“Let’s do a practice round to make sure that everyone understands,” the administrative deacon said after all five participants had each gotten behind a table. “Place your hands on the jade figures.”

“Let’s do this,” Zhao Yunxiao said to Bo Fei before placing his hands on the jade tortoise figures in front of him.

“Yeah, let’s pass together!” Bo Fei nodded in determination.

Following which, Zhao Yunxiao could not resist stealing a glance at Ze Qifa, only to discover that the latter already had his eyes closed while his hands rested on the jade tortoises.

Zhao Yunxiao quickly shook the stray thoughts out of his head.

That’s right.

This was a test of individual performance, so there was no need to look at others.

Instead, all he should be doing right now was focus on himself.

Even though this was only a practice round, it was also a precious opportunity to familiarise with the test and possibly gain an edge over the others.

He definitely could not waste it!

“Get ready, the practice round has started,” the administrative deacon reminded.

Zhao Yunxiao closed his eyes as well, focusing his spiritual sense on the two jade tortoises in his hands.

They felt nice and cool against his skin – not too different from ordinary jade figures.

But unlike ordinary jade figures, there seemed to be a protective layer on the surface, preventing his spiritual sense from penetrating to investigate the structure within.

Tch!

As expected, the sect administrators would not make things too easy for them!

And then it happened.

It was just a small stream of energy, not nearly enough to even power a basic combat technique. This also meant that it only left a faint trace, making it rather undetectable.

However, Zhao Yunxiao had already expected something like this.

If it was going to be easy, how would the test be able to separate the good applicants from the bad?

Zhao Yunxiao reacted immediately.

The moment he sensed the stream of energy hitting his right palm, Zhao Yunxiao quickly channelled the same amount of energy and emitted it through his left palm.

Ding-!

The red tortoise figure lit up for a moment upon receiving his energy.

Success!

However, Zhao Yunxiao could not bring himself to be too happy.

Because just as he had succeeded, he could also see the jade tortoise figures on the other four tables light up at almost the exact same moment.

Ding-! Ding-! Ding-! Ding-!

Ze Qifa, Bo Fei, and the other two applicants A and B, were all successful in lighting their respective jade tortoises.

Zhao Yunxiao could not help but look over at them.

Ze Qifa still had his eyes closed, either fully focused or completely nonchalant about the result of the practice round.

As for the other three, they were looking around just like him, carefully observing each other’s expressions.

Right now, all of them had confident looks on their faces, seemingly sure of themselves now that they had a taste of what the test was going to be like.

Zhao Yunxiao could not blame them.

He had a similar thought running through his mind right now – the stream of energy earlier might be rather undetectable, but it was definitely still within his abilities. If it was just going to be like this, then he would be able to pass the test for sure!

After all, energy sensitivity and control were straightforward concepts that did not require too much talent to understand.

Of course, the more talented ones would still be able to grasp the fundamentals and methods a lot faster.

But this lower barrier of entry meant that as long as one was willing to put their heart into practising them, they could definitely improve in these aspects.

And for things like these that could easily be improved through constant practice, Zhao Yunxiao would never neglect to include in his training routine.

After years of practice, Zhao Yunxiao might not claim to be the best, but he was still rather confident in his ability when it came to energy sensitivity and control!

But at the same time, he could not shake off the nagging feeling that there was more to the test than just this...

“All right, the practice round is over!” the administrative deacon said. “Get ready for the real thing now. The test will continue until I say it ends, so don’t relax after just a single round!”

His words brought everyone back to their senses.

They stopped looking around, and started focusing solely on the two jade tortoise figures in their hands.

A peaceful silence fell upon the group, to a point where even the soft sound of breathing could be heard in between the rustling of grass.

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One second...

Five seconds...

Five minutes...

Time passed slowly as the five applicants continued to focus on their respective jade tortoise figures.

This was also a test of their patience.

They had to remain alert despite the gruelling wait, not knowing when the round would start, and also not allowing themselves to be distracted and risk failing to react in time.

And then it came – in a way that caught everyone by surprise.

Everyone had sharpened their senses to the limit, ready to react to even the faintest trace of energy.

Yet instead of that, what they got was a huge burst of energy that slammed right into their palms through the jade tortoise figure.

Boom-!

It was a burst of energy that, when materialised, could completely blow away the sturdiest of trees!

Zhao Yunxiao had to immediately tighten his relaxed hand, gripping the jade tortoise tight so that his hand would not get thrown off completely.

“Shit!” Applicant A cursed out loud as he took a few steps back. With that, his hands naturally broke contact with the two jade tortoise figures.

Nevertheless, he quickly recovered and rushed forward, placing his hands back on the jade tortoise figures.

Of course, Zhao Yunxiao was focused solely on himself, so he had only heard the cursing and was oblivious to the rest of the story.

Gritting his teeth, Zhao Yunxiao immediately recreated an equivalent amount of energy, emitting it through his other hand.

Ding-!

It was only when he saw the jade tortoise figure light up that Zhao Yunxiao finally let out a sigh of relief.

