The selection of sword bearers is somewhat different from the sect selection, the former is more stringent and is also divided into two stages.
The first stage is to fight for the qualifications of those who participate in the sword wielder's trial.
This link is mainly to eliminate the vast majority of disciples, so that a very small number of people can qualify for the final trial.
The number of disciples from each sect who arrived this time was a total of 2,793, and these were the leaders of the various sects in Yinghuang Prefecture in the past ten years.
They will be selected in the first stage of the selection to qualify for the trial.
Only these ten of them were eligible to participate in the next second stage of the sword-wielding trial.
This is because the sword bearer's trial after obtaining the trial qualification itself is extremely special.
Like a pilgrimage, all sword bearers will witness.
Therefore, the tradition throughout the ages does not allow too many people to participate in trials and disturb the sleep of the sages.
The assessment of sword bearers is held every ten years, and each time five people are selected from the best, three of whom are positive and two are standard.
Positive, which means that the sword bearer is directly given the status of the sword-wielding person, enjoying the sword, and being blessed by the emperor.
Those who hold swords in their official positions, heaven and earth as proof, are the most orthodox.
Accuracy, which means no order sword, has blessings, and needs to go to the Sword Palace in Fenghai County to re-assess.
This is a deputy position, there is no proof of heaven and earth, and the successive sword-wielding elders can make their own choices based on the performance of the participants.
And before these two stages, whether it was the spirit seal of perception battle or the height of the primordial away from the pillar of ghost, it was very important and would be a plus point for the second stage of trial.
At this moment, the sky is blue, the clouds are thin, and the noon sun shines on the earth, reflecting the snowfield brightly.
Whether it is the light of the sky or the light of ice and snow on the ground, the world is intertwined at this moment, glowing with coldness.
The wind also came from the north, rolling up snowflakes, blowing the crowd, and lifting the sleeves.
Next to this primordial pillar, with the sound of the sound of swords coming from the sword holding court, disciples and scattered practitioners from various sects of Yinghuangzhou, 2,793 people, gathered together.
Xu Qing and the captain were also among them, and the two stood together, both looking up at the sky.
Xu Qing looked calm, and the captain was full of anticipation.
Xu Qing was not surprised that the captain could meet the conditions of the trialist, after all, the other party had been preparing for it since he came to the Eight Sects Alliance.
What he focused on was the Taisi Immortal Gate Daozi in the crowd in the distance.
"Are you eyeing him?" The captain spoke in a low voice.
Xu Qing glanced at the captain and nodded slightly.
The captain smiled when he heard this.
"Did you feel it too?"
Xu Qing's eyes froze, and he was about to ask, but at this moment, the sound of swords and gold and stone echoed again in the sky, and three vast figures descended from the end of the primordial pillar.
These three figures are two old men and one middle-aged.
All three of them were wearing official uniforms, appearing in mid-air, their momentum was magnificent, the heavens and the earth seemed to be shaking, and the eight directions were even more solemn, it was really those two old men who were not bad, their eyes were flowing with thousands of dao marks, shaking the sky.
And the cultivation in the middle was even more terrifying, countless phantoms appeared behind him, one after another, connected to the sky, and as far as his eyes could see, half of the sky seemed to be transformed by his body.
The people below and all the monks in the primordial city were all under this coercion, their hearts trembled and their expressions were respectful.
Then a majestic voice exploded like thunder in the hearts of these two seven hundred and ninety-three people.
"In the past, the qualifications of the trialists were rarely selected by life and death."
"But this time the qualification decision of the Imperial State Trialists is different from the past, according to the resolution of the Sword Holding Court, the place where the qualifications were obtained was replaced with a ghost cave."
The majestic voice echoed, and most of the people who heard it looked dazed in their hearts, obviously they had never heard of the ghost cave, only a very small number of disciples and protectors of various sects, their expressions were moved.
Xu Qing was also startled, and instinctively looked at the captain.
The captain's eyes obviously shrank slightly, and noticing Xu Qing's gaze, he raised his finger and pointed to the ground.
Xu Qing thought about it.
And that majestic voice, after finishing his previous words, waited for a while and continued to speak.
"Some of you may have heard of it, but most of you probably don't know what a ghost cave is."
Everyone below listened intently, after all, it was about success or failure.
Xu Qing also looked solemn and very serious.
"You should know the origin of the primordial pillar, ghost cave...... It's just under the primordial pillar!"
Everyone had their own waves, and Xu Qing also narrowed his eyes.
"Under the Pillar of the Primordial Distance, there is a deep pit that leads to somewhere, and it is filled with countless strange ghosts.
The middle-aged man in the sky, when he said this, his eyes swept over everyone, and then words came out again.
"Strange is false, strange ghosts are real, the former is evil, the latter is fierce."
"There are many ghost caves on the Wanggu Continent, any of them are mysterious and full of danger, but as long as they are not too deep, this danger is still controllable."
"The primordial ghost pillar is actually suppressing this ghost cave, and it has been suppressed for too many years."
Xu Qing looked down at the part in the distance where Taichu left the pillar and disappeared into the earth, he thought that the captain had told him that later generations analyzed that the Ghost Emperor threw down his weapon, and there was a purpose.
At this moment, the purpose may be to suppress the ghost cave.
