Page 16: Arrival
"Brother Ling Tian, aren't we too early? The sun hasn't rise yet but we're going already. Is there something special happening beside the awakening?"
"Haha! Brother Bai. It seems that you never really had any experience attending the ceremony. You'll see layer why we need to be early. Everyone, let's keep up the pace!"
Long Bai, Ah Mu, and Yue followed behind Ling Tian as they head to the central district where the ceremony will be held. The surrounding is quite cold since its still early morning however Long Bai and company do not seem to be affected.
After 10 minutes of running, they reached the designated area. Although it was early, people of all genders and age have already crowded the area. Long Bai who just entered murmured in disbelief.
"Hoo. So this is why. I remembered back on earth that only celebrities would make people go to events so early. I really wonder how strong those seniors from Six Star sect are. I'm looking forward to it."
Since there's still two hours before everything will start, there are some who are quietly meditating while others are making conversations of all sorts.
As Ling Tian leads the rest to an area, Long Bai noticed a peculiar arrangement among the people.
"Brother Ling Tian, is it just me or am I seeing divisions of people here? What's going on?"
"So you've noticed. Originally, there are eight divisions here but now, there are only seven. Five is an area designated for the five households of Merchant city while the sixth are from the merchant union. As for us, our area is over there, the most crowded one."
"Huh? Oh I see how it is. There are a lot children on our spot eh? They must be just like us who wants to change their fate. A carp to a dragon, or at least to say but I think most of the commoners thinks a more practical situation and that is to be relived from their present condition."
"Yes, although I think only a few from this population will get through it. Let's join the queue."
Ling Tian's group sat almost at the back due to the numerous kids sitting in front. The group was able to proceed peacefully in their spot although the curiosity and animosity can be felt from the other candidate's gazes. An hour passed just like that when prominent figures started to arrive.
#1
"That's the Li household! All the members of the family are here, even their second son from the sect has joined. I wonder how many will be awakened among their young members."
#2
"I heard that they only have five candidates and their highest hope is with the youngest son of the family head who turned nine this year. This time, they might have a better result. Hmm? There's the Zhou household. It looks like their little miss is finally attending."
#3
"Little miss? You mean the one who was almost kidnapped?"
#2
"Yeah. Look! beside her is her senior brother, an inner disciple from the sect. His presence is really reassuring."
#1
"There's another one. The Feng household. There are six youngsters with them."
#2
"This is the last chance for two of them since he has turned ten this year. Although that's the case, all candidates of the Feng family from the past have all passed the awakening. Although it is his last, you can't see them worrying about it."
The conversations about the families liven up the silent crowd. If the conversation was not about their candidates, it must be about their prestige. To show their good intentions to the sect, the best child from each family puts down bags of essence shards as tribute for their participation. In terms of wealth, it would be the Chen and Hu households who would exceed the wealth of three the three households combined. Aside from the merchant union who would donate thousands of essence shards, Chen and Hu households would do the same. Due to this, they have the greatest influence in the entire merchant city.
After another hour, the members from the sect has arrived. Following the tradition, after some sets of performances to liven up the atmosphere, then the awakening procedure will have to proceed. Each household presented their best dancers and performers while the commoners just enjoyed the show. Although the commoners are allowed to join, they were always treated as a side show, or at least.
At the center of the venue, three tables wet set. On them are large crystal ball as big as an adult head were displayed. This is how a person's core grade is evaluated once it is developed but the most interesting object is a platform placed before the table. This platform is an array that is only possessed by sects and big clans. Not even the merchants or the five families can afford it.
Using the array platform, it would be able to stimulate a person's essence affinity and manifest it in that person as a core. During the experience, the person must not be interrupted or else it could prove fatal. In some cases, due to grudge or something, people would do anything just interrupt the ritual. For such reason, each platform is guarded by a strong individual. In this ceremony, inner disciples of the sect are responsible for such work.
Behind the tables, one old man stood up which rendered every one in the crowd silent. Just by his presence alone, everyone can feel that this elder from the sect is strong. Long Bai who was watching everything in front has also felt the oppressing feeling the elder exudes. Upon scanning with the system, Long Bai understood that the elder is on another level.
[System notice: Your cultivation level is too low. You are unable to detect the target's cultivation level.]
With the elder's signal, the ceremony had just begun.
"Begin the ceremony! Let my sect's disciples announce the order."
"With elder Ye's approval, this is the order of each participants. The first table; Chen household followed by the Chou household, 2nd table; Hu household followed by the Feng household, and third household, the merchant union followed by the Li household. After everyone from the list are done, then anyone who are aspiring can participate. Let us begin!"
After the inner disciple announced everything, participants from the named household went to make their queue. The commoners who will be having the chances after the list just kept their silence waiting. Since this was a privilege, there's no grumble or anything coming from them. Everyone knows that a small mistake could mean loosing their chances of trying.
Long Bai, was also silent at that moment but it was due to another reason. While everyone was focused on the participants undergoing the ritual, he was trying to scan every member of the sect and everyone from the crowd. With this, he was able to get an idea of the youth's average cultivation levels.
[Qi Tao (inner sect disciple)
Age: 16
Cultivation lvl: Visceral tempering stage (initial- 3rd)
Core grade: Average ]
[Gong Ru (inner sect disciple)
Age: 17
Cultivation lvl: Visceral tempering stage (middle- 5th)
Core grade: Average ]
[Cai Yun (inner sect disciple)
Age: 15
Cultivation lvl: Visceral tempering stage ( middle- 4th)
[Chen Weimin (outer sect disciple)
Age: 16
Cultivation lvl: Flesh tenpering stage (late- 9th)
Core grade: Ordinary]
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Bai Long's summary of the cultivation Tree
Body Tempering Realm
1. Flesh tempering stage
a. initial layers (1-3)
b. middle layers (4-6)
c late layers (7-9)
2. Visceral tempering stage
a. initial layers (1-3)
b. middle layers (4-6)
c late layers (7-9)
3. Bone tempering stage
a. initial layers (1-3)
b. middle layers (4-6)
c late layers (7-9)
Soul Establishment Realm
....
Core Grades:
Ordinary, Average, High