A Name That Shakes the Region, Entering the Sect (Part 1)

Chapter 608: A Name That Shakes the Region, Entering the Sect (Part 1)

Among these three sects, Han Li's first choice was not the Setting Cloud Sect, but the Brilliant Artifact Institute, which was famous throughout the cultivation world for its artifact refinement.

This sect not only had unique insights in techniques, but its disciples were also highly skilled at refining magical tools of various grades. Rumor had it that the sect even possessed the refining methods for several legendary apex treasures.

The original body of the "Kunlun Tower" Talisman Treasure, once owned by the Yan Clan of the former Yue Kingdom, had been forged using the institute's methods—a magical treasure of considerable renown.

This tempted Han Li.

Unfortunately, the sect's method of recruiting new disciples was somewhat similar to that of the Seven Sects of Yue. They primarily accepted disciples from the various cultivation families and rarely recruited from outside. Furthermore, the sect was essentially controlled by a coalition of the five most powerful cultivation families, who occupied a stretch of mountain range in the western part of the Yunmeng Mountains.

This was a dealbreaker for Han Li. With regret, he had to abandon this option.

The "Ancient Sword Sect," as its name implied, specialized in sword manipulation techniques. Their magical tools and treasures were all various types of swords and blades. Their signature skill, the "White Emperor Sword Art," was renowned throughout Xi Country for its immense power and sharpness.

The Ancient Sword Sect did not exclusively recruit from cultivation families; they also accepted young rogue cultivators from outside.

However, the sect's techniques and sword arts had extremely high talent requirements. Those with slightly inferior Spiritual Roots were essentially incapable of cultivating any of their internal arts. Therefore, although they recruited disciples relatively frequently, they had the smallest number of disciples among the three sects.

That said, once a disciple of the Ancient Sword Sect achieved success in their cultivation, the overwhelming offensive power of a Sword Cultivator meant that peers of the same cultivation level were often no match for them. Consequently, they were the most powerful of the three sects and, by natural right, occupied the main mountain range of the Yunmeng Mountains.

The last remaining sect was the "Setting Cloud Sect." In a way, it was somewhat similar to the Brilliant Artifact Institute. Its techniques were eclectic but not specialized; however, it was quite renowned for its alchemy skills.

The legendary Settling Spirit Pill could only be refined by a few of this sect's elders in all of Xi Country.

Thus, despite being significantly weaker than the other two sects, the Setting Cloud Sect barely managed to hold its ground in the eastern part of the Yunmeng Mountains.

When it came to recruiting disciples, the Setting Cloud Sect accepted the most people and had the lowest entry requirements.

Fundamentally, the sect only had two conditions for accepting new disciples.

The first was good Spiritual Root talent and cultivation potential. Like other sects, the Setting Cloud Sect was very willing to take them in. The second was having a certain cultivation base, having cultivated a foundational technique to a higher level. In such cases, even if one's Spiritual Roots were terrible, they would still be accepted.

After all, aside from its fame in alchemy, the Setting Cloud Sect was also involved in various other miscellaneous arts like talisman-making and formations. All of this required a large number of low-ranked disciples to be driven like labor in order to continue operating.

As for those Qi Condensation rogue cultivators with some cultivation but less-than-ideal Spiritual Roots, they knew that entering a cultivation sect would lead to no great future, that they would probably remain low-ranked disciples forever. But they thought the same as Han Li: it was better to rest under a big tree. And so, quite a few of them ended up joining the Setting Cloud Sect.

From this perspective, the Setting Cloud Sect had the most lenient acceptance policies among the three sects. Coupled with the allure of the legendary "Settling Spirit Pill," it seemed that joining this sect was indeed the most suitable option.

After some hesitation, Han Li made some inquiries and learned that the sect would soon be recruiting new disciples. He no longer hesitated.

After parting ways with Zi Ling and the other woman, he didn't reveal his plans. After a brief preparation, he flew to this place.

He waited at the foot of the mountain for a few days. As the appointed day approached, the number of Qi Condensation cultivators arriving from various places increased dramatically. Only then did Han Li unhurriedly appear on the bluestone path leading up the mountain.

By now, Han Li had been leisurely walking up this path for about an hour since leaving the base of the mountain.

Of course, this wasn't because the mountain was truly that tall. Rather, this stone path had been imbued with some crude illusion techniques. It was likely the Setting Cloud Sect's way of tempering the patience of those wishing to join.

After all, no matter how lenient the Setting Cloud Sect was with its acceptance, it couldn't allow people who couldn't even be bothered to finish this short path to enter its ranks.

By now, the few male and female cultivators walking ahead of Han Li had also noticed the peculiarity. They huddled together to whisper, and after apparently guessing the trick, they continued forward without further concern.

These few seemed to be acquaintances, and no one bothered to call out to Han Li.

Han Li followed behind them, unconcerned.

