Ling Tianwei naturally saw the scene before him, where all living things surged forth to contend for supremacy. In his eyes, it barely matched his style.
Soon, heaven and earth shifted. Ling Tianwei opened his eyes once more to find several figures standing before him—men and women, young and old, all radiating an intimidating aura.
But to Ling Tianwei, no matter how intimidating they were, they could not compare to himself.
Even under the pressure of Lingxu Sacred Land's elders, Ling Tianwei showed not the slightest emotional fluctuation. Neither servile nor overbearing, he gave a half-bow.
"Greetings, seniors and elders."
His calm words and composed bearing made the elders nod one after another. They were immensely satisfied with Ling Tianwei's performance.
There was a prerequisite, however. If Ling Tianwei had not appeared here with a Heavenly Spirit Root and the results of ascending the Heart-Questioning Stairway, but in some other manner, then in these elders' eyes, he would probably have been nothing more than some clueless fellow with no sense of propriety.
"Good, good... Ling Tianwei, are you willing to join my Jinxu Peak? The Sky-Burning Departing Fire Art of my peak is the most suitable cultivation art for your Pure Yang Heavenly Spirit Root."
Jinxu Peak's master, Zhang Heyang, was the first to speak.
"My Yunxiao Peak has several disciples ranked among Lingxu Sacred Land's beauties. If you are willing to join..."
True Lord Lanyu did not waste words and immediately brought it up.
Once he finished speaking, the other elders refused to be outdone, each throwing out inducements for joining their branches—magic treasures, pills, cultivation arts...
It was plain to see just how much of a hot commodity Ling Tianwei was.
Even so, Bai Muxu remained quietly to one side without saying a word.
"Stop arguing, stop fighting! Let Ling Tianwei choose for himself!"
No one knew which elder had been throwing faces about during the scramble, but someone roared in fury.
Only then did the elders finally calm down, realizing they had somewhat lost their composure. They immediately turned their gazes toward Ling Tianwei.
Feeling their eyes upon him, Ling Tianwei swept his gaze over them from side to side, his hands clasped behind his back. He looked exactly like someone picking out fresh goods at a vegetable market.
"Which of you elders is the strongest?"
Ling Tianwei did not care what he would gain by joining their branches. If he was going to take a master, then he would take the strongest one.
Only someone like that had a little qualification to become his master.
When Ling Tianwei spoke, none of the elders present answered. Yet from their shifting gazes, it was clear that they all glanced toward a certain spot.
That man carried a sword on his back and wore black-and-white robes. He had a sharp, commanding air about him and was young and handsome, though Ling Tianwei felt that his looks still fell slightly short of his own.
From their darting eyes, Ling Tianwei could more or less determine that this man was the strongest person present.
Seeing Ling Tianwei's reaction, the other elders and peak masters could not help sighing, knowing they no longer had a chance.
Bai Muxu felt the gazes around him and finally met Ling Tianwei's eyes.
Back at the Heart-Questioning Stairway, Bai Muxu had also believed Ling Tianwei possessed a Pure Yang Heavenly Spirit Root. Yet now that Ling Tianwei had arrived here, Bai Muxu somehow felt that his spirit root was strange. Still, he could not find what was wrong with it.
"Are you sure you want to join my branch and enter my Tianmen Peak?"
Bai Muxu looked straight at Ling Tianwei. His aura steadily rose, climbing higher and higher, until a sharp presence enveloped the entire great hall.
The various elders around them grew solemn as they looked at Bai Muxu.
"He has grown stronger again."
"At my place, there are none of the pills, magic treasures, or women they spoke of..."
Bai Muxu said as he slowly walked toward Ling Tianwei.
After he finished speaking, Ling Tianwei continued looking at Bai Muxu without fear.
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"I am willing."
At the same time, Li Tianwei added silently in his heart, Women will only slow down my cultivation.
As for Bai Muxu, in Li Tianwei's eyes, he was merely a stepping stone for cultivation.
Seeing this, Bai Muxu could not help smiling and nodded deeply.
"Good. From now on, you are my, Bai Muxu's, disciple."
"I will do my utmost to teach you. If you fail to meet my requirements, you will obediently go down the mountain."
"Greetings, Master."
Li Tianwei had not expected this cheap master of his to carry some of his own bearing, with a little swagger to him. As for Bai Muxu's so-called requirements, he directly ignored them.
What requirements? What difficulties? In Li Tianwei's eyes, none of them existed.
Nothing he set out to do had ever failed.
After Li Tianwei agreed to join Bai Muxu's Tianmen Peak, the other elders and peak masters could only settle for the next best thing.
Very soon, the results of the tests for those on the Heart-Questioning Stairway began to come in.
Aside from Li Tianwei, who had ascended the Heart-Questioning Stairway, Fang Mochen and Li Tianchen had both climbed beyond eight hundred steps and could become Personal Disciples.
Because of Li Tianwei's appearance, the two of them seemed somewhat dimmed.
One had a Top-grade Fire-Wood Dual Spirit Root, while the other had a Heavenly Spirit Root. In the past, they would have counted among the most gifted disciples recruited by the sacred land this time.
Unfortunately, with Li Tianwei present, they had become mere foils.
The other elders went through another round of contention.
Li Tianchen joined Lin Moyang of Muxu Peak, while Fang Mochen entered Yunxiao Peak and became True Lord Lanyu's Personal Disciple.
As for those who had climbed six hundred steps, they too entered the various peaks. The quality of disciples this time was far better than in previous years.
There were three Personal Disciples and dozens of core disciples...
But Li Tianwei had no interest in learning about any of that.
After agreeing to join Bai Muxu's branch, Bai Muxu brought Li Tianwei to Tianmen Peak.
Lingxu Sacred Land had eleven peaks. Each peak was overseen by a Deity Transformation elder serving as peak master, with several Nascent Soul Elders beneath them. Every peak was responsible for some of Lingxu Sacred Land's affairs.
For example, Muxu Peak was Lingxu Sacred Land's Pill Peak and Medicine Peak, responsible for pill refining, cultivating herbs, and so on... Jinxu Peak was responsible for Artifact Refining... Yunxiao Peak was Lingxu Sacred Land's Enforcement Peak.
Tianmen Peak, however, had only recently been established, so no duties had yet fallen upon it.
Bai Muxu was also a rising star of the past hundred years. He reached Foundation Establishment in a hundred days, Golden Core in three years, shattered his core to form a Nascent Soul in ten years, stepped into Deity Transformation in fifty years, and was now at the peak of Deity Transformation. He also possessed a Heavenly Spirit Root.
With such aptitude, Bai Muxu had the ability to establish a peak of his own.
And Li Tianwei was Bai Muxu's first disciple—his first disciple at present.
Before this, Bai Muxu had taken in several disciples, but unfortunately, every one of them had been driven from the peak.
None of those disciples had fulfilled his requirements. In Bai Muxu's eyes, he himself had reached Foundation Establishment in a hundred days without taking pills or relying on external objects. Yet the disciples he accepted could not even meet such a tiny requirement, so they simply were not qualified to be his disciples.
In others' eyes, Bai Muxu was harsh, but in Bai Muxu's eyes, was this not the most basic thing?
But if anyone tried to refute him, Bai Muxu would simply say, "Didn't I do it?" This left every elder and peak master of Lingxu Sacred Land speechless and unable to argue.
Still, Bai Muxu truly did have the capital to be so confident.