Chapter 680: 608: The Name Was Eaten by the Author Fungi

Chapter 680: Chapter 608: The Name Was Eaten by the Author Fungi

“The First Group will soon reach the destination.”

“Everything is normal with the second group.”

“Everything is normal with the third group.”

Xiang Jinghong held the walkie-talkie, from which bouts of voices emitted.

He strode vigorously, maneuvering through the complex terrain of the forested mountains, precisely positioned at the forefront of the large unit entering the mountains.

A dozen kilometers of forest with dense shrubs and continuous uphill and downhill paths—an exhausting journey that would least require two to three hours—it wasn’t an easy feat.

At this point,

The examiners gradually widened their distances. Those with poorer physical conditions, who moved slower, had just crossed half the distance. If not for the route markers and the support team, they might have already lost their way in the forests.

Including the support team, the thirty-plus members of the First Group were now nearing their destination.

Xiang Jinghong wiped the sweat from his forehead and slightly relaxed after seeing the route marker.

As the leader of the team, he needed to reach the location of the Immortal Gate as early as possible to adequately prepare for the upcoming segments.

Unfortunately,

The Immortal Gate hadn’t granted their team permission to head there in advance; otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to exert himself this much… After all, despite being brisk and fit, he couldn’t measure up to the vigor of the young men.

Luckily, once he arrived at the Immortal Gate, he wouldn’t need to exert himself any longer; he would only need to oversee the remaining exam segments.

Xiang Jinghong looked ahead, where the First Group, consisting of men in their twenties and thirties, seemed unsurprising, given that among the over five hundred participants, women were but a small fraction and even fewer would manage the arduous journey to the Immortal Gate.

Uh…

Xiang Jinghong glanced not far off at Shanggong Ling, who strolled leisurely—she was the only female member of the First Group and also the liaison from the Immortal Gate.

Xiang Jinghong was well aware of Shanggong Ling’s identity, a wealthy lady born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

Logically, someone of Shanggong Ling’s status would likely be delicate and pampered. To think of joining a Sect for Martial Arts cultivation, even slightly strenuous physical labor would normally be too much for her.

However,

Looking at Shanggong Ling, unflustered and walking steadily, even carrying a wild rabbit that frantically kicked its little short legs in the air…

Xiang Jinghong was impressed.

“How long have you been practicing Martial Arts?” he couldn’t help asking.

“One… one year.”

Shanggong Ling initially wanted to say a week but timely recalled her character setup: a newcomer who had practiced Martial Arts (Awakening) for a year, possessing the strength of the third layer of Awakening.

Just one year?

Xiang Jinghong, having ventured far and wide, had seen plenty of people and things. He could tell that among everyone in the First Group, Shanggong Ling seemed the most at ease—others took the shortest paths, while she darted about incessantly, seemingly joyful.

Of course, Shanggong Ling was joyful!

Her dream was to be heroic and righteous; punishing the wicked was a joyful act, and slaughtering societal-menacing Black-seam Mutant Beasts brought double the joy.

As such, being recruited by the Immortal Gate and later leading a group of juniors to exterminate calamitous Mutant Beasts would bring three, four, five times the joy!

If not for the concern for others, she would have jumped up into the trees.

These scenes in Xiang Jinghong’s eyes were somewhat astonishing.

—their team’s security personnel, probably couldn’t match Shanggong Ling in terms of physical strength.

Is one year enough to become this strong?

Xiang Jinghong could only conclude that Shanggong Ling must have had an extraordinary physical foundation even before she became a disciple of the Immortal Gate.

He inquired about the crucial issue, “How many apprentices is your Immortal Gate planning to recruit this time?”

Shanggong Ling tilted her head and thought for a moment, “A hundred isn’t too many, a dozen isn’t too few.”

Xiang Jinghong’s mouth twitched.

The first stage might filter out a third of them, and there were still several exam segments left, including one to “test sincerity,” for which he didn’t even know what to test.

It wouldn’t involve doing something utterly humiliating, as a way to measure everyone’s earnestness in seeking apprenticeship?

Xiang Jinghong dared say, if such a test existed, it might end without any disciples left at all.