He looked around him and saw that apart from him, Ze Qifa’s jade tortoise figure was the only one that had lit up.

This meant that the other three applicants had either failed to transfer an identical amount of energy, or had failed to do so within the required time frame.

After just a single round, the other three applicants – Bo Fei, Applicant A, and Applicant B – already had grim looks on their faces, the confidence from before no longer anywhere to be seen.

Sneaking a peek at the administrative deacon, Zhao Yunxiao could now see a playful smirk appearing on his face.

As expected, the test was not as simple as it seemed!

That just now was not simply a test of reaction, but also a test of endurance.

And who knew what was coming next?

No, now was not the time to be distracted.

Zhao Yunxiao quickly shook the stray thoughts out of his head and turned his focus back to the two jade tortoise figures.

This time, he dared not simply place his hands on the jade tortoise figures in a casual manner, but gripped them tightly instead.

The second round of energy came much faster than the first.

But just like before, it was not simple whatsoever.

Hot!

That was the first thought that came to Zhao Yunxiao’s mind.

If the first stream of energy was like a powerful bull ramming at him, this second stream of energy could be described as hot lava being gently poured into his hand.

This stream of energy might not be as powerful as the first, but the fire element component was not necessarily easier to deal with.

In fact, depending on how one looked at it, it was probably far more difficult to handle!

“Shit!” Applicant A cursed once again as he quickly took a few steps back, holding his hands in pain.

This time, he did not even attempt to rush back to the jade tortoise figures. It would appear that he had given up on this round altogether!

And he was not the only one, either.

“Damn it, what’s this?!” Bo Fei shouted in alarm as he similarly released his grip on the jade tortoise figures.

Just like Zhao Yunxiao, he had gripped the jade tortoise figures more tightly after the scare from the previous round.

Who knew that the next one would be heat instead?

Gripping the jade tortoise figures tighter only made him feel the pain more distinctly than needed!

That was exactly what Zhao Yunxiao was feeling right now as well.

But unlike Bo Fei who had released his grip, Zhao Yunxiao chose to grip the jade tortoise figures even more tightly, gritting his teeth at the same time as he tried to withstand the pain.

In fact, he was not just trying to withstand the pain.

He was also trying to ignore it.

Rather than focusing on the pain aspect, Zhao Yunxiao tried to spend his effort sensing the exact amount of energy lying underneath this fire energy.

Zhao Yunxiao had always understood his own lack of talent, which was why he constantly sought to improve himself in aspects that were less dependent on talent. In a way, that was him trying to differentiate himself.

He could not say the same for anything else. But when it came to physical and mental fortitude, Zhao Yunxiao had absolute confidence in himself.

After all, just like energy sensitivity and control, these were traits that allowed even the talentless to improve themselves through constant practice and relentless training.

No, actually when he came to think of it, physical and mental fortitude might be even more skewed to his advantage in that sense.

Rather than saying that these were traits that allowed cultivators to improve through constant practice, it might be more accurate to say that they could almost only be improved through constant practice!

If that were the case, then Zhao Yunxiao simply refused to admit defeat here.

When he thought about all the hard work that he had put in over the years, even to the point that his peers had started laughing at him for not having achieved better results, what was a little bit of pain in comparison?

The current Zhao Yunxiao’s physical and mental fortitude were both at a level far beyond his peers.

It was one thing to lose in terms of talent, but there was no way that he would allow himself to fail here due to something as trivial as pain!

He stubbornly maintained his grip on the jade tortoise figure that might as well be burning, refusing to let go until he was done sensing the full stream of energy coming from it.

Ding-!

The other jade tortoise figure lit up, and Zhao Yunxiao finally let out a deep breath.

Even then, Zhao Yunxiao dared not lose contact with the jade tortoise figures.

And thankfully so, too.

The moment he was done, a small and undetectable stream of energy came right back at him.

Zhao Yunxiao was slightly startled, but he did not fumble.

He immediately replicated the same amount of energy and emitted it into the other jade tortoise figure.

Ding-!

Bo Fei and Applicant A were shocked when they saw the jade tortoise figures light up twice in Zhao Yunxiao and Ze Qifa’s hands.

Lighting up once was fine, but the fact that they had lit up a second time meant that another round had passed.

They had yet to place their hands back on the jade tortoise figures, so they had no chance of even attempting this round!

As they scrambled to place their hands back on the jade tortoise figures, they could only take solace in the fact that, despite having kept his hands on the jade tortoise figures this whole time, Applicant B’s jade tortoise figures had not lit up at all.

This was the best proof that there were multiple layers to this test – one that had been oversimplified as a mere test of reaction that involved energy transfer.

Simply being able to react fast did not guarantee success.

Being able to sense and transfer energy did not guarantee success.

Similarly, being able to endure and isolate the feeling of pain also did not guarantee success.

It was only when all aspects came together that they would be able to satisfy the requirements of this seemingly simple test of reaction.

And they were only still in the first part of the recruitment test!