Recruiting Disciples at the Chaos Holy Land

On the Nine Heavens Continent lies the Chaos Holy Land.

As the once most powerful holy land, it had begun to decline gradually ever since the Chaos Great Emperor ascended to become an immortal.

Today was the day the Chaos Holy Land opened its gates to recruit disciples.

Kingdoms and noble families of all sizes from the surrounding regions had sent their geniuses to seek apprenticeship.

Although the Chaos Holy Land had declined, it remained one of the top-tier powers when looking across the entire Nine Heavens Continent.

Therefore, the people coming to seek instruction were still an endless stream, a vast sea of humanity.

Finally, I've entered the Chaos Holy Land; I've at last completed the first task issued by the system!

Xiao Yun had used every ounce of his strength to finally squeeze through the crowd and into the mountain gates of the Chaos Holy Land, entering the spacious plaza within.

Ignoring the buzzing discussions around him, Xiao Yun hurriedly closed his eyes to check the system within his body.

Epiphany System.

Function: Bestow an epiphany upon the host.

Epiphany count: 1 (can be used at any time by chanting silently in the heart).

Task: Enter the Chaos Holy Land (completed), next task refreshing soon.

Seeing that the task status had changed to "completed," Xiao Yun was so excited he was almost moved to tears.

It hadn't been easy; having arrived in this world sixteen years ago, he had finally completed the first task issued by the system.

One had to admit, this task was truly too difficult.

After all, no matter how much the Chaos Holy Land had declined, it was still a dignified holy land, not a place an ordinary person could just walk into.

Xiao Yun came from a noble family in a small kingdom, and with his family's strength, they were simply unable to send him to the Chaos Holy Land ahead of time.

Therefore, Xiao Yun had waited sixteen years before finally waiting for the day the Chaos Holy Land opened its gates to recruit disciples, allowing him to sneak in and complete the first task issued by the system.

"Ding, latest task: Join the Chaos Holy Land, reward: three epiphanies."

Suddenly, the mechanical voice of the system rang out in Xiao Yun's mind.

Xiao Yun immediately understood that his second task had arrived, and this time the reward was even more generous, enough for three whole epiphanies.

One had to know that an epiphany was a mysterious state entered when a cultivator, while contemplating the Great Dao, accidentally resonated with it.

The probability of this was extremely small; even for a genius, one might only occasionally experience an epiphany once in a lifetime.

Even those monstrous, super-geniuses would likely only experience two or three epiphanies in their entire lives.

From this, one could see just how rare this opportunity for an epiphany was.

Therefore, even though his system only had this one function, Xiao Yun didn't dislike it in the slightest.

"Join the Chaos Holy Land?"

Xiao Yun looked at his latest task and couldn't help but grin: "Fine, since I've already arrived at the Chaos Holy Land, then of course I must join it."

Although the Chaos Holy Land had declined, a starving camel is still bigger than a horse; furthermore, the Chaos Holy Land remained one of the most powerful forces in this world.

Being able to enter the Chaos Holy Land to cultivate would undoubtedly give him a better chance of becoming a peerless powerhouse.

Thinking of this, Xiao Yun pushed through the crowd and looked toward the high platform in front.

On the high platform of the plaza sat an elder with a kind face, dressed in a gray robe, his gaze so profound it was like the starry sky of the universe, making it impossible for people to look directly at him.

"I am Elder Jieyin, responsible for receiving you all for the assessment!" the gray-robed elder said with a smile, a trace of anticipation flowing in his eyes.

He wondered if any monsters or immortal seedlings would emerge from this batch.

Even if not, it would be good if a few super-geniuses were born.

After thinking this to himself, Elder Jieyin continued to say in a loud voice: "Alright, I won't waste any more breath. We in the Chaos Holy Land don't have so many rigid rules; the recruitment assessment has only one stage, and that is to ring the Chaos Bell!"

As his words fell, Elder Jieyin flicked his finger, and the space in front of him suddenly tore open a huge gap. Immediately, golden light shot out, and an ancient, gray bell flew out from the spatial rift and landed on the plaza.

"Hum..."

When the bell landed, it emitted a deafening sound, like the chanting of gods and the singing of angels, causing the souls of everyone present to tremble.

"This is the Chaos Bell, the legendary Great Emperor divine weapon!"

"Legend has it that a long time ago, the Chaos Great Emperor held this bell, fought across the nine heavens and ten earths, swept through the myriad worlds, and was invincible."

"Even if one were to rank all the Emperor weapons of the myriad worlds, this bell would be enough to rank in the top three!"

The plaza was immediately filled with buzzing discussions.

Those who could come to participate in the assessment were at the very least from noble families of small countries, so naturally, they were all quite knowledgeable.

Xiao Yun, hiding in the crowd, looked at the Chaos Bell not far away and felt a wave of covetousness.

If he possessed such a supreme treasure, where in the world could he not go?

Unfortunately, this thing was an Emperor weapon, not something he was qualified to control at the moment.

"Line up, one by one, and place your palms on the Chaos Bell. As long as you can make the Chaos Bell ring, you can become a disciple of our Chaos Holy Land."

At this moment, Elder Jieyin spoke again.

Hearing this, the crowd began to line up, approaching the Chaos Bell one by one.

However, the Chaos Bell did not ring; instead, it released a golden light that teleported anyone who touched it away.

A wave of panic rippled through the crowd.

The Jieyin Elder shouted, "Do not panic. The Emperor Weapon has a spirit. If you cannot ring the Chaos Bell, it will simply send you back to your home, saving you the time of a return journey."

