Everyone who passed the first exam entered the school.
Suddenly, three formidable-looking examiners appeared before them and ordered them with indifferent expressions on their faces, "Follow us."
Following the examiners, everyone entered inside a spacious hall where many kinds of ancient drawings were hanging on the wall.
Examiners turned around and again commanded, "Find a place and sit down."
Obeying the command, everyone nodded and found a place to sit down.
The examiners took out a set of three books and distributed them to everyone, instructing, "You'll have three hours to grasp the techniques within these books. If any of you couldn't comprehend any technique to the basic level, you will be considered as fail. Understood?"
Everyone nodded and shouted in unison, "We understand, master."
Examiners nodded in satisfaction before vanishing from the room, reappearing beside an enigmatic white-haired old man.
"Master, do you think that kid can achieve a perfect score again?"
The old man smiled with an air of mystery and murmured, "Let's wait and find out."
Inside the room, Eli Shan looked at the three books in his hands, his eyes filled with excitement as he examined the cover, "These technique looks good for qi absorption, fist technique, and for swords mastery".
He opened the qi gathering book, and in an instant, a surge of memories began to pour into his mind.
Trying to comprehend it, Eli Shan closed his eyes and sat down with his crossed legs. He concentrated on gathering qi from around him, attempting to refine and absorb it.
After three breaths of time, while many students were still struggling to find out what kind of technique these were, a sudden change caught their attention. All eyes turned in a certain direction as their expression changed into a pure shock.
What they beheld was more than just a surge of qi; it was a manifestation of power and potential. Threads of glowing energy wove together, forming a bright cocoon that pulsed with a magical light. This energy was condensing into one place, being absorbed by a single person like a hungry beast—enough energy to easily propel someone into a higher realm of cultivation.
Looking at it even the examiner's eyes popped out in shock and had just one thought in their mind—"The appearance of a rare genius."
Meanwhile, students were filled with astonishment and jealousy, even more so than when eli shan stepped on the third step of the heaven and earth staircase because what they were seeing right now was as if they were looking at the son of the god!
But still, among the crowd, no one felt more envious than Hao Yu, who clenched his fist in anger and thought, "Who is this guy? Why is he perfect in everything?"
Although they felt envious of Eli Shan's remarkable potential, they were still driven by the need to pass their exam. So, instead of fixating on him, they all immersed themselves in understanding the technique with unwavering determination.
Soon, the time limit of three hours came to an end. The three examiners flew over swiftly inside the hall and declared, "Time's up, everyone!"
Startled by the announcement, everyone emerged from their state of deep concentration and turned their attention to the examiners. Some candidates' eyes brimmed with confidence, while others displayed nervousness.
Eli Shan also opened his eyes, his expression indifferent as he looked at the examiners.
The three examiners went to each student, evaluating the results of their comprehension.
As the examiners approached, a wave of worry washed over many faces.
Just at the beginning, more than thousands of children already failed and only less than fifty barely passed.
Soon, the examiner went to feng qiang and ordered, "Show me what you have comprehended from the qi gathering book."
Feng Qiang nodded slightly and began to use the qi gathering technique by sitting with crossed legs and closed eyes.
Soon, a huge amount of qi began to surge around her and surrounded her completely, as she used the technique completely, the whole qi around her began to refine by her and flowed into her dantian. Due to the high concentration of qi around her, Feng Qiang also began to illuminate like a goddess, making every man fall for her at first sight.
The examiners' smiles widened as they observed Feng Qiang's impressive comprehension ability and nodded with satisfaction.
"Now, demonstrate your fist technique and sword technique as well," one of the examiners instructed.
Feng Qiang stood up and complied. First, she showcased her basic-level fist technique, followed by her middle-level sword technique. The examiners observed closely, nodding and exchanging satisfied glances. "Good good, this year we have a lot of good seedlings."
The examiners then turned their attention to Hao Yu and asked him to demonstrate the techniques.
Hao Yu nodded and used his qi gathering technique, which also reached the mid-level but it was not as good as feng qiang, which left him in anger.
Then he used his fist and sword techniques, both on par with Feng Qiang's level of skills.
In the end, it was clear—Hao Yu had been lost! He stood there with his fist closed tightly and gritted his teeth in frustration.
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Next, the examiners approached Eli Shan. Even though there was no need for him to demonstrate the techniques, they still had to comply with the formality. They nodded at him and said, "Use the technique which you have learned from the books."
Eli Shan nodded and sat down crossed legs with closed eyes and began to use the qi gathering technique.
As he used the technique, energy from the surroundings began to gather all around him, glowing him with the brilliance of the five elements' light, like a celestial being. And as if it was not enough to leave everyone dumbfounded, qi from outside of the hall also began to attract towards Eli Shan and fell on him like a strike of mighty sword-light, creating a pressure that even pushed the examiners back.
Soon, Eli Shan activated the absorption part of the qi gathering technique. Suddenly, every ounce of qi began to swirl around him and was absorbed by his constitution like a tornado, and flowing through every part of his body.
As the examiners were pushed back by the surging energy, their eyes widened in shock and they exclaimed with the looks of horror, "A monster! In the beginning, not only did he learn this technique to the middle level in just a few breaths, which was already astonishing, but now it has already reached the perfected realm?"
Eli Shan didn't know what was happening around him. Soon, he opened his eyes and everything around him disappeared like nothing had happened from the start. With a confused expression, he looked at the lead examiner standing before him and asked, "Did I pass the test?"
The examiner didn't know what to say. He no longer felt like he had the right to test Eli Shan anymore. "Hmm, you passed," he finally managed to say, "now demonstrate the fist and sword techniques as well."
