The main pavilion was packed.
Long Chen stood near the back, arms crossed, watching disciples file in from every corner of the clan compound. Outer sect, inner sect, core disciples. Even a few servants who'd somehow qualified for the age requirement.
Everyone under twenty who wanted a chance at the sects had shown up.
The age limit was strict—nineteen and younger. Long Chen, inhabiting a fourteen-year-old body, qualified easily. Dugu Jian was sixteen. Dugu Lian, fifteen.
Hundreds of hopefuls crowded into the space, their voices creating a low buzz of excitement and nerves.
Long Chen kept to himself. He'd spent the entire previous day consolidating his cultivation. No new techniques. No last-minute training. Just meditation, compression, refinement.
His foundation felt solid now. Unshakeable.
Peak Qi Gathering Realm. Ready for Foundation Establishment whenever the opportunity came.
But not today.
Today was about survival.
The crowd went silent suddenly. Long Chen looked up.
A figure appeared in the sky above the pavilion.
The Grand Elder.
Dugu Tian descended slowly, his robes billowing in wind that didn't exist. His presence pressed down on everyone below—King Realm cultivation, dense and overwhelming. Even standing fifty meters away, Long Chen felt the weight of it.
The old man landed without a sound, his feet touching the pavilion's roof before he stepped down to address the gathered disciples.
"The joint examination begins now, ensure you do not embarrass our clan," the Grand Elder said, his voice carrying effortlessly. "Be it Man or God with a sword in our hands we are invincible."
He raised one hand. Spiritual energy condensed in the air, swirling, forming something solid.
A flying boat materialized.
It was massive. Easily the size of a small building, crafted from dark wood reinforced with metal plating. Spiritual formations glowed along its hull in intricate patterns. Sails made of condensed qi stretched above it, catching invisible currents.
The thing was a work of art. Sleek. Elegant. Powerful.
"Board," the Grand Elder commanded.
The disciples moved immediately. Long Chen followed the crowd up the boarding ramp, stepping onto the deck. The wood beneath his feet hummed faintly with spiritual energy, stable despite floating twenty meters off the ground.
More disciples poured on. The boat expanded slightly to accommodate them all, its formations adjusting automatically.
Within minutes, everyone was aboard.
The Grand Elder stood at the bow, hands clasped behind his back. He didn't speak. Didn't give orders.
He just willed the boat forward.
It moved.
Smoothly. Silently. Faster than anything that size had any right to move. The clan compound fell away below them. Trees blurred into green smears. Mountains rose in the distance.
Long Chen found a spot near the railing and watched the landscape rush past.
The journey took maybe two hours. No one spoke much. Tension filled the air—anticipation, fear, excitement all mixed together.
When the boat finally slowed, Long Chen saw their destination.
A mountain range stretched across the horizon. Massive peaks covered in dense forest, their tops lost in clouds. Spiritual energy radiated from the area in visible waves, thick enough to see.
And at the base of the mountains, dozens of other flying boats were already parked.
Other clans.
The Ye Clan's boat sat to the left, its sails marked with twin-leaf crests. The Liu Clan to the right, their vessel painted red and gold. More boats beyond that—clans Long Chen didn't recognize, their members already disembarking.
Hundreds of disciples. Maybe thousands.
All competing for the same limited spots.
The Dugu Clan's boat touched down with barely a tremor. The Grand Elder stepped off first, his presence immediately drawing attention.
Another figure approached from the Ye Clan's boat. A beautiful woman with silver hair tied in a bun, her robes pristine white.
The Ye Clan's Grand Elder.
"Dugu Tian," she said, her voice sharp. "Still dragging your clan's dead weight to these examinations, I see."
The Dugu Grand Elder smiled faintly. "Ye Shu. You old crone still pretending to be a young beauty ?"
The beautiful woman's face changed, a hint of killing intent flitted through her eyes.
"Our disciples don't need compensation. Unlike yours, they can actually pass without bribes."
"Bribes?" Dugu Tian's smile didn't waver. "Is that what you're calling proper preparation now?"
The air between them grew heavy. Spiritual pressure leaked from both elders, pressing down on everyone nearby.
Disciples from both clans stepped back instinctively.
Then, suddenly, the pressure vanished.
Five figures appeared in the sky above the mountain range.
They descended together, landing in perfect formation between the gathered clans.
The sect representatives.
Long Chen's breath caught.
Each one radiated power that made the Grand Elders look like children. Emperor Realm at minimum. Maybe higher.
The figure in the center stepped forward. An old man with a long white beard, wearing robes of deep blue embroidered with silver swords.
The Immortal Sword Sect's representative.
"Welcome," the old man said, his voice reaching every disciple simultaneously without shouting. "I am Elder Qingshan of the Immortal Sword Sect. These are my colleagues from the Azure Peak Monastery, Crimson Flame Palace, Thousand Beast Valley, and Glacial Moon Pavilion."
He gestured to the four figures beside him. Each one nodded slightly.
"The joint examination consists of two rounds," Elder Qingshan continued. "First—a hunting trial. You will enter the mountain range behind us. Hunt spirit beasts. The higher the realm of the beast, the higher your points."
He produced a small jade token from his sleeve. It floated in the air, glowing faintly.
"Each of you will receive one of these. It records your points automatically when you kill a qualified beast. Additionally..." His expression shifted slightly. "These tokens can be stolen. Defeating another participant and taking their token transfers their points to you."
Whispers erupted through the crowd.
"Tokens must be returned at the end of the trial," Elder Qingshan said. "Those who lose theirs are disqualified. The top one hundred scorers advance to the second round."
He paused, letting that sink in.
One hundred. Out of maybe two thousand participants.
"The second round is simple. Choose a sect. Face that sect's combat representative. Survive ten moves. Pass or fail."
More whispers. Long Chen heard fragments—
"Ten moves against an Emperor?"
"That's impossible—"
"They're testing survival, not victory—"
Elder Qingshan raised his hand and silence fell.
"By representatives I mean the sect members who came with us, not me." Elder Qingshan said a little amused at the prank he pulled.
"The trial begins now."
Thousands of jade tokens appeared in the air simultaneously, one in front of each disciple. Long Chen grabbed his. It was cool to the touch, about the size of a coin, with the number "0" glowing on its surface.
"You have until sunset," Elder Qingshan said. "Begin."