Following the sturdy middle-aged man, the crowd soon arrived at the gate of Gale Island.
The gate was a huge square, covering about 11 kilometers square. At this time, many people had been waiting there.
Apparently, they were the examiners of Gale Island.
"Elder Wei, all examinees are here," said the middle-aged man respectfully to a small and stout elder.
"OK! You can step off!"
The small and stout elder waved his hand, then gave an instruction to a stony-faced youth.
The youth nodded, strode out, and shouted while glancing at the crowd, "Whoever has a recommendation from Purple Gold Pavilion, step out."
Hua! Hua! Hua!
About 100 people strode out from the crowd.
Of course, Su Mo was one of them.
They could directly become outer disciples due to the recommendations of Purple Gold Pavilion.
Su Mo had heard that without recommendations or without being in the Spiritual Martial Realm, they could only be handyman disciples—even if they had passed the test.
Handyman disciples were the lowest disciples in Gale Island. And what was worse, they had to do daily chores, which was really torture.
Thus, Su Mo wanted to be an outer disciple directly.
Su Mo was not stupid and would not prove his force by passing all kinds of tests.
It was nonsense.
Since he had a recommendation, he would make full use of it.
"You follow me!" the youth loudly yelled, looking at those 100 people.
Then, he led them to the other side of the square.
Seeing Su Mo and the other people go out, the remaining young men and girls were jealous.
Immediately, based on the instructions given by the stout elder, they started to take the complex tests accordingly.
After Su Mo and the others went to the other side, the youth collected their recommendations.
Then, they lined up according to the youth's requirements.
"Your recommendations from Purple Gold Pavilion are a testament to your high talents. Thus, unlike the others, you can directly become our island's outer disciples without being tested," said the youth loudly in front of them.
"But, in order to know your talents well, please release your Martial Souls for me."
When the youth finished, they let out their Martial Souls in unison without any hesitation.
So did Su Mo.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Instantly, many yellow lights were sprung out, giving off dazzling light.
There were various Martial Souls, such as snakes, monkeys, tigers, knives, swords, axes, trees, flowers, grasses, and so on.
Three of those Martial Souls were quite outstanding.
They were respectively a golden revolving saber, a purple flower, and ice surrounded by its cold air.
The three Martial Souls all had eight shining yellow rings. Obviously, they were in the Rank 8 Human Class.
The golden revolving saber belonged to a tough young man while a dainty young girl in purple owned the purple flower.
It was Yan Qi himself who had the ice Martial Soul.
As for the others, most of them had Martial Souls of the Rank 7 Human Class. Only 20 people's were in the Rank 6 Human Class.
And besides those, none of them had a Rank 5 Human Class Martial Soul.
Everyone except for Su Mo looked at Yan Qi and the other two people with envy in their eyes.
In Gale Island, a person with a Martial Soul of the Rank 8 Human Class would be considered a genius.
One could say that it was much easier for a person with a Rank 8 Human Class Martial Soul to break through the Spiritual Martial Realm and enter into the True Spirit Realm, which was a higher realm.
In the entire Skymoon Country, a True Spirit Realm martial artist was generally regarded to be the top one.
Those three felt proud to draw people's attention, especially Yan Qi, who full of arrogance, disdainfully took a glimpse at Su Mo.
Yan Qi had worried that Su Mo had higher talent than him upon seeing Su Mo's recommendation. But now, he scornfully laughed at Su Mo's Rank 6 Human Class Martial Soul.
The youth secretly nodded his head with his eyes brightened when he saw three Martial Souls of the Rank 8 Human Class.
"Good, three people's Martial Souls are in the Rank 8 Human Class. Very good. What are your names?" said the youth with a smile. Apparently, he attached more importance to them.
"My name is Cao Yuan!" said the tough youth.
"My name is Feng Zilan!" said the young girl in purple.
"My name is Yan Qi!"
The stony-faced youth nodded, then glanced at the people and said, "I know your Martial Souls and talents. Now, follow me to the outer area and you'll be given an abode."
Then, they followed him, left the square, and walked towards the gate.
On the square, nearly 10,000 young men and ladies were left behind to sit through rounds of tests. The atmosphere was very heated.
The threshold test of Gale Island was divided into three parts.
The first part was to test Martial Souls. The level of a Martial Soul was the most important benchmark to measure a martial artist's talent.
The second part was to test comprehension, which was also significant for a martial artist to cultivate his talent. The higher comprehension that he had, the faster that he could practice martial arts.
The last part was to test stamina. This part was to test a martial artist's willpower, stamina, and temperament. If a martial artist was not good in other aspects, a strong temperament and tough willpower would complement them.
Overall, the tests of Gale Island were relatively comprehensive, covering the Martial Soul, comprehension, and temperament.
Of course, the test of Martial Souls held the key, leaving the last two as a supplement.
However, Su Mo did not need to attend those complex tests. Now, he had come to the outer area.
Covering a vast region, the outer area was located on the mountainside with thousands of courtyards situated there. It was very spectacular.
"Well, this is the outer area. Courtyards from No.700 to No.1000 are available. You're at liberty to choose one of them to live in," said the youth indifferently after ushering them there.
All the courtyards had visible house numbers, and besides, they were arranged in good order.
"Each courtyard has three separate rooms, so each courtyard can accommodate three people," he added.
"Excuse me, who lives there?" a young man pointed to a place far away and asked just then.
The crowd looked at that place and found that 10 lofts were located on the top of the outer area.
Each of the 10 lofts had three floors. All of them were much more elegant and spectacular than regular courtyards.
The stony-faced youth smiled at his question and said, "That's where the 10 outer disciples live. In Gale Island, the more powerful you are, the better treatment you get. If one day you can defeat one of them, you'll replace him and live in the loft.
"The 10 outer disciples not only live in better places but also obtain much better resources than the regular outer disciples.
"Hence, you must redouble your efforts if you want better treatment," the young man patiently explained to them.
Although the young man wore a stony face, he was warmhearted.
The crowd was surprised by the huge difference between the 10 outer disciples and the regular outer disciples.
"Our sect will hold the Qingyuan Trial Test in 10 days and all new disciples are asked to attend the trial test. The outstanding disciples will obtain big rewards, so you must cultivate harder.
"Alright, you can choose your rooms. Each room has a sect brochure, which documents our sect rules and other things. You can have a look."
After finishing his speech, the stony-faced young man was about to leave.
"By the way, I'm Wang Hui, the outer elder. If you find something incomprehensible, you can find me in the elder hall of the outer gate."
After one more sentence, he left.
"Is he the outer elder?"
"He looks 27 or 28 years old, but has he already become an elder?"
"Huff! You don't understand. Although he appears to be 27 or 28 years old, he is likely in his 30s. Due to his higher cultivation, he looks much younger."
They all burst into a discussion.
…