Yuti Mountain Range, a sea of people. Li Xuan, too, had arrived at this place. Coincidentally, Yueyang City was only a little over five hundred li away from the Yuti Mountain Range. Li Xuan arrived in just one day, and calculating the time, he waited in an open space for another three days.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
As the sky began to lighten on this day, the crowd was already surging, their eyes filled with excitement. Seeing this, Li Xuan felt a pang of emotion; the influence of the Body Sect was truly considerable.
Soon, with the first rays of dawn shining down, several figures appeared, treading on the air.
As the newcomers arrived, the scene fell silent. Li Xuan looked up, and a solemn expression immediately appeared in his eyes.
The seven individuals who appeared at this moment exuded an incredibly powerful aura. Li Xuan's body tensed instinctively, clearly sensing a potent threat to himself.
"I am Yang Wenlin, the Grand Elder of the Body Sect. Today, our sect is recruiting disciples, and all of you may participate. Those who pass will be considered outer disciples of our Body Sect," the elder at the forefront announced loudly, his voice instantly spreading throughout the outer area.
Li Xuan was curious upon hearing this. The Body Sect's recruitment method seemed quite straightforward. However, he suspected the actual assessment would not be easily passed. Otherwise, with hundreds of thousands, if not a million, people present, would the Body Sect truly be able to accept them all?
"The Heavenly Abyss Pool, some of you may have heard of it. Anyone who can descend five thousand meters into the Heavenly Abyss Pool and endure for three days will pass," Yang Wenlin stated.
"The Heavenly Abyss Pool..." Li Xuan frowned upon hearing this. It wasn't that he hadn't heard of the Heavenly Abyss Pool, but rather that he understood it to some extent. After all, he had spent two million high-grade spirit stones on obtaining this intelligence, and information about places like the Heavenly Abyss Pool would certainly not be scarce.
The Heavenly Abyss Pool was a unique body-tempering method of the Body Sect. It was said that most Body Sect disciples could descend to a depth of eight thousand meters for tempering. Yang Wenlin's mention of five thousand meters could be considered barely reaching the entry level.
However, Li Xuan knew that it wasn't just the water pressure; the very water of the Heavenly Abyss Pool was no ordinary substance. It was once discovered that a single drop of Heavenly Abyss Pool water could pierce through a large boulder and descend into the earth. Its gravity was unimaginable.
It could be said that such a test was by no means easy.
Indeed.
As soon as Yang Wenlin finished speaking, everyone present became solemn. Clearly, they were all aware of the existence of the Heavenly Abyss Pool. Although this disciple selection had no initial threshold, it effectively created a barrier.
Imagine, how could an ordinary mortal descend five thousand meters into the Heavenly Abyss Pool? Even some weaker spiritual masters would likely despair.
Of course, no one dared to voice any complaints about the Heavenly Abyss Pool's setup. After all, it was the Body Sect recruiting disciples; if one was dissatisfied, they could simply leave.
Although Li Xuan felt that the Body Sect's actions deviated somewhat from their initial promise of no restrictions, he could also understand it in retrospect. If anyone could participate, the Body Sect would indeed have to expend far more effort.
They could understand, and even believe, that among the weaker individuals or even mortals, there might be a few suitable for the Body Sect, but there were simply too many people. Imagine, out of hundreds or even thousands, only a handful might be suitable for the Body Sect, or possess exceptional talent, but how much effort would it take to identify them?
"This disciple selection is open to all identities. However, those who pass must join our Body Sect and can no longer claim affiliation with their previous sects or factions. Violators will be expelled from the sect! Those who enter the Heavenly Abyss Pool are deemed to have implicitly participated in the disciple selection. I must remind everyone that life and death are not considered within the Heavenly Abyss Pool."
After speaking, Yang Wenlin waved his hand, and as a mist dissipated, a vast river appeared before the crowd. Li Xuan's eyes flickered with surprise at the sight; the Heavenly Abyss Pool was actually this enormous.
Yang Wenlin surveyed the crowd and then said, "Everyone, you may begin."
As soon as Yang Wenlin's words fell, figures began to leap into the Heavenly Abyss Pool.
Soon, one after another, figures plunged in, sending splashes of water in all directions. In less than a minute, Li Xuan roughly estimated that no less than fifty thousand people had chosen to participate. Li Xuan, naturally, was not intimidated by the words "life and death are not considered," and with a movement, he also leaped in.
Upon entering the water, Li Xuan immediately felt the crushing water pressure. Even at this short depth of a hundred meters, Li Xuan realized that even spiritual masters at the Early Spirit realm would find it difficult to withstand. This indicated that the Body Sect focused on recruiting spiritual masters with a solid foundation. After all, such spiritual masters would be easier to train.
As Li Xuan continued to descend, the pressure grew stronger. Li Xuan already saw many participating spiritual masters unable to descend further, clearly unable to bear the crushing force. Of course, many more spiritual masters had already descended to a thousand meters.
Li Xuan paid no attention to this crushing pressure. With his Golden Bone realm physique, he could effectively ignore it. Soon, Li Xuan reached one thousand meters. When he felt the pressure double, Li Xuan finally understood that this was merely the beginning of the trial.
At two thousand meters, the pressure indeed doubled again. Li Xuan still hadn't activated his full defenses; the intensity of the pressure here only made his movements slightly sluggish.
At three thousand meters, Li Xuan continued to descend without hesitation.
At four thousand meters, the pressure had increased fivefold compared to when he had entered three thousand meters. Feeling this, Li Xuan still did not use his strength to resist. This was because Li Xuan discovered that the water pressure of the Heavenly Abyss Pool was an excellent method for body tempering.
Therefore, in the following time, Li Xuan did not descend rapidly. After dispersing his body's basic defenses, Li Xuan was instantly enveloped by the pool water. The terrifying pressure surged, as if trying to crush Li Xuan into pieces. However, under the squeezing of the pool water, Li Xuan's body emitted a golden light, showing signs of improvement.
Feeling this, Li Xuan grinned and continued to descend slowly.
The participants who had also descended to over four thousand meters were somewhat astonished by Li Xuan's actions. This fellow was treating this trial as his own cultivation. However, seeing Li Xuan withstand the squeezing of the Heavenly Abyss Pool water with his physical body, everyone's eyes were filled with envy.
Clearly, his physical strength had, to some extent, surpassed theirs. After all, this was a disciple selection for the Body Sect.
At the same time, Yang Wenlin and the others waiting outside the Heavenly Abyss Pool nodded.
"This time, the number of participants entering the fourth stage has exceeded previous years. And the quality of these participants this year seems to have improved considerably," a middle-aged man remarked.
"Indeed. The quality this year is much better than before," an elder chimed in.
Yang Wenlin smiled and nodded, "This way, the Body Sect can be infused with fresh blood, and they will be the future of our sect. However, I have noticed an interesting young fellow, who seems to have put a great deal of effort into his physique."
Upon hearing this, the others' minds stirred, and their divine senses immediately detected Li Xuan's presence.
"Descending to four thousand eight hundred meters solely on his physical body. This young fellow's mastery of his physique is not low," an elder said, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
Yang Wenlin nodded slightly, "Let's see if he can enter the fifth stage and successfully endure for three days."