Inner sect disciples like Hou Yu-cheng were taken away by special personnel as soon as they entered the Wentian Academy. Mo Wuji and Zhen Shaoru were both outer sect disciples, and could only wait for summons with the numerous other outer sect disciples.

Mo Wuji didn't mind. He had even been a menial disciple before, let alone an outer sect disciple of the Wentian Academy? From the moment he entered the Wentian Academy, he had been looking around.

Inside the Wentian Academy, the scene of clouds and mist everywhere had indeed dissipated a lot. A bluestone avenue, about seven or eight zhang wide, extended into the distance, and various magnificent buildings stood side by side, appearing grand and imposing. Further away, Mo Wuji saw a series of unfathomable valleys, still surrounded by clouds. On the mountain peaks far from those valleys, there seemed to be some tall buildings.

What attracted Mo Wuji the most was a giant tower that soared into the clouds. He simply couldn't see where the top of the tower was.

"That's the Immortal Refining Tower of the Wentian Academy, one of the symbols of the Wentian Academy." Seeing Mo Wuji staring at the distant tower, Zhen Shaoru chuckled and said.

Immortal Refining Tower? Mo Wuji immediately thought of the Immortal Refining Tower in Bian City. He had heard Yin Qianqian say that the Immortal Refining Tower in Bian City was built in imitation of the Immortal Refining Tower of the Wentian Academy. He didn't expect that he would see the Immortal Refining Tower of the Wentian Academy in less than a year.

Since it was the Immortal Refining Tower of the Wentian Academy, there must be a Lightning Tempering Chamber inside. Thinking of the Lightning Tempering Chamber, Mo Wuji's heart immediately burned with excitement. He couldn't wait to find a place to start refining the meridian opening medicinal liquid, and then enter the Lightning Tempering Chamber of the Immortal Refining Tower to continue opening up his meridians.

A black-clad man flew down in front of the numerous outer sect disciples. He scanned the crowd, and then slowly said, "The Wentian Academy is a place where geniuses gather. Here, there are only geniuses and no trash."

Everyone was silent. Whether they were a genius or not, only they knew in their hearts. It was estimated that the vast majority of people would think of themselves as geniuses.

The black-clad man paused, and suddenly snorted, "However, this rule has been broken today. Because the Wentian Academy has recruited a group of trash. This group of trash is you..."

The numerous outer sect disciples immediately became a little agitated. Obviously, everyone was extremely uncomfortable. It could be said that, except for Mo Wuji, almost everyone here was an elite or direct descendant of the various sects. After arriving at the Wentian Academy, they were actually regarded as trash.

"Quiet down. Anyone who dares to say another word will be expelled from the Wentian Academy immediately." The black-clad man's words were too lethal, and the scene instantly calmed down.

After the scene calmed down, the black-clad man continued with a cold face, "Because you all relied on the spiritual herbs in the Five Elements Desolate Domain to have the opportunity to enter the gates of the Wentian Academy. Without the Five Elements Desolate Domain, you would be trash."

Mo Wuji thought to himself, this guy has some guts. Using the spiritual herbs of the Five Elements Desolate Domain to exchange for the opportunity to enter the Wentian Academy must have been a decision made by the higher-ups of the Wentian Academy. This guy actually said here that the rules were broken by those people.

"...So you can only live in the most trashy outer sect peak..." After the black-clad man finished speaking, he raised his hand, and a lifelike image of a mountain peak appeared in front of everyone. The mountain peak was divided into various areas. Mo Wuji noticed that Area A was at the highest point, and Area C was at the lowest point. There was also an Area D, which seemed to be on the side of the outer sect peak, level with Area B.

After everyone had seen the mountain peak clearly, the black-clad man said coldly, "Before you move into the outer sect peak, you need to climb the Wentian Steps. Those who climb more than ten steps can live in Area C, those who climb eleven to fifteen steps can live in Area B, and those who climb more than fifteen steps can live in Area A. If you are below ten steps, then get out and live in Area D."

As soon as the black-clad man finished speaking, someone asked, "Senior, since Area D is the worst, why is its height almost the same as Area B?"

The black-clad man said coldly, "Because Area D is at the back of the spirit gathering array, the spiritual energy is the thinnest, and the sect resources allocated to the outer sect disciples living in Area D are also the lowest. But Area D is not without its advantages. At least, the environment in Area D is spacious, and everyone can have a small courtyard. So, if you want to live more comfortably, then don't step on the tenth step when climbing the Wentian Steps."

Everyone immediately understood. What did they come to the Wentian Academy for? To live more comfortably? Every one of them was the pride of their sect. If they wanted comfort, why would they come to the Wentian Academy? In their respective sects, what comfort could they not enjoy?

They came to the Wentian Academy for only one purpose, and that was to strive to enter the inner sect of the Wentian Academy and become true disciples of the Wentian Academy.

A cultivator living in a place without spiritual energy was tantamount to ruining their future, let alone becoming a true disciple.

Perhaps there was still one person who didn't think so, and that was Mo Wuji.

Mo Wuji knew his own situation. He absorbed spiritual energy extremely quickly when cultivating. Although a lack of spiritual energy would have some impact on him, it was better than living in the middle of a crowd. If he lived in the middle of a crowd, it was estimated that he would be noticed as soon as he started cultivating, and even be discovered that he absorbed spiritual energy too fiercely.

