Gongyi Tianheng casually walked into an alley. He put away the cloak he was wearing, revealing his sapphire-blue brocade robes. He looked graceful, wealthy, and handsome. He also behaved like an aristocratic family’s young master.
He touched his sleeve cuff again. Fortunately, he had obtained part of the Human King’s legacy. Right now, he actually wasn’t short of spirit crystals. Merely, immediately following which, he slightly frowned. He thought about his lost, little pharmacist... Previously, he only gave Gu Zuo some spirit crystals to play around with. He was originally going to give Gu Zuo some more in reserve, but due to the matter of the Third Prince, he temporarily didn’t have enough time to take care of it. Afterwards, they suddenly got separated. Who knew how he was doing?
However, Tianheng quickly considered the countless medicinal ingredients stored within Gu Zuo’s Divine Medicine Palace Hall, and felt slightly reassured. He continued to ponder. An expert who was proficient in a specialized area ought to be unobstructed. Only, he was afraid that the output would be high and the input would be low. New ingredients would be hard to obtain. On the contrary, he felt that he had wronged Gu Zuo.
These thoughts flashed by in an instant. Tianheng’s complexion turned slightly colder. He walked out of the alley, and came directly to the Sect Offering Academy. Up ahead, there were many young martial artists who were lining up. Tianheng swept a glance to the side, and went to the front desk to hand over a spirit crystal in exchange for a number plate. After that, he stood at the end of the queue.
At the Sect Offering Academy, regardless of the identities of the young men and women, all of them needed to abide by the rules of this place. At most, they could ask their subordinated servants or retainers to stand in the line on their behalf. However, not a single person could cut in line nor arrogantly cause a disturbance here — In actuality, the people who had the qualifications to cause a scene either didn’t need to get involved with Ten Ultimates Sect due to their own organization’s vast size, or they had been guided into the sect through the friendly relations between Ten Ultimates Sect and their own organization. Basically, they didn’t need to go through such a tedious and complicated process.
Naturally, this place was very peaceful and quiet.
Tianheng’s expression didn’t change as he patiently waited.
His eyesight was exceptionally good. After using it to make observations, he could clearly see the circumstances of the testing along with many marital artists who came from far away like him.
What the first checkpoint tested was one’s bone age and realm.
These two things were closely related to one’s potential. The disciples whom Ten Ultimates Sect wanted to recruit had to be below the Atomic Realm. Among them, the differentiation was meticulous. It could even be said to be harsh.
For example, at the Houtian Realm, almost anyone above ten years old was rejected without exception. Likewise, at the Xiantian Realm, those over twenty-five were all turned away. As for the Immortal Realm, they didn’t want anyone who was over forty years old.
The reason was very simple. The lower one’s realm, the easier it was to mold that person. For those who were young and had high realms, if their sprouts weren’t pulled up prematurely, then their aptitudes were good and their potential was high. Of course, this didn’t exclude talents who developed great aptitudes later than normal. As a result, they would appropriately ease the restrictions based on age and realm. However, for Xiantians over twenty-five and Immortal Realms over forty, the probability that they were slow on the uptake was exceedingly higher than the probability that they would show promise in due time. For such a large silver-ranked organization, they didn’t lack a few geniuses who were late bloomers.
Tianheng followed the crowd, and walked forward. In front, the testing for those people was also very fast.
After an hour had passed, the queue was already approaching Tianheng’s position.
“Bone age is seventeen. Xiantian stage eight. Foundations are shallow, and aptitude is fourth class! Pass!”
“Bone age is nineteen. Xiantian stage eight. Foundations are robust, and aptitude is fourth class! Pass!”
“Bone age is twenty-four. Xiantian stage five. Foundations are robust, and aptitude is fifth class! Pass!”
“Bone age...”
Numerous martial artists only needed to input their qi emissions from their bodies into that bone wheel. The faster that bone wheel turned, the more robust one’s foundations. When the bone wheel stopped, whichever notch the bone needle stopped in front of determined the bone age.
In this place, one could only test the most genuine bone age and realm. If a person took medicinal pills or used some other methods to suppress their realm, the apparent realm would be inconsistent with one’s actual realm. This would cause the bone wheel to produce an ear-piercing blare, and would draw the attention of an auditing master. After that, the person would be banished.
