713: 聻 (4k)

After a slight dizzy spell, Lin Yang felt his feet touch solid ground.

The Primal Ancient Continent had arrived.

He couldn't help but look around.

He was standing on a huge circular platform, and below it stood a group of people.

Seeing him appear, their gazes all turned towards him.

At the same time, not far from the platform, a large ship, resembling an ancient vessel from Blue Star's past, was hovering in mid-air.

Just as Lin Yang's gaze fell upon it, the large ship flew off directly, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

"Is this... a spaceship?" Lin Yang muttered to himself.

Then, just as he was about to continue observing the situation, a low voice sounded in his ear:

"Newcomer, don't stand there in a daze. Come down quickly and line up, waiting to be escorted to the Moon Shadow Sect."

Lin Yang looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a man clad in full armor, with only his eyes visible, shouting at him and waving him to leave the circular platform.

The man seemed to be the captain of a team, as behind him stood eleven other armored figures, their eyes also the only visible part of them.

Each of them exuded a murderous aura, staring around as if on guard against something.

Seeing this, Lin Yang silently flew down from the circular platform and stood in the position indicated by the man.

At this position, he was currently the only one.

Seeing him take his place, the man suddenly laughed:

"Kid, your luck is really not so good. You were just a moment too late, and you could have been taken in by the Yuyu Sect, which is one of the top three major sects in the entire Jidong Prefecture."

"Unfortunately, you arrived a little late. It was this slight difference that made you miss the opportunity to enter the Yuyu Sect."

"Although the Moon Shadow Sect is also good, it's still far inferior compared to the Yuyu Sect."

Hearing this, Lin Yang was somewhat stunned, but then he quickly understood what the captain meant.

Cultivators from other places, upon reaching the Primal Ancient Continent, would be randomly teleported to various reception points in the human cultivator territories.

Within these reception points, the major cultivator forces and sects of that area would take turns receiving new recruits according to a time rotation, usually with each sect having a reception period of a thousand years.

When the time was up, it would be the next sect's turn to receive.

Those received during this period were implicitly understood to join that sect's force.

And that warship just now belonged to the Yuyu Sect, a super force ranking among the top three in this area.

He had almost made it.

But now, he might have arrived a few minutes too late, missing the reception time of the powerful Yuyu Sect, and thus could only be taken in by the ordinary Moon Shadow Sect and join it.

This was indeed a bit frustrating.

After all, ordinary forces and top-tier forces simply had little comparability.

Whether it was resources or foundation, the difference was vast.

He had missed the opportunity to enter a top-tier force by just a few minutes.

However, Lin Yang quickly stopped caring.

While joining a large force was good, the path of cultivation ultimately depended on oneself.

This was his fate, and there was nothing to regret.

The captain, seeing that Lin Yang showed no signs of regret or pity, had a flicker in his eyes, seeming slightly surprised.

In fact, situations like this, where one missed the opportunity to join a top-tier sect by just a short time, often occurred at various reception points.

Many times, receivers like him would also mention it.

Because guarding a reception point was a very boring task most of the time.

By mentioning it, they could see the various expressions of regret and pity on the faces of newcomers who had missed a great opportunity and future by just a hair's breadth.

Watching the change in the newcomers' moods was also a kind of enjoyment.

But Lin Yang was somewhat calm.

This slightly surprised the captain, but he quickly dismissed it.

With so many people being received, it was normal for there to occasionally be some with firm willpower who were not swayed by external things or events.

The captain said no more, and his team members remained as grim as ever.

Only when other newcomers appeared on the circular platform would they once again speak up to remind them to leave the platform and come to Lin Yang's side to line up and wait for the Moon Shadow Sect's reception.

The appearance of new people was not frequent.

Perhaps it was because the Primal Ancient Continent was too vast.

Even with three divided regions, the Spirit Ancient Domain, where human cultivators resided, was still immense.

There were many reception points, and each reception point might not receive many people.

Lin Yang wanted to inquire about more information, but the captain, after his initial few words, ignored him, and the other team members never spoke.

This left Lin Yang with no choice but to wait silently.

Soon, eight hundred years passed.

This reception point also had nearly a hundred people.

Every one of them was a Dao Above cultivator.

Everyone was also very wary of each other.

Although they were all going to join the same sect, they clearly maintained a certain distance from each other and did not rashly try to get close to others.

This was also easy to understand; after all, they were all powerhouses capable of reaching Dao Above within the River of Time.

Although they were referred to as newcomers here, they were not truly naive novices who knew nothing.

