My Fourth Peak hasn't accepted a Disciple in over a hundred years. In this century, you might be the first.
The old man slowly stood before Sword Four, his gaze profound, as if he saw the ancient past and the distant future.
Before you, this Old Ancestor had two Disciples. Both were exceptionally talented individuals. Unfortunately, back then, all of this Old Ancestor's thoughts were on his deceased wife, and he neglected their guidance. This ultimately led to a tragedy.
According to Sect rules, each Peak has nine official Disciple slots. These nine Disciple slots are not determined solely by Cultivation level. To become an official Disciple of the Nine Peaks, talent, strength, and even luck are all indispensable.
The old man turned around and looked at Yang Che, his gaze solemn: "Nine Peaks Disciples must accept challenges from outer Peak Disciples every year. Although no one has successfully challenged them in hundreds of years, this time, if you become a Disciple of my Four Peaks, countless outer Peak Disciples will challenge you. And even now, once the news that you are a provisional Disciple of Four Peaks is known…"
Yang Che immediately understood the old man's meaning.
"You mean, even if I become an official Disciple, I will be the weakest among the Nine Peaks Disciples. Even among these provisional Disciples now, I'm probably the weakest. Once these provisional Disciples or outer Peak Disciples find out, they will definitely want to defeat me and take my place."
As Yang Che spoke, his heart gradually grew heavy.
If the news that he was about to participate in the trial assessment as a provisional Disciple of the Fourth Peak became known to all Disciples, there would indeed be endless trouble.
No wonder this Fourth Peak Old Ancestor wanted him to be mentally prepared.
"Kid, that's just one thing. Right now, you only have the qualification to participate in the assessment trial; whether you can succeed is still unknown. So next, this Old Ancestor very solemnly tells you that this Old Ancestor will not give you any help, and you cannot use the resources of the Fourth Peak."
"Ah? This…"
"Ah what? Only if you pass the trial by your own ability will this Old Ancestor truly accept you. If any other Disciples trouble you during this period, you can only solve it yourself. You must not use the name of my Fourth Peak, and even less the name of this Old Ancestor. Otherwise, let alone wanting this Old Ancestor to accept you, you won't even be able to participate in this Inner Sea trial."
The old man's expression was solemn, and his tone was beyond doubt.
Yang Che felt utterly helpless.
"Alright, kid, you can go now. Go directly to your Senior Uncle Zheng Yang; this Old Ancestor has already sent him a message. Everything from now on is up to you. If you die in the Inner Sea Forbidden Land, that's your fate, and no one else is to blame."
After the old man finished speaking, his figure flickered and disappeared without a trace.
Only Yang Che was left, sighing to the sky.
He didn't have too many other extravagant hopes, nor did he think about using any resources from the Fourth Peak. He was just itching to learn the 'Dark Concealment Art,' 'Thunderball Spell,' 'Dark Devour Technique,' and 'Lightning Chain Spell' that the old man had just mentioned.
He had originally planned to show off well and say some flattering words to ask the old man to teach him these Spells, but it seemed there was no hope.
Yang Che knew very well that although the old man spoke lightly, he had already thoroughly understood that dark-attribute and lightning-attribute Spells were extremely rare, especially dark-attribute, which was almost a blank slate.
However, seeing how casually the old man spoke, it was possible that he truly possessed a large number of dark-attribute and lightning-attribute Spells, and even Cultivation Techniques.
At this thought, Yang Che's heart couldn't help but burn with excitement.
"No matter what, I must pass this Inner Sea trial. Of course, more importantly, there's that 'Treasure Trove.'"
Yang Che firmed his resolve, and naturally, he would now prepare well for this Inner Sea trial.
Yang Che arrived at Sword Gate Hall.
As soon as the refined middle-aged Senior Uncle Zheng Yang saw Yang Che arrive, he immediately took out a small sword-shaped token and handed it to him, saying:
"You must keep this safe. When you set off for the Mist Hidden Sea, you will receive a message through this. It is also a symbol of identity for entering the Mist Hidden Sea Inner Sea."
Yang Che accepted the token, expressed his deep gratitude to Senior Uncle Zheng Yang, and then returned to his Immortal Cave in the Xuanqing Mountain Range.
He rechecked his Storage Pouch.
Besides the Flying Fire Meteor, he still had two offensive Magical Artifacts.
