.


    The Phoenix Kingdom was a vast territory of the Long Empire, located in the southern part of the continent.


    Situated in the Vermillion Phoenix Mountains, there stood the Vermillion Phoenix Sect, a millennia-old sect that rose proudly and imposingly.


    As one of the three ruling sects of the Long Empire, it was known far and wide, attracting many each year who flocked to its gates to participate in the exam to be disciples.


    At this moment, near the entrance to the outer area of the sect, there was a young man with ck hair and brown eyes lying on the ground, panting heavily.


    Around the boy, other individuals could be seen suffering the same problem. Some were still standing, walking slowly toward the entrance; others were sitting on the ground, recovering; and yet others could be seen crawling toward the end of the long staircase.


    "Haa, haa, who the hell had the idea to build the sect so high up?" said the panting boy, cursing the one who had constructed the sect so high.


    "I''ve probably done more physical activity today than in my entire life," thought the boy as he tried to stand up.


    With some effort, he finally stood up. The boy was none other than Ethan.


    He waspletely sweaty, his legs still trembling, threatening to give out at any moment, and with his energy almost entirely drained.


    It had taken him five whole hours of climbing to get here.


    He didn''t know how the sect disciples moved back and forth from this ce, but he knew he would find out soon.


    Today was the day the sect held the exam to be a disciple.


    Although Ethan was initially reluctant to join a sect and start his cultivation path, the events of thest few days had given him much to think about.


    ***


    A couple of days ago, while he was locked in his cell, waiting to be taken away by the one who had bought him, he heard a greatmotioning from the auction hall.


    He didn''t know exactly what had happened. Everything happened so quickly.


    The next thing he remembered was that he was already outside the auction building, or rather, what was left of it, standing in front of the same woman who had bought him.


    The woman''s face was no longer covered, and upon seeing her, Ethan was mesmerized for a moment.


    Her beauty surpassed even that of the models seen on TV or in magazines in his old world.


    She was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.


    He was still a bit confused by the whole situation and why someone like her was approaching him, but the next thing she asked him snapped him out of his daze.


    "Would you like to join my sect?" said the woman.


    Ethan didn''t immediately ept her offer, saying he would think about it.


    The woman, although she had bought him, didn''t seem intent on keeping him as her ve.


    In fact, after hearing his response, she nodded as if nothing had happened, saying that if he decided to join the sect, he coulde to the Vermillion Phoenix Mountains, then left.


    ***


    Having finally regained some of his strength, Ethan walked towards the entrance, where two guards stood with stoic expressions on their faces.


    Ethan approached them and asked, "Hello, can you tell me where the exam to be an outer sect disciple is being held?"


    One of the guards, hearing him, didn''t bother to answer verbally and simply raised his arm to point in a direction.


    Ethan followed the direction of his hand and saw a sign near the inner courtyard of the sect that said: "Testing Area."


    Thanking the guard, Ethan entered through the gate and reached the test site.


    Arriving, he saw other people already there, gathering in a group in front of a wooden tform.


    Ethan joined the group, looking around.


    He wasn''t sure what they were doing, but he could only assume they were waiting for the test to begin.


    As far as he knew, the test was supposed to start in the afternoon, and looking up, he could see the sun high in the sky, indicating it was almost time for the test to begin.


    For Ethan, it was the first time he was taking the test to be a disciple, so he didn''t know how the whole process worked.


    As he looked around, he noticed people of different ages. There were some like him who seemed to be almost 20 years old, as well as some younger ones that Ethan thought were around 16 or 17.


    ording to what he had heard beforeing here, there weren''t many requirements to participate in the exam.


    As long as a person was under 30 years old, they were eligible to participate; whether they passed or not depended on other factors.


    So, like everyone else, he waited, and after about 10 minutes, an elderly man finally appeared on the tform.


    The man, though elderly, walked straight andposed, as if he were in the prime of his life.


    His long white beard swayed with the wind, while his calm gaze scrutinized the crowd that had gathered for the exam.


    The old man was Cháng húzi, an elder of the sect who had been chosen to conduct the exam to be a sect disciple.


    The man had had many such experiences in the past, so he could tell at a nce if a person had talent or not.


    "It seems that even this year, we will only have a few good seedlings," he thought after quickly ncing at everyone.


    The old man was a bit disheartened by the situation. He had noticed in recent years that each year, the number of talents seemed to decline a bit.


    He wondered if this was due to natural factors or because people preferred other sects over the Phoenix Sect.


    Shaking off these thoughts, the man turned his gaze back to the crowd and said in a loud voice that one wouldn''t expect from someone his age.


    "Well, now that everyone is here, let''s start the test," he said, nodding to the guards at the entrance.


    The guards, noticing, understood what they had to do and sprang into action.


    They each took one of the two doors and began to close them.


    The few people outside, who had just managed to climb up and were catching their breath, were rmed at the sight of the entrance doors closing.


    Shocked and desperate by this turn of events, they all started running frantically toward the door.


    "What?"


    "Wait, let me in at least."


    "F*ck, my mother will surely skin me alive if I don''t get in."


    They all ran like mad, pushing each other to get into the remaining space between the doors.


    Ethan, seeing this scene, didn''t know what expression to have at that moment.


    "Thank goodness I made it in time," he said to himself as he watched those poor people running frantically toward the door, using energy they didn''t even know they had in their bodies.


    Several people managed to get in, while others were still behind, doing everything they could to move forward.


    THUD


    With a loud sound, the doors closed, leaving those outside toment and making those who had managed to get in sigh with relief.


    The old man, who didn''t seem to care about theintsing from outside, said calmly.


    "Good, now, the test officially begins."


    ------------------


    FRANK_LEE_JUNIOR: well, as usual, don''t hesitate to leavements/criticisms/ERRORS on the novel.