Eli Shan nodded and stood up. Shifting into a punching position, he clenched his fist tightly, and a sensation of air and qi being drawn into his fist rippled through the air, leaving onlookers once again in awe. Then suddenly, he turned his face towards the examiner who was standing at the very front, and grinned at him. Looking at his grin, the examiner couldn't help but feel a sense of danger, a sense that something ominous was about to happen.
Suddenly, Eli Shan concentrated all his energy into his tightly closed fist and launched it forward directly at him. The lead examiner, standing at the forefront, widened his eyes in shock as he rapidly condensed his qi into a defensive form. But to his astonishment, Eli Shan's punch effortlessly shattered his defense, moving forward without hindrance.
Just as the punch was about to hit him, the middle-aged man suddenly materialized from behind, his palm meeting Eli Shan's fist with a strength that effortlessly stopped the punch without budging.
Eli Shan looked at the middle-aged man in shock. "Master, you are so strong!"
The middle-aged man smiled proudly and inquired, "But why did you attack the examiner?"
Eli Shan grinned, "I wanted to test my strength and I thought the examiner will easily stop my punch."
From behind, the examiner who had been attacked by Eli Shan shouted in anger, "I would have easily stopped your punch! It's just that I wasn't ready for it. Who would think that a candidate would dare attack the examiner?"
The middle-aged man gazed at him with an indifferent expression and said in anger, "Shut your mouth. You've let us down today." Then he turned his attention to Eli Shan and added, "That's fine. Now proceed with your final test."
Eli Shan nodded and accepted a sword from the examiners. This time, he turned his face toward the empty direction and executed a vertical slash with his sword. Suddenly, the ground split apart with a strong force, causing the examiner who had been attacked by him earlier to lose his composure. His jaw dropped as he thought, "I'm relieved he didn't use this attack against me."
However, it wasn't just a single examiner who was shocked this time; every individual present, including the mysterious white-haired old man, was left in awe by the sword strike. All of them had the same thought: "All three books learned to perfection within three hours? What kind of wisdom is this? Even though these are low-level techniques, it requires a genius at least a month to master just one of them to perfection."
Everyone looked at Eli Shan as though they were staring at a monster. From their reactions, Eli Shan understood that he had performed well on the test and asked the examiners with pride, "Did I pass the test?"
Examiners didn't know what to say and just could sigh, "You have passed the test with a perfect score."
No one was surprised by the result. If even this guy couldn't achieve a perfect score, then who else could?
Suddenly, everybody began to recall his face and exclaimed in shock, "Isn't this the guy who got a perfect score yesterday too?"
"Is he a monster?"
"He must be from a high-level background."
On the side, Feng Qiang smiled with pride, as if she were the one who had earned the perfect marks.
After the second trial was over, only two thousand students stood in the hall.
They were the cream of the crop, the elites of the elite, but still many of them would have to return home empty-handed.
Well, this was the nature of the world.
The strong would inevitably trample on the weak to ascend to greater heights.
As everyone was celebrating the results, an examiner announced once again, "Congratulations to all of you for passing the second exam and reaching the final round. Now get ready for the third exam."
Everybody got shocked after hearing the examiners, nobody understood why the examiners didn't let them take any rest.
In an instant, Eli Shan blinked, only to find everyone around him had gone. As his eyes scanned around, he realized that he stood in front of a place that was deeply etched in his memory—the Shan clan.
His memories blurred about the exam as he stepped inside the clan and saw his parents welcoming him. He smiled and looked at them with affection, saying, "Mother, Father."
Looking at eli shan has back, Huang Shan and Yui Shan's hearts filled with joy as they rushed forward and gave him a big hug.
In a blink of an eye, many years passed. Eli Shan lived an ordinary life of a cultivator. However, one day everything changed by an unexpected event. An army of cultivators descended upon them, unleashing a brutal massacre. Despite his desperate wish to protect them, eli shan found himself helpless in the face of the army.
He saw those cultivators killing his friends, mother, and father and not leaving a single person alive.
Looking at the massacre, just when he was about to be consumed by his rage, suddenly an invisible and intangible force erupted from his body and enveloped him completely. From the examiners' perspective, there was no visible change in Eli Shan; only he could sense this strange force coming out of his body. Soon his blurred memory cleared and he stood still in one place and thought while looking at the dead bodies before him, "Am I trapped inside an illusion?"
Before his thought could even be complete, he felt his surroundings shift. Everything around him transformed into shades of green, he bathed inside a soothing green light as if the power of nature was itself blessing him. Gradually, the verdant glow withdrew back into his being, and Eli Shan awoke from the illusion with remarkable ease.
It hadn't even taken the time to finish half a cup of tea since he entered the illusion created by the school's headmaster, and he had already shattered its hold.
When examiners saw it, they felt like their whole life was for naught.
This child's cultivation and age were nothing compared to theirs, but this kid could already break the the illusion created by the headmaster? What kind of strength and wisdom was this?
Could the illusion created by the headmaster break so quickly?
If they had heard this tale from someone else, they definitely would not have believed it.
The examiner, a middle-aged man, materialized before Eli Shan, looking at him with gentleness in his eyes. "Congratulations," he said, his voice warm, "You are the first person in the history of the school to complete all trials perfectly."
Hearing this, Eli Shan couldn't believe his ears. But looking at the middle-aged man's warm smile and acknowledging nod, his disbelief transformed into an overwhelming emotion, and without him knowing, tears began to well up in his eyes.
He clenched his fist in happiness and closed his eyes with a smile on his face as he whispered slowly, "I have succeeded, Father."