One was the green gourd obtained from the Beast Controlling Sect Cultivator he killed in the desert outside Wulong Valley. However, this was only an Intermediate Magical Artifact and not very useful on its own, but Yang Che had always been very interested in its ability to spew out black spheres of considerable power.
Yang Che later learned that the black spheres were called 'Primordial Chaos Beads.' The power of a single bead was too small compared to a top-tier Magical Artifact, unless a very large quantity was sprayed out at once, only then could it barely match the power of a single strike from a top-tier Magical Artifact.
If it could only spray Primordial Chaos Beads, Yang Che would have sold this green gourd long ago. The reason he kept it until today was because after he obtained that 'lightning-attribute' Cultivation Technique from Wulong Valley, he understood that something called 'Sky Thunder Pearl' existed.
This Sky Thunder Pearl was an extraordinary item; it was said that the explosion power of even the most ordinary one was comparable to the full-strength strike of a Foundation Establishment Late Stage peak Cultivator.
Yang Che wondered if he could get 'Sky Thunder Pearls,' disguise them as Primordial Chaos Beads, and have this green gourd spray them out to attack enemies, wouldn't that achieve a surprise effect?
However, Yang Che later learned that this Sky Thunder Pearl was not an ordinary item at all, and ordinary Cultivators simply couldn't refine it.
The extremely rare and priceless Sky Thunder Pearls circulating in the market were all passed down from before, fortunately not consumed.
Obtaining Sky Thunder Pearls was an extremely difficult task.
The other Magical Artifact was the top-tier Flying Sword Magical Artifact he had obtained from Leng Feiyun.
Yang Che had already planned to collect thirty-six top-tier Flying Swords to form the Tai Xuan Hidden Light Formation and test its power.
As for defensive Magical Artifacts, Yang Che had none.
And whether or not to get defensive Magical Artifacts, Yang Che had always been quite hesitant.
After all, he knew that his Physical Body strength was already comparable to a high-grade Magical Artifact.
However, Yang Che ultimately decided to visit the market and acquire a top-tier defensive Magical Artifact.
As for spirit talismans, he had almost exhausted all of his Elementary spirit talismans in order to escape with his life from Liu Hanyan.
Only that one Elementary High-Grade Wind Spear Talisman was preserved.
As for Intermediate spirit talismans, the one he had obtained from Liu Yuan was later reluctantly returned to Liu Hanyan.
Fortunately, he still had a few Intermediate spirit talismans in his hand.
As soon as he thought of Liu Hanyan, a cold glint flashed in Yang Che's eyes.
Revenge must be taken, but now was not the time; he needed to have sufficient Cultivation.
Thinking of this, Yang Che couldn't sit still anymore.
He simply got up and headed straight for the market.
He wanted to sell a few spirit talismans, and with the nearly one thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones he currently had, buy a top-tier defensive Magical Artifact, and then purchase some medicinal ingredients for refining Pseudo Overlord Pills, so he could raise his Cultivation further before the trip to the Mist Hidden Sea a month later.
Arriving at the Qing Jian Sect market, Yang Che clearly felt that its scale was much larger than the two major markets of Wulong Valley, 'Yunzhu' and 'Tingchao,' combined.
A single market was like a bustling and prosperous town.
The shops here were lined up like fish scales, categorized, and the popularity was quite strong.
Moreover, the Qing Jian Sect market was clearly different from Wulong Valley's.
Wulong Valley's market was set up within the Sect, for transactions among Sect Disciples.
The Qing Jian Sect market was directly set up at the end of the Xuanqing Mountain Range.
Yang Che inquired and learned that it was not very far from the neighboring Feng Country's Cultivation Sect, 'Star Dust Sect.'
Since Jiang Country and Feng Country were on good terms, there were no major conflicts or disputes between the Cultivation Worlds of the two countries.
As a result, this market, connecting the transactions of the two major Sects and the Cultivation Worlds of the two countries, was naturally extremely prosperous.
Yang Che walked around, feeling embarrassed by his lack of funds.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he found that Senior Brother Wei Yuhang was actually also strolling in the market.
Just as he was about to go up and greet him, two mysterious black-clad individuals wearing bamboo hats suddenly rushed out from the side, sandwiching Wei Yuhang one on each side, and by some unknown means, they directly took Wei Yuhang away.
Yang Che's eyes narrowed, and he immediately followed stealthily.