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Chapter 28 : Newbie’s Test
“Blood meridians? How do you have blood meridians?” the blue-robed apprentice cried out in disbelief.
According to the news he had gotten, Lu Ming had no blood meridians!
“Of course, I have blood meridians. How else would I have passed the tests by the Vermillion Bird Hall seniors and get a recommendation? This is something even a pig would understand, but you’ve made things difficult for me on purpose. Tell me, what’s your intention? Are you intentionally oppressing the new apprentices or are you dumber than a pig?” Lu Ming articulated each word with such clarity while his gaze bore into the blue-robed apprentice like a drill.
The new apprentices around Lu Ming glowered gingerly at the blue-robed apprentice after hearing what Lu Ming said.
‘These two questions were impossible to answer!’ The blue-robed apprentice raged.
If he admitted that he made things difficult for Lu Ming on purpose, it meant that he was also oppressing the new apprentices on purpose. Then, if the Vermillion Bird Hall saw a drastic dip in the number of new apprentices because of what had happened, he would be in huge trouble.
However, if he did not admit it, he would be deemed dumber than a pig.
“Lu Ming, you..” Flushed, the blue-robed apprentice was at a loss for words.
“F*ck off, you’re in the way!” Lu Ming reprimanded.
The blue-robed apprentice gritted his teeth as he glared at Lu Ming. “Just you wait, Lu Ming. I, Ning Feng, won’t be so easily fooled.” He stormed away after he was done.
Lu Ming snickered and entered the training field.
There were about 200 people on the wide and spacious training field.
Lu Ming walked to the side of the training hall and sat down as he waited quietly.
People were still entering the training field.
The sky began to darken as a few hours passed. There were almost a thousand people in the training field by the time people stopped trickling in.
Lu Ming could not help but lament about the high prerequisites to become a Mystical Sword Sect apprentice. There were about 50,000 people at the front gate waiting to be assessed, but only about a thousand of them were in the Vermillion Bird Hall.
For the other halls, even if there were more people in the crowd, it would not make that much of a difference.
Lu Ming estimated that there would only be around 5,000 new apprentices amongst the four halls combined, and that was the better case scenario, which meant that only one out of ten applicants were accepted into the Mystical Sword Sect.
A full-bearded, burly man entered the training field. He let out a huge lion-like roar that left everyone else’s ears ringing, “Gather round!”
About a thousand people scurried to assemble around the full-bearded, burly man.
With an expressionless face, the burly man introduced himself loudly, “I’m Xie Kuang, an coaching and guidance elder. First of all, welcome to the Vermillion Bird Hall. You should already know that you’re just a general apprentice for now.”
With clenched fists, indeed, all of them knew that when they were first accepted into the Mystical Sword Sect, they would start by just being a general apprentice.
However, being associated with the word “general” did not feel very good.
Upon seeing the new apprentices’ facial expressions, a satisfied smile appeared on Xie Kuang’s face as he continued, “But you’ll have a chance to get rid of the word ‘general’ before your apprentice ranking. Three days from now, there’ll be a test for you together with the new apprentices from the White Tiger Hall, the Azure Dragon Hall, and the Onyx Tortoise Hall. If you pass, you’ll be upgraded to become a bronze apprentice, which gives you better treatment, and you’ll be able to cultivate at the Vermillion Bird Peak.”
“If you fail, you’ll continue to be a general apprentice and suffer in the general living area. Do you have faith in yourselves?”
“Yes!” All the new apprentices let out a resounding roar and were filled to the brim with fighting spirit and self-confidence.
They were all at most eighteen years old, and to be accepted into the Mystical Sword Sect from different cities all over Blazing Sun Empire signified that they were all geniuses. Therefore, they were confident that they were one of a kind.
“Good, now we’ll assign your dorms to you. Rest up,” Xie Kuang said in a loud voice.
Surely, where they stayed then was a place for general apprentices at the foot of the Vermillion Bird Peak. They were assigned to a small room each.
As soon as Lu Ming entered his room, he went to the Supreme Shrine and started his cultivation.
For better treatment and for more time to cultivate, it was crucial for him to be upgraded to the bronze rank in the test three days from now.
No matter which hall in the Mystical Sword Sect they were, apprentices were divided into a few rankings, which were the general, bronze, and silver.
General apprentices were at the lowest tier, and they were tasked with generic and miscellaneous tasks. They were only allowed to cultivate after they had finished the tasks set by the management of the sect. They also had the worst treatment amongst the rest.
Bronze apprentices were considered as an official apprentice of the Mystical Sword Sect, and the treatment they were given would be undoubtedly better.
Silver apprentices were the elite-level apprentices. They were the cream of the crop, strong, powerful, and recognized. It was said that there was another ranking above silver which were the gold apprentices.
However, Gold apprentices were another entity of their own, and they were not part of any hall.
Each of them was extraordinary geniuses, and they were all allowed to cultivate at the top-secret core area of the entire sect. They were so respected that they were comparable to the hall chiefs.
As powerful as they may be, there were only a very scarce number of Gold apprentices in the entire Mystical Sword Sect.
The Gold ranking was very far for Lu Ming at the moment, so he did not put much thought into it. It was imperative for him to first upgrade to become a Bronze apprentice.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
On the morning of the fourth day, more than a thousand of them gathered once more at the training field.
Xie Kuang was right up front as he roared with blazing eyes, “Right, three days have passed, so the test is officially starting, and it’ll be held in the Midnight Hills a hundred kilometers away from here.
“Let me warn you. The Midnight Hills are filled with demonic beasts and they’re highly dangerous. It’s common to die there, so if you want to opt-out, stand up now and I’ll proceed with the sect-leaving application right away!”
There was pin-drop silence on the training field as no one stood up.
The road of martial arts was not a bed of roses but was one filled with thorns, trials, and danger. Everyone had come mentally prepared the second they embarked on this journey.
Furthermore, to opt-out meant to leave the Mystical Sword Sect as well! How could they leave after working so hard to be accepted into the Mystical Sword Sect?
If they opted out now, it would make them the laughing stock for the rest of their lives.
Xie Kuang’s eyes swept over the entire place, and a smile of approval appeared on his face. He said, “Alright, since no one’s opting out, now follow me. we’ll gather with the other halls and head out to the Midnight Hills.”
When he was done, Xie Kuang turned around and started running out with all the new apprentices following suit.
...
In a courtyard in the Vermillion Bird Peak, two shadows sat facing each other. One of them was Ning Feng, and the other was a smiling young man.
“Have you arranged the necessaries, Ning Feng?” the smiley youth asked.
A chill flashed across Ning Feng’s face as he answered, “Don’t worry, Brother Duanmu. Lu Ming won’t walk out of the test alive.”
“That’s good. Most of the Duanmu Family apprentices taking part in this test have seen his portrait, so when they meet him in the hills, they will kill him.”
“Ning Feng, Young Lord Lin pays a lot of attention to Lu Ming, so if you’ve done your part well, there will be benefits coming your way,” the youth from the Duanmu Family grinned as he said.
Ning Feng was ecstatic. He cupped his hands and replied, “I’ll still need a favor from Brother Duanmu to compliment me a little in front of Young Lord Lin!”
“Haha, sure thing.”