Chapter 212 – Luxury
Plus, with all the magical treasures shining all the time and the Sky Cloud Sect itself saying that any method could be used, no one knew Wang Lin’s limits.
The moment the barrier hit the pillar, Wang Lin could clearly feel that a piece of jade flashed golden and flew out slowly.
Wang Lin’s eyes lit up, and his prohibition landed on the jade. Suddenly, the jade’s speed slowed drastically. At the same time, he released another prohibition, and this time, it landed on a pill inside the pillar. The pill began to emit a golden light and quickly flew out of the pillar. It landed in the hands of a young man on the stage.
The man was stunned and suddenly shouted with joy. “This… I… I passed!!”
At that moment, the middle-aged man from the Cloud Sect’s eyes widened. He stared at the pill as he leaped swiftly and landed in front of the young man.
Without a word, he waved his hand, and the pill flew into his hand. He examined the pill carefully, then looked at the young man, who was filled with joy. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Congratulations. You don’t need to undergo any further tests and will immediately become a core disciple of the Heavenly Cloud Sect. You can go up the mountain to meet the sect master. Take good care of this pill. When you meet your master, give it to them as a gift. Unfortunately, this is a fire-based pill. If it were something else, I would be your master!”
The student’s eyes showed a gleam of joy. He nodded rapidly as he was filled with excitement.
Wang Lin’s expression was calm, but his heart was moved. Within the black fog, he only saw three things: a pill, a jade, and a token.
It’s clear that these three items have different meanings. Receiving a pill means becoming a disciple, and receiving a jade means passing the test. What happens if someone receives a token?
Wang Lin pondered for a moment, but he didn’t act again. He had to be extremely careful because an accident could happen at any moment, but if he continued doing this, it would be obvious. If he were discovered, all of this would be for naught.
Based on Wang Lin’s analysis of the middle-aged man’s expression, he was certain that in this entrance exam, which only takes place once every 30 years, almost no one had obtained a pill. He suspected that most people had only obtained a piece of jade.
The middle-aged man said quietly, in a flat tone, “There’s only one hour left before the deadline. I can tell you now that inside that pillar, there are four items: a piece of jade, a pill, a token, and a pill furnace.”
“Of these four items, whoever obtains the jade will pass this test. Whoever obtains the pill will directly become an inner disciple. Whoever obtains the token can exchange it for any tier 3 pill, other than the one that allows you to become an inner disciple.”
“If any one of you manages to obtain that furnace, then you will be one of the few who will become the sect head disciple. However, in the 8,000 years since the Sky Cloud Sect was founded, only six disciples have managed to obtain a pill furnace. I hope that among you, there will be a seventh.”
“Once you become the sect master’s disciple, you can use pills as you wish and you will be introduced to the more profound areas of Alchemy.”
As soon as those words were spoken, all the young men on stage took a deep breath and stared at the pillar. In their eyes, the pillar symbolized a lifetime of wealth.
When Wang Lin heard those words, he was stunned. When he checked inside the restriction, there were only three items. There was no pill furnace inside. After pondering for a moment, Wang Lin didn’t continue to pay attention, but instead took out the restriction and took out a pill.
With a flash of golden light, a blue pill immediately flew out of the pillar and was grabbed by Wang Lin.
It wasn’t that Wang Lin couldn’t get the token, but he didn’t want it to be too conspicuous. If it weren’t for the fact that obtaining the pill would instantly make him an inner disciple, he would have chosen the jade instead.
After noticing the color of the pill, the middle-aged man’s eyes suddenly lit up. He took the pill from Wang Lin’s hand. After staring at Wang Lin for a moment, he smiled and said, “Are you willing to take me as your teacher?”
Wang Lin’s face showed a look of fear, but within that fear was a hint of joy. He immediately nodded.
The middle-aged man smiled and said, “Stand with me until the end, then I will take you to the mountain to meet the sect head.”
Wang Lin quickly and respectfully followed the middle-aged man to a corner of the stage. His face was filled with fear and joy, but he was sneering inwardly. When he saw the middle-aged man’s disappointed expression when the previous disciple had obtained the fire element pill, Wang Lin began to carefully observe the middle-aged man. He roughly judged that the pill the middle-aged man wanted was a water element pill. After all, even if the other elements weren’t compatible, the pill would still be usable, unless he needed the water element, which was the opposite of fire.
