Longyin Mountains, the peak of welcoming guests, when the morning sun is rising.

With a sound of "get it", a horse-drawn carriage slowly galloped from the foot of the mountain to the top of the flat ground along the winding mountain path.

When they reached a corner, the Scar coachman tightened the reins, and with a shout, the horse neighed, and the cart slowed down slowly, and finally stopped, forming a line with the four carts standing beside him.

Then, the big man with the scar got out of the carriage, turned his head to look at the carriage, and shouted: "Little ones, when you arrive, come down!"

Then, in the midst of a noisy child's voice, a small hand first lifted the curtain, and a child got out of the carriage, and then jumped out of the carriage.

The child is about ten years old, dressed in gray, carrying a small burden behind him, looking yellow and thin, and his body is extremely weak.

As soon as he stepped on the ground, he looked around, looking east and west.

The child's name was Yuan Yi, and when he heard at home a few days ago that the Longyin Sect near Jinchuan County was recruiting a doorman, his heart was pounding.

For children in mountain villages, there are two ways out, one is to participate in the imperial imperial examination, and the other is to join the Jianghu sect to practice martial arts, relatively speaking, the second is much more convenient and fast.

In practice, however, in previous years, when the sect recruited disciples, rural children had been discriminated against because of their poor health, and even those who were lucky enough to take the assessment were mostly brushed off on the way.

Therefore, this time, the recruitment of disciples by the Longyin faction is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Yuan Yi to get rid of his status as a hereditary farmer and change his fate.

So, he returned home, tried to persuade his parents, but after failing to do so, he secretly ran out one morning, after leaving a message for his family, and after a whole day of difficult trekking and dust, he finally arrived at the registration office of Luo County, the county seat where his village is located, and got the Longyin faction assessment quota.

And early this morning, together with all the children, he got into the reception carriage of the Dragon Yin Sect and arrived at the assessment point here.

......

Thinking silently, behind Yuan Yi, all the children walked down one after another, they were all of the same age, both male and female, fat and thin, and there were more than a dozen of them.

As soon as they got out of the carriage, they chattered and talked about what they saw.

At this time, combined with what he knew last night, Yuan Yi had an understanding of the surrounding environment.

Where everyone is located, is the peak of welcoming guests, and the peak is full of lawns. On it, not far away, there were four groups of children, each of which was similar to Yuan Yi and others, they were talking one after another, and their noise came from time to time, and in the southeast corner of the lawn, on a black stone with a height of several zhang and a square circle, four adults sat or stood, chatting with each other.

Seeing that there was nothing unusual around, Yuan Yi withdrew his gaze and turned his head to look at the scarred man.

"It's all down, aren't they?" asked the Scar Man.

After a pause, seeing that no one responded, he continued, "Okay. You stay here for the first time, don't run around, and then you will have your own arrangements. ”

With that, he walked away.

The place where he went was to the southeast of the lawn.

On the stone platform, when the four of them saw this, they stopped talking one after another, and at the same time looked at the big man with the scar.

Before he could get closer, a shrill voice sounded: "Senior Brother Nie, you're late." ”

The person who spoke was a young man with a narrow face, short stature, sharp-beaked monkey gills, and about twenty-six or seventeen.

"I'm sorry, Senior Brother Wang. A few of the little ones got up a little late. "Scar Man" Senior Brother Nie smiled at the young man and said apologetically.

As he spoke, he looked at the three people beside him, a young girl with freckles, a beautiful young woman with a slender body, and an old man with a thin body and a sallow complexion, and greeted them one by one.

Among the five people, except for the old man, the other four are all dressed in similar attire: wearing a blue coat, a green belt around the waist, and a golden dragon pattern is inscribed on the chest of the blue robe, and the dragon's head is raised to the sky, making an open mouth and roaring!

The old man wore a green belt around his waist and was dressed in a gray robe, but there was no golden dragon pattern on it.

After the five of them exchanged pleasantries for a while, the old man ordered, "All right." Now that everyone is here, let's get ready to begin. ”

"Yes, uncle!" the four replied respectfully.

So, under the old man's words, the four of them scattered and walked in various places.

......

Seeing that the scarred man went back and forth after a while, Yuan Yi immediately knew that the assessment was about to begin!

