Chapter 600: Entering the Sect (2) doubledd's Thoughts

First, I want to thank everyone for their opinions and thoughts on how we should overhaul completed novels. We've reviewed nearly 2000 comments across multiple platforms and forum, and while we haven't responded to everything I can promise I HAVE read it all. First, I'm going to briefly go into some of the things which were discussed which may or may not work, because I don't want people to think I ignored anything. I'm putting those in 'spoiler' tags so people who don't care can skip it. Then, we'll talk...

Upon seeing the sudden changes of their surroundings and hearing Senior Martial Brother Qiu's words, the cultivators on the platform were momentarily shocked and then hurriedly stood up, wearing respectful and attentive expressions. All of the cultivators there knew that if they were to enter the great Drifting Cloud Sect, they absolutely couldn't afford to leave a bad impression with the three men standing on the tower.

Senior Martial Brother Qiu revealed a satisfied expression upon seeing the vagrant cultivators being so tactful.

Senior Martial Brother Qiu slowly said with a solemn expression, "You Fellow Daoists should all know the criteria by which we accept disciples. That being the case, I won't go into detail. Let's have our Fellow Daoists who possess tri-attribute, dual-attribute, or special spiritual roots walk forward.”

The crowd stirred at this and after a short moment, only four people walked forward, three men and a woman.

Senior Martial Brother Qiu swept his gaze over those four and calmly said, “You four will follow Junior Martial Brother Liu who will be in charge of evaluating your cultivation aptitudes.”

At that moment, the pale faced youth stepped forward and wordlessly waved his arm. A white streak of light then flew out from his sleeve and circled in the air before turning into a huge embroidered scarf that gently floated about a meter off the ground.

The pale-faced youth appeared atop the scarf magic tool in a blur and expressionlessly said, "Climb on. I'll bring you four to another place and examine your aptitudes there. Those that are unsuitable will naturally be sent back."

When the four heard this, they glanced at each other with slight hesitation before climbing onto the scarf. The pale-faced youth then clutched his hands in an incantation gesture and caused the scarf to glow with white light before it set off through the sky in a streak of white light.

After sending off the pale-faced youth, Senior Martial Brother Qiu glanced down at those who remained and continued, "Those with cultivations at the tenth layer and higher, step forward and follow Junior Martial Brother Yu. So long as anyone doesn't have too much a problem with their identities, they will be able to enter the sect. As for you remaining Fellow Daoists, if you wish to enter the sect, then you are required to pass a test before you will be taken in. If you fail, I can only ask you all to diligently cultivate for several more years and come back once you've improved.” Once that was said, an uproar occurred amongst the crowd. Apart from a few peculiar individuals, a majority of them revealed a disappointed expression.

It seemed the standards of this selection would be far more strict and caused a few cultivators hoping for a fluke to grow greatly dispirited. Although he did say they could participate in a test to still join the sect, everyone knew that they were words spoken out of politeness.

After all, with the number of people present there would be no way for the Drifting Cloud Sect to give all of them a chance.

Needless to say, these tests would be extremely difficult to pass if one's cultivation was beneath the tenth layer. Only cultivators at the ninth layer of Qi condensation would have even the slightest chance of success. In the past, only a sparse few cultivators at the ninth layer were able to pass these tests.

Although those people all had poor aptitudes, they were able to succeed through a show of exceptional perseverance. As a result, despite their lacking future prospects, the Drifting Cloud Sect would be willing to accept them as they would be able to contribute towards their various fledgling disciplines.

Underneath the envious gazes of the rest of the crowd, Han Li and six other cultivators walked forward.

Senior Martial Brother Qiu swept his gaze across them and nodded his head.

When the valiant youth surnamed Yu saw this, he released a flying magic tool without any delay. A huge bronze alms bowl appeared before them.

Without needing any words from the youth, Han Li and the group of cultivators obediently climbed onto the magic tool. The copper alms bowl then flew off deep into the Dreamcloud Mountains in a streak of light.

As for the remaining vagrant cultivators that didn't qualify, Han Li was completely ignorant as to whether any of them would enter the sect, nor did he care enough to find out.

