Chapter 4: One Step at a Time

Along the way.

The footprints on the path became increasingly scattered.

It seemed that some people had been distracted by something.

Because of this, Zheng Tuo became even more cautious, still following the path with the most footprints.

Thus, he walked for half a day.

Suddenly!

The alarm talisman on his body trembled, emitting a *beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep* sound.

Zheng Tuo immediately stopped in his tracks.

The range of the alarm talisman was five hundred meters; it would alert him if any living creature appeared.

At the same time, his nose keenly caught a faint scent of blood.

The smell of blood drifted from ahead; it was very faint, and one wouldn't be able to smell it at all without sniffing carefully.

To have the scent of blood in this ghost-like primeval forest.

Clearly, it was not a good sign.

Zheng Tuo thought for a moment and decisively chose to retreat.

Although he didn't know what had happened ahead, as long as blood was involved, it certainly wasn't anything good.

For the sake of caution, retreating was the wisest choice.

Zheng Tuo spent half a day returning the way he came.

He took out his notebook and crossed out one of the six paths, indicating that this road was a dead end.

A day had been wasted.

Zheng Tuo was not very anxious; on the contrary, he felt very confident in his approach.

Out of six paths, removing one wrong path increased his chances of success by a fraction.

When all the wrong paths were removed, success would become very easy.

As evening approached, Zheng Tuo prepared to return to his safe house to rest.

Wait!

No, the safe house had already been used once; living in it for a long time would leave behind the occupant's aura.

Although he had ten breath-concealing talismans to mask his aura, he still didn't feel at ease.

He spent a little time and opened up a new safe house.

After setting up explosive talismans and alarm talismans in the surrounding area, he finally felt at ease enough to enter and rest.

He would recharge his energy and continue exploring new paths tomorrow.

——

Luoxian Sect, inside the main hall.

The five peak masters looked at the ancient bronze mirror before them, each expressing their own opinions.

"This batch of newcomers is indeed very good. So many have successfully resisted the many temptations set during the assessment; it’s not easy, not easy at all."

Yun Qianli nodded, giving his affirmation to the new students of this year.

"I don't think so. Look, aren't there still thousands who were tempted by the traps set and thus lost their qualifications?"

Yun Ding pointed at the ancient bronze mirror.

Among them, many had discovered various spiritual items while on their way.

Greedy, they thought they could claim them as their own, not knowing that those were all tests for them.

Anyone who released an aura of greed would lose their qualification to join the Luoxian Sect.

The Luoxian Sect was a cultivation sect, and what a cultivation sect needed most was cohesion.

Only when everyone pulled together and moved in one direction could the sect become increasingly prosperous.

Only when the sect was prosperous could they obtain more resources.

Only with more resources could they ascend to higher realms and become more powerful.

Therefore, don't look at it as just a simple entrance assessment.

The ins and outs of it had all been carefully considered.

"Yun Ding, what do you mean by that? Why do you always like to go against me? How about we have a little spar before the newcomer tournament?"

Yun Qianli was very dissatisfied with Yun Ding's attitude of always contradicting him.

Xianding Peak and Qianren Peak were the two main peaks with the most people.

The disciples under them often sparred, and it was as if they were sworn enemies.

"Fine! I just finished refining a magic treasure and was worrying about having no one to test it on. Since you want to be a good person, I'll grant your wish."

Yun Ding did not have a good temper and immediately retorted.

As the two spoke, they went from discussing the newcomer assessment to talking about fighting.

"Alright, alright, both of you settle down. I didn't call you here to fight; I called you here to select excellent disciples to contribute to the future of the Luoxian Sect. If you two keep messing around, the quota for this year's newcomer disciples will all go to the other three peaks."

Yun Yangzi couldn't help but scold the two guys.

Both were exceptionally talented and had been competing since they first stepped onto the path of cultivation.

They had competed all the way from newcomers to peak masters.

Now, because of their high status, there was less friction.

