A few days had passed since Li Ran returned to the Pure Wind Clan.
During these few days, he had either studied the stone’s Soul Skills or absorbed the monsters he had killed in the Desolate Millet Mountain Range. Of course, he had only boiled them into medicinal pastes and soaked in them to temper his body.
As the age of the monsters was not high, they could not fuse with his Soul Ring, so their use value was greatly reduced.
For a time, it made Li Ran beat his chest and stomp his feet. He should not have absorbed the Nine-Tailed Fox’s Soul Ring in the beginning. He would have left it behind and absorbed the monsters with low age first. This way, the age of the stone could be increased by a few thousand years!
Now that things had come to this, it was useless to regret or be depressed.
These few days, in order to achieve a new goal, Li Xun had been constantly tempering his body so that he could show off in front of Senior Mo Bao and have a chance to become his disciple.
“Lil’ Ran!”
An anxious call came from outside.
It was Li Xun’s voice.
Li Ran, who was deep in thought, was stunned. What made his father so anxious?
He quickly walked out and saw Li Xun, who was about to open the door and enter. Li Xun had an anxious look on his face. As soon as he saw Li Ran coming out, he hurriedly pulled him out of the courtyard.
Li Ran was dragged for a while, then he asked in a daze, “Chie… Father, what happened?”
“We’ll talk about it later. Come with me to the training field now.”
Li Xun looked hurried, and he did not have time to explain further.
‘The training field?
‘It’s definitely not a small matter for Father to be so anxious. What is this for?’
Li Ran kept quiet and rushed to the training field with his father. On the way, they met many disciples of the Pure Wind Clan. Their expressions were hurried as well, and they were heading in the same direction as Li Ran and his father.
Not only that but the entrances of the Pure Wind Clan were filled with all kinds of Soul Warriors.
Seeing this scene, Li Ran was shocked. The various Soul Warriors rarely fought to appear in the Pure Wind Clan. It had never happened in hundreds of years.
It was rare to see one in hundreds of years!
When Li Ran arrived at the training field, he completely understood. He did not need his father to explain. He already knew what was going on.
The people from the Divine Sect had arrived.
On the Pure Wind Clan’s training field, there were people wearing blue and white robes. There was embroidery on their chests. It was a proud eagle.
Those people from the Divine Sect were very eye-catching in the entire training field. It was difficult for Li Ran not to see them.
The Soul Rings on their arms shone with golden lights. They were exceptionally eye-catching. They filled the training field with golden lights.
Li Ran narrowed his eyes as he sized up the people from the Divine Sect. His heart skipped a beat. He was surprised.
Nearly half of the twenty people from the Divine Sect were Great Soul Masters. There were quite a number of Soul Grandmasters too as there were five of them.
Their combined strength was even more powerful than all the people from the Pure Wind Clan. This was only a small portion of the Divine Sect. It was probably not even a tenth of their strength.
It was enough to show how powerful the Divine Sect’s foundation was!
When the elder in lead saw Li Xun’s arrival, he greeted him with a smile.
‘A Soul King!’
Li Ran’s expression did not change, but his heart was in turmoil. That was a true Soul King!
In Sifang Town, other than that day at the Dongluo Market’s auction house when he accidentally bumped into the Soul Kings from two mysterious organizations, he had never met one elsewhere.
“Elder Wen, I didn’t treat you well. I didn’t know that you’d arrive at Sifang Town so quickly.”
In front of this Soul King, Li Xun was humble and courteous.
“Chief Li, you’re too kind. I feel bad for borrowing your clan’s training field today.”
Elder Wen, the Soul King from the Divine Sect, smiled in response. He silently sized up the youth standing next to Li Xun through the corner of his eyes. In just a second, he averted his gaze.
Since the youth only had one Soul Ring, he was not worth his attention.
‘The Pure Wind Sect has been declining in recent years. They actually have a disciple with a Soul Ring of such a low age.’
