They were already one of the weakest in the area. The only people weaker than them were three people. One of them was Lai Rou who was in the iron body stage, the other was a wild looking boy who was almost the same age as them.
He was nine years old and had worn different animal skins as clothing, covered his face with dung leaving his eyes, nose and mouth as the only visible parts of his face. He had deep laceration marks all over his arms, legs, part of his torso and face. They looked like claw marks of different beasts.
As for the last person, it was a young lady about 13 years old. She looked dazed and confused. She had not made a single movement the whole time. She stood silently staring at the waterfall in a zoned-out expression. She had on a worn-out cream-colored robe and a scarf that looked to small for her, that had blue colored stars on it. She was the oddest of the bunch.
….
"I know…" Zou Yi said as he sighed.
"But we don't have a choice in this matter. If we want to make it to the top, we will need help. We already have one of the weakest cultivation bases. If we went up the mountain as is, I doubt we would make it far.
None of us is that skilled in alchemy either or herbology for that matter. If we want to make the best use of the recipes we have, then we need someone who at least knows a little bit about these things.
While the booklet has the name of the herbs we need, even their pictures. That's about it, an image and a name.
How many herbs resemble each other?
This may be the perfect way to lay a trap. Give someone enough information to reel them in and lower their guards and then entrap them," added Zou Yi which created a solemn look on Zou Liqin.
"Having little knowledge is as dangerous as lacking knowledge, infact in some regard, I think its even more dangerous. We need help. The mountain is likely to be filled with all sort of things.
We know to deal with people, but whatever lies there maybe something else," Zou Yi said as he pointed past the waterfall.
"Who do we go with?" asked Zou Liqin.
"Who would you choose?" Zou Yi asked back.
Now that they were at this point, he would do everything he could to promote Zou Liqin's sense of independence. If they got in the Order, they may get sent to different departments.
Surviving in Purple City, they became codependent on each other, but from this moment forth it may prove to be a handicap in certain areas, especially their growth, and finding their own path.
The few days he had at the Order before the test began made him reconsider a lot of things on their future, and their experience.
…
"It seems Zou Yi's soul has gotten much calmer and purer over the past few days," said Yang Qing with white colored pupils appearing in his eyes.
"Their prior experience may prove to be a blessing for them," said Xia Boqin.
They were all closely monitoring the actions of each and every participant. For those who may fail to reach their table, their actions may be able to qualify them in.
…
Zou liqin stayed silent for a brief moment as she bit her nails, cautiously sizing the people around her.
"I would go for those at the same level or stronger than us, however when it comes to those stronger than I was, I think its safer to not choose anyone above the early stages of the qi refinement realm.
We may end up as subordinates instead of partners in such a dynamic, which may put us in more dire situations," answered Zou Liqin after she had collected her thoughts together.
"I agree with your assessment completely…"
Zou Liqin lit up with pride when she heard this.
"But I think there area few exceptions we can make with those in the middle grade of qi refinement," Zou Yi added as his gaze secretly swept over a few people, one of them being the sixty year old man from before in the farmer robe and hat. He too was one of those who decided to peruse the cultivation booklet first.
"I think some are worth a try, for example the elderly man Bu Fui, or those two twins. One of them seems like the honest sort. If Lai Rou was here, I would have preferred to join up with him too even if he is weaker than us," said Zou Yi.
The two twins he mentioned were 14-year-old twins who looked dissimilar in everything but their face. They were brothers. One had short black hair, brown robes and a masculine build, while the other had a slender build, scolarly white robes and long hair tied in a bun. The masculine one had a simplistic air to him, even his grin screamed innocence and purity. It was why Zou Yi considered forming an alliance.
"I think we should make a move," said Zou Yi as he saw other participants come to the same conclusion as him.
Lots of participants started grouping up, he even saw a few of them come over to their side. While they were one of the weakest groups, their mannerisms as Zou clan scions had not left them, coupled with their new orange robes, made certain parties more open to recruiting them despite their bronze body refining realm.
Zou Yi politely declined most of those who came forward. While he didn't how to survive in a mountain, he did know how to survive in a city filled with all kinds of people. Surviving in the bottom rungs of Purple City and his interactions with the underworld of the city made him acutely aware of certain nefarious intentions, which he detected in most of the participants who came over.
While he thought it would be risky making the trip alone, he would rather do it with Zou Liqin than team up with people who would be all too quick to turn on them, among other things.
Just as he was about to approach the old man Bu Fui, an announcement suddenly echoed all over the mountain from Yang Qing.
"I forgot to mention this but the first three to make it up the mountain will be receiving merit points. For those with no idea, with merit points you can buy almost anything from the Order. It's more valuable than spirit stones.
In addition, anything you find in the mountain is yours to keep whether you qualify to join the Order or not.
All the best..."
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