However, the outer elders weren’t doomed to remain in the outer hall for their entire life. They did have a chance to enter the North Tortoise Hall, and there were two ways to go around it.

  One, their cultivation reached the required level and they won the favor of the North Tortoise Hall.

  Two, successfully finding an outstanding disciple whose talent reached a certain level and was willing to acknowledge the elder as his master.

  However, as these outer elders were the lowest in the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect in terms of standing and strength, even if their disciples did clear the test and were willing to acknowledge them as master, they could only get into the North Tortoise Hall. No other hall was willing to accept them.

  On top of that, disciples who cleared the test were given an opportunity to join the other halls too. Typically speaking, disciples who induced white light were only able to enter the North Tortoise Hall, and those who induced grey light could possibly be brought into the West Tiger Hall or South Vermilion Hall.

  As for those who managed to induce blue light like Hua Xu, there was a chance that they could be accepted by the strongest East Dragon Hall.

  If Hua Xu chose to acknowledge Elder Qian as his master, he would only be able to enter the weakest North Tortoise Hall together with him. However, if he chose otherwise, he could possibly enter the West Tiger Hall, South Vermilion Hall, or even the East Dragon Hall.

  Given so, there was no way Hua Xu would be willing to come under Elder Qian’s wing.

  “I see. Elder Qian sure has thought things through beforehand. It’s just a pity that Hua Xu knew about the state of affairs in the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect in advance,” Chu Feng mocked Elder Qian under his breath.

  While Hua Xu did break his promise, it was clear to see that Elder Qian was not a good person either. He was hoping to take advantage of Hua Xu’s ignorance of the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect to take him in as his disciple. If so, even though Hua Xu would suffer, he would be allowed to enter the North Tortoise Hall and obtain more benefits as Hua Xu grew.

  It was just a pity that Hua Xu didn’t fall for his ploy.

  “Actually, even if Hua Xu doesn’t know of the four halls, the elders of the North Tortoise Hall would have still told him about it. In the end, there was no way Elder Qian could have deceived him. Hua Xu chose to mention the fact that he knew of the four halls in advance in order to let people know that he had a backing inside the clan,” Elder Duan said.

  “I see.”


  Chu Feng finally understood why the other outer elders were surprised when they heard that Hua Xu was going to acknowledge Elder Qian as his master.

  In any case, it would appear that it was impossible to make a disciple acknowledge an elder as his master through unfair means, which made it incredibly hard for outer elders to rise through the ranks.

  “Elder Duan, if my cultivation grows, is there a chance that I might be able to move to other halls?” Chu Feng asked out of curiosity.

  Chu Feng felt that a disciple of the level of Zi Ling couldn’t possibly be limited to the North Tortoise Hall. However, Chu Feng’s performance today would only be sufficient for him to get into the North Tortoise Hall.

  If he had a chance to choose once more in the future, he would definitely choose to join the same hall as Zi Ling.

  “Be it the elders or the disciples, once they have chosen a hall, they won’t be able to change their decision anymore. Back then, when the founder established the four halls, his purpose was to encourage competition and spur rivalry so that our sect members would be motivated to work harder. Strictly speaking, the four halls are supposed to be of equal standing.

  “It’s just that there’s a huge difference in the prowess of the disciples of the four halls, resulting in a change in their perceived standing,” Duan Liufeng explained.

  “I understand.”


  While Chu Feng found it regrettable, there was nothing he could do about it. After all, the result of his test was unsatisfactory due to the effects of Hidden Dragon Soul Armor, thus he lost his right to choose.

  “Chu Feng, even though the North Tortoise is inferior to the other three halls at the moment, that’s only due to the relatively weaker cultivation of the elders and disciples. The methods of cultivation in the four halls are actually mostly the same, so no matter where you go, as long as you’re willing to work hard, you’ll definitely be able to grow quickly.

  “So, you have to make sure to work hard and don’t slack off. No matter what happens, you mustn’t be expelled to the outer hall, or else your future will be ruined. The Hidden Dragon Martial Sect is extremely strict, so you won’t be able to leave even if you’re expelled to the outer hall. Even if a day comes where you grew tired of the sect and wish to leave, you won’t be able to do so,” Elder Duan warned.

  From his words, it would appear that the outer hall was a place that no one should step into. Those who came here ended up in miserable plights.

  “But don’t outer elders head out to bring in new disciples? Since they are able to recruit new people, wouldn’t that mean that they are able to leave the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect as they pleased?” Chu Feng asked out of curiosity.

  “It isn’t as simple as that,” Duan Liufeng replied with a bitter smile.

  As it turned out, the outer elders weren’t free to leave the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect to tour around the place in search of disciples. Instead, they held the selection within the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect itself.

  The Hidden Dragon Martial Sect’s outer hall had an extraordinarily powerful formation known as the Hidden Dragon Heaven Formation. It gathered information on the juniors in the Holy Light Galaxy, but the information was extremely complicated. It detailed the cultivation, talent, and experiences of the juniors, but it didn’t indicate any names or backgrounds at all.

  The outer elders had to enter the Hidden Dragon Heaven Formation, and based on the information gathered, they would try to discern which juniors had the potential to clear the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect’s test.

  Once they made their choice, the Hidden Dragon Heaven Formation would teleport the junior to the elder’s side.

  Of course, the elders had to pay a price in order to make a selection, and the price varied depending on the junior. This was also why some outer elders brought a lot of juniors over to have their talent tested whereas some only brought one.

  Different juniors had different prices labeled to them.

  The price came in the form of an object known as the Hidden Dragon Crystal. It was the currency used within the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect, and there were many facilities that required the payment of the Hidden Dragon Crystal.

  Outer elders would usually take the Hidden Dragon Crystals they received from their stipends into the Hidden Dragon Heaven Formation to choose disciples. If they chose correctly, even if the junior didn’t acknowledge them as their master, they would still be able to receive some rewards.

  The person who was responsible for testing the juniors would inform them about the existence of the four halls, and the elders could only officially take in disciples after the test had been conducted.

  As such, it was extremely hard for outer elders to dupe new disciples into coming under their wing.