Open up and break into another world

The Flying Cloud Martial Pavilion's new recruit assessment began with candidates at the sixth level of External Refinement.

The area beneath the candidates' feet had long been set up with an assessment formation by generations of Flying Cloud Martial Pavilion experts; with a press of the talisman in Wu Gaofeng's hand, the grand formation was immediately activated.

Boom!

A nine-story pagoda, swirling with dense formation runes, appeared out of nowhere, enveloping all the candidates in the sixth level of External Refinement area.

Many low-level martial artists had never seen such a mystical formation, and the scene was immediately filled with exclamations of surprise.

Those seasoned individuals who understood the Flying Cloud Martial Pavilion's assessment formation then began to explain to those around them with an air of superiority: "What do you know? The Flying Cloud Martial Pavilion has a total of twelve such formation pagodas!"

"Twelve?" The unknowing martial artists were all astonished.

"There are three at the main gate. You've already seen one, and there are two more, located in the areas where the fourth and fifth level External Refinement candidates are! The other nine are scattered around the periphery of the Flying Cloud Martial Pavilion—these formation pagodas are not just for assessment purposes, they are also the Pavilion's protective grand formation! It is said that if all twelve formation pagodas are activated at the same time, even a Xiantian expert wouldn't dare to intrude!"

"Wow, even a Xiantian expert wouldn't dare to intrude!?"

For low-level martial artists, Xiantian experts were legendary figures; after all, there were only a handful of Xiantian experts in the entire Flying Cloud Kingdom. Hearing that even Xiantian experts wouldn't dare to intrude, these martial artists began to imagine the earth-shattering scene of all twelve formation pagodas being activated simultaneously.

At this moment, Wu Gaofeng circulated his inner strength and shouted: "Candidates inside the formation, do not panic! You must have noticed that the people around you have disappeared. That is because you are all in special, independent spaces. Now, what you need to do is choose your weapons and then prove your strength!"

"A reminder, if you feel your life is in danger, admit defeat as soon as possible, otherwise you really might lose your life!"

As soon as Wu Gaofeng finished speaking, the formation pagoda underwent some changes.

Numbers indicating the number of candidates on each floor appeared on the pagoda's body. Initially, the first floor showed "8957". Soon, this number rapidly decreased, while the number on the second floor rapidly increased; as for the third floor and above, they all showed "0".

Above the pagoda, a huge projection appeared, showing the situation on the ninth floor. Of course, right now, the ninth floor was completely empty.

"It's starting!"

Countless people stared at this formation pagoda with nervous anticipation, hoping that their own people would appear on the ninth floor.

"I've heard that, according to previous years, about two to three thousand people out of these nearly nine thousand will be able to reach the top, the ninth floor. Afterward, these two to three thousand people will engage in a free-for-all, and ultimately, the Flying Cloud Martial Pavilion will select one thousand outer pavilion disciples based on their performance!" Xu Ming analyzed, "As for who is chosen, it is entirely up to the person in charge of the new recruits; but basically, the longer you last on the ninth floor, the higher your chances of being selected."

In a matter of seconds, the number on the third floor also began to fluctuate, which meant that some candidates had already broken into the third floor.

Wu Gaofeng, Lin Muqing, and the others from the Flying Cloud Martial Pavilion were also constantly monitoring the changes in the numbers.

Lin Muqing even stole a glance at Wen Shuai, who was not far away, with disdain in his eyes: "Wen Shuai? Third Prince? If it weren't for Elder Du stubbornly supporting him, how would he be qualified to compete with the First Prince? Hmph, even with Elder Du's help, it won't change anything!"

Lin Muqing, or rather the entire Lin family, was very clearly aligned with the First Prince.

"Want to take advantage of the Flying Cloud Martial Pavilion's new recruit selection to discover some talented people? What a joke! Many elders of the Flying Cloud Martial Pavilion have already shown their support for the First Prince; even if some new disciple is talented, how could it be Wen Shuai's turn?"

Lin Muqing sneered inwardly, but he didn't dare to show the slightest hint of it on the surface; because the inconspicuous old man beside Wen Shuai at this time was none other than the legendary figure of the Flying Cloud Kingdom—Elder Du Yude!

Time passed minute by minute, and the numbers on the higher floors of the pagoda increased; but at the same time, the first floor also had numbers again—this meant that some candidates felt threatened during the assessment and had admitted defeat, returning to the first floor.

As time went on, the number on the first floor increased; the candidates who returned to the first floor were not qualified to climb the pagoda again.

Suddenly, the "0" on the ninth floor flickered, and a wild and confident young figure appeared in the projection at the top of the pagoda.

"Here he comes!" Wen Shuai watched excitedly, this person being the first to reach the top of the ninth floor meant that his talent must be extraordinary.

Elder Du beside Wen Shuai narrowed his eyes, seemingly about to fall asleep at any moment: "It's good to be young, so sharp and flamboyant..."

More and more candidates reached the top of the pagoda, and more and more candidates were pushed back to the first floor after reaching the ninth floor. Some candidates were even too slow to admit defeat, or were ambushed from behind, and didn't have time to realize the danger, directly losing their lives.

"A bunch of trash!" Lin Muqing looked at the candidates on the ninth floor with disdain.

As a personal disciple who had stepped into Internal Refinement at a young age, he certainly had the right to be proud.

"Watching these cats and dogs fight is really boring!" Lin Muqing's eyes casually wandered around.

"So good at enduring, he's really an insidious and terrifying person!" A sinister smile appeared on Lin Muqing's face, "If I hadn't accidentally discovered him, he would have really sneaked into the Flying Cloud Martial Pavilion, and it would have taken me some effort to deal with him then! But... it can only be said that his luck is too bad, he was actually discovered by me! I was just wondering when to clean him up without anyone knowing, since he delivered himself to my door, then let's do it sooner rather than later!"

"Brother Wu!" Lin Muqing said in a low voice, "Would you mind arranging for my two people to go to the fourth level of External Refinement area?"

"Arrange for them to go to the fourth level of External Refinement area?" Wu Gaofeng frowned slightly, "But they are at the fifth level of External Refinement, don't they even have the strength to reach the top of the fifth level of External Refinement formation pagoda? As long as they can reach the ninth floor, I guarantee they will enter the Flying Cloud Martial Pavilion!"

"No, it's..." Lin Muqing leaned over and whispered his thoughts.

"Oh... I understand, I understand!" Wu Gaofeng smiled, "I'll arrange it now!"

"Hehe, thanks! By the way, bring my two people over first, I'll give them some instructions!"

"Okay!"

Lin Muqing looked at Xu Ming with a gloomy gaze: "Kid, you better pray you don't reach the ninth floor, otherwise, don't even think about getting out alive!"

At this moment, Xu Ming seemed to sense something and looked towards Lin Muqing's direction. The two's gazes met in the distance.