“Chief Li, this is our plan. Other than the Pure Wind Sect, there are also the three great families and other organizations of Sifang Town. Many of their disciples will participate in the recruitment. Other than that, there are also rogue cultivators from all walks of life. There are too many people.”
Elder Wen pointed at the sea of people, surrounding the training ground.
“Elders, don’t worry. The other disciples of the Pure Wind Clan will do their best to cooperate with the Divine Sect’s recruitment. The disciples of our clan will be responsible for the order outside.”
Hearing this, Elder Wen smiled so much that his wrinkles appeared. He thanked Li Xun politely.
As for Li Ran…
He was sizing up the families and organizations in all directions. As expected, he saw the young man from the Wang Xiang family among them. That young man happened to look at him with disdain. It was as if he knew some of the conditions for the Divine Sect’s recruitment, so he was certain that Li Ran would not be able to join the sect.
Li Ran swept his gaze over him, then shifted his gaze away from him and continued to survey his surroundings.
‘Even the organizations Qi Feng and Mo Ying are here. The Divine Sect isn’t simple at all. The people from the three great families and the mysterious organizations all want their disciples to enter the Divine Sect.’
Li Ran’s gaze had been fixed on the people from the Qi Feng Organization, who were wearing cloaks. He did not forget what happened at the Dongluo Market. That organization had bid for the Seven-Colored Sacred Lotus!
Previously, because he was weak, he was unable to obtain the Seven-Colored Sacred Lotus. Now that he met the people from the Qi Feng Organization again, he felt an itch.
He suppressed the fervor in his heart. A 100,000-year-old Seven-Colored Sacred Lotus was just like the 200,000-year-old magical beast in the Desolate Millet Mountain Range. It was a treasure that made people envious.
The words of the person beside him pulled his thoughts back.
“Elder Wen, Senior Mo Bao didn’t come this time?”
Li Xun was slightly disappointed that he did not find Mo Bao among the twenty over people from the Divine Sect. He asked with the last glimmer of hope in his heart.
He was not the only one. A youth beside him also looked at the Divine Sect’s elder, his eyes flickering with hope.
“He didn’t come. He can’t come. It’s not peaceful outside.”
Elder Wen teased with a smile. Everyone knew what he meant.
Would Mo Bao dare to appear?
There were enemies staring at him outside and had not given up for so many years. If Mo Bao appeared, he would be ambushed by many terrifying powerhouses!
This was the expected result.
Li Xun shook his head and sighed.
Since Mo Bao did not come, he could only inform him by letter. No matter what the result was, he had to give it a try.
“Elder Wen, how many disciples do the Divine Sect want to recruit from Sifang Town this time?”
The number of people participating in the recruitment this time around had more than doubled compared to last year. If the number of disciples recruited did not change, it meant that the competition this year would be much crueler.
Elder Wen smiled without saying a word. His gaze swept across everyone. He avoided the light and emphasized, “The quality this year is better than the previous years, but you should know that the Divine Sect’s territory is limited, Chief. If we recruit all of them, the higher-ups will seek an explanation from me.
“Looks like we’ll have to raise the standards this year.”
His voice was not loud, but the people from the families and other organizations had been paying close attention to the movements here.
They all heard this.
All of a sudden, the crowd was in an uproar!
‘They’re going to raise the standards this year?!’
The most shocked ones were the rogue cultivators. It was already very difficult for them to awaken five Soul Rings. After all the effort they had put in, they had barely reached last year’s recruitment standards. In the end, they were told that the standards would be raised?
They could not accept this change!
The rogue cultivators were just one step away from joining a great sect of the Yanjiu Prefecture. Now, the opportunity for them to advance was completely ruined!
No one could accept it.
In the crowd, the people of the three great families and some of the larger organizations did not change their expressions. It seemed that their members and disciples had awakened more than five Soul Rings. Otherwise, they would not be so calm as to look disdainfully at the crowd and calmly sit by the side to watch the show.
Raising the standards was actually a good thing.. There would be fewer competitors!