Chapter 719: Heart Refining Road!
Clang!
A clear bell rang across the mountain range.
In an instant, all the cultivators scattered throughout the area sprang into action and quickly gathered toward the foot of the mountain.
Just as Fatty Chu had predicted, the number of participants in this Recruitment Convention had surpassed one hundred thousand. The crowd stretched across the mountain foot like a vast sea of people, and the scale was terrifying.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Suddenly, more than ten green-robed elders appeared before the crowd.
The aura of each elder was unfathomable. When their presences gathered together, they felt like an abyss and an ocean, vast beyond measure and impossible to gauge. The pressure they released caused awe to rise from the hearts of everyone present.
The leader among them had a lean face and bright eyes. His eyebrows were crimson red, flickering like burning flames, making his appearance impossible to forget after a single glance.
"My name is Daoist Scarlet Brow, and I am one of the vice peak masters of Myriad Manifestation Peak."
His voice was calm. Although he did not speak loudly, every word clearly reached the ears of everyone present.
"I will be responsible for this entire Recruitment Convention. Of course, the elders from the other peaks will also be supervising."
"During the assessment process, everything will be based on fairness and justice. Any method of cheating or malpractice, once discovered, will immediately result in the removal of your assessment qualification. From that moment onward, you will also be permanently forbidden from entering within ten thousand miles of Profound Origin Immortal Mountain."
"You may use different methods to compete during the assessment, but you must not take another person’s life. Anyone who violates this rule will also be disqualified and permanently forbidden from entering Profound Origin Immortal Mountain."
"Have all of you understood?"
"Understood!"
Tens of thousands of cultivators answered at the same time.
Their voices were incredibly loud, rising into the sky and forcefully scattering the clouds above.
"Very good."
Daoist Scarlet Brow nodded in satisfaction and said, "Next, we will begin the first stage of this Recruitment Convention, the Heart Refining Road."
"The rules of the Heart Refining Road are simple. All of you will undergo the trial in batches, with ten thousand people in each batch. You must climb from the foot of the mountain to the summit. Anyone who fails to reach the summit within one hour will be eliminated."
"Based on the one-hour limit, the faster you reach the summit, the better your result in this stage will be."
"Now, the first batch of cultivators shall begin the assessment."
He suddenly waved his hand, and a fiery red light enveloped ten thousand people.
However, Li Yun and his companions were not covered by the red light. Fatty Chu, Qin Yuehan, Xuan Qiu, and the others were also not selected for the first batch.
"It is starting."
"I must take first place in the first stage of the assessment."
The ten thousand selected cultivators immediately became excited. Confidence filled their eyes as they quickly reached the starting position.
"Begin."
Following Daoist Scarlet Brow’s command, the ten thousand cultivators began sprinting at the same time.
Whoosh!
The one charging at the very front was a black-robed youth. His expression was indifferent, and his eyes remained fixed ahead. He did not even spare a glance at anyone else.
His speed was as fast as lightning. In only two or three breaths, he had left everyone else far behind.
"As expected of one of the seeded contestants in this Recruitment Convention."
At some point, Fatty Chu had returned to Li Yun and his companions. Looking at the black-robed youth in the distance, he said, "That person is called Wang Lie. He is the young sect master of the Abyss Prison Gate. Just like Xuan Long, he has already cultivated to the peak of the 9th level of Heavenly Core Realm at only twenty-five years old."
"Young sect master?"
Zhu Heng was stunned. "Since he is the young sect master of a sect, why would he still participate in the Profound Origin Immortal Sect’s Recruitment Convention?"
"What is strange about that?"
Fatty Chu casually replied, "The Abyss Prison Gate is merely a third-rate force. The young sect master of a third-rate force means nothing at all in the Central Continent."
"However, Wang Lie is indeed an unusual person. He comes from a third-rate force, yet he managed to reach such a realm at his age. Even within the Profound Origin Immortal Sect, he would be considered a genius. He has a great chance of becoming an elite disciple."
"Mhm."
Li Yun nodded.
Wang Lie’s strength was indeed formidable. In the short time they had been speaking, he had already left the second-place contestant far behind.
A moment later, Wang Lie rushed to about one-fifth of the way up the Heart Refining Road. Suddenly, a formation appeared from the ground and instantly enveloped him.
However, before even a single breath passed, Wang Lie rushed out again and continued charging forward. It seemed as though the formation had not affected him at all.
"An illusion formation. As expected, the trials set by the Profound Origin Immortal Sect will not be so simple."
Fatty Chu’s expression became solemn as he glanced at the formation with a thoughtful look.
Although the assessment methods of the Profound Origin Immortal Sect’s Recruitment Convention were mostly similar each time, the first stage always adopted different methods, with no fixed pattern to follow.
The purpose of this stage was mainly to screen out and eliminate ninety percent of the assessors. Because of that, even if it was not extremely difficult, it would definitely not be easy.
If someone treated it lightly just because it was the first stage, the result would certainly be tragic.
In the blink of an eye, Wang Lie rushed to the two-fifths mark of the Heart Refining Road, where another illusion formation appeared.
This time, Wang Lie still did not hesitate. He directly rushed out of the illusion formation. By now, he had already opened up a distance of several hundred meters from the contestant in second place.
After that, illusion formations also appeared at the three-fifths and four-fifths marks of the Heart Refining Road, but they were still unable to stop Wang Lie.
In less than half an hour, he successfully reached the end of the Heart Refining Road.