The imperial capital is called Yaoyang City, and the history books record that Yaoyang City has a long history, but it is impossible to investigate which year it can be traced back to, but there is no history that records that the Sea Clan had an empire ten times wider than the current territory, called the Jujin Empire, and the current Yaoyang City was only the imperial palace of the Jujin Empire at that time.

Legend has it that the territory of the Jujin Empire is vast and covers millions of miles, stretching from the Devil's Mountains in the east, to the Mani Continent in the west, to the Lava Valley in the south, and to the north to contain the current Polar Ice Continent. The Jujin Empire was extremely prosperous, the country was rich and the soldiers were strong, and even the strong people in the Holy Realm were nothing, and in that era when strange beasts were rampant, the beast clans of the four realms were all subjugated. But why did the Jujin Empire, which had been strong for more than 100,000 years, suddenly disappear into history, speculation is varied, and the wild history says that the beasts refused to surrender and rose up to resist, and the Jujin Empire declined rapidly after both were defeated. Some scholars also say that the Jujin Clan angered the heavens, causing the heavens to descend and punish the gods, and the Jujin clan perished, but it is impossible to verify why the Jujin Empire angered the gods.

Most people think that both claims are nonsense, and even suspect that the Giant Gold Empire is just a legend.

Today's Yaoyang City, when the first generation of the Dragon Emperor Liu Fengmu led the other four tribes of warriors here and the Sea Clan launched a decisive victory in a battle, the first battle lasted fifteen years, tragic and abnormal, millions of imperial soldiers and the Sea Clan warrior city died under the city, and finally the Dragon Emperor personally beheaded the king of the Sea Clan under the city, resulting in the defeat of the Sea Clan, the five tribes of the warriors chased the Sea Clan to the West Sea, and finally established the Youyun Empire, the five tribes in the sacrifice of the Tiantai blood alliance, the majestic Dragon Emperor Liu Fengmu was elected as the first emperor of the empire, honored as the Emperor Shenwu, the white ape, the blue wolf, The four clans of the blue scorpion and the phoenix also govern one side of the four realms respectively because of their merits, the white ape divides the northern Selangor, the blue wolf divides the southern Shazhou, the phoenix divides the eastern Chuzhou, and the blue scorpion divides the western Luozhou, jointly defending the empire.

In the evening, the two finally came to Yaoyang City, and Su Yuan looked at the towering city wall outside the city and couldn't help but feel awe-inspiring. "Uncle Guan, this Shining Sun City is really big enough, it looks bigger than the two Snow Sleeping Cities. ”

Guan Bo laughed, "Xuemian City can't be compared with it, it was the capital when the Sea Clan ruled, and after the transformation and expansion of the Imperial Clan, it is not only the largest and most prosperous city in the empire, but also the trade center of the empire." ”

Su Yuan listened to Guan Bo's words, looked at the wide city wall in front of him, and unconsciously felt a sense of pride in his heart, and secretly made up his mind that one day he would make a name for himself here.

"It's getting late, let's hurry into the city. Guan Bo interrupted Su Yuan's thoughts.

As soon as he entered the city gate, two men dressed as attendants ran over and asked, "Are the two of you from the White Ape Su family?"

Su Yuan was still confused, and Guan Bo had already replied: "Exactly." ”

"The master has set up the banquet, please come with me. The squire led the horses and led the way.

"Childe, do you remember your second uncle?" Guan Bo asked.

"I haven't seen my second uncle for several years, and I heard that he is doing business in the imperial capital. After speaking, Su Yuan understood, "You mean they were arranged by the second uncle?"

"That's right, it's the second master. Guan Bo explained: "On the day we set off from Xuemian City, General Su had already sent a message to your second uncle, and yesterday I also sent a letter at the post station saying that I would arrive today, after all, when I first arrived in the imperial capital, I had to rely on the second master more often." ”

Su Yuan's second uncle, the second master in Guan Bo's mouth, is Su Yi's younger brother Su Bonian, who has been taking care of the business of the White Ape Su family in the imperial capital for many years, of course, like other major families, it is also an important channel for collecting and transmitting information between the family and the imperial capital.

Pedestrians in the city rubbed shoulders one after another, pedestrians were different, and through the busy streets, a group of people came to the restaurant called "Wan Zui Lou".

