is there demonic energy in Yunxingjun's room? This demonic energy is like Mu Qinghuai's, yet it's not like Mu Qinghuai's.
She frowned and walked to the bedside, where many books were stacked. She picked one up and saw that the top one was "The Wild Devil's Artifact".
Turn to the following: "Who Were the High-Ranking Officials of the Demon Realm Throughout History?", "The Unknown Stories of Jin Yuejun and Xuan Yang Zhenren", "The Secret of Yin Guijun", "Understanding the Demon Seal"...
With each book Qi Yuan read, her brow furrowed more. What were these things?! Why were they all related to the Demon Realm?
She put the book down and noticed a few things on the bedside table and pillow. Qi Yuan leaned closer to take a look and turned pale.
It was a brocade pouch and scroll that were exactly the same as those in her storage bag. They were identical in scent, smell, and appearance. There was no way Qi Yuan could mistake them.
Mu Qinghuai said that the brocade pouch and scroll belonged to Xinggui Jun, so why does Yun Xingjun have them?
A strange thought came to mind.
Purple, amethyst? Qi Yuan unexpectedly discovered the amethyst under her pillow. She took it out of her storage bag to compare, and it really was the same as the one in the secret realm.
She put her things back and forced herself to watch "Wild Devil Artifacts".
Qi Yuan kept turning the pages until she finally saw the Ancient Ghost Pearl on page 222.
The Ancient Ghost Pearl, crafted by Jin Yuejun, can absorb all the power of the world for its own use. Only ghosts can detect this pearl. After Jin Yuejun, it was passed down, and its whereabouts became unknown.
Jin Yuejun, the leader of the evil race, disappeared before the great war between the human and evil races. Why did the things he created fall into the hands of his parents, and even end up in her possession?
No wonder Yun Xingjun had never discovered the ancient divine pearl that Yan Guifu could spot at a glance. Indeed, only ghosts could detect it.
*
Two hours had passed since the start of the competition, and the disciples were mostly panting and flushed at around 7,000 steps. Six disciples had already given up and abandoned the selection.
Currently, several disciples are outstanding and leading the way: Jin Jin, over 8,000 steps; Chen Jie, over 8,000 steps; Wu Rongqiu, over 9,000 steps; Liu Huaxu, over 9,000 steps.
Duan Yu sighed, "It seems that this year, the Silver Bamboo Sect's personal disciples will only be a few people."
"Damn it, look at that last disciple!!" Ye Munian screamed.
The boy in red, who was originally at the back of the five thousand steps, was walking at a leisurely pace. Suddenly, he stopped and began to exert his strength.
With a light tap of his toes, he could leap over a dozen steps in one stride, rushing upwards at an extremely fast speed.
"Holy crap... Does this guy have no limits?" Nangong Xu was dumbfounded.
The boy's speed did not slow down over time; on the contrary, it increased! He quickly caught up with the disciples who had climbed more than six thousand steps. While the other disciples struggled to crawl under the oppressive force, he easily ran up to them.
He surpassed Jin Jin, Chen Jie, and then Wu Rongqiu, finally jumping ahead of Liu Huaxu to become the current number one.
Liu Huaxu stared in disbelief at the receding figure ahead. Nie Yi was simply a monster, showing no regard for any pressure.
Ye Hanyun was captivated by the scene before him, and he stammered, "I've only ever seen such a scene with my senior sister..."
"What? Qi Yuan walked up the Heavenly Ladder?" Ye Ting asked, catching the name.
"Yeah, bro, you guys don't know, my senior sister was really good at this training, she personally taught us how to do it." Ye Hanyun said proudly.
Ye Munian excitedly shook Ye Hanyun's head, surprisingly not angry even after being hit by her: "Who is this disciple?! He looks so familiar, he's qualified to be my junior brother!"
“It’s Nie Yi, he’s quite outstanding.” Lu Wenxing glanced at him helplessly.
"Damn it... I should have written his name..." Ye Munian regretfully bit his nails.
"What's your name?" Ye Yu asked.
Ye Hanyun laughed it off: "You'll find out soon enough."
After a while, the sound of fireworks rang out from the top of the sky. Everyone looked up and saw the fireworks launched from the top, which also meant that the first disciple had completed the Heavenly Ladder.
Without a doubt, this disciple was Nie Yi.
Another hour passed, and as darkness fell, disciples gradually finished their journeys. Up to now, seven disciples have passed.
Sparks flew across the sky, and in the next instant, forty-nine disciples were teleported down simultaneously.
"What do you mean?" Duan Yu asked.
Ye Hanyun: "Master means that the selection is over and he won't wait any longer. Let's go back to the sect. The formal selection of personal disciples will be held soon."
"Senior Sister?" Ye Munian exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you only arriving now? The selection process is over, and we were just about to return to the sect."
"Hmm. Let's go." Qi Yuan replied, seemingly unrelated to the question, her head lowered so her expression was unreadable.
Ye Hanyun sensed something was wrong, but still didn't speak.
The group got up and returned to the Silver Bamboo Sect. The sect leader, two senior uncles, and seven disciples had already been teleported back to the main hall.
The seven disciples lined up in the order they passed: Nie Yi, Liu Huaxu, Wu Rongqiu, Wen Lian, Chen Jie, Jin Jin, and Shen Yange.
Yun Xingjun sat in the main seat and waited for everyone to arrive before slowly getting up.
Qi Yuan understood, took out the quality test ball, placed it in her palm, and stepped forward: "This is the quality test ball, which can test your spiritual roots to judge your aptitude. Five spiritual roots are the worst, and one spiritual root, which is the best, is the best. Among the five attributes, earth spiritual root is the worst, and ice spiritual root and water spiritual root are the best. Nie Yi, step forward three steps, and I will start testing your spiritual roots."
Without hesitation, Nie Yi stepped forward and placed her hand on the mass measuring ball, which flashed with a dazzling blue light.
Qi Yuan shouted loudly, "Nie Yi, 14 years old, Heavenly Spiritual Root, Ice Attribute!"
Shock flashed in everyone's eyes, and a fleeting hint of jealousy crossed Yun Xingjun's eyes. Ye Hanyun said, "No wonder Senior Sister likes this boy; he's just like her."
Pei Yin scoffed dismissively, "What's so great about that? I'm just like my senior sister."
"Liu Huaxu, 13 years old, Heavenly Spiritual Root, Wood Attribute."
"Wu Rongqiu, 14 years old, dual spiritual roots, water attribute."
"Wen Lian, 13 years old, dual spiritual roots, fire attribute."
"Chen Jie, 14 years old, has three spiritual roots, and is of the wood attribute."
"Jin Jin, 12 years old, has three spiritual roots, and is of the water attribute."
"Shenyang Ge, 13 years old, three spiritual roots, earth attribute."
After reading it aloud, Qi Yuan took out a piece of paper and said, "The candidates recommended by the eldest disciple Qi Yuan are: Liu Huaxu and Nie Yi. The candidates recommended by the second disciple Ye Hanyun are: Chen Jie and Wen Lian. The candidates recommended by the third disciple Ye Munian are: Wu Rongxue and Jin Jin. Please make the decision, Sect Master and Martial Uncle."
Yun Xingjun spoke with the three of them separately, and as his personal protégés, each of them could recommend two candidates.
The only song from Shenyang that wasn't recommended was nervously held.
Yun Xingjun smiled and stood up: "I have decided to accept Nie Yi as my last disciple."
Nie Yi asked seriously, "Can I refuse?"
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