Several months passed again.

A spaceship approached from a distance, quickly arriving near the circular platform.

The ship's hull bore three large, gilded characters: "Moon Shadow Sect."

After approaching the circular platform, the spaceship descended a bit, and two people jumped off it.

A middle-aged man and a slightly younger-looking man.

After jumping off the spaceship, the two first scanned Lin Yang and the others, then walked to the small team. The middle-aged man took out a spatial ring and handed it to the captain, bowing politely and saying:

"To all the guards at the reception point, you've worked hard. We are here to receive the new recruits."

The captain directly accepted the spatial ring handed over by the middle-aged man, and a smile appeared in the corner of his eye:

"Guarding the reception point is our duty, Elder Yuan Mu, you are too kind."

"Hahaha, it's nothing, it's nothing."

The middle-aged man, Yuan Mu, laughed heartily, chatted with the captain for a couple more sentences, and then walked over to Lin Yang and the others with the other person.

A powerful force emanated from him, seemingly as a deterrent, and he said indifferently:

"First, I welcome all of you who have arrived at the Jidong Prefecture at this time and become fellow disciples of our Moon Shadow Sect. This is our shared destiny."

"My name is Yuan Mu; you can call me Elder Yuan or Elder Yuan Mu, either is fine."

"Secondly, regardless of your previous status or position, once you arrive at the sect, you must abide by certain mandatory rules. As long as you don't cross the red line, you will be incredibly safe and free within the sect."

"Now, please board the ship in an orderly fashion and wait for the remainder of the reception period to end before returning to the sect."

"If you have any other questions, you can ask Deacon Rong Feng next to me. You can call him Senior Brother, or simply Deacon; he will tell you some basic information."

After Yuan Mu finished speaking, he gestured to the side, indicating for everyone to board the spaceship.

Lin Yang, being at the front, flew directly onto the ship.

But he then discovered that his flying speed was significantly affected here.

It should be the suppression of the rules of heaven and earth.

Swish, swish, swish.

As everyone boarded the ship in sequence, Yuan Mu also boarded, but he entered a room at the bow of the ship, showing no intention of interacting with the others.

Deacon Rong Feng, however, remained by everyone's side, smiling at them and saying:

"Although Elder Yuan speaks quite directly and has a somewhat cold personality, he is a very good person; you will know in the future."

"Now I will tell you some basic rules. If anything is unclear, you can ask me, and I will do my best to answer."

Hearing this, and seeing Deacon Rong Feng speak so politely, the previous tense atmosphere lightened considerably.

But no one spoke rashly; they all waited for Rong Feng to introduce the rules.

Rong Feng didn't waste words and went straight to the point:

"Some of you may know a lot about the Primal Ancient Continent, while others know little. Due to different situations, I will only mention what usually needs attention. For other things, you can slowly explore them after returning to the sect."

"Firstly, there is a type of existence called 'Jian' (a polyphonic character, pronounced 'jian' here) in the wilderness of the entire Primal Ancient Continent. They are very special beings, appearing and disappearing mysteriously, with varying strengths. But even the weakest of them can easily instantly kill you newcomers who are Dao Above."

"Therefore, the most basic precaution is: do not easily venture deep into the wilderness. The more desolate a place, the more powerful Jian exist there."

As he spoke, he pointed to the reception platform and said:

"For example, reception points, due to some special reasons, are built in the wilderness, so they might encounter attacks from Jian. That's why there are teams stationed here."

"However, this probability is not high."

"Then, after joining the sect, newcomers have 100,000 years during which they are exempt from all fees. After 100,000 years, they will need to complete some sect missions to earn the sect's protection."

"The sect's protection includes many things. As long as it concerns one's life and death, the sect will do its best to protect you."

"Of course, since our sect is not the strongest, I advise everyone not to casually provoke people from other sects. For example, it's best to be polite when you see people from the three major sects."

"Although our biggest enemies on the Primal Ancient Continent are the Ancient Night Clan and other Foreign races, I can also tell you frankly that there are also many conflicts among the various human sects."

"Because some resources, if you don't fight for them, you won't get them!"

At this point, Rong Feng paused slightly, scanned the crowd, and then continued:

"All of you have been able to cultivate to Dao Above, making you strong individuals. I believe I don't need to explain too much; you can all understand."

"Although the situation on the Primal Ancient Continent is quite complex, there are also many similarities with the River of Time. You will quickly become familiar with these."