He couldn’t possibly offend his financier, so he could only smile and ask, “Recruiting over a hundred people, does that mean your sect’s premises are quite large, and you already have quite a few members?”

“The territory is indeed not small,” Shanggong Ling thought of the flattened mountainside. “It could accommodate a thousand people, but as for members…”

emmmm…

Not long ago, it was only her and her master, but fortunately…

Shanggong Ling said seriously, “Our sect values quality over quantity. Most of the time, those who are fortunate enough to join us practice on their own. However, if they catch the eye of an elder and are taken as disciples, that’s a different story.”

“Oh?”

“For instance, Elder Greta, who is adept at swordsmanship, Elder Zhong Ping, who excels in spearmanship, and Elder Xiaoli, who is good at… cough… psychological counseling, among others.”

Xiang Jinghong was dumbfounded.

He understood psychological counseling, but was the sect so forward-thinking as well?

…

In a luxurious palace of the Immortal Gate.

Tang Yu conjured up a water screen, reflecting the figures of many examiners.

Some advanced with difficulty, while others had just entered the forest but gave up immediately due to the “overly difficult” evaluation, cursing as they headed back to the bus.

“This batch of disciples doesn’t seem up to much!”

Bamboo Rat Li pouted.

Beside him, besides a bamboo rat, there were four followers: Greta, Zhong Ping, Fani, and Enze.

Enze was a recent recruit by Tang Yu, a Senior Transcendent level, by far the oldest among all followers, being six hundred years old.

Yet, he had cultivated to this realm on a Basic Life Planet.

It was not easy,

and Tang Yu had recruited him.

On the other hand, it also filled a gap in the top-tier mages in the territory—Tang Yu had not realized until now that among the dozens of followers in the territory, the only real mage was Eileen.

Bamboo Rat Li, an illusionist, was best at the Bamboo Rat Clan’s “fragrance” Illusion Technique, which others couldn’t learn (and even if they managed, it was a greatly weakened version). Red Moon could be called a “Blood Mage,” focusing more on exploring her own blood abilities, while Xing Ling and Xing Yue, astrologers, belonged to a branch of the Magic Series, yet what they had learned was far removed from ordinary mages.

Enze was a very traditional mage—a Headshot Mage.

His strength wasn’t very strong, but his foundation was solid. This time, he was sent to the New World to fill a vacancy in the high levels of the Magic Series.

Enze brushed his common white beard of an old mage and said:

“Ordinary people, after all, do not know about the Awakeners. In their eyes, the Immortal Gate is just an ordinary martial arts sect. Moreover, with only a week’s time, if there was more time, completely unique videos could be made, causing the sect’s reputation to really ferment.”

“This time, the turn up of over five hundred people is probably because of the recent unrest. Ordinary people don’t know about the Mutant Beasts, the Black Seam, or the Awakeners, but some perceptive ones may have realized that the times are becoming chaotic, hence the thought to learn martial arts to strengthen themselves.”

“But out of these five hundred people, it would be good if thirty could remain, even that is under the premise of lowering the qualification requirements.”

Tang Yu didn’t have high expectations.

The first batch of disciples of the Immortal Gate was mainly to fill the lower levels of power in the New World territory, known lowly as ‘Chores,’ and highly as ‘staff.’ Whenever there were mundane issues that needed handling, they could just rely on these disciples.

Couldn’t they always hire teams like Xiang Jinghong’s for assistance?

It wouldn’t be good for them to personally appear—even if he didn’t need to maintain his image, he still had to create an imposing presence for the fictional Immortal Gate!

When the Immortal Gate eventually emerged, and its influence spread across Anxia Country and even to Sky Blue Star, that would be the real time to selectively screen for talents.

…

Time swiftly passed, and the First Group had already arrived at the foot of the Mountain of the Immortal Gate.

Xiang Jinghong emerged from the woods, the warm sunlight falling on him, elongating his shadow.

“Finally here! Let me see just how vast the Immortal Gate is…”

He looked ahead,

A shimmering staircase of white jade ascended directly from the foot of the mountain to the mid-mountain, shrouded in mists, with several magnificent palaces faintly visible through the fog, like something out of a fairy tale.

“(°Д°)”

(Ahhh, out of writing energy~~~)