Within a continuous desolate mountains that expanded for almost a few miles long, a village was standing erect inside. This village was extremely lively today as many adults were cooking their own special dishes.

Within a rather large plaza, standing at the stage, Xuan Hao glanced at the laughing and chatting villagers, with an intense emotion flashing on his eyes.

He didn’t expect that a day where he would leave the village, where he grew up for almost 16 years, would actually happen. He sighed in his heart as he recalled what happened earlier that cause him to leave the village for a new chapter of his life.

The Soil Village is just one of the bigger villages within the desolate mountain. Every year, there would be a chosen one youngster, who was fairly talented, to leave the village and enter a sect where full of martial cultivators, as an examination disciple.

What is martial cultivators? They are the ones who could call the winds and thunders, even moving mountains is not a problem for them. In fact, there would be a colossus existences such as sect where martial cultivators gather.

Xuan Hao has an inborn powerful strength since he was young. Even though his body is not robust nor full of muscles, he is extremely strong and the number one amongst the village’s youngsters. Furthermore, some warrior-like adults were defeated by him.

This is also the reason why he was chosen by the village to be an examination disciple. As such, he could only go and try if he could enter the sect and become an official member.

“It seems you still have unwillingness in your heart…” Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind causing Xuan Hao to turn his head and saw a young man dressed in a robe.

This young man emitted a unique aura, with full of dignified and straightforward flashing on his eyes. This young man is the envoy that would pick him up and be sent to the examination grounds for the sect’s test.

Immediately, Xuan Hao’s eyes was full of respect when he saw the young man. This young man is naturally a martial cultivator, where only he, could only dream to attain in his life.

“Lord Yu,” Following which, Xuan Hao said in reverence as he cupped his fist as a sign of respect towards the young man.

The young man called Lord Yu waved his hands as he said, “Enough with the formalities, you can call me Yu Langjian if you want.”

“Brother Yu,” Hearing that, Xuan Hao finally called him ‘Brother Yu’ yet there’s a hint of politeness and humbleness in his voice causing Yu Langjian to sigh.

“If you wanted to make a final farewell for your family, you should do it before the sun sets.” Yu Langjian finally said after a short moment of silence, staring at the crowd of people whose gaze were full of reverence and respect.

Following which, Xuan Hao bowed to Yu Langjian before he walked towards a certain direction where a middle-aged woman smiling at him proudly as she slowly clap her hands.

“Mother,” Xuan Hao immediately went over as he said, with concern flash in his eyes as he stared at his mother.

“Hao-er I’m okay living here on the village because there is still your auntie’s family. So don’t worry about me and just think about your future.” When she saw Xuan Hao’s eyes staring at her full of concern, she sighed in her heart before she said.

Seeing this, Xuan Hao took a deep breath and nodded, as a determined expression surfaced on his face. He made a firm decision that he will do anything within his might just to pass the examination and be an official disciple of a martial cultivation sect.

Immediately after, Xuan Hao turned his back before he took a last look to his mother and went towards the envoy, Yu Langjian, and said to him, “Brother Yu, I already did what I need to do and was ready to leave.”

“That’s good, let’s go and enter the carriage.” Yu Langjian nodded, before he said and began to walk.

Xuan Hao immediately followed the young man and they left the plaza under the stares of the crowd as they headed towards a certain direction.

After a few breaths, they had already reached the place where the carriage that would send them to the sect located. As Yu Langjian whistled, the carriage’s door slowly opened before Xuan Hao saw five youngsters roughly the same age as him as they stared back at him then turned their attention back to what they were doing.

Xuan Hao and Yu Langjian entered the carriage and sat at the available seat, before the latter closed the door. The interior of the carriage immediately became quite crowded after the two entered.

Xuan Hao observed the five youngsters who is also at the carriage when he heard Yu Langjian say, “Since the carriage is full and we will no longer pickup anyone, its time to head to the Star Sword Sect.”

Hearing Yu Langjian’s words, the five youngsters’ expressions, including Xuan Hao’s, soon suddenly changed as a nervous and excited atmosphere filled the whole carriage.

