The sun rose in the east, a crimson orb leaping up from behind the mountain peaks and scattering warm, gentle light across the earth. A beautiful day had begun.
Beneath the tender sunlight, the clouds over Imperial Teaching Mountain dispersed. Pure qi, visible to the naked eye, slowly rippled outward, bringing comfort and peace to the countless people living nearby, clearing the minds of the local cultivators, and noticeably speeding up their cultivation.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
Amid the crisp tolling of bells, disciples of the Imperial Teaching Academy, dressed in white daoist robes, emerged from their residences and followed stone paths concealed beneath dense green woods toward a platform halfway up the mountain.
From afar, they looked like wisps of white clouds drifting through the forest.
The platform halfway up the mountain spanned several hundred zhang. Near the cliffside stood a resplendent daoist hall, glittering with gold and jade.
As more disciples arrived, the place grew crowded and noisy.
At that moment, the tightly shut doors of the daoist hall rumbled open, and a middle-aged man in an instructor's daoist robe walked out. Standing atop the steps, he looked down at the many disciples below.
"Martial Uncle Wei is here, shut up!"
"Wei Hongliang lost his temper yesterday because several elders had failed to discipline their disciples properly!"
"That's right, don't touch his sore spot!"
"Quiet, quickly!"
The disciples seemed deeply afraid of the middle-aged man named Wei Hongliang. The bustling square swiftly fell silent.
Wei Hongliang stood with his hands behind his back. Bolstered by spiritual qi, his voice rang over the square like a great bell:
"Tomorrow, the assessment tournament will officially begin. This is not the first time it has been held, so I will not say more about the other rules. I trust you already know