As the largest immortal cultivation sect in Jin'an Country, the Setting Sun Sword Manor, despite currently having only a little over a hundred disciples in total, possessed facilities within the manor that were far more complete than one might imagine.
Visually estimating, they were at the very least sufficient to accommodate the cultivation and daily living needs of two thousand disciples.
"After passing the first round of the assessment, for the subsequent second and third rounds, the three of us will be competitors."
Walking towards the direction of the Setting Sun Sword Manor's main hall, Shi Mingxu sighed with such a remark:
"Still, I hope all three of us can be accepted into the Setting Sun Sword Manor!"
Regardless of what happened before or what the future holds, at least at this moment, when Shi Mingxu said these words, he was genuinely sincere.
"Hmm, right."
"That's good."
However, Chen Yan and He Qingling behind him merely offered very perfunctory, cold responses to Shi Mingxu's words.
He simply walked at the front, searching for the room where Elder Han was waiting for the rogue cultivators who had passed the first round of assessment, as instructed by the Setting Sun Sword Manor disciple at the gate when they had just climbed Xiluo Mountain.
Namely, the third room from the right on the north side.
"This is the place..."
Shi Mingxu stopped, looking at the room before him.
Beside him, Chen Yan watched with an expressionless face as Shi Mingxu walked towards the room's door and knocked, then slightly lowered his gaze.
As a Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator, Chen Yan's spiritual sense ability had greatly improved compared to when he was in the Spirit Connection Realm.
Every blade of grass and every tree within a hundred-zhang radius was under the control of his spiritual sense.
He could perceive each breath and heartbeat of the two Qi Sea Realm cultivators hidden in the corners of the Sword Manor.
He could also perceive, at this very moment, within the room before him, the corpse of the Martial Spring Realm cultivator whose neck had been brutally twisted and broken by sheer force.
"This is too reckless."
As if talking to himself, Chen Yan said softly.
He Qingling turned her head, glancing in Chen Yan's direction with a somewhat puzzled look.
However, she clearly hadn't grasped who Chen Yan's words were directed at.
In He Qingling's view, this cultivator named Bao Kai was just a somewhat capable rogue cultivator from the Southern Region, nothing more.
Shi Mingxu stepped forward and knocked on the door twice.
No response came from inside the room. Shi Mingxu then knocked twice more gently and respectfully spoke outside the door:
"This junior, Shi Mingxu of Jincheng, has passed the Sword Manor's first round of assessment. May I ask what Elder Han's next instructions are?"
Still, there was no movement.
Feeling strange, Shi Mingxu looked back at Chen Yan and He Qingling behind him with great confusion.
"How about trying to push the door open directly?"
Chen Yan suggested.
"But that wouldn't be very appropriate..."
Shi Mingxu shook his head. After all, the other party was the Setting Sun Sword Manor's Manager Elder, a genuine Martial Spring Realm cultivator. In terms of cultivation level alone, he was on par with his own father. Adding status into the equation, the Setting Sun Sword Manor's Manager Elder could certainly overpower the head of Jincheng's Shi Family.
Barging in without receiving a response seemed a bit too rude.
Thinking this, Shi Mingxu reached out and knocked on the door twice more, only this time he used a bit more force.
There was still no response from inside the room.
Finally, Shi Mingxu made up his mind and raised his hand to push against the door before him.
Then the door swung open inward—
"Ah..."
Shi Mingxu's posture at the doorway instantly stiffened, and only a dry, short sound escaped his throat.
The light inside the room was somewhat dim, but it was still possible to see that Han Qianfeng, who should have been sitting and waiting in this room, lay on the blue stone floor inside in an extremely twisted posture. His head was tilted at a very exaggerated angle towards his shoulder, and at the neck connection, there was a terrifying depression and unnatural folds in the skin.
Elder Han, lying motionless on the ground, had his eyes open, but no trace of pain or struggle could be seen in them.
This indicated that this Martial Spring Realm elder had his neck twisted and broken in an instant, without even having time to react.
"Elder Han is dead..."
With a somewhat pale face, Shi Mingxu turned around and said to Chen Yan and He Qingling behind him:
"You two stay here and don't move. I'll go find someone from the Sword Manor to come and see!"
Immediately after, Shi Mingxu jogged away from the room, heading towards the direction of the Setting Sun Sword Manor's mountain gate.
Chen Yan stood at the doorway, gazing at the twisted corpse inside the room. He suddenly recalled that night many years ago when he and Chu Xiyao went to the outer court's Enforcement Hall to witness Steward Song's corpse.
For Chen Yan, that was the beginning of everything changing.
"You don't seem surprised at all."
A somewhat cold young woman's voice came from beside him.
Chen Yan slowly turned his head to look at the young woman beside him, suddenly remembering that this girl also claimed her name was "Xiyao".
"Isn't Fellow Daoist He the same?"
After a brief pause, Chen Yan simply said this.
Not long after, many hurried footsteps came from behind.
"What's going on!"
Over ten Setting Sun Sword Manor disciples followed behind Shi Mingxu, rushing towards the direction of this room.
Then several of the Setting Sun Sword Manor disciples directly entered the room, surrounding Elder Han Qianfeng's corpse, while the remaining disciples stayed outside the room, near Chen Yan, Shi Mingxu, and the others.
Judging from their positions, these Sword Manor disciples were clearly wary of Chen Yan and the others.
This was only natural.
The leading Sword Manor manager disciple walked over to Elder Han Qianfeng's corpse, squatted down, pressed his hand against Elder Han's twisted neck, then checked Elder Han's personal belongings. He quickly understood what had happened.
"You go to the Sword Manor's Enforcement Hall and find Elder Li."
This manager disciple said to another disciple beside him.
The Setting Sun Sword Manor had only a little over a hundred disciples in total, but though the sparrow was small, it had all the vital organs.
After all, the Setting Sun Sword Manor was now the number one immortal cultivation sect in Jin'an Country.
Even though the Setting Sun Sword Manor's Enforcement Hall consisted only of Elder Li, who was at the early Martial Spring Realm, and five Qi Circulation Realm cultivators.
Immediately after, that Setting Sun Sword Manor manager disciple walked out of the room and stood before Chen Yan and the others, raising his hands in a respectful salute:
"Fellow Daoists, please first come with me. Since you all discovered Elder Han's remains, I earnestly request your cooperation with our Sword Manor's Enforcement Hall work."
"This junior means no offense, but regarding the matter of the disciple recruitment assessment..."
Shi Mingxu asked somewhat hesitantly.
"As for this session of our Setting Sun Sword Manor's grand mountain-opening disciple recruitment ceremony, please wait for a response from our Sword Manor's elders or Manor Lord."
The Setting Sun Sword Manor manager disciple said.