Immortal Huiyan's words stirred up a great commotion among the guests.
They looked at each other, but dared not act rashly.
Yuxuzi and True Lord Honghua's faces changed drastically, their eyes filled with disgust and anger.
The disappearance of Ling Zhou a thousand years ago was still vivid in their memories.
Back then, Immortal Huiyan had solemnly assured them that Ling Zhou would only be a guard and would surely be sent back intact.
However, for a thousand years, there had been no sign of Ling Zhou, neither alive nor dead.
Even though Ling Zhou's life - token in the back hall was still intact, True Lord Honghua had gradually begun to doubt whether Ling Zhou was still alive.
Among the guests, a respected elder stepped forward to inquire of Immortal Huiyan.
"May I ask, Immortal, if a disciple from a sect is selected to become a guard in the Divine Hall, what will happen to them...?"
Immortal Huiyan's voice seemed to be luring: "Our Divine Hall has led the cultivation world to exterminate demonic beasts and fight against the demons for ten thousand years. If a sect's disciple can become one of us, they will be doing a deed that will go down in history!"
"We will erect a heroic monument in the center of the squares of all major cities. For the disciples who can become the guards of the Divine Hall, we will engrave their names on the heroic monument so that everyone in the cultivation world can always remember their heroism."
"At the same time, we will inform the human emperors in the mortal world to build temples for you and sculpt golden statues so that you can receive the incense from the mortal world."
Hearing this, the eyes of countless disciples became eager.
In the thousands of years of the cultivation world, only a very few had successfully ascended. Many geniuses had fallen because of unstable Dao - hearts or exhaustion of lifespan.
Not to mention ordinary people like them, with insufficient aptitude and comprehension. Even if they were lucky enough to break through to a higher realm and increase their lifespan, the path to ascension still seemed very far away.
If so, it would be better to join the Divine Hall and become a heroic figure in history.
At least they could leave a trace in this mortal world instead of disappearing obscurely.
Moreover, what attracted them even more was the ability to receive the incense from the mortal world, which would greatly contribute to their merits. Maybe they could even ascend because of it!
Thinking of this, some disciples could no longer contain themselves. In front of their sect masters or elders, they walked up to Immortal Huiyan and shouted that they wanted to sign up.
Immortal Huiyan was surrounded by the crowd. He raised his eyebrows at Yuxuzi and True Lord Honghua, a strange smile curving his lips.
Du Cang, standing beside Immortal Huiyan, also showed a provocative smile to True Lord Honghua and Yuxuzi. A strange scarlet light flashed in his dark eyes.
True Lord Honghua and Yuxuzi's faces were gloomy. They didn't understand the purpose of the Divine Hall's actions.
Shen Qing saw everything that had happened in the front hall through the image - stone on Hong Chaoyang in the back hall.
Hearing that Immortal Huiyan wanted to take away those outstanding disciples, the first person she thought of was her master.
"Master, what exactly happened a thousand years ago? What did the people from the Divine Hall do to you after they took you away?"
Ling Zhou, hiding in the small space, ignored Shen Qing's questions.
He hugged his head, feeling the intense pain in his spiritual consciousness.
A thousand years ago, he only remembered being taken away by the people from the Divine Hall and then brought to the Demon Abyss. But he had no impression of what had happened on the way.
He only vaguely remembered that when he came to his senses, his physical body was already in the wall of the Demon Abyss.
In the form of a spiritual soul, he watched his physical body slowly turn into a human - shaped stone.
Just when he was about to dissipate, the jade pendant on his physical body's waist absorbed him. Then, with the flow of spiritual energy, the jade pendant miraculously passed through the seal of the Demon Abyss and came to the surface.
After that, someone picked him up. After changing hands several times, he finally came to Xiaolin Village and became the so - called family heirloom in Shen Qing's parents' mouths.
He had all the memories before going to the Demon Abyss, but he couldn't remember anything about what had happened in the Demon Abyss.
"Master, Master, are you there?"
Shen Qing's voice was a bit anxious, but she couldn't just disappear in front of Li Xian and enter the space.
After all, in her heart, she didn't trust anyone other than herself.
She even had some precautions against Li Xian, even though she already knew his feelings for her.
Li Xian looked at what was happening in front of him. His face was not looking good either.
A thousand years ago, a disciple from the Five - Element Dao Sect was also taken away. The life - token was still there, but his life or death was unknown.
Since then, Yuxuzi had ordered all the disciples of the Five - Element Dao Sect not to have any contact with the people from the Divine Hall in private.
Li Xian wasn't born at that time, so he wasn't very clear about what had happened a thousand years ago. But every time Yuxuzi saw him and mentioned the person taken away a thousand years ago, a look of desolation would always appear on his face.
It seemed that the person taken away had a strong connection with him.
"If this continues, all these people will be lured by the people from the Divine Hall."
Shen Qing said worriedly. Seeing that Li Xian's expression was also not good, she knew that his thoughts should be the same as hers.
"Our two masters told us to hide in the back hall. They must have their reasons. Let's first see how the masters handle this. We must not act rashly."
Li Xian turned around and carefully admonished Shen Qing.
Li Xian had long known that there was something unusual about Shen Qing, but he didn't know exactly what it was.
Yuxuzi had only told him that he would know when he met his fated person, so Shen Qing was his fated person.
But Yuxuzi also said that this fated person, together with him, would bring some changes to this world. The unusualness of the fated person would indirectly or directly change everyone's fate.
The first time he came to the Qingyun Sword Sect with Yuxuzi, he saw Shen Qing, who was still humbly following behind Pei Xuanjing and the others. That was the first time he saw Shen Qing.
But at that time, Shen Qing didn't attract him at all. She was just an ordinary disciple.
The second time he saw Shen Qing was in the training ground of the Qingyun Sword Sect. But at that time, Li Xian felt that Shen Qing was different.
The Shen Qing he saw at that moment was full of a sense of fate, intimacy, and an indescribable attraction in Li Xian's eyes.
He didn't know where his feelings originated.
He only knew that since then, his feelings for Shen Qing had been different.
The commotion in the front hall was even more exaggerated than during the ceremony just now.
Du Cang wrote down the names of all the disciples who had signed up one by one, and then put them into a storage bag under the murderous gazes of Yuxuzi and True Lord Honghua.
Immortal Huiyan bowed to Yuxuzi: "Sorry, I came as a guest today, but I didn't expect to overstep my bounds. But Master Yuxuzi is magnanimous. I'm sure you won't blame me, right?"
Yuxuzi didn't answer, but the hostility was clearly visible in their eye contact.
Under the complex gazes of everyone, Immortal Huiyan and Du Cang left leisurely.
Most of the disciples who had signed up just now were from small sects. Because of what had happened a thousand years ago, most of the elders from the major sects had restrained their disciples.
However, what had happened in this hall had spread throughout the cultivation world, and the number of people signing up was increasing.