Chapter 9

“Regardless of what the Bai Family head did, since he had them deliver that Young Master here, I reckon that they intend to stake everything on this one throw. From what I know, the Bai Family’s strength has declined quite a bit since their peak and taking out this amount of resources is a major strain for them. I guess they have no other choice, since in the entire Bai Clan, only Bai Yan Er became a spirit apostle. In fact, there aren’t many Bai clan members that survived the various Awakening ceremonies either. This Bai Chong Tain should be carrying the hopes of Bai Clan.” The Elder said faintly.

“The reason as to why Bai Clan chose this Barbarian Ghost Sect, which is ranked the lowest among the largest sects in Da Xuan, is because of how little the Sect requires for other people to join in their Awakening Ceremony. If not for Aunt Yun in this Barbarian Ghost Sect, I would never have come to this sect. I don’t like how the Barbarian Ghost Sects deals in demons and ghosts.” Mu Ming Zhu pouted her lips.

“Hmph, how many times have I told you? The Awakening Ceremony is extremely dangerous and even though you’ve displayed decent talent in training, it’s not set in stone until you pass the Awakening Ceremony. Your Aunt Yun should have a position in this Awakening ceremony so even though she can’t help you much, she can save your life if you should fail. Or else, our Mu Clan would send you to a better Sect than this; we do not lack the resources.” The green-robed elder responded with a solemn face.

“Yes, Zhu Er understand she’s wrong.” Seeing that the elder was turning angry, the purple-dressed young girl immediately dropped her face, not daring to say another word.

“Even though Bai Clan and we Mu Clan have had a little uneasiness because of your aunt, our two clans are much closer compared to other clans. We’ve always exchanged gifts at events and never skipped out on any of them. In addition, for Bai Chong Tian to be able to come to this Awakening Ceremony, his talent is probably quite good. Try to get close to him before the ceremony and if he really does pass the Awakening ceremony, then Bai Clan and Mu Clan could go back to the old days. Although your aunt’s matter is a little saddening, we have to think of the big picture.” The green robed elder slowly spoke.

Even though Mu Ming Zhu didn’t want to do anything like that at all, she could only nod her head like a chicken pecking for rice.

This “Third Uncle” was a top tier Practitioner and was only second to the family head in Mu Clan. Unless she became a Spirit Apostle, she would have to listen to him.

However, because of this Uncle’s speech, Ming Zhu was instinctively annoyed at “Bai Chong Tian”.

Liu Ming, who was still resting and training his Yuan Li on his rock didn’t realize what was happening.

Even if he had the talent to do two things at once, his time in training was a little low; thus, if he wanted to become better, it was not going to be easy at all.

Like this, with the two sides not bothering each other, they stayed at the top of the mountain for an entire day.

On the second day, another two people came up from the path where the Mu Clan group first appeared.

This time it was an old man and a young man.

The old man had a grey robe with creases all over his face; in his hand was a smoke stick.

The young man was about as old as Liu Ming and wore a brand new blue robe. His skin was slightly dark, while he looked extremely honest.

When the young man saw that there were already people on the mountain peak, he paused for a second.

The grey robed old man wasn’t surprised at this situation and after calling out to the young man, found a place to sit.

“Are they also from a practitioner clan?” Seeing this, Liu Ming couldn’t help but ask his companions.

“It doesn’t look like they are. They are probably Loose Practitioners.” After appraising the two, Guan Lao Da concluded.

“Huh? Wasn’t the Awakening Ceremony only applicable to members in Practioner Clans?” Liu Ming asked, surprised.

“It’s not specifically open to members of Practitioner Clans but normally, only Practitioner Clans can afford to have their children sent to these expensive ceremonies. However, if loose practitioners can also pay as much, then the Sects have no reason to decline their resources. Although these occurrences are very rare, when they do occur, the Sects would pay quite a bit of attention to these loose practitioners. It’s said that the chances of these practitioners passing the Awakening Ceremony is even higher than the chance of practitioners that were trained by the Sect.”Guan Lao Da said quite seriously.

“Oh, why is that?” Liu Ming was still quite confused.

“Hehe, if buying a spot is quite straining for Practitioner Clans, then for loose practitioners, this spot is equal to the work of a couple or even tens of generations of work. If the kid is not extremely talented and has a 30 to 40 percent chance of passing the ceremony, they would not gamble at all.” This time, it was Gu Lao San who answered.

