In the testing hall,
Su Mo was surprised by everyone's stunned expressions. He had not expected that he could take advantage of Qingxuan's Master's reputation.
"Elder, can I take the test now?" Su Mo asked Elder Wu quietly.
Elder Wu regained his composure at Su Mo's words. He took a deep breath and clasped his fists in greeting "Anyone recommended by a Holy Elder is exempt from the test and shall be accepted into the Celestial spirit Sect right away!"
"Oh! Exempt from the test!" Su Mo was taken aback as he realized that Hong Qingxuan's Master was highly regarded inside Celestial spirit Sect!
"In that case, please make arrangements for us!"
Su Mo replied and pointed at Wu Sheng, adding, "We are together!"
The fifth elder turned to look at Wu Sheng before looking at Wei Yun again, seeking her confirmation.
After Wei Yun nodded her head, the fifth elder declared, "Alright, both of you are exempt and shall be Outer Disciples. I'll make the arrangements!"
"Alright!" Su Mo smiled and nodded, in awe of the fact that he had managed to get in without taking the test. Of course, even if he did, he would have easily passed.
"Both of you shall listen to Elder Wu's instructions!"
Wei Yun left after those words.
"Thank you very much!" Su Mo said to Wei Yun.
Elder Wu then smiled at Su Mo and Wu Sheng and said, "Congratulations on becoming disciples of the Celestial spirit Sect. The Celestial spirit Sect consists of nine branches, which means there are nine peaks. You may choose any one of them!"
"How are the nine peaks different from each other?" Su Mo asked in curiously.
"The nine peaks of Celestial spirit Sect are Great Heaven Peak, Infinite Sky Peak, Sky-balancing Peak, Dark Sky Peak, Bluesky Peak, Holy Sky Peak, Sky-caging Peak, Demonic Sky Peak, and Towering Sky Peak! Great Heaven Peak is the main peak while the other eight are the branches!" Elder Wu explained patiently since he assumed that Su Mo and Wu Sheng were related to the Dark Sky Peak Master, Fairy of the Ninth Heaven.
Meanwhile, Chu Yunshan and Elder Chu kept their mouth shut as they were too anxious to proceed.
"The nine peaks are similar apart from some small differences. You may choose any of the first eight peaks, but please forget about Towering Sky Peak! You don't have to consider joining it!" Elder Wu continued.
"Oh? Why's that?" Su Mo was intrigued by the fact that the main peak was available for selection, but not the Towering Sky Peak.
"The first eight peaks are integral to Celestial spirit Sect, with each peak accepting tens of thousands of disciples. Among them, Great Heaven Peak, Sky-balancing Peak, and Holy Sky Peak have over 100,000 disciples each. On the other hand, Towering Sky Peak is too weak with only several disciples!"
"What? Only several disciples?"
Su Mo was surprised by the huge difference. He was speechless to find that while other peaks had tens of thousands of disciples, Towering Sky Peak only had a few.
"Indeed! There are only a few disciples on Towering Sky Peak! All of them are ungodly and lawless geniuses, there is no need for you to go there!" Elder Wu said nodding.
"Oh!" Su Mo was astonished. "All of them are ungodly geniuses?"
"Wu Sheng, what's your choice?" Su Mo asked.
Wu Sheng had been following their conversation, and after a moment's consideration, he answered, "My choice is the main peak, Great Heaven Peak!"
"Ok!" Elder Wu nodded and took out a black metal token and passed it to Wu Sheng, saying, "With this token, you may head to Great Heaven Peak's Hall of Administrative Affairs to process your enrollment!"
"Thank you, Elder!" Wu Sheng clasped his fist in thanks.
"What about you? What's your choice?' Elder Wu turned to look at Su Mo.
Su Mo fell into a deep thought. His original choice was going to be Dark Sky Peak since Hong Qingxuan was a disciple there. It would be nice if they could look out for each other.
However, he dismissed that idea as he sensed that the Dark Sky Peak Master did not welcome him.
As for the main peak, Great Heaven Peak, it was too crowded!
"I choose…Towering Sky Peak!"
Su Mo said solemnly after a short while.
He had his reasons for choosing Towering Sky Peak. If he were to exert his Devouring Martial Soul, it would affect a huge area. This meant that he would not be able to cultivate or devour freely in crowded places. Back in Gale Island, he always had to restrain himself while cultivating.
Since Towering Sky Peak only had a few disciples, it must be extremely empty, which meant that he could cultivate freely, without having to worry about others.
"What?"
Elder Wu and several others who knew of Towering Sky Peak were startled by Su Mo's reply.
"Is that your final choice?' Elder Wu could not help asking.
"Yes!" Su Mo nodded.
Elder Wu took a deep breath, stared hard at Su Mo and said, "Don't say I didn't warn you. You may be worse off if you join Towering Sky Peak!"
"How so?" Su Mo was confused since he had not offended anyone. "How would I be worse off?"
"Towering Sky Peak has never been on good terms with the other peaks and there are even some deep-seated grudges between them. The few disciples of Towering Sky Peak are all arrogant and cocky. They are also ruthless killers and hard to make friends with. There used to be many people who chose Towering Sky Peak, but they were chased out in a short time, so they had to choose another peak!"
Elder Wu warned Su Mo patiently.
Su Mo frowned at his explanation. The Towering Sky Peak was truly of another breed!
However, Su Mo was not going to back down just because of Elder Wu's words. He nodded firmly and said, "Elder, I've made up my mind. Please make the arrangements!"
Seeing the determination on Su Mo's face, Elder Wu sighed inwardly and shook his head.
Since Su Mo had insisted on his choice, he was not going to stop him. After all, they were not familiar with each other.
"This is the token that shows you've passed the test. You may head to the Towering Sky Peak! It's the peak at the extreme north!"
Elder Wu passed Su Mo a black metal token with a shake of his head.
"Thank you!"
"Thank you, Elder!" Su Mo clasped his fists at the Elder, then turned to Wu Sheng, and said, "Wu Sheng, let's go!"
They both left the testing hall together.
As Elder Wu watched Su Mo leaving, he shook his head helplessly and murmured, "I hope your limbs will still be intact when you come back!"
Chu Yunshan sneered at Su Mo's departing figure.
"Choosing Towering Sky Peak?"
"You're asking for it!"
It was rumored that those who had chosen Towering Sky Peak in the past had all ended up getting slightly injured at best. In the worst cases, some even had their limbs broken, and there were even people who lost their lives there!
In the recent years, anyone that chose Towering Sky Peak had failed to remain there!
Apparently, the few disciples residing at Towering Sky Peak were brought back by the peak master himself!