The Venerable One’s act of selecting attendants was, in truth, a matter of reception. As for how the selection was made, what weighed most heavily was each person’s innate talent—thus there was no need for the method of martial combat.
Long before she set this plan into motion, she had already used her great power to condense a hundred Path Guides, giving twenty to the Saint Tuo Heavenly Palace, and scattering the rest across the Four Regions, letting the Path Guides themselves go forth to seek those fated to receive them.
Among these, the Northern and Southern Regions, where the Immortal Dao flourished most, took sixty between them. The Eastern Region received fourteen, and the Western Region only six. From this, it could be seen that the strength of the Four Regions was unbalanced, with vast disparities between them.
When the Path Guides first descended, the cultivators who were chosen did not yet know what these items were. They only saw that the patterns upon them were incomparably profound and mysterious, and feared they might be rare treasures, so they kept them close to their bodies.