Chapter 1236: Miraculous Item
The venue of Myriad God Ridge’s entry test had a stone gateway erected on the square. It had four columns and a stone door made of three slabs. Gateways such as these were typically erected in front of villages in the mortal world to honor top scholars or chaste and heroic women. The design was very rarely seen in a warrior’s world.
On the surface, the stone gateway wasn’t special in any way. It even seemed a little out of place, standing in the middle of the square. However, when Yi Yun saw the stone monument, his brows pricked up slightly. He could tell that behind the stone gateway was the path to a pocket world.
If he circled behind the stone gateway there would be nothing, but if he were to travel through the gateway’s stone door, he could step into that pocket world.
However, there was a restriction set up in front of the stone door. If one did not understand the restriction’s rules, it would be impossible to gain entry.
At that moment, a group of people, including Yi Yun, had obtained their registration tokens and were standing before the stone gateway. They were waiting for the test in a daze, unsure of what the stone gateway was for.
"Senior, if I were to be recruited by the Myriad God Ridge, would you give me the honor of treating you to some alcohol?"
Yi Yun stood in front of the stone gateway and, after gathering his thoughts, he quipped with Old Snake. The old fellow would probably not reject an offer of alcohol.
Indeed, Old Snake beamed when he heard that. "That sounds good. I’m warning you, I’m very picky about my alcohol and I do not fancy any of the ordinary stuff."
As Old Snake spoke, he took out an alcohol gourd. He deliberately shook it and the sound of alcohol splashing emitted from it. Following that, he pulled out the stopper and took a delightful swig.
When the people around them heard their conversation, they were rendered speechless. What sort of person was this? Why did his tone sound as though the Myriad God Ridge was some tea shop that he could enter as he pleased?
Such behavior could be expected from a crazy old man, but the youth was equally dimwitted.
Yi Yun naturally ignored the people around him. As he observed the stone door, he sneered. The examinees were making a din but none noticed that three men and a woman were standing behind the stone gateway, watching them indifferently!
They were dressed in purple and the words ’Myriad God’ were embroidered on their chests. Yi Yun could tell that despite the purple clothes appearing to be made of a soft fabric, they were, in fact, superior-grade defensive clothes. Even the ’Myriad God’ words that were embroidered were sewn using heavy gold from the deep sea. The gold powder from such deep-sea metal was great for writing Dao patterns. Although the ’Myriad God’ words looked like text, they were actually a Dao pattern in and of themselves. Carved within them were laws that were no trifling matter.
Without a doubt, the three men and woman must have had illustrious standing in the Myriad God Ridge.
At that moment, the four of them stood in the pocket world and, with the stone gateway’s restrictions isolating them, no one could see them. Amid their indifferent expressions were haughty looks that seemed seared into their faces.
A man with thick brows glanced at Yi Yun because he had heard Yi Yun offer to treat Old Snake to alcohol after he entered Myriad God Ridge. It incurred his displeasure.
"Senior Brother Ji, look at the kind of people that want to enter our Myriad God Ridge as disciples. Every time, we see a bunch of useless people coming to join in the buzz. Listen to what they say. He’s even more confident of entering the sect than me. They seem to think that the Myriad God Ridge will accept anyone."
Upon hearing the thick-browed man grumble, the woman shook her head and said, "The recruitment test is held once every three days, with ten thousand entrants every time. The ones that we should recruit have mostly been recruited. So it’s natural that we are only left with the useless ones. It is only normal for these situations to occur."
After hearing the woman’s comment, the thick-browed man asked perplexedly, "Senior Sister Jin, I have never understood this matter. Our Myriad God Ridge is one of the best major sects in the Calm Sea region, but isn’t the recruitment test being run too frequently? Are we really only doing this for the tens of thousands of Spirit Jade in recruitment fees? That is what the women from Clear Lunar Island say of us. Their strength might not be on par with our Myriad God Ridge’s but they only do a disciple recruitment every two years. Furthermore, it is an extremely stringent selection, taking in only geniuses. They mock our recruitment test as a gathering ground of mediocrity."
The woman wanted to explain but stopped mid-sentence. At that moment, the man that had been addressed as Senior Brother Ji spoke. He said, "Junior Sister Jin, there’s no need to be apprehensive. In a few days, Junior Brother Song will become a disciple of Elder Taiqing. In a way, he will become a personal disciple as well. The matters in question are no longer secrets among personal disciples, so there’s no harm in telling him."
"Alright then." The woman nodded and looked at the thick-browed man. She said, "Our Myriad God Ridge has a miraculous item. Its actual origins are unknown even to the Elders of Myriad God Ridge. It seems to seal a world inside of it, and that world contains precious treasures. And this miraculous item will only recognize certain fated people. This fate is hard to determine, too. One would imagine that people with higher talent would be first in line with this fate, but it is not so. Decades ago, there was a youth whose talent was ordinary and his nomological insight was as terrible as could be. He managed to stir the object and attract something out. That something was valued greatly by the Patriarch and as a result, the youth became a core disciple."
"P... Patriarch?" Upon hearing that word, Junior Brother Song, who had spoken, widened his eyes. The Myriad God Ridge’s Patriarch was very seldom heard of much less seen. It was frequent not to hear anything from him for hundreds of thousands of years and it was unknown if he was in seclusion or touring the world.
In the Calm Sea, the Myriad God Patriarch was feared by all. He was not born from the Calm Sea but came from the depths of the Sinkhole. He was like a godlike existence to the Myriad God Ridge.
For people like Junior Brother Song, it was rare for them to even meet the sect master, so the Patriarch was someone they couldn’t even cast their sights on.
Now that he managed to hear some information regarding the Patriarch, Junior Brother Song felt extremely excited.
"Therefore, with that precedent, and according to the instructions of the sect master, we have been searching for people of fate all these years. However, even the amount of fate that one has can vary. It’s very rare to find someone with great fate. You might think nothing of these candidates, but what if one of them is a person of fate?"
Senior Sister Jin’s explanation made Junior Brother Song’s blood boil with excitement. The Myriad God Ridge indeed had deep roots. Furthermore, he had chanced upon news of the Patriarch. As long as the Patriarch was around, the Myriad God Ridge would remain lord of the Calm Sea.
It would be great if he could become a personal disciple of the Patriarch. Such a thought flashed across Junior Brother Song’s mind but such an extravagant hope was only in his imagination.
"Alright, stop discussing such matters. You just need to do your job. Let’s begin the recruitment test."
At that moment, a middle-aged man’s voice sounded as a middle-aged man dressed in purple robes walked out from the deep depths of the pocket world.
He was lanky in build and his body effused a blade-like aura. Behind him was a blurry haze that seemed like a void of Chaos. Even a single glance at it made one feel like their gaze was being sucked into it.