Not long after.
In the southeastern direction of the County Town, a huge white Jade Boat, resembling a white spiritual jade, shimmered with colorful light and exuded an extraordinary aura, quietly suspended in the air.
After familiarizing himself with the area for a while, Cheng Bu Zheng roughly determined that the location was near the County Town Plaza. Just as he was about to head towards the County Town Plaza, he noticed that many people in the crowd were already quietly moving in that direction.
"There are quite a few smart people!"
Suddenly.
A person in the crowd, quite familiar with the terrain, pointed to the sky in the distance and shouted:
"That's the County Town Plaza!"
Immediately.
The crowd surged, moving towards the County Town Plaza, but there were simply too many people, causing the movement speed to be exceptionally slow. Cheng Bu Zheng, like a drop of water in the human tide, could only drift with the flow towards the destination.
As time passed, Cheng Bu Zheng, amidst the human tide, gradually approached the County Town Plaza. Many constables, who had been waiting for a long time, formed a human wall blocking the way.
A Middle-aged Strong Man, dressed in a constable's uniform, with a saber at his waist and his hand tightly gripping the hilt, seemed to be the leader of that group of constables. He frowned, took two steps forward, and shouted in a raised voice:
"An Immortal has graced us with his presence and is recruiting disciples at the Plaza, but he only accepts youths aged sixteen and below.
The Immortal has given an order!
From this moment on, only youths aged sixteen and below may enter the Plaza!
Dare to charge the constables, and do not blame us for disregarding our fellow villagers' feelings!"
After speaking, he retreated back into the human wall formed by the constables, his eyes fixed on the crowd before him.
As soon as his voice fell.
The crowd immediately stirred and began discussing animatedly. Cheng Bu Zheng felt as if countless mosquitoes were buzzing in his ears. Not long after, the crowd flowed back; some people went directly home to bring their unruly sons, while others went back to bring their daughters, who were considered money-losers.
And so on, it was not enough.
Cheng Bu Zheng had no habit of being a trailblazer and quietly waited for the opportune moment.
Not long after.
A luxurious carriage came from a distance. The driver was a burly strong man, waving his whip to disperse the crowd in front while shouting:
"The Young Lord of the Zhang Family is traveling, quickly make way!"
Immediately, the crowd in front quickly retreated to both sides, leaving a wide road. These commoners dared not offend the powerful families in the county.
As the Zhang Family Young Lord arrived, those powerful families also came one after another.
"The Qian Family Young Lord is also here; these powerful families have all arrived!"
"We commoners dare not steal the thunder of the powerful families. If we are not chosen and also offend them, our future days will not be easy!"
"Indeed! Do you still remember Old Man Zhang's son ten years ago?
He was ignorant and stole the thunder of a powerful Family, and he himself was not chosen by the Immortal. Look how miserable he is now!"
Cheng Bu Zheng quietly listened to the discussions of the surrounding crowd. When he heard the consequences of stealing the thunder of a powerful Family, his heart tightened involuntarily.
His gaze was fixed on that familiar luxurious carriage. Inside the carriage sat Qian Zhe, the eldest young master of the Qian Family.
After all the powerful families had entered the Plaza, young men and women dared to line up in an orderly fashion to enter the Plaza. They also knew that those powerful families were strong and not someone their small families could afford to offend.
After a good while, Cheng Bu Zheng finally joined the queue, which stretched like a long Dragon.
The queue kept moving forward, and before long, Cheng Bu Zheng entered the County Town Plaza.
The originally empty County Town Plaza was now blocked by four human walls, forming a large rectangle. Each human wall had a long queue, and all those queuing were young men and women.
At this moment, in the center of the Plaza, there were nine Immortals in total. Eight of them appeared to be young men, dressed in gray robes with a Jiao Dragon pattern embroidered on the cuffs of their robes.
The Immortal who seemed to be the leader was an old man with an Immortal-like demeanor, dressed in a black robe. The style of his robe was identical to that worn by the young Immortals, only the color was different, and a Jiao Dragon-like strange beast was also embroidered on the cuffs.
At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged in the center of the eight young Immortals, with his eyes closed, as if indifferent to everything.
The eight young Immortals were divided into groups of two, each responsible for one queue. The four groups of Immortals corresponded to the four orderly queues in the four directions.
As time went on, many youths who did not pass the Immortal's test left the Plaza, while some who passed the Immortal's test stood respectfully beside the Immortal.
Cheng Bu Zheng found that, so far, only three youths had passed the Immortal's test, while nearly a thousand youths had participated in the test.
He waited nervously for the Immortal's test, and at the same time, he became anxious about gains and losses.
After a while.
Cheng Bu Zheng noticed that Qian Zhe, who had not passed the Immortal's test, had a gloomy expression and was walking back with other youths who also had not passed the test!
He quickly turned his body, and after a long time, he turned back and stealthily observed, finding that Qian Zhe had already left the Plaza. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Phew!"
The queue kept moving forward, and Cheng Bu Zheng finally saw how the Immortal conducted the test.
The two Immortals responsible for testing his queue had a crystal ball-like Immortal Artifact suspended in front of one Immortal, and the other Immortal held a Jade Slip.
Cheng Bu Zheng found that the test was very simple; one only needed to place a hand on the crystal ball. However, even when he could clearly see how the Immortal conducted the test, not a single youth had passed.
He was quite curious about what anomaly would occur with the Immortal Artifact if one passed the test.
After all, this concerned his own interests.
Suddenly.
The crystal ball emitted four colors of light: 'cyan, red, yellow, blue'.
The Immortal, whose crystal ball was suspended in front of him, saw the crystal ball emitting four colors of light and said coldly:
"Wood, Fire, Earth, Water, Four Spiritual Roots!
Go to Huang Junior Brother to register!
Next!"
The Immortal holding the Jade Slip was quite gentle and said to the excited youth:
"Come, register with me!"
The short, thin, dark-skinned youth who had passed the test said excitedly:
"Immortal, I... My name is Huang... Huang Li!
Thank you, Immortal!"
The Immortal holding the Jade Slip smiled without speaking, as if he saw his own excited appearance when he first joined the School.
The Immortal recorded the information and, as if out of thin air, produced a white jade-colored token and handed it to him.
Cheng Bu Zheng witnessed firsthand what anomaly would occur with the Immortal Artifact if one passed the test, but too few could pass!
There were also some youths whose crystal balls emitted five colors of light during the test, but the Immortal did not accept any of them.
Like the youths whose crystal balls did not emit light, they left the stage dejectedly.
Could it be that five colors of light represented too low an Aptitude, and the Immortal School was unwilling to cultivate them?
Two quarters of an hour later.
After a youth in front of him left dejectedly, it was Cheng Bu Zheng's turn. He took two steps forward and placed his hand on the crystal ball. A slightly cool Qi flowed through his body once, and then directly rushed towards his brain.
His whole body felt cold as the Qi flowed out of his brain, left his body, and returned to the crystal ball. The moment that slightly cool Qi returned to the crystal ball, the crystal ball emitted three colors of light: red, yellow, and gold.
But it was much stronger than the light of the Four Spiritual Roots.
"Three Spiritual Roots."
Cheng Bu Zheng finally put his heart at ease. This was the first threshold to the Immortal path. Fortunately, he had Aptitude; otherwise, he wouldn't even have the qualifications to diligently cultivate!
Then Cheng Bu Zheng took two more steps forward and came before the Immortal holding the Jade Slip, registering his general information.
After recording the information, this Immortal, as if performing a magic trick, handed the white jade-colored token that suddenly appeared in his palm to Cheng Bu Zheng.