Chapter Eleven: Selection

The elder who entered the reception room was the ancestral founder of the Li family—Li Huan, who was at the early stage of the Convergence cultivation level.
“You must be the three people recommended by Li Ting, right?” Li Huan entered the room and said with a calm smile.
“Yes, Ancestral Founder!” Qu Yi, Li Yu, and Li Lin immediately stood up in response.
At this time, Qu Yi was using Li Mu’s identity. Facing the Li family’s ancestral founder, he had no choice but to address him in that way to avoid exposure.
Li Huan scanned the three with his spiritual sense, his eyes lighting up as he said approvingly, “Very good. With three outstanding individuals like you among the Li family’s descendants, our family will surely thrive and expand. My lifespan is nearing its end, and I won’t be able to protect you for much longer. From now on, the hope of the Li family rests on you three.”
Hearing this, Li Yu asked anxiously, “Ancestral Founder, you’ve already reached the early stage of Convergence cultivation and have a lifespan of ten thousand years. Why is your lifespan coming to an end?”
Li Lin also looked at Li Huan nervously, while Qu Yi remained quite calm.
“There’s no need to panic. I still have four or five hundred years left, enough to protect the Li family for some time. This time, because the former head of the Enforcement Team, Senior Brother Li Zhen, died, Senior Brother Li Kui became the new head. I used to be close to Senior Brother Li Kui, and now I finally have the chance to secure three spots for our Li family in the Enforcement Team. I hope you three will perform excellently and help our family establish a strong foundation on other planets, so that our family can continue to thrive. That way, when my lifespan is exhausted, I can die in peace,” Li Huan said with a faint smile.
Upon hearing this, Qu Yi finally understood how the Li family obtained those three spots in the Enforcement Team—it was indirectly related to Li Zhen’s attempt to claim the Eight Directions Sword on Baiyin Planet. If Li Zhen hadn’t died, Li Huan likely wouldn’t have been able to secure those three spots.
Li Yu and Li Lin stared at Li Huan in silence for a long time. They had grown up listening to stories about Li Huan, and the Li family had always relied on his influence to thrive. Now, hearing that his lifespan was coming to an end, they felt as if their souls had been taken away.
Qu Yi finally spoke, still in a calm tone, “Ancestral Founder, once we three join the Enforcement Team, which unit will we be assigned to?”
Li Huan looked at Qu Yi. Seeing his calm expression, he felt even more pleased. For the Li family to continue thriving, it needed descendants like him who could remain composed under pressure.

“The Enforcement Hall has a total of one hundred enforcement teams, each consisting of one hundred experts at the Divided Mind stage. I have no right to decide who will be assigned to which team; instead, it’s the one hundred team leaders who will choose, and those chosen will join their respective teams. The members of the enforcement teams are replaced every hundred years. If you perform well over these hundred years, depending on your cultivation level, you may be able to establish sects on certain planets or take over branches of the Taiyuan Sect there. If you don’t perform well, you’re likely to be eliminated from the enforcement teams and get nothing,” Li Huan said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Qu Yi, Li Yu, and Li Lin all showed signs of concern. They had had conflicts with two men from the Guangyuan Sect on Taiqian Planet, and they also knew that many people from the Guangyuan Sect were in the Enforcement Hall. If they were chosen by those from the Guangyuan Sect, their lives would be difficult from then on.

“Ancestor, where is your cave dwelling now? Where should we go to find you in the future?” Qu Yi asked calmly.

Li Huan chuckled and replied, “I currently reside in the Elders’ Hall, but I spend most of my time in the Artifact Hall. Right now, I’m helping the disciples refine magical artifacts.”

The Elders’ Hall: In the Taiyuan Sect, anyone who reaches the Combined Body stage is immediately promoted to an elder and can have a cave dwelling there.

The Artifact Hall: This is where the Taiyuan Sect stores materials for refining magical artifacts, pills, and spirit talismans.

Hearing this, Qu Yi was delighted because his goal of infiltrating the Taiyuan Sect was to find ancient relics related to the Artifact God. Now that Li Huan was in the Artifact Hall, he could use Li Huan’s connections to enter and scout around.

“Ancestor, if we need to refine magical artifacts in the future, can we just come to you directly?” Qu Yi asked with a smile.

“Yes, but I can’t refine magical artifacts for you for free using the sect’s materials. You need to provide the materials or equivalent valuables before I can help you,” Li Huan replied with a smile.

This was exactly what Qu Yi wanted. Now he had an excuse to go to the Artifact Hall in the future.

……

The Enforcement Hall was located in a huge valley, divided into one hundred areas that served as camps for the one hundred enforcement teams.

In the valley, there was also a peculiar cave, which the Taiyuan Sect had transformed into a large array called the “Golden Essence Uprising Extreme Attack Array” to assess the strength of the enforcement team members.

