- Chapter 50 (1/2)

Entrance Examination, Demon Sinister Forest

The main path led to two different paths in the deepest region after the layer of fog. One passage would lead to the door of outer mountain of the sect and the other would lead to the door of inner mountain of the sect.

The discipleship ceremony was held in the outer mountain. All the disciples that had just joined were considered outer disciples. The requirement for entering the inner mountain was to have a certain achievement and contribution towards the sect, and the disciple must be at least a level five Vein Opening cultivator. And if an inner disciple had accumulated sufficient contributions and reached level eight Vein Opening, he would be promoted as a deacon who would help with the affairs related to the sect.

When a deacon had reached the quota for contributions and had made a breakthrough to Harmonious Spirit realm, he would then be promoted as an elder of the sect.

There was a higher status than the elders and it was called the Four Honour Devils of Sinister Sparrow Sect.

Most of the sects consisted of this fundamental hierarchy. The only difference between a righteous sect and evil sect was the way they counted the contribution.

For example in the righteous sect, in a month’s time, if the disciples weren’t late for his class and didn’t cause trouble in the sect, he would be able to gain one point for contribution.

As for the evil sect, the disciples would be able to gain one contribution point if he had defeated at least three seniors or juniors given a month’s time.

The righteous sect emphasized on modest and morality whereas the evil sect emphasized on competition.

The door to Outer Mountain wasn’t open yet but the people who came for the ceremony had already gathered outside. For those experts who had come to enjoy the ceremony had entered Inner Mountain to rest. They were given a warm reception by the inner disciples in person.

Ning Fan lacked the interest towards the positions of Sinister Sparrow Sect. The Dark Yin Qi was the only thing that interested him the most and as for Lan Mei, he was only partially interested in her.

The door to Outer Mountain wasn’t open for a long time and the elders who would supervise them had yet to appear, as if they were testing their patience. In the path of cultivation, there is bound to be boredom and loneliness. If they lacked the patience, they wouldn't be able to succeed in the path of cultivation.

It was a long wait. Ning Fan sat down crossing his legs. He wouldn’t just stand there and waste his time. Even without dans, he could circulate his own magical powers to raise the soul of immortal vein. The speed of soul advancement was near to zero depending on his own magical power, but it was still better than doing nothing.

Unexpectedly, the first round of the test was the examination of patience. Initially, he thought that he just needed to move a few rounds in the sect to complete the procedure of being a disciple and it wouldn’t take long. Judging from the current scenario, the ceremony would take a lot longer than he expected to finish.

He was supposed to help Lan Mei treat her illness tonight but it seemed this had to be postponed for another day. To Ning Fan, this deed was very essential. So, he had to cure her illness no matter what but not tonight.

Some of them also followed Ning Fan and sat crossing their legs on the ground and circulated their magical power to unlock their immortal vein. They were the people who appreciated and valued cultivation. But majority of them were still waiting while their faces started to look impatient.

After three days of waiting outside the door. The other Vein Opening cultivators felt very hungry for they hadn’t eaten anything during their stay here and they didn’t fast before like Ning Fan.

There were some who couldn’t take it and just left. The earliest that left were mostly the younger generations of some ordinary but wealthy families. They couldn’t take the suffering because they thought cultivation should be relaxing, enjoying and happy. They wouldn’t have thought that it would be this torturous. Naturally, they felt disappointed and left.

Another three days passed. In these six days, none of them had taken any water or rice. Their bodies had grown weaker until it was unbearable. And then some of them left.

Another three days were gone. The remaining ones outside the door was just the third of the total participants. There were roughly two hundred of them.

Except Ning Fan, most of their faces did not look pleasant.

A few elders silently observed the people outside the door via spirit sense, they then nodded.

“There is actually approximately two hundred people who pass the first examination this year, which is good as compared to last year that only had a hundred of them. The elimination of Heaven Separation Sect has given us quite a huge advantage.” An elder in yellow robe smiled.

“En, it seems we will receive many elite new disciples this time. Especially that one who sat at the corner, the one who is in white clothes and black cloak, he has sat there for nine days without moving. He had a very steady and firm focus which is most suitable in the cultivation of evil because hastiness in evil cultivation will only lead to being possessed or enchanted. Thus, the most important thing was the firmness of the mind.”

An elder in black robe gently stroke his beard and praised Ning Fan.

These elders were merely Harmonious Spirit cultivators thus they couldn’t discern Ning Fan’s cultivation grade, or else they would be shocked.

Among the elders was a youth in black robe. He looked at Ning Fan with unnatural gaze.

“Young master of Seven Apricot – Ning Fan. You have come…”

This youth in black robe was the disciple of Yan Bai, otherwise known as one of the Four Honour Devils ‘Black Honour’. He was the youth named Yan Zhuiyun who was chased out of Mo Clan.

Currently, he had become an elder after finishing his quest. However, Ning Fan was still a frightening person that had been imprinted in his heart.

What the elders would normally do was ‘snatching talent,’ which meant they would pick the qualified and talented new disciple as their subordinate. Clearly, these few Harmonious Spirit elders had fixed their eyes on Ning Fan. The most possible scenario was these old men would really start snatching him once the examinations were over.

Yan Zhuiyun chuckled silently. He never thought of wanting Ning Fan to become his subordinate because that youth’s too scary. He was afraid that there were no elders here that was on par with him.

“This group of old men are dreaming irrationally. I assume their eyes will drop out after the examinations.”

After the filtering process of nine days, a few deacons of level eight Vein Opening opened the door when the sun went down.