At this moment, it was finally Tianheng’s turn.
The bone wheel was as tall as a person, and was erected in a position right in front. At both sides of the bone wheel stood some auditing masters. The qi emissions of each individual were deep and immeasurable. They were, at the very least, Atomic Realms or above.
From this, it could be seen that every time Ten Ultimates Sect recruited disciples externally, they would still attach great importance to this matter. Not only were the dispatched people the department heads of the academy, there were also many powerhouses from within the sect who came to manage and supervise the process.
Then, a young person — It should’ve been an Inner Sect disciple of Ten Ultimates Sect — Opened his mouth at this moment: “Would the next person please step forward for testing.”
Without the slightest hesitation, Tianheng pressed his hand against that bone wheel.
He instantly imbued his own true qi inside of it. Soon, that bone wheel let out a whistling sound as it immediately started to spin crazily. The speed of the rotations could hardly be calculated. Not even a hint of the rotational movement could be seen clearly!
Upon witnessing this spectacle, those masters’ complexions all revealed a trace of alleviation:
“Pretty good.”
“The foundations are robust. This is a very good seedling.”
“An ordinary genius can only spin it for a few breaths of time. This person has already spun it for nearly ten minutes, and it still hasn’t come to a halt. With regards to aptitude, perhaps it has reached the level of an exceptional genius?”
“Or possibly, he has a special constitution?”
Those masters didn’t deliberately conceal these comments. As a result, Tianheng heard all kinds of unspoken things. However, his appearances remained composed. He seemed quite calm.
Such willpower that wasn’t moved by external objects naturally made those masters nod their heads in praise after exchanging glances.
Gradually, after spinning for no less than fifteen minutes, the bone wheel finally slowed down. It would soon come to a halt. The martial artists in the rear saw Tianheng’s performance, and their hearts were filled with lots of diverse thoughts.
As for those many martial artists in front, none of them had this kind of robust foundation. Which family’s young master had actually solidified his foundations to such a degree? In the future, if he wanted to break through to the Immortal Realm, he would certainly be well-prepared. His prospects were limitless!
For a moment, many martial artists became somewhat impatient.
As for that bone wheel, it had finally stopped.
The bone needle on the bone wheel had slipped into a notch.
Everyone looked over. The number above that notch was twenty-two.
— The present genius with robust foundations was already twenty-two years old?
What was a genuine exceptional genius? Sometimes, they would become Xiantian before reaching ten and the Immortal Realm before twenty. For an individual who was still Xiantian at twenty-something years old, although he could be called a genius, compared to those previous examples, this was actually far too inferior.
However, on the contrary, those masters weren’t dissatisfied. Recalling this young man’s robust foundation, they naturally considered that the other party was suppressing his own realm. He was continuously accumulating, and wasn’t willing to break through. It wasn’t because he couldn’t break through. It couldn’t be said that his aptitudes were inferior. Instead, the other party’s aptitudes were good, and he also had his own intentions!
As a result, after slightly pondering for a moment, a master spoke out loud: “Bone age twenty-two. Peak Xiantian. Foundations are extremely robust, and aptitude is second class! Pass!”
He wasn’t evaluated with a superior grade. That was because only a crude judgment was needed right now. This was just a filter. Later on, there would be other tests, and naturally, the evaluations would change. On the contrary, it wasn’t that significant for the initial selection right now.
Tianheng had passed this test. He took out his own number plate, handed it over to the other party, and exchanged it for a new number plate. After that, with the help of this number plate, he could go and conduct the second phase of testing.
Soon, under the directions of a Ten Ultimates Sect disciple, he walked towards the interior of the academy. When it came to the second checkpoint, that test’s location wouldn’t be at the academy gates.
Because the number of people who passed the first checkpoint’s rough selection was high, there were still many people who were queueing up. As before, Tianheng unhurriedly lined up at the end, and sized up the situation of the second checkpoint.
The venue of the second evaluation site was a large hall. Inside this hall, several extremely long, wooden log-like objects that were cast out of transparent crystal were placed horizontally. Above each pillar were carved twelve vivid and life-like stars. Their exquisite beauty was beyond compare.
