140: Start, wait

The Immortal Outside Building, with its total of three hundred and eighty floors, is Lingbao Mountain's largest reception hall. Most of the time, it remains empty, only opening when the Sect holds grand conferences.

For example, after the True Disciple selection, which happens once every century, the subsequent master-acceptance ceremony follows. Although Lingbao Mountain's True Disciples have special regulations, only accepting Disciples with outstanding Artifact Refining talent.

However, for the once-a-century Cross-Boundary quota, Lingbao Mountain recruits fifteen Immortal Seeds. It's impossible for every single one of them to possess Artifact Refining talent, and these Immortal Seeds naturally cannot be cultivated haphazardly.

Most of them join the Fire Phoenix Pavilion, becoming Lingbao Mountain's combat Immortal Seeds. Their status is nearly on par with True Disciples, and in some aspects, even surpasses them. Of course, the Grand Elders also cultivate these Immortal Seeds from time to time.

The current Pavilion Master of the Fire Phoenix Pavilion is an Immortal Seed who came through the boundary. He is also a Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, with Golden Core within sight.

Unlike Qingfengzi, who is a newly advanced Peak Cultivator, he only needs to prepare his Core Formation Magic Treasure to be ready to undergo the Golden Core Tribulation.

Chen Cuo looked at the vacant building. Because his temporary status was that of an Inner Sect Disciple, yet he had no actual matching position, he could only be temporarily housed here. Disciples from other Families were in the same situation.

The building was quiet, and Chen Cuo also noticed that the environment here was good, and the Spiritual Qi was abundant, many times better than that of Two World Mountain.

No wonder everyone yearned for cultivation within a Sect.

Chen Cuo returned to his room, recalling the several 'opponents' Qingfengzi had disclosed to him. There were only three True Disciple slots, but nearly fifty people could participate in the selection, including Foundation Establishment cultivators and Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators, among whom were not a few Elders who held real power.

However, the True Disciple selection has a rule: a person can only participate in the assessment once. So, there weren't many of these experienced Elders with rich Aptitude, only a handful.

The True Disciple assessment is multi-faceted. Although Lingbao Mountain values Artifact Refining, it places more importance on talent. Being old in Aptitude and deep in age doesn't necessarily give one an advantage.

Yet, they should not be underestimated.

According to Qingfengzi, there are five people Chen Cuo should pay a little attention to. The first is named Zhang Zhao, who masters a special Artifact Refining method called Soul Refining Method, which has mysterious effects.

The second person is named Lingchan Twins. It is said that they were originally twins, but due to an accident, the Elder sister died early, leaving only the younger sister alive. But strangely, she is a rare case of one body, two Souls. It is said that her Elder sister's Soul resides within her younger sister's Soul.

"Uh, split personality!" Chen Cuo said with ill intent.

The third person is Mu Erhun, an extremely rare surname, from the Mu family, a Cultivation Family. The Mu family was originally one of the Families under Lingbao Mountain, and it was a Family known for its Puppet Art.

It's just that for some unknown reason, it declined at one point. For nearly two hundred years, no Foundation Establishment cultivator has been born.

Mu Erhun is said to be the Mu family's Genius Disciple. His Puppet Art is superb, and his Artifact Refining skill is even more exceptional. He is also a formidable individual.

The fourth person is a Foundation Establishment Elder, Ling Bu Zi, one of the Elders of Baosheng Pavilion. According to Qingfengzi, this person was a Loose Cultivator who joined the Sect with existing skills but quickly rose to prominence after joining and soon reached the Foundation Establishment realm.

The last person, whom Qingfengzi also considers one of the most promising True Disciple candidates this time, is named Snowy Mei.

And Qingfengzi did not tell Chen Cuo her specific information, only saying that the opponent was very strong, strong in all aspects.

These five people were the most promising candidates for success, according to the information Qingfengzi deliberately revealed to him.

Of course, Qingfengzi's description was not comprehensive, and there were indeed dark horses among the candidates. In fact, there was another thing he didn't say: Chen Cuo himself was also a True Disciple Immortal Seed that Qingfengzi paid special attention to.

Fifty into three, the ratio doesn't seem large, but it depends on who you're competing with. More than fifty people are all Geniuses with Artifact Refining talent. Chen Cuo asked himself, he is not an Artifact Refining Genius; he just has a bit more talent than others.

After all, a cheat is also a talent!

The waiting period was not long. When he departed from the Bai Family, there was only one month left until the True Disciple selection.

Since establishing his Foundation Establishment, he only felt time pass quickly. Sometimes, just comprehending a secret art would take one or two months.

Soon, the day of the True Disciple assessment arrived. Various Families under the Lingbao Mountain domain also came to join the fun, including other smaller Sects and renowned Loose Cultivators.

After the True Disciple selection is finalized, the observation ceremony will follow, which will be extraordinarily lively.

There is plenty of time. This is a grand event for Lingbao Mountain. How precious are the treasures produced by Lingbao Mountain? In this True Disciple conference, there will naturally be some hidden treasures auctioned off. Second-tier Magical Artifacts are nothing; you can even buy third-tier Magic Treasures.

Chen Cuo walked out of the building. Several gazes occasionally converged on him. Without him noticing, the Immortal Outside Building had already become lively, filled with guests from various places.

Bai Tang had already sent him a message two days prior. As Chen Cuo stepped out, he happened to see Bai Tang waiting nearby.

Her eyes were filled with longing for him. If not for the Life-Death Talisman, Chen Cuo might indeed have been smug about that gaze.

What a pity! To avoid trouble for now, let's talk about it later!

"Let's go, I'll take you there."

Bai Tang was straightforward. The True Disciple selection was imminent; today was probably just the identity re-verification. As a consecrator of the Bai Family, it was only natural for Bai Tang to accompany him.

Chen Cuo nodded in agreement. Upon arriving at the Hongyu Pavilion hall and greeting Qingfengzi, he proceeded with the normal procedures.

The hall was already crowded with people. Only a minority were actually participating in the assessment. Those young people were all favored children of heaven. Chen Cuo kept observing the people around him, some of whom had a faint disdain on their faces.

They were probably Inner Sect Disciples from the Sect. Most of them appeared to be wealthy individuals. After all, Artifact Refining requires a lot of resources and Materials.

Even if you have excellent talent, if you don't have enough resources for cultivation, it's all empty talk, theoretical discussion that won't produce an Artifact Refining Great Master.

And the practice cost for ordinary Disciples cannot compare to that of Family Disciples, so naturally, they are not as talented as others.

This statement is not absolute, but it is a truth.

He then focused his attention on the few people he wanted to pay close attention to, which were the five people Qingfengzi mentioned. He turned and searched a few times but couldn't find anyone similar.

After all, Qingfengzi described them verbally, and he hadn't seen any portraits, so he naturally didn't recognize them and could only judge by first impression.