Sure enough, the big scar man walked in front of everyone, waved his hand, and said, "Follow me!"

When everyone heard this, they naturally followed.

After a while, the five groups of children were gathered together, and suddenly the noise was turbulent, and their voices were so deafening that only the five scarred men frowned.

When the old man saw that everyone had arrived one after another, he suddenly raised his head to look at the rising sun, and then stood up, raised his hand, made a silent motion, and waited until the voice was quiet, and then said, "Listen, I will only say the following words once!"

Then, after a pause, seeing that there was no more noise, he spoke again: "There will be an entrance assessment today, and your task is to climb to the top of the Heavenly Sword Peak before sunset today." ”

As he spoke, he turned around and pointed with his left hand to signal everyone to look.

"Where the Heavenly Sword Peak is located, it is the highest peak in front of you, where the Dragon Banner is located. ”

Yuan Yi followed what he pointed out, and looked at it with his eyes, only to see that on the top of the highest peak, on the top of the highest peak, there was indeed a gray flag fluttering, and the golden dragon on it danced with the wind, as if a real dragon was swimming. If the welcoming peak where everyone is located is the first peak, then the dragon flag is the fifth peak.

"See them all?" the old man put down his hand and turned around and asked.

"See. The children said in unison.

"That's good. Of course, if any of you unfortunately pass away, this sect will give compensation to their family members 300 taels of silver; those who pass the test will be rewarded with 10 taels of silver, and at the same time they will be admitted to the sect, and then they will receive the corresponding taels of silver according to the level of their disciples; and those who survive will be rewarded with 3 taels of silver and sent down the mountain! Therefore, if you don't want to participate, it is too late to withdraw now!" The old man warned in a low voice.

As soon as these words came out, everyone's faces were solemn, and at the same time, they were happy, but their hearts were even colder.

You know, ten taels of silver, for a peasant family, that is a year's expenses, and the chilling thing is that the assessment of the Jianghu sect is really not a playhouse, but a life-threatening one.

Not long after the old man finished speaking, sure enough, a few children hesitated, unable to bear the great threat of death, silently lowered their heads, stepped aside, but directly gave up the assessment.

Of course, Yuan Yi will not give up this opportunity to change his luck, so he just stands in place and does not move his body!

Looking at all this, the old man's face was expressionless, and after seeing that no one had withdrawn, he announced loudly: "Now, I announce that the entrance assessment of the Dragon Yin Sect has officially begun!"

When everyone heard this, they immediately looked for the path and ran down the mountain.

......

Looking at the figure of everyone gradually moving away, the old man had a complicated expression on his face, and suddenly sighed.

"Why is Uncle Shi sighing, is he worried about their safety?" asked the scarred man next to him.

"Not really. Since they have chosen this road of rivers and lakes, they will naturally be responsible for their own life and death!" the old man shook his head and said.

Then, he paused for a moment, looked at the four of them, groaned for a while, and pondered for a while before he said, "What do you think of the future of this sect?"

When the four of them heard this, their faces were stunned for a moment, and they couldn't imagine that the old man would ask such a question.

After all, although the Longyin Sect is a semi-reclusive sect in the Longyin Mountains near Jinchuan County in Yizhou, its original reputation and strength, not to mention compared to the big forces in this state, are also inferior to the three hegemons in this county. But a month ago, after the head Yan slashed the masters of the nine sects and eighteen factions in Benzhou alone at the top of the Heavenly Sword Peak, and won strongly, his reputation rose, and gradually became like the sky, and now, there are even signs of the new overlord of the rivers and lakes!

At this time, the old man's words were inappropriately melancholy, which had to surprise the four of them.

"Naturally, it is a sign of the great prosperity of the sect. But since Uncle Shi said so, could it be that there are other high-level insights?" said the young woman next to him.

"I can't talk about it. It's just that according to my decades of experience in the rivers and lakes, I feel that there are many obstacles to the development of this faction into a big force in the rivers and lakes. The old man said.

"Huh. Uncle Shi was too worried. Since ancient times, the big gangs and factions on the rivers and lakes, which one has not risen in the wind and rain!" The scar man smiled slightly, looking indifferent.

