Chapter 7: The Arrival of the Immortals

Before long.

To the southeast of the county town, that massive white jade vessel—a vessel that appeared to be crafted entirely from white spiritual jade, shimmering with iridescent light and possessing a magnificent, extraordinary presence—was currently floating silently in the air.

After familiarizing himself with the area over this period, Cheng Buzheng could roughly determine that the location was near the county town square. Just as he was preparing to head toward the square, he noticed many people in the crowd were already quietly shifting in that direction.

"There are quite a few smart people around!"

Suddenly.

Someone in the crowd, quite familiar with the local terrain, pointed toward the distant sky and shouted

"That is the location of the county town square!"

Instantly.

The tide of people surged, moving toward the county town square. However, because there were simply too many people, the movement was exceptionally slow. Cheng Buzheng was like a single drop of water in a vast tide, merely drifting along with the current toward the destination.

As time passed, Cheng Buzheng gradually approached the square. A large group of bailiffs, who had been waiting for a long time, had formed a human wall to block the path.

A burly middle-aged man dressed in bailiff attire could be seen, a saber hanging at his waist with his hand gripped tightly around the hilt. Judging by his posture, he was likely the leader of the bailiffs. With a cold, stern expression, he stepped forward two paces and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"The Immortal has arrived to recruit disciples at the square, but only youths aged sixteen and under are to be accepted!

By order of the Immortal!

From this moment on, only youths aged sixteen and under may enter the square!

Anyone who dares to charge the bailiffs, do not blame us for disregarding our ties as fellow townsmen!"

Having finished speaking, he retreated back into the human wall formed by the many bailiffs, his eyes fixed intently on the crowd before him.

The moment his voice fell, the crowd immediately erupted into commotion and heated discussion. Cheng Buzheng felt as if countless mosquitoes were buzzing in his ears. Before long, the crowd began to flow back; some went straight home to fetch their young sons, while others went back to bring out their daughters.

And that was not all.

Cheng Buzheng had no habit of being the first to stick his neck out; he waited quietly for the opportune moment.

Before long.

A luxurious carriage drove in from the distance. The driver was a burly man who brandished a whip to disperse the crowd ahead, while shouting loudly

"The Young Master of the Zhang family is passing through! Make way, quickly!"

Immediately, the crowd ahead scrambled to the sides, leaving a wide path. These common folk could not afford to offend the powerful families of the county.

As the Zhang family's young master arrived, the other powerful families began to arrive one after another.

"The Qian family's young master is here too. All the powerful families have gathered!"

"We commoners wouldn't dare steal the spotlight from the great families. If we aren't selected and offend them at the same time, life will be miserable in the future!"

"Indeed! Do you remember Old Man Zhang's son from ten years ago? He didn't know better and tried to outshine the great families, but since he wasn't chosen by the Immortal, look how miserable he is now!"

Cheng Buzheng listened quietly to the discussions of the surrounding crowd. When he heard the consequences of stealing the spotlight from a powerful family, his heart couldn't help but tighten.

His gaze remained fixed on that familiar, luxurious carriage; sitting inside that cabin was none other than the eldest young master of the Qian family, Qian Zhe.

Only after all the powerful families had entered the square did the youths and maidens dare to form orderly lines to enter. They knew that those powerful families were formidable and not entities a small household could afford to offend.

After a long while, Cheng Buzheng finally joined the line, which stretched out like a long dragon.

The line moved forward continuously, and before long, Cheng Buzheng entered the county town square.

The originally empty square was now enclosed by four human walls, forming a large rectangle. Each side of the wall had a long line of youths waiting.

At this moment, in the center of the square, there were exactly nine Immortals. Eight of them appeared to be young men dressed in gray robes, with a pattern of a flood dragon embroidered on their cuffs.

The Immortal who seemed to be the leader was an old man with an air of celestial elegance, wearing black robes of the exact same style as the young Immortals, though the color was different. He also had a monstrous creature resembling a flood dragon embroidered on his cuffs.

Currently, he was sitting cross-legged in the center of the eight young Immortals, his eyes closed in meditation, appearing as if he were indifferent to everything.

The eight young Immortals worked in pairs to manage the lines, with the four pairs corresponding to the orderly lines arranged in the four directions.

As time passed, many youths who failed the Immortal's test left the square, while those who passed stood respectfully beside the Immortals.

Cheng Buzheng noticed that, so far, only three youths had passed the test, even though nearly a thousand had attempted it.

He waited for the Immortal's test with an uneasy heart, becoming increasingly anxious about the outcome.

A moment later.

Cheng Buzheng saw Qian Zhe, who had failed the test, walking back with a face full of gloom, alongside other youths who had also failed.

He quickly turned his body away, only turning back after a long time to observe stealthily. Seeing that Qian Zhe had already left the square, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew!"

As the line continued to advance, Cheng Buzheng finally saw clearly how the Immortals conducted the test.

Of the two Immortals responsible for his line, one had a celestial tool shaped like a crystal ball floating before him, while the other held a jade slip in his hand.

Cheng Buzheng found the test to be very simple: one only had to place a hand on the crystal ball. However, even as he could clearly see how the test was performed, not a single youth had passed yet.

He was quite curious about what kind of anomaly would occur in the celestial tool upon passing the test.

After all, this concerned his own interests.

Suddenly.

The crystal ball erupted with four colors of light: "Green, Red, Yellow, and Blue."

The Immortal before whom the crystal ball floated saw the four-colored light and said coldly

"Wood, Fire, Earth, Water—Four Spiritual Roots!

Go to Junior Brother Huang to register!

Next!"

The Immortal holding the jade slip was much gentler, saying to the visibly excited youth

"Come, register with me!"

The short, thin, dark-skinned youth who had passed the test said with an excited expression

"Immortal, I... my name is Huang... Huang Li! Thank you, Immortal..."

The Immortal holding the jade slip smiled without speaking, as if seeing his own excitement from when he had first joined the sect.

The Immortal recorded the information and, as if creating something from nothing, produced a white jade token and handed it to him.

Cheng Buzheng had witnessed with his own eyes the anomaly that occurred in the celestial tool upon passing, but the number of those who could pass was truly too small!

There were also some youths whose testing caused the crystal ball to emit five colors of light, but the Immortals did not accept a single one of them.

Like the youths whose crystal balls emitted no light, they left the scene dejectedly.

Could it be that five-colored light represented talent that was too low, making the Immortal Sect unwilling to cultivate them?

Two quarters of an hour later.

After the youth in front of him left dejectedly, it was Cheng Buzheng's turn. He took two steps forward and placed his hand on the crystal ball. A slightly cool sensation traveled through his body before rushing directly to his brain.

His whole body went cold as the sensation traveled out of his brain, left his body, and returned to the crystal ball. At the very instant the cool sensation returned to the crystal ball, it erupted with three colors of light: red, yellow, and gold.

The light was much more intense than that of the Four Spiritual Roots.

"Three Spiritual Roots."

Cheng Buzheng finally felt at ease. This was the first threshold on the path to immortality; fortunately, he possessed the talent, otherwise, he wouldn't even have the qualification to strive for cultivation!

Next, Cheng Buzheng took two steps forward to the Immortal holding the jade slip and registered his basic information.

After recording the information, the Immortal, as if performing a magic trick, produced a white jade token that had suddenly appeared in his palm and handed it to Cheng Buzheng.