Lou Yi stood silently to the side, collecting the eight points of newly generated Energy, but there wasn't the slightest joy in his heart.

He had survived, but it was largely due to luck.

What if that elder named Rong had attacked him? What if he had been hit by Magic?

The power of the giant crimson cloud from before was astonishing, leaving him still shaken.

If it had attacked him directly, even with all his trump cards and the Attribute Panel's instant healing, he felt the likelihood of survival was still slim.

One cannot always rely on fortune; ultimately, one's own strength must be formidable.

'Strength, my strength is still too weak.'

'Once I enter the Corpse-Driving Sect, I have to develop well and not act recklessly.'

'The Cultivation Realm is not like the martial arts world; there are too many powerful figures who could easily crush me.'

'Cultivation must proceed, and Martial Arts cannot be abandoned. Both paths must be strong.'

Lou Yi silently made up his mind.

Then, with a palm strike, he easily broke a thick branch nearby, roughly as thick as an arm, sharpened it with an axe, and began to dig a pit on site.

With his strength and experience, he dug a large and deep pit in just a few dozen breaths.

"We can first bury them here and then notify the families to come and take them, to prevent the corpses from being targeted by wild beasts," Lou Yi suggested.

Elder Peng looked at him in surprise and nodded.

Then, Lou Yi, ignoring the blood, helped transport the bodies of several deceased sect members into the pit.

After the burial, Elder Peng waved his hand, and a yellow talisman paper was placed on the ground, then vanished, presumably to prevent wild beasts from digging up the pit.

When they returned to the Broken Cloth Magical Artifact, everyone's mood was heavy, and there was no longer any desire for conversation.

The Broken Cloth Magical Artifact flew several times faster than before, swiftly traveling at a low altitude.

Apparently, Elder Peng feared complications, increased Mana output, and only wanted to bring the disciples back to the sect as soon as possible.

More than half a day later, everyone arrived at a foggy white area, where more than ten mountain peaks of varying heights were faintly visible.

The Broken Cloth shot into the fog, and everyone felt a blur before arriving at the foot of a high peak.

The mountain before them was over 1,500 feet high, lush with trees, where the clear calls of insects and birds continuously echoed, and the air was filled with a fragrant earthy smell.

At the foot of the mountain stood a white stone stele about one zhang high, inscribed with three black characters: 'Guest Welcoming Peak.'

Lou Yi and the others had just stepped off the Broken Cloth Magical Artifact.

A giant wooden bird slowly descended onto a clearing nearby.

The wooden bird was over ten zhang long, made entirely from sections of original yellow wood, with joints engraved with complex black lines.

Its pure black eyes were the size of watermelons, appearing to be made of stone.

On its back sat a group of young disciples, and 'creak, creak, creak,' it quickly lowered its height, turning into a raised platform less than one zhang high.

The disciples jumped down from the platform one after another.

"Old Ghost Peng, how was the harvest this time?" The red-robed elder in charge of escorting these disciples was short and plump, with a rosy complexion, and greeted Elder Peng with a smile.

"Not so good, a prodigious disciple was intercepted by that damned Red Sun Sect, and several others died," Elder Peng said coldly.

The short, plump elder was shocked: "How dare Red Sun Sect be so brazen?"

He quickly realized: "What Spirit Root did that disciple have?"

"Top-grade."

"Hiss…" The short, plump elder gasped, "Such a major event, have you reported it to the Sect Leader?"

"We didn't catch anyone; they were well-prepared." Elder Peng's tone was somewhat despondent.

The two each manipulated their Flying Magical Artifacts, ascended into the sky, and soon disappeared.

Meanwhile, under Guest Welcoming Peak, more and more new disciples gathered, eventually reaching around two hundred people.

In front of them appeared an old man with a goatee whose aura was unfathomable.

He opened his mouth and said, "Before entering the sect, we have to test your Spirit Roots once more. Line up, one by one."

Then, with a wave of his hand, a man-high copper mirror appeared beside him.

It had a stable circular base at the bottom, with a white crystal embedded at the top.

Whenever someone stepped in front of the copper mirror, irregular stone blocks representing their Spirit Roots would automatically appear, composed of a large number of tiny honeycomb particles.

By now, Lou Yi had also understood how to determine the quality of a Spirit Root.

It depended on the number of glowing particles representing the respective Spirit Root.

Fire Element was red, Yin Element was dim, Wind Element was green, Water Element was blue, Earth Element was yellow…

Due to the cultivation technique attributes of Corpse-Driving Sect, most of the recruited disciples had Yin Spirit Roots.

"Lower-Grade Yin Spirit Root."

"Middle-Grade Yin Spirit Root, Lower-Grade Fire Element Spirit Root."

"Lower-Grade…"

"Lower-Grade…"

The old man with the goatee held a bamboo slip in his hand, seemingly cross-referencing, and kept nodding.

"Top-Grade Yin Spirit Root, Lower-Grade Water Element Spirit Root."

After a long while, a top-grade appeared.

On the stone block in the copper mirror, nearly thirty percent of the area emitted a faint dim light, with another small part emitting a blue light.

The one with the top-grade Spirit Root was a young woman in a pale green dress, of unmatched beauty and a cold demeanor, evidently not welcoming of strangers.

She was none other than You Qingyi, the daughter of General You of Zhao Kingdom, who was in the same group as Lou Yi.

"Stand to the right," the old man with the goatee said with a smile, warmly beckoning You Qingyi.

Not only her, but everyone with a Mid-grade Spirit Root or above stood to the right.

Those with Lower-Grade Spirit Roots all stood in the left area, taking up most of the crowd.

Moments later, a middle-aged man with a stiff expression led the disciples with good aptitude on the right away first.

Disciples like Lou Yi, with Lower-Grade Spirit Roots, had to wait a little longer.

A male disciple in a light blue Daoist Robe soon arrived to lead them up the mountain.

The male disciple, in his twenties, tall and thin, with small eyes, had slightly pale skin, but wasn't overly stiff.

"Fellow junior disciples, I am your guide, Wei Jian, a few years older than you. You can call me Senior Brother Wei, or directly by my name."

"I will first take you to the Name Pavilion to register your information and receive your Disciple Token."

"Now that you've joined the Corpse-Driving Sect, we're all one family, feel free to ask me any questions."

Guide Wei Jian introduced as he walked, his attitude rather friendly.

"Senior Brother Wei, does this mean we are now Outer Disciples?" someone asked.

"If you sense Qi within three months of joining, you can become official Outer Disciples," Wei Jian said with a smile, his small eyes narrowing into slits.

As for those who couldn't comprehend…

No one present was foolish; everyone heard the unspoken message and felt a chill in their hearts.

...

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