Gracious Sword Sect, a top power that stood aloof and independent in the Xin Royal Kingdom.
In the boundless years of the past, countless experts of the younger generation in the surrounding kingdoms had gathered here, and they revealed their outstanding and astounding natural talent. They experienced innumerable tempering before they finally grew to become the most dazzling young geniuses.
On the surface, Gracious Sword Sect's strength wasn't really noteworthy, yet only some top existences were clearly aware of the true strength that Gracious Sword Sect possessed, and it wasn't on the surface, but a type of hidden force.
It was a sect that encompassed the top disciples of the various kingdoms of the Lower Heavens. In the countless years of the past, innumerable top experts had emerged from Gracious Sword Sect, and there was no lack of extraordinary figures that stood proudly in the Lower Heavens amongst them.
These figures that could be called Kings of the younger generation might have left a long time ago, yet a bond of master and disciple that was impossible to eliminate lay between them after all.
Perhaps it wouldn't be displayed at ordinary times, yet when Gracious Sword Sect truly encountered a threat to its continual existence, those great figures that had emerged from Gracious Sword Sect all those years ago would definitely surge over like the clouds in the sky!
At that time, the people of the Lower Realm would understand how terrifying the forces that the Gracious Sword Sect concealed beneath the surface were!
It was like a sleeping dragon that was normally inconspicuous. But when it truly started to awaken, it would probably shake the entire world.
This was the resources and reserves of the Gracious Sword Sect, and it was the reason it was capable of becoming the number one sect in all its surrounding kingdoms.
---
Early in the morning, the sky had just lit up slightly when around four thousand youths were standing on the enormous underground area below the Seventh Peak. These youths were all around 17 years of age, and there were even some that were younger. Even though they were young, no one dared to look down upon them because they were the geniuses that came from kingdom's in the Gracious Sword Sect's surroundings.
It wasn't exaggerated to call them geniuses because it was extremely difficult to attain the 6th Level of Qi Refining Realm before the age of 17. Otherwise, it wouldn't be only around four thousand people that had come to participate in the Outer Court Exam from amongst the population of about thirty thousands disciples on the Seventh Peak alone.
As he stood in the crowd, Ye Tian Yun gazed at the excited and happy expressions of those youths, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion in his heart. His upbringing had been different and this has also affected his outlook towards the world. He had never been a part of a Sect before and now that he was one, his cultivation was already very high. So, he didn't share the mutual excitement like what other disciples around him were feeling.
In his opinion, becoming an inner court disciple wasn't his true objective. His main aim to come here and live in disguise was for the Token of Fate and kill Xiao Ming once and for all. And for that he needs to be a part of Inner Court and join the Grand Spirit Hunt. Since he didn't know if Xiao Ming already had the Token or not, he couldn't just go and assassinate him right now. He needed to bide his time.
He wasn't reaching for something beyond his grasp, and it was instead because he was extremely confident of his own ability.
While he was lost in his thoughts, sudden outbursts among disciples attracted his attention.
"Look, isn't that Hou Xing?"
"Waa, it really is him. He's already at the 6th level of Qi Refining by the age of thirteen. It seems like first place in this exam will be him."
In the ocean of people, one young man grabbed people's attention. To be more precise it was a boy.
There were dozens of hundreds of disciples in the outer court and most of them were unknown characters. However, the focal figures that people paid attention to were mostly geniuses, in which this Hou Xing was one of them.
"That may not be so. No matter how much aptitude Hou Xing has, he is, at the end, a child. It would be very hard for him to get first."
"There are many unknown talents in the Gracious Sword Sect, and sometimes geniuses may not be able to beat the mediocre. For example, that Kang Bai." Another outer court disciple pointed with his fingers at a cold young man.
That person was called Kang Bai. He has been in the Gracious Sword Sect for 6 years and he was also originally an unknown character.
But a few months ago, he unexpectedly defeated an inner disciple who was in the 9th level of the Qi Refining realm. Because of that, his name was widespread and he became the focal character of the outer court.
----
When the sun gradually rose into the sky and sunlight shone down onto the horizon, three Outer Court Elders appeared on the platform at the underground area at the Seventh Peak. When they noticed the appearance of these three elders, all the youths beneath the platform instantly became restless. They hadn't become restless because of these elders, and it was instead because the exam was about to begin.
As he gazed at the four thousand youths beneath the platform, Lai Chang frowned lightly, and his gaze swept from left to right before he sighed in a low voice in the end. "There are only four thousand three hundred plus people this year, and it's much fewer than last year. If this continues, then our Seventh Peak would have no successors!"
Elder Mu nodded while standing at his side and said, "Yeah, I heard that there are around twenty thousand geniuses that participate during the Ninth Peak Entrance Exam Hunt. The other peaks have more than ten thousand as well, and even the other two sects have over ten thousand geniuses. If this continues, and if we don't reduce the standards for recruitment, then our Seventh Peak's outer court will probably be in an embarrassing state of having no one within it!"
"Lowering the standards is only a temporary relief!" Elder Wu shook his head and said, "If the standards are lowered, then the Gracious Sword Sect would only deteriorate with every generation and would be unable to avoid becoming a second-rate power in the end.. I think that we should strive to obtain resources, and if a disciple of the Gracious Sword Sect can kill his way through the upcoming Grand Spirit Hunt, then we'd be able to obtain a lot of resources. With that, this sort of situation would definitely be turned around!"