One by one, the young talents stepped onto the floating walkway in the sky after being called and then chose the superpower they favored.

In normal times, most people would first choose the Divine Profound Hall, after all, it is an established superpower, and it is well known that their overall strength is the strongest. The number of Dao Realm experts in the Divine Profound Hall almost exceeds that of three to four ordinary superpowers combined.

Moreover, the Divine Profound Hall owns a large number of industries, offering abundant cultivation resources, joining them means dedicating oneself solely to training without any worries.

However, this time, everyone instinctively avoided the Divine Profound Hall, choosing other superpowers whenever possible.

Today the prestige of the Divine Profound Hall suffered a huge blow. A core disciple was defeated, the elder lost face. If an ordinary person spoke wildly, they’d just slap them to death, but Zhang Menglong was strongly defended by the Sunset Sect.

And most importantly, Zhang Menglong obtained the Divine Profound Hall’s inheritance. It’s possible he knows all the weak points of the Divine Profound Hall’s martial arts techniques. Joining the Divine Profound Hall under these circumstances is too risky. If that information leaks, the Divine Profound Hall would become the lowest ranked existence.

Who would dare join the Divine Profound Hall under such conditions!

When all other superpowers had filled their recruitment slots, the Divine Profound Hall had a vacancy of 20,000 people, something which hasn’t happened before. In previous years, the Divine Profound Hall’s recruitment quota was usually filled first!

This shows what kind of blow this entanglement, caused by Zhang Menglong, had on the Divine Profound Hall’s prestige!

The remaining 20,000 had no other choice and reluctantly joined the Divine Profound Hall.

After all, with their rankings, joining any superpower would just make them an intern disciple, learning some skills and gathering resources before being eliminated, so it didn’t seem to make much difference which force they joined.

Finally, the superpower selection that happens every few years concluded. Except for the Divine Profound Hall, the other forces all had great gains, even attracting some unexpected individuals. Some also obtained certain inheritances in the Ancient Cave Heaven, and joining the corresponding force will surely mean special cultivation.

After all the superpowers complete their recruitment, an internal selection is conducted. Everyone starts as an intern disciple and goes through an internal assessment to gain an official status.

Additionally, no matter what disciple, within the first three years of joining a superpower, they are not allowed to leave their sect’s territory unless there are special circumstances.

This means, under normal circumstances, it will be difficult for everyone to meet again within those three years.

"Then we shall meet again in three years!"

Zhang Menglong, Lin Yuan, and Long Sen gathered to say their goodbyes.

Long Sen’s acquisition of the Yujian Villa’s inheritance was already known by its Villa Master, and he even secured a position as a Direct Disciple. In the future, he might have the chance to become the true successor of Yujian Villa.

"Don’t hand over everything you got from Yujian Villa, keep some things to yourself," Zhang Menglong cautioned Long Sen.

Currently, it’s unknown whether his position as Direct Disciple is just nominal or if the Villa Master genuinely intends to cultivate him. If Long Sen hands over everything he obtained, he might attract jealousy; keeping some cards to himself would be wiser.

"I understand this principle," Long Sen nodded. He wouldn’t reveal all his cards until he fully understood Yujian Villa’s situation.

"Gu Xiao, you need to be the most careful," Long Sen said. "Just now, an elder from the Sword God Manor told me that people from the Divine Profound Hall are very vengeful, and recently they have become more mysterious. Many people from other forces have disappeared over the past two years, possibly related to them."

"Is that really the case?" Zhang Menglong frowned. This Divine Profound Hall is no simple matter.

"However, for the next three years, you’ll be in closed training at the Sunset Sect, so even if they reach far, they can’t touch you. But still, be careful, what if there are spies from them in the Sunset Sect..."

"I understand!" Zhang Menglong nodded. For a force like the Divine Profound Hall, sending spies to other superpowers to gather intel is not an impossible task. It’s likely that assassination attempts will follow.

"I heard that the Sunset Sect has a ’Nine Nether Sunset Art’, which is in three layers. If you reach the third layer, you could easily break through any obstacle. Once you master it, perhaps even the entire Divine Profound Hall wouldn’t pose a threat."

"We believe in you! Once you master it, we’ll accompany you to the Divine Profound Hall and knock them down together!"

Each of them gave Zhang Menglong a thump on the chest.

"Whoa, you’re going to give me internal injuries," Zhang Menglong flexed his arm and retaliated against them.

"Gu Xiao, we were just joking with you, why did you hit back?"

"Gu Xiao, if you want to kill us just say so!"

...

Amidst the playful banter, the entire ground suddenly shook. Turning around, they saw the floating island in the sky beginning to collapse, and the key to opening the Ancient Cave Heaven was absorbed into the Heavenly Pride Order.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Countless Heavenly Pride Orders were summoned by a force, flying out from everyone’s bodies, finally merging into the Heavenly Pride Order.

The Heavenly Pride Order shimmered with silvery light and slowly sank into the ground, completely disappearing!

"What’s happening?" Zhang Menglong gazed at the smooth, neat ground, recalling Gou Dan’s words that this item should be a very high-level treasure.

"No one can keep the Heavenly Pride Order," Qi Congyun approached Zhang Menglong, "Every time it only appears on its own will. Only then can we find it and start preparing for the assessment. We have no idea what kind of thing it is."

"It’s truly fascinating!" Zhang Menglong couldn’t help but marvel, "If I have the chance, I must study it thoroughly!"

...

Everyone rested for a night in the Hong Yun Empire, and the young talents selected by the superpowers set off with their respective elders the next day.

The number of disciples recruited by the Sunset Sect remained low, with less than ten thousand, and their qualities varied widely. According to Qi Congyun, what they valued was not the person’s current strength or potential, but their compatibility with the Sunset Sect and the possibility of mastering the Nine Nether Sunset Art.

"Everyone, come aboard!" The leading elder of the Sunset Sect waved his hand, deploying a massive rune-engraved ship, "It’s a three-day journey to the Sunset Sect from here, feel free to rest as you’ve all been tiring yourselves out for these three years."

The disciples of the Sunset Sect confidently boarded the ship. Though they were all from the same selection cohort, and many were older than Gu Xiao, they still respectfully addressed him as "Senior Brother Gu" when passing by.

Zhang Menglong sat by the window, gazing at the world outside, thinking he might be one step closer to the gateway connecting two worlds!