Chapter 608: Tempered Metal Body

The largest of the peaks was the main peak of the Six Wonders, towering three to four thousand zhang high. Nestled among several other peaks, it resembled a majestic moon surrounded by stars, looking down upon all the other mountains, including Heavenly Spring Peak. This colossal peak was enveloped in a light purple mist from its waist upwards, creating a hazy, indescribably mysterious aura.

In stark contrast, the foot of this mountain was bustling with activity.

Clustered around the mountain were countless buildings of various sizes, from small, simple stone houses with just a few rooms to massive halls several tens of zhang high. There were also numerous market-like bluestone streets, forming a chaotic yet organic network.

Along these streets, various stalls were set up, with vendors hawking their wares. Indeed, many disciples of the Fallen Cloud Sect were walking among them, haggling with the stall owners.

This scene left Han Li and the six other cultivators passing through these streets and buildings utterly dumbfounded.

However, the young man surnamed Yu, long accustomed to such sights, completely ignored them. He activated his magic tool and swiftly glided past, flying directly towards a solitary stone hall towering several hundred zhang high.

This stone hall, built entirely from massive bluestones, stood about twenty to thirty zhang tall. On either side, there were smaller annex halls, each six to seven zhang high. At the stone platform in front of the main hall's entrance, a few cultivators were sparsely flying in and out.

The young man surnamed Yu lowered his copper bowl, allowing Han Li and the others to disembark one by one.

He then made a hand seal, causing the copper bowl to shrink rapidly before storing it in his storage pouch.

"Wait here for a moment. I'll inform the Sect Master, and then I'll call you in."

Having said this, the young man paid no further attention to them and strode forward.

The few Qi Condensation cultivators at the entrance clearly recognized the young man surnamed Yu. Instead of questioning him, they respectfully bowed and watched him enter the hall.

It was then that the guards turned their curious gaze towards Han Li and the others, who were standing a bit further away, seemingly guessing their identities.

A little while later, before anyone inside the hall had called them in, a streak of white light approached from a distance.

The light of the escaping artifact dimmed above Han Li and the others, revealing a large brocade handkerchief. Standing on it were the pale-faced young man surnamed Liu and four other young cultivators who had been taken away earlier than them.

The pale-faced young man looked down at the seven people below, a hint of surprise in his eyes. However, he soon ignored them, descended his magic tool nearby, instructed the four young cultivators to remain where they were, and then proudly walked into the stone hall himself.

At this, Han Li and the six other cultivators naturally exchanged glances with the four young cultivators who possessed excellent spiritual root aptitudes, forming two distinct groups.

For some reason, despite all of them having jointly joined the Fallen Cloud Sect as disciples, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward. There was even a subtle, almost imperceptible hostility between the two groups.

However, as newly admitted disciples of the Fallen Cloud Sect, neither group spoke, merely waiting in silence.

After waiting for what felt like the time it takes to eat a meal, the young man surnamed Yu finally emerged. As soon as he appeared at the hall entrance, he immediately waved to Han Li and the six other cultivators, then turned to glance at the four young cultivators and said without hesitation:

"The four of you come in as well. The Sect Master will meet with all of you disciples at once." With that, the young man turned and left.

Naturally, neither group dared to delay and promptly followed him inside.

Following behind the young man, they passed through a short corridor and were led into a hall measuring twenty to thirty zhang in size.

Inside, seven or eight cultivators with varying expressions were seated on wooden chairs, conversing in low tones.

The moment they saw the young man surnamed Yu enter with the new disciples, they immediately stopped talking, their gazes sweeping over Han Li and the others.

Han Li appeared outwardly honest, not looking askance, but after subtly releasing his spiritual sense, the appearances and cultivation levels of these cultivators all became clear in his mind.

One person was at the late Foundation Establishment stage, two were at the mid-stage, and the rest were at the early stage.

Senior Brother Qiu and the pale-faced young man were also seated among them.

"Thank you for your trouble, Junior Brother Yu! Please, have a seat and rest," said the blue-robed cultivator at the main seat, who was at the late Foundation Establishment stage, with a smiling wave of his hand towards the young man.

This was Wei Yiming, the Sect Master of the Fallen Cloud Sect.

He had an ordinary appearance with small eyes, seemingly unremarkable. Yet, his every gesture exuded an exceptionally convincing presence. He seemed to be an extraordinary individual.

"Thank you, Sect Master Brother!"

The young man bowed and then unhesitatingly took a seat on an empty chair nearby.

At this moment, after their gazes swept over Han Li and the others, the other cultivators' eyes finally settled on a burly young man among the four new disciples, with a faint eagerness in their expressions.

