She then looked at the remaining five, her eyes scanning each one carefully. Her gaze landed on Dante, and her expression brightened instantly.

"What a perfect body," she whispered as she reached out toward him. "Although his mid-level talent could use some work, his body is perfect for my body cultivation methods."

She picked him up with ease, despite his massive frame.

Li Baiyuan walked up and examined Ryker. "From his muscles, I can tell that he's a swordsman. He also has high-level talent." He nodded to himself. "I'll take him."

He lifted Ryker and draped him over his shoulder.

Jiang Qing stepped toward Maya, her eyes glowing faintly as she assessed the unconscious girl. "She has the largest qi pool and highest talent, but the weakest physical body." A smile crossed her face. "She's perfect for my sect's methods."

She picked up Maya gently, cradling her in her arms.

"Then I guess I'll pick her," Chen Feng said, walking over to Selene. He studied her for a moment. "She seems to have good physical strength and talent."

He lifted Selene with ease.

"Then I guess there's just one left," the Moonlight Maiden said, walking up toward Cipher. She looked down at him with a carefully neutral expression. "Although he has the lowest talent here, I suppose I'll take him."

She bent down and picked him up.

Internally, she was pleased. Her plan had worked perfectly.

She had shown little interest throughout the selection process, letting the others choose freely and leaving Cipher for last. While it appeared as though he had the lowest talent here - not even worth considering - she wasn't so easily fooled.

She could sense that he had a spiritual body.

And even more impressive, she could sense his brain activity threatening to overflow, meaning he had already unlocked his spiritual sea. Unlocking the spiritual sea at such an age and with so little talent...

He was definitely special.

She needed to figure out what he really was.

Chen Feng looked around at the group, each elder now holding their chosen disciple. "Since we've all chosen, we can part ways to train our disciples."

He adjusted Selene's position on his shoulder. "We will meet again at the final battle."

The others nodded in agreement.

With that, Zhao Long was the first to move, his form blurring as he shot into the sky with Li Chen, disappearing toward the eastern mountains.

Wen Ruoyan followed, carrying Dante westward, her figure vanishing in a streak of light.

Li Baiyuan bowed slightly to the remaining elders before ascending, Ryker in tow, heading north.

Jiang Qing cradled Maya carefully and flew south without a word.

Chen Feng gave a final nod to the Moonlight Maiden before rising into the air, Selene unconscious on his shoulder, disappearing into the clouds.

Only Sun Lihua remained.

She looked down at Cipher's face, unconscious and unaware of what had just transpired.

"Let's see what secrets you're hiding," she murmured softly.

Then she too rose into the sky and vanished.

The clearing fell silent once more, the portal bubbling quietly as if nothing had happened at all.

…

Inside Cipher's spiritual sea, he was panicking.

While his physical body had been knocked unconscious, his other split mind was still active in the spiritual sea with the Heavenly Demon. And they had just witnessed what had transpired outside thanks to the Heavenly Demon's power, using Cipher's spiritual sea to expand a tiny divine sense.

"Calm down. You're still not in danger yet," the Heavenly Demon said.

Cipher's consciousness flickered erratically, his thoughts racing in every direction.

"You can still use your system as long as you have a single consciousness active," she explained. "That means you can still access your cheats."

He calmed down a little. That's right. He could still use his cheats.

Before, when he slept, the Heavenly Demon could still use the system skills to condense demonic qi. He could fast travel out of here even with his second mind unconscious.

Still, he couldn't just teleport out of the Gate.

After all, his teammates were still inside. If he went out, he wouldn't be able to go back in again until they died and the world looped. And if that happened, there would be no bodies for him to use the Resurrection skill on.

They would be lost forever.

Dammit.

He needed to find a way out of this woman's clutches and find the others. But how was he supposed to do that?

He forced himself to calm down and think rationally.

They had talked about taking them as disciples, so at least he could conclude they weren't going to kill them. That meant he could relax a little and formulate a plan.

That was, of course, assuming they wouldn't use some demonic techniques to take over their bodies, absorb their talents, or something along those lines.

But maybe that was thinking too far.

He sighed internally.

He really had been careless this time.

…

Sun Lihua descended from the clouds, her robes trailing behind her.

Below, her sect compound came into view - elegant pavilions arranged in perfect harmony, surrounded by blooming gardens and crystal-clear streams.

She landed gracefully at the base of the main stairs, Cipher still unconscious in her arms.

Immediately, disciples turned to look at her. All of them were beautiful young women dressed in flowing white and silver robes, the colors of the Moonlight Sect. They bowed in unison as she passed.

"Greetings, Sect Master!"

"Welcome back, Sect Master!"

Sun Lihua nodded at them in acknowledgment as she ascended the stone steps, her pace unhurried and dignified.

The disciples watched her go, their eyes following her figure until she disappeared into the main hall at the top.

Once she was gone, one of the girls turned to the others, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Wasn't that... a man?" she asked.

The disciples around her exchanged uncertain glances.

"Where did the Sect Master find him?" another whispered.

"Could it be..." a third began, her eyes widening with speculation.

But before she could finish the thought, a cultivation manual smacked her on the head.

"Ah! Elder?" She stumbled back, rubbing her head.

An older woman stood behind them, her expression stern. "Go practice and stop saying weird things," she said firmly.

"Yes, Elder!" the girls said in unison, scattering off toward the training grounds.

The elder watched them go, then turned her gaze toward the main hall where the Sect Master had disappeared.

She stared for a long moment, her expression unreadable.

Then she sighed and walked away.

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