Chapter 16

"Indeed, Master Spiritist. I am Mu Mingzhu from the Guangling Mu family. This is my welcoming token, please inspect it, Master." Mu Mingzhu, upon hearing this, hurriedly held up a dark, shiny iron token with both hands.

"Oh, you are a clansman of Sister Mu! However, I am not a Spiritist, but merely a Spirit Disciple. How could a mere mortal, who has not even opened their Spirit Sea, easily see a true Spiritist?" The man in black said this, and his cold face relaxed a bit as he beckoned with his hand.

With a "whoosh," the iron token in the purple-clad girl's hand shot up into the air and landed steadily in the man's hand.

Then, the welcoming envoy, with one hand, made a seal and pointed a finger, which glowed with a faint black light, at the iron token.

With a "puff," the iron token trembled slightly and a small, misty white light screen spurted out from its surface.

In the light screen, the image of another purple-clad girl appeared, slightly different in attire but with a striking resemblance in features, though she looked younger.

"Hmm, it's you, indeed. You can stand over there." The man in black nodded after a quick glance.

Upon hearing this, Mu Mingzhu was very pleased and walked to the center of the platform.

"Junior Gao Chong, I pay my respects to the Envoy!" The tall boy also took out a similar iron token from his chest, held it high, and said somewhat nervously.

"Gao Chong... You are one of the three independent disciples participating in this Spirit Opening Ceremony. Not bad, you might become my fellow disciple. Let me see your welcoming token." The man in black, unusually, managed a smile and spoke in a very amiable manner.

He similarly beckoned with one hand and performed a spell.

Naturally, Gao Chong passed without any issues.

"White family's White Congtian, please have the Envoy inspect the welcoming token!" Liu Ming took a deep breath and held up the object in his hand.

He was somewhat nervous inside, but his face showed no signs of it.

This time, the man in black glanced at Liu Ming indifferently and silently drew the token towards him.

When the same white light emerged from the token, another 'White Congtian' vividly appeared.

Liu Ming's gaze swept over the image, and his heart skipped a beat.

The 'White Congtian' in the image was about eight or nine-tenths similar to him, but he was wearing a white shirt and his demeanor exuded a hint of arrogance, which was somewhat different from Liu Ming's.

"Hmm?"

The man in black looked at the 'White Congtian' in the image for a moment, then glanced at Liu Ming below, his face showing a hint of surprise.

Liu Ming's heart sank, and the copper ring on his wrist flickered slightly, but he ultimately remained standing in place.

"Hmm, in just one year, you've changed quite a bit. It seems you've been preparing for the Spirit Opening Ceremony this year, and you've shed much of your former impatience." The man in black said slowly.

Liu Ming, hearing this, felt a great relief and hurriedly bowed in response:

"Junior knows my talent is average, so I can only put in more effort in my mental cultivation to strive for a chance at the Spirit Opening Ceremony."

"Hehe, opening the Spirit Sea isn't something you can achieve just by putting in effort. Never mind, it's useless to tell you this now. You'll naturally understand in the future. Find a place to sit, I'm about to head to the next location." The man in black chuckled and gave a brief order.

The other boys and girls, upon hearing this, all sat down on the spot.

Liu Ming and the other two also found a place to sit on the platform.

Perhaps because they came from the same welcoming location, the three of them subconsciously did not separate and sat together with the others.

But none of them spoke first.

At this moment, the man in black in the air flipped his hand and took out a gray-white disc. His figure flickered, and he flew up into the sky, disappearing into the light screen above.

In the next moment, the statues around them glowed softly with a hum, and with a loud noise, the platform shot forward in a certain direction with great momentum.

Many of the boys and girls who were not sitting steadily were thrown off balance.

The purple-clad girl in front of Liu Ming, caught off guard, twisted her body and fell backward. Fortunately, the tall boy next to her was quick to react, grabbing her arm and steadying her.

"Thank you, Big Brother Gao!" Mu Mingzhu, after regaining her balance, blushed slightly and thanked the tall boy.

"It's... nothing, just a small effort." Gao Chong, seeing the girl thank him, seemed somewhat flustered.

The purple-clad girl smiled at the tall boy and then turned to glare at Liu Ming.

Liu Ming wore a half-smile, half-grimace.

He had been sitting steadily the whole time and could have helped the girl, but he had no intention of doing so.

As a result, Mu Mingzhu's impression of him worsened.

However, at this moment, Liu Ming shifted his gaze from the two to a nearby gray-white statue.

The statue was very peculiar, neither a monkey nor a bat, but rather a monkey with a pair of bat wings, looking fierce and terrifying, making one feel a chill.

