Volume One: Two Youths Meet in Humble Days, Chapter Eighty-Six: The Talent Selection Assembly, Part One

The shared goal of everyone was probably the same, so the talent selection convention was prepared at remarkable speed.

When the news was announced in Heaven Gate Town, all the households except for the dozen or so that had already been quietly decided upon were overjoyed.

Hope for one’s children is the same everywhere, and nowhere more so than in Heaven Gate Town.

For those who lived there, if they had no connections, they would be fishermen in Heaven Gate Town for their entire lives, living a life as ordinary as ordinary could be.

In the past, there had been people who went out on their own to seek work and find a way forward, but those who left without permission often fell ill and died not long after.

They did not know that Heaven Gate Town was a land bereft of the Way. All those born in such a place bore the soul mark of waylessness; once they entered a place governed by the Way, if no one from outside gave them a life token and had the Heavenly Dao acknowledge their identity, then going out would mean certain death.

Thus, in the eyes of the people of Heaven Gate Town, their home was a cursed land. Those born there, if they wished to seek a future beyond it, could only do so through channels and help provided by outsiders.

This talent selection convention in Heaven Gate Town was conducted in a rather interesting manner.

Although Li Yu had never taken part in such an event, he still remembered that when the Li family had once taken in disciples, they had always played the role of lofty arbiters, looking down on the hopeful youths who climbed the mountain in search of a master.

They kept their status very high, and would never force anyone to come. To them, merely granting others the chance to be tested for aptitude was already a great kindness; come if you wished, or do not— they would not insist.

But when Li Yu learned that the true purpose of this selection convention was to compensate Heaven Gate Town, he no longer felt any goodwill toward those who harbored deep desire for Heaven Gate.

He told all of this to the Taoist in seclusion. After hearing him out, the Taoist said, “Little Fish, I know you value loyalty and feeling deeply, but life is like a white colt flashing past a crack in the wall. Along the journey, we meet all kinds of people, and those people will also leave us at some point. As for parting, I should learn to accept it calmly. At times, separation exists so that a better future may be opened, and so that a more beautiful reunion may be had.”

It was the first time Li Yu had heard the Taoist speak in such a way. He was a little puzzled, wondering why his master would suddenly talk like this. “Master, that doesn’t sound like you at all.”

The Taoist smiled. “That only means you do not know your master well enough yet.”

Li Yu knew, however, that his master would never speak without reason. Just as he was about to ask further, his master changed the subject. “These past few days, I haven’t heard any movement from the Beast Taming Sect toward Xu Kaijiang. They must have heard the rumor that the talent selection convention will be held, and are likely planning to take him right there, without needing his consent. Why don’t you go take a look?”

Indeed, for the past several days, the Beast Taming Sect had made no further moves against Xu Kaijiang, and even the daily surveillance had been withdrawn. They must have assumed they could use the talent selection convention as cover to make their move, leaving him with no room to resist.

Yet the Taoist’s words still lingered in Li Yu’s ears, making his heart uneasy. He asked in a low voice, “Master, are you hiding something from me?”

This time, the Taoist did not answer. As always, when he did not wish to reply, he would simply remain silent, leaving Li Yu with nowhere to begin.

Li Yu felt a little sour at this, but more than that, he was worried.

Ever since his master went into seclusion, he had become increasingly unable to understand him. Though they were separated by only a single door, to Li Yu it felt as though heaven and earth lay between them; he could see the Taoist’s figure, yet could not truly touch him.

And so, with a complicated heart, Li Yu went to the talent selection convention.

This talent selection convention was held with great ceremony, and all the sects had sent representatives.

At the center sat the Great Success Dynasty. On the left sat the Li family, on the right the Great Sword Azure Mountain, and beyond them the six great sects were seated on both sides.

As for the Imperial Supreme Hall, it did not appear—unexpected, yet also entirely within reason.

Everyone merely guessed that since the people of the six great sects all belonged under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Supreme Hall, and since all cultivation sects and families had to obey its arrangements, whether the hall participated or not made little difference.

After all, in Great Success there was an unwritten rule: all those who achieved any measure of cultivation were to spend a period of time studying in the Imperial Supreme Hall, under the name of exchange and mutual benefit.

If, during that time, the Imperial Supreme Hall found suitable disciples, it had the right to seize them. Of course, all of this had to be based on the other party’s consent. Yet then again, the cultivation resources of the Imperial Supreme Hall were so excellent that few could resist the temptation of their own future and refuse to join.

As for the Imperial Supreme Hall’s not taking part in this selection convention, that was the only explanation everyone could think of; some even believed that this was the very reason.

No one knew that the main reason was that before coming, the Hall Lord had specifically instructed Cao Xihe not to interfere too much in the affairs of Heaven Gate Town. As for the reason, it had not been explained in detail.

Still, during his time in Heaven Gate Town, Cao Xihe had inferred a few things. First, the Taoist in seclusion was the Hall Lord’s junior brother. Second, that junior brother of the Hall Lord’s was likely plotting something immense in Heaven Gate Town.

