Chapter 661: First Person to be Tested
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Everyone came to the Central Great Pavilion on Yun Peak (which is the main pavilion as mentioned on many occasions). From the outside, the pavilion looked extremely huge and majestic. The internal space of the pavilion was also expanded, thus when thousands of cultivators from the various great powers entered, they did not feel that it was congested at all. Rather, they thought that it was very spacious.
On the main seat of the pavilion, Lin Feng sat there. But it was not his actual body, rather, it was a projection of himself that he created using his mana.
The Marquis of Jinghuan arrived in the pavilion at this time. As he looked around him, he saw Zhu Hongwu.
Zhu Hongwu looked indifferent and stood with Liang Yuan. But where he stood seemed to be in the center of the Heavens and Earth, as he attracted the attention of others unwittingly. Only the people around Lin Daohan, Shi Yu’s avatar and Lin Feng’s projection were exempted from turning to look at Zhu Hongwu.
The Marquis of Jinghuan came before Zhu Hongwu and Liang Yuan, saying, "I still thought that the Marquis of Xuanji had left the mountain."
As he said this, not only did Liang Yuan creased his brows, even the Azure Pulse Swordmaster and Lei Lie did the same thing.
On the other hand, Zhu Hongwu remained calm, "Your judgment is wrong. You are still far off in your cultivation."
"I have indeed judged things wrongly." The Marquis of Jinghuan laughed, "I believed that such a powerful person like you was only able to reach where you are today because you never stop progressing forward and never bend down to failure. You know you can’t defeat Lin Feng, but once you are humiliated, you will never back down."
Zhu Hongwu placed his hands behind his back and he was very relaxed, "Lin Feng is very strong, but whether I can defeat him, I must challenge him first before I’ll know. If we have never challenged before, the result is unknown."
"No matter how powerful the opponent is, I will not lose my courage to strike first. This is my belief. But this time on Mount Kunlun, I will not challenge Lin Feng."
Zhu Hongwu’s eyes drooped and did not even look in the direction of Lin Feng. It was as if he was fearful.
Everyone, including the Marquis of Jinghuan, could feel how dangerous Zhu Hongwu was right now. He did not look at Lin Feng because he was suppressing his impulse to make a move.
"I can avenge this humiliation another day, but not today." Zhu Hongwu’s tone of voice was indifferent. "Liang An, your trick to batter my confidence is not working."
"Just do your job properly and don’t harbor any ill-intentions. I can tolerate you, otherwise, you should know that the mistakes that you have made, according to the law of the Great Zhou, are worth executions."
His tone of voice was very calm, but the Marquis of Jinghuan could feel the huge pressure. But he remained calm and nodded his head, "I acknowledge it. I am still far off from you, but I can make up the gap one day. When that happens, we shall talk again."
"Otherwise, it may seem as if you bully the weak and fear the strong."
With regards to the insult in the words of the Marquis of Jinghuan, Zhu Hongwu was unmoved. His emotions didn’t change and he just looked at the Marquis of Jinghuan indifferently, "Liang An, you are very foolish. You should know that this tactic will not work on me, and it can’t protect you either."
"Just like Zhu Yi, I won’t kill you because now’s not the time. If I want to kill the both of you, there’s no difference if the both of you are in the Immortal Soul Stage." Zhu Hongwu said. "That unfilial son thinks that he is protected by Lin Feng, while you think that you have more than one backer. But the both of you don’t realized that I don’t care about who your backers are."
"If I want to kill the both of you, I will do so. If your backers come and find me, it will be after I kill the both of you."
"That unfilial son thinks that he averted the disaster back in Tianjing because of Lin Feng’s physical spell body. But it’s just that the time is not ripe. The funny thing is that he is still ignorant of what’s to come, just like you."
After Zhu Hongwu said finished, he shook his head and shifted his gaze away. He was lazy to continue looking at the Marquis of Jinghuan.
The Marquis of Jinghuan remained calm as he heard Zhu Hongwu’s words. It’s only when Zhu Hongwu revealed that he knew about his several backers that the Marquis of Jinghuan was troubled. But he did not say anything and remained where he was.
As Zhu Hongwu shifted his gaze away, the Marquis of Jinghuan laughed slightly. At the same time, he turned his vision to other places.
The conversation between the both of them seemed to not have existed. Liang Yuan, the Azure Pulse Swordmaster and Lei Lie also maintained their expressions, as if they heard nothing.
Lin Feng’s projection of himself sat on the main seat in the pavilion and he looked at the pavilion calmly. While it seemed peaceful in there, there seemed to be a storm brewing. He remained calm and did not speak. Only when others greeted him did he return the greetings. At the other times, he was stoned in his position.
After all the guests had arrived, Lin Feng smiled, "Welcome all for the Sect-Opening Ceremony."
Shi Yu said, "For such a joyous occasion, it’s our honor to be here."
Lin Feng laughed while nodding his head and he looked at Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan stepped forward and he drew something in mid-space. His mana converted into a light figure and the images in the light figure changed. They revealed the view at the bottom of Yun Peak.
Zhu Yi was standing at the bottom of Yun Peak right now. And before him, there were hundreds of people gathered together. They were all people hoping to join the Celestial Sect of Wonders as disciples.
