"Don't just stand there, cross the river." Fei Chao urged the disciples from the other side of the river.

However, the disciples who had previously experienced the river hesitated, while the new ones looked confused at the sudden shift in tension.

"Looks like they aren't going to explain things this time either." Chang Lu muttered, unfazed by the rising tension. In fact, she was the first one to step forward.

"She is eager to prove herself after falling short last time," Chang Wu muttered.

"We can fail this?" Wang Yang turned to Chen Liang.

"Of course you can, if you aren't up to the standard, you won't get anything here." Chen Liang shrugged; he didn't make the rules.

Wang Yang, like some of the new disciples around him, watched Chang Lu with peeled eyes.

The young woman, however, showed no trace of fear. With a measured gait, she stepped into the knee-deep stream. The cold flow brushed against her skin as the small, translucent fish scattered. Chang Lu took a step forward, and the water slid off her leg, her silk pants still dry as a bone.

Rather than the wetness of water, the stream was like a muddy swamp. Each step forward required more strength to lift her feet. The water congealed around her knees, acting like quicksand.

Her explosive pace slowed ten steps in, but she didn't halt. Chang Lu gritted her teeth and let her momentum carry her to the other side, barely catching her breath.

"Yes! Did you see that, brother? I passed the River of Rites!" She leaped in joy, the sweat and uneven breath from the laborious walk of twenty steps all gone, replaced by pure pride and joy.

Chang Wu gave his sister a nod from the other side, the corner of his lips rising ever so slightly.

Soon, other disciples who had already experienced the river of rites stepped forward. Numerous disciples grunted their way through, one at a time. However, the river wasn't kind. Even those who had passed before found themselves rooted in the middle, as others who had failed before passed through with relative ease.

After watching the tournament yesterday, Wang Yang knew the cultivation level of everyone. Those with a higher cultivation level are unable to take more than 5 steps, while those weaker easily pass through, even if they are lanky. So, what was the basis for this test?

He's on the right track, that's a relief. Watching his disciple from the other side of the creek, Muchen nodded along. The special training in the Cave of Eons is usually a one-on-one lesson with the souls of the ancestors, and they use the river of rites to check the disciple's condition and personality. If an ancestor is interested in passing on his techniques, he will allow the disciple to cross the river after checking their compatibility.

Muchen himself wasn't able to cross the river of rites even once. However, things were different for his disciples.

Sun Lingling and Wang Yang stepped into the creek one after the other. Each of their step lighter than the last one. They passed by the disciples who had struggled to move for minutes like a cool breeze.

"Hoh. Looks like we got some serious talent this time." Fei Chao grinned, poking at Muchen's ribs.

"Looks like a lot of ancestors are interested in meeting them." A flash of jealousy crossed Gen's face, but he tried to show benevolence.

"It's been five decades since Long Shi from Frozen Flower Holyland achieved this result; before that was Senior Zhao Jun, nine decades ago." Qian Hei laughed bitterly. "To think we would have two such talents at the same time."

"Azure Sky Sect has truly been blessed this time." Hua Bo smiled.

The elder's murmurs soon spread among the 40 disciples who passed. The speed at which the two had crossed the creek astonished them, but it made them wary. Especially the disciples from other sects.

Out of the four newcomers, only Zhang Jun barely failed. Lei Feng made it to the other side in a normal manner. And, two made such a showy entrance. Chen Liang smiled and turned to face the elders. Things will get truly interesting when the word about them spreads. You've designed this play well, Peak Master Li.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Well, you kids are lucky. If someone else was overseeing this, you'd get a sermon about an hour long, but I am not like that." Fei Chao grinned and gestured at the formation behind him. "Just go stand in there, you'll figure the rest out."

Thrilled about no long speech, the disciples walked past the proud Fei Chao and other elders who sported wry smiles. As instructed, they stood in the formation and waited with bated breath.

"Here you go, young ones, it's time to meet your ancestors. Don't be like me and be respectful to them, ya hear?" Fei Chao smirked and operated his mark to activate the formation.

The thick lines of the formation drew in waves of Qi from the ground and gave rise to a hazy air around the disciples. A white smoke spilled out of the lamp's lip. The smoke, heavy and sweet, filled the space around the formation, and a barrier prevented it from spilling out.

I feel… sleepy. Wang Yang's eyebrow grew heavier with each moment. He was the first to fall asleep, his body held upright by the smoke that felt like goose feathers on his skin.

Other disciples started to drift into sleep one after another. Outside, Fei Chao yawned. He operated his mark and wanted to check on the disciples. But creases formed on his otherwise lazy forehead.