Instead, it was the disciples under their respective peaks who often had friction, which gave him, the Vice Sect Master, a headache, though he was also gratified.

A sect needs constant collision and friction.

No one submits to anyone else, growing through competition and breaking through through tempering.

If a sect is dead and stagnant, it is not far from true death.

Yun Ding and Yun Qianli were lectured; although they were both dissatisfied, they dared not say anything.

The reason was likely that even if they teamed up, they couldn't beat Yun Yangzi.

Otherwise, they would have turned the world upside down long ago.

"Interesting!"

Hong Niang, who had been silent, spoke in a low voice, drawing the gaze of the others.

"Does Junior Sister have a discovery?" Yun Ding asked.

Hong Niang smiled faintly, as if ten thousand flowers bowed their heads and the colorful clouds lowered their brows.

"Nothing, just sighing that there are indeed a few special little ones this year."

That is what Hong Niang said.

However, she was unconsciously watching the ancient bronze mirror.

At a small red dot that was almost stripped to the edge of the mirror.

If one didn't look closely at that small red dot, one would think it was just a speck of dirt.

But if one looked closely, it was indeed a candidate participating in the assessment.

It was just that this candidate was far too slow, too slow, too slow, and had fallen too far behind the main group.

——

The morning sun bathed the earth.

Zheng Tuo followed his usual daily habits: getting up, brushing his teeth, washing his face, going to the bathroom, and eating breakfast.

After completing a set of "The Era is Calling" broadcast gymnastics, he took out his little notebook.

He chose the second major road that more people had taken.

Fully prepared, he set off.

Half a day later.

Zheng Tuo looked at a wide, rushing river ahead and stopped.

First, he couldn't swim.

Second, he didn't know if the water was deep or shallow.

Third, there might be powerful demonic beasts in the river.

Therefore, the most likely scenario was

He, who couldn't swim, would accidentally enter a deep-water area and be finished off by a demonic beast while struggling.

Dangerous.

Too dangerous.

Retreat.

He returned to the starting point.

He took out his little notebook and crossed out the second wrong path.

The rest were the same as yesterday.

Move house, bury mines, sleep.

The next day.

He set off according to the third path in his notebook.

Half a day later.

A swamp filled with miasma appeared ahead.

A swamp was one thing, but it actually had miasma too—did it have no shame?

Danger level: Red.

Retreat.

Six paths, three were dead ends.

Because of this, Zheng Tuo was not discouraged, because there were still three left.

The following path was not smooth.

The fourth path.

Zheng Tuo had only walked for three hours when he heard intense fighting sounds and inexplicable beast roars.

Without taking another step closer, Zheng Tuo chose to give up decisively.

The assessment had been going on for more than a week, and there were still people lingering in this vicinity; it showed just how low the other party's strength was.

Helping the weak was just looking for trouble for oneself.

How many big shots had ended up dead because they helped the weak?

The strong have the strong's laws of survival, and the weak have the weak's way of survival.

No one stipulated that the strong must help the weak.

Not to mention whether you could actually help.

Even if you could, did you ask how the weak felt?

Maybe they enjoyed being bullied.

He gave up on the fourth path.

Zheng Tuo embarked on the journey of the fifth path.

This time, he seemed to have chosen the right path.

He walked for a full three days, and along the way, he didn't feel any dangerous aura.

The land was flat, allowing him to roll forward if he wanted.

But Zheng Tuo couldn't be happy, because he had always had a question in his heart.

That was... where did the sixth path lead?

So, in order to curb this thought of his.

During the three-day journey, he deliberately made marks on the surrounding trees.

This was just in case the fifth path was dangerous, so he wouldn't forget the way back.

However, it seemed this group of people was very powerful.

Because along the way, he saw many traces of battles.

According to his analysis, the battles should have been very easy.

Which meant this group of people was very powerful.

Otherwise, he would have given up long ago to go check out the sixth path.

Since the other party was very powerful, following behind them was clearly the safest method.

With this thought in mind, another three days passed.

Trouble appeared after all.

(End of chapter)