Yi Zhao nodded and first turned around to walk outside.
The black-golden door was automatically activated.
Bright sunlight shone in.
Yi Zhao raised his chin slightly and looked outside.
From here to the square, one had to walk down nine flights of stairs. Hence, he could easily look down on the entire square from here.
When the door opened and the few figures appeared, the originally crowded square instantly fell silent.
Everyone’s gazes gathered here. Then, the crowd bowed in unison. “Greetings, Clan Leader!”
The many figures that were split to two sides nodded at the same time.
Even though there weren’t many people, those who could come here today were the most outstanding ones in the entire red-gold heavenly phoenix clan. Standing on the sides, they invisibly exuded an extremely strong suppression.
Yi Zhao silently looked in the direction of Phoenix Valley.
Dark clouds gathered, and thunder brewed. Clearly, the commotion there hadn’t ended.
He didn’t know if it would end within a short period of time.
Yi Zhao quickly retracted his gaze and waved his hand.
A tremendous aura rapidly spread across. “All rise.”
The crowd then stood up.
Yi Zhao surveyed his surroundings. When he saw the younger generation, he paused for a moment.
Detecting the clan leader looking over, the young children all couldn’t help but be nervous. Amongst them, it was quite a few people’s first time attending the ancestral ceremony and their first time at the square in front of Godly Phoenix Hall.
It was rather normal for them to be nervous and uptight.
Luckily, Yi Zhao quickly retracted his gaze, reducing the invisible suppression on them.
Yi Zhao’s low and distant voice spread far as it clearly landed in everyone’s ears.
“Today’s ancestral ceremony is a grand event held once every hundred years for our red-gold heavenly phoenix clan! This time, other than paying respects to our ancestors and testing the young blood, we have another very important matter—choosing the clan’s young master!”
“I have inherited the clan leader position for more than a thousand years. It’s now time to choose the young master, who is the choice for the next clan leader!”
Once he said this, quite a few people seemed agitated.
Actually, they had known about this previously. But when they heard it personally, they couldn’t help but be overwhelmed.
This matter was of great meaning to the entire red-gold heavenly phoenix clan. Even if the majority knew that they didn’t have the right to compete, they were still filled with curiosity and excitement.
Being able to personally witness the selection of the young master was also a lucky event!
“The first matter of the ancestral hall: testing the bloodline talent!” Yi Zhao raised his hand and was about to point at Yi Ran. But after some time, he still didn’t see that familiar figure, so he couldn’t help but knit his brows.
Previously, he took a rough glance and thought that Yi Ran was at the back. It was only now that he realized that Yi Ran was not here at all.
This momentary pause immediately attracted the attention of the crowd present.
Quite a few people glanced at each other awkwardly.
According to the rules, the first to be tested in the ancestral ceremony was usually the most outstanding one amongst the young generation. This was also considered as having a good start.
For their batch, Yi Ran should be the one to go up first. However, he still hadn’t arrived.
Upon seeing this, Elder Yi Gong hurriedly stepped forward and softly explained, “Clan Leader, Yi Ran told me a few days ago that he had understood quite a bit and had faint signs of breaking through. During this period of time, he has been in seclusion, so he probably hasn’t come out yet.”
It wasn’t a small mistake to be late for the ancestral ceremony, but if it were for cultivation… It could be understood.
Yi Zhao’s gaze became slightly warmer. “Yi Ran always knows what he’s doing. If there wasn’t a special reason, I believe he wouldn’t do this. It seems like he has hopes of breaking through.”
Elder Yi Gong hurriedly said, “Thank you for your blessing, Clan Leader. However, he hasn’t broken through successfully yet, so I don’t dare to say much as his mentor.”
Yi Zhao laughed. “He’s very talented; I believe it’ll be done successfully. Besides, he’s already outstanding on his own. If he can successfully break through this time, he will be even better.”
Elder Yi Gong humbly lowered his head. “He’s young and ambitious. There’s much for him to learn.”
He seemed humble, but the arrogance in his eyes caused everyone in the know to see it clearly.
Yi Zhao didn’t mind it either.
During the recent few years, Yi Ran did perform quite well, so it was no wonder Yi Gong would be proud of him.
Besides, Yi Ran had already opened three meridians. If he could really successfully break through this time, he would open his fourth one. Amongst the younger generation, there hadn’t been anyone who reached such a level.
Yi Zhao raised his hand and pointed at a young man at the side. “Yi Xin, we’ll start with you then!”
The young man, who was called on, was shocked. However, he quickly reacted. “Yes, sir!”
Then, he walked directly over and stopped when he was in the middle of the square.
This place was carved with the red-gold heavenly phoenix clan’s totem. They had to rely on this totem to undergo the test.
Yi Xin stood on the totem, looked down, and took a deep breath to calm himself down.
He was also considered extremely outstanding in the clan. Other than Yi Ran, he was the top out of the remaining ones.
Yi Ran and Yi Xin were of similar age, but in comparison, he was normally much more stable and discreet.
Other than cultivation, he rarely intervened in the clan’s matters. This was the complete opposite of Yi Ran.
The surrounding gazes all looked over.
Even though Yi Ran didn’t get the ball rolling, Yi Xin’s talent and skills were considered decent.
“Let’s begin!” Yi Zhao commanded.
Yi Xin nodded and closed his eyes. A red-golden fire emerged from his body the next moment!
The fire instantly surrounded him, and the scorching heat caused the surrounding air to rise in temperature!
Whir!
His feet suddenly had a strange whirring sound! Following this, that totem seemed to light up as it gradually became brighter!
A warm light slowly surfaced under the totem!
Everyone watched on with much focus, and some didn’t even dare to blink, terrified that they would miss something.
The shape of the red-gold heavenly phoenix clan’s totem was extremely special. It seemed like a ball of fire and also a phoenix that was about to spread its wings. Its tail had nine lines, which seemed like fire sparks that were separated and also the tails of phoenixes.
At this point, as Yi Xin’s fire burned, the nine lines were gradually lit up.
The first line.
The second.
The third!
When the three fires lit up, the crowd instantly held their breaths in.
Lighting three lines meant that he had opened three meridians.
It wasn’t surprising to open three meridians, but the point was whether he could continue!
What shocked everyone was that the fire on Yi Xin didn’t immediately extinguish! The fourth line finally appeared with sparks of red-golden!
“Si… Is he lighting up the fourth line?”
“Is he for real? He can only do that if he has opened the fourth meridian, right? I didn’t hear about Yi Xin breaking through…”
“He has always been discreet, focused on cultivation, and very humble. Perhaps he can really light up the fourth one—”
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