Chapter 534

Chapter 534: This Stone Is Called Stone Mother
The young woman said: “Take out your tokens. Enter one by one according to the number shown on them. There will be people inside to guide you through the first test.”

As her voice fell, a number quietly appeared on everyone’s token.

Yu Zhao lowered her head and glanced at her own token. Her number was actually first.

She could not help looking over at Nan Gong Yin.

Nan Gong Yin seemed to have already guessed she would look at her. She lifted her own token and showed the number to Yu Zhao.

Nan Gong Yin was number thirty-eight.

Yu Zhao then looked at the tokens of the people around her and compared their cultivation levels. Very soon, she found the pattern.

The order of the tokens should be based on cultivation level, or maybe on a cultivator’s potential.

The higher the cultivation level and the better the talent, the higher the rank.

Those who were not outstanding in either ended up at the bottom.

For example, Lu Jiu Yuan and the young Buddhist cultivator from Green Lotus Temple were ranked second and third.

Feng Jiu Si and Jin Yuan were in the upper middle range, and their token numbers matched that as well.

If Nan Gong Yin had been holding the first token, it would have meant she was the Daqian Alliance’s most favored candidate.

But now, that title had fallen onto Yu Zhao’s head, pushing her straight into the center of attention.

As expected, that was exactly what happened.

When the others saw Yu Zhao’s number, their eyes changed again and again.

Their earlier indifference turned into open hostility.

The corner of Yu Zhao’s eye twitched. For a moment she could not tell if Nan Gong Yin had done this by accident or if she had set a trap for her on purpose.

[Soldiers will block whatever comes, water will cover whatever flows.]

Yu Zhao did not dwell on it. She held her token and walked straight toward the Daqian Alliance.

The eyes of all the cultivators taking part in the selection fell on her, so hot it felt like they were going to burn a thousand holes into her.

Her expression did not change. She stepped forward one step at a time and walked inside.

At the exact moment she stepped into the Daqian Alliance, an image of her appeared in the sky outside the Daqian Alliance.

Someone in the crowd raised his head excitedly and shouted: “There she is, she is out!”

Everyone looked up in excitement, and someone quickly recognized Yu Zhao.

Right after that, many faces turned strange.

This was not their first time watching the Daqian Alliance’s selection. They already knew the rules very well.

Usually, the first group of cultivators to take the test had the highest chance of passing.

Among several Void Refining cultivators, Yu Zhao, who was only at Divine Transformation Great Perfection, did not seem that impressive.

On what basis was she the first to take the test?

Did she have some special trait that outsiders did not know about?

With this guess in mind, many gazes secretly shifted toward Ancestor Sui Bian and the others, as if they wanted to read the answer from their faces.

The others did not know the truth, but Ancestor Sui Bian was different. He had seen with his own eyes when Nan Gong Yin gave the token to Yu Zhao.

He could not help slapping his thigh, thinking in his heart: [This is bad, this is really bad.]

[Yu Zhao is making far too big a splash this time! The tallest tree in the forest is the first to be blown down by the wind. She is standing out so much. Who knows how much trouble will be waiting for her later.]

Ancestor Sui Bian could only silently pray in his heart that Yu Zhao would not be affected and could smoothly pass all the tests.

At this time, Yu Zhao, who had become the focus of everyone’s attention, had already entered the Daqian Alliance. The scene in front of her eyes suddenly changed.

She looked up and saw a towering mountain right in front of her. The mountain path was narrow and rose straight into the clouds.

At the steps at the foot of the mountain stood an old man with a head full of white hair. When he saw Yu Zhao, he smiled kindly.

Yu Zhao bowed respectfully and said: “Greetings, Senior.”

The old man waved at her, asking her to come closer.

She walked over as he asked. The old man looked her up and down, then smiled and stroked his beard.

He said with a grin: “I am in charge of the first test. As long as you climb to the top of this mountain, you will have passed.”

He made it sound simple, but Yu Zhao did not dare to relax.

She was still wondering if she should ask him a few questions when the old man reached into his sleeve, searched around, and took out a round stone. He handed it to Yu Zhao.

He said: “Since you are the first one to take part in the selection, I will give you this. Before you climb this mountain, you must carry it with you. You may not throw it away, and you may not put it into your storage space. If you break any of these rules, you will be disqualified.”

Yu Zhao looked warily at the ordinary-looking stone. Her sharp instinct told her that carrying this stone would add a lot of trouble to her test.

She started to ask: “Can I not…”

The old man cut her off and said with a smiling face: “If you do not take it, it will count as you giving up on your own.”

He was still smiling, but there was now a hint of playfulness in his smile.

Yu Zhao had no choice. She reached out and picked up the stone.

The instant her palm closed around the stone, her body staggered, and she almost fell to the ground.

She quickly used her other hand to support the hand holding the stone so she could barely stand straight. Then she looked at the old man in shock.

The old man laughed out loud, like his scheme had worked. He said: “Hahaha, this stone is called the Stone Mother. It looks only as big as a fist, but in truth it has the weight of a whole mountain range. Now you can carry the Stone Mother and start climbing.”

Yu Zhao sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

No wonder, when she grabbed the Stone Mother, it felt like her arm bones were about to be crushed.

She was already having trouble just walking while carrying the Stone Mother, and she still had to climb a mountain with it?

Yu Zhao looked again at the mountain peak that seemed to have no end. She clenched her teeth, carefully and slowly moved toward the first step, and stepped onto it.

Boom.

A loud roar came from deep inside her Sea of Consciousness, and then endless pain flooded through her whole body.

The pain came so suddenly that Yu Zhao almost threw the Stone Mother away. Luckily, she held herself back at the last moment.

She stood where she was and rested for a while, then lifted her other foot.

Another sharp wave of pain rushed over her. This time, Yu Zhao was prepared, so she was not as shocked. Even so, her body still trembled slightly.

The old man waited until Yu Zhao was standing fully on the step, then slowly explained: “This mountain path is called the Path of All Beings. Every step holds the Dao intent of one cultivator. You need to withstand all these Dao intents to pass this test.”

Yu Zhao could not help closing her eyes for a moment.

[If he had said that just a moment earlier, I would not have been caught off guard.]

The old man only laughed even louder.

He was, of course, doing it on purpose.

Every selection was his time to look for fun.

Since Yu Zhao was the first examinee, he naturally had to give her some extra “care.”

But his smile did not last long before it froze on his face.

After resting for a brief moment, Yu Zhao started moving again. She walked forward without stopping, rushing up thirty or forty steps in one breath. She did not look tired at all and was still climbing.

The old man’s expression changed greatly as he muttered: “What… what is going on here!”

How could she suddenly move like she was light as a swallow?

This was the Path of All Beings, and she was still holding the Stone Mother in her hand. Could it be that the way she struggled just now had only been an act?

While the old man was still puzzled, the second candidate reached the foot of the mountain.

He was Lu Jiu Yuan, number two.

Lu Jiu Yuan bowed respectfully and said: “Senior.”

He felt very puzzled.

[Why does this Senior’s expression look so strange?]

[Right, where is Yu Zhao?]