"Yes sir." Yin Hui did not hesitate and immediately placed his hand on top of his crystal ball.

He was quite confident in passing the test. When Yin Tou possessed his body back in the world within the ancestral tablet, he commented how his body had the perfect foundation for cultivating.

If his rumored all powerful ancestor thought this much, it was unlikely that the Striking Thunder Sect would think otherwise. Even though his crystal ball was not of the same quality as Zhang Shi's, he believed that it would be good enough to merit a pass.

Bzzt~

The crystal ball glowed as Yin Hui transmitted his qi into it's clean glass surface. However, for some reason, not even the slightest flicker of color appeared within.

Yin Hui frowned as he began to pour more qi into the ball. He was sure that the ball he chose was at least as good as the one Yu Zhuwa used. Even if his talent was low, there was no reason why no color would appear at all.

A few feet away, Zhang Shi had already awakened from his meditation and was watching Yin Hui's evaluation attentively. There was a hint of confusion in his eyes, but his expression remained normal.

Focusing the purest qi within his body, Yin Hui even merged a bit of his soul in an attempt to get a reaction from the crystal ball. It was at this moment that a tiny speck of yellow formed within the center.

"Fail!" Mo Gang said sternly.

Yin Hui was in shock. He did not believe his talent was lacking to such a degree that he couldn't even produce at least a full shade of yellow.

All of a sudden, one possible explanation came to him.

[The jade! Not only did the jade conceal my demonic qi, but it also hid my talent! That's the only possible reason why I could barely produce a color!]

"I wish to attempt the combat test!"

Mo Gang let out a cold snort.

"Don't bother. If you could barely produce a faint shade of yellow you will only embarrass yourself against a listed disciple."

"Even if that's the case I would still like to try." Yin Hui said solemnly.

"Hmph, denied. You will merely be wasting the disciples time. The sect does not need trash like you in it's ranks." Mo Gang started to walk away from Yin Hui. He did not want to waste anymore time on him and wanted to move on to the next applicant.

"I have treasures I can offer you in exchange."

Mo Gang let out a condescending laugh.

"What treasures could a mere country bumpkin like you possess that would entice me?"

Yin Hui began to take out multiple weapons and armaments from his bag of holding. He did not hesitate to even take out the few Spirit Manifestation treasures that he looted back at the border.

The surrounding cultivators had mixed feelings as they watched Yin Hui take out treasure after treasure out of his bag.

"How shameless can this guy be? Despite his ridiculously low talent he still tries to buy his way into the sect with treasures!"

"That may be so, but my question is how did he get those treasures in the first place? With the level of talent he has, there is no reason he should have anything above low-quality Spirit Waking. Yet, he's taken out Spirit Manifestation armaments like they're nothing."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Unfortunately, even though Yin Hui took out treasures of the Spirit Manifestation level, Mo Gang was still unfazed.

"Not good enough! These might be considered treasures to you, but everything you've shown me is something that can easily be obtained in the sect!"

Yin Hui gritted his teeth. He knew that within his bag of holding was one item that would definitely catch the elder's attention. However, he knew it would be very dangerous to let others know that he had such an treasure on him.

[If I show him that item, I can probably secure a position in the combat trial. However, it will permanently mark me as a target of not only the other disciples, but possibly the higher echelons of the sect as well!]

Hovering his hand over his bag of holding, Yin Hui hesitated.

[Even with the risks, I have no choice! I can only hope that I will succeed and everything will pay off! If I can pass this trial and enter the sect, perhaps Master Tempest will be able to protect me!]

"Elder Mo Gang. I have one more treasure. If this last one doesn't interest you, then I will leave right now and never return. I only ask that you come closer and be the only one to view it."

The crowd began to jeer at Yin Hui's request.

"Stop stalling you talentless nobody!"

"The elder has seen enough of your inferior treasures already! Quit wasting his time and leave!"

Yu Zhuwa watched on with a horrified expression. He was saddened that Yin Hui did not pass the test, but he now that sadness was replaced with fear because he knew what treasure he was talking about.

Nearby, Zhang Shi continued staring at Yin Hui with careful attention. He did not expect Yin Hui to perform so poorly on the test. At that point he thought he had misjudged him, but when he started to take out treasures of the Spirit Manifestation level he interest was rekindled.

[There is something strange about this one. When I scanned him with my spiritual sense earlier, I deduced that he was at the peak of Spirit Waking. However, he's obviously stronger than he appears considering the treasures he has on him, but why is his talent so low? On top of that, what is so special about this final item that he is so afraid of showing?]

Mo Gang did not spare so much as a glance at Yin Hui's direction. Instead, Yin Hui felt a cold breath of air brush over his bag of holding.

The draft quickly retracted and Mo Gang's eyes lit up. He immediately turned around and rushed back to Yin Hui's position.

Yin Hui opened his bag slightly and Mo Gang peeked into the small brown sack. His eyes widened when he saw an ordinary-looking sword with a red string attached to the handle.

He let out another laugh.

"Impressive boy! You are absolutely correct. I am interested in this treasure of yours! However, this old man will not make things difficult for you. We'll make a bet. I'll allow you enter the combat trial. However, if you fail you will have to surrender the item to me."

"There is one condition and that is you cannot use it in the exam."

On the outside, Yin Hui's expression was unchanged, but internally he was elated. His plan went better than he had expected. Initially, he believed that to even participate in the trial at all he would have to hand over the Blood Sacrifice Sword.

The spectating hopefuls, as well as the other participants of the trial by combat had bitter looks on their faces. It was clear that their impression of Yin Hui was incredibly low, but they didn't voice their opinions as they were afraid of disrespecting Mo Gang.

Seeing that the evaluation was over, Zhang Shi went back to his meditation. On the other hand, Yu Zhuwa let out a sigh of relief. Although he knew that revealing the Blood Sacrifice Sword would lead to problems down the line, he was feeling content at the fact that Yin Hui had been given another chance.

It took around twenty minutes for the remaining applicants to finish their evaluations. Out of the hundreds that initially filled the courtyard, only the ten applicants who passed and those seeking to challenge a listed disciple remained. The ten passing cultivators kept their distance from each other, though it was clear they were silently gauging each other's strength.

Most of the attention was on Zhang Shi, who was the only applicant to produce a sliver of purple within his crystal ball.

Yin Hui stood off to the side, away from the main group of cultivators who were also attempting the alternative test. Every now and then he would get a few contemptuous glances, but he ignored them.

"All right, those who passed come to me!" Mo Gang boomed from a short distance away.

Yu Zhuwa and the nine others who passed walked over and clasped their hands respectfully.

"In order to save time, I will wait until I have all the passing hopefuls gathered together before formally introducing you all to the sect! Therefore, the ten of you shall come and spectate the alternative trial."

With the exception of Zhang Shi and Yu Zhuwa, the expressions of the other eight who passed darkened.

"Don't think that this is a waste of time. Getting to know your senior disciples will be an enlightening experience. You'll find that the quality of your peers here will be of a far different caliber from what you are used to."

Mo Gang then turned towards the small group of around twenty cultivators who wished to try their luck against a listed disciple.

"Alright! All of you who wish to gain entry through a trial by combat follow me! We will now head to the dueling pavilion!"