Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 58: Examination

Chapter 58: Examination

Zhao Xuan was standing on the edge of a platform terrace, stormy emotions raging within.

After joining the Outer Region, he had bitterly cultivated for 9 years, and he had finally broken through to the Sea of Qi stage half a year ago.

Today was the day of the Mountain Entry Examination. He had long since passed the participation check announced in the key jade slip, and he was currently waiting for the ship from Mountain Affairs Peak to come and pick him up so he could attend the Mountain Entry Examination that occurred annually in the Mingxin Mountain Range.

But there was not a soul in sight around him. It was just Zhao Xuan, all by himself. This small community of courtyards were all ordinary low-rank courtyards after all, and the place he was at was only about 300 meters up the mountain that made up the Outer Region. Aside from the several others who were still diligently cultivating, the remaining ones who should have passed the exam and joined a Peak had already done so. So this year, among the few dozens of courtyards here, there was only himself participating in the Mountain Entry Examination this time.

A rumbling sound rang out overhead, and gradually, a gigantic shadow was cast over the mountainside. A massive ship slowly descended and landed on the edge of the terrace, where it hovered slightly above the ground. There was a person standing at the very front of the ship, with two disciples standing in attendance behind him. He was robed in purple, and his expression was cold and solemn as he stood there with a jade slip in hand.

“Is this Courtyard Community 1566?” the purple-robed Daoist asked.

On the deck behind him, there were already around 100 disciples who had recently broken through to the Sea of Qi stage, and there were several peak Sea of Qi stage disciples among them who clearly hadn’t passed the examination in the past and were here to take it again.

Zhao Xuan hurriedly took a step forward and spoke in a loud voice, “Lord Deacon, this is indeed Courtyard Community 1566!”

The purple-robed Daoist waved his hand, opening the light barrier covering the ship. “You are the last person to get on the ship to attend this year’s Mountain Entry Examination. Hurry up and come aboard.”

Zhao Xuan used a Body Lightness Incantation and leaped through the air, traversing nearly 10 meters of void. He landed on the ship at last and joined the rest of the crowd.

At the purple-robed Daoist will, the light cover on the giant ship was restored, and it sailed off and gradually disappeared into the sky full of clouds and fog.

.

The giant ship was floating in the air above the Examination Hall at Mingxin Mountain Range’s Mountain Affairs Peak, but it hadn’t landed. Standing at the front of the ship was the purple-robed Daoist, who took out a transmission jade slip and spoke into it. “Senior Martial Brother Zuo, I’ve arrived at the Examination Hall. You can open the channel now.”

A moment after he finished speaking, a beam of rainbow light suddenly appeared from the upper part of the Examination Hall. The rainbow-colored radiance expanded rapidly, and in several breaths of time it transformed into a massive prismatic vortex, spinning with a brilliant halo of light.

The numerous disciples coming and going from the Mountain Affairs Peak only gave this sight a passing glance. They didn’t pay it any more attention, as they were clearly already aware of the occurrence of the Mountain Entry Examination, which happened annually.

But Zhao Xuan was rather impressed by the sight. He came from an ordinary peasant family in the Yan Province, which was a land that was under the jurisdiction of the Sacred Sect. When it was discovered that he had Grade 1 Profound Meridians, he was taken into the sect and entered the Outer Region of Mingxin Mountain. After 9 years of bitter cultivation, he recently broke through to the Sea of Qi stage, and was highly expectant and hopeful for the bright future ahead of him.

Clutching the 15 Spirit Stones closer to his bosom, Zhao Xuan steadied his pounding heart. He had heard long ago from other Senior Martial Brothers and Sisters who had taken the examination and hadn’t passed, that even though the examination was always slightly different each time, there would always be a test of combat strength, in the form of a series of battles.

In the last 9 years, he only occasionally used spirit stones to cultivate, and ordinarily he wasn’t able to bring himself to use them. With great effort, he managed to save up 15 spirit stones in the past few years in order to prepare for this examination, for him to use to recover his profound qi between each fight.

Because he was admitted into the Sacred Sect, his parents and clan members were rewarded a huge amount of gold and silver, so they no longer had to farm and work the land, and in all these years they had never once sent him a letter. Zhao Xuan could only smile bitterly about this. If he was fortunate and managed to pass this Mountain Entry Examination, he resolved to go back to the Yan Province to visit his parents and see how they were doing.

