Chapter 97 - Inside the Pure Land
The mountains rose and fell, ancient trees were everywhere, and a curling mist lingered about. The closer they got to the Heaven Mending Pavilion, the more elegant it appeared. The mountains were not that difficult to travel through, and as the multi-colored cloudy vapors impressively floated about, all types of beasts were roaming about.
Along the way, they even saw many lakes that were pure and clear. Spirited fish were moving about, and their stripes glistened beautifully as they reflected off the surface of the water.
“This is truly a great place. This is only the area surrounding the Heaven Mending Pavilion, yet it already has such a dense spiritual influence that is quite suitable for cultivation,” someone admired.
“Wu, it’s no wonder that they were able to pass on their traditions from the ancient era until now. From this pure land alone, one could tell that they were destined to be auspicious and prosperous.”
More and more people appeared along the way, and a wide road extended out from within the mountains. Fierce beasts could no longer be seen, and it was much safer to travel through. Only trained birds and beasts could be seen now.
After walking forward for over another hundred li, a stone tablet was fixated on the ground with three words engraved on top: Heaven Mending Pavilion.
The calligraphy was bold and vigorous, and a faintly discernible boundless and majestic aura assailed everyone’s vision, as if an enormous tower was looking down upon everyone.
Arriving here only signified that they were approaching Heaven Mending Academy. It was not the actual mountain gate, and this place was still considered the outer region.
“So many people!” Qingfeng gasped in surprise. After arriving here, he discovered that tens of thousands of individuals were already waiting here, packing this entire area with people.
“Why are there so many people?” Some others were shocked as well.
Someone at the side said,”Why don’t you guys just think about it for a bit? Who doesn’t want to enter Heaven Mending Academy whenever they recruit? This is a pure land, and even huge clans need to try their hardest to obtain such a reputation.”
The tens of thousands of people had arrived a long time ago, and had been waiting here many days in advance. The mountainous area in front of the stone tablet was congested, and some people even laid down beast skins on neighboring mountains to sit on.
“The world is vast and far-flung, and the great wastelands are laid across it. Many people are absolutely incapable of crossing a distance of over 100,000 li. Otherwise, there’d be more people.” An elderly man sighed and said.
What he said was the truth. The people of small clans were simply incapable of travelling several thousand li. Even with all their clan’s forces guarding the children, it would be difficult to reach here.
In order to select the greatest geniuses, Heaven Mending Academy would send out some emissaries across the great wastelands every year. They would visit all kinds of large tribes to personally find and select especially gifted children to personally invite them to the Heaven Mending Pavilion.
The tens of thousands of people ahead were all people who were escorted here from extremely large tribes, because only a large tribe could travel across millions of li while escorting clansmen.
It could be said that the mood in the region was very serious. The place was all made of up large clans that selected their best children together and came here.
“This still isn’t considered much. When they actually start the selection in a few days, there will be more people.” A young man that was fifteen or sixteen years old sighed. This was his third time coming here because he had failed his first two attempts.
“Little big bro, look. There are so many weird people looking for something. They shouldn’t be looking for you right?” Qingfeng quietly said.
“En!” The little guy nodded.
The fact that he was coming to Heaven Mending Pavilion had been leaked several months ago in the Void God Realm. Many large powers including noble families all sent out war generals here in order to keep an eye out for him.
Not so far away, a group of men dressed in black armor had eyes like lightning as they fearlessly and vigorously walked over. It was obvious with just a glance that they came from a disciplined military force and they were currently searching for something.
Unfortunately, there were too many tens of thousands of people. They got a headache from trying to identify people.
In another not so far away place, a pure white divine feather sat across the cross. There were over ten females of top with circulating eyes as they also tried to search for someone.
There were many troops like this too. The little guy swept his gaze over, and discovered over a hundred groups of these people; this was only the people nearby.
People with similar intentions numbered in the thousands, and they all came from large powers who were able to muster up such troops.
“Hairy Ball, stop pretending to be dead. Hurry and get up!” The little guy seized the little yawning monkey on his shoulders.
It was plump and was originally gold-colored. However, the little guy’s party were currently rather dirty, and Hairy Ball had been dyed a dirty black by the blood of beasts a long time ago.