Sensing all this, Han Li was perplexed when the Fallen Cloud Sect Master's voice resounded through the hall.

"Hmm! It's already good that we have these disciples joining this time. After all, our sect recruited a batch just a few years ago. Now, Junior Brothers, let's discuss how to allocate these disciples," the blue-robed cultivator said unhurriedly to the other seated cultivators after examining the new recruits before him.

"Naturally, everything will be decided by Sect Master Brother. I'm sure Senior Brother Wei will leave us all convinced," said an old man with somewhat graying hair, stroking the short beard on his chin, speaking with great politeness. However, he quickly changed his tone and shrewdly added:

"However, never mind the outer sect disciples. As for inner sect disciples, our Hidden Sword Peak only recruited two last time, which is fewer than any other peak. Shouldn't we be allocated one more this time? Leaving aside the other disciples, please assign this disciple, who possesses the Body of Forged Gold, to our Hidden Sword Peak for guidance."

As soon as the old man finished speaking, he pointed to the burly young man. The young man was stunned for a moment, a look of surprise on his face.

"Hmph! It's true that your Hidden Sword Peak took the fewest disciples last time, but one of them was a disciple with two spiritual roots. Why don't you mention that? Now that a disciple with a special spiritual body has finally appeared, it's naturally our Fire Cloud Peak's turn!" A pale-faced middle-aged man, hearing this, immediately became restless and stood up to retort without ceremony.

"Your Fire Cloud Peak primarily focuses on fire-attribute cultivation techniques, but a cultivator with the Body of Forged Gold is naturally suited for metal-attribute techniques. Junior Brother Yang, what is there to argue about?" The gray-haired old man shook his head with a chuckle upon hearing this.

"Are you saying only your Hidden Sword Peak has metal-attribute cultivation techniques? Senior Uncle Li's Golden Refinement Art from our Fire Cloud Peak is renowned throughout Xi Country! Why can't this disciple cultivate that technique?" The middle-aged man showed no sign of yielding.

"You..."

"Enough. I understand what both of you mean. There's no need to continue," Wei Yiming said, interrupting their argument after a slight frown.

"Indeed. There's no point in continuing this argument, Senior Brothers. Let Sect Master Brother decide. After all, no matter which peak this disciple is assigned to, he is still a disciple of our Fallen Cloud Sect. What is there to argue about?" It was Senior Brother Qiu who interjected with a light chuckle.

Upon hearing this, the old man and the pale-faced middle-aged man exchanged glances. But the old man quickly spoke first:

"Junior Brother Qiu makes a valid point. Let Sect Master Brother make the decision. Our Hidden Sword Peak will have no objections."

The other middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then also grudgingly echoed the same sentiment.

The Fallen Cloud Sect Master's expression softened slightly. After a moment's thought, he glanced at Han Li and the six other cultivators and calmly stated:

"This disciple is rather special, so we will address his placement last. For now, let's first assign the other disciples. After all, none of our six inner peaks of the Fallen Cloud Sect would likely mind having more disciples. Let's start with these seven outer sect disciples."

An hour later, Han Li and the bearded man stood on the giant bowl, following the young man surnamed Yu as they flew back towards Heavenly Spring Peak.

Their attire had already been changed to the forged-blue robes of low-ranking disciples. After the allocation in the hall, they had surprisingly been assigned to Heavenly Spring Peak.

The young man surnamed Yu seemed to have no objections to this at all. As soon as the allocation concluded, he led the two away from the stone hall.

As for the highly sought-after burly young man, he was unexpectedly assigned to Illusion Stone Peak. Although the gray-haired old man and the middle-aged man from Hidden Sword Peak looked displeased, they could only grudgingly accept it. Fortunately, they were also assigned two other so-called "inner sect disciples," so they didn't leave empty-handed after all.

"Though your initial status is that of outer sect disciples, being assigned to our Heavenly Spring Peak can be considered fortunate for you both. This is because my master, who is also your Grandmaster, has always been kind and benevolent. We will not be overly harsh with you as outer sect disciples. Of course, you must still complete the tasks assigned to you on schedule. The rest of your time will be your own. If you have the opportunity to achieve great merit, Grandmaster might even bestow Foundation Establishment Pills upon you. After all, technically, outer sect and inner sect disciples enjoy the same treatment. It's just that inner sect disciples' primary focus is cultivation, while due to your aptitudes, you will naturally need to put more effort into miscellaneous skills like talisman crafting and pill refining. Several Senior Uncles on this peak are highly accomplished in these areas. You can learn a great deal from them." It seemed that because Han Li and the bearded man were now disciples of Heavenly Spring Peak, the young man became much gentler towards them and began explaining some important details.