Chapter 4311 — Taking Disciples in the Opening-Mountain Stage

But this only made it all the clearer just how vile Chu Bubai's intentions had been from the start. He had a powerful teammate like Chu Muqing right there—his own younger brother, no less—yet he had not sought him out. Instead he had gone out of his way to recruit Guo Dengtao, with whom he had no deep ties, and strangers like Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao. In the end it was all to fill out the headcount for the sacrifice, to trade all their lives for the infant ginseng.

Wei Zhao recalled how, all along that journey, Chu Bubai had lied to them, insisting over and over that they were from the Gu family. Yet now he was the only Golden Core expert among them—proof positive that he had harbored ulterior motives from the first. A man like that ending up savaged to death by the infant ginseng truly was a fate he had brought upon himself; the only pity was Guo Dengtao and Wang Feng and the rest, who had been kept in the dark.

Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao exchanged a glance, nodded at each other in tacit understanding, and said no more, lest others overhear and bring unnecessary trouble.

The crowd below murmured and buzzed with speculation, yet Chu Muqing in the arena showed no particular change of expression, as though he had long known he possessed a triple-attribute spiritual root. After giving the academy official a slight nod, he turned and walked toward the formation for the third round of assessment.

Throughout it all, the refined grace about Chu Muqing never diminished in the slightest; he carried himself with the breezy composure of a true expert. High on the platform, the assembled academy bigwigs nodded again and again, their gazes toward him unavoidably tinged with a little more approval and recognition.

After all, this was the first triple-attribute spiritual root to appear in the entire competition, and his unruffled composure in the face of both praise and humiliation was itself, to some degree, proof of his potential. Setting everything else aside, at equal strength, a temperament like Chu Muqing's would often give a man the upper hand in a fight. Temperament was itself a hidden kind of talent—it was just that many people overlooked it.

Under all those watching eyes, Chu Muqing walked step by step to the assessment formation. When the examiner nodded for him to begin, Chu Muqing's body sank slightly. Then he shot abruptly into the air, whipping one leg in a horizontal sweep, and a sharp arc of true qi tore through the air at a speed the eye could scarcely follow and slammed into the assessment formation.

Boom! The formation itself was unharmed, but the force traveled into the ground and set the whole arena trembling—a power so immense it was frightening to behold.

A simple, clean, and enormously powerful strike. It set the entire crowd abuzz once more; people looked at one another, and in every gaze there was unconcealable shock. If Chu Muqing had built such a great name for himself in the True Segment Sea, then his strength was clearly no idle boast.

He landed with composure, nodded to the examiner, then quietly stood aside to await the result.

Had it been anyone else—like that braided man from before—the examiner would have announced his elimination on the spot. This time, however, the examiner unexpectedly said nothing. Instead he turned to look up at the high platform.

It was obvious that, so far as he was concerned at least, Chu Muqing had already passed. Only, just whose command he would ultimately be placed under was not for the examiner to decide; he could only wait for the final judgment of the academy bigwigs on the platform.

One by one, the crowd unconsciously held their breath, their eyes fixed on every word and gesture of the academy bigwigs on the platform. If nothing unexpected happened, the first genius disciple to pass the selection today was about to be born.

The academy bigwigs exchanged glances, their eyes first falling on the three Opening-Mountain experts at the center. Every time they came out to recruit disciples, there was an unwritten rule: the strong chose first, and the high in station chose first. Only if those three did not want him would the choice pass down the line.

Among all the academy bigwigs present, the highest in station was none other than the academy head, Ling Yuanqing; next came the two vice-heads beside him—Wei Hebei and that woman Opening-Mountain expert. If any one of the three nodded, then Chu Muqing would soar from that day forth, becoming a disciple under their banner, and no one else would have any say in the matter.

Only if all three expressed disinterest would the other academy bigwigs on the platform have any chance to take Chu Muqing under their wing.

After a moment of silence, Academy Head Ling Yuanqing gave no sign, Vice-Head Wei Hebei gave no sign, and the remaining woman vice-head likewise gave no sign.

That meant all three Opening-Mountain giants had no intention of taking Chu Muqing as a disciple.

Below the platform, Chu Muqing watched this play out. His face remained impassive, yet his heart could not help sinking a little, and a shadow flickered through his eyes. He had thought that with his genius aptitude and potential he would surely attract the favor of the three giants—yet, unexpectedly, he had fallen short after all.

Even entering Morning Star Academy, which bigwig one took as one's master—one of the Opening-Mountain giants, or an ordinary Mystic Ascension instructor—made an utterly different world of difference in the status and treatment one ultimately received.

Wherever one went, one could never escape the jianghu rule that the disciple is honored through the master. Even with identical strength and talent, if one man stood behind Academy Head Ling Yuanqing and another behind an ordinary Nascent Soul instructor, their stations would naturally be worlds apart. Everyone present knew this perfectly well, and Chu Muqing was certainly no exception.

Everyone wanted to become a disciple of the three Opening-Mountain giants—but sadly, winning them over was no easy feat. Even with Chu Muqing's aptitude, he was still far from enough.

After the three Opening-Mountain giants had silently declined, it was the turn of the seven Mystic Ascension experts. If one could win their favor, one would likewise rise high in the days to come.

In the end, after the seven Mystic Ascension experts exchanged glances, an old man clad in black academy robes nodded to Chu Muqing and said, "Chu Muqing, from now on you shall cultivate under this old man."

At these words the crowd broke into another wave of envy. Any one of these Mystic Ascension experts would rank as a top-tier master even on Mid Island. Though they fell far short of the three Opening-Mountain giants, to be taken as a disciple by such a formidable figure was already a rare stroke of fortune.

"This disciple obeys," Chu Muqing said at once, bowing in assent, his tone still unhurried and composed, giving all who saw it the sense that this youth was destined for greatness. Yet when the corner of his eye swept over Ling Yuanqing and the other two Opening-Mountain experts, it carried an added trace of venomous resentment, so subtle none could detect it.

In an instant, Chu Muqing had become the absolute focus of the entire arena. Already a famous name in the True Segment Sea, he would now, by all estimates, become a true legend in the word-of-mouth of the crowds.

People began speculating among themselves: if one day this Chu Muqing were to leave Morning Star Academy and return to the True Segment Sea, his strength would likely be enough to sweep all before him unchallenged. (To be continued) R1071