“Transform yourself into your normal appearance. Don’t let anyone recognize you at all.” The little guy warned. This was not an ordinary place at all. If anyone recognized the golden Zhuyan by chance, a huge ruckus would certainly arise.
Hairy Ball resentfully muttered, and his fur instantly transformed ashen white. His pair of large eyes became expressionless and it looked lifeless. Then it once again laid across his shoulders and began to sleep soundly.
At the same time, the little guy was slowly transforming too. His face became rounder and rounder until it finally became as cute as an apple. The only difference was that his large eyes became smaller, so his face became fleshier.
“Ya, it’s useful!” Qingfeng was amazed and his mouth revealed his joy. Although his little big bro’s appearance was not as pretty as before, he looked pretty cute no matter how you looked at him. He wanted to pinch him a few times really badly.
This was the only little ability that the little guy learned from Hairy Ball. It was a transformation technique that could change his appearance and skeletal structure. It was a pretty wondrous technique.
The Zhuyan was considered one of the ancient apes. According to legends, they could transform into seventy-two different appearances, and it was an unrivaled precious technique that could conquer the ancient era.
Unfortunately, the symbols within Hairy Ball were smashed, and its imprints had been destroyed. Only this small little transformation was left. The powerful seventy two transformation technique was mostly destroyed, and was impossible to recreate again.
Just like that three-headed six-armed technique, both of these unrivaled abilities were unobtainable anymore, and the little guy became very regretful. He studied Hairy Ball for a long time without any major accomplishments.
“Qingfeng, you can enter the mountain gates directly. Take this talisman and you won’t need to pass the trial, immediately becoming one of Heaven Mending Pavilion’s most valued disciples.
“I…” Qingfeng lowered his face. It was the talisman that his little big bro obtained, yet he gave it to him right now, making him feel ashamed. Along the way, he mentioned that he would personally accept the challenge many times, but his little big brother would not agree.
“There’s no need to be so polite between us, since we are brothers,” the little guy urged.
“Little big bro, you aren’t going to leave right?” Qingfeng was worried sick.
“Don’t worry, I won’t leave. After arriving to an ancient pure land like this, I have to learn some stuff no matter what. I can’t just enter into such a precious place and leave empty-handed.”
“I’ll accompany you for a few more days until you pass the trial.” Qingfeng said this because he feared that the little guy was going to leave.
“Someone’s entering using the talisman!” Some people far away cried out, and immediately stirred up a huge ruckus. Many people were endlessly envying from afar, and over ten thousand people’s eyes turned red.
“This is the fifteenth one. During these past few days, there has been over ten people that used the tablet to get in.”
The little guy and Qingfeng was astonished from hearing that as they paid close attention from the side.
“That still isn’t the most glorious thing. Do you guys see those noble residences over there? There are some huge characters living there, and they sent over some of their special children who absolutely do not need to use the talisman to receive the highest degree of education.”
Someone pointed forward, and there were beautiful mountain peaks that had many palaces resting upon them. There were many respectable guests dwelling there, and their auspicious beasts were resting around the mountain.
Everyone trembled and shivered. There were people from Little Western Sky, daughters of supreme emperors, and the children of Archaic Descendants. There were even more powerful and mysterious people like Shi Yi.
After several days, the day had finally come. The day that Heaven Mending Pavilion began their trial to select this year’s disciples arrived.
As expected, the number of people had increased by a lot. Within the surrounding regions of Heaven Mending Academy, eighty to ninety thousand people were now densely packed within.
Finally, a group of people quickly arrived from a distant mountain gain, and were perhaps sitting on top of a beast bone. They might even have been sitting on some strange stone, and they were packed with dense symbols. While hovering roughly a zhang above the ground, they were looking towards everyone. The Heaven Mending Pavilion’s most important individuals had appeared. Without saying any unnecessary words, they lead everyone to the true mountain gate.
Along the way, the mountain range seemed as if a Hornless Dragon was lying down, and it had a rather imposing aura. Sometimes, it was possible to see precious old medicine taking root along the cliff or precipices, but no one dared to pluck them.
Here, people saw some of the deep collections of the ancient pure land, and exposed their shocked expressions.
“Yi, a rare dog leaf vine that’s rumored to soon be extinct. This one had been growing for at least a few hundred years.” Someone pointed.