By now, ten thousand cultivators who had signed up to join the enforcement teams had arrived in front of a magnificent palace named “Elimination”. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In the air, a hundred phantom figures descended into the elimination hall and took their seats in the two rows of one hundred seats already prepared there. These hundred people were actually the hundred captains of the Law Enforcement Hall. Meanwhile, Qu Yi and ten thousand other candidates for law enforcement officers entered the elimination hall one after another, then proceeded to a ten-meter-sized cave behind it. After entering the hall, these candidates walked past the two rows of seats and, under the pressure of the hundred captains, stepped into the cave—one by one. This was the initial screening process. If any candidate fainted, they would be mercilessly eliminated. As Qu Yi passed by, he quickly scanned the hundred captains in the two rows of seats, memorizing their appearances and strengths. Then, under their oppressive presence, he walked through calmly, unaffected by the combined pressure of their spiritual auras at the Diversion stage, as if strolling leisurely. However, as he moved through the hall, Qu Yi noticed three captains giving him strange smiles. Among the candidates entering the hall, he also saw two disciples from the Guangyuan Gate who had a grudge against him, staring at him with sly smiles. Qu Yi paid no attention to their looks or smiles and simply walked into the cave easily to face the trials of the formation. Inside the cave, the “Golden Yuan Uprising Extreme Attack Formation” would launch continuous attacks, mercilessly eliminating those candidates with weaker strength. As soon as Qu Yi entered the cave, he saw the scenery around him change drastically—the entire space was filled with golden light, and ahead were various branching paths. Each candidate chose a path and walked in. “Qu Yi, this formation will produce endless golden energy giants, some virtual and some real. You can ignore those virtual energy giants; let them attack—you won’t suffer any harm. This is probably how the Taiyuan Gate tests your mental resilience. As for those real energy giants, I’ll warn you: their magical attacks have the power of those at the Mid-Diversion stage. As long as you increase your speed, you can still escape,” the Artifact God suddenly said. After hearing this, Qu Yi smiled slightly. This mysterious Artifact God could understand the entire situation of the formation just by scanning it with his spiritual aura—truly a master of formations. With the support of the Artifact God, what did Qu Yi need to worry about? He walked in with a confident smile, chose a random path, and stepped forward. Suddenly, a giant wielding a golden staff jumped in front of Qu Yi and swung at him.

Qu Yi walked by with a smile, waving his hand in greeting, completely ignoring the attacks from this golden energy giant. It turned out that the Artifact God had already told Qu Yi that this energy giant was illusory—a mere phantom meant to waste the vital energy of these candidate members. Sure enough, Qu Yi passed through effortlessly. The golden club of the energy giant seemed to strike Qu Yi’s head viciously, but it disappeared the moment it touched his hair, carrying no real attacking power at all. After facing three illusory golden energy giants, another energy giant wielding a golden sword suddenly appeared before Qu Yi. “Qu Yi, take this!” the Artifact God said succinctly. Quickly, Qu Yi drew out his Fulong Sword. His body flashed swiftly, using the speed he had achieved at the early stage of fusion to dodge the energy giant’s attacks. The vital energy in his Fulong Sword activated, summoning a golden dragon that smashed the golden energy giant to pieces. Withdrawing his sword, Qu Yi flew effortlessly through the passage once again. With the help of the Artifact God, Qu Yi could fly through the passages very easily. Meanwhile, the sounds of the candidate members fighting against the energy giants could be heard everywhere, along with angry curses from those who realized they had wasted their vital energy for nothing. In the Elimination Hall, the hundred captains were chatting cheerfully. “These fifty good-for-nothings were terrified into passing out under our mental pressure. With such weak minds, they still want to join the Enforcement Team?” “Among these ten thousand candidates, there are still a few decent ones who aren’t affected by our mental pressure. What terrifying people.” “Hmph, I’m sure that in the ‘Golden Element Uprising Extreme Attack Formation,’ half of these candidates will be eliminated.” “I’m really curious to see who will be the first to walk out of the cave.”… These captains quickly expressed their thoughts, while the four captains at the front of the two rows of seats simply listened with faint smiles, not participating in these trivial conversations. These four captains were named Zhou Rong, Zu Wei, Sun Yang, and Yan Zhong. They were all at the late stage of Divine Division cultivation and the strongest among the hundred captains. Of course, as per tradition, these four captains had priority in selecting candidates. Suddenly, while the captains were engaged in lively discussions, a person emerged from the cave that had been the entrance just moments ago. It turned out that this cave served as both an entrance and an exit, with its interior arranged as a massive maze.

And the first person to emerge was Qu Yi.
The hundred captains immediately stopped talking and stared at Qu Yi in surprise, not expecting that someone in the early stages of distraction would be the first to leave the formation.
Captain Yan Zhong, on the other hand, watched Qu Yi with meaningful intent.