On the second day, Ding Hao spent quite a substantial amount of time searching for the mysterious teenage siblings. Unfortunately, he had never caught sight of Xie Jieyu and Ding Ding, and as such he did not know about the fate of the teenage girls who had suffered so much. He guessed that it was more likely for their fate to have made a turn for the worse—it would be extremely hard for Xie Jieyu to pass the entrance test of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect, what with her frail constitution.
The test continued on the third day.
The entire enrolment process of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect lasted for six days.
On the first day, most of the onlookers made the effort to arrive extra early, but on the second day, however, the number of onlookers began to decrease.
An estimated number of more than 40,000 teenagers from a 500-mile radius had turned up over the past six whole days for the entrance test. Eventually, only 2,020 of the teenagers officially passed the test and became disciples on the waiting list of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect.
On the evening of the sixth day, a register showing the names of all the participants in the test, along with their ranking, was published at the announcement area.
Ding Hao’s ranking was revealed to have eventually dropped to the 100th position on the nominal roll.
Li Yiruo was ranked at the 430th position.
Xiao Chengxuan was ranked at the 563rd position.
Li Chanyang was ranked 199th.
Cao Yan was ranked 1213th.
Even Zhao Xingcheng, who had been severely beaten up by Ding Hao, also managed to make it past the entrance examination; he was ranked 2017th.
Ding Hao drew comfort in the fact that Zhang Fan, the teenager who came from a family of hunters and was fighting his fate, somehow managed to secure a position for himself as a disciple on the waiting list of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect by earning the result of 2020th position.
Just as he expected, Ding Hao did not find Xie Jieyu’s name amongst the list of 2020 participants who had got on the waiting list.
“Seems like the stubborn and extremely beautiful teenage girl had indeed failed to get selected. Where could they have gone to now? I bet she must be very sad and disappointed now.”
A feeling of desolation and disappointment came into Ding Hao’s heart with no warning at all.
Just like before, the first 20 names on the nominal roll were entirely covered with red paper. The names of these candidates were hidden, and no one knew who they were; it all seemed extremely mysterious.
This was the method employed by the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect to protect its gifted disciples.
Without a doubt, the first 20 candidates were the real exceptional geniuses that the sect had obtained from the enrolment contest. Most of them were probably martial artists with strong lineage—such candidates had remnants of mystical bloodlines in them which possessed great power. The Swordsmanship-seeking Sect was now using the method of secrecy to prevent these 20 geniuses from being poached or assassinated by rival sects.
It was an extremely demanding and cruel process to shortlist 2,020 candidates out of 60,000.
From the looks of it, the fact that Ding Hao had managed to rank 100th eventually with his second-class meridians was already extremely outstanding.
Ding Hao was extremely satisfied with this result.
However, he could vaguely feel that the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect’s test seemed to have overlooked something.
After going through the Adventure Province in the cave, which led to strange changes taking place within his body, as well as the huge secret encompassed within the virtual image of the saber and sword, Ding Hao now possessed a self-confidence that he himself was surprised with. He knew that the moment all of the potential hidden within him was unleashed, he would definitely not lose out to the exceptional talents ranked at the first 20 positions.
With the announcement of the final results, the mountainous entrance to the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect, which was once filled with commotion, reverted back to a peaceful state.
Other than the disciples ranked at the first 20 positions, who were given special treatment, each of the remaining 2,000 teenagers received the clothes, waist token and a long sword of a disciple on the waiting list from the logistics department of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect. They were then temporarily assigned to the guest quarters for the night.
Each teenager received a small booklet which was similar to a guidebook; every event that they would undergo for the next few days was described in detail in it.
Ding Hao returned to the slums district at the mountain behind. He casually packed up his belongings before returning to his guest room.
For the time being, he did not need to return back to the thatched house.
…
On the seventh day.
The Swordsmanship-seeking Sect was extremely efficient when handling matters.
Concrete arrangements and assignments had already been made known to the 2,000 disciples that very morning.
The teenagers were divided into teams of 400 each and divided into five houses—East, West, South, North, and Central. Subsequently, they were arranged to reside in the corresponding area of the mountainous encampment. They were led by different instructors, masters and senior brothers, who passed on kung fu and other types of basic knowledge to them. No one knew what sort of judging criteria was used to group them.
This arrangement was also meant to trigger the competitiveness of the teenagers.
This was because the rules were stated very clearly in the little booklet that there would be a major kung fu competition held every fortnight between the five houses—East, West, South, North, and Central. The aim was to determine the amount of quality herbs, medicine and various resources each house would receive for the next month.
Ding Hao was assigned to the East house of green shirts.
That night, he got his first accommodation at the mountain to the front—the first room in the 8th yard of the East house of green shirts. The surrounding environment was as beautiful as that of the divine realm.
“Eh, it’s the first room of the 8th yard—a rather auspicious number. Haha, well done!” he thought.
Ding Hao carried his own belongings on his back and held his key. As he arrived before a yard of green stone, and as he saw the size of the courtyard, as well as the stone room, which was as huge as the hall of a palace, he could not help but feel wave after wave of excitement surging in his heart.
Compared to his thatched hut at the mountains behind, this was paradise.
The Swordsmanship-seeking Sect’s reputation as one of the major schools in the Snow Province was well earned. Its wealth was vast and was not stingy in the least toward its disciples.
“From now on, I’ll finally have a room of my own at this paradise-like mountain in front,” Ding Hao thought.
He pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped into the yard. There were three stone rooms situated on the left, right and center of it respectively. The stone room at the center faced the Sun and was the most spacious. In front of each stone room was an upright and verdant old pine tree. The yard itself was extremely spacious, and at the center of it was an old water well. The mottled well was lined with rope marks, and there was a water pail made of black metal and a mooring rope as thick as a child’s arm by its side.
“Room number 1… Hey, that’s the most spacious one in the middle. My luck is not too bad, haha!”
Ding Hao walked briskly before the stone room and inserted his key into the keyhole of the huge copper lock. He opened the lock and gave the stone door of the room a push, however, to his surprise, it did not budge.
“Hmm? Could it be that there’s some hidden mechanism in this door as well?”
It was only after close examination did Ding Hao realize that thin, hairlike lines had been carved on the green stone door. The carvings spread out and covered all the walls of the entire stone room. He could not discern whether they were man-made or natural, and as they were too fine, if one did not examine the walls and door carefully, one would not have noticed them at all.
Ding Hao touched the carvings gently with his palm, before suddenly transmitting a great force onto the walls.
The stone room still remained still.
The force transmitted by Ding Hao’s palm was about that of a one-ton weight. Cracks would have appeared on any ordinary piece of rock, but there was no visible damage on the walls of the stone room.
“These carvings were indeed made after the room was built. I believe they have the same purpose as that sword formation map—to protect and maintain the stone chamber,” he thought.
Just as he was about to push the stone door open with force, a surprised voice came from behind him.
“Eh? You’re also in the 8th yard?”
Ding Hao turned to see the unexpected figure of Zhang Fan, the teenager who had come from a family of hunters. He carried many belongings of various sizes in his hands and was looking with surprise at Zhang Fan, along with his father and fellow villagers; there was also a look of gratitude in his eyes.