On a short nearby mountain, a pitch-black, weird-leaved vine wriggled and stretched. Its growth was very good, and its leaves were jet black and oddly shaped like a black dog. It was not very thick or large; it was as thick as a wrist and only several meters long.
“Don’t think about any weird ideas. The Heaven Mending Academy keeps track of these old medicines, and they will continue to raise them until they become true spirit medicines. Even if it takes several thousand years, they will still leave it for their descendants,” someone warned.
Along the way, people saw many rare precious medicines. If this was any other place, they would have been picked dry already. However at this place, they were all reserved. Being grown within these mountains, no one dared to do anything to them.
“There’s a gathering of spirit medicine there!” Someone cried out in alarm.
Along the road was a forest, and within it lied a cold pond. Strands of purple energy were rising from within, and even though they were separated by quite a distance, a bone-chilling sensation could be felt. Right beside that cold pond, there was a plant rooted in place. It had four leaves altogether, and its entire body was purple. Precious splendor drizzled about the plant, and on top of each leaf were star-like patterns, making them exceptionally beautiful.
“This is Star Grass and it already has four leaves! This is indeed a rare and precious genuine spirit plant!”
The people were once again experienced the deepness of the Heaven Mending Pavilion. There were such rare medicines within the surrounding regions, yet they were not afraid of anyone stealing them.
“Little big bro, the spirit medicines that we plucked don’t seem like much when compared to this,” said Qingfeng quietly. His expression was full of astonishment.
The little guy nodded. When they trekked through hundreds of thousands of li within the great wasteland, they plucked over ten pieces of precious medicine from all types of dangerous areas. Looking at it now, only three or four of them could be considered genuine spirit medicines, and they had all been eaten by Qingfeng already.
In reality, the reason Qingfeng was able to quickly and fiercely break through into the Blood Transformation realm was greatly attributed to those two or three genuine spirit medicines.
“Let’s come back later and study a bit. Let’s see whether or not we could let Hairy Ball move around a bit to get rid of some bugs and weeds for the Heaven Mending Pavilion. En, we’ll conveniently pluck some medicine as well,” said the little guy.
Qingfeng was immediately scared into jumping and immediately closed his mouth. He did not dare to raise this topic again.
Finally, they arrived in front of a huge mountain gate. Two naturally formed mountains were side by side, forming a natural door. They were lofty and majestic, and were covered in a hazy and prospicious air.
“Many people come here every year, but few can actually go in. Hopefully, a few more people can enter through these gates again.” An elder with an immortal appearance opened his mouth. He sat upon a large limestone at the mountain gate, and looked towards the group of people.
“Qingfeng, go.” The little guy urged.
“En!” Finally, Qingfeng brought the talisman and walked towards the mountain gate.
“Ah, another genius. This should be the sixteenth talisman.” Everyone gasped out in surprise with incredible envy.
With a large honglong, a huge bird appeared in the distance. Its wings stretched across the sky and covered the earth as it flew over like a black cloud. The aura it emitted was exceptionally terrifying, making everyone tremble. Many people almost fell to the floor.
“That is an Archaic Descendant. What kind of family would use such a creature to accompany their children?” Everyone gasped in shock.
This huge bird was extremely terrifying and enormous. The large shadow it casted over the earth made everyone choke. A few elders and youngsters were faintly visible as they stood atop it.
Everyone was amazed. They really were sending off their children here.
“That is the Martial King’s mount! I think… That God-like child must have arrived!”
“Who?”
“Shi Yi!”
There was someone who recognized the origins of this huge bird, and it represented the power and influence of the Martial King. This was as true Archaic Descendant, and during these past few days, it had always perched besides the honorable guests’ mountain; it had formally made its appearance today.
“Let it through!” Shouted the elder who sat near the mountain, and allowed the terrifying Archaic Descendant through without letting anyone obstruct it.
“It was actually true! Shi Yi is going to enter the Heaven Mending Pavilion. He only has one goal: standing shoulder to shoulder with ancient saints!” Everyone was astonished, and they finally confirmed it now.
The actual confirmation of this news would most certainly stir up some huge commotion.
Comparatively, when Qingfeng used his talisman to enter, no one paid much attention at all. He was instantly overshadowed.