Soon after Yu Langjian’s words were heard, the horses neighed vigorously before the carriage finally set out of motion and moved. This journey was estimated that it would last for a few days until they reach the sect.

…

Five days had passed in the blink of an eye. The carriage that Xuan Hao was riding passed through many places and took a peek towards the window and he saw an increasing amount of carriages heading on the same direction.

In these last five days, Xuan Hao found out the names of the five youngsters riding with him. He could only say that they all have a rather interesting personalities.

One of them was a dark-tanned young man grinning at him as he could see a mischievous light on his eyes while his two rows of white teeth were revealed. This youngster is named Gu Zhao, whose personality is very cheerful which lit up the atmosphere.

In these last five days, he didn’t even saw a hint of nervousness on him, instead, anticipation, eagerness and excitement were always surfaced on his face causing Xuan Hao to deduce that this Gu Zhao is a very open-minded and cheerful person.

There is also a youngster with cold countanence whose name is Lin Xiang. Throughout the whole journey, he could only see the calm and cold expressions on his face intertwining every minute. In addition, he didn’t even utter a single word. If not because of Yu Langjian who told him his name, he wouldn’t even know who he is.

Suddenly, a youngster with a robust body yawned as a bored expression slowly appeared on his face. If Xuan Hao could remember correctly, this robust youngster is called Wang Hu, an extremely strong youngster.

According to what Yu Langjian said, this Wang Hu is a naturally born warrior and had already experienced the cruelty of life. It is said that he could defeat a boar with just his bare hands which caused Xuan Hao to be shock. One must know that even though he was born with powerful strength, he still would need to use a weapon to defeat a boar. As such, he could imagine how strong this Wang Hu is.

At the very corner, a girl and boy could be seen talking to each other. Their appearances resembled to each other, so, Xuan Hao deduced that they were siblings. These two were named Xiao Qianshi and Xiao Han respectively.

Just as Xuan Hao was about to glance at the two, the carriage suddenly stopped causing the bodies of all within the carriage to move due to inertia.

Xuan Hao’s gaze turned into the window and saw many people walking in all directions, in addition to the carriage at the front which had a similar appearance to the one they were riding in.

At the faraway place, he could see a majestic pagoda erected that its highest peak penetrated the sky causing him to be amazed at this sight.

As the carriage stopped, Yu Langjian immediately said loudly, “We’re finally here.” Saying that, he immediately opened the door and left the carriage.

Xuan Hao and the rest followed his actions as they left the carriage, before they could completely see the whole world within their vision.

Many grandeur and luxuriously built buildings were standing at this place. Countless murmurings could be heard, causing Xuan Hao’s ears to buzz.

Then, his gaze turned to look towards the place where a tall pagoda was located. He completely saw its full appearance. The pagoda is located on a very high mountain, located at the utmost peak, along with many buildings and pavilions on this mountain.

If he’s not mistaken, this mountain is called Star Sword Mountain, where the Star Sword Sect located. Such a massive mountain is truly unbelievable and it is even more big than the one where he live.

“Haha, isn’t this our new junior, Yu Langjian?”

Just as Xuan Hao’s face was filled with amazement due to the scenery, a very loud laughter rang out which attracted some crowd’s attention.

Looking at the source of the voice, one could see a middle-aged man dressed in purple robe, which is the same as Yu Langjian’s. Its possible that this middle-aged man came from the Star Sword Sect like the latter.

Behind this middle-aged man was a group of youngsters with arrogant and haughty expression, gazing at Xuan Hao’s group with disdainful eyes. These youngsters were dressed in a very expensive clothes made from unknown material. If Xuan Hao guess correctly, this group of young men came from a rather famous families and clans which is under the Star Sword Sect.

Such a thing caused Xuan Hao sigh in admiration. Many powerful clans were actually under such a sect. One must know that these clans had an exceedingly deep foundation and rooted in this province. However, they were merely subordinates of Star Sword Sect. Such a might of the sect is truly imaginable.

