The People's God: Sacrificing Trillions to Ascend

Chapter 806 - The Sealing Gate Sect

Han Wu and Qin Shuang climbed up to the enormous stump and stood before the tall structure. The characters on the plaque were imposing. Before they could knock, the gate opened to reveal a child of roughly ten years old.

The child bowed to them and asked, “Are you here to study Seal Arts?”

Han Wu and Qin Shuang exchanged a glance. They did not state their real purpose and nodded silently.

“Then please follow me into the main hall so we may see which elder is willing to take you in,” the child said.

On the way, Han Wu asked how the child knew to open the door the moment they arrived. Was it some form of foresight?

The child let out a small laugh. “There are people watching everything within ten kilometres of the Sealing Gate Sect. Why do you think we’re built so high?”

Han Wu found it logical. Sometimes, the easiest method was also the most effective. Build tall, see far. Simple.

They soon arrived at the main hall. Four old men and one elderly woman were seated inside, making scattered conversation with no particular purpose.

When Han Wu and Qin Shuang walked in, the elderly woman stood and declared, “I’m taking this girl.”

“Now, Jin Hua, that’s not how this works. The girl gets a say, too,” objected an old man.

Turning to Qin Shuang, the old man persuaded, “Join my school. All my students are strong, and I promise you won’t be asked to do any heavy lifting.”

“Huo Xiang, you’ve got some nerve. Can’t you see they came together?” joked a second old man, rising from his seat. “And those students of yours, they’re a sorry-looking bunch with nothing but muscle between their ears. What would they have in common with this young lady?“

Glancing at Han Wu and Qin Shuang, the second old man introduced, “My name is Mu Xu, and I’m the most capable of the five elders here. You can’t go wrong with me.“

Another elder named Shui Ta cleared his throat. “Mu Xu, you really have no shame. Do you really think the rest of us would be scared of you if we weren’t on your home turf in this forest? Come fight me in the river.”

Throughout this banter, the final elder sat completely still and said nothing.

Shui Ta turned to the silent elder and asked impatiently, “Do you have anything to add? Say something, Tu Bie.”

Elder Tu Bie stood up with a long-suffering expression. He had spent his entire life studying diligently and had never wronged anyone. His one regret was the name his teacher had bestowed upon him. What kind of decent person was named Tu Bie?[1]

“I have one thing to say. Anyone who joins my school can give themselves their own name,” Elder Tu Bie said in a low, serious tone.

Han Wu and Qin Shuang immediately said they wanted to go with Elder Tu Bie. With the selection ceremony settled, Han Wu and Qin Shuang followed Elder Tu Bie back to his school, called the Earth Gate.

Elder Tu Bie was a reticent man, but he did take the time to explain the Sealing Gate Sect’s rules. Anyone capable of making it through the Coiling Dragon Forest to reach the Sealing Gate Sect could join without further test. After joining, the elder would assess the new student’s attributes and Ring Count to determine which Seal Arts to teach.

Elder Tu Bie rummaged around and retrieved a crystal orb. As a demonstration, he pressed his palm to the orb, and the colour shifted, eventually settling on a patch of black stone inside the orb. Two additional elemental forms appeared alongside it, indicating that his primary attribute was the special Black Earth element, with the secondary attributes of fire and metal.

The orb also displayed a large “10,” indicating Elder Tu Bie’s Ring Count.

From the records, Han Wu knew that ten-Ring Seal Masters were genuinely rare. Even an empire with hundreds of millions of people would have no more than five, but the Sealing Gate Sect had five elders alone.

Based on his cursory observations, the five of them appeared to be evenly matched in strength. In other words, the Sealing Gate Sect had at least five ten-Ring Seal Masters, making it a power on par with huge empires.

Unaware of Han Wu’s thoughts, Elder Tu Bie gestured for the two of them to try the orb. Han Wu let Qin Shuang go first. She had already guessed that Han Wu wanted to avoid exposing his real strength, as it could draw attention and complicate their intelligence gathering, so she decided to test the orb’s precision.

She pressed her hand to it and felt a force pull at her energy. Using her consciousness to steady herself, she tried to resist the absorption.

After a few seconds of resistance, the orb displayed a result. Her attribute was a given, but importantly, it only showed her Ring Count as eight Rings. Qin Shuang relaxed. The orb could be tampered with.

Seeing that Qin Shuang had passed safely, Han Wu felt comfortable doing the same. He touched the orb and held back as much of his energy as he could from being absorbed. Qin Shuang almost giggled aloud at the results. The man the Sealed Civilization had rated at twelve Rings was only a seven-Ring Seal Master in the eyes of the orb.

Elder Tu Bie still found it entirely reasonable. Seven and eight Rings were both strong results. A decade or two of training under him, and it was possible for them to reach ten Rings. However, when he looked carefully at Han Wu’s attributes on the orb, Elder Tu Bie found himself confused.

The attributes listed were absurd in their variety. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, light, dark, wind, ice, lightning. Every standard element was present. There were also unusual attributes in the mix, including destruction, creation, harmony, and evil. The number of attributes on display surpassed anything Elder Tu Bie had ever seen in his lifetime.

“I suppose the word for this is all-element?” Elder Tu Bie muttered in shock.

Having every element meant being able to learn every Seal Art. However, more was not necessarily better. Mastery was more important than variety. Learning too many Seal Arts spread the practitioner thin and drove success rates down.

Elder Tu Bie stared at Han Wu in concern. A teacher could guide their student to the door, but the student had to walk through it on their own. He could only hope that Han Wu would come to understand that having many attributes was not a virtue, and that mastering a few strong Seal Arts was the real path.

“Now then, as your initiation reward, you may each go to the Seal Hall and select a Seal Art matching your assessed Ring count,” Elder Tu Bie said.

Han Wu felt a stab of regret. If he had known there was an initiation reward tied to the test result, he would not have held back so much. Unfortunately, it was too late to change anything. He could only swallow the loss and follow Qin Shuang to collect their respective Seal Arts.

1. Tu Bie here literally means earth tortoise ☜