The young man was around eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in fine clothes, with a hint of arrogance in his eyes, though his cultivation level wasn't particularly impressive.
"Lin'er, that is Yang Miao from the Yang family, a dual-system martial artist and also one of your competitors," Du Gu Binglan whispered.
"Binglan, what are you doing here?" The young beauty, upon seeing Du Gu Binglan, quickly approached.
"I'm just here to join in the fun. Let me introduce you; this is Young Master Li Lin from the Li family," Du Gu Binglan said, pulling Yang Miao with a smile.
"So, you're the tri-system martial artist from the Li family. If there's a chance today, I'd like to see the strength of a tri-system martial artist," Yang Miao said lightly, looking at Li Lin without much change in her expression.
"If there's a chance, I won't hold back," Li Lin replied quietly, feeling that Yang Miao's personality was different from Yang Man's that day.
Moments later, two figures appeared at the entrance again, both young men around seventeen or eighteen, dressed in fine clothes, their faces showing some nervousness.
"These are from the Luo family, side branch descendants, one named Luo Jin and the other Luo Fei," Du Gu Binglan introduced again.
Li Lin only glanced briefly at the two, thinking to himself that Du Gu Binglan seemed to know the people from the five major families quite well, which was no simple feat.
"These are from the Wang family, the one in front is Wang Guang, and the one behind is Wang Qing," Du Gu Binglan said again.
At the entrance, following the Luo family members, two young men appeared. Li Lin's gaze involuntarily focused on Wang Guang. With his sword-like eyebrows and large eyes, dressed in black, he had no special aura about him, but Li Lin felt that Wang Guang's eyes showed no trace of nervousness and he had a faint aura about him, casually observing everyone around.
"This Wang Guang seems to be not so simple," Li Lin thought to himself, going by his intuition.
At that moment, about a dozen figures walked slowly to the judges' seats at the top, the foremost being Elder Bai Mei from the Yunyang Sect along with four other officials from the sect, followed by Li Dong from the Li family and heads of other families.
Li Lin recognized these people; the heads of the major families from Qingyun Town were present, except for his own so-called father from the Li family, who was the head of the family but did not participate.
"Let's begin." After the distinguished individuals from Qingyun Town's major families took their seats, Elder Bai Mei glanced over the crowd and spoke lightly.
"Yes, Elder." A middle-aged official from the Yunyang Sect responded, then took a crystal ball and stepped down from the judges' platform.
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"The competition begins now. All participants listen carefully, come forward. The first round is not to test your strength but to verify your talent. Only those with above-average talent can proceed to the second round," the Yunyang Sect's middle-aged official announced.
The participating youths immediately moved forward, most showing signs of nervousness.
In the spectator seats around, the atmosphere was lively with sounds as people from the major families cheered for their contestants, creating waves of screams.
In this atmosphere, Li Lin felt his heart warming up. He was aware of the competition's rules; Yunyang Sect's requirements for its disciples were extremely strict, demanding at least above-average talent for admission. The first round was a talent verification, assessing talent based on age and strength. Those with insufficient talent would not proceed to the second round.
The participants stood up and walked forward in turn. Each young man and woman, at the prime of their youth and representing significant backgrounds, incited loud screams from many young spectators, appearing as if they were followers.
Among these shouts, Yang Miao received the loudest support, especially from young masters of smaller families.
Standing before the Yunyang Sect official, the middle-aged man continued, "We will now begin verifying your talent. Those with above-average talent may stay; those below must step down. Yunyang Sect does not accept disciples with poor talent."
"The first one, come forward." The official said lightly, placing the crystal ball on a stone platform.
The first participant, a young man in blue attire, nervously stepped forward, placed his right hand on the crystal ball, and as his Qi flowed in, a yellow glow appeared on the ball.
"Chen Tao, Earth system first-level warrior, twenty years old, medium talent. Please step down," the Yunyang Sect official announced. The first to be verified could not pass; despite being a first-level warrior, his age made his talent average.
The young man in blue attire shook his head slightly and reluctantly walked away.
The second participant, a young man in green attire, began his verification, and a red glow appeared on the crystal ball.
"Zhai Qingfeng, sixteen years old, Fire system ninth-level martial disciple, above-average talent."
"Bai Shaoqing, eighteen years old, Water system second-level warrior, above-average talent."
One after another, participants were verified. Most had decent talent, but some with average talent among them had to exit the stage after their verification.
Li Lin observed the Yunyang Sect's verification process, noting it was much stricter than the Li family's. After a while, Qin Tianhao from the Qin family approached the crystal ball, placed his hand on it, closed his eyes, and a spiritual force flowed into the ball.
Instantly, the crystal ball shone with a dazzling light, and spiritual energy vibrated around it.
"Qin Tianhao, eighteen years old, third-level spiritual practitioner, can directly enter Yunyang Sect," the Yunyang Sect official announced loudly, his eyes looking at Qin Tianhao differently. According to Yunyang Sect's rules, anyone identified as a spiritual practitioner could directly enter the sect and even become a direct disciple.
This was because spiritual practitioners were extremely rare and highly sought after by forces across all major spiritual and martial continents.
"Wow, directly entering Yunyang Sect and becoming a direct disciple."
Suddenly, countless people began screaming frantically, especially the girls, some even loudly expressing their love. Li Lin couldn't help thinking that girls in this world were quite outgoing.
"Congratulations to the Luo family head," the heads of the other families immediately congratulated the Luo family. Becoming a direct disciple of Yunyang Sect meant the Luo family's future expansion was assured. With Yunyang Sect's backing, the Luo family's growth was inevitable.
"Yang Miao, seventeen years old, dual-system Water and Fire third-level warrior, exceptional talent."
The audience seats erupted again, with many shouting for the exceptional talent, a rarity in previous years.
"Wang Guang, seventeen years old, Earth system ninth-level warrior, exceptional talent."