Saint Emperor Devourer of Heaven

The next day, early in the morning.

Su Lan arrived at Jun Wu Xie's small courtyard.

Jun Wu Xie, holding Little Yue Yao's hand, came out and couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise when he saw her.

“I’m going with you to the Great River Sword Sect, and I’ll also take a look at their assessment this year and join in the fun.”

She smiled charmingly, walked forward, squatted down, and opened her arms: “Yue Yao, come, shall I give you a hug?”

Yue Yao looked up at Jun Wu Xie, as if seeking his opinion. Seeing him nod, she threw herself into Su Lan's arms.

Walking out of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, Qin Ke Qing stood at the entrance, seemingly having waited for some time.

Jun Wu Xie was slightly surprised and said: “Miss Qin, are you also going to the Great River Sword Sect to join in the fun?”

“No.” Qin Ke Qing teased with a smile: “I’m going to see how you display your great power in the assessment.”

Jun Wu Xie shook his head with a smile.

… …

The Great River Sword Sect is just outside the capital city, very close to the city, only a few dozen miles away.

There is a mountain there with abundant spiritual energy, and at the foot of the mountain is a rushing river, a tributary of the Cloud River.

The Great River Sword Sect is built on that mountain.

Looking from afar, the palaces stand tall and majestic, and faintly, it seems that sword energy rushes into the sky.

Crossing the river and approaching the foot of the Great River Sword Sect Mountain, many pedestrians can be seen along the way, all rushing towards the Great River Sword Sect, making it very lively along the way.

Not all of these people are going to participate in the assessment.

In fact, only a few hundred people are participating in the assessment. The vast majority of people are just going to watch the excitement.

After all, it is the number one sect within the Great Zhou Dynasty recruiting disciples, so it naturally attracts attention.

Ahead is a canyon, which is the only way to the Great River Sword Sect.

The canyon is not wide and slopes upwards, reaching halfway up the mountain.

Jun Wu Xie looked up and glanced at it, then followed the crowd forward.

After entering the canyon, an indescribable feeling suddenly surged into his heart.

This canyon seemed to faintly reveal a strange and tragic aura.

Continuing forward, not far ahead, the road gradually narrowed, and a sloping mountain path appeared ahead. Above was a slit of sky, and the light was somewhat dim.

Many stone pillars were built on both sides of the mountain road, one every three meters.

Lanterns hung on the stone pillars, with eternal lamps lit inside, emitting a faint light.

The moment he saw those lanterns, Jun Wu Xie's pupils suddenly contracted.

They were actually human skin lanterns!

No! It should be said that they were human head lanterns!

Those lanterns were made by shattering the skull of a human head, taking it out, completely preserving the facial features, and then lighting a fire inside.

The facial features of the lanterns were somewhat distorted and hideous, and congealed blood was under the hollow eye sockets and eyelids.

“Feeling a little uncomfortable, right?” Qin Ke Qing said softly beside him: “The cultivation world has never been a pure land, but rather very cruel.”

“Who are they? Why would the Great River Sword Sect make their heads into lanterns?”

Jun Wu Xie really felt a little uncomfortable. Although he was also very ruthless towards his enemies, this method was too insane.

At the same time, he noticed that the other people going to the Great River Sword Sect did not seem surprised by these human head lanterns, as if they were already used to seeing them.

“They are the disciples of the Sect King Academy from past generations.” Qin Ke Qing shook her head and sighed, saying: “The Great River Sword Sect and the Sect King Academy have been fighting for a long time. Every year, they will select disciples to duel. The Sect King Academy has almost never won in recent years. The defeated disciples are all here, in these lanterns you see.”

Jun Wu Xie was speechless and silent.

The fight between the two sects was too cruel.

The disciples of the Sect King Academy were made into human head lanterns after their death, which was really sad.

“Let's go.”

He sighed and walked up the mountain road, passing through the slit of sky, and the view became wider and the terrain became flat.

This was close to halfway up the mountain, a flat area on the mountainside.

