Chapter 147: The Entrance Trials of the Four Great Sects

There were still three months before the top powers held their Dao Discussion Assembly at Ethereal Immortal Mountain. Three months was neither particularly long nor particularly short. Judging from the map Chen Mu had purchased, Ethereal Immortal Mountain lay a considerable distance away. In short, reaching it in a single stretch would be impossible.

Ethereal Immortal Mountain was located within the territory of the Brahma Star Sect, though it was already very close to the border of the Suspended Sword Sect, another of the four supreme sects in the East.

Ethereal Immortal Mountain had once been the place where an immortal known as the Ethereal Fairy had shattered the void and ascended from the Flying Immortal Realm. That alone had given the mountain its fame, which had endured for tens of thousands of years.

The surroundings were beautiful, and spiritual energy was abundant. Cultivators from all over the continent came here in admiration to sightsee and travel. In memory of the Ethereal Fairy, temples and exhibition halls had even been built on the mountain. One could say that its potential as a tourist destination had been developed to the fullest.

To put it plainly, Ethereal Immortal Mountain had earned its name solely because the Ethereal Fairy had shattered the void and departed from there. In truth, there was nothing particularly extraordinary about the mountain itself.

Yet many people came to pay their respects simply because they revered and admired the Ethereal Fairy’s fame and beauty. Whenever the great sects and powerful factions held events, this place was invariably among their first choices. The Dao Discussion Assembly was no exception.

Ethereal Immortal Mountain was far from Chen Mu’s current location, so he had to prepare for a long journey.

He also had to consider how he would earn spiritual stones along the way. It was entirely possible that he might run out of spiritual stones while cultivating on the road.

He could avoid cultivating throughout the journey, but Chen Mu had an inexplicable premonition that something might happen if he failed to increase his strength quickly enough and could not make a stunning impression when the four great powers recruited disciples.

He had no idea where this premonition came from. If he could overwhelm every cultivator participating in the four powers’ examinations and attract everyone’s attention, perhaps there would still be room for change.

He did not know why he sensed that danger awaited him on this journey, but he was certain that if he truly distinguished himself and was chosen by one of the four great powers, any one of them would possess more than enough strength to protect him.

Therefore, Chen Mu made up his mind. During these three months, he had to raise his strength as rapidly as possible. At the very least, he needed to advance his Body Refining cultivation to the mid Meridian Tempering Realm, or his Qi Refining cultivation to the late Core Formation Realm.

In any case, he needed enough power to remain undefeated against a Nascent Soul cultivator. As for competitors in the Core Formation Realm, he could afford to disregard them.

Chen Mu felt that Nascent Soul cultivators were bound to be older than the recruitment requirements and should not be permitted to participate in this disciple selection.

Unless the Nascent Soul cultivator was exceptionally young and happened to fall barely within the required age range.

According to the information he had received, applicants had to be under thirty-five years old. But what kind of extraordinary genius could achieve the Nascent Soul Realm before the age of thirty-five? Such a person could practically be called a monster.

That would mean reaching the Core Formation Realm by the age of twenty at the latest, then advancing through a minor realm roughly every three years and breaking through four times in succession to reach the early Nascent Soul Realm.

Setting aside the fact that such a schedule was far too short, hurried, and barely plausible, the barriers between minor realms were not easy to overcome. After breaking through one minor realm, it was entirely possible that the cultivator could no longer maintain the same pace and would need far longer to break through the next bottleneck.

Thus, it was hardly realistic to advance through every minor realm at the same speed. Still, the world was full of surprises. Perhaps a genius of that sort truly existed.

One thing was certain: even if someone reached the Nascent Soul Realm at thirty-five, they could only have just entered it. It would be absolutely impossible for them to possess the strength of the mid Nascent Soul Realm.

As far as Chen Mu’s goal was concerned, if he could remain undefeated against an early Nascent Soul cultivator, he would already be the foremost candidate in the examination. After all, this recruitment was aimed only at the most promising cultivators under the age of thirty-five. That prevented those powerful old monsters from joining merely to stir up trouble.

Of course, the four great powers were not recruiting only Core Formation cultivators. They also paid close attention to rising stars in the Origin Foundation Realm. More accurately, the younger and more promising a cultivator was, the greater their attention. After all, only young cultivators with potential were worth nurturing extensively.

In truth, these powers recruited Core Formation cultivators merely to replenish their lower ranks as quickly as possible. Unless something unexpected happened, Core Formation cultivators would generally be accepted as ordinary disciples.

Only cultivators in the Origin Foundation Realm had a greater chance of becoming core disciples. Naturally, this depended on their age advantage. If a Core Formation cultivator had opened an impressive number of spiritual meridians—more than a hundred—and formed a superior Core before the age of twenty-five, the great powers might also admit them into the ranks of their core disciples.

As for Meridian Opening cultivators, they were not eligible to participate in this examination. The sects recruited such cultivators through different means. They generally searched for promising Meridian Opening seedlings themselves.

Meridian Opening cultivators were usually recruited by a sect from the very beginning and nurtured from the ground up. These young seedlings grew under the sect’s supervision. Those with talent would remain and continue their cultivation within the sect, while those without talent would be sent to work in the sect’s various industries and would no longer be allowed to call themselves disciples.