In fact, he didn’t really blame his parents for not getting in touch with him. After all, he hadn’t returned home even once after entering the Sacred Sect. Even if the Yan Province, where Zhao Xuan’s parents lived, was extremely close to the Sacred Sect’s Eight Mountains, they wouldn’t necessarily have been able to get in contact with him because they were just ordinary mortals. The only thing he could do was wait until he had an opportunity to leave the sect and visit his parents and clan members.

As Zhao Xuan was standing there lost in thought, the giant ship had already sailed into the rainbow vortex. After the ship disappeared into the vortex, it shrank, and at the end it became just a beam of light, which began to gradually flash slower and slower until it disappeared completely.

The giant ship slowly landed among a boundless sea of clouds.

The two disciples that were standing in attendance behind the purple-robed Daoist were directing the passengers to get off the ship and onto the sea of clouds.

Zhao Xuan pressed his foot down, testing the footing beneath him. The white clouds underfoot were very sturdy, and it was similar to the texture of the floor of a Spirit Cloud, but a bit more steady. The surrounding floor was all similarly composed of clouds, and the sky above was a vast expanse of white. Above this sea of clouds, there was only him, the boat, and the hundred or so disciples who came to attend the examination.

The purple-robed Daoist’s expression was just as cold and solemn as always. “As always, this year’s examination is held in the private Secret Realm above the Examination Hall. Although all of you here have cultivated to the Sea of Qi stage, not all of your combat strengths are necessarily at the Sea of Qi stage. Each person will have to participate in 3 battles. If you achieve victory in all of them, you will pass the examination,” he announced. He swept his gaze over the crowd before him and continued, “The time it takes you to finish the battles will have an influence on what Mountain Peak you can be assigned to.”

When the crowd of disciples heard this, they began to whisper excitedly among themselves.

There were 317 Mountain Peaks in the Mingxin Mountain Range, so just as there were stronger Peak Masters, there were also weaker Peak Masters. According to the rumors spread among disciples, the several of the strongest Peak Masters had already broken through to the realm past the Dao Foundation stage, reaching that unfathomable realm that the two Mountain Lords of Mingxin Mountain were at. It was rumored that high in the sky above the Mingxin Mountain Range, there were several floating palaces, which were the domain of those two Mountain Lords.

Every Mountain Range had a Saint Lord, but they were such a far off existence to these Sea of Qi stage disciples that they were practically myths and legends to them, so there was no point in them even bothering to think of them.

Naturally, Zhao Xuan also wanted to join a better Mountain Peak. The more powerful the Peak Master was, not only would they pass down stronger techniques and cultivation methods, but also the resources that would be allocated to their disciples would be more generous than that of weaker Peak Masters.

Moreover, of the weaker Peak Masters, most were disciples who joined a Peak and cultivated to the Dao Foundation realm, but then found that their cultivation was making no further progress. Then, after several hundreds of years of building up experience and seniority, they gradually ascended to the seat of Vice Peak Master, and then Peak Master.

The number of Dao Foundation stage disciples belonging to each Mountain Range didn’t exceed more than several hundred. Aside from those who were Vice Peak Masters or Peak Masters, there were also those that held positions of power. For example, it was common for Dao Foundation stage disciples to become Deacons, patrol the Mountain Ranges, or hold authority in a Hall of some kind.

There were also Dao Foundation stage disciples who didn’t hold any positions of authority whatsoever, and only focused on cultivation. These were the people who had hopes of reaching a higher cultivation realm, and at the Grand Inner Disciple Tournament, they were sure to make an appearance.

Seeing that the hubbub among the crowd was finally dying down, the purple-robed Daoist addressed the two disciples beside him. “Wu Liangyu, you will proctor the examination this time. Zhou Chao, you will be in charge of recording the grades.”

“Understood, Lord Deacon,” the two disciples responded respectfully.

This purple-robed Daoist was one of the Deacons of the Examination Hall of Mingxin Mountain Range.

Wu Liangyu took out a jade slip, then looked at the crowd before calling out, “Courtyard 1678, Zhao Xinyu.”

A middle-aged man stood up and stepped out from the crowd. Surprisingly, his cultivation was at the peak of the Sea of Qi stage. He bowed respectfully and said, “Yes, Zhao Xinyu is present.”

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