At that moment, he was absorbed in examining the six others that were enveloped in the alms bowl's yellow light alongside him. There were four men and two women. Apart from a refined yellow-clothed woman that appeared about twenty years old, the others all appeared to be in their thirties.

There was even a fifty year old cultivator. Although he possessed the deepest cultivation of the group at the twelfth layer of the Qi Condensation, Han Li could only shake his head and inwardly sigh.

If they didn't have much luck, cultivators with poor aptitudes had to spend an immense amount of time cultivating if they wished to reach the tenth layer or higher, resulting in Han Li and the yellow-clothed woman to have the youngest appearances in the group.

If it weren't for the mysterious bottle that Han Li had encountered, he feared he would've spent most of his life cultivating like the twelfth layer cultivator only to reach the sixth layer. Entering a large cultivation sect would've been out of the question.

When Han Li began to ponder about the past, he entered a rare state of absent-mindedness.

Soon after, he regained clarity of mind and looked at the others. While they didn't appear to be particularly notable, they had faces full of excitement.

But when Han Li's gaze fell onto large fully-bearded man, he narrowed his eyes for a moment, but soon his expression returned to normal.

This wasn't because of anything unusual about the man's appearance, but because there was a trace of indescribable cold Yin Qi in him. This Yin Qi was very well hidden and if it weren't for Han Li's extraordinary spiritual sense, he would've completely missed it This definitely wasn't a cultivation art that belonged to the five elements. From the fluctuations of his spiritual Qi, he clearly possessed some unusual magic techniques.

However, the large man's tenth layer cultivation wasn't even the slightest bit false, causing Han Li to ponder over it with great curiosity.

As Han Li was lost in thought, a huge expanse of endless fog appeared before the huge alms bowl. This white fog was extremely dense and roiled as sounds of thunder faintly echoed out.

Han Li's heart stirred and he sent out his spiritual sense. However, something blocked it when he attempted to reach about thirty meters into the mist.

Han Li inwardly trembled, knowing that the white mist was an uncommon restriction. It was likely one of the Drifting Cloud Sect's formidable sect protecting restrictions. He didn't dare to further rashly test it and hastily recalled his spiritual sense.

The group of vagrant cultivators all revealed an expression of awe when they saw the endless mist. Although they'd never come across a spell formation before, the astonishing restriction before them had greatly broadened their perspectives.

At that moment, the youth surnamed Yu formed a hand incantation and had his flying magic tool slowly come a stop. Then he grasped his storage pouch and took out an azure formation flag.

After muttering something, the flag in his hand began to glow with a piercing radiance that gradually grew.

"Open!" After the youth finished his incantation, he glared at the fog and pointed the formation flag at it. A bowl-thick azure beam of light shot out from the tip of the flag straight into the mist, leading to an astonishing scene.

The other areas of the fog roiled as before, but the portion of the fog in front of them became extremely calm. Then following a series of clear chimes, the white Qi parted before them, revealing a ten-meter-wide passage.

After this occured, the youth surnamed Yu carried the group through the passage without delay. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from sight.

Not long after, the passage closed and waves of thunder sounded out once more.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the group eventually passed through the mist and emerged before within a hidden land.

Before they could even clearly see past the fog, they felt dense spiritual Qi rush against them. Han Li couldn't help but take in a deep breath and feel a trace of joy well up inside him as he looked forward.

There was a huge expanse of earth with verdant greenery, fragrant aromas, birdsong, and several mountains that spanned over three kilometers tall reaching out as far as the eye could see. Surrounding these mountains were buildings of various sizes including palace halls and pavilions of countless number along with many variously clothed cultivators rushing about in a hurry.

After seeing their surprise and excitement, the youth surnamed Yu silently smiled. He then pointed to the nearest mountain peak and said, "Take a good look. These are the Six Marvelous Peaks of the Drifting Cloud Sect's monastery. If you truly enter our sect, this will be your home. But first, we will head to Dayspring Mountain's Initiation Residence. You'll explain a bit about your past and then we will test your cultivation."

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