As this group of people appeared, Yu Langjian’s gaze turned cold as he glared fiercely at the middle-aged man, before saying, “What do you want, Zhang Ku?”

“Keke, nothing. I just wanted to check if our junior-apprentice brother is doing well.” In regards to Yu Langjian’s attitude, there is no anger in his face but instead, he smiled at the former and said.

“Enough with the polite talk, just tell me your real motive.” Yu Langjian coldly replied, as he stared at Zhang Ku with caution.

Although Zhang Ku and Yu Langjian were fellow disciples of Star Sword Sect, they came from different factions. Within the Star Sword Sect’s outer court, there were several factions established and the faction leaders were top outer disciple geniuses who has a chance to enter the inner court.

Yu Langjian supported a completely different faction who is, a big rivalry of Zhang Ku’s faction. As such, the relationship between the two of them were like fire and water, constantly battling each other. This was also why Yu Langjian maintained a cold attitude towards the latter.

“Hmph! Just continue your coldness and our faction leader would win the Inner Court Competition five months later.” Hearing Yu Langjian’s reply, Zhang Ku snorted before he turned his gaze towards the youngsters behind the former and smiled, “How about we make a bet?”

“Bet? What kind of bet?” Yu Langjian immediately became confuse and asked the middle-aged man with cautiousness on his voice.

“If my group had passed the entrance examination more than yours, then I win. Then if your group wins, I lose.” Zhang Ku finally explained the rules of this so-called bet.

Hearing what Zhang Ku had said, Yu Langjian sneered in his heart. Did he really thing that he was a foolish person? The group of youngsters along Zhang Ku came from the powerful clans. Naturally, they were all fairly talented and many of them would pass the test. On the other hand, Yu Langjian’s group only came from remote villages and it would not be surprising if they failed the examination.

Seeing Yu Langjian’s hesitation, Zhang Ku urged him once more by saying, “I heard that you’re stuck at third boundary Body Refinement Realm. How about this, I’ll give you a Qi Breaking Pill as long as you won.”

Hearing this, Yu Langjian slightly wavered. In these past few months, he frenziedly cultivated until he reach his current level. However, even with the Spirit Stones that he have, he was stuck in a bottleneck of Body Refinement Realm’s blood condensation boundary. As such, when he heard that Zhang Ku waged a Qi Breaking Pill which could actually help him breakthrough to Qi Condensation Realm, he felt nothing but eagerness in his heart. Nevertheless, he still maintained his rationality and immediately pondered.

After a few moments of hesitation, Yu Langjian finally said, “Okay then, how much Spirit Stones would I need to wage?”

After he heard Yu Langjian’s decision, Zhang Ku immediately became excited as he happily said, “Since a Qi Breaking Pill is very valuable, how about 100 low-grade Spirit Stones?”

“Deal,” As he announced his decision, Yu Langjian felt his heart bleeding just by having the thought of waging such a large sum of Spirit Stones. In truth, 100 low-grade Spirit Stones is not a very large sum compared to the Qi Breaking Pill that Zhang Ku mentioned. As such, although unwilling, he still closed the bet and could only grit his teeth with his expression full of regrets.

Seeing that the bet was finally in effect, Zhang Ku coldly smiled and said, “Haha, I should thank you in advance.”

After that, he glanced at the youngsters behind him as those arrogant young masters from various clans also coldly smiled. As though they already won this bet.

Unknowingly, Xuan Hao and the rest became a betting material without their consent. Meanwhile, Xuan Hao was quite astonished in his heart. Not because they became a betting material, but because these two martial cultivators is like an ordinary rivals. Initially, he thought that they were dignified and forthright, and was like god in his mind. But it soon shattered when he saw this scene. It seems that the images of martial cultivator in the legends were just but a mere exaggeration.

Xuan Hao took a deep breath as he glanced again at the street swarmed with people and sighed. It seems that there would be many people who would undergo the examination.

He forcibly clenched his hands as determination once again materialized in his face. He felt that the examination wouldn’t be an easy one.