"Hmph, a minor family is still a minor family, not even recognizing a common Night Wandering Ghost." Mu Mingzhu, seeing this, sneered.

"Oh, Miss Mu knows what this is?" Liu Ming became interested and turned to ask.

The tall boy also widened his eyes.

Mu Mingzhu, who had not intended to speak to Liu Ming further, but seeing the tall boy's expression and remembering her 'Third Uncle's' words, changed her mind and smiled:

"Since Big Brother Gao wants to know, I'll take the liberty of explaining. The Night Wandering Ghost, also known as the Ghost Night Fork, is one of the 108 most common ghosts in the 'Hundred Ghosts Night Parade.' Apart from being able to fly, it actually has no significant abilities..." As the daughter of the Mu family, Mu Mingzhu, though not yet a disciple of the Savage Ghost Sect, knew a lot about ghosts. She not only clearly explained the characteristics of the Night Wandering Ghost but also knew the origins of the other nearby ghost statues, drawing the attention of the other boys and girls nearby.

"Hmph, what's the point of knowing such low-level ghost soldiers? Once we truly enter the sect, we should at least tame a Ghost General-level fierce ghost to make our study of ghost taming worthwhile." A tall, brown-haired boy suddenly sneered.

"You're quite confident. From what I know, even among the Spirit Disciples of the Savage Ghost Sect, most can only control low-level ghost soldiers, and only a few can control fierce ghost soldiers. As for Ghost General-level fierce ghosts, even the Spiritists might not be able to control many." Mu Mingzhu looked at the brown-haired boy and said bluntly.

"Others may not be able to, but I, Lei Chen, can." The brown-haired boy said proudly.

"Lei Chen? You are a disciple of the Lei family!" Mu Mingzhu's face changed upon hearing his name.

The other boys and girls, upon hearing the brown-haired boy's name, also gasped and showed a hint of fear.

If the Bai family was considered a first-rate family in the region, the Lei family was one of the top three major families in the entire Great Xuan Kingdom, with dozens of disciples in the major sects becoming Spirit Disciples, and it was even rumored that the Lei family had Spiritists in the sect.

"Even if you are a disciple of the Lei family, such big talk should wait until you pass the Spirit Opening Ceremony." Mu Mingzhu was secretly shocked but, out of pride, did not want to lose face.

But this time, Lei Chen did not say anything more. After glancing at the tall boy next to the girl, he chuckled and turned to leave.

Throughout, he did not look at Liu Ming, who was sitting next to the two.

Liu Ming remained seated, seemingly oblivious to everything around him.

On the Savage Island, everyone hoped to be as inconspicuous as possible, for only then could they survive longer.

Those who thought they were strong and tried to stand out on the island usually did not last a year.

Although the outside world was different from the Savage Island, Liu Ming had no intention of changing.

At this moment, Mu Mingzhu and Gao Chong had clearly become closer, chatting enthusiastically and occasionally laughing, intentionally or unintentionally excluding Liu Ming.

Liu Ming did not care what they were doing and, after refocusing his mind, continued to meditate and cultivate on the spot.

Over the next seven or eight days, the large platform would stop at a place every half day, and a few to a dozen boys and girls would be welcomed up from below.

When the platform was finally packed with three or four hundred people, almost to the point of not being able to accommodate more, the man in black finally stopped welcoming new people and flew back on a black cloud.

Half a month later, the large black cloud, after flying over several mountain ranges, finally arrived above a dark, dense forest and sped into its depths.

After advancing over a hundred miles, a series of large, continuous mountains suddenly appeared ahead.

On the other side of the sky, a rumbling sound was heard, and another large black cloud was also speeding towards the same mountain range.

A short while later, the two black clouds approached the mountain range, one after the other, and slowly landed at the foot of one of the mountains.

"Go down, we have arrived at the entrance to our sect."

As soon as the platform landed steadily on the ground, the black cloud and light screen covering it dissipated, and the man in black immediately gave the order.

The boys and girls, overjoyed, jumped off the platform one by one.

Liu Ming, however, paused at the edge of the platform, narrowed his eyes, and carefully surveyed the surroundings.

(On the WeChat platform, the grand prize winner tonight is a WeChat friend named "Aladdin." Please pay attention to the platform message, and you will be gifted a PSP handheld game console.

To join the WeChat platform, you can directly scan the QR code on my Tencent Weibo, or click on "Contacts" at the bottom of the WeChat platform, then click the "+" at the top, enter "Find Public Accounts," and search for "Wang Yu" or the WeChat ID "wang-yu.")

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