Immortal

4. The Trialists

As the cold wind howled, and snow began to fall heavily, people continued to climb the dragon mountain, staring at the high platform on the top of the mountain.

Sitting on the high platform were four grand masters who had solemn expressions on their faces, two men and two women. They were the leaders of the four hidden sects.

Among them, was a tall and heavily built man, with a long sword hanging from his waist, a wide black hat on his head, and a standard robe armor of the Immortal Sword Sect. His eyes were sharp and cold, and no one dared to look him in the face. He stood at the edge of the high platform, and the martial arts masters who came to the mountain fell silent after seeing his eyes.

Another man was wearing a fiery red mage robe with a blazing flame embroidered on it, which came from the Divine Fire.  At a glance, it seemed as if an overwhelming heat wave was radiating from his face.

Among the two women, one was tall and slender with a veil covering her face. She wore a magical leather armor and carried a shimmering longbow on her back. Obviously, she was from the Heavenly Palace Sect.

The other woman was the youngest. She looked only twelve or thirteen years old, and had two pigtails on her head. With her dark armor, she appeared petite and exquisite, but her pretty face was stiff and expressionless. She carried a huge blood sickle on her back, meaning she was from the Nether God Sect, also known as Hades Temple, which was feared in close combat.

Among the martial arts masters who came to participate in the trial, there were lone warriors as well as overlords who were famous all over the world.

In the past, they could act as they wanted, but in front of these four grandmasters who came out of the hidden immortal sects, they did not dare to be presumptuous in the slightest and lined up to enroll their names.

"Yang Yu, a disciple of the Divine Spear School, first-level innate warrior, seventy-seven years old." He Jin the Sacredflame, the grandmaster of the Divine Fire Sect, sat on the high platform and continued to read out with an expressionless face. "Gu Chen from the Shadowless School, second level innate warrior, one hundred and twenty-three years old."

The grandmasters of the four hidden sects divided the work and cooperated with one another.

Han Zhong the Hallowblade, the grandmaster of the Immortal Sword Sect, was responsible for maintaining order on the scene. 

Han Su, the Dawnweaver, the female grandmaster of the Heavenly Palace, was responsible for verifying the power level of those who signed up for the trial. She held a crystal ball in her hand, and the trial participants pressed their hands on it, and their power level would be quickly revealed in public without any deception. 

Wu Ma the Deathkeeper, the grandmaster of the Hades Temple, was responsible for writing and registering the qualified trial participants.

"Next participant to the stage!" The voice of He Jin, the grandmaster of the Divine Fire Pavilion, sounded loudly, and Leng Dacheng, one of the two twinswords of the Emerald Sea, walked onto the platform. After announcing his name and origin, he just pressed his hands on it, and the crystal ball flashed white light.

"Leng Dacheng is the eldest disciple of the master of the Green Phantom Island in the Emerald Sea. He is a first-level innate warrior and twenty-eight years old." He Jin's voice sounded, his voice was cold and his face was expressionless.

Below the stage, the crowd hailed in surprise.

This was the youngest trialist so far. He had broken through to the innate realm at the age of twenty eight. His future was limitless. Even if he couldn't join the four hidden immortal sects as he wished, he would probably be one of the best masters in the world in time. 

Leng Gao, the Frostbane, the owner of the Green Phantom Island in the Emerald Sea, was both good and evil. He was known as one of the five peerless masters of the Kingdom. His disciples were also very powerful.

Lin Feng stood at the back of the crowd and glanced at Leng Dacheng from afar, whom he had met once on the road. His face was as calm as an old monk in meditation.

"Thank you, my lords!" Leng Dacheng saluted respectfully to the grandmasters of the four great sects, then turned around and bowed to the martial arts masters from around the world before stepping down from the high platform, and was quickly greeted with applause. He was extremely skilled and polite, and even more rare was his young age. 

Such masters were really rare in the human world today.

Then, a graceful figure leaped up. Leng Ming, who together with Leng Dacheng was known as the Twin Swords of the Emerald Sea, came to the high platform. Unlike her polite, calm and steady senior brother Leng Dacheng, she acted in a hurry. Before people could see her face clearly, she reached out and pressed on the crystal ball. Suddenly, white light flashed.

"Disciple of the master of the Green Phantom Island in the Emerald Sea, Leng Ming, first-level innate warrior, twenty...three years old."

He Jin paused for a moment, and while making his announcement he took another look at the graceful Leng Ming.

"Wow!" Everyone below the stage exclaimed in amazement and their eyes lit up.

Leng Dacheng was already impressive, but surprisingly, Leng Ming was even more amazing, and she was only twenty three years old.

The people present were amazed. Someone with wide connections quickly found out from Zhang Tang that Leng Ming was the daughter of Gandor. They were even more shocked.

With her stunning appearance, impressive power level, and extraordinary status, Leng Ming suddenly attracted everyone's attention.

"Leng Ming..." Lin Feng murmured to himself, thinking of the pair of deerskin boots thrown in front of him in the snowstorm. The wind was howling and the weather was cold, but his heart was warm. A smile appeared on his face, which had always been calm and composed. He looked at the graceful Leng Ming a few more times and stored her name in his memory.

Martial arts masters walked onto the stage one by one, but no one appeared as eye-catching as Leng Ming. Most of the masters who could break through to the innate realm were already quite old. Even if their level was a little higher, their potential was always limited when they were old. 

It was not until the appearance of the next person that people's interests were piqued again.