Chomp~
Biting down on one of the delicious fruits that had appeared in front of her shortly after the box of words disappeared, Mui could not help silently cursing the people and orphans, who had told her all sorts of scary stories about how dangerous cultivator trials were.
How was the trial she was going through dangerous in any way? Not to mention the fact that there weren't any terrifying demon beasts hunting her down like she had been told would happen, she was even being given a lot of delicious fruits to enjoy without having to do anything!
Lost in thought for a moment, Mui could not help remembering how she had refused to join any of the recruitment trials that were set up by the different large powers that existed inside the city due to the scary stories she had heard about those trials ending up with most of the participants dying... But thinking about it again, Mui clearly remembered that the powerful forces would only accept a limited number of people every time they held a trial to pick new recruits or disciples to join them...
"Did the others perhaps lie to me for a better chance to pass the tests and get taken in by those powers...!?" Muttering this to herself as she seemed to understand what had happened, Mui could not help feeling angry when thinking about the older orphans who had constantly told her stories of the terrifying trials they had once taken part in.
Now that she thought about it, she always thought the people who didn't come back from joining one of those trials had ended up dead... But from the looks of it, they had most likely managed to pass the trial and enter one of those large powers in control of the city!
"Ah! I shouldn't waste my time like this!" Suddenly realizing that she had wasted more than half an hour of her time sitting in her own thoughts while chomping down the seemingly endless supply of delicious fruits that had been provided to her, Mui quickly got up and began to look through the books on one of the bookshelves in front of her. Beginning her search for a cultivation technique.
Chomp~
Not forgetting to bring a few of the delicious fruits along with her to enjoy during her search for a suitable cultivation technique.
As for how to judge if she was suitable for a cultivation technique? Mui had no experience in this regard...
For now, she had decided that the most logical way to judge this was to go off how well she understood the different cultivation techniques. In her head, the easier it was for her to understand a cultivation technique, the better suited for her it was!
...
[The first trial set up by the system has been activated by a potential disciple, due to this being the first time a trial has been activated, you will be informed about their progress. After the trial is over, you will have the chance to transport the potential disciple to your location if the potential disciple successfully overcomes the trial.
Be aware that this will only happen the first time, for the rest of the trials, the potential disciples will be given a special token and get informed about the Star Shattering Sect's location and will have to find their way to the sect on their own.
One of these special tokens can be found inside your interspatial ring, it is recommended that the host makes sure that potential disciples carrying the special token will have the ability to join the Star Shattering Sect even when the host is not present.]
Flying above a large mountain range that stretched on for as far as the eye could see, Xuan Hao could not help looking towards the system prompt that had suddenly appeared in front of him out of the blue with a surprised expression on his face.
"The trial inside one of the thousands of interspatial rings I threw out was activated!? Hm... I wonder just what kind of geniuses managed to accomplish this..." Feeling a bit excited as he said this, Xuan Hao used the temporary function given to him by the system that allowed him to track the progress of the first trial.
[Trial Participant: Mui (random name, generated based on native names from the Ewaria Continent)]
"Huh...? Random name?" Reading the first part of the description of the person currently undergoing the trial hidden inside one of the interspatial rings he had thrown out, Xuan Hao could not help showing a confused expression on his face upon seeing what was written next to the trial participants name.
[Status: Nameless Orphan]
However, after reading the next part of the description, a look of understanding appeared on his face. Although... he had never expected for the first person to get the opportunity of entering one of the trials managed by the system to be a nameless orphan.
[Age: 12]
[Talent: 78]
[Cultivation Realm: Nonexistent]
[Progress: First Trial (Test of Comprehension)]
[Time limit for First Trial: 7 Days]
Reading the last bit of the description, Xuan Hao could not help wondering about something that had been on his mind for some time now. Two of his disciples, Bai Ning and Chu Yang, were also orphans who did not have any clue who their parents were before he took them in. Did becoming an orphan happen to increase one's natural talent...?
Although he understood that there would be no way for him to answer this question, Xuan Hao had feeling that it might be a good idea to mention this to Elder Song when he got back, so he could ensure that the Star Shattering Sect made sure to send out people to recruit from the different cities located inside the territory to give these orphans a chance to enter one of the Star Shattering Sect's branches.
This way, the chance of them missing a possible heaven defying genius like Mui would reduce significantly...
"I hope she manages to pass the trial given by the system, it would be a pity to not take in such a talented person as my disciple..." Quietly watching the floating screen in front of him for a few more seconds, Xuan Hao put it away before looking down towards the mountain range below him where a strange hole had appeared in the side of one of the largest mountains, whose peak was far higher up than the current height he was flying at.
Ever since he had started flying over the mountain range, he had a feeling that there was something weird about the mountain range below him. All over the mountain range, countless similar holes could be seen in the different mountains of the mountain range, some large and some small.
The only problem was that he could not figure out what it was. Even using his domain and divine sense to investigate had not managed to yield any results.
Now, the giant hole in the side of the mountain gave him a feeling that the origin of the weird feeling he had felt could be found if he entered the large hole.
Hm... Should I ignore it and continue my journey back towards the sect, or should I explore-
RUMBLE-!
Just at this moment, as Xuan Hao was debating with himself whether he should enter the giant hole to explore where the weird feeling was coming from or not, a loud rumbling sound echoed out across the entire mountain range.
RUUUUUUUMBLE-!
Not a second later, a massive worm like creature with a width easily the size of a small mountain emerged from the giant hole in the side of the large mountain before it burrowed into another side of the mountain before disappearing. Only leaving behind a brand-new hole the size of a small mountain in the now hollow looking mountain that looked like it was about to collapse at any moment due to the two massive holes that were now present.
"..."
Swish-!
Not wasting a single second after seeing this, Xuan Hao used the Drifting Cloud Steps to rapidly escape from the mountain range. Not wanting to stay there for even a second longer after having personally seen the massive worm-like creature that lived below the mountain range.
Even if it had only been for a short moment, Xuan Hao had clearly been able to sense the strength of the worm-like creature that was even above that of the old ancestor from the imperial family!
Although he understood that the territory under the Sky Empire was not truly under their control, he had never expected for such a terrifying worm-like creature to be present in one of the places devoid of any cultivators... But then again, he also began to understand why some places in the core region of the Sky Empire had been designated as places even Soul Ascension Realm Experts could die in.
The mountain range he was currently passing over was not one such location. Instead, it had been designated as still under investigation and was considered safe as long as one did not enter the holes in the ground...