The Liuyun Sect is like spring all year round. Spirit Plant is mostly evergreen, and it is difficult to see seasonal changes in appearance. However, there is a five-color tree in the sect, which was planted by a senior who likes elegance a hundred years ago. The leaf color will change uniformly every seventy days.
This tree is also Spirit Plant, which can produce leaves of red, blue, green, brown, and gold colors at different times. Each leaf contains corresponding five elements attributes and can be made into spiritual tea that is beneficial to the corresponding Spirit Root. However, the sect has an order, and disciples are not allowed to pick it at will.
Xiao Bi: When Qin Tiexin pushed open the door of the stone chamber early that morning, what he saw was the moment when the five-color tree turned from brown to gold.
The leaves of the trees all over the mountain faded from earthy brown and were replaced by dazzling gold. The morning light passed through the forest, and the entire valley seemed to be plated with a thin layer of gold. Wherever the wind passed by, the golden leaves rustled and shimmered.
Spectacular and beautiful.
Qin Tiexin stood at the door for a moment, then picked up Edgeless and walked towards the outer gate square.
***
The outer square was full of people.
Qin Tiexin had originally estimated that there were twenty-eight new entry-level servant disciples in their group, and together with the other four new recruitment points, there would only be one hundred and forty at most. But at this moment, the square was filled with darkness. He counted roughly and found that there were at least two or three thousand.
"Why are there so many people?" someone asked in a low voice.
"You don't know?" Another voice answered, "Newbie Xiaobi includes all disciples who have been in the sect for less than a year, including handymen and outer sects. In addition to the unified recruitment, there are also those recommended by the elders, those who merged with affiliated sects, and those who were admitted under special circumstances... It is normal to add up to more than 2,000 people."
"I heard that in the annual newcomer competition, all disciples who are less than three years old can participate. There can be tens of thousands of people at that time."
"The triennial sect competition is even more spectacular, with up to 30,000 disciples present at the same time."
Qin Tiexin listened to these discussions and held Edgeless tightly in silence.
He has been coming to Liuyun Sect for half a year, and has been working at four o'clock every day - the waste equipment pavilion, the stone room, the dining hall, and the lecture hall. His understanding of this huge sect is still so shallow.
A high platform was set up in front of the square, and several people were already sitting on the platform. In the middle was a smiling middle-aged man, wearing a blue-grey robe, with a bloody short sword hanging from his waist. Qin Tiexin I heard someone whispering next to him that that was the deputy sect leader Xu Cong, who was in the middle stage of Jindan cultivation, nicknamed "Blood Knife".
On the left and right sides sat the stewards of various training halls - the Weapon Refining Hall, the Alchemy Hall, the Sword Hall, the Knife Hall, the Boxing Hall... all of them had reached the later stage of cultivation from Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. Behind them, there were some figures with vague auras, who were probably disciples sent by the elders to observe.
At the exact hour of the hour, the bell rang.
The square became quiet.
Xu Cong stood up, took two steps forward, and glanced at the thousands of disciples in the audience. He still had a smile on his face, but when those eyes glanced over, Qin Tiexin felt an inexplicable chill.
"Disciples."
Xu Cong spoke, his voice was not loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly, as if he was talking right next to him.
"Today is the first day of competition. I am Xu Cong, in charge of the affairs of the sect's disciples."
He paused and continued, "Liuyun Sect has been a sect for more than three thousand years, and there is only one rule - the strong go up, the weak go down. The fact that you are standing here means that you have passed the first level of entry. But the road of cultivation is long, and the sect's resources are limited, how to allocate them? It relies on small competitions like today, the big competition in a year, and the sect's grand competition every three years."
"Those who have excellent grades in Xiaobi will receive elixirs, Spirit Stone, Cultivation Method. More importantly, they will get the attention of the sect - the stewards of each hall, the elders, and even myself will all watch."
Xu Cong's eyes slowly moved among the crowd. "But the competition is not a house game. Refining weapons may explode the furnace, refining elixirs may cause backlash, hunting monsters may result in loss of life, and fighting skills may result in disability. If you are afraid, you can quit now."
There was silence under the stage.
Xu Cong smiled, "Very good. Then I will announce that the competition will begin."
As soon as he finished speaking, an outer deacon walked up to the stage and said in a loud voice:
"Today we will conduct separate assessments first! The five groups of weapon refining, alchemy, formation, talisman, and monster hunting will each go to the corresponding venue! There will be a unified fighting assessment tomorrow!"
He pressed his hands falsely, and a gentle push enveloped the entire place.
Qin Tiexin felt his body light up and moved in a certain direction involuntarily. The disciples around him were also divided into five streams of people by invisible forces, each rushing in different directions.
"This is... a formation?" Someone was surprised.
"Foundation Establishment monk's method." The person next to him whispered.
Qin Tiexin walked forward with the flow of people, surrounded by disciples who chose to take the weapon refining test. At a glance, he saw that there were nearly three hundred people - it was indeed the most important industry of Liuyun Sect, with the largest number of participants.
The leader of the team is the manager of the Weapon Refining Hall, an old man with gray beard and hair, and his aura is as thick as a mountain. Qin Tiexin I heard people talking, this is Foundation Establishment Late Stage, who has a high status in the sect.
The team crossed the square and came to the weapon refining branch.
The entrance of the hall is huge, and it is a magnificent building built on the mountain. Walking in, Qin Tiexin paused in his steps.
