Chapter 28: Recruitment

  Entering a gravity room costs at least a thousand taels of silver for just three hours!

  Three hours is basically the limit. Generally, a person who can last an hour in a gravity room is considered exceptional, two hours is genius-level, and three hours is demonic.

  Ke Zhenbao Pavilion charges three hours as a basic unit for entering the gravity room, you can see how black-hearted they are!

  Shi Qingfeng is absolutely impossible to break through the Blood Refining Realm in just a few days, so if he wants to improve his combat strength, going to the Gravity Room to cultivate will be the best choice.

  He certainly wasn't desperate just because he had lost to Zhou Heng, in his eyes, Zhou Heng was just taking advantage of him off guard. Those who could be considered as opponents by him were naturally Shen Xinqi and the other two who were also at the 9th level of Body Refining!

  Rich people!

  Also a wealthy family in a small place, Shi Qingfeng can lavish thousands of dollars and practice in the weight room every day, showing that his wealth is far beyond what the Zhou family can match.

  Zhou Heng snatched a jade box from the trunk, inside which was the gallbladder of a golden crowned snake, worth around five thousand taels of silver on the market. This was no small fortune, but Zhou Heng thought for a moment and then put the jade box away again.

  Better keep it, this can cure all poisons, who knows, maybe one day it will save a life! And what is life worth compared to money?

  Knock knock knock, the door creaked open.

  Zhou Heng couldn't help but let out a sigh, feeling a bit regretful about his show-off behavior the past few days, which had resulted in him being unable to rest quietly now, with people constantly coming to visit. He walked over and opened the door, only to find that standing at the entrance was a stunning beauty with an air of elegance, her emerald green outfit perfectly accentuating her proud figure, especially her full and round chest, which seemed to captivate his very soul.

  "My name is Shen Xinqi!" The beautiful woman made a self-introduction with great poise, "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

  She is quite familiar with it.

  Zhou Heng took a step back and said: "Please!"

  She was Shen Xinqi, one of the four great geniuses, and one of the most eye-catching talents in the Nine Spirits Sect's mountain gate selection this time. Of course, within the range of Fengyucheng, there are absolutely not just these four geniuses, because the three major sects share their talents, and there must be more than a dozen talents like her.

  After Shen Xin Qi entered the house, Zhou Heng closed the door. He sensed a dangerous aura from her that made him feel threatened. He didn't think this woman was here to make friends with him like others did.

  "Miss Shen, what instructions do you have?" Zhou Heng asked, also without preparing tea or anything for the other party.

  Shen Xin Qi couldn't help but feel a little angry, not to mention her natural talent in martial arts, wherever she went, she would always get attention, and this thousand charming appearance of hers also made her invincible!

  Is this kid blind? Can't see his own devastating beauty?

  She took a deep breath, suppressing the discomfort in her heart, and said: "Brother Zhou is a straightforward person, so I won't beat around the bush either! I'd like to ask Brother Zhou to find an opportunity to pay respects to the Tianzhu Elder's lineage after entering the Jiuling Sect!"

  Heavenly Pillar Elder?

  Zhou Heng's mind was racing with thoughts, it seemed that the internal situation of Jiuling Sect was also complex and not monolithic, otherwise how could such a phenomenon of poaching people occur?

  Thinking about it, even among families with the same surname, there is a struggle for power, let alone within a sect.

  He looked at Shen Xinqi and paused for a while before saying: "Miss Shen, can you give me a detailed introduction to the situation of Jiuling Sect?"

  "Alright!" Shen Xinqi nodded, "The Jiuling Sect is naturally the largest under the Sect Master, but the Sect Master focuses on cultivation and rarely manages sect affairs. Therefore, the sect is governed by seven elders, with Tianzhu Elder being one of them. In terms of strength, he ranks second among the seven great elders!"

  Lin Fengxiang's father was also quite open-minded, how many people can view power as nothing? But he gave up his power so easily, wasn't he afraid that the people below would become too powerful and overthrow him, the head of the family?

  "Brother Zhou, the power of the Tianzhu Elder's lineage may not be comparable to that of the Three Swords Elder for now, but it is not much inferior either! And with Brother Zhou's talent, he will surely receive the Tianzhu Elder's careful cultivation and will definitely become a strong practitioner in the Spirit Gathering Realm in the future!"

  Shen Xin Qi is a good persuader, and for the vast majority of warriors, the temptation of the Gathering Spirit Realm is definitely irresistible.

  Zhou Heng didn't want to rely on "selling his soul" to gain progress in martial arts, he believed in his own abilities and was determined to break through the Lingering Spirit Realm!

  But he didn't want to directly refuse someone who was being sincere, so he said: "Let me think about it!"

  Shen Xin Qi couldn't help but reveal a disappointed expression, she had originally thought that Zhou Heng would readily agree, after all, this was a stunning beauty inviting him!

  To put it bluntly, although she thought highly of Zhou Heng's potential, it was more because of the attitude of the person in charge of the inn towards Zhou Heng. The other party was a master of the 12th layer of Lian Ti, if not for Zhou Heng having the background of Ju Ling Jing, why would they give him such face?

  Winning Zhou Heng over would be equivalent to winning over one or even several strong practitioners in the Gathering Spirit Realm, and the strength of Tian Zhu's elder lineage would inevitably surge. Her grandfather was the fourth disciple under Tian Zhu's elder, and if she achieved this great merit, her grandfather's position in Tian Zhu's heart would also greatly increase.

