After silently grumbling a few words, Emperor Heaven's face once again revealed a faint smile.
"King of Chu, please send a large army to maintain order when the time comes. Also, the three slots for your Chu Kingdom need not undergo testing this time. Consider them payment for sending out your army!"
Hearing that there was such a good deal, Xiong Shen hurriedly said, "Elder, rest assured. I will definitely send an elite army to help you maintain order. Regardless of who they are, anyone who dares violate the Primordial Beginning Palace's order will be an enemy of Chu Kingdom!"
"In that case, I'll take my leave first. See you at Purple Cloud Mountain in half a month!"
With that, Emperor Heaven directly used spatial movement and disappeared from the Chu Kingdom royal palace.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, inside the Primordial Beginning Palace on Purple Cloud Mountain, Sun Wukong and the others suddenly rose and walked toward the hall's entrance.
"Looks like quite a few people have come!"
"Mm, at least hundreds of thousands!"
As they spoke, the group lightly tapped their feet and transformed into four purple streaks of light, flying toward the foot of Purple Cloud Mountain.
At this moment, the foot of Purple Cloud Mountain was exceptionally lively.
A large contingent of Imperial Guard Army soldiers from the Chu Kingdom royal palace silently guarded Purple Cloud Mountain.
These Imperial Guard Army soldiers were quite powerful, with cultivation that had basically reached the Body Refining Realm! There were even quite a few who had reached the Innate Realm!
Their leader was a middle-aged general. His aura was ethereal, and a faint Profound Connection Realm might surrounded his body.
A Profound Connection Realm expert!
With such terrifying power, he could probably run rampant across the Divine Continent at this time. Even the disciples of secluded sects who traveled outside generally possessed no cultivation higher than this.
The fact that the King of Chu had sent out such a powerful Imperial Guard Army showed just how seriously he regarded the Primordial Beginning Palace.
"Commander, everyone is in position. Purple Cloud Mountain has been sealed off. Without your order, no one is permitted to enter!"
That's right, this leader was the commander of Chu Kingdom's Imperial Guard Army, one of only five Profound Connection Realm experts in Chu Kingdom.
Upon hearing this, the commander of the Imperial Guard Army solemnly instructed, "Keep a close eye on everyone later. The moment you find anyone causing trouble, kill them directly!"
"I'm sure I don't need to say how important today is, right? As long as even the slightest mistake occurs, I'll be fine, but you may not be!"
"Gasp!"
The many deputy generals beside him sucked in a cold breath upon hearing this. They exchanged glances, then all nodded at the commander with solemn expressions.
Just then, several massive auras descended from Purple Cloud Mountain.
"Whoosh!"
A flash of purple light! Sun Wukong, Tian Yan, and the other two made a dazzling entrance!
"They're here!"
Sun Wukong and the others did not conceal their auras. Their immense presence was discovered from far away by the Imperial Guard Army and the surrounding gathered geniuses.
For a moment, all the Imperial Guard Army soldiers turned solemn, and the surrounding clamorous discussions immediately stopped.
Before long, Sun Wukong and the others landed directly in front of the Imperial Guard Army commander.
"Greetings, Sect Master Sun!" The commander stepped forward and bowed.
"By His Majesty's order, these Imperial Guard Army soldiers are all elite forces from our Chu Kingdom. Today, they will follow Sect Master Sun's commands," the commander said, pointing at the over ten thousand Imperial Guard Army soldiers behind him.
Sun Wukong said nothing more and merely nodded.
Seeing the people from the Primordial Beginning Palace appear, the surrounding crowd began discussing things again.
"Didn't the Primordial Beginning Palace announce a month ago that it would recruit talented disciples today? I came here early to wait, but where's the path? Are they planning to make us climb up?"
"Don't say that. I snuck out, and if they really want us to climb up, with my build, there's no way I'll make it into the Primordial Beginning Palace. When I go back, my old man will probably beat me half to death."
A skinny youth spoke to everyone with a worried expression.
After the group finished listening to him, they were left speechless.
"Waaah! I don't want to live anymore!"
Suddenly, a voice like a slaughtered pig rang out from within the crowd. Everyone turned around in unison and saw a little chubby boy rolling around on the ground.
"If the Primordial Beginning Palace doesn't accept me today, I'll die right here!"
"Ah!!!"
"I don't want to live anymore!!!"
"Why hasn't the Primordial Beginning Palace started its disciple recruitment ceremony? Could they be messing with us?"
Everyone: "..."
Sun Wukong and the others, standing beside the Imperial Guard Army commander, heard their discussions. They were naturally quite welcoming toward these people. Generally speaking, they would accept as many people as came—provided they passed the trial.
It wasn't difficult. There were only dozens of formations, each with different effects.
For example, the Maze Formation, Illusion Formation, and Killing Formation.
Sun Wukong and the others exchanged glances, then all flew into the air. Tian Yan spoke first: "Welcome, everyone, to our Primordial Beginning Palace's disciple recruitment ceremony. In the future, we may all be one family."
"Now, let me explain the rules for recruiting disciples. I have already arranged formations around Purple Cloud Mountain. Your goal is to safely pass through the formations within one hour and reach the Primordial Beginning Palace's plaza at the summit. At that point, you will officially become outer disciples of the Primordial Beginning Palace!"
After giving a general series of opening remarks, Sun Wukong instructed Great Yan Heavenly Lord to lead those who wished to join the Primordial Beginning Palace into the formations to begin the trial.
After everyone had entered one after another, Sun Wukong told everyone that if they wanted to see the rankings or names, they only needed to look at the stone wall in front of Purple Cloud Mountain.
Once everyone had turned their gazes toward the stone wall opposite them, Sun Wukong and the others directly returned to the main hall of the Primordial Beginning Palace. They prepared to enter the formations with their Divine Souls to see whether there were any truly talented disciples who could be carefully nurtured or accepted as inner disciples.
As for the sect's future plans and management model, they had already discussed and settled on a suitable approach over the past month. Once the ceremony ended, they could have those disciples put it into practice.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Sun Wukong seemed to sense something.
The first trial was Heart Inquiry—what the heart yearned for.
It could be affection, the Dao, or heaven, earth, and all things.
Ask the heart, ask the Dao, ask heaven and earth! Anything in existence could be asked.
Just as everyone hurried forward, there was a little girl at the very back wearing emerald-green clothes.
Her hair was tied into two tiny braids, and her round eyes gazed curiously at her surroundings, as if wondering how the things around her had been created.
Perhaps she was tired. She took a chicken leg from her pocket and ate it as she walked.
Before long, her face was covered in grease.
With both hands greasy, she casually wiped them on her clothes. The clothes, which had originally been quite gorgeous, instantly became covered in blotches.
"Hmph! This isn't fun at all!"
She lowered her head and sulked for a while, but soon perked up again and hopped toward the front.
Following the little girl all the way forward, they soon truly witnessed how terrifying she was.
An Illusion Formation Innate Realm demon beast on the ground was lying there, foaming at the mouth!
Behind that demon beast lay demon beasts all along the path, most of them barely clinging to life.
Yet this little girl's cultivation had only just entered the Innate Realm.
Before you continue