Chapter 19

Liu Ming, who was sitting cross-legged in the stone house, suddenly heard the voice of the man in black robes:

"Everyone come out, the Spirit Opening Ceremony will be held today. I will take you to the Spirit Gathering Platform."

His voice was not loud, but it echoed in the stone house, allowing Liu Ming to hear it clearly.

Liu Ming took a deep breath, immediately got off the stone bed, and walked out the door.

He saw countless young men and women rushing down the path they had come from. Through the gaps in the trees, he could faintly see two grayish-white platforms lying quietly on the grass.

The man in black robes, 'Zhang Senior Brother,' and the woman in a white cloak, 'Xun Senior Sister,' were each standing on a gray cloud, hovering above the two platforms.

Fang Xiong and a dozen or so outer disciples stood respectfully nearby, not showing the slightest trace of the ferocity they had displayed in front of Liu Ming and the others.

Seeing this, the young men and women became more solemn, slowing their steps and entering the platforms in an orderly manner.

When the last person entered, the man in black robes glanced down and, finding no one missing, nodded and flipped his hand, revealing a disk. He made a hand seal and chanted a spell.

The disk immediately emitted a faint spiritual light!

In the next moment, with a "puff," the surface of the platform was covered in a dense network of spiritual patterns that lit up, and a layer of white light appeared, enveloping the entire platform.

The ghost statues around the platform trembled and spewed out thick black smoke.

As the black smoke rolled, it quickly formed a black cloud that enveloped the platform and the light barrier.

With a "buzz," the two platforms slowly rose into the air and flew toward a nearby giant peak.

Liu Ming stood near a statue, looking at the faint spiritual light on its surface, as if deep in thought.

Not far from him, Mu Mingzhu and Gao Chong were whispering to each other.

In just a few days, this young couple had become even closer.

At the center of the platform, Lei Zhen stood proudly, surrounded by about thirty young men and women from noble families.

In other areas, groups of seven or eight, or ten or so, had also gathered around certain individuals.

In these few days, the young men and women had indeed formed several small groups.

It seemed that many of them, realizing their chances of passing the Spirit Opening Ceremony were slim, had placed their hopes on others who had a better chance of becoming spirit disciples, hoping to find a protector if they became outer disciples of the Savage Ghost Sect.

The young men and women from noble families had likely been instructed by their elders before coming, and even had several potential targets pre-selected.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have formed such tight groups so quickly.

Around Gao Chong and Mu Mingzhu, there were also five or six other young men and women. The tall young man looked more confident than he had a few days ago.

Clearly, many people saw potential in this independent disciple.

Mu Mingzhu and Gao Chong, since they had boarded the platform, had not greeted Liu Ming, their former companion from the same teleportation point.

Liu Ming, for his part, did not initiate conversation, merely observing everything with a cold eye.

As the platform was enveloped in black clouds, Liu Ming and the others could not see outside. But after about the time it takes to eat a meal, the platform trembled slightly, and the man in black robes' voice echoed within the light barrier:

"The Spirit Gathering Platform has arrived, you can go down now."

As he spoke, the black clouds outside dispersed, and the light barrier vanished.

Liu Ming raised his head and scanned the surroundings, drawing in a sharp breath.

They were in a huge circular square, with a series of ring-shaped platforms around the edges, each filled with dense crowds, numbering about four to five thousand, and the sound of chatter could be heard.

Among these people, only a small portion were true spirit disciples; the rest were outer disciples of the Savage Ghost Sect, who seemed to be accompanying the spirit disciples like attendants.

In the center of the ring-shaped platform, there was a section that was significantly higher than the others, where seven or eight figures, enveloped in various colored auras, stood and conversed in low voices.

In the center of the square, there were over a hundred outer disciples of the Savage Ghost Sect, each holding a bowl in one hand and a brush in the other, drawing thick, winding silver patterns on the ground.

Above them, seven or eight spirit disciples flew on clouds, correcting and inspecting the patterns.

The silver patterns intersected and overlapped, forming a massive silver design from above, with many strange silver characters that made one feel dizzy and disoriented if looked at for too long.

Liu Ming glanced at some of the strange characters in the design but quickly averted his gaze.

Under the urging, the young men and women descended the platform and stood awkwardly at the edge of the silver design.

At that moment, a rumble echoed in the sky, and a third black cloud descended.

When the black cloud dispersed, another group of young men and women, dressed in the robes of outer disciples, walked out from the third platform.