This was even after one round of selection had been done. Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi and the rest were sent to different places and they met the hopefuls who wanted to join the sect. They did their own screening over at their respective places and crossed out most of the people. The remaining ones who passed were brought to Mount Kunlun.
As they totaled everyone together, there were hundreds of them.
Although the numbers were greater than the previous two Sect-Opening Ceremonies, the quality of the people coming was actually greater. After three years, the status of the Celestial Sect of Wonders as a potential Holy Ground had become more and more ingrained in the minds of everyone. Many talented youths dreamed of joining the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
This test at the bottom of the Yun Peak was bound to sieve out more talented people.
Lin Feng said, "Let’s start." His voice was not loud, but it resonated through the entire Mount Kunlun.
Zhu Yi looked at all the people who were getting ready for the test and he said, "In front of all of you is the Heart-Revealing Steps of the sect. It is used to test all of you. Whoever wants to join the sect must go through it once."
"Follow the steps and go up. Those who can reach the top will enter the Celestial Sect of Wonders, but there’s a time limit. Those who take more than one day will fail. If you fail, go back and wait for your next chance." Zhu Yi looked across to the Cloud Mirror City, "All of you come from different places. If you have the wish to undergo the test of the Heart-Revealing Steps in the future, you can find somewhere to stay in the Cloud Mirror City temporarily. Everything is up to you."
Zhu Yi said, "If there’s no problem, all of you can ascend the mountain."
The Heart-Revealing Steps was quite reputable. It was formed from Lin Feng’s mana and it was spiritual by nature. It was not controlled by humans and was very fair. But it was also difficult to ascend it using tricks. There’s no secret manual to ascending it.
After several tries of the Heart-Revealing Steps, Lin Feng also tried to modify it to make it perfect. This was to enable him to search for the most outstanding talents to join the sect.
Once they were up the Heart-Revealing Steps, everything depended on their own abilities. Those who could ascend it naturally could ascend it, while those who couldn’t just couldn’t make it.
Even if one had someone he or she knew from the sect, that person would not be helpful. That was because the test of the Heart-Revealing Steps was customized for each and every person. There’s no experience to talk of or any items that could be useful in ascending it.
The powers of an Immortal Soul Stage cultivator might enable cheating, but Lin Feng would be able to detect such powers immediately. There seemed to be no way of cheating through this test.
That was because aiding all these backdoor methods, pulling strings and talking about favors were not easy tasks to carry out.
In the Central Great Pavilion, Lin Feng was sitting on his knees calmly. The guests also sat at their respective places and looked at the light figure in mid-space. Under the help of Lin Feng’s powers, Xiao Yan managed to show everything on the Heart-Revealing Steps.
Everyone remained quiet as they watched the candidates sink into their own illusions brought about by their innermost emotions
As Xiao Yan saw this, he revealed a smile on his face and communicated with Lin Feng, "Master, there are many potential talents."
Lin Feng smiled, "Indeed. There will be huge rewards this time."
The rest of the cultivators did not know what the judging criteria was with regards to the Heart-Revealing Steps, but those who were sharp could tell that there were talents in this bunch of candidates. Their performances were indeed more outstanding than the rest.
"The foundation of the Celestial Sect of Wonders is getting thicker and thicker." Everyone thought.
Some of the cultivators from the smaller sects turned their attention to the candidates who were lagging behind. They were thinking that if these candidates were crossed out by the Celestial Sect of Wonders, they might be able to attract them over instead.
There were many thoughts in everyone’s head. Lei Lie remained expressionless, but an evil look flashed across his eyes.
He focused all his attention on someone. As this person moved, a while later, he sighed and communicated with Zhu Hongwu and Liang Yuan, "He is among them."
Zhu Hongwu observed the countless figures around and did not speak. Whereas Liang Yuan asked, "Which one?"
Lei Lie said, "The first one."
Liang Yuan paused for a while, "The difficulty of the Heart-Revealing Steps’ test of the Celestial Sect of Wonders is very high. It seems like it’s true, but this person is very outstanding. Now it looks like your initial prediction is indeed accurate."
Lei Lie replied, "But if he enters the Celestial Sect of Wonders now, I believe things will be difficult to accomplish."
"Even if it is difficult, we still have to do it." Zhu Hongwu opened his mouth now.
Liang Yuan nodded his head, "There’s still time. You can plan and try to use your relationship to good effect. This may be useful."
"After all, he is your biological grandson."
Lei Lie was silent and did not speak for a while.
The Heart-Revealing Steps was a test that picked out the extraordinary individuals. Especially since it was a test of one’s character, it could filter out those with ill intentions.
After the Heart-Revealing Steps became famous, very little people attempted to try their luck anymore. There were those who thought they could get lucky, but they only humiliated themselves in the end.
After the first round of screening by Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi and the rest, the quality of this batch of candidates was more positive. The cultivators from the other sects were silent as they watched this batch of candidates.
The quality of the potential disciples was getting higher and higher. This reflected the reputation of the Celestial Sect of Wonders in the Divine Lands and that their influence was getting stronger and stronger.