Talent Meet

There were several areas to compete in during the conference. First and foremost talent. Basically, everyone with Mid-grade Spiritual Roots would be accepted by one of the Five Great Sects.

Currently, only Mount Eternal was stricter about choosing their disciples. They would also look at candidates' physique and bone age. Other than that, they would test their character.

After all, the most important thing on the cultivation path was said to be perseverance.

Another area to compete in was combat strength. There were arena fights organized for the participants. They were based on participants' physical and spiritual attainments.

Although the highest level was at the 1st or the 2nd stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, some people were impossible to classify in such terms. For example, martial artists who specialized in body refinement.

Besides these areas, knowledge of martial arts and techniques were judged too. After all, the higher the achievements, the better the temperament.

Additionally, many mortal techniques broadened energy channels within the body and provided prospective disciples with a strong foundation. This was something that the Five Great Sects considered to be incredibly important.

Finally, there was yet another aspect to consider, namely affiliation.

One must remember that many martial sects from the mortal world were branches of the Five Great Sects. It was only natural that immortal sects wanted to support the prodigies nurtured by their secular subsidiaries.

After a few hours of walking Ouyang Li was disappointed. Looking at the diligently training mortals, he could only helplessly shake his head.

Neither he nor Steward Li found any good seedlings. It was unlikely that every talent had been snatched before they arrived. It was just that there were tens of thousands of people here! Too many! It was impossible to check everyone out.

The majority of them had no idea whether or not they even have Spiritual Roots. As for the others… It was enough to say that they were inclined to wait until the assembly officially started.

Still, they were very respectful. They groveled and treated each representative like a deity!

As a result, Ouyang Li was a bit distracted when he and Steward Ming returned from the market. It was because he found the influence of immortal cultivators to be mind-boggling!

As soon as they entered their designated square, they noticed tremendous changes.

Dozens of tents and complicated formation arrays appeared where they had landed just a few hours before. The view was still very vague, as they were looking from outside of the newly set up Grand Protective Array and Sound Isolating Array.

Although most Elders went to explore, many have already returned to help set up this camp.

Looking at the disturbed ambient Qi in the environment, Ouyang Li realized that some of them decided to meditate too.

"Fools!" Steward Ming muttered under his breath. "Spiritual Qi here is much less abundant than in the Outer Sect. The way I see it, they are just wasting their time."

Soon, he and Ouyang Li activated their sect tokens and entered inside. Immediately, they noticed that there was a commotion near the most luxurious tent.

Even their Gentle Wind Valley's Grand Elder was present there!

"Good, good!" The usually silent man was now laughing heartily. "After we get back to the sect, I will report your contributions, Elder Lu. You will be handsomely rewarded, you have my word!"

To everyone's surprise, one of their Gentle Wind Valley's Elders managed to find true talent! It was a young girl that had high-grade Spiritual Roots. Her name was Yang Ji.

It was truly a rare found. In the past, there were some Grand Immortal Destiny Conferences during which high-grade Spiritual Roots have never appeared in the first place!

"All of us must protect this girl!" The Grand Elder instructed sternly. "None of you is to mention anything about her. Do not talk about her between yourselves either."

The man transmitted his voice straight into their minds.

No one dared to refute him. One by one, every Elder and Steward quickly acknowledged his words. Then, they all left the venue pretending that they never seen Yang Ji.

Ouyang Li also said goodbye to Steward Ming. Then, he followed example of others and went away too.

Subsequently, he made some effort and put up a tent as his temporal quarters.

The next thing to do was wait until the Grand Immortal Destiny Conference started. To pass time, Ouyang Li decided to ignore Steward Ming's opinions and slowly meditate.

It took five more days for the rest of the sects to arrive. Unsurprisingly, the last one to come was Mount Eternal.

As five peak Golden Core cultivators representing the main forces gathered, the testing finally started.

To Ouyang Li's dismay, the process was incredibly boring.

Prospective disciples walk up to the representatives of the Five Great Sects that were holding talent-measuring crystals. They moved in small groups. Then, if a candidate was qualified, they would be allowed to state the name of a sect that they preferred.

Of course, those with high talent had a priority.

As for arena fights, Ouyang Li found that they were too low level for him. He couldn't find anything that might help him advance his cultivation here. So, watching them was pointless.

The whole conference lasted for nine days. During the last day, Ouyang Li found that his lips felt strained and his back had become stiff.

It was because he had to constantly smile politely and bow, greeting Golden Gore cultivators whenever he saw them.

It was so weird to bump into these incredibly powerful figures whenever he walked! After all, it was extremely difficult to spot one back in the sect. Usually, Grand Elders could only be seen on rare occasions. Encountering them personally was almost impossible!

As for the final results of the conference, his Gentle Wind Valley managed to get one middle-grade talent and four relatively decent low-grate talents. In comparison to other sects, it was neither good nor bad.

Of course, that was without counting the girl who had high-grade Spiritual Roots. Throughout the competition, she stayed hidden. She was probably forced to stay in the area designated for their sect.

