After taking down the 7th-stage beast, we took a slight break. Now, everyone had realized that if we were not going to hunt a 7th-stage beast again, staying in this big team would be a lot less efficient for everyone.
Luo was the first to bring up the matter." Let us split apart so as not to hinder each other's goals. I am thinking of going solo to train my battle instincts, so let's meet at the end of the test. All the best to you all."
As he said this, he got up and patted my shoulder, winked at me, and started walking away. It was fortunate that Lan Xue didn't notice his wink, but what I didn't expect was that Ying Yue and Li Hua already had an inkling of my feelings.
Ying Yue spoke up straightforwardly, " I and Li Hua will then go together as our strengths and goals are the same, not to mention we already have a good synergy. Let's meet at the end of the test. All the best."
After saying this, they also got up and disappeared into the forest ahead.
It was then that I realized that I was alone with Lan Xue, making my face slightly heat up. After some seconds of mustering my courage, I said, " Would you like to move together with me, as we are the only ones left?"
She narrowed her eyes, seemed to ponder slightly and then readily agreed which genuinely surprised me. Now I couldn't stop thinking about the reason she agreed to travel with me.
Lan Xue was genuinely interested in the boy in front of her, a luttle curious, as to how he was able to cross 4 minor realms in one go without even using a talisman.
So she agreed to hunt with me, as she had already noticed I was usually a little quiet and didn't seem to harbor any ill intentions towards her, unlike those disciples on the platform from earlier.
We started moving, usually I tried to speak to her a little and she easily replied and talked back to me, making our conversations to get smoother,
And that's how I came to know that she was the daughter of the Matriarch of the Lan clan from the central region, and also that she was somehow related to the Imperial Family, but didn't mention the exact relation.
After hearing her last words, my brain started overthinking at a speed not even rockets from my past life would be able to achieve.
What could her relation with the Imperial Family... don't tell me she is engaged or has a fiancé like in those clićhe novels.
My heart clenched at that thought, but I quickly shook my head and tried to control my inner turmoil and asked, " Umm... Do you have someone you like? You know, someone of the opposite gender."
She halted a little, narrowed her eyes, and looked at me, but I tried my best to keep a straight and puzzled face to not show any of my emotions. Was she an idiot for not noticing my strange behavior until now? Obviously not and after listening to my question she connected the dots and smiled slightly as she replied,
" Maybe, maybe not. Why? You want to try?" she asked with a teasing smile on her face, which made my face as red as a tomato. She was genuinely surprised by my blushing face and started laughing at my reaction.
But what she didn't expect was my next words " Umm...Hmm... Can I?". She looked slightly shocked at my sudden courageous action but I knew that in this world of hawks, I needed to act for what I wanted as early as possible.
She smiled lightly and spoke, " If you can, sure, but it won't be easy." I instantly replied, " I will do my best."
She smiled and didn't say anything more, but what I didn't know was that she was also slightly interested in me after watching my actions, but still didn't let her guard down, as many people will do anything to achieve their goals in this world.
---
Hours had passed by, and night had come, and we had gotten a little closer, and she now talked to me without any pretense, and thinking, as she now knew I was the son of the Patriarch of the Xuan Clan, and she also had heard stories about me as a failure with multiple element spirit roots.
This fact had genuinely shocked her, as to how I was at the 4th stage when I was called a waste, but she simply connected that to a mysterious encounter I might have gone through, which gave me an opportunity.
Such opportunities were rare but weren't impossible. At night, we trusted each other's backs and took turns sleeping and keeping watch as we had built enough trust with each other.
When the rays of the morning sun started becoming brighter, we resumed our hunt, and after hours of hunting, I now had a total of 1350 points if it was calculated from the beast cores, and Lan Xue had a total of 1500 points.
I gave some of my beast cores to her and told her the reason for not wanting to stand out too much. She didn't ask much, as she had already thought the reason for my trying to hide my progress would be related to my encounter.
As the sun started to reach directly above our heads, we started heading back to the platform as the test was gonna come to an end.
By the time we reached the test platform where we had our spirit roots checked, there were already many disciples present, and many were heading towards it like us.
After waiting for some time, it was announced that the test had ended and our points would now be calculated. Nobody knew how many points someone else got until they told others themselves, as the cores were transferred to the beast cores collector assigned by the Elders directly through the use of rings.
The process went fast as there were more than 100 collectors, so after waiting for some more time, our ranks started to get displayed in the air with the help of some sort of artifact.
The rankings were:
1- Ye Feng (2200 points)
2- Jian Wuxian (1970 points)
3- Lan Xue (1500 points)
4- Xiao YU (1420 points)
5- Xuan Yuan (1350 points)
...
I heaved a sigh of relief seeing the results as I was not in top 3 to get attention but also back in the ranks of top 5 to get assigned an elder as a master as I was sure that all of our fights were being watched by them so they would have definitely seen the 8th-stage prowess used by me without a talisman which should have piqued some of their interests.
One of the Elders from the seven seats stood up — specifically, the third one from the left — and spoke in a deep, resonant voice, "I, Lu Cheng, wish to take Yu Feng and Jian Wuxian as my disciples. Do you agree, disciple Jian Wuxian?"
It was safe to say that as the top performer of the recruitment test, Jian Wuxian could already be considered a disciple of the Xiantian Sect. The Elder's words were merely a formality, a gesture of respect to the young man's extraordinary talent.
However, just as Yu Feng was about to reply, the person seated at the center — the middlemost of the seven — slowly rose to his feet. His presence alone seemed to silence the entire arena. "I, Vice Master Xu Rongfeng of the Xiantian Sect, wish to take Yu Feng as my personal disciple," he declared, his calm yet commanding tone echoing across the hall.
The atmosphere shifted immediately. It was as if the very air froze in awe. The result was clear — Yu Feng quickly bowed and agreed to become the Vice Master's disciple, politely rejecting Elder Lu Cheng's offer.
The elder's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly, a subtle sign of displeasure, for it was no small matter to lose such a prodigious talent but who was he to contend against the vice sect master of the sect for a disciple. So, he said nothing further.
The Vice Master had already given him enough face by not taking both Yu Feng and Jian Wuxian as his disciples.
This unexpected exchange caused quite a stir among the watching disciples. Murmurs spread like wildfire — after all, when both an Elder and the Vice Master competed over a single recruit, it showed just how sought after the top performer truly was.
Then, to add to the growing tension, the person seated on the rightmost seat rose gracefully. She was a woman clad in flowing azure robes, her beauty serene and somewhat enchanting to the eyes. "I, Elder Mei Yuhan," she said in a soft and commanding voice, "wishes to take Xuan Yuan and Lan Xue as my disciples."
Her words once again shook the spectators, for she had chosen the third and fifth rankers, skipping the fourth ranker entirely. Yet, to everyone's surprise, no elder stood up to contest her decision. Perhaps, after witnessing the synergy between Xuan Yuan and Lan Xue during the trials, the elders had realized that separating the two would only hinder their future growth, something the Xiantian Sect could not afford to do with their top performers.
Lan Xue and I exchanged glances, we nodded to each other, before we both stepped forward, bowing deeply to greet our new master. Soon after, Xiao Yu too was chosen by another elder, and in the following moments, ten to twelve more disciples were selected by various inner and outer sect elders.
With that, the recruitment test of the Xiantian Sect came to an end. Many stayed in the sect with bright smiles and new hopes, while others went back where they came from while carrying gloomy faces and heavy hearts.
This scene once again reminded me that this world only allowed the fittest and strongest to survive. I clenched my fists, determination surging through me and swore to myself to become the strongest.