Two Realms Shuttle Gate: Don't Call Me a Demon!

Some newcomers actively came to join after hearing about the famed reputation of Ghost Ridge Palace.

Even though Ghost Ridge Palace was a Demon Cultivation Sect known for its notorious cruelty, many people still joined without second thoughts, driven by the desire for power and the hope of becoming immortals.

Among these, many had failed the entry tests of other Righteous Sects and turned to join Ghost Ridge Palace instead.

After all, Righteous Sects laid great emphasis on qualities like aptitude and comprehension, while Ghost Ridge Palace, as a sect of the Demon Path, operated on a broad net policy—catching all and refining them, not fussing much about innate talent.

Compared to Righteous Sects, Ghost Ridge Palace did not have to provide resources to Outer Disciples and even collected a monthly tribute, effectively charging for employment.

In such an environment, even talent just sufficient to cultivate to the First Level of Yunling Realm was not a big deal.

In the 'farming pests' model, Outer Disciples were essentially released into the wild; amid extraordinarily high mortality rates, there would always be someone who broke through layers to become an inner disciple—that was the core elite Ghost Ridge Palace needed.

Of course, it's not that Ghost Ridge Palace did not like disciples with good aptitude—everyone likes good students.

It's just that today, with Righteous paths holding sway, those with good aptitude often chose Righteous Sects first.

Ghost Ridge Palace could only pick up the leftovers others deemed unworthy—the quality of disciples was mixed, to put it mildly.

These disciples were not fools; facing such brutal competition and still deciding to join meant there were benefits in Ghost Ridge Palace—they just had to find their own resources, such as catching bugs in Insect Valley to sell for money.

In the outside world, if you were a Loose Cultivator without a sect, finding a channel to even earn cultivation resources would be incredibly challenging—reaching the Second or Third Level of Yunling Realm would be quite an achievement.

At the assessment venue, three Elders were responsible for testing these newcomers, assisted by a group of disciples for management.

Among the three Elders, Su Jie unexpectedly saw someone he recognized, Tang Peiqing, with whom he had an acquaintance.

The assessment in Ghost Ridge Palace was straightforward; they did not test basic physical strengths.

Having managed to travel through mountains and rivers to get here, their physical strength inevitably was up to mark.

At a testing formation, the three Elders controlled the array, allowing the newcomers to enter one after another.

Depending on their aptitudes, the formation would give different feedbacks—while not guaranteed to be 100% accurate, it was correct most of the time.

The passing criteria for Ghost Ridge Palace was set very low; most newcomers arriving here passed.

After passing the tests, they then had to choose a Master to follow.

At this point, the newcomers had to rely on their own judgment, luck, and some insider tips they had heard beforehand.

"It seems we have very few people coming from our branch."

Su Jie looked at the assessment scene and couldn't help but comment.

The number of newcomers choosing Taoist Qiu as their Master was very few; they were indeed the lowest in number at the scene.

"It has always been like this."

Duan Guanghai touched the back of his head; although his strength was only at the Fourth Level of Yunling Realm, he had been in the sect for seven years and understood the situation well.

"I think I understand why."

Su Jie thought about Taoist Qiu's high monthly fee, typically twice that of other Elders, plus adding the presence of Yu Wenxian, a little witch in the branch who liked to seduce disciples and brand them as servants.

Newcomers also received tips from each other; hearing about this situation, they naturally chose to stay away.

The rest either were unaware of the details or were simply headstrong.

Su Jie initially belonged to the former.

While they were talking, a commotion suddenly erupted at the venue.

On the assessment array, glows flashed, looking like dancing jade belts in the air.

A young girl stood in the array, appearing somewhat bewildered.

"Class A, top quality; it's rare to encounter someone with excellent aptitude,"

Tang Peiqing stroked his beard and asked kindly, "What's your name?"

Although Ghost Ridge Palace did not prioritize aptitude, having it was certainly better than not.

"I... my name is Zhu Qingya."

The girl, being watched by everyone, seemed very nervous, her voice trembling as she spoke.

"Are you interested in joining under my name?"

Tang Peiqing suddenly spoke up, personally attempting to recruit her, an extremely rare occasion.

With Tang Peiqing's credentials in Ghost Ridge Palace, his status was among the highest of the Elders, just below the Sect Master, and even among the numerous Elders, his combat capability ranked in the top three.

"Elder Tang, that's a bit much!"

"Exactly, little lady, would you like to join under my name?"

The other two Elders, Cai Shangbai and Ruan Feng, joined in, laughing and teasing, adding to the scramble for the new recruit.

A disciple of such caliber, who could easily break through the Sixth Level of Yunling Realm, was indeed worthy of an Elder personally stepping in to increase the number of Inner Disciples in their lineage, which would reflect well on them.

If such a disciple later advanced to the Secret Realm, it would greatly increase an Elder's influence and connections within Ghost Ridge Palace, and the Sect would also grant substantial rewards.

Zhu Qingya looked around, biting her thin lips, and after a hard deliberation, ultimately chose Tang Peiqing.

The nearby newcomers watched with envy, but such talent and gifts were not something one could envy into existence.

Amidst the excitement, Su Jie suddenly focused his gaze, looking towards the distant woods.

In the faintly visible forest, there were several Alien Ghosts, three meters tall with hunched figures and blood-red eyes.

Clearly attracted by the large crowd, but due to the presence of many disciples, particularly sensing the vast aura of the three Elders, they only dared to linger from afar, not daring to come closer.

Seeing this, the three Elders, including Tang Peiqing, took a glance but did not bother to respond, continuing to oversee the examination tasks. A few Alien Ghosts weren't worth them deactivating the formation and interrupting their work.

The Elders might not care, but that was not the case with Su Jie; an Alien Ghost was worth several hundred Blood Marrow Crystals.

Immediately, Su Jie stepped out swiftly, using the Seven Star Steps, moving rapidly towards that dense forest.

Almost synchronously, two other figures leapt quickly from the crowd.

Like Su Jie, these Inner Disciples also had their sights set on the Alien Ghosts, though they were a step slower than Su Jie, who used the Seven Star Steps.

The three lurking Alien Ghosts, upon sensing Su Jie's aura, turned and fled without a second thought, their limbs rushing through the dense forest.

"Body Worm."

From his Storage Bag, thousands of human-faced moths flew out, swooping down on a lagging Alien Ghost.

Without even a chance to scream, the Alien Ghost was gnawed into a skeleton in the blink of an eye.

This was merely because Su Jie had ordered the swarm to leave the bones intact; otherwise, even the bones would have been devoured, as the bones were the most valuable part of an Alien Ghost.

The other two Alien Ghosts, very alert, split up and ran in different directions, knowing that if Su Jie pursued one, the other could escape his sight.
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This was the most sensible choice for the Alien Ghosts, knowing they couldn't face him head-on.

Even though they were demons, their intelligence wasn't low at all.

Unfortunately, today they encountered Su Jie.

Su Jie didn't pursue but aimed at one Alien Ghost and struck with his palm from a distance.

Five Elements Demon Suppressing Handprint!

The massive palm, a meter wide and roaring out, hit the Alien Ghost straight from a hundred meters away, blowing it to pieces.

The other Alien Ghost took the opportunity to escape a nearly thousand meters, and just as it was about to disappear from sight, a streak of cold light abruptly crossed the distance.

Thud!

The head of the Alien Ghost rolled off, and its headless body tumbled dozens of times before stopping.

Above the corpse, the White Bone Sky Slaying Sword floated quietly, its blade still as pristine as snow after the beheading, untainted by dust.