  "Brother Zhou, Tianzhu Elder is an existence at the peak of Jiling San Chongtian, only one step away from completing Jiling and initially opening up the Dan Tian world, becoming a stronger existence in the initial division!" Shen Xinqi continued to persuade, "If Brother Zhou performs outstandingly, he will have the qualifications to enter the Black Water Temple in the future. This is something that many people can't get even if they beg for it!"

  "Heishui Temple?" Zhou Heng couldn't help but ask another question.

  Shen Xin Qi however, with a flicker of her eye, could see that Zhou Heng's confusion was not feigned!

  Doesn't this guy even know about Black Water Temple?

  She suddenly felt suspicious, a person who didn't even know what the Black Water Temple was, could there really be a strong master from the Gathering Spirit Realm backing him?

  Maybe the person in charge of the inn has a private grudge against Shi Jia and is intentionally biased!

  Thinking of this, Zhou Heng's position in her mind suddenly plummeted. Since he was lukewarm, the proud Shen family princess naturally didn't need to humble herself and bother talking to him again. She stood up and bid farewell directly.

  Zhou Heng didn't know she had so many thoughts, and he was completely bewildered by her sudden changes in mood, feeling that this woman was inexplicably formidable.

  Seven days passed in a flash, and finally arrived at the day of the Nine Spirits Sect's Mountain Gate Grand Selection.

  On this day, the young men and women living in the inn left Fengyu City under the leadership of a middle-aged man. After leaving the city gate, the middle-aged man stopped and said: "My name is Yu Dongcheng, I am your first examiner, now let's start the first test!"

  "Follow me and run until we reach the Jiuling Sect! Anyone who arrives three minutes later than me will be considered as having failed the assessment, no need to continue!"

  After everyone looked at each other in dismay, one of them said: "Senior Yu, you are a master of the Blood Refining Realm. How can we possibly keep up with you?"

  "Don't worry about this, I guarantee you can keep up with my speed, but how long you can last depends on your endurance and willpower!" Yu Dongcheng said calmly.

  "Let's start!"

  He turned around, unfolded his figure, and strode forward with large steps. He seemed neither slow nor hurried, but each stride covered a distance of over ten meters. In the blink of an eye, he had walked more than a hundred meters away.

  The crowd of young people naturally didn't dare to waste time, and one by one they all unfolded their movements, following Yu Dongcheng as he started running. In an instant, over a hundred people formed a long, straight line.

  Yu Dongcheng wasn't lying, his speed was absolutely only at the seventh level of Body Refining, it's just that he had reached the extreme of the seventh level of Body Refining, as fast as a galloping horse.

  Refining the body to the seventh layer is a qualitative leap, and the endurance of the martial artist who reaches this realm will be greatly enhanced. Even if they run at full strength, they can only maintain it for half an hour. However, Fengyucheng is 100 miles away from the headquarters of Jiulingzong, which means they need to sprint for at least three quarters of an hour!

  Ke could only be three minutes later than Yu Dongcheng, which means they had to break their own limits!

  This is absolutely a double test of endurance and will!

  In order to conserve strength, no one spoke along the way. Everyone was making the most perfect use of every bit of true yuan force in their body, not daring to waste even a little - of course, those who had cultivated their bodies to the ninth level were an exception, their accumulation of true yuan force was far thicker, and they basically didn't have to worry.

  Zhou Heng didn't say a word, and with Fei Yun Bu, the consumption of his True Yuan was extremely small. He didn't have to worry about running out of energy at all.

  Time is fleeting rapidly, half an hour later, the cruel test begins!

  More and more people couldn't keep up with the team, one, two, three, but Yu Dongcheng's speed didn't slow down at all, maintaining its initial state, leading the team forward, and soon the people who fell behind were left far behind.

  Ten, fifteen, twenty!

  More and more people fell behind, and those who remained were not necessarily better off. One by one, they panted heavily, sweat dripping down their faces. Even Shen Xinqi and the four others at the ninth level of body refinement had some irregular breathing.

  Zhou Heng's breathing was long and steady, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, but the consumption of his true yuan power was far from being as great as it seemed.

  Fei Yun's steps unfolded, as if the heavens and earth were pushing him forward. The consumption of his true yuan energy was extremely small, so why did he feel tired? It was entirely due to physical exhaustion. This was like a warrior going without sleep for three days and nights; no matter how abundant their true yuan energy was, their body simply couldn't handle it!

  After a few more minutes, a not-so-high mountain appeared in front of us. On the top of the mountain, several flags could be vaguely seen fluttering in the wind, with the two characters "Nine Spirits" waving in the wind.

  It's almost here!

  The boys, who had originally reached their limit, suddenly seemed to have been injected with chicken blood, and their spirits were greatly lifted. Several people made a desperate dash, even surpassing Yu Dongcheng. However, the mountain was still far away, and in reality, there were still over ten miles of road ahead. Those few boys, although they had burst out for a moment, were soon overtaken by the main group and left far behind.

  At this point, more and more people reached their limit and dropped out of the large group one after another. However, they were not without hope because after Yu Dongcheng stopped, they still had three minutes left.

  Finally, Yu Dongcheng stopped at the foot of the mountain. He swept his eyes over the last five people left and when his gaze fell on Zhou Heng, he couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise.