Xuanming Manor

Am I the most capable one among this group?

Raising his brows, An Jing looked around and found that, as expected, he was.

There was a clearing of about two hundred feet in front of the manor, likely cleared to guard against mountain beasts and evil entities, as well as to prevent anyone from escaping the grounds.

Twenty or thirty carriages were parked in the clearing, and many more were approaching from the mountain forest—the very caravan he had arrived in.

And he was the first person out of all those carriages to step down.

The others are still dizzy and feeling unwell, and they are terrified of being in a completely unfamiliar, remote, and enclosed environment; it is only natural that they hesitate to leave the carriages.

An Jing thought this to himself, but he did not choose to keep a low profile afterward.

"Thank you for the compliment, sir."

He openly examined the manor before him, responding to the one-eyed rider's praise: "Is this where we will be living from now on?"

The manor, located deep within the uninhabited mountains, gave off a chilling sensation. It stood imposingly amidst the surrounding forests and ridges, its incongruous strangeness not stemming from eerie gloom, but from a majestic, intimidating pressure.

It was like looking down into an abyss from a steep, treacherous cliff; even without ghosts or monsters, one would still feel a sense of dread.

But as An Jing narrowed his eyes slightly, he discovered that the source of this chilling sensation was the plaque above the manor gate.

[Xuanming Manor]

The characters on the plaque were vigorous and powerful, faintly revealing a soul-shaking divine intent that struck at the heart.

"Man is born of the earth, his fate suspended from the heavens; when heaven and earth combine their qi, it is called man..."

With various pieces of information surfacing in his mind, An Jing whispered to himself: "Fate is bestowed by heaven, thus it is suspended from the heavens..."

"Heh, so you really are a scholar."

Watching An Jing, who seemed captivated by the manor, the one-eyed leader felt quite pleased, believing he had struck gold.

During this Northern Frontier Frost Calamity, they had dispatched nine teams to collect disaster-stricken children who met the requirements from various regions.

By convention, the scout who discovered a child capable of awakening a Life-Pattern would receive a substantial reward.

But children who could awaken a Life-Pattern were rare.

In previous trials, the number of children who successfully awakened a Life-Pattern had never exceeded the count of one hand, and he himself had been a failure in the trials of his youth.

It was common for a team to collect twenty or thirty eligible children without a single one awakening a Life-Pattern, leaving the entire team with nothing but their standard wages and no extra bonus.

But An Jing was different.

He had immense talent, a superior mind, and the courage to bargain with them.

To save his mother, he dared to sell himself, and he dared to slaughter evil villagers, using their heads to intimidate others.

His physical body was resilient, capable of enduring a full quarter-hour of Soul-Calming Incense.

Now, An Jing was the first to overcome the jolting journey and the effects of the medicine, to break through the fear of arriving in a strange place, to dare to step out of the carriage first, and to stare fearlessly at the two characters 'Xuanming' written personally by the Northern Inspector.

This ruthless drive in his bones, the cold-bloodedness from within, his exceptionally gifted physique, and the spirit to contend with heaven for his own fate—the possibility of him awakening a Life-Pattern was far greater than that of the other children!

The one-eyed leader felt that after so many years of bad luck, he finally had a guaranteed success this time!

Not to mention, the boy might even become his superior in the future, so it was only natural to treat him well.

Another half-quarter of an hour passed before other children began to emerge from the carriages in scattered numbers.

Most of them were timid and cautious, looking around nervously before lowering their heads to stare at their feet, not daring to move freely.

An Jing counted them calmly from the side. Before everyone had gathered and someone from the manor came to open the gates, he arrived at a number: "Two hundred and fifty-three..."

The total number of children collected in this batch was two hundred and fifty-three.

Among them were a few special children who had been 'escorted' out of the carriages by a team of riders. They wore uniform black clothing, and these children gave An Jing a special feeling—one of detachment from the other ordinary children.

Their status was clearly higher than that of the riders, and even the one-eyed leader treated them with great respect.

Have they already awakened their Life-Patterns? An Jing guessed, just as the manor gates swung open.

"Vice Envoy Yao!"

The person who arrived was the master of the manor, an old man known as Vice Envoy Yao.

He stood straight, his complexion pale and his gaze cold. His appearance carried the withered, gaunt look peculiar to a dying man, and the tips of his white hair shimmered with a faint green light—the exact same light that resided deep within his pupils. A casual glance from him was enough to make one's entire body turn cold.

All the leaders bowed respectfully to him before stepping forward to report the roster and other miscellaneous matters.

After confirming the list, Vice Envoy Yao nodded with satisfaction. He raised his eyes and swept them over the children before him.

Instantly, a sense of terror arose in the hearts of all the children. This fear was akin to seeing some colorful, venomous creature; they felt that if they moved even slightly, the creature would pounce upon them. At once, they were all drenched in cold sweat, not daring to breathe.

But this was merely an instinctive intimidation; Vice Envoy Yao did not intend to frighten them.

On the contrary, he even squeezed out a smile that had nothing to do with kindness, nodded at everyone, and then waved his hand to signal for them to enter the manor.

"Wash up first, then change your clothes. After roll call, you will eat. Once everyone has recovered, I will have the people from the Medicine Hall perform another check on everyone... After resting for a period and confirming that everyone meets the requirements, we will begin the training and the trials."

Because An Jing was the first to step off the carriage, he stood at the very front of the queue, second only to the five rider leaders and Vice Envoy Yao, making him a 'leader' in a certain sense.

Thus, his overly keen perception allowed him to hear Vice Envoy Yao's instructions to his subordinates regarding himself and the others.

Bathing and changing clothes, eating and resting... and then, the training and trials would begin.

Everything up to this point had been normal, but the trial... was this truly the selection process for some mysterious organization?

But what did it actually mean?

As An Jing pondered this, Vice Envoy Yao, who was leading the group, suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look at An Jing: "Is this the one with the best aptitude among this batch of disciples?"

An Jing was caught off guard and stared blankly at the old man, but he quickly shook off his hesitation and replied with a smile: "Greetings, Elder Yao."

"Heh." The old man stared at An Jing, letting out an ambiguous chuckle.

Vice Envoy Yao did not respond to An Jing's greeting in the end; he simply stroked his beard and continued walking forward.

Following this interlude, An Jing noticed many more gazes fixed upon his back.

Those children had no idea where they were or what they were about to face, so they naturally and subconsciously turned their attention to An Jing, the one labeled as having the "best aptitude."

They wanted to see exactly who it was that had received special attention from the master of this manor.

An Jing's appearance was indeed decent; although he was overly thin from a long life of fleeing disasters, his frame was excellent and held his form well. Seen roughly from behind, he looked like a young, lean tiger or a nimble leopard, worthy of the title of number one.

However, not all of these gazes were filled with goodwill or simple observation—it was common knowledge that as long as one became the best, whether it was true or false, there would always be people who wanted to take their place.

An Jing scanned the area with his peripheral vision and discovered several gazes directed at him that carried a hint of hostility or a desire to challenge him.

"Heh, there are always people who refuse to accept it."

Sensing the many gazes with different intentions converging on him, An Jing raised his eyebrows. His original personality had nothing to do with being humble; at most, he was cautious and unwilling to expose himself for the sake of empty fame.

He would conceal himself before making a move, and once he acted, he would go all out.

Since he had already been exposed, why not take the fame? Besides, in the upcoming training and trials, being ranked first might bring quite a few extra benefits.

He would just have to see how things played out as he went.