Just as Tianheng saw this, someone took a step forward and stood at one end of that column.
When a master gave the order, that person gave an unrestrained palm strike to the pillar’s front end. Immediately, an enormous blast of qi energy burst forth and directly entered the pillar!
In the blink of an eye, on the first star of that column’s front end, a shinning green radiance slowly emerged. Moreover, that radiance became brighter and brighter. In a flash, the first star was filled, which caused the entire star to turn a light-green color.
Immediately following that, the second star also started to shine with radiance. Likewise, after it became a light-green star, what followed was the third star!
However, after the third star was illuminated, it was only filled halfway, and didn’t progress any further. This made it seem like the star was very dim. It was far less beautiful than the last two stars.
After this young man pulled his hand away, his complexion became a little unsightly.
When thinking about it, one would understand. There were twelve transparent stars here. Yet, he wasn’t able to completely fill three stars. This performance couldn’t be considered to be good.
Off to the side, an attending Ten Ultimates Sect disciple spoke: “Attack power, two and a half stars. Ordinary genius rank.”
As it turned out, during this test, all of the examinees needed to use their full strength to attack that column. This type of column would carry out a judgment based on each individual’s attack power. Under normal circumstances, those with higher attack power would have greater martial strength within equivalent realms. Once such a person broke through, the disparity would obviously overturn the heavens.
After that young man being tested took a deep breath, he came to the front of the second column. At this moment, he covered one hand up, but this time’s movement was very slight. He also only inputted a thread of qi emissions inside.
Closely following this, there was a pause for about a breathe of time.
During this one breath, the stars on the second column underwent rapid changes. Similarly, the first star began to light up. It had likewise turned into a light-green color. However, this time’s performance seemed much better than the one before. Because, not only were the stars illuminated, the color had also turned from a light-green to a dark-green. Moreover, the first three stars had all been completely filled with a dark-green radiance. Even the fourth star seemed to gain a hint of light-blue.
Only, it was a pity that it didn’t truly enter that fourth star.
After one breath, that young man opened his eyes, and saw three dark-green stars on that column. At first, his expression had slightly relaxed, but it quickly became a blank slate once again.
One could see that this performance also wasn’t that ideal...
The attending disciple monotonously stated: “Comprehension, three stars. Ordinary genius rank.”
Following this was the third column. This time around, he didn’t input his qi emissions or anything like that. Rather, he entered a transparent, human-sized capsule at the front of that column. Then, that transparent capsule’s door closed.
Before long, a green liquid appeared inside the capsule, completely submerging that young man from head to toe. While inside, that young man was sweating fiercely. After about a couple of seconds had passed, his facial features turned fierce. Once his mouth said something, that liquid swiftly dispersed, and the capsule door was opened.
On the third pillar, what appeared were three stars with a light-green color.
The attending disciple spoke again: “Physical toughness, three stars. Ordinary genius rank.”
After this third round of testing, another virtuous and reputable master stroked his beard. He spoke with a steady voice: “All three components are at the ordinary genius rank. You can’t directly enter the sect, but you can enter the academy without any testing. In the future, after you’ve ascended the realms, you may be tested again.”
That young man was clearly somewhat unwilling, but despite his unwillingness, he didn’t dare to become hostile in front of such a large silver-ranked organization. Consequently, he could only settle for the next best thing. After he saluted the many present masters and attending disciples, he turned around, took his own number plate, and departed in large strides.
Now, anyone would know what things would be tested during this second checkpoint.
Attack power, comprehension, and toughness of the physical body. If a martial artist wanted to set foot upon the summit of the path of martial arts, these three things were all absolutely essential. When these three components reached a set standard, they could be taken into the sect without further testing.
Tianheng inwardly calculated, and his mind had already made a decision.
There was still a dozen or so people until it was his turn, so he stilled his heart and waited...
Soon, another person finished testing.
[Attack power, three and a half stars. Elite genius rank. Comprehension, four stars. Elite genius rank. Physical toughness, three stars. Ordinary genius rank.]
