A young swordsman, seeing that more newcomers had arrived and still didn’t understand how to pass the test, raised his voice to the crowd: “Fellow villagers, this iron chain bridge is the entrance test for recruiting outer disciples of the Medicine King Sect. If you want to become an outer disciple, you must cross this iron chain bridge with your bare hands to join! Adults are not allowed to cross; only children under thirteen can climb this bridge. As long as you make it across, you’ll become an outer disciple of our sect.”

The gathered townsfolk were visibly excited upon hearing this, bustling about, hoping their own children could cross the iron chain bridge.

However, crossing the iron chain bridge was no easy feat.

These iron chains were smooth and icy, offering no grip, and stretched over twenty zhang long, which was extremely exhausting.

This meant that children who were too young and weak definitely couldn’t make it. But with the age limit set at thirteen, the older, stronger kids were also excluded.

“Sir! In this freezing weather, the iron chains are covered in ice and impossible to stand on. Kids barely over ten are too weak to hold on. If they slip and fall into the river, even if they don’t freeze to death, they’ll get sick. Isn’t this too dangerous? Isn’t there any other way to join the sect?”

Mr. Bolton, worried his son would fall into the river, squeezed to the front of the crowd, nodding and bowing to the cold and proud young swordsman, asking ingratiatingly.

“That’s right! Even adults wouldn’t dare cross this icy bridge, let alone children!”

The townsfolk all shouted excitedly.

“Hmph, if you don’t even have the guts to take this risk, how can you talk about joining the Medicine King Sect?! Our disciples roam the martial world with their lives hanging by a thread—far more dangerous than this iron chain bridge! If you’re afraid of death, don’t bother coming to our sect. Besides, if you fall into the river, there are fishermen below to rescue you. At worst, you’ll get a chill, but you definitely won’t die.”

The young swordsman looked around the crowd, arms crossed, sneering disdainfully: “Enough! Stop wasting time here. Our sect is recruiting new apprentices this twelfth lunar month for only three days. Today is already the last day. If you can’t enter the manor by sundown, you’ll have to wait until next year. If you don’t dare cross, go home—don’t crowd around here making a fuss!”

Only then did Ethan Brooks understand: to become an outer disciple of the Medicine King Sect, you had to pass the iron chain bridge, or you couldn’t even enter the mountain gate.

And there wasn’t much time left—this was the last day.

These iron chains, thicker than an arm, were bare and slippery, covered in icicles, cold and slick. You could only use both hands and feet to climb across.

Ethan Brooks looked at the iron chain bridge, hung with icicles and exuding cold air, his heart chilled with fear. He didn’t dare to go up rashly and wanted to watch how other children crossed first to learn from their experience.

Many adults and children in the crowd had arrived early in the morning, blocked here and unable to enter the Medicine King Manor, clearly anxious.

The fate of many youths here would be decided—whether they would become disciples of the Medicine King Sect, envied by all in the county, or be eliminated and return to the county as ordinary commoners—all depended on whether they could cross this iron chain bridge.

“Tieniu, go climb it! If you make it, Dad will cook you a big pork knuckle!”

Mr. Bolton gritted his teeth and urged his chubby son to climb the iron chain.

“Alright, Dad!”

Jack Bolton, hearing he’d get to eat pork knuckle, immediately drooled with anticipation and nodded excitedly.

Soon, under the encouragement of many parents, a dozen or so children aged eight or nine to eleven or twelve stepped forward. With a hint of fear, they mustered their courage and began to climb the iron chain bridge.

A boy of about nine made it halfway, but his hands seemed frozen stiff. Suddenly, he lost his grip on the icy chain, let out a startled cry, and fell into the river valley several zhang below.

“Oh no, be careful!”

“This is bad! He fell—quick, save him!”

The onlooking crowd erupted in alarm.

The four young swordsmen just shook their heads indifferently and did nothing.

The iron chain bridge of the Medicine King Manor was not something just anyone could cross. Only those who were agile, strong, and tough enough to endure the cold had even a slim chance of passing the test.

Those who didn’t meet these requirements would only end up falling into the river and suffering a freezing ordeal, with no chance of becoming an outer disciple of the Medicine King Sect.

Chapter 008: Sect Youths

Below the iron chain bridge, several fishermen were already waiting on bamboo rafts.

Seeing a child fall into the water, they immediately fished him out and brought him ashore, returning him to his parents.

His parents hurried to change his soaked, freezing clothes, while his uncles had already lit a fire by the bridge to warm him up and prevent him from getting sick.

One after another, more than a dozen children mustered their courage and climbed the bridge. Unfortunately, more than half either fell into the river or were so scared they cried and didn’t dare to go up at all.

There were unlucky ones who fell, but also lucky ones. Two slightly older, braver, and stronger children of twelve or thirteen gritted their teeth, endured the cold, and used all their strength to climb across the iron chain bridge.

Especially Mr. Bolton’s son, Jack Bolton, who often ate fatty pork offal, had thick arms and a round waist, and was quite strong.