It was my first time riding on a giant bird which was soaring through the clouds at astonishing speed. It was around 30 minutes since we departed from the clan and the sun was setting on the horizon.
The Second Elder was using qi to prevent himself and me from being affected by the air pressure and winds, which would have made a normal person fly far off in the blink of an eye at this speed, so we couldn't hear wind noise, and it felt...peaceful.
The scenery was so beautiful and peaceful that I started getting flashbacks of my best friend and my niece...it reminded me of my purpose.
I slowly clenched my fists and vowed to myself that nobody was going to stop me from meeting them in the far future.
The Second Elder was quietly sitting in front of the Vermillion bird and watching the setting Sun, too, as there was a spark in his eyes, but no one knew what he was reminiscing about.
My gaze lay fixed on the horizon as my thoughts drifted to the recruitment test, every year when this test was held, first everyone's spirit base would be checked which almost everyone already knew and it was important but not too important as there were other aptitude required to, namely the unique physiques, exceptional battle instincts, instant and fast comprehension of techniques, talisman making, alchemy, blacksmithing and many more.
While my mind was busy with my thoughts, it was already getting night as the sun crossed the horizon and said goodbye to another day.
After hours of travelling, we crossed The Crimson Peak finally, and in the distance could make out the big gates of a Sect which confirmed that we had truly reached our destination
As we reached near the gate, we saw a lot of people travelling on land and also in the air on other beasts, all these people also came here for the sect recruitment test just like me.
After finding a clear space, the Vermillion bird landed on the Elder's com, mand, and I quickly got off it and stared in the Vermillion bird's eyes for some seconds while that bird too was staring at me intensely.
Nobody knew the reason, but everyone nearby could feel the sparks of hatred and challenge in the air, just as I thought I was gonna blink and lost to a mere freaking bird because I couldn't directly beat it for the nausea it caused me, the Elder's words caused both of us to look instinctively at him at the same time.
"There is still some time left and the platform for the Sect recruitment test is near the boundary, but not near the doors of the sect, so we will have to walk there," said the Second Elder.
"So why didn't we directly go there instead of landing at the gate?" This question made the Elder pause and he looked at me for some time, which somehow made me feel offended for some reason.
I could see in his deadpan look that it seemed to tell that you don't even know that much. How would I fu*king know if you don't tell me, and this is the first time I have ever come to a sect, you idiot of an Elder. But I kept it to myself and embarrassedly asked the reason once again.
He just sighed and spoke like he was looking at an idiot, "Because inside is the area of Xiantian Sect, and others besides the disciples and elders of the sect aren't allowed to fly over here without permission."
After listening to his explanation, I understood why everyone was getting off their flying and ground beasts and carriages here instead of directly going to the platform. Well, I guess it would be a good stretch for the legs.
I shrugged to myself and started walking with the Elder, just like everyone, towards the gates of the sect. The sect doors were open today, and everyone was allowed after a quick artifact scan.
I raised one of my eyebrows at this and thought that the shopping mall security also crossed over with me, or what? But I soon heard the reason from nearby,
"Isn't that the artifact which can detect even the faintest trace of demonic energy..." Said one of the two people walking on my right side.
"Yes, that's exactly the one. But if they are using it on us, it means that there can be a demonic cultivator among us trying to infiltrate with us." Said the other.
"Yeah, anyone can be the demonic cultivator...wait, how did you know that there are infiltrators when nobody is sure, don't tell me you yourself are a demonic cultivator." Said a third person from the side and started running forward frantically, many people just smirked at his stupidity.
Honestly, who wouldn't? That kid was just stating a plausible theory that there may not be, like he said, there is, well, there really can be all sorts of people in this world.
Till the time everything ended and we crossed the gate and reached the platforms without any other major dramatic scenes, we found seven people sitting on top of seven seats at 40m above us in front of us, and the way to reach there? A hundred something stairs...really? Can't you people just be on the ground, what's with acting haughty like this?