These achievements were much better than that of the previous young man. Unfortunately, the recruitment standards of this place were that all three components had to reach four stars or more. If it didn’t, then one could only enter the academy to study.
The next one.
[Attack power, two stars. Ordinary genius rank. Comprehension, two stars. Ordinary genius rank. Physical toughness, one star. Ordinary genius rank.]
These achievements were even worse. These three components didn’t all reach two stars. Even if he went to the academy, he also needed to pay a fee that wasn’t small. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even be able to enter the academy.
For the one after that, his three components were two four-stars and one five-star. Thus, he could directly enter the sect.
For the next one, his three components was a sequence of three stars, four stars, and five stars. Unfortunately, his three-star attack power dragged him down, and he still could only go to the academy.
Each and every one went over. The majority had no other choice but to go to the academy with an exemption from any further testing, or they had to pay a fee to enter the academy. But on the contrary, there weren’t any individuals who were too weak for the academy to refuse or who needed to have extra testing done.
Finally, it was a somewhat gloomy and slender young man’s turn.
This young man was amazing. During the testing of his attack power, his palm slapped out a ball of deathly-pale qi energy. In an instant, it unleashed a great radiance in that column. In the span of a breath, the stars on the column flickered to life one after another. Green stars, blue stars, and red stars! It wasn’t until the eighth star turned an intense, blood-red color did that red light stop spreading!
Attack power, eight stars!
At long last, someone with impressive aptitudes had arrived. Off to the side, the expressions of those attending disciples and masters, which were originally tranquil, became somewhat interested. They paid attention, and went over.
Following this, the young man inputted his qi emissions to test his comprehension.
This time, he used at least five breaths of time before he stopped. On that column, the red light that appeared in the stars was extremely dazzling. Unexpectedly, it halted at the ninth star!
Comprehension, nine stars!
Finally, the young man entered that transparent capsule, and persevered for the time it would take to make a cup of tea. After coming out, the column similarly presented itself with eight blood-red stars!
Physical toughness, eight stars!
This unassuming and gloomy young man’s aptitudes were actually eight stars, nine stars, and eight stars! Starting from the seventh star, one was already at the rank of an exceptional genius!
As a result, since each of this young man’s components weren’t any lower than eight stars, it was enough to prove that, even though he was within the rank of exceptional geniuses, he was also among the highest in quality.
Most of all, his comprehension was nine stars. This was already infinitesimally close to that of a prodigy!
In silver-ranked organizations, they weren’t short of exceptional genius disciples, but this kind of disciple also wasn’t simply a piece of bok choy. Exceptional geniuses were just slightly inferior to prodigies. They were similarly considered seeds for nurturing. Not all of the past Ten Ultimates Sovereigns and Heaven Lords were prodigies. On the contrary, the deaths of prodigies wasn’t a rare sight, and there had been many exceptional geniuses who had broken through to the Cosmic and even Lesser Emperor Realms.
One master sighed: “We’ve finally seen a pretty good seedling. Student Liu, mark this person down. Later on, remember to inform the higher-ups so he can select a skilled teacher.”
To the side, the young man who monotonously reported the entire time nodded his head: “Yes, Instructor Xu.”
That gloomy young man’s face revealed a trace of delight. Meanwhile, he stood to the side according to that master’s instructions. He simply wasn’t in the same position as those previous elite-ranked geniuses who barely passed!
In a split second, many envious gazes were cast towards that gloomy young man. The gloomy young man’s eyes flickered with a sense of pride. The reason why he didn’t use his clan’s resources to establish a top-down relationship to directly enter Ten Ultimates Sect was because he believed in his own strength. He intentionally revealed his own skills here to let himself have ample leeway in choosing a teacher. Otherwise, although his clan’s bribes could gain him a position, there was only a small number of powerhouses susceptible to their bribes. Where could a person select a teacher so openly and straightforwardly?
Thinking up to here, the gloomy young man made a sweeping glance over the people in the hall.
Humph. If it wasn’t for that, he wouldn’t be waiting in this place and keeping company with these mediocre fools!
The gloomy young man’s way of thinking wasn’t wrong. For the next few people after him, their aptitudes were considered acceptable, but they also couldn’t be compared to him. The more time that passed, the more he looked like a crane among a flock of chickens.