These young men and women were different from the noble family disciples; they were calm and exuded a faint, indescribable coldness. As soon as they descended the platform, they silently formed several rows.

The crowd of noble family disciples was immediately stirred.

At this point, everyone knew that these people were clearly the spirit meridian disciples personally cultivated by the Savage Ghost Sect.

If among the noble family disciples, only one in a hundred might become a spirit disciple, then among the spirit meridian disciples personally cultivated by the sect, almost one in ten could successfully open their spirit sea.

Their success rate was more than ten times higher than that of the noble family disciples.

This explained why the sect always treated the noble families as easy targets during the Spirit Opening Ceremony, while not taking their recommended disciples too seriously.

Liu Ming, looking at the young men and women opposite, felt his pupils constrict.

The calmness of these Savage Ghost Sect spirit meridian disciples was not something ordinary noble family disciples could match. The familiar aura they exuded suggested that they had all undergone some special training and had seen their fair share of bloodshed.

At this moment, the silver design in the center of the square was finally completed, and the outer disciples immediately withdrew from the square.

However, several spirit disciples remained, taking out fist-sized clear crystals and installing them in the pre-prepared slots at key points in the design, about a hundred in total.

After installing the crystals, the spirit disciples checked them again from above.

At this point, a figure enveloped in a faint red glow on the highest platform suddenly chuckled and spoke:

"Dear junior brothers and sisters, I've heard that this batch of spirit meridian disciples has been cultivated well, with a few outstanding talents among them. It seems that Junior Brother Chu and Junior Sister Lin even argued over one of them. Is that true?"

"Senior Brother, you must stand up for me! That disciple was discovered by me first, but Junior Brother Chu disregarded the rules and tried to lure and threaten him into joining his group," a slender figure in white light said, somewhat angrily.

The figure in red light, who had spoken first, was none other than the current sect leader of the Savage Ghost Sect.

"Junior Sister Lin, that's not quite right. There are only a few outstanding talents among these disciples. Even if one were to be assigned to each group, it wouldn't be enough. Since your Ghost Dance group has already chosen a good talent, let's give Jialan to our Yinsha group," another tall figure in green light said with a chuckle, seemingly unperturbed.

"Hmph, among the eight groups of our Savage Ghost Sect, only our group has the most suitable cultivation methods for women. If you take Jialan, you'll be wasting her talent and hindering the growth of our sect," Junior Sister Lin retorted, putting a large hat on the other party.

"Don't worry about that, Junior Sister Lin. I'll have Junior Sister Bing personally take her as a disciple and guide her. Her cultivation method is also suitable for women and won't hinder her cultivation," Junior Brother Chu said with a chuckle.

"You..."

"Enough, no more arguing. We'll have to wait and see if this disciple truly opens his spirit sea. Even if he has an astonishing spirit body, if he can't open his spirit sea, it's all for naught," the sect leader of the Savage Ghost Sect interrupted.

Hearing the sect leader speak, Junior Brother Chu and Junior Sister Lin could not continue their argument and remained silent.

"By the way, Junior Brother Gui, has your Nine-Headed Infant group chosen any disciples? If you're too late, you might return empty-handed again," the sect leader turned to a figure in gray light at the edge of the platform and asked.

"Thank you for the reminder, Sect Leader. This time, we can't compete for the few disciples with spirit bodies among the spirit meridian disciples. We'll just choose a few from the noble family disciples," the figure in gray light bowed slightly and replied.

The voice was that of the scholar who had appeared in the forest at Cui Ping Slope.

"Noble family disciples? Does this mean there are some good talents among the noble family disciples this time? Which ones did you choose, Junior Brother Gui? Let us see as well," Junior Brother Chu said with a light "hmm," seemingly interested.

"Senior Brother, I had no choice but to choose from the noble family disciples. There are no truly outstanding talents among them," Junior Brother Gui replied coolly.

"Ha ha, Junior Brother Gui is known as 'Ghost Calculator.' We don't quite believe that. Which noble family disciples did you choose? Are you afraid we'll really compete for them if you say?" Junior Brother Lin said with a light laugh.

(Second batch of physical signed books will be mailed soon. Please note to receive them, dear WeChat book friends! Also, today we will release the complete image of the Mother Moth on the WeChat platform. You can reply 'Mother Moth' on the WeChat platform to see the true appearance of this major boss.)

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