To be honest, Ouyang Li was dismayed that nothing of note happened during this conference. He even thought it suspicious, but he tried to get rid of similar thoughts.

Otherwise, he would jinx it!

While they were preparing to go back to the sect, he and Steward Mind were already well-acquainted with one another.

"Tell me, how is it that the sect is satisfied with recruiting less than ten new disciples every decade? Isn't this number way too small for us to prosper?"

He asked while packing up his tent. He had been wondering about this topic for the last few days.

After all, it wasn't only them. All Five Great Sects seemed to be satisfied with this arrangement.

"Well, this conference is only for show. For all we know, there are many ways in which sects can recruit talented disciples. It is especially so for the Five Great Sects. To be honest, I'm quite surprised you don't know about this."

"Oh? Could you elaborate a bit more? To be honest, it wasn't long since I joined our sect…"

"Yes, yes. I almost forgot. You are so young and gifted," the elderly man slowly nodded his head. "To be honest, talented disciples usually come from cultivation clans that are under a sect. No one really knows how many families each sect has. Many keep to themselves. They are either hidden behind illusion formations or cooped up within secluded valleys. Some even say…"

Here the man stopped and finished by sending him a secret transmission.

"...Well, supposedly, there are some powerful clans that even have their family members in high positions of each of the Five Great Sects. Still, you should take it with a grain of salt. After all, this is just a rumor."

"I see." Ouyang Li looked thoughtful. "Thank you for clearing my doubts, brother Ming."

It seemed like he was still way too weak to come across some true secrets of the cultivation world.

Soon, they finished packing and stood at the landing zone.

Ouyang Li and other Stewards arrived first. Then, Heir Disciple Wei appeared with the Elders. They were all waiting for their Grand Elder, who was still discussing something with other Golden Core cultivators.

Suddenly, a ship materialized in front of them, and they heard his voice in their minds.

"Everyone, board the boat first. Elder Zhou will lead you guys back. I will join you later."

And so, they entered the flying artifact one by one. Then, the most powerful Elder, one who was at the peak of the Immortal Foundation Realm, steered the ship to fly.

Ouyang Li was a bit wary of this situation. However, he looked at other sects and realized that their Golden Core cultivators were all held up in the venue. Only Mount Eternal, who arrived with two Grand Elders, left under the protection of a Golden Core Realm master.

This time, Ouyang Li decided against cultivating. Instead, he spent his time viewing tall mountains and contemplating life. He wasn't good at geography. And so, he marveled at how some peaks were tens of thousands of meters tall. It should be impossible, right?

Sometime later, their Grand Elder arrived on the ship. He was clearly displeased and had a serious look on his face.

That was Ouyang Li's first clue that something went wrong. After all, how can an old monster allow his expression to be so vivid?

"Everyone, activate the formations!" He ordered while waving his hand and powering the ship with a few hundred high quality Spirit Stones. "We are going to have some company!"

Everyone stopped meditating and quickly gathered on the upper deck. Still, it took one more hour before the ship was surrendered.

Three crimson ships appeared to their left. They then proceeded to cut off their escape route.

Everyone could clearly see the black-clothed silhouettes moving about. They seemed to be using weird demonic energy, trying to infuse it into some kind of artifact.

Then, many strange runes lit up. Suddenly, the surface of each crimson ship became bright.

"She's here!" An old man leading one of the enemy ships shouted. He stood in the air and it was clear that he was a Golden Core cultivator! "You old, stinky thing from the North! Quickly give up on the girl, and we will let your youngsters pass!"

"You…!" Their Grand Elder rose into the air and quickly activated some sort of cannon-like weapon. "How daring of your demonic plague to enter so deep into the territory of the Five Great Sects!"

Instantly, spiritual weapon fired on the enemy ship.

Its crimson shied fluctuated rapidly and broke down. However, before Ouyang Li had time to rejoice, two more Golden Core cultivators flew up from two intact ships. They then joined the old man. Now, it was three against one!

"So, it turns out that she was snatched by the Gentle Wind Valley!" The newly arrived man laughed loudly. "Well, since you don't appreciate our kindness, you can all go to hell!"

Then, he pressed down on their boat with a gigantic spiritual palm. Soon, another Golden Core cultivator also joined in on the offensive.

Although their boat was bigger, it still shook and vibrated. Then, their Grand Elder paled.

"Not good!" It was Old Mind who sent Ouyang Li a secret transmission. "This is the Mount Gu! Unless our Grand Elder has some trump cards, we are up for a tough battle!"

"Mount Gu? How come I've never heard of it before? There are supposed to be no demonic sects on this continent!"

However, before Steward Ming had time to reply, the enemy leader joined the attack.

Their boat shook and scratched even more violently. The shield lit up even more in a last-ditch effort to repel the three spiritual hands. After a moment, it failed with a boom!

At the same time, their Grand Elder spit out a mouthful of blood. He then looked at Stewards and Elders.

"Everybody… run for your lives!"

Without hesitation, Ouyang Li jumped into the air. Then, he dived down, leaving the boat. He noticed that although their Grand Elder's eyes were cold, there was no panic in them. Perhaps, there was still some hope!