“So, he has at least a one third chance of becoming a Spiritual Apostle.” After hearing that, Liu Ming was quite surprised but when he tilted his head to look at the tall young man, he could find no peculiarities of the latter.

“Even though there usually are loose practitioners that come to these Awakening Ceremonies, their numbers are definitely low. Since young master is going to be going to the sect with this young man, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with him. There will definitely be benefits if you do that.” Guan Lao Da hesitated before adding the final part.

“I know what to do.” Liu Ming stared at the tall young man deeply once more before closing his eyes again.

On the other side, Mu Clan’s Third Uncle also realized the status of the newcomers and also explained the situation to the purple-dressed maiden. However, they did not go up to make a greeting.

Under this awkward atmosphere, the three groups of people waited patiently.

After another day and night passed; when the rays just peaked over clouds, a buzzing noise sounded. At first, it was as soft as a whisper but it soon became thundering.

The three groups that were still resting immediately stood up and looked towards where the noise was coming from.

In the sky, a black cloud quickly flew towards the mountain.

“It’s the envoy. After this, us two can no longer be together but I have told you everything about the Bai Clan and common knowledge among Practitioners. Don’t make any mistakes! As long as you join the envoy, you’ll be fine.” Guan Lao Da quickly reminded Liu Ming.

Even though Guan Lao Da didn’t show it, his heart was pounding rapidly.

In Gu Lao San’s eyes, a strange light flashed.

However, since the two weren’t normal people, when the black cloud neared the mountain, their faces were as blank as they could be.

When the black cloud was directly atop the mountain, the buzzing sound suddenly stopped. In place of it was a man’s cold voice.

“Those that are here for Awakening Ceremony, come up with your Verification Sills. Once I finish examining them, I still have to go to other places.”

When his voice faded, the black cloud violently rumbled before a cloud ladder extended downwards towards the center of the mountain peak.

“Verification Sill”. When Liu Ming heard those words, he paused slightly and before he could ask anything, Guan Lao Da shoved something into his hand while smiling.

“Please be carefully young master. All you have to do is give this sill to the leader of the envoy.”

After going through a couple of thoughts, Liu Ming didn’t say anything more and walked towards the cloud ladder.

In the other two groups, Mu Ming Zhu and the tall young also nervously went towards the cloud ladder after hearing the final parting words from their respective guardians.

Moments later, the three got to the cloud ladder at the same time and after pausing, they looked at each other.

“Hurry up. If we miss the timing, I will cancel your qualifications to open your spirits.” The man on the black cloud was already somewhat impatient.

At this declaration, Mu Ming Zhu and tall young man jumped up in shock and fear, no longer daring to tarry any further, they hastily rushed up the escalade towards the black cloud.

Liu Ming smiled before likewise lifting his foot to move.

The escalade looked like a curled up fog but when stepped on, it possessed a force that supported the body, making one feel as if he was stepping on real ground.

In his heart, Liu Mu felt mystified at this, yet he did not dare to tarry as he followed behind the other two as they ascended towards the skies.

A short period of effort later, Mu Ming Zhu who was at the front finally reached the underside of the black cloud, as she looked towards the surging black gas in front of him, she gritted her teeth and dashed in.

The tell and well built youth who was right behind hesitated for a moment before putting on a brave front and walked in, though his movement was clearly more rigid than before.

Behind them, Liu Mu had witnessed the two’s actions, however he had no hesitation and with one swift movement, he entered into the black fog.

In the instant when his body made contact with the black cloud, it felt slightly cold. However when the light shined once again in his eyes, he had actually the side reached an immensely huge square platform.

The entire platform was about one acre large and shaded entirely in white. On its edges, more than ten strange sculptures were erected which were covered in a dazzling white light.

In the middle of the platform, about a hundred youths stood in twos and threes, all of whom were currently sizing up the three who had just entered with curious gazes.

Something occurred to Liu Ming as he lifted his head to look up.

All he saw was an ash-colored cloud quietly floating seven or eight meters above, while atop the clouds, a black clothed middle aged man sat cross legged.

The man had some pockmarks on his face, but his two eyes flickered as he stared coldly at the trio.

“Are there only the three of you, whatever: Take out your sills and then announce your names, I am going to inspect your identities.”

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