"Brother Guan, distant nephew, I've been waiting for a long time. "As soon as I entered the restaurant, the voice from upstairs came from afar.

Su Yuan looked upstairs, and the second uncle was still the same as in his impression, with a kind face and a slightly bloated figure, full of businessman appearance.

Then the three of them entered a private room that had been prepared upstairs together, and after some turmoil, Su Yuan finally swept away his fatigue and hunger.

After he was full of wine and food, Su Bonian spoke: "My brother has already sent a letter many days ago to explain my nephew's intention, I have also been in the imperial capital for many years, and I am quite familiar with this place, every three years, the various sects and martial arts academies in the empire start recruiting apprentices in the spring season, and this time it is five days later." The three most famous martial arts schools in the imperial capital are Jifeng Academy, Qingyang Academy and Shenwu Palace, but Shenwu Palace, as the most famous and secret martial arts place in the empire, never openly recruits apprentices, and it is not easy to enter, but the other two martial arts academies are not bad compared to each other, and they are ranked among the top among the many martial arts academies in the empire. Jifeng Courtyard is next to Cuiming Lake in the east of the city, and Qingyang Courtyard is in the Qingyang Mountains, both of them have their own strengths, and you can participate in the assessment by signing up two days in advance, and I will let people do a little bit or two. After speaking, Su Bonian glanced at Su Yuan, who looked ignorant, "Go back tonight and have a good rest, and make a decision tomorrow, with my nephew's talent, no matter which one I go to, it's not a big problem." ”

The boy's face was full of antiquity.

"Recalling that the second uncle also wanted to make a difference in martial arts when he was young, but he had no talent for martial arts, and failed to pass the family name assessment, so he had to abandon martial arts and engage in business, for fear that he would be embarrassed for the family. Su Bonian suddenly sighed.

Guan Bo said: "The second master is too arrogant, whether it is a business or a martial artist, it is just a choice, and being able to give full play to his strengths is the most important thing." ”

Su Bonian just smiled wryly, noncommittal, and drank all the wine in the cup.

It wasn't until nightfall that the group drove back to Su Ponian's house.

After hesitating for a night, Su Yuan finally chose to participate in the assessment of Qingyang Academy, on the grounds that Su Yuan felt that the Jifeng Courtyard by the lake felt a trace of softness, which was not as atmospheric as the Qingyang Courtyard located on the mountain.

Su Bonian didn't say anything about this reason that was not a reason, and in his opinion, it didn't make much difference which martial arts academy he went to.

In the past two days, Su Yuan saw his cousin Su An again, the first time he saw Su An was three years ago, Su Bonian took Su An to Xuemian City, when the five-year-old Su An was still snotty, grabbing Su Yuan's clothes all day long and following behind his buttocks, at that time, it took a lot of effort to avoid entanglement. The little guy is studying literature and martial arts in a martial arts enlightenment academy, and he will also go to the martial arts academy in a few years.

This day finally came to the day of the martial arts academy assessment, Guan Bo and Su Yuan went to Qingyang Courtyard early in the morning, at this time, the road under Qingyang Mountain was full of pedestrians and carriages, and occasionally one or two strange beasts rushed in the middle of the road, causing others to avoid and curse. Most of the pedestrians are armed and dressed, including a plainly dressed lone teenager, and many young men in brocade clothes followed by guards, all of whom participated in the recruitment assessment of Qingyang Academy.

The mountain gate of Qingyang Courtyard is on the mountainside, Su Yuan followed the flow of people along the winding stairs for nearly two hours before arriving at the mountain gate of Qingyang Courtyard, outside the courtyard gate is a very large platform, at this time it is overcrowded, it turns out that only the teenagers who signed up for the assessment can enter with the "assessment order", and the entourage can only wait outside the courtyard gate, which is not only to facilitate the maintenance of order but also to prevent the small people from mixing into the mountain gate.

The so-called "assessment order" in the hands of Su Yuan was given by Qingyang Academy when Su Bonian signed up two days ago, the so-called "assessment order" is the voucher given by Qingyang Academy to recruit apprentices, which is engraved with the serial number of the contestant and a small induction array, and the contestants must sign up in advance to pass the test when recruiting apprentices before they can receive the "assessment order", of course, there is a special relationship that can be received directly without testing, and Su Bonian, who has been in business for many years, has exactly such a relationship, but no matter how to get the "assessment order" It's just that you're only qualified to participate, and whether you can become a disciple of Qingyang Academy in the end still has to pass the apprenticeship competition.