This was secondary. The most important thing was that Mo Wuji needed a place with a sparse population and his own independent space where he could refine the meridian opening medicinal liquid. As for the spiritual energy for cultivation, he had so many spirit stones, and he was also a Rank 4 Earth Alchemist. Was he still afraid of not having spiritual energy to cultivate?

Area D was on the side of the outer sect peak, where there was little foot traffic. Generally, without special circumstances, it was estimated that no one would deliberately go to such a spiritually thin area. More importantly, the area here was vast, and the population was sparse, making it the most suitable place for Mo Wuji to settle down.

He would choose Area D. Of course, if everyone couldn't climb past the tenth step, then he would find a way to rush to a higher place. Anyway, choosing to live in a place with few people was the right thing to do.

"Now, all the outer sect disciples will come with me to climb the Wentian Steps, and then, according to your respective results, go to the sect affairs hall to receive your residence jade tokens and all your miscellaneous items." After the black-clad man finished speaking, he turned and left.

Mo Wuji and the others quickly followed behind, stepping onto the wide bluestone road.

After walking along the bluestone road for about ten minutes, a huge plaza appeared in front of everyone. The plaza was on the left side of the bluestone road. At the edge of the plaza, there was also a huge statue. Next to the statue were rows of bluestone steps, which stretched upwards. There didn't seem to be many steps, but when Mo Wuji looked at the top of the steps, he had a vague, unclear feeling.

Following the black-clad man towards the bluestone steps next to the bronze statue, Mo Wuji could only see three vertical characters next to the statue when he got closer: Wentian Steps.

These were the Wentian Steps? Each of these steps was only about two chi high. Was it difficult to climb ten steps?

Not only did Mo Wuji think so, but almost everyone standing by the Wentian Steps thought so.

The black-clad man's gaze swept over the two or three hundred outer sect disciples, and then said without emotion, "Everyone, start climbing the Wentian Steps now. After climbing, go to the sect affairs hall to collect your outer sect peak residence qualifications. Those who rolled down will be judged based on the highest Wentian Step they reached."

Having long been dissatisfied and wanting to try the Wentian Steps, the numerous outer sect disciples rushed towards the Wentian Steps after hearing the black-clad man's words.

Mo Wuji followed behind. He saw that it didn't seem very difficult for the outer sect disciples to climb the Wentian Steps. They seemed to easily step onto the third or fifth step.

Mo Wuji also tried to step onto the Wentian Steps. The moment he stepped onto the Wentian Steps, a powerful pulling force and thrust came crashing over. However, this force didn't have much of an impact on Mo Wuji. He easily stepped onto the second step.

The thrust of the second step was almost twice as strong as the first step, but it still didn't have much of an impact on Mo Wuji.

Mo Wuji also understood why these outer sect disciples were so fast. His cultivation base here was considered the lowest. Even he could easily climb to the second step, so these people must be even more relaxed.

Soon, Mo Wuji discovered the extraordinariness of the Wentian Steps. When he stepped onto the third step, the pressure seemed to be more than twice as great as the second step.

When he stepped onto the fourth step, the pulling force combined with the thrust was almost twice as great as the third step. Mo Wuji looked up at the steps that disappeared into the sky, and he understood the terror of the Wentian Steps. The rate at which this force increased was such that the higher you climbed, the more terrifying the force you would bear.

One could imagine that if one could barely climb to the twentieth step, then no matter what, one would not be able to climb to the twenty-first step. Under this kind of force increase, it was no longer something that could be solved by barely managing.

When Mo Wuji climbed to the sixth step, the vast majority of cultivators had climbed to the tenth step.

Although Mo Wuji was still relatively relaxed, he pretended to be panting in order not to climb to the tenth step.

When Mo Wuji stepped onto the seventh step, he was the only one left around him. Even the weakest one had climbed to the eighth step. Some powerful cultivators had even crossed the fifteenth step and started moving towards the sixteenth step.

When he reached the eighth step, Mo Wuji truly felt the enormous pressure. He already needed to use part of his strength to resist this force.

Mo Wuji didn't continue to climb to the ninth step. He looked at the steps above and estimated in his heart that it shouldn't be a problem for him to climb to the thirteenth step with his abilities. It would probably be impossible to pass the fifteenth step.

He saw that the vast majority of cultivators had just crossed the tenth step and no longer had the strength to climb higher.

About an hour passed. Except for a very few people who were still struggling to climb higher, the vast majority of people stopped where they were. Some people even rolled down because they wanted to forcibly climb higher.

Mo Wuji looked around. There were only nineteen people below the tenth step, including him. Among these nineteen people, only one was on the eighth step like him, and the remaining seventeen were all on the ninth step.

The black-clad man shouted, "Time's up. Everyone, record the steps you have reached, and then go to the sect hall to apply for your outer sect peak residence qualifications. Those who rolled down will be judged based on the highest Wentian Step they reached."

(One update for monthly tickets!!! Some friends have a problem with flashing back on Qidian reading. Removing the book and then re-listing it can solve the problem.)