Hearing the Jieyin Elder's words, the crowd calmed down and continued to approach the Chaos Bell one by one.

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Xiao Yun chuckled to himself, thinking, I never expected the Chaos Bell to have such a function. Even if I fail the assessment, I get a free plane ticket home. Hehe!

However, Xiao Yun had no intention of being sent home by the Chaos Bell; he was determined to join the Chaos Holy Land.

He just didn't know how one was supposed to ring this Chaos Bell.

Xiao Yun stared at the boys and girls approaching the bell in the distance, but after watching for a long time, he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Because as soon as these people touched the Chaos Bell, they closed their eyes and were immediately teleported away by a golden light.

Clearly, those who were teleported away were undoubtedly failures.

In this way, the testing proceeded quite quickly.

Time ticked away, and still, no one was able to ring the Chaos Bell, causing the people in the square to grow anxious.

"Clang..."

Not long after, the Chaos Bell finally rang, its resonant toll spreading throughout the entire Chaos Holy Land.

The crowd was instantly invigorated, looking toward the Chaos Bell in the distance.

They saw a young man standing before the bell, his face full of excitement and thrill.

On the high platform, the Jieyin Elder said indifferently, "One toll is barely enough to qualify for joining our Chaos Holy Land, but you can only be an Outer Sect disciple. Where is the Outer Sect Deacon? Take him to the Outer Sect!"

"Yes, Elder!" A man in black robes suddenly flew down from the sky, grabbed the youth beside the Chaos Bell, and flew into the distance.

Hearing that this youth was only qualified to become an Outer Sect disciple, the crowd present could not help but be stunned.

In their eyes, being able to ring the Chaos Bell was already an extraordinary feat.

Yet, to only become an Outer Sect disciple—the standards for the Chaos Holy Land's assessment were simply too harsh.

Someone asked, "May I ask the Jieyin Elder, how many times can one person ring the Chaos Bell at most? And what is the relationship between the number of tolls and the treatment one receives after joining the Chaos Holy Land?"

This was the key question.

Everyone turned their eyes toward the Jieyin Elder on the high platform in unison.

The Jieyin Elder smiled slightly and said, "The Chaos Bell can ring nine times. One toll qualifies you as an Outer Sect disciple.

Two tolls qualify you as an Inner Sect disciple.

Three tolls qualify you as a True Disciple.

Four tolls qualify you as an Elder's disciple.

Five tolls qualify you as a Taishang Elder's disciple.

Six tolls qualify you as a Holy Son of our Chaos Holy Land.

As for seven, eight, or nine tolls, they have not appeared for many years. Once they do, that person will immediately become a Divine Son of our Chaos Holy Land."

Listening to the Jieyin Elder's words, the crowd in the square was filled with longing.

The assessment continued.

As time passed, the number of people in the square dwindled.

What shocked Xiao Yun was that even after testing hundreds of thousands of people, only a few hundred had joined the Chaos Holy Land; the success rate was far too low.

Moreover, among these few hundred people, the highest number of tolls achieved was only three.

Xiao Yun clearly noticed that the Jieyin Elder on the high platform looked rather grim, his previous benevolent expression replaced by a dark, gloomy look.

Clearly, the failure to discover any geniuses had left the Jieyin Elder deeply disappointed.

"Each generation is worse than the last. Is my Chaos Holy Land truly destined to decline?" The Jieyin Elder looked at the youths being tested below and could not help but sigh in sorrow.

However, he also knew the reason.

Any true genius would display powerful talent early on and be recruited by the other five Holy Lands.

Yet, their Chaos Holy Land had a strange rule passed down since ancient times.

That was, to join the Chaos Holy Land, one was strictly forbidden from practicing any cultivation techniques before the assessment.

Therefore, the youths who came to participate in the assessment were, in fact, mortals who had never cultivated.

And those geniuses had long since embarked on the path of cultivation, so they had no chance to join the Chaos Holy Land.

Unfortunately, this was a rule left by the ancestors, and no one dared to change it.

"It's finally my turn!"

In the crowd, Xiao Yun looked at the Chaos Bell right before his eyes, his face full of anticipation as he walked forward with excitement.

After waiting for so long, it was finally his turn.

"I wonder if I can ring this Chaos Bell?" Xiao Yun reached out his palm and touched the ancient, simple surface of the bell before him.

"Boom..." Suddenly, a tremor shook Xiao Yun's mind. A passage of golden text appeared in his consciousness, evolving into all things in heaven and earth and expounding upon the Chaos Great Dao.

At this moment, Xiao Yun immediately understood how to ring the Chaos Bell.

It turned out that he needed to comprehend these golden characters; as long as he achieved an entry-level understanding, he could ring the Chaos Bell.

Furthermore, the more he comprehended, the more times the Chaos Bell would ring.

Thinking of this, Xiao Yun felt a sense of certainty in his heart and silently recited, "System, use one Epiphany!"

"Boom!"

A roar echoed in his mind, and Xiao Yun's thoughts suddenly became clearer and clearer. Inspirations emerged one after another in his heart, and the golden characters before him transformed into symbols that entered his eyes.

"So this scripture is called Chaos Guidance. Once mastered, one can borrow the power of the Chaos Bell. The stronger one's strength, the more power one can borrow. If one can reach the realm of a Saint, one would be able to refine this Chaos Bell."

Xiao Yun was immersed in the profound state of the Epiphany, instantly grasping the essence of the scripture before him.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yun was unaware that the outside world was already in an uproar because of his test.

Author's note:

Hello everyone, I am the author Ye Dadao. If you readers have any questions or wild ideas about the plot, come and chat. Feel free to speak your mind in the comments section~