The Spirit-Testing Ceremony (Continued)

The valley was surrounded by mountains, their peaks shrouded in the Luo God Palace's distinctive glassy glow.

The center of the valley was paved entirely with Qingyu stone slabs, each one engraved with dense Source Runes that gave off a faint, intermittent gleam in the morning light.

At the very center of Qingyu Plaza stood a stele.

It was about thirty feet tall and six feet wide, its entire body a dark, aged bronze color.

No words were carved upon its surface. There were only natural grooves of varying depths, like the rings of a tree or the remnants of some ancient script.

These grooves were currently dark.

When a child of suitable age pressed their palm against it, the grooves would light up in different colors, revealing the quality of their Source Qi aptitude and elemental affinity.

This was the Spirit-Testing Stele.

It was the core artifact used by the Luo God Palace to select disciples from the secular world. It was said to have been transported from the true mountain gate of the Luo God Palace and contained a thread of exceedingly pure Source Qi law.

Eight white jade pillars stood around the stele, with eight glassy orbs the size of fists floating above them.

The orbs slowly rotated, radiating a gentle light that enveloped the entire plaza.

Several rows of viewing tents had long been set up around the edge of the plaza.

Those seated in the front row were all prominent figures.

The delegation from the Snowmoon Dynasty.

Members of a collateral branch of the Zhulu Dynasty's royal family sat to the right. There were fewer of them, but they were dressed lavishly, with the dynasty's distinctive golden antler pattern embroidered onto every collar.

The seats of the Southern Pacifying Prince's Estate of the Sacred Spirit