The villagers of Leigang Village began climbing the celestial ladder of the Xuanmen sect.
The sect's gate was located at the summit of its lowest peak. This celestial ladder was the path leading to the Xuanmen gate. The vertical height of this peak reached six hundred meters, measured from its base to its summit, distinct from its altitude above sea level. The highest peak, in contrast, stood at a vertical height of two thousand meters.
This meant that ordinary people, without any tools, would be unable to ascend such a two-thousand-meter vertical mountain.
Several buildings were situated beside the gate on the lowest peak. Within these structures, two individuals from the Dragon Country, who had already reached the Qi Refining stage, observed the monitors in a room.
“Someone’s coming. They’re the first group to arrive.”
“Who could they be?”
“Who else but the people from Leigang Village.”
“Oh, it’s the Leigang Village people. They’re only a hundred kilometers away. And they’ve taken three days?”
“What else could it be? The villagers of Leigang are ordinary people. Reaching us after a hundred kilometers of primeval forest would be difficult. Three days is quite fast.”
“…”
Several cameras were mounted on both sides of the steel pipe ladder. These cameras transmitted the footage from the steel pipes.
The villagers of Leigang Village were climbing the steel pipe ladder step by step, ascending upwards.
Besides the villagers of Leigang Village, other individuals were also making their way towards the Xuanmen sect to participate in the disciple assessment.
In the forest below the Xuanmen sect’s mountain, many people were entering the woods, heading towards the sect’s location.
As it required traversing over a hundred kilometers of forest to reach the Xuanmen sect’s stronghold, many people traveled in groups. Only a few ventured alone.
On the fringes of this forest, an evil cultivator was pursuing a young man.
The young man had also reached the Qi Refining stage; otherwise, if he were an ordinary person, he would have already been killed by the evil cultivator.
“You cannot escape. Die obediently for me!”
The young man fled while observing the surrounding terrain.
“Die!” the evil cultivator shouted, and a demonic artifact in his hand shot towards Su Han.
The young man leaped, evading the demonic artifact, and then charged into the forest.
There were bushes along the edge of the forest, and after rushing in, the young man disappeared from sight.
Although unseen, the evil cultivator could still sense the young man's aura.
“Run! Do you think you can escape my pursuit?”
The young man’s only option was to keep fleeing deeper into the forest.
The young man ran continuously, using the surrounding trees for cover.
He could only keep fleeing deeper into the forest.
The young man was originally the son of a wealthy family, living a life of comfort. However, due to a battle between cultivators, his family was destroyed, and he was forced to wander.
By chance, he entered a cave. Within this cave, the young man found the scripture titled "Qi Refining True Explanation."
After obtaining the "Qi Refining True Explanation," and having learned to read, the young man began cultivating according to its instructions.
After a period of cultivation, the young man successfully entered the early stage of the Qi Refining realm.
The young man continued to run through the forest, with the evil cultivator in pursuit.
Unknowingly, this chase had penetrated over twenty kilometers deep into the forest.
However, this was his limit. The young man’s spiritual energy and physical strength were exhausted, and he could no longer run. He collapsed onto the ground.
The evil cultivator had also consumed a significant amount of spiritual energy.
“Run, you can’t run now. Then die! Hahaha!”
The evil cultivator produced a knife-shaped artifact and approached steadily.
If the evil cultivator’s knife-like artifact struck the young man, it would undoubtedly kill him.
The evil cultivator raised the knife and slashed down at the young man.
The young man closed his eyes in despair, thinking, *Must I die here like this?*
Just as the knife was about to strike the young man, a laser beam shot out, deflecting the evil cultivator’s attack to the side.
The evil cultivator leaped aside, alert and scanning his surroundings, shouting, “Who? Who is it? Who blocked my attack?”
The evil cultivator looked left and right, trying to identify who had attacked him. However, he could not find anyone and did not sense any other spiritual energy.
At this moment, the evil cultivator saw several black dots rapidly flying towards them from the sky.
As the black dots approached, the evil cultivator clearly saw that they were objects with wings, but these wings allowed for flight without needing to soar.
“Artifacts? Which fellow Daoist’s artifacts are these?”
The evil cultivator looked around, trying to find which cultivator had unleashed these artifacts.
A voice broadcast from a drone.
“Leave the young man alone!”
The evil cultivator looked at the drone flying overhead and suddenly recalled legends circulating in the world of demonic cultivators.
“Could this be the Xuanmen sect’s mechanical bird?”
The evil cultivator immediately remembered the widespread sale of mechanical vehicles among cultivators. What scared him even more was how the Xuanmen sect had routed the Bloodthirsty Sect so thoroughly that they even abandoned their base.
The evil cultivator’s strength was merely at the peak of ordinary Qi Refining. His intention to kill the young man was only to absorb his vitality.
Now, facing the Xuanmen sect, this evil cultivator knew he was no match.
The evil cultivator quickly said, “I am leaving now. I am leaving now.”
The evil cultivator rapidly retreated.
After a few steps, another laser beam descended, preventing the evil cultivator from continuing his escape.
The evil cultivator quickly said, “Fellow Daoist, is there anything else?”
Then, another drone emerged.
A loudspeaker on this drone broadcasted, “We told you to leave the young man alone, not to leave yourself. Your recent actions have already identified you as an evil cultivator. Effective immediately, as per instructions, proceed to the Xuanmen sect and surrender yourself.”
The evil cultivator thought to himself, *Ask me to surrender myself to the Xuanmen sect? It seems the Xuanmen sect considers me a righteous cultivator. If they discover my past deeds, will I even survive! Escape!*
The evil cultivator gritted his teeth and directly unleashed his spiritual energy, fleeing into the distance.
“Haha, I won’t walk into a trap myself!”
The evil cultivator spotted an area shaded by trees and charged into it.
Watching the evil cultivator flee, the young man thought to himself, *Finally, a cultivation sect has come to uphold justice, and I’m going to let them escape just like that?*
“Bang!”
The evil cultivator was sent flying back. A person flew over.
“You evil cultivator, still trying to escape!”
This person directly threw out a rope artifact, binding the evil cultivator.
No matter how the evil cultivator struggled, he could not break free.