Chapter 2010: Chapter 2010: Second Round Of Screening

Zen had been running for so long that he couldn't remember how many miles he had covered on this root.

The root cut right smack in the middle of a large sea. At time, glimmers of the other roots could be seen faintly in the distance.

As he continued his way deeper and deeper along the root, the surrounding scenery became paler and paler.

On his way, he occasionally met a few True Gods. They wasted no more time than that of glancing at each other before rushing forward in a hurry.

Seven days later, things began to change.

The root, at least ten thousand feet wide, now gathered on a wider branch.

More and more members of the Sword Clan gathered here on this branch.

Every hundred miles or so, Zen would meet one or two True Gods of the Sword Clan.

The True Gods of Sword Clan sat upright on the branch's edge, while stabbing their long swords into it. They closed their eyes as if they were comprehending something.

'Could this be the Sword Clan members' unique way of cultivating?' he wondered to himself.

While running, Zen eyed the Sword Clan's True Gods closely.

All of them appeared to be in a meditative state, indifferent to everything around them. Most importantly, no one paid any attention to Zen whatsoever.

Four more days of journey passed.

It was only then that Zen saw a wider branch.

'It's no wonder that the Non-combat Zone is called the Sunrest Tree Region. The Sunrest Tree alone is extremely huge, if not boundless. I've been running for more than ten days at such a high speed, but I still can't seem to reach the tree's trunk, ' he thought.

This time, the length of the branch was even longer—at least twice as long, in fact. It had taken him nearly half a month to continue travelling incredibly fast along this branch.

A month later, Zen finally arrived at the end of the branch.

Surprisingly, what appeared in front of him was a brown plain.

Moreover, countless sword-shaped buildings stood on the surface of the brown plain. The plain appeared endless.

'Just how huge is this Sunrest Tree anyway?' Zen thought to himself.

He was suddenly faced with the idea that his imagination simply wouldn't suffice.

After running for over a month, he finally got close to the Sunrest Tree's trunk. Alas, his objective! That said, the trunk was equally huge and boundless beyond imagination, just like the rest before. ṛἈ₦ò฿Ёs̈

Two Sword Clan members in white robes were standing not far ahead. Both of them were top-rank True Gods.

A few True Gods were standing in line, waiting for something from the two Sword Clan members. They had expectant looks on their faces.

Just like Zen, it had taken these True Gods more than a month to reach this place after passing the first round of screening.

As Zen took notice of what was going on, he also quietly followed behind these True Gods in a line.

After waiting in line for a while, it was finally Zen's turn.

One of the two members glanced at Zen before taking out a yellow sword-shaped token. He handed it to Zen. “Anyone who enters our land requires this token. If you abandon or lose the token, it will automatically come to our senses and we will drive you away at once. Always remember that!”

This place was the Sword Clan's core, and the True Gods participating in the debate concerning the Godly Ways came from the entire divine land. With both good and bad mixed together, the Sword Clan had no choice but to be much more strict.

Once Zen had obtained the token, the Sword Clan member pointed to a wide building in the distance and said, “True Gods are gathered there, waiting for our Sword Clan members to receive you.”

Zen nodded and walked straight to the wide building. As he strut forward, he looked around.

There was no information engraved on this token, aside from a simple number. The number that Zen had obtained from this token was 9, 400.

'Only less than ten thousand True Gods have passed the first round?' he wondered as he furrowed his brow.

A long queue of warriors in front of the Famous Sword Divine City's gate emerged in Zen's mind.

As long as one obtained three Truth Spiritual Swords, they would successfully pass the first round. That said, he didn't expect that the chances of passing the first round were still so low.

He had left the Famous Sword Divine City for more than a month, though. Presumably, more True Gods had also passed the first round of screening, and they were still travelling day and night along the tree branches.

Holding the token, Zen entered the wide building and quickly noticed that the hall was densely packed with many True Gods, either sitting or standing around.

The moment he stepped inside, the True Gods' gazes quietly swept past Zen.

It was safe to say that there was no such thing as a low-rank True God who could pass the second round of screening.

Although the first round of screening had nothing to do with cultivation, the more talented one was, the more chances they had of passing.

Ninety percent of the people in the hall, if not more, had the cultivation base of a top-rank True God.

Therefore, when they looked at Zen, most of them were rather surprised.

Zen clearly knew what these people were thinking of him. Ignoring their gazes, he found a corner in the hall and leaned against it, waiting quietly.

It wasn't long after he pressed his back against the wall that a voice came over and said, “Hey, brat! How in the hell did you pass the first round of screening?”

The person speaking was a man with dark skin. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Zen with interest. Zen was, after all, the only low-rank True God in this entire hall.

“With a little luck,” Zen replied concisely.

“Ha-ha! I'm afraid it's more than luck,” replied the dark-skinned man, with a laugh. “Tell me, how many swords did you snatch?”

“No comment.” Zen shook his head, disregarding the man's question.

Hearing Zen's tough words, the dark-skinned man revealed an unpleasant expression. He pulled a long face and immediately said, “The first round of screening can eliminate 99% of participants. The second round can eliminate another 99% too. Though you might have been lucky once, I'm afraid you won't ever be as lucky in the second round!”

Zen did nothing more than shrug his shoulders and didn't even offer him the satisfaction of a final comment.

Almost ten hours had passed, and yet, the members of the Sword Clan had never come as expected.

Fortunately, these True Gods were people of great patience. They could only hear a few faint sounds from time to time. Most of them simply closed their eyes and turned a deaf ear to everything around them.

Outside the hall, the True Gods who had recently obtained their tokens walked in one after another.

Although the hall was very spacious, it became rather compact as the thousands of warriors accumulated inside.

A little more than twenty hours later, an old man in a white robe finally appeared on the other side of the hall.

The moment he appeared, he caught everyone's attention. The hall fell silent aside from a few whispers.

“A consummate True God!” someone hushed under their breath.

“It's a Sword Clan's consummate True God!” someone else whispered.

“Wow!”

There were very few True Gods who would ever reach such level of consummation in the divine land.

Even in the first-tier clans, not many of them actually had a consummate True God.

The Sword Clan was still the second-ranked clan among the powerful clans on the Floating Islands. It wasn't strange that a consummate True God had appeared here in the Sunrest Tree Region.

“Thank you all for walking thousands of miles or more in order to come to our Sunrest Tree Region. Sorry to keep you waiting for me,” the old man said as he cupped his hands toward the crowd.

The consummate True God spoke in a courteous manner, which made the group of True Gods feel flattered and comfortable.

“Since you were capable of passing the first round of the Sword Clan's selection, you are very sensitive to Truth Spiritual Swords,” the old man continued. “But our Sword Clan only has a few places vacant, and thus by convention, we must hold the second round of screening! If any of you can pass the second round of screening, then you will be considered indispensable at this year's debate over the Godly Ways!”

When the True Gods present heard the old man's words, their eyes suddenly lit up and opened wide. Their mood equally perked up.

Most of these True Gods were elites from the first or second-tier clans.

If they could join the debate over the Godly Ways, they would be capable of competing with the major clans' elites. Additionally, it was more likely that they would comprehend a hint of the Truth of Godly Way.

This was an opportunity no True God could ignore.