"What happened?" Gen noticed the frown.

Fei Chao did not answer, but his eyes turned grave.

"Did you seriously make a mistake?" Agitated, Gen flew in a rage.

"Someone shut this monk up before I stuff his rosaries down his throat." Fei Chao snapped.

"You… Fei Chao, just tell me what happened!" Anger blazed in Gen's eyes, but fear flickered behind them.

"Calm down, Senior Gen." Qian Hei stepped forward to guide away the already hyperventilating Gen. "All Senior Fei had to do was activate the formation; there is no room for error there."

Taking the opportunity, Li Muchen stepped closer to Fei Chao.

"What happened?" He asked the now-sweating Fei Chao.

"The disciples have been pulled into the lamp," he said. "Only their minds were supposed to be transferred inside, but their entire body was pulled in."

"How did that happen?!" Gen roared.

"I am trying to figure that out. So, zip it, baldy!" Fei Chao growled.

No matter what he did, he couldn't access the formation any longer. He couldn't stop it, nor could he pull the disciples back. He couldn't find any information related to such a malfunction in the manual he memorized, either.

Why is this happening while I am in charge? Fei Chao groaned.

"Senior Gen, wait!" Qian Hei's urgent cry cut through the cave.

Fei Chao turned and saw Gen rushing. His palms flaming with golden qi. Each step shook the cavern floor. Gen thrust his right palm forward.

"Aloka!" A palm larger than Gen bulldozed through the air. It struck the barrier surrounding the formation and sent ripples across it. Drops of water and jagged rocks rained with luminescent dust.

However, the formation stayed undeterred. The ripples gathered back into the point of impact and shattered the golden palm into a sparkling mist. Gen fell to his knees, blood dripping from his trembling lips.

"Have you gone insane?" Fei Chao, who barely dodged the strike, almost slapped the shiny head before him.

"We have to stop this formation. If something happened to her…" Gen collapsed from the recoil that the barrier reflected onto him.

Even someone bitchy as him gets worked up over his disciple. Fei Chao rubbed his tired eyes in relief after noting that the damage to Gen wasn't too fatal.

But before the representatives could unpack this mess, their passes started to glow red.

"This is just bloody perfect." Fei cursed under his breath.

The red glow only meant one thing, and it wasn't good. But when he saw the information and visual feed sent by the Qingliu Mountain's defense formation, he couldn't help but curse out loud.

"Five thousand demonic cultivators… is there a banquet here I wasn't told about?" Fei Chao looked at the unhurried expressions of his fellow cultivators. In particular, Li Muchen and Shi Shun.

"I'll handle the demonic cultivators outside." Words of frost appeared beside Shi Shun as she rushed out of the Cave of Eons.

"I'll help too." Qian Hei followed and contacted all the elders on standby to secure the perimeter around the entrance to Qingliu Mountains and Cave of Eons.

"Maybe I should also go help; there are too many enemies in the Golden Core Realm for them." Hua Bo examined the footage shown through his pass, a sense of urgency in his voice. "It looks like they are performing a summoning ritual. This might get dangerous for them."

He planned to keep his façade up a little longer, but cold sweat ran down his neck now. All that because of one person.

"You don't have to worry about them. We have something else to settle here." Muchen said, a light smile tugging at his lips.

"Muchen, I think Hua Bo is right. Qian Hei is one thing, but Shi Shun isn't good in a frontal fight; she won't have time to use her formations in front of a swarm like that." Fei Chao wanted to run out and help when he saw Shi Shun staring down the numerous demonic cultivators, but he couldn't do that right now.

"I'd agree with you if she was Shi Shun." Muchen shrugged, pointing at the image from the pass.

It didn't even take an instant. The small army of demonic cultivators that moved like a swarm of animals came to a halt. Their previous charge faltered under the shadow of the enormous ice wall that surrounded the Qingliu Mountains. The deep blue wall stared down at the enemies, sending a chill down their spines.

"That…" Fei Chao almost laughed.

On the eastern continent, only two people could use ice arts of that scale and purity. And only one of them ever left the Frozen Flower Holyland.

The Ruler of Frost made the army of demonic cultivators look insignificant. However, her presence wasn't a coincidence.

"Now that we have that end tied up, shouldn't we work out this one?" Li Muchen, now with a full smile, looked at Hua Bo.

No way… Bo'er… did you? Watching the stunned Han Bo, Huang Bai, still in her disguise, clenched her hands.

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