And once he finished thinking this, he returned to his cross-legged position on the ground and then closed his eyes to resume his cultivation.

...

Many days later, precisely a week and three days after, the loud chime of a bell suddenly surfaced and swept throughout the entire town like some sort of mysterious power was acting on the chime sound, making it travel round the entire city and alert everyone of if presence. While some people who knew what this sound was, had their eyes glow with surprise and gladness. Then very quickly, they began to pack their things into their spatial rings and immediately exited where they all were to quickly move to the location that they believe the bell rang out from.

Xiao Lin who was busy cultivating, was instantly jolted up from his cultivation state by the loud chime of bell that suddenly rang out from somewhere that was really far away from the inn that he rented a room at.

"What was that bell? And where did it come from?" Xiao Lin asked with surprise in his eyes.

When the bell rang loudly in his ear, it also surprisingly shook his mind and heart at the same time, and briefly produced an inexplicable throbbing sensation in his entire body, forcing him awake in the next instant. It was like the sound of a bell that was rung farther away from here literally possessed a mind of it own, and then tried to produce some effect on his mind, heart and body to bring him out of his cultivation state.

And once this happened to Xiao Lin, Xiao Lin quickly stood to his feet with a weird and intensely baffled expression in his face.

Then developing a thought in his mind that everyone else might also be struck by that mysterious bell sound, Xiao Lin made way for the door of his room to exit it and then the inn so that when he appeared in the street, he would be able to ask from people that he met on his path what that sound was and where it came from.

And once he did so, in which he appeared in the street, he chose to ask some people that he felt should understand what that mystifying bell sound was and where it came from. And these people that he chose to throw his questions at were the cultivators that were moving up or down the street to attend to things that they were really concerned about.

Then when he appeared before one of them, he asked "Fellow cultivator, hope you don't mind if I take a few moments out of your time"

"Hmm. Alright" The cultivator that Xiao Lin asked, who was an older, short bald man and carried a katana with him, said with a gentle nod of his head.

"Thank you" Xiao Lin said and clasped his fist before him.

He then proceeded to ask the question that was continuously buzzing in his mind, "Fellow cultivator, did you hear this loud chime that should have possibly sounded out from a massive bell that was heavily struck with probably a large beam of metal?"

"Yea I did" The short and bald cultivator immediately said.

"Oh. Cool." Xiao Lin said.

He then said further with a smile appearing in his face afterwards, "Do you know what that chime was, and probably where it originated from? Don't mind me asking these, I am just utterly curious about it because I felt a lot of things the instant it rung within my ears."

Once Xiao Lin asked those questions, the older and bald cultivator before him looked at him with an inexplicable expression in his eyes, he then asked with a curious expression appearing in his face the next moment, "I guess you aren't from around here, right?"

"Uhm... Yeah. I am not. I am just a visitor. I came by a week ago" Xiao Lin said.

"Alright. I was also able to immediately sense that you were a visiting cultivator from probably a faraway town, since cultivators from neighboring towns will definitely know what that bell sound is and what it represents." The bald cultivator said.

And once he said that, he continued "Well, to explain to you what that bell sound is, and what it really means to we cultivators in this town, is that, it is to herald the opening of the golden gate of the Celestial Dragon Emperor sect."

"Oh really?" Xiao Lin asked with an excited tone in his voice to confirm what he just heard.

"Yea" The short and bald cultivator said with a nod of his head.

Then before Xiao Lin could say anything else, he spoke further by saying, "That chime, produced by the most powerful artifact of the Celestial Dragon Emperor sect which is called the Heavenly Dragon Bell, was generated simply to announce to all mortals and cultivators alike about the opening of the sect's gates for discipleship admission trials and exams."

"Now, every cultivator that have interest in joining the sect can rush down there to take the entrance exams and become a disciple there when they pass the exams with flying colors, which would certainly be conducted by some of the indifferent and arrogant elders of the massive sect"

"Wow!" Xiao Lin uttered with excitement in his tone.

He then clasped his fist before the older, bald cultivator and said "Thank you for taking your time to explain all these to me. Now, I would have to hurry down there to register before it closes. I am immensely anxious of becoming a disciple there"

Hehe!

However, once Xiao Lin said that, the older cultivator before him produced a slight giggle. He then said, "No need to rush down there this instant. It would only make you seem extremely desperate to the elders who would already be out scanning the crowds of young cultivators for potential disciples that they can allow into their sects and give uniforms to become true and bonafide members of their sects."

"Therefore, once you rush down there now and they catch sight of you, you will make things more difficult for yourself as you will become a target by that elder that easily noticed you for your conspicuous act of desperation to join the sect, or by entirely all the elders of the sect. And you should be able to imagine what would happen to you if all the examination-conducting elders at the place their focus on you. It certainly won't end well for you."

"So, chill for now till probably three weeks or a month later, as that's roughly the time that the admission exams will truly start, speaking from gathered experiences anyways. Haha."

"Oh. Okay" Xiao Lin said with a nod of his head after calming his anxiety down due to what the bald and short cultivator before him said.

"So, what exactly is happening at the sect at this moment?" He asked.

"Well, as at this moment, people, I mean cultivators like you and I, will just be arriving from near and far away to join the sect." The old and short cultivator said.

"Oh. Alright." Xiao Lin said with a nod of his head.

He then gazed at the cultivator and asked with a curious expression appearing in his face, "So, you will also head down there to take the discipleship admission exams?"

"What?! No. Haha. It's not my type that they are looking for." The bald cultivator before Xiao Lin said.

He then said further with a self-deprecating tone in his voice, "I first took the exam when I was sixteen, then stopped taking the exams when I got to the age of twenty-seven. Haha. I couldn't even pass through the first trial. Well, I blame my utterly useless and bad talent for that. Haha. I am so useless, fellow cultivator. I can never retake the exams. It's too difficult for me to pass"

"Wow. Sorry about that. I guess the question that I asked you dug up really bad memories that you have buried a long time ago in your mind. I am immensely sorry for that" Xiao Lin said with an apologetic expression in his face while the bald cultivator before him only shook his head with an amiable smile surfacing from his lips.

"Aii" He sighed.

He then said "Fellow cultivator, no need to be sorry. It's all thanks to my useless talent that I am not able to get to where I want to be. Anyways, I have accepted my fate like that and have completely moved on. So, no need to be sorry."

"Anyways, it's you guys that I feel quite sorry for. I mean, I feel a bit of sorry for you guys taking the sect's discipleship exams." The bald cultivator said, provoking a surprised and curious expression in Xiao Lin's face.

"Huh? How you you mean, fellow cultivator? Hope you don't mind elaborating to make things a little bit clearer to me?" Xiao Lin with a puzzled expression in his face, as he didn't really get the last message of the cultivator that stood before him with a solemn expression in his face.