I really can't understand the mind of a cultivator. Sigh....
As everyone reached and climbed on the platform, people started getting separated from where they came, as only the test takers had to stand on the stage. I made my way and stood in one of the middle columns and almost at the end of the row.
There was a particular reason I chose this location, and just as I expected, when I looked toward my left at the far end of the leftmost row, stood a very handsome man who could even rival the top superstars of Hollywood from my world.
And that's when I knew, yup, that's definitely the protagonist face and aura, or at the very least the main supporting character.
And just as I thought of this a bearing voice came from one of the seven people on the top, particularly from the man on the rightmost who stood up from his seat and started speaking,
"The time for this year's recruitment test has arrived. Don't allow any more people to enter the sect for the recruitment test, and let's start by telling you the contents of the test."
"First, everyone should have their spirit bases checked, which will determine their speed of cultivation in the future."
"Second, everyone will have to follow until the entrance of a forest where there are low-level and even mid-level beasts, and your purpose is to defeat them and take out their core to receive points.
The point reward system will be like this:-
1st stage Qi Gathering core - 1 point
2nd stage Qi Gathering core - 3 points
3rd stage Qi Gathering core - 10 points
Now, as you know how many points you can get from low-level beasts now it's for the mid-level beasts,
4th stage Qi Gathering core - 30 points
5th stage Qi Gathering core - 90 points
6th stage Qi Gathering core - 270 points
And that's not all, there are also 5 High-level Qi Gathering beast at the 7th stage and for defeating it, you would get a total of 1500 points, yes that's a lot but don't forget the fact that 7th tier beasts are not called high-level for no reason, so as everyone has understood it, you should know every place requires competition so out of you 17,864 people only the top 2,000 will be accepted as a disciple so now that everything is made clear step forward one by one from every row together at same time to get your spirit base checked."
A lot of people were quite shocked by the harsh requirements, but many people silently nodded as everything in the world follows the same rule "survival of the fittest."
I also felt pity for those who might not get accepted, but later reminded myself that I should only focus on myself; I am not a saint who worries about everyone in the world.
- What a hypocritical line from someone who, in their initial days in this world, took pity on a beggar and almost died due to it, well, let's not delve into that.
I quickly jotted down the points that each beast can give me in my mind as I wanted to be a personal disciple but did not want to draw too much attention as many people were from more powerful families, different and opposing factions, and many more, so standing out would do me more harm than good.
Everyone started getting their spirit bases checked and there were also quite a few commotions as three people were found out to have 1st grade spirit root and one of them was the same man I saw in the back of the leftmost line, after hearing the murmurs I quickly came to know the name of the person - "Ye Feng." Yuppppp, definitely a protagonist.
And as I heard the other two names, I saw a boy with a refined body and a graceful aura- too graceful, like he was some sort of poet who had found out the mysteries about the world, he was "Jian Wuxian." And just as I shook my head at the sight of some girls drooling, imagining God knows what, I caught the sight of the third person...and my heart skipped a beat.
There she was...standing like a goddess, her black hair cascading like a waterfall, her blue enchanting eyes, and her hourglass figure - her name was "Lan Xue", seeing her made the eyes of many disciples shine with different intentions, but that's not what I was focused on...
Yeah..she was beautiful but there were also 2 more people and one was on the same level or maybe even surpassing her... she was "Xiao Yu" and "Li Qing" and let's be honest, I have seen many supermodels in my past life and Xiao Yu was also a little better with her thin and graceful figure and face than Lan Xue but when I saw Lan Xue...
My heart started beating uncontrollably like it might jump out of my chest and run away, I didn't know what was happening to me, or maybe I did... but god...how beautiful she was...I was feeling like... that even the heavens might not grant me such love and peace compared to my love for her.
If someone asked me...What I liked the most about her...my answer would be... I don't know...I...I just felt like I would give my everything away for her, to protect her, to embrace her, to...love her.. and that's when I understood what people called love at first sight....