Token

Lei Kongming is now running towards Lei Shilong's courtyard instead of going to the patriarch because the person coming from the Purple Cloud Palace to supervise the selection is Hu Ling, Lei Shilong's wife and Lei Longwei's mother.

Soon, Lei Kongming reached Lei Shilong's courtyard, and without waiting for long, someone came to greet him. Surprisingly, this person is Lei Longwei.

"Brother Kong, you are finally out of seclusion, but it seems that you are a little late."

"Bah... Brother Long, I treated you as my good brother, but you didn't even come to wake me up from cultivation."

Hearing this, Lei Longwei clucked and said, "Brother Kong, you're very skillful at throwing the pot away. Don't you know that it is taboo in the clan to disturb someone during their cultivation unless it is a life-and-death situation?"

Lei Kongming just smiled when he heard this because he also knew about this. He was trying to annoy Lei Longwei, and it is not only limited to the clan, but every cultivator in the world considers disturbing others during their cultivation a taboo. This is because it is easy to cause injury, and in severe cases, it may even lead a cultivator to become crazy or die.

"Brother Kong, you don't need to worry too much. You can try in the next Purple Cloud Palace selection. I believe with your talent, you can easily get selected."

"Hmm"

Lei Kongming agrees with Lei Longwei's opinion while nodding.

With the help of Black Dragon Immortal Arts and the Black Orb, Lei Kongming has the confidence to be stronger than most disciples of the Purple Cloud Palace. However, the main problem is resources. The primary reason why he wants to join the Purple Cloud Palace is because of resources. As far as he knows, there are several spirit stones monopolized by the Purple Cloud Palace, which means the resources the palace can provide to its disciples are far more abundant than what a foundational family like his Lei family can provide.

"Brother Kong, I'm very sad to leave you behind like this, but don't worry, I will definitely write you letters from time to time."

'I don't expect Brother Long to be so loyal. Maybe I will stop teasing him in the future… or only tease him just a little,' thought Lei Kongming. But before he can be happy for too long, Lei Longwei's next words make him have black lines on his forehead.

"In those letters, I will tell you about the amount of resources I receive, the powerful techniques of the Purple Cloud Palace, beauties I meet. Don't worry, even if my cultivation surpasses yours, I won't bully you… at most, I will exchange some pointers with you from time to time."

Lei Kongming's face started getting darker and darker as he continued to listen to Lei Longwei showing off, much like the neighbor's kid from his previous life on Earth who got admitted into a good university.

Soon, both of them reached the living room. At this time, Lei Shilong was waiting while Hu Ling was setting food on the table.

"Hello Aunt Hu, you're finally back. I really missed Aunt Hu's cooking. Now that you have come, I can enjoy your cooking happily."

"Xiao Ming, you're finally out of seclusion! I thought I wouldn't be able to meet you this time. And your mouth is still as sweet as ever. Come, have a seat."

"Hehe, sure, Aunt Hu."

...…

After a hearty meal, Lei Kongming relaxed a little and finally started inquiring about the Purple Cloud Palace selection.

"Aunt Hu, I heard that the Purple Cloud Palace selection finished yesterday. It seems that I have missed it."

"Here, take the admission token," saying that, Hu Ling flicked a purple-colored token toward Lei Kongming.

"Eh?" Looking at the token in his hand, Lei Kongming was dumbfounded.

'That's it? You can get the admission token so easily? Does this count as me using a backdoor... I kind of like this feeling,' Lei Kongming thought to himself.

Seeing Lei Kongming's expression turn from puzzlement to a silly smile, Hu Ling could understand what he was thinking.

"Don't think too much. The supervisors who visit different cities are just there to filter talented people based on their spiritual roots and cultivation levels. Now, you have to take this token to the Purple Cloud Palace, where the real test will begin," Hu Ling clarified.

Hearing this, Lei Kongming understood that the Purple Cloud selection is just to find potential people who have a chance to enter the Purple Cloud Palace. However, this also puzzled him because if the supervisors intentionally excluded some people or gave tokens to someone who was not qualified, what would the Purple Cloud Palace do?

"Aunt Hu, what if the supervisor bends the law for personal gain? What would Purple Cloud Palace do? Will it affect Aunt Hu if you just give me the token?"

"Xiao Ming, don't worry, it won't affect me. Purple Cloud Palace values talent above all else. If the supervisor brings in talented individuals, he will be rewarded. However, if he brings in incompetent people due to bending the law or simply bad luck, he can only watch enviously as his colleagues make progress," Hu Ling explained patiently.

"Also, people can directly go to Purple Cloud Palace to get the token. They also set up a selection stage near the sect for people who were not selected by the supervisor for whatever reason or simply because the supervisor doesn't come to their place, like some small villages."

Hearing Hu Ling's explanation, Lei Kongming understood that as long as you have some talent, you can easily get the token either from the supervisor or directly from Purple Cloud Palace. It also made him realize that the real test would begin after the tokens were distributed.

"Aunt Hu, when do I have to take the token to Purple Cloud Palace? What are the next steps?"

"You have to reach Purple Cloud Palace within 10 days, so you still have 9 days left, including today. As for the test, there are two stages remaining: one will test determination and the other will test your character. Specifically how they will conduct it? I don't know as it changes every year."

Lei Kongming fell into deep thought when he heard that the test changes every year. It showed that the sect is very serious about this and doesn't have trouble spending manpower on it.

"Aunt Hu, how was it conducted in previous years?"

"The previous year? Hmm, it was pretty interesting. To check determination, the sect asked everyone to just sit on the ground, and then an elder blew air over all the participants."

"Just blew air?" Lei Kongming was surprised because he didn't think the test given by the sect would be this simple.

Hearing Lei Kongming's question, Hu Ling pursed her lips, and the corners of her mouth twitched.

"The wind also carried the sword Qi, causing most of the participants to end up sitting naked on the ground because the sword Qi in the wind destroyed their clothes."

"Really, Aunt Hu?" asked Lei Kongming as the corners of his mouth started twitching.

"Yes, it was pretty hilarious, if not for Elder Su, who separately conducted the examination of female participants. The chaos may have been even bigger."

"......."

At this point, Lei Kongming had asked everything he could think of, so his attention was drawn towards Lei Shilong and Lei Longwei, who were eating melon seeds with relaxed expressions. It also made him realize that Lei Longwei already knew about the token, and the talks he had about writing letters were just Lei Longwei teasing him.

After some pleasant talk, Lei Kongming decided to return to his courtyard and make some preparations before going to Purple Cloud Palace. He also wanted to say goodbye to his parents and other elders before leaving.