Inside is a huge domed hall, more than ten feet high, and more than a hundred steps long and wide. In the center of the hall are one hundred forging platforms neatly arranged, each platform is equipped with a Spiritual Qi furnace, anvil, quenching pool, and a full set of tools. The equipment is brand new, and the aura is looming.
"This is the foundation of the sect..." someone sighed in a low voice.
After all the disciples stood in the square, the steward of the Refining Hall walked up to the front platform. He glanced around and said in a calm voice:
"My surname is Zhou, deputy manager of the weapon refining hall. Today's weapon refining assessment, the rules are as follows -"
"Three hundred people are divided into three groups, each group has 100 people, and they come on stage one after another. Each group has a time limit of two hours, and the entire process from material selection, smelting, forging, engraving to quenching is completed independently."
"After the assessment, the four stewards and I will jointly score the points, and the average score will be assigned. The scoring standards are: 30% material processing, 30% forging technology, 30% spiritual pattern engraving, and 10% appearance of the finished product."
He paused and added, "If an accident such as a furnace explosion or serious injury occurs during the forging process, the deacon will intervene, but the student's results will be invalidated. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" The audience responded in unison.
"Okay." Manager Zhou nodded, "Now we will be randomly divided into groups."
He raised his hand and waved, and three hundred wooden cards flew out of his sleeves. After spinning in the air for a moment, they fell into the hands of the disciples.
Qin Tiexin caught the flying wooden sign, turned it over and took a look - the second group, number 47.
He put away the wooden sign and looked up at the stage.
The one hundred disciples in the first group have stepped forward one after another, selected spiritual materials in the material area, and then walked to their respective forging platforms.
"Start!" Manager Zhou announced.
Hundreds of forging platforms lit up with spiritual fire at the same time.
The colors of the flames are different - there are red earth fires, light green wood fires, blue water fires, and a few golden real fires. The sight of a hundred spiritual fires rising at the same time is extremely spectacular. A heat wave hits your face, and the temperature of the hall suddenly rises.
Qin Tiexin stood under the stage, staring at the stage without blinking.
This is a rare learning opportunity.
The five stewards had already unfolded Divine Sense, covering the whole place. Their eyes moved between different disciples, occasionally exchanging a few words in low voices. There were more eyes in the dark - the observers sent by the elders were also looking for seedlings worth cultivating.
The clanging sound of hammering soon sounded.
Qin Tiexin Look carefully.
Stage 43 is a tall and lanky disciple, with agile hammering skills and accurate landing points. He has obviously practiced it for many years. He forged a thin sword with a thin blade, and every blow was carefully struck.
No. 67 is a burly man with a heavy hammer, and every blow has a muffled sound. He is forging a heavy axe, and his skills are very broad, but the details are a little rough.
On stage 12 is a female disciple. She holds a hammer in each hand and shoots the bow left and right with a very fast rhythm. She is forging a pair of short thorns, and her movements are as smooth as a dance.
Qin Tiexin Silently note down everyone's strengths.
Hammering techniques, fire control, material processing, rhythm control... these are all skills that he had difficulty accessing when he was exploring alone in the Waste Equipment Pavilion.
Time passed little by little.
Two hours later, the bell rang again.
"Stop!" Manager Zhou's voice echoed throughout the hall.
Hundreds of disciples stopped at the same time. Some looked happy, some looked pale, and some looked at the remains of the half-finished product on the stage with despair in their eyes.
Qin Tiexin At a rough look, less than half of the disciples have completed the forging. Most of them are just mortal weapons, or only have spiritual materials added but no spiritual patterns. There are less than ten Law Artifacts that have been completely forged.
The worst thing happened to the disciple on stage 31 - he forcibly carved the second spiritual pattern, Spiritual Qi lost control, and the furnace exploded. Fortunately, the deacon next to him reacted quickly and raised his hand to compress the explosion into a fireball and threw it out the window. A loud boom was heard in the distance, making the hall tremble slightly.
The disciple sat paralyzed on the ground, his face ashen as death.
"On the 31st, the results will be invalidated." Manager Zhou said calmly, "The rest of you will put the finished products in front of the stage."
The disciples did as they were told.
The five stewards stepped off the stage and began to check the scores one by one. They moved very quickly. Divine Sense scanned it and they already knew each work clearly. Occasionally, they picked up one or two pieces to look at carefully and exchanged a few words in a low voice.
The disciples in the audience waited nervously.
Qin Tiexin looked at the finished products - knives, swords, guns, shields, armor... there were many categories. The best quality one was a shield, which was dark yellow in color, with complete "solid" spiritual patterns engraved on the surface, and the aura was restrained. The disciple who forged it was a round-faced boy, rubbing his hands nervously at the moment.
In less than one stick of incense, the scoring is completed.
Manager Zhou returned to the stage and unfolded a scroll Jade Slip: "The first set of results will now be announced."
"First place, No. 82, Huang Yan, a shield, score 90."
The round-faced boy clenched his fists fiercely, his face full of excitement.
"Second place, No. 12, Lin Xiu, a pair of short thorns, score eighty-five."
"Third place..."
The results were announced all the way, and most of them were below 60 points, with less than 30 people passing the test. The last ten only had 20 or 30 points, which meant that the forging was a complete failure.
The first group of disciples left in excitement or frustration.
Manager Zhou looked towards the audience. "The second group, come on stage."
Qin Tiexin took a deep breath and tightened the wooden sign in his hand.
No. 47.
He stepped up the steps and walked towards his own forging platform.
The palms feel slightly warm.