Then, another person walked forward. He stood in front of the first column.
The gloomy young man lifted his head, and coincidentally noticed this young man with a graceful build. He saw the extremely handsome face of that young man. That guy’s bearing was out of the ordinary no matter how he looked at it. For some reason, he became unhappy.
Perhaps, this silvery spear tip was actually made out of pewter? This fellow looked good on the outside, but maybe he was a bag filled with straw on the inside?
With such thinking, the gloomy young man’s attention unwittingly fell upon that other young man.
This person was naturally Gongyi Tianheng, who had been waiting for a long time.
Tianheng slightly pondered something.
Right now, he didn’t have any intentions of hiding his strength. What he was currently pondering was which type of martial skill had the strongest attack power and the greatest lethality.
After a bit of hesitation, he formulated a plan.
Following this, Tianheng’s palm swatted the top of the column.
In an instant, a streak of reddish-gold light poured into the column. And in the blink of an eye, it raised a stormy surge!
One would only see that many stars on the column were flickering in succession at extremely fast speeds. From the first star to the eighth star, all of them ignited in practically a split second! However, it didn’t stop there. The ninth and tenth stars lit up without the slightest hesitation at all! And from the eleventh to the twelfth stars, it moved without any obstructions!
Quite a few masters who were twirling their mustaches suddenly pulled out a few of their hairs. Someone almost couldn’t help jumping up: “This, this is a prodigy? A prodigy with a full twelve stars?!”
Those attending disciples also had faces that were filled with shock.
Prodigies emerged in great numbers within silver-ranked organizations, and there would be prodigies in each generation. However, prodigies would have the equivalent air of arrogance, good luck, and capabilities. Regardless of where they went, they would always be able to raise enormous waves.
Thus, prodigies would enter organizations for two reasons. One was that their relatives came from an organization. After revealing outstanding talent, they were promptly received so that their own fertile waters didn’t flow into other fields. The second reason was that a powerhouse with status in an organization personally came to rope the prodigy in and to receive them as an apprentice. Either way, it would generate quite the stir. Even those prodigies who were the most low-profile and who had inconspicuous reputations were, by and large, recognized since childhood by people with discerning eyes and brought back to the sect. It would slowly show up with age...
At the very least, if a prodigy set their sights on a particular organization, they would still create a great scene to make it known to everyone.
But which prodigy would silently and nondescriptly come before a organization, line up, and reveal his true identity during the tests?
This was simply inconceivable!
Of course, those masters and attending disciples didn’t scrutinize this carefully. On the contrary, there was nothing to take note of. Once Tianheng showed himself, they discovered that this person’s body contained a type of imperceptible feeling. Indeed, he possessed extraordinary qi emissions...
After the excitement, those experienced people quickly calmed down.
One component at the prodigy level didn’t mean that a person would sit stably in the seat of a prodigy. They couldn’t allow themselves to become happy too early. Perhaps, this person was only strong in one area, which was why he acted so low-key?
However, there was no need for doubts. Although they silently settled their emotions in their hearts, they couldn’t conceal their boundless expectations for Tianheng during the following tests.
This was the case for the masters and attendants. As for those who lined up behind and those who had already been accepted in the front, they were even more astonished. They all knew what twelve stars represented. Their moods at this moment were even harder to describe!
No matter how it was said, they had greater envy and admiration for prodigies. In short, they were overwhelmingly curious about the next two tests. Only one person, who was originally proud of himself, had an ashen complexion. He forcibly restrained the terrible mood in his mind, and hoped from the bottom of his heart that this fellow failed the remaining tests...
Only, Gongyi Tianheng definitely wouldn’t fail.
He unhurriedly stood in front of the second column, and inputted a thread of qi emissions.
In a split second, his consciousness seemed to move into an empty space. In that place, someone was practicing martial skills. As for his own consciousness, it seemed that he was involuntarily following along in the practice.
Soon, one school of martial skills was settled. Then, it was switched to the second school of skills. When the second school was settled, it was exchanged for the third...
These martial disciplines were all incomparably exquisite, causing him to be immersed within them. He had forgotten that he was in the middle of taking a test.
T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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