"What happened? Are you two, okay?" Ling Tian asked the girls.
The ponytail girl turned to him.
"Yeah, we're fine. He was talking nonsense anyway, Elder Han won't—"
"Sister!" the shy one, who had been hiding behind her, cut her off.
"Anyway… my name is Fang Nao'er, and this is my twin sister, Fang Ning'er." The ponytail girl gestured toward the girl who mirrored her features, save for her straight hair. "Thank you for helping us."
"I'm Ling Tian." He smiled at them.
Fang Ning'er froze, her eyes locked onto that grin. Observing her sibling's response, Fang Nao'er responded with an amused expression of her own.
"We should head to the sect gate — the selection is about to begin. See you later." She grabbed her still-dazed sister by the wrist and pulled her away.
Once they were gone, Yun Xi appeared at his side.
"Who were they? New sisters?" she asked.
"Wha— what are you talking about?" He glanced at her, caught off guard.
"Did you truly expect me to believe I would be your only woman?" Her expression was composed, graceful, entirely serious. "It is perfectly natural, Tian. Powerful men draw women to them — it has always been so. Truthfully, I would welcome more of us."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You know how difficult it is to keep you satisfied. Even yesterday, I had to plead with you to stop." She smiled softly. "We need more of us if we are to manage you properly."
"Yun Xi." He shook his head slowly. "You are truly a kind woman. I am glad you were my first."
She smiled, warmth spreading across her face.
****
"Attention!" A loud voice echoed, and all the participants in the selection fell silent.
Ling Tian's eyes immediately focused on the Sect's gates. They were made of azure marble, bordered with threads of pure gold, rising almost twenty meters high.
Atop them floated an elderly man in golden robes, one hand stroking a long white beard that cascaded down to his chest.
"I am Elder Su, today's recruitment overseer." His voice was deep and carried the weight of absolute authority.
His aura ran so deep that even those at the True Spirit Realm could not begin to probe it.
Heavenly Spirit Realm. Ling Tian was certain of it. Since his reincarnation, he had never encountered anyone of such cultivation — not once.
He couldn't sense the old man's aura directly, but the fact that he floated there unaided told him everything. Only those who had reached the Heavenly Spirit Realm could take to the air without the aid of tools or talismans.
"Five hundred of you stand here today — those who endured the pressure of the inner disciples and proved yourselves fit for what comes next." He paused, drawing a slow breath.
"Of those five hundred, only fifty will be accepted. You will undergo an age and cultivation examination, followed by a spiritual roots test, and finally a combat test. Only the finest among you will advance."
He descended from the gate at a slow pace. His speed was slow but mesmerizing as he landed without making a sound, his feet gently touching the ground.
Yet, in the next moment, the air around him was swept up in an explosion.
Elder Su's commanding voice drew their attention once more.
"Form lines behind the inner disciples. The age and cultivation examination will begin shortly."
A contingent of inner disciples moved to stand before the gathered candidates, who began separating themselves into twelve rows of fifty.
Once the order had been established, Elder Tian stepped forward onto the open ground. The earth shuddered beneath him before splitting apart, two enormous pillars erupting upward, each stretching well over ten meters into the air.
"These are the age and cultivation test pillars. The one on the right measures age — it will illuminate according to how many years you have lived. The one on the left measures cultivation — nine levels in total, each corresponding to a stage, the colours reflecting your realm."
"You should already be familiar with the requirements. Those aged fifteen to seventeen must have reached at least the Third Stage of the Elementary Spirit Realm. Eighteen to twenty, the Fifth Stage. Twenty-one to twenty-three, the Seventh Stage. Only those who meet the threshold will advance to the next phase."
Ling Tian absorbed the words without concern. He already knew that both he and Yun Xi would pass without difficulty. Their cultivations were well beyond what was being asked of most here.
"The examination begins," the elder announced, as the inner disciples set their groups in motion. The first candidate stepped forward with visible hesitation.
He appeared to be in his early twenties, though his aura betrayed little worth noting for someone his age.
"Press both hands against the pillars simultaneously." Elder Tian's measured voice drew the man from his uncertainty. He complied, pressing his palms flat against each pillar at once. Both light up to life immediately, light climbing their surfaces in rapid succession.
"Oh..." The man's eyes lit up, hope flickering across his face — but the world of cultivation rarely indulged such hope.
"Twenty-four years of age. Elementary Spirit Realm, Seventh Stage. Failure." The elder's words extinguished every trace of relief from the man's expression. He dropped to his knees, his voice breaking.
"N-no, that can't be right! I was twenty-three this year, there's no way—" His voice died as Elder Su's aura pressed down over him like a collapsing ceiling. His legs were driven into the earth.
"Question all you wish," Elder Tian's gaze moved across the assembled candidates, his tone firm but carrying neither anger nor contempt.
"But ensure your questions are worth the breath spent on them. The pillars don't make mistakes. If you fail, hold your tongue and leave."
Not a single voice rose in response.
Elder Tian raised one hand with a faint smile, and the man was wrenched from the ground, launched through the air across dozens of metres before coming to rest well outside the testing area.
Whether he lived or not, no one could say — and with Elder Su standing where he was, no one dared find out.
"Next!" Elder Su's voice rang out across the silence that had settled over them all.