After another half hour on the stone path, they finally saw the end of the bluestone steps. The young men and women rejoiced and quickened their pace to climb up.

Han Li, with his usual calm expression, stepped onto the final stone step and unhurriedly surveyed his surroundings.

This was a vast platform, over a hundred zhang wide. Aside from a small, unattractive pavilion in front of him, everything around was a hazy white, as if nothing else existed.

In front of the nameless stone pavilion, several dozen cultivators in various attire were seated sparsely, but none of them dared to enter the pavilion.

The male and female cultivators who had climbed up with Han Li silently joined the crowd.

Seeing this, Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but a cold sneer echoed in his heart.

Those Qi Condensation rogue cultivators might not be able to see through it, but with a single sweep of his spiritual sense, he saw through the illusionary formation before him.

This was not a stone pavilion at all. It was a huge white jade pavilion tower standing right in front of him. Above its entrance hung a large plaque with the three golden characters, "Illusory Cloud Hall."

Standing beneath the plaque at the entrance of this pavilion were three people, pointing and whispering about the ignorant Qi Condensation cultivators before them.

Relying on the formation's effect, they didn't bother to hide their conversation.

Two of these three were at the early Foundation Establishment stage, while the third appeared to be at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. They were probably the Setting Cloud Sect cultivators responsible for receiving them.

Without a word, Han Li walked to the periphery of the crowd, found a spot, sat down with his head lowered, and closed his eyes as if entering meditation.

He then extended his spiritual sense to envelop the three, effortlessly listening in on their conversation.

"Elder Senior Qiu! Although the time hasn't arrived yet, there aren't as many rogue cultivators coming to enroll as I had expected. And more than half of them seem completely unqualified. With a basic technique only at the seventh or eighth layer, how dare they come here? Do they really think the Setting Cloud Sect will take just anyone?" A pale-faced young man, who appeared to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, pointed out a few people in the crowd, his tone somewhat displeased.

"What can we do about it? It's only been three years since our last recruitment. Getting this many is already decent. And last time, Uncle-Master Jin was in dire need of hands, so a few of us had to make an exception and accept two rogue cultivators only at the eighth layer of Qi Condensation. This naturally gave the outside world the wrong impression, making them think our entry threshold had lowered again. So now we have some trying their luck." The one addressed as "Senior Qiu" was the cultivator in his forties at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. He was dressed in a white robe, had a square face with stern features, and his eyes were piercingly bright.

"But this time, we certainly won't be lenient. It seems some of the elders have taken notice of how poor the recent crop of low-ranked disciples has been, both in terms of cultivation and Spiritual Roots, and have already reminded the Sect Leader. So, as per the Sect Leader's instruction, this time we're going for quality over quantity." Another spirited young man chuckled and added.

"Quality over quantity! If we do that, we'll be lucky to accept ten disciples this time. Nine out of ten people here will have to go home." The pale-faced young man glanced condescendingly at the rogue cultivators before them.

"Don't underestimate these rogue cultivators, Junior Martial Brother Liu. There might be a hidden genius among them, after all. Think about Junior Martial Brother Sun Huo. He joined our sect as a rogue cultivator too, but in just five or six years, he successfully established his foundation. Although it was partly due to finding a suitable technique and performing a great service that earned him a Foundation Establishment Pill, it was also due to his talent, which is one in a thousand." Senior Qiu glanced sideways at this young man surnamed Liu, who seemed to come from a prominent cultivation family, and said calmly.

"Ahem! You're right, Senior Brother. My words were inappropriate!" Upon hearing this, the pale-faced young man quickly recalled something, coughed dryly a few times, and plastered an ingratiating smile on his face. He seemed to be somewhat wary of this Senior Qiu.

"Junior Martial Brother Liu..." Senior Qiu seemed about to say something more to the young man, but Han Li had lost interest in listening. He withdrew his divine sense and sat quietly to conserve his energy.

He had suppressed his aura, making himself appear to be at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation to other cultivators.

With this level of cultivation, entering the Setting Cloud Sect should be no problem!

After waiting a few more hours, more and more cultivators climbed up from the stone steps below. By the time the sun was nearly setting, nearly a hundred Qi Condensation cultivators were seated in the platform square. The majority were young male and female cultivators, along with a few middle-aged and older cultivators who seemed to have a higher cultivation base.

Just then, a brilliant red light suddenly flared up over the stone pavilion before their eyes. In the midst of the rosy clouds, the stone pavilion vanished, replaced by the enormous, ten-zhang-tall pavilion tower and the three figures standing before it.

"We welcome all fellow Daoists to the Setting Cloud Sect! Now, my fellow apprentices and I will be in charge of the disciple selection process for this session. I ask that all of you listen carefully to my following words and not miss a single thing." Senior Qiu swept his sharp gaze over the assembled crowd and spoke calmly and deliberately.