When Li Yu arrived at the central plaza, he saw many people gathered around the stone stele, all speaking in turns, chattering noisily and with great excitement.

While he was listening, he saw the Shen siblings arrive together with Zhou Ce and Xu Kaijiang.

“Little Fish, why are you only here now? I thought you didn’t know, and was just about to call for you,” Shen Tang asked from the side.

Li Yu restrained all his emotions and replied with a smile, “There was something going on at the temple, so I was delayed a bit.” Then he changed the subject. “What’s the situation now?”

Shen Xun explained for him, “The method for selecting talent this time is to have everyone drip their blood onto the stone stele. If the stele responds, it means they have decent aptitude. Then the sects will choose from among those selected according to their aptitude and take them away.”

Li Yu asked in confusion, “This stone stele has such an ability?”

Hearing this, Zhou Ce quietly told them, “I actually looked into this stone stele in Uncle Zhang’s collection of books, and I didn’t find anything in the records about it having such an effect.”

They did not doubt Zhou Ce’s words. Li Yu, however, thought to himself that if Zhou Ce truly had looked and the books contained nothing, yet this was still the method they used, then the greater secrets concerning this stone stele were likely not in the books that he and Zhou Ce could see.

That raised the question: what exactly had caused the city lord to hide its secret?

Li Yu could not figure it out, so he set the matter aside for the time being.

Just as the few of them were waiting for the official start of the convention, several people who were very familiar to Xu Kaijiang, yet much less so to Li Yu and the others, walked toward them.

The visitors were none other than the four people who had once been close friends with Xu Kaijiang. The leader, Chen Dahu, spoke first. “A Dog, you came too?”

The question was a little forced. Xu Kaijiang was standing right there; if he had not come, then were they seeing ghosts?

After Xu Kaijiang gradually drifted apart from them, he had indeed resented them at first. But after the deaths of his parents, he also slowly came to let go of the friendship they had once shared.

For him, since Chen Dahu and the others had already distanced themselves from him, he would at least preserve the last shred of courtesy between them, which could also be considered his way of honoring that old bond.

“Yes, I came to take a look around,” Xu Kaijiang replied politely and coolly, having picked up some of Li Yu’s manner from their time together.

The youngest of the former five, He Yun, said, “Third Brother, we weren’t deliberately ignoring your family’s matter. It’s just that we were in a difficult position too. The people from the Beast Taming Sect were the ones you offended, and we were all taken in as named disciples by the sects of the other four families. They gave their orders, and we couldn’t do anything for you either.”

Hearing this, Shen Tang could no longer hold back. “Since you were in such a difficult position, then what are you all doing here now? Shouldn’t the wise thing be to stay far away from him? Wouldn’t that be the sensible way to protect yourselves?”

Although the four of them had not yet begun cultivation and were merely nominal disciples of the other four sects, in their own eyes their status was already entirely different from before.

Seeing that this little girl, Shen Tang, dared to contradict He Yun, the fourth one, Luo Gang, said, “When the brothers are talking, who asked you to butt in, little girl? Are we giving you too much face? Or do you not value your life?”

Zhou Ce had not been angry at first, but after hearing them speak to Shen Tang, his face darkened. He shielded her and said, “You’d better watch your mouth. Don’t think that just because you’ve entered some sect, you’re better than anyone else.”

Seeing that they dared to provoke him, the second one, Zheng Dafu, also lost his temper. He was just about to step forward and beat Zhou Ce when Li Yu seized his wrist.

“Today I’m in a very bad mood. Very bad. I’ll give you one chance: now, immediately, vanish from before our eyes. Otherwise, I’ll cripple you right here and now, and make sure you can never enter any sect again.”

The second one, whose wrist had been caught, still tried to save face. Gritting his teeth, he said, “You dare? I am a disciple of Falling Forgetting Peak.”

Li Yu looked at him expressionlessly. “Do you think I dare or not? Since you say you are disciples of those sects, then you must have heard of the edict in Heaven Gate Town. Under that edict, fighting is forbidden. What I am doing now is not a brawl, but a one-sided attack by someone from within Heaven Gate Town. The edict cannot restrain me, but it can protect me from being bullied by outsiders. So, do you still think I don’t dare? Hmm?”

Li Yu’s words were not wrong. They had indeed heard similar things from their respective sects.

The fifth one, He Yun, stepped forward and cupped his hands in salute. “Don’t make a move. We’re not here to provoke you. We just haven’t seen Third Brother in a long time, so we came to chat.”

Li Yu did not want to make more trouble. Hearing this, he released his hand, dusted his palms, and said, “Cut to the point. Why are you really here? My patience is limited, and I don’t want to keep looking at you all.”

After He Yun glanced at Chen Dahu, the eldest, he still said, “This time, we were entrusted by the Beast Taming Sect to bring a message to Third Brother.”

Xu Kaijiang asked, “What message?”

“The people of the Beast Taming Sect said they have set their sights on you. If you dare entertain any second thoughts, they would rather destroy you than let you go with anyone else,” said Chen Dahu, the eldest.