As a result, Wang Lin deliberately chose the water element pill because if his analysis was correct, the middle-aged man would be delighted to investigate further why the two pills appeared in succession.
Within the next hour, three more people were selected. Among them, one was the girl who had walked here with Wang Lin.
Time was almost up. The middle-aged man looked up at the sky and was about to announce the result, but at that very moment, the entire pillar of dark fog began to roll violently. Dark clouds began to appear in the sky, and lightning flashed across the sky like dancing silver snakes.
At the same time, a thunderous explosion sounded from within the mist and the tip of a giant pill furnace emerged from a corner of the mist.
This tip was purple and engraved with a chained black dragon. The dragon’s eyes were filled with anger and intense reluctance. It stared up at the sky and let out several roars.
At that moment, an invisible force from the mist pushed everyone on the stage away, except for the middle-aged man and Wang Lin, who was next to him, and a frail-looking young man. The frail-looking young man stared blankly at the edge of the pill furnace, unable to speak.
Wang Lin was surprised. He looked closely at the pill furnace and could see it was covered in a layer of black light. Every time the pill furnace moved a little, the layer of black light diminished.
“Tripod! It’s a dragon tripod!” The middle-aged man standing beside Wang Lin showed a serious expression.
However, at the same time, the pill furnace suddenly trembled and no longer flew out, but slowly shrank back into the mist. At the same time, a golden token flew out of the mist and landed in the hands of the frail-looking young man.
The middle-aged man sighed. He had seen this happen every 30 years, but the pill furnace had never been able to leave the pillar.
“Send everyone out of the Sky Cloud Sect mountain. Everyone who obtained something, follow me up the mountain.” After the middle-aged man finished, he turned to Wang Lin and grabbed Wang Lin’s belt. He jumped onto the young man who had obtained the token and picked him up as well, then carried them both up the mountain.
Behind him were three Cloud Sky disciples. They carried the three lucky ones who passed the test to the top of the mountain.
Wang Lin continued to examine his surroundings. As the middle-aged man moved faster, the mountain grew closer. Then, they suddenly passed through a wave-like barrier, and the entire scene before Wang Lin changed.
The lush green forests and mountain scenery suddenly disappeared, and what lay before Wang Lin was an extremely magnificent building decorated with exquisitely carved jade. Even Wang Lin, who had seen the world, couldn’t help but gasp, thinking that the Heavenly Cloud Sect was indeed wealthy.
While not all houses are made of jade, over 80% of buildings are made of natural jade. If all of this were converted into spirit stones or jade pieces, the total amount would be unimaginable.
At the same time, because there were so many jade stones, this place naturally possessed extremely dense spiritual energy. He took a deep breath and immediately felt a very comfortable feeling. After analyzing it a bit, Wang Lin decided that cultivating here for one day was comparable to cultivating outside for three days.
Wang Lin looked at the other people who had also been selected and found that they were all stunned as well. They all stared at the scene before them with strange expressions.
As they passed through the wave-like barrier, the disciples behind the middle-aged man began to loosen their grip. Everyone who had come to join the Heavenly Cloud Sect already possessed their own flying treasure. As the Heavenly Cloud Sect disciples loosened their grip on the people they had brought, everyone boarded their own flying treasure and followed behind the middle-aged man.
The group’s speed wasn’t very fast. Wang Lin was stunned for a moment, then saw a flock of cranes flying in the distance. Atop the cranes sat several beautiful women. These women wore rainbow-colored robes, making them look like dancing butterflies, causing people to involuntarily look in their direction.
As the cranes got closer, one of the women said in a beautiful and clear voice, “Senior apprentice-brother Zhou, are they new students?”
The woman was attractive, with all the characteristics of a beautiful woman. She also had a small dot at the corner of her lips, making her very charming.
The middle-aged man laughed and said, “Yes. This time, during the recruitment, there were 6 people who passed.”
The woman’s gaze swept across the group, revealing some of her hidden beauty. Her gaze landed on the girl walking into the sect with Wang Lin, and she smiled. “Very beautiful. If Master sees her, he’ll definitely accept her as a disciple.”
When the woman finished, the women with her turned their attention to her. After chatting for a while, they all left the crane with charming smiles.