Every year, 1,000 "assessment orders" are issued to those under the age of 14, and eventually only 100 will become official disciples, and another 200 will become registered disciples, the official disciples are both officially recognized disciples of the Qingyang Academy, and the registered disciples are recorded in the list of Qingyang Yuan but are not official disciples.

Seiyoin stipulates that contestants must report within the specified time, otherwise they will be deemed to have given up. Outside the courtyard gate, Uncle Guan gave a few words of advice, and then motioned for Su Yuan to go in as soon as possible and get ready. Su Yuan glanced back at Guan Bo before entering the courtyard, and felt quite reluctant in his heart, the old man with pale temples in front of him had traveled through half the empire with him for three months, and took good care of him along the way, although Su Yuan was also dissatisfied with some of his practices, but then he thought that he might have a last resort, so he didn't care. When leaving, Su Yuan waved his hand and made a reassuring gesture, turned around and walked towards the courtyard gate.

Inside and outside the gate of the courtyard, more than a dozen disciples with weapons were waiting on both sides, and an old man with a few long beards under his chin and wearing gray clothes sat on the table next to him to register the young man who entered the courtyard gate for reference. Su Yuan crossed the courtyard gate under the back and forth glances of many eyes, and the moment he passed through the courtyard gate, he obviously felt the "assessment order" in his hand tremble, presumably caused by the resonance of the induction law town above.

Su Yuan came to the old man, I don't know whether he was closing his eyes and meditating or sleeping, the old man lazily opened his eyes and glanced at Su Yuan, and after checking the name and the serial number on the "assessment order", he asked Su Yuan to follow the young man who had been recorded earlier. After walking along the mountain road for a while, I came to a very empty platform, at this time the teenagers who participated in the assessment gathered here, only to see a plaque in the distance that said "Nanfeng Martial Arts", and the weapon racks around were full of all kinds of weapons, it can be seen that this is the martial arts training ground of Qingyang Temple, and "Nanfeng" is its name.

There were no disciples from Qingyang Academy present in the martial arts training ground, and the teenagers naturally couldn't be idle, or exchanged heads and ears, or looked around, and even a few teenagers who were not convinced by each other even started to move, and the scene was very lively.

Waiting until noon, the gray-clothed old man who was in charge of registration came late with more than a dozen disciples, glanced at the martial arts training ground, completely ignoring the feeling of the young man waiting for a long time hungry, swept away the previous listless pictogram, and said word by word in a slightly majestic voice: " There will be a small number of you who will become disciples of Qingyang Academy, some of you will become registered disciples, and many more will leave, and whether you stay or leave will be decided in the next test, so everything depends on your next performance. ”

After the old man finished speaking, the young men all felt nervous and quiet, and the old man nodded with satisfaction, "Hang all your assessment orders on your chest, and come with me." After speaking, he walked straight ahead, and the young men behind him followed one after another according to the old man's words, and the disciples of Qingyang Academy who came with the old man were scattered on both sides of the team to follow.

Su Yuan was caught in the crowd, sometimes up the mountain and sometimes down the trend, until he couldn't find the direction, the mighty team finally stopped slowly in front of a cliff, and the old man still said in an unhurried voice: "After crossing this bridge, we will arrive at the destination of our trip, don't crowd in the past, come one by one." After saying that, he put his hands behind his back, put on a posture of closing his eyes and recuperating his mind, and waited for the teenagers to walk over.

There are ten wooden stakes inserted in the rock of the cliff, each of which is connected to an iron chain, which leads to the depths of the canyon, and each iron chain is separated by a zhang, which is what the old man in gray called "bridge".

All the teenagers understood that the test had begun, but listening to the angry wind crying from under the cliff, watching the iron chain that extended to the end of the mist drifting with the mountain wind, I couldn't help but feel uneasy, and several teenagers in front of the team looked at the iron chain and refused to take the first step, although it was said that the teenagers who could come to participate in the assessment were all martial arts, but most of the age limits were only in the early stage of the green rank, and how could it be a result of falling down, it was rumored that every time Qingyang Academy recruited apprentices, there were apprentices who had accidents, and when they didn't come, they thought it was alarmist, and they really felt it to know that outsiders were not exaggerating。