"I will only emphasize one point: although all of you were outstanding figures and overlords within the River of Time, everyone who can reach here, including those present and your other fellow disciples whom you will soon meet, which one of them is not an outstanding figure?"

"Therefore, I hope everyone can adjust their mindset as soon as possible, adapt to the environment of the Primal Ancient Continent, and quickly improve their strength."

"Strength is extremely important on the Primal Ancient Continent, from large-scale racial wars to small-scale individual resource disputes, everything relies on one's own strength."

"Even among fellow disciples, resources are only given to the victors."

"Speaking of this, please pay attention again: competition among fellow disciples is allowed, but you must not inflict fatal blows. Once discovered, minor offenders will be expelled from the sect, and those with serious offenses may be directly executed."

...

Rong Feng spoke continuously, saying quite a lot.

But to summarize, it was: do not easily venture deep into the wilderness to avoid encountering entities like Jian; do not easily provoke people from other major sects to avoid unnecessary disputes; but when contending for resources, you must strive with all your might.

Finally, do not harm fellow disciples; this point was particularly serious.

As for other situations, Rong Feng also mentioned some, and Lin Yang noted them down one by one, feeling that survival on the Primal Ancient Continent was not easy.

Everything here sounded somewhat oppressive.

At least, it sounded that way for now.

After Rong Feng finished speaking, everyone fell silent for a while.

After all, just as Rong Feng said, everyone present was Dao Above.

They were supreme existences within the River of Time, but upon arriving here, even if not reduced to the lowest level, their status and position were greatly diminished.

It still required some time to adjust and accept.

After a while, someone asked, "Deacon Rong Feng... Sir... Deacon, where is the path after Dao Above?"

The person's expression was a bit unnatural.

Clearly, calling him Senior Brother would be more intimate, but he hadn't yet adjusted to this change in status and address.

And upon hearing this question concerning their realm, everyone, including Lin Yang, looked over.

They had all painstakingly cultivated to Dao Above to explore the limits of cultivation.

How to proceed on the path after Dao Above was very important to everyone.

Rong Feng smiled: "Dao Above is actually what you were called within the River of Time. Here, this realm can be called Dao Fire Realm, although you can also continue to call it Dao Above."

"This realm has a total of nine stages. Cultivating to the ninth stage and igniting the Dao Fire leads to the Dao Fire Realm. From the Dao Fire Realm onwards, it is divided into early, middle, late, and peak stages, not by individual stages."

"After Dao Fire, it is called Nirvana Void. Reaching this realm, one can be considered a powerhouse on the Primal Ancient Continent."

"As for after Nirvana Void..."

Just as Rong Feng was speaking, his expression suddenly changed, and he exclaimed, "Your luck is not very good, or rather, all of our luck is not very good. Jian are attacking the reception point!"

"Huh?"

Everyone's expressions also changed, and they couldn't help but look down at the reception point below the ship.

Lin Yang also looked.

But within his line of sight, he saw no creatures.

Rong Feng's voice also sounded at this moment: "Don't look with your eyes; physical eyes cannot see Jian. Jian can only be sensed."

Lin Yang immediately extended his senses.

Sure enough, immediately afterwards, his senses detected some transparent creatures approaching the reception point.

The twelve-person team next to the reception point instantly stood ready, and the captain's eyes clearly became incredibly serious, as he shouted in a low voice:

"There are several Jian comparable to the peak of the Dao Fire Realm! Quickly call for reinforcements!"

The strength of the members of a stationed team was generally only in the middle to late stages of the Dao Fire Realm.

Encountering Jian at the peak of the Dao Fire Realm would be very difficult to handle.

At the same moment, Elder Yuan Mu also walked out, his face solemn, and said:

"Let's go. This reception ends here."

Saying this, he manipulated the spaceship, preparing to take off.

But in the next instant, two Jian lunged directly at the spaceship.

The two people standing at the edge of the spaceship were instantly pulled down by an invisible force, and then, in an instant, all sound and trace of them vanished, not even their bodies remaining.

At the same moment, two other Jian approached from the other side of the spaceship, extending invisible large hands to grab the two people at the very edge.

The faces of the two instantly turned pale.

But at the critical moment, Yuan Mu made his move, forcefully enduring an attack from those two Jian and saving the two individuals.

Subsequently, without giving the two a chance to express their gratitude, he seized the gap to swiftly manipulate the spaceship to ascend and escape.

At the same moment, the twelve-person team at the reception point was almost entirely wiped out in an instant.

This made Lin Yang feel a chill in his heart.

Jian were far more terrifying than Rong Feng had described. (End of Chapter)