Chapter 3: The Seven Mysterious Gates

  The smell inside the car was obviously not good, which is no wonder that the carriage that should only hold a dozen or so people was packed with nearly thirty children. Although children's heads are much smaller than adults', it still made the car very crowded.

  Han Li cleverly shrunk his weak body into the corner of the car, secretly sizing up the other children inside.

  Children who came to take the entrance exam can be clearly divided into three categories from their clothing and appearance.

  The first type of person is a young man in brocade clothes sitting right in the middle of the carriage, surrounded by most of the other children.

  The boy's name was Wu Yan, thirteen years old, and the oldest in the carriage. He had already exceeded the age limit, but his cousin was married to a powerful figure within the Seventh Sect, so the issue of age naturally didn't become a problem. The Wu family ran a martial arts school and were quite wealthy; from a young age, he had practiced some basic fist and footwork techniques, although not particularly impressive, it would still be more than enough to deal with someone like Han Li who only had brute strength and no actual martial arts training.

  It's obvious that someone like Wu Yan who comes from a wealthy and influential family and has some martial arts skills would naturally become the "big brother" of most kids in the car.

  Another group of people are the children surrounding Wu Yan, who come from all walks of life, with some having parents who run shops, work as laborers, or make a living through craftsmanship... etc. However, they all share one common trait: they were all raised in towns and naturally learned some skills from their elders, such as observing facial expressions and acting in self-interest. As a result, these people all fawn over Wu Yan, addressing him with alternating terms of "Young Master Wu" and "Big Brother Wu". Wu Yan seems to have grown accustomed to this treatment and is quite pleased with the titles.

  The last type of people are those like Han Li, who come from remote and impoverished villages. They generally rely on the mountains for food and water, and their lives are extremely difficult. There were only five or six people in this category on the bus, and they mostly looked timid and afraid to speak loudly, watching others laugh and talk loudly while forming a stark contrast with the noisy children.

  The horse carriage set off from Qingniu Town and galloped westward, passing through several places along the way and picking up a few more children. Finally, on the evening of the fifth day, they arrived at Cai Xia Mountain, where the Seven Mysteries Sect was located.

  All the children got off the bus and were deeply fascinated by the colorful sunset scenery of Cai Xia Mountain, until Wang Hu Fa's urging voice woke everyone up to continue walking forward.

  Cai Xia Shan was originally named Luo Feng Shan. Legend has it that in ancient times, a five-colored phoenix landed on this land and transformed into the mountain. Later, as people came to realize that the mountain looked exceptionally beautiful at sunset, like a rainbow embracing it, it was renamed Cai Xia Shan. Of course, since the Seven Mysteries Sect took over the mountain, outsiders can no longer come here to freely appreciate such beauty.

  Cai Xia Mountain is the second largest mountain in Jingzhou, except for another mountain, Bai Mangshan. The mountain range covers an area of tens of miles, with more than a dozen large and small peaks, all of which are extremely steep and have been occupied by the seven Xuanmen factions. The main peak of Cai Xia Mountain, "Lu Ri Peak", is even more treacherous, not only is it extremely high and precipitous, but also there is only one path from the foot of the mountain to the top. After placing the general hall of the Seven Xuanmen here, they set up thirteen open or secret checkpoints along this steep path, making it a truly impregnable fortress.

  Han Li walked along the edge of the crowd, following the people in front of him, when suddenly the group ahead stopped and a loud, bold voice rang out.

  "Old Wang, how come you're late? You're two days later than scheduled."

  "Sorry to have kept you waiting, sir. I'm afraid I've caused you some inconvenience." Wang Hu Fa stood before the crowd, respectfully bowing to a red-faced old man, his usual arrogant demeanor replaced by a hint of charm on his face.

  "How many batches of disciples have been sent up the mountain now?"

  "It's the seventeenth batch of people."

  "En!" The host looked at Han Li and others with a majestic appearance.

  "Send them to the Qingke Institute, let them have a good rest for the night, and start selecting qualified disciples early tomorrow morning. Those who don't pass, let them leave the mountain as soon as possible, so as not to violate the rules of the mountain."

  "Yes, sir, Master Yue."

  Walking up the stone steps on the mountain, all the kids were excited, but no one dared to speak loudly. Although everyone was young, they all knew that this was where their future fate would be decided.

  Wang Huafu led the way in front, smiling and greeting people they met on the road. It was clear that he had many acquaintances inside the door and got along well with others.

  Along the way, most of the people I met were wearing green silk clothes, with either a knife at their waist or a sword on their back. Occasionally, some bare-handed individuals had bulging waists, and it was unclear what they were hiding. From their behavior and movements, it could be seen that these people were agile and skilled in martial arts.

  Han Li and others were taken to a shorter mountain peak, where there was an earthen house on the top. Han Li and others stayed here for one night. In his sleep at night, Han Li dreamed that he wore brocade clothes, held a golden sword, had unparalleled martial arts skills, and beat up the blacksmith's son in the village who had always been unbeatable, feeling very proud of himself, until the next morning when he woke up and still savored the taste.

  After getting up in the morning, Wang Hu Fa did not let everyone have breakfast, but directly took everyone to a large slope full of bamboo shoots at the foot of the mountain. There, the surname Yue's hall master and several other young people who had been seen yesterday were already waiting there.