Delicious dishes began to arrive one after another, and everyone could not help but begin to gorge themselves.
Gill Gubzi was the most terrifying of the bunch, its mouth opening wide as it swallowed food several times larger than its body, only Argus Woska gave him a competition.
Zulfi and Theor were the most graceful, merely sampling some of the vegetables, with no interest in any of the food that was too strong in flavour.
As more and more food entered their stomachs, everyone's faces began to flush as boiling heat rose within them.
They could feel searing spiritual energy flowing within their bodies, ultimately swiftly flooding into their cores and pools.
While everyone was happily digging in, laughter was heard, "Hehe, brother Ezra is so generous. Not many disciples will patronise Thousand Meal House at such a time."
The prince raised his head and saw a young man standing to the side, a slight smile on his face as he watched them. It was the one who had spoken up for Ezra in Energy Mountain, Ash Bekham.
Ezra had some good feelings towards the former and immediately rose as he answered with a smile. "So it's fellow brother Ash Bekham."
Disciples of the same status would call each other fellow brothers or fellow disciples.
Ezra could tell that Ash had something to say, and thus pointed beside him and said, "Want to come over and have a seat?"
Ash cheerfully consented, proceeding to sit down and chat with the rest for a while, before he finally looked towards Ezra and asked, "Fellow brother, are you interested in joining us along with everyone else?"
He did not beat about the bush, directly stating his objective.
Xyr and the rest fell silent. There was not much surprise on Ezra's face, evidently having already guessed Ash's aim.
Ash smiled and said, "Fellow brother should know that the competition in the outer mountains is extremely fierce, and the many disciples here have already formed various factions and groups.
Grouping up and watching each other's backs is after all better than fighting alone.
Moreover, the Shiyan disciples' advantage is too great. They are too powerful and any non Shiyan disciple will be suppressed by them."
Ash stared at Ezra as he slowly continued, "I've heard that there will only be ten gold belt quotas in the upcoming peak selection ceremony, and the Shiyan disciples have already declared that they will be taking them all, a truly overbearing declaration."
"Gold belt quotas! The fuck is that now?" Ezra raised one eyebrow in annoyance.
"Looks like fellow brother has yet to hear of this." Ash Bekham chuckled.
"We are currently inofficial outer mountain disciples, and if we manage to enter the seven peaks, we will become official outer mountain disciples.
These official outer mountain disciples are also divided into different categories, from highest to the lowest, diamond belt disciples, gold belt disciples and silver belt disciples.
The higher one's rank, the higher one's status in the seven peaks. In addition, one will also be granted completely different cultivation resources. The top ten performers of every peak selection ceremony will directly become gold belt disciples, by passing the silver belt rank.
Moreover, only the top ten will be allowed to choose which peak to enter. The others will be allocated by the sect."
At this point, Ezra and the rest began to frown. They had come to the Spirit Devouring Mountain to make their stronghold.
If they ended up forcibly separated from many of the other peaks, won't they be unable to achieve their goal?
Ezra's eyes narrowed slightly. Looks like he and other strong members needed to each take one of the top ten spots in the peak selection ceremony.
As such, they would have to take them from the Shiyan and Rhiyan disciples, an act akin to taking food from a tiger.
Seated at the table, Ash Bekham smiled slightly as he looked at Ezra Zephyr's expression and said, "I can see that fellow brother Ezra is someone with ambition, and will not be satisfied with being the lowest rank silver belt disciple when entering the seven peaks."
Spirit Devouring Mountain disciples were strictly regulated by a ranking system, which aimed to motivate the disciples and make them fight each other all the time. A higher ranked disciple would not only enjoy high status but also obtain more cultivation resources than the other disciples, cultivation resources that undoubtedly meant gaining a lead on others.
Sometimes, it was as the saying went, once you're one step behind, you will always be that step behind.
In fact, it may even result in you being forever being crushed under heel by others.
Hence, there was no disciple who was willing to give up on their chance so easily during the peak selection ceremony.
"The group I'm in has five first class disciples including myself. If we were to talk about strength, our group was one of the stronger ones amongst the non Shiyan disciple factions. Before your Naran continent showed up, now the strongest faction is yours"
Ash Bekham fervently looked at Ezra as he continued, "If fellow brother joins us, we will be able to attract even more disciples to our group. When that happens, we will not lose out even to the Shiyan and Rhiyan factions."
He then looked towards Gill Subzi, Cen Zutton and the rest as he said, "When that time comes, the other Naran disciples can also join us."
Ezra Zephyr squinted his eyes. "You mean only first class disciples can join your faction."
"Yes, we can not divide our attention with second and third class disciples at the moment."
However, Gill Subzi, Cen Zutton and the rest did not speak. They merely looked towards Ezra Zephyr, clearly waiting for his decision.
The prince held the cup in silence for a while, before he slowly shook his head under Ash Bekham's fervent gaze. "I don't think I'll be able to join fellow brother Ash's group."