The number ‘nine’ was the number of extremes, whether in the sky or on the ground, which explained why Qing Xuan decided to open its mountain gate on this day.
Thirty people remained unscathed after the self-initiated elimination rounds.
Most of these people either had great potential or a great mentality. Some of them were the descendants of the well-known families and were protected by highly skilled bodyguards.
Shen Lian was neither the first nor was he the last to arrive.
The morning sun rose, and the Forbidden Technique of the Clouds slowly dispersed and unveiled a path up the mountain.
The first to go in was a scholar with the surname Lu.
He was not one of the descendants of the well-known families and no one knew his background. Along with Shen Lian, he was one of the three most mysterious people among this batch.
Some people tried to attack him but to no avail. He emerged unharmed every time, and the attacker would leave with shame the next day.
Shen Lian suspected that this scholar, Lu, had could perform some sort of psychological attack.
Despite being a scholar, Lu was tall and strong. He gave off the vibe of a heroic but mournful paladin.
At the beginning of the path, people only followed suit after seeing nothing strange happened as he walked in.
The second mysterious person was weak and thin, an ordinary-looking young person. He looked like he would not even raise his voice.
This person had something special about him – he was easily overlooked.
Despite Shen Lian’s alertness, he would take Shen Lian by surprise every time he sat down next to Shen Lian during a meal.
If it was not for Shen Lian’s prolonged observation, he would have long forgotten how weak young man looked like.
When one did not pay attention, one would not even notice his presence or whereabouts.
Besides Shen Lian and a few others, not a lot of people noticed the special trait of that weak young lad.
Despite being named as one of the three most mysterious people, the weak young lad did not have an impressive reputation.
As Shen Lian proceeded onto the path up to the mountain, he turned around to look out of habit. Even though it was not the first time, he was still surprised to see the young weak youth.
The young person was not fast. It would seem that he did not know any martial arts. He even fell once.
However, he managed to stay on the stone stairs and hiked up the mountain at his own pace.
The mist was thick, blocking the hikers from each other’s sight.
Even though the thirty of them had gone in together, it was as though they were in a different space from each other once they entered. Besides oneself, no one else could be seen.
The people outside the mountain gate too could not see what was happening inside. Similarly, those who inside were unaware of what was happening to other people.
From the first day, there were plenty of people who rolled down from the path and injured themselves.
If one were to observe closely, one would realize that these people were among those who killed back in the town.
A total of twenty-two people fell, and that would leave only less than ten were on the path. It would seem that most people overlooked one thing – the mountain gate would be open for half a year.
At the top of Mount Qing Xuan, there was a heavenly pool. It was emitting gusts of icy air with a misty appearance.
Two elderly were playing chess under the tree next to the pool – one was in red and the other in gray.
Shen Lian was not surprised that he was the first to reach the top of the mountain. In reality, it was due to his strong spirit and The Mastery of Senses. Most illusions did not have any effect on him when he imagined the statue of the deity in his mind.
The obstacles on Wenxin Road were based on illusions.
Moreover, it was not realistic to adopt a stringent test as these people were still not part of Celestialism yet.
Shen Lian saw the two old men but they did not react to his arrival. They carried on with their game.
Three days and three nights passed and Shen Lian did not see anyone else.
A normal person would be proud of himself and gloat about his achievements. However, Shen Lian was not arrogant, as he knew his true capabilities and limits.
The top of the mountain was not exactly the most comfortable place. The mist from the heavenly pool was freezing. Shen Lian had to resist it with his inner Qi.
Even though he had unblocked his Eight Extraordinary Meridians and had great circulation, being deprived of food for three days had a huge negative impact on his inner Qi.
He could only take in bits of vital Qi from the heaven and earth, yet it was not sufficient to cover for what he expended. In fact, he might as well have stayed on Wenxin Road. His Qi expenditure would have been lesser there.
He tried to question the two old men, but they did not answer him. He was not sure how long more he had to wait.
Besides the path leading up to the mountain, Wenxin Road, there were no other paths. The place was surrounded by a heavenly moat and there was no escaping.
Unless Shen Lian knew how to fly.
Moreover, the heavenly wind blew fiercely. Shen Lian did not dare to have an astral projection as he did not want his spirit and soul to be blown into bits.
The wait itself was not torturing. It was the endless wait that was torturing.
This was a kind of trial that could make the best of the heroes despair.
Shen Lian was a human with a heart and emotions. The intense despair kept him at the edge of insanity.
However, his rational mind told him not to go berserk and that he should stay calm.
He had fire within his chest, but his head was clear and cool.
He knew that he was at the edge of psychosis, and he almost went back onto Wenxin Road. However, something that told him that if he were to leave now, he would lose all affinity to Celestialism. On the other hand, a rational analysis told him that Qing Xuan was not the only Celestial school in the world.
Shen Lian quietly watched as the two old men carried on with the chess game. No one knew that underneath his calm appearance, he was about to go berserk.
Shen Lian diverted his attention to the chessboard. Both of the old men would take a long time contemplating before making a move.
He was not particularly good at chess, but he could still tell what was going on – the blacks and the whites were on equal footing.
It was a complex game, one move would affect another. This was more complex than the flow of Qi for any Qigong practices.
Shen Lian did not speak. He directed all of his attention to the chessboard.
On the chessboard, the pieces were getting lesser. As they approached the closing stage, it was hard to tell who was winning.
However, Shen Lian noticed that when he looked at a certain chess piece, one of his acupoints would pound fiercely.
Sometimes it was the blacks, sometimes the whites.
As he connected the blacks with the whites, the acupoints on his body would be connected to each other, creating a flow.
There were countless acupoints in the human body, and most of them did not have a known function.
He correlated the chess pieces to the acupoints on his body, and out of the three hundred over acupoints, almost more than a hundred of them had been connected. The impulsive Qi energy in him was calmed, and the anger welling up in him gradually extinguished.
Then, he realized that behind this game, it contained instruction for the flow of Qi for Qigong practice.
Unfortunately, before the game was finished, the elderly in red disrupted the chess board with a wave of his hand.
“You were about to lose, what is this about?” the elderly in gray cursed.
“The three seeds from this batch are here, we should report to the headmaster now.” The elderly in red smiled and was unconcerned by the other elderly’s displease.
The elderly in gray looked to his side. There was a scholar and a weak young lad behind Shen Lian indeed.
All the others on the Wenxin Road had been eliminated. It was hard to tell if another seven people would come up.