"Oh. I don't know what Uncle Shi said, I don't know what is the obstruction?" the young woman ignored the words of the middle-aged man surnamed Nie and asked the old man.

"First, the nine sects and eighteen factions in this state, especially the Heavenly Snake Gate, which ranks first, secretly obstructed; second, the conflict of interests with the gangs in the county; third, and most importantly, the sect pattern recently adopted by the head of the sect. The old man stretched out his right hand, snapped a few fingers, and finally pointed to the dragon Xiaotu on the four people.

The old man didn't know what the head of the house meant. However, as we all know, whether it is in our country or in the nearby countries, the dragon has always been the special pattern of the emperor, and none of the forces in the rivers and lakes that have been stolen have not been destroyed by the dynasty. Although the Guangnan Prefecture, where our Yizhou is located, is a frontier land in the territory of Weiguo, if the one in Weijing City knows, under the imperial order, this faction will still be unable to escape the doom of destruction. The old man continued, his face full of sorrow.

"Hehe, I don't dare to agree with Uncle Shi's opinion. Suddenly, the narrow-faced young man screamed.

"Oh, my nephew has something to say, but please speak up. The old man looked shocked.

"This, but I don't dare to say it!" Hearing this, the narrow-faced young man hesitated.

"Senior brother has something to say, so he is so spitting, can he not wait for me to lose his appetite?" Seeing this, the scar man said dissatisfiedly.

"It's not that the younger brother is playing tricks, it's really that this is very important!" the narrow-faced young man said when he heard this.

As soon as the four of them heard this, they understood the meaning of the young man's division of responsibility, and their expressions became solemn, they glanced at each other, and their faces immediately hesitated.

But after a while, the freckled woman said: "As long as the safety of this faction is in danger, no matter what the relationship is, I can bear it alone, so it doesn't hurt for the junior brother to say it!"

When the narrow-faced young man heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then his smiling face suddenly turned solemn, he suppressed his voice, and said in a low voice: "Perhaps, the head of the family has the ambition to chase the deer!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone's bodies were collectively shocked, and their faces were full of horror and fear in disbelief!

"Impossible!" the beautiful young woman came back to her senses after the meal, and immediately retorted sharply.

"Oh. Senior sister said, what is impossible. The narrow-faced young man smiled faintly, the corners of his mouth slightly curled.

"I remember that about half a year ago, when the head of the sect came back from abroad, his face was extremely pale, and then he explained some things and went into retreat in the back mountain. He didn't leave the customs until a month ago, when he was full of gray hair and his face was much older, and he posted an appointment to the masters of the major forces in the state, and after winning the competition, he reached an agreement with them. The next thing is now Guangzhaomen. If the head of the family has that ambition, why did he do it carelessly, and attract the attention of the emperor with such fanfare. If I want to say that the boss has other ideas, I still have some confidence. As for the ambition of the world, hehe, I don't dare to agree!" The beautiful young woman recalled, and retorted reasonably.

"Other ideas?" said Scar Man, frowning.

"I have heard people say that decades ago, there was a mad demon in the martial arts of Liangzhou, who practiced a technique called "Swallowing Yuan", which can absorb the internal power of the martial artist who cultivates the same heart method without any hidden danger, so in a short period of time, the internal power of this demon has increased greatly, and finally attracted dozens of top masters to unite, so that it can be killed, but among those masters, only a few people survived. Now that the head of the sect has ordered the wide collection of people, should it be ......" The narrow-faced young man seemed to have no scruples, he held his chin with one hand and looked thoughtful.

"What do you mean?" the young woman was shocked.

"Hehe, I didn't say anything. The narrow-faced young man waved his hand again and again, flatly denying it.

In spite of this, everyone knows what they mean!

"Alright. Don't speculate on the thoughts of the master, and be careful that trouble comes out of your mouth! That's the end of today's conversation. Seeing that the topic was becoming more and more dangerous, the old man hurriedly stopped everyone's talk.

"Yes, Uncle Shi!" When the four of them heard this, their hearts sank, and they hurriedly responded.

Subsequently, on the Yingke Peak, everyone was silent, and the surroundings were quiet, but they heard the sound of the breeze blowing and the sound of hunting in clothes!