Unlike the secret, hidden testing ground he had imagined, the First God Cult now supported Crown Prince Tan Yuming, and there were two Ascension Realm Great Cultivators in the Capital City.
Even though Tan Yuming's scheme had yet to succeed and the First God Cult was not yet Great Heng's State Religion, its current standing was already close enough.
For that very reason, the First God Cult's activities had moved from underground into the open. Its testing site for new members was quite official, located inside the Lavish Pavilion near the Imperial City.
When Zhang Yuan arrived at the pavilion with the black-robed cultist, quite a few members and new recruits of the First God Cult were already inside. All wore black robes, their faces and auras obscured. Throw them into a pile, and no one could tell who was who.
"Elder Fang, Elder Wang, this is a new recruit I just found. He's a promising prospect." After entering the pavilion, the black-robed cultist who had brought Zhang Yuan hurried over to two black-robed cultivators and spoke respectfully.
Elder Fang and Elder Liu were both Tan Duanchang's subordinates. He had previously severed an arm from each of them, though their arms had since recovered. This Elder Wang was presumably one of the two elders Deputy Cult Master Gao had brought with him, and was also a Suspended Sky Realm Great Cultivator.
And he appeared considerably stronger than those two second-rate pretenders, Elder Fang and Elder Liu.
Zhang Yuan observed his surroundings, silently considering things.
At those words, Elder Fang and Elder Wang glanced toward Zhang Yuan and nodded slightly, then looked away, sweeping their gazes over the new recruits one by one.
This was really just going through the motions.
The First God Cult's rules were strict. Unless a cultist