"Why did the Ghost Emperor do this? And what exists in the ghost cave that will make the ghost emperor leave the dark pillar in the primordial beginning to suppress it?"
Xu Qing didn't know the reason, but he felt that there must be an answer to the sword court.
At this moment, the middle-aged official in official uniform on the sky, his voice still carried majesty, echoing everyone's minds.
"It is precisely because of this that the part of the primordial pillar that has not entered the ghost cave is always corroded by the aura of the ghost cave, and it is inevitable that it will shatter."
"Especially in recent years, more fragments have been broken, causing a large number of fragments of the primordial pillar to float into this ghost cave, some fall to the bottom of infinity, and some are scattered on the walls and corners of the ghost cave."
"In the past, the sword bearer went down to collect it regularly and refined it into the Primordial Pillar, so today you can wait for it."
"The time limit is three days, and the top ten with the highest number of fragments will qualify for the second stage of the trial."
Most of the people looked solemn, understanding that this was the rule of the qualification battle.
"In addition, I remind you that there is a life-and-death crisis in the ghost cave, so this is your last chance to give up, once you participate, although everyone will issue a specific teleportation talisman, you can teleport away in case of danger, but it is not absolute, accidents are still possible."
As he spoke, jade slips flew from the sky and fell in front of every participant here, and were caught by everyone one by one.
Those who can come here to participate in the selection of sword bearers are not people with fragile minds, so naturally no one will quit at this moment, and some people even ask questions after getting the teleportation jade slip.
"My lord, if the number is the same, how do you choose?"
"Determined according to the ranking of the primordial pillar." The middle-aged man in official uniform spoke calmly.
"Finally, I want to warn you that this ghost cave is not a place outside the law, but also within the scope of the Sword Court, you can shoot, but it is strictly forbidden to kill each other."
"Now, the sword bearer trial qualification selection, start!"
With the echo of the words, suddenly the primordial pillar emitted a dazzling light, and as it continued to spread, the pillar trembled strongly.
Then it slowly shrank in a circle and slowly rose upwards, revealing the part of the Primordial Liyou Pillar buried underground.
Everyone's eyes all fell, and they could clearly see that the bottom part of the lifted Primordial Pillar was pitch black, very mottled, full of damage, and extremely severely corroded.
Even the bottom part, the column was already riddled with holes and was dilapidated.
And as the primordial pillar was lifted, a thousand-foot deep pit appeared on the ground, and when bursts of black gas with extremely evil intentions emanated from inside, there were bursts of roars that did not resemble human voices, coming out of the deep pit.
Those roars were filled with sorrow and wailing, containing endless pain and madness, just like ...... It is connected to the underworld.
This scene made the expressions of everyone here change one after another, and some people who were originally determined were shocked and wavered at this moment.
"You wait, you can't go down yet!" In the sky, the voice of the middle-aged man in official uniform surpassed the thunder and exploded with a bang, and the disciples and scattered cultivators of various sects around the pit gritted their teeth and rushed straight for the pit.
The red girl Qingqiu was also among them, and the first batch of people to step in, Taji Michiko, as well as the human race boy, and other sects of Tianjiao, also entered one after another.
Xu Qing and the captain also moved.
Soon, ninety-ten percent of the cultivators in this place chose to step in, and when the rest hesitated, a shocking loud noise came, and the primordial pillar that had risen into the sky suddenly fell, turning back into a thousand feet thick, and pierced directly into the deep pit.
Block it again!
In an instant, the black gas dissipated, the wailing and mournful sound disappeared, and everything was as usual.
As for the deep pit, it was pitch black.
The moment Xu Qing stepped in, he immediately approached the edge of the surroundings, and after touching the soil, he was vigilant and stared around coldly.
This place is weird, even if the cultivation is converged with the eyes, it is still impossible to see everything clearly for a while.
And the roar that was heard outside just now disappeared at this moment, and there was no more sorrow, except for the sound of breathing, there was silence here.
The darkness in front of them and the claustrophobia of perception naturally form a sense of oppression and give people a sense of mystery and fear.
Only the cold breath coming from below, with a fishy smell and the smell of decay, like countless strands of hair drifting around the skin, the hair will instinctively stand up.
Until a moment passed, perhaps it was because the naked eye adapted to the darkness, or perhaps because the cultivation resonated with this place, and in Xu Qing's eyes, this place slowly became clear.
This was a huge deep pit, even if you could see the surroundings clearly, it was still dark below, like an abyss.
There were some black plants growing on the surrounding walls, and on each leaf, there was a faint grimace, smiling at everyone who was observing against the wall at the moment.
There were a total of 24,500 people who came, and now only half of them were on guard on the surrounding walls.
The remaining half, as if it had entered this place, rushed deeper into the depths.
Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and turned to look beside him, the captain was less than three feet away from him, and he also looked at him, and then raised his finger and pointed down.
Xu Qing nodded, and the two were about to let go and jump down the pit, but at this moment......
A cold, long and ethereal singing sound seems to be in all directions and in the ears, swirling continuously.
The voice is full of femininity and sharpness, and when fused together, it becomes an indescribable song.
"The past life does not come, the past life is always there, cut the lovesick dust......"
This voice couldn't distinguish between men and women, and it seeped into my mind unconsciously, making people can't help but feel numb in their scalps, and even more so cold.
It was like autumn rain, the cold falling on my face, seeping into my whole body.