At the end of the flat ground, a huge sword-shaped stone tablet stood tall, with four iron-hooked silver-painted characters engraved on it—Great River Sword Sect!

Each stroke of these four characters seemed to be intertwined with sword energy. At a glance, they looked like four treasured swords about to leave the tablet, sharp and compelling.

At the top of the sword tablet, a female corpse was nailed there. It was unknown how long she had been dead, and the blood on her body had turned black.

The female corpse had disheveled hair. Her feet, hands, and neck were all nailed. Her eyes were wide open, and blood flowed from her eyes to her face, congealing there, very miserable.

“That was the former vice sect master of the Great River Sword Sect. Because she fell in love with the former sect master of the Sect King Academy and gave birth to a daughter for him, she was given the death penalty by the sect and hung on the sect's sword tablet. It has been twenty years now.”

Jun Wu Xie withdrew his gaze.

He finally understood the words that Ji Yinlan had said to him some time ago.

Some things can only be understood when you get here.

The Great River Sword Sect was indeed different from what he had imagined.

At this moment, the mountain gate of the Great River Sword Sect was crowded with people.

The disciples participating in the assessment stood at the front of the crowd, while those watching the excitement stood at the back, densely packed, numbering over ten thousand.

“Yue Yao, be good and wait here. If brother joins the Great River Sword Sect, he will be able to invite the sect's physician to treat your illness.”

Jun Wu Xie touched Yue Yao's face, pushed aside the crowd, and walked to the crowd of people participating in the assessment, waiting quietly.

Not long after, an old man and two middle-aged men came down from the mountain, scanned the crowd in front of the mountain gate, and said loudly: “Today is the assessment day for our Great River Sword Sect to recruit disciples. The first round of assessment is very simple, which is to climb to the end of the steps in front of you, otherwise it will be considered a failure.”

Jun Wu Xie looked at it. The steps had over a hundred steps and were not very high, but it seemed that a restriction had been placed on them.

In addition to the steps in front of them, there was another set of steps about a hundred meters away.

Those steps were covered with dust, obviously no one had walked on them for many years.

Many sword tablets stood on both sides of those steps, and the steps were covered with sword dao symbols, totaling ninety-nine steps.

“Is it only these steps that can be climbed?” Someone pointed to the steps covered with sword dao symbols next to them and said: “Can we walk on those steps?”

“If any of you want to try, of course you can.” The old man said indifferently: “Those steps are called the Stairway to Heavenly Sword, built by the founding ancestor of our Great River Sword Sect, and a sword dao restriction has been placed on them. Whoever can successfully pass through them is a sword dao genius and can be directly promoted to a true disciple out of turn. However, in the past thousands of years, no one who has stepped into them has survived.”

Immediately, the person who asked the question stopped making a sound.

“What are you thinking? Still want to pass through the Stairway to Heavenly Sword? In the entire Great Zhou, perhaps only the Seventh Princess can try it among the younger generation. For others, it's just courting death!”

Someone said this.

“Stairway to Heavenly Sword?”

Jun Wu Xie watched from the crowd. The sword dao symbols on it were indeed terrifying.

Others may not be able to feel it, but he, a master in the realm of military dao, could clearly feel the terrible sharpness contained within.

At this time, the old man standing on the high platform at the end of the steps said: “Now, check your Great River Selection Order, and then gather in front of the assessment steps.”

Immediately, a group of disciples from the Great River Sword Sect came forward and began to check the Sword Sect Orders of those participating in the assessment. Those who passed the inspection were arranged to wait in front of the steps.

This process was very fast.

Among them, two people did not have the Great River Sword Sect Order and wanted to get through by deception. Their legs were broken on the spot and they were thrown out.

“Now, the first round of assessment officially begins, with a time limit of a quarter of an hour.”

With the old man's announcement, suddenly, the examinees in front of the steps rushed forward like a tide.

The moment they stepped on the steps, everyone felt their body sink down, and the weight of their body seemed to suddenly increase more than tenfold.