The sects generally searched for and recruited Meridian Opening cultivators as soon as they discovered them. Origin Foundation cultivators and those above them, on the other hand, were the ones who had slipped through the net. Consequently, the sects valued Meridian Opening cultivators most, while Origin Foundation and Core Formation cultivators received progressively less attention.

Even so, the sects still entertained the hope of finding a few outstanding seedlings among the unaffiliated cultivators to replenish their ranks and strengthen their forces. In reality, however, they did not think highly of these unaffiliated cultivators.

After all, how could a lone cultivator obtain abundant resources? Their foundations were certainly not as solid as those of cultivators from sects and powerful clans with deep backing.

Nor were all the participants in this examination unaffiliated cultivators. Some other clans and factions, hoping to attach themselves to one of the four supreme powers, would also send their finest young talents to participate in the trial.

If one of them was fortunate enough to be accepted as a disciple by one of the four supreme powers, that faction would gain a massive backer. In the future, whether in reputation or influence, it would be like a tiger that had grown wings. Expanding the family business would then be effortless.

Thus, this examination was a battlefield where people fought for their futures against others who held the same ambitions. As long as one emerged victorious, the road ahead would be bright.

Chen Mu now had a rough understanding of how fierce the entrance examination for the four great powers would be. Although he did not particularly believe that a cultivator under thirty-five could reach the Nascent Soul Realm, he decided to guard against every possibility and raise one of his cultivation systems while traveling there.

He was not afraid of cultivators below the perfected Core Formation Realm. At present, however, he could only contend with perfected Core Formation cultivators through his Body Refining cultivation. Unless he broke through again, he would be unable to defeat such opponents.

This was especially true if the perfected Core Formation cultivator was also a hundred-meridian genius who had formed a Violet-Gold Core of the same rank. In that case, Chen Mu might well be unable to deal with them.

He had considered this possibility before, but the odds were extremely low. After all, attempting to form a Violet-Gold Core without opening every spiritual meridian carried a very high risk of failure.

Take Chen Mu himself. He had opened all one hundred and eight meridians, so he had possessed an excellent chance of forming a Violet-Gold Core. Even so, Rou’er had not been reassured and had insisted that he awaken as much of his bloodline power as possible before forming his Core.

The result had naturally been gratifying. Because Chen Mu had prepared thoroughly, he had managed to form a Violet-Gold Core of the highest quality.

Had he not awakened his bloodline power, he might have formed only a low-grade Violet-Gold Core. The obstacles along his future path would then have been even harsher. His strength would have diminished slightly with every advancement, while cultivators with firmer and more solid foundations would gradually leave him behind after each breakthrough.

That was why foundation and fundamentals were so important in the eyes of cultivators. Chen Mu could not help regretting that he lacked the ability to form a Nine-Colored Core. If he had been able to form one, perhaps he might have stood shoulder to shoulder with the favored geniuses of the Immortal Domains in the future.

He would certainly have been one level below those geniuses, however, and it would probably have been impossible for him to catch up with them later.

For now, Chen Mu had no desire to spend too much time dwelling on such matters. If he became too fixated on them, he would only give rise to inner demons and hinder his cultivation.

Since his foundation was already inferior to that of the favored heirs and prodigies of the Immortal and Demon Domains, he would simply find another way to catch up with them in the future. Chen Mu possessed a stubborn streak. He refused to believe that there was no other method by which he could close the distance with those so-called geniuses of the Immortal Domains.

After learning the details of the four great powers’ entrance examination, Chen Mu left the plaza of the Information Pavilion. He needed to make preparations and, at the very least, gather enough spiritual stones for three months of cultivation.

Since there were still three months, time was relatively abundant. He could slowly make his way toward Ethereal Immortal Mountain while taking odd jobs and earning some income along the way.

It was already getting late, so Chen Mu found an inn and settled in. Once he had rested and recovered his energy, he would look for some short-term work that could earn him spiritual stones the following day.

The next morning, Chen Mu decided to visit the largest alchemy merchants’ association in the area. He did not want to work as a guard or hunt demonic beasts. First, although his strength on the Azure Firmament Continent could not be called the weakest or that of mere cannon fodder, he was still far too weak. If an opponent above the Nascent Soul Realm—or a demonic beast above the fourth rank—appeared, he would certainly be unable to complete the task and could only rely on his Windstride Boots to flee.

That was why he wanted to try his luck at the alchemy merchants’ association. Although he could refine only first-grade pills suitable for Meridian Opening cultivators, that did not prevent him from assisting other alchemists by refining higher-grade medicinal materials.

Ever since he had awakened the Great Sun Illuminating Flame, his control over fire had grown increasingly effortless. Moreover, the power and properties of the Great Sun Illuminating Flame allowed him to extract the essence of medicinal materials with remarkable speed and efficiency.

When it came to refining medicinal materials, Chen Mu was therefore extremely confident. Even an alchemist in the late Nascent Soul Realm would probably be inferior to him in the practical skill of extracting medicinal essence.