"No, there is a way for outsiders," the middle-aged man replied. "Every gate sends out 100 tokens every year. Based on the power possessed by the clan, they give out a part of the tokens to the populace by organizing tournaments. However..."
He laughed as he continued, "It's more like their way of inviting talents into their clans by forging marriage alliances. This way, they upgrade their power through every generation. But, you can say that the stronger a clan is, the lower the number of tokens they give out. That's because they are capable of handling any outrage, confident of their power."
"The Hacka Clan gives out 50 tokens every year," he said, staring at Krune and Feifei. "Even though the competition is intense, as the two of you have climbed up the Immortal Staircase, you'll be able to snatch a spot easily."
"What about your…village?" Feifei asked. "Are you not accepting any outsiders?"
"Unfortunately, no." He shook his head. "It's because we aren't a clan. And, we have too many talents that, honestly speaking, 100 tokens are clearly insufficient. In the past, many outsiders tried to challenge us for the tokens but weren't able to defeat our contestants. After that, no one dared to challenge us anyway."
He then said, boasting a little, "There is only our village surrounding the gate and nothing else."
'Since they all have cultivation techniques suited towards them, they should be easily stronger than their peers.' Krune thought, suddenly getting an idea. "Wait, since all of them are so strong, then they would be a good influx of talents to our sect.'
Right as he thought of planning accordingly, Feifei acted first, saying, "Why don't we challenge your talents for the tokens?"
"You sure about that? You might be discouraged by it, though." The middle-aged man replied, clearly having expected something similar. "If you still wish to do so, you can challenge our candidates."
"That's great." Feifei laughed, looking at Krune, seeing his figure dance in the air to show his approval. "Then, shall we get going? We are actually pressed for time."
Soon, they arrived at the village as Feifei looked at the entrance, noticing a lack of name to the place, asking, "What's this village called?"
"There's no name. It has been left blank from the start." The middle-aged man laughed. "We are the only village in the entire immortal peak. So, people simply recognize us as the village."
The village was slightly more prosperous than the one on the ground level as they arrived at the center, stopping 50 meters before the gate. It was called a gate but was, in actuality, just a door hovering in the air. A flight of steps had been built before it to enter it.
The middle-aged man shouted at a wizened old man that was seated at the first flight of stairs that led into the gate, "Chief, we have two outsiders that wish to challenge our talents."
The village chief seemed like he lived beyond 100 years, barely having any strength left in him to walk. But, it seemed like he still wished to be in charge of the place, apparent by how he guarded the gate.
He struggled to open his eyes, gazing at Krune and Feifei for a minute before saying, "Just give them two tokens and send them in. None of us can even hope to scratch them anyway."
Even though he had just whispered, it seemed like everyone in the village could hear it as all of them flashed, surrounding Krune and Feifei. However, none of them acted out of place, simply glaring at the two, wondering why their chief had said as such.
"I want to see it for myself." A brute man walked forward, holding an oversized blade in his hands, expressing a sense of ferociousness in his being.
The village chief gazed at Feifei and asked her, "Dear, can you raise your arm a bit so that he can hit it until he understands?"
"Sure!" Feifei laughed, gently raising her left hand as she looked at the burly man. "Go ahead."
Even though he held a blade, looking like he would hack everyone in his path, the burly man first hit Feifei's outstretched hand using his fist, controlling most of his strength to do so. Unfortunately for him, it seemed like he had slammed into a mountain, for Feifei's hand didn't even budge a bit.
He then hit using most of his strength, still failing to budge her. Rather, he observed closely now, noticing that even Feifei's skin remained the same, as if it was indestructible.
"Alright, I give up," he spoke, turning around to leave. "I don't need to probe any further."
The burly man then bowed at the chief and apologized, "Sorry for doubting your words, chief."
The old man simply smiled in response.
One of the villagers arrived with two tokens, giving one each to Krune and Feifei as the village chief said, "All the best in your travels."
"Thank you," Feifei replied, suddenly asking while pointing at an empty location in the center of the village. "Can I use this place?"
"Sure." The village chief didn't say anything else, silently watching with interest, anticipating what Feifei would do next.
Feifei arrived at the place and gently touched the ground with her index finger. Immediately, a bone tree jutted out of the ground, spanning three meters in height and a meter in width. Its leaves wilted while its branches retreated into the stem that flattened itself into a tablet.
Rows upon rows of words appeared on it, containing detailed instructions. Feifei had already removed all the special properties from the bone tree, only keeping it there as a decoration as she said, "If you reach the peak and exit this place, join our sect."
"May I know what's the name of your sect?" The village chief asked in curiosity after swiftly reading through everything written on the bone tree slab.
Feifei wrapped her arms around Krune, preventing him from speaking as she said, "You'll know once you reach the peak."
"Interesting." The village chief laughed as he watched Krune and Feifei walk into the gate, disappearing from the place.
"It's time I leave this place, then." The village chief suddenly laughed as his figure morphed into a teenage boy, looking at the oldest in the village. "You'll be the chief from today onwards."
"When I reached the peak, I wasn't allowed to observe the secrets of the world, saying that I didn't have the necessary qualifications to do so." The boy grabbed a token, entering the gate as he continued to mutter to himself, "I feel that these two would be able to do so.. And I, Teng Zakutra, will witness it myself."
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