Chapter 3659 — The Newcomer's Trial
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Hmph. You can't do anything else properly, but you're not bad at flattery!" Meng Jueming snorted, though the delight on his face was impossible to hide. He paused, then said, "Also, before the trial tomorrow morning, gather the other newcomers and bring them to me. I have orders for them. With such a fine chance to make trouble, how could we let off Wei Zhao and those other fools who can't see what's good for them?"
"Right away!" Meng Zhou nodded again and again. Teaming up to deal with Wei Zhao—this was the sort of thing he delighted in.
Early the next morning, under the organization of their respective supervising senior brothers, the newcomers of the Threefold Pavilion gathered in the main hall of the Welcome Pavilion. But the trial rules were not announced there. Instead, led by the Pavilion Master, Hu Yunfeng, all the newcomers set out together for the trial grounds in the back mountain.
The so-called back mountain was not the back mountain of the Welcome Pavilion, but the back mountain of the entire Threefold Pavilion. Before that vast primeval forest, stretching for tens of thousands of mu, the Welcome Pavilion—occupying a mere patch of less than a hundred mu—seemed utterly insignificant, not worth mentioning.
In the eyes of every cultivator on the North Island, the back mountain was synonymous with rare treasures. If all the rare treasures of the North Island were divided into ten parts, the back mountain accounted for eight of them. So even knowing full well that dangers lurked on every side, cultivators still flocked to the back mountain—only the back mountain was not open to just anyone.
The Threefold Pavilion had an explicit rule: the back mountain was forbidden ground on the North Island, and without the Elders' Council's permission, no one was permitted to set foot there. Violators would be killed without mercy.
Out of regard for the newcomers, the Elders' Council permitted the Welcome Pavilion to hold the newcomer trial in the back mountain. Of course, the access was restricted: the newcomers could only move about the outer perimeter of the back mountain. As for the inner perimeter, or the still more central core region, they could not enter.
There was no need to worry about anyone exploiting a loophole here, for there was no loophole that any newcomer could exploit.
Over the generations, the top experts of the Threefold Pavilion had laid down layer upon layer of restrictions in the back mountain: one layer at the outer perimeter, one at the inner perimeter, and several more in the core region. The newcomer trial opened only the outer restriction; the layers within could not possibly be breached.
And in truth, even if a one-in-ten-thousand miracle occurred and someone broke through the inner perimeter restriction, there was no great cause for concern—not only would the elder in charge of guarding the back mountain detect it at once, but even if it were left unchecked, there would be no loss whatsoever.
To be sure, the deeper one went into the back mountain, the greater the chance of coming across rare treasures seldom seen. But do not forget: reward is always proportional to risk. Without sufficient strength, even if someone did slip through a loophole and sneak in, in the end they would only become food for the bellies of those powerful spirit beasts—which, for the back mountain, was naturally no loss at all.
Led by Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng, the supervising senior brothers of the Threefold Pavilion brought their respective newcomers to the Back Mountain Hall.
The back mountain was shrouded in restrictions. Unless one possessed matchless strength enough to force a breach, under normal circumstances the only way in or out was by fixed paths, and the throat that controlled those paths was the Back Mountain Hall.