Many had passed the first test, but only a quarter had been eliminated for different reasons like using bone-shrinking martial arts, a natural height that exceeded the requirements, someone using a pill to become younger so on and so forth.
The only prerequisite requirement is to have a bone age of 30 and exceeding them is failure. Yao Chen glanced at the 700 or so people, nodding his head.
"Why are you nodding?" Hong Tianya asked as they are waiting for the Spiritual Root Assessment in which 6 out of 7 will lose the round. That is a normal occurrence because a Spiritual Root is something rare and between.
"Nothing, just remembering something." Yao Chen said as he just nodded his head because he felt like it. He felt like nodding his head just for the sake of it.
Hong Tianya will not buy it though because he is the guy who would nod his head often without reason and would reply this often when asked why he is nodding. She slapped the heck out of him because it was what she had thought.
Yao Chen on the other hand deflected that slap with a wooden sword but a punch in the gut is what Hong Tianya is aiming for. Yao Chen uses the hilt of his sword and lets it hit her.
"Tsk." Hong Tianya said, looking away while feeling annoyed.
"Hahahaha." Ming Feiyu laughs as they look at him and they both use their attacks to hit him but he just dodges them all. He masterfully uses their strength to return their attacks.
The onlookers cannot laugh at this scene because of how terrified they become looking at the attacks. If it were to hit them, they'll be paralyzed for a couple of weeks.
The Elder Sister and the Young Man look at them with interest.
"That young lady over there has innate strength and battle instinct, that young man with sword is good with the sword, much greater than I was when I was younger. That young man knows their attacks and returns them without breaking a sweat."
The young man analyzed their talents and capabilities, the Elder Sister nodded her head and replied, "If that kid has greater ability than you when you are a child, then undoubtedly he has the chance of being an Inner Disciple like us and even the Personal Disciple of Elder Nine Sword.
"That lady will be recruited personally by Elder Flame Rage when he knows she has innate strength, good for Body Cultivation. That particular kid though can become anything." She analyzes.
"What do you mean Elder Sister?" The young man asked, looking at the rumble that was happening. Hong Tianya becomes their target and her battle instinct becomes activated. She uses her body as a weapon masterfully while Ming Feiyu uses techniques to copy her.
"They are good kids, they are not doing it to impress us but this became their habit out of pure rivalry. That kid who deflects their attacks without a sweat maybe is the one binding them together
He has an innate strength lower than that lady, can use the sword lower than the young man and I bet he has the talent to master any technique he would see. A terrifying comprehension, I say." The Elder Sister said.
Immortals or rather Cultivators didn't live for naught only cultivating, they also cultivate their minds and experiences. Their scheme can last for thousands of years with spies of other sects even becoming an Elder.
The young man nodded and applauded the analysis of his Elder Sister which is more than him comparing.
The examinations then continued as Yao Chen is the first to try his luck towards a boulder, that boulder with colorful lights coming from it. This looks like a normal boulder except for lights and different auras coming from it.
A Spiritual Root a need to become a Cultivator to feel the power of Heaven and Earth and absorb its energy. There are also paths or roads toward Immortality that don't need Spiritual Roots such as Body Cultivation. The only requirement is the will of someone.
Incidentally, many more such paths will be discovered by the trio in their adventure but that is for the future.
Yao Chen put his right hand on the boulder which felt smooth, like glass. 'Will I ever have the power to slice it though?'
He then erased that thought because of how freak he thought he became.
'Be proud but not arrogant.' He thought to himself again, making his thoughts lighter.
Then the boulder was lit with countless swords. The swords have only one attribute, it was supreme and majestic. The world of the academy only has sword rhymes that created resplendent scenes.
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The sword then converges to become an image of a man that controls all the swords in existence. It was made of blue light that pierced all those who were seeing this kind of scene. If he had an ounce of qi in his body, it would show how supreme it is. He can slash any existence with a sword in his hand, an ordinary sword becomes an immortal sword, and all the swords bowed on him. He was a Sword Immortal traveling the world.
There is also a wisp of Gold energy throughout that creates more beautiful sceneries. The Gold blended with the Sword but they never fused because those Swords never allowed it to.
Ming Feiyu and Hong Tianya nodded in response like they are bragging, Yao Chen stood like a monolith as his mind is only of the sword. 'I will become an Immortal, soaring through the clouds. Slashing through enemies and understanding the sword on my heart.'
He thought as the Perseverance in his heart solidified.
"A Sword Body with Golden Spiritual Root! Luck, this is luck. We are lucky to get the Advance Dao Stone, Elder Sister, to see this kind of scene in Mortal Empire." The young man said as his face was full of happiness and pride.
Without doing the Comprehension exam, Yao Chen would surely become a disciple of Jade Cleansing because a Dao Body such as the Sword Body has the chance to comprehend any Sword Skills in a minute.
Of course, the young man would recruit Yao Chen to his Sword Mountain, or else he would be lost and join another Mountain. Some shameless elders would recruit anyone even if their mountains cannot hold them.
Just like that, after Yao Chen moved to his seat, the young man is beside him, talking to him now.
Yao Chen pecked his head and started to fantasize about life in the mountains. The life in the Mountain of Swordsman, the Sword Mountain. He also became the Junior Brother of this young man who introduced himself as Meng Yan. Although he manage to control himself and replied,
"Thank you, Senior Brother but I needed to think about it after passing the final test." Yao Chen said, humbly replying. He would become the laughingstock if he ever chose without knowing the Mountain itself. Although he knows that he will choose Sword Mountain undoubtedly.
"That's alright, this is for your future. Although there is only one mountain where swordsmen gather so do not be lost Junior Brother." Meng Yan replied casually like he expected that kind of answer.
A genius of his caliber needed to take time. So he contacted Elder Nine Sword to facilitate his recruitment. A guy with an unknown Sword Body should have a limitless future ahead of him. An unknown body because he doesn't know about what kind of Sword Body he showed.
If Yao Chen had an ounce of qi on his body, that human-made light would be more pronounced. The swords out of all this Mortal Realm would float, synchronize and create a supreme intent that this realm cannot afford to hold.
Hong Tianya is the next who uses the stone. Like Yao Chen thought, she wanted to destroy it with a punch but she held it in 'This stone should be fragile to the eyes of Immortals, not worth mentioning.'
If she was heard by the young man, he would nod his head because this can be created even by him, although not as good when the Elders had refined the boulder. Even if they have given a thousand lives, they will not try anything funny to destroy it.
The boulder then lit up with Earth Attribute, it was strong and overbearing, like the mountain that stood for countless years. The next second, a desolate and overbearing light had been felt.
Then those light converge to create the image of a woman made of golden light. She was overbearing, her body is slim and beautiful but the weight and suppression is contradicting her appearance. The world crumbled on her presence and enemies would fall to her slap.
The people had wanted to bow their heads not because of the majestic sight but because they are pressured to bow. Luckily for them, it stopped. Hong Tianya smiled, her outburst of feeling cannot be contained because a dent in the boulder had been created. Her fingerprints became imminent while cracks had been formed, although small.
Like Yao Chen, because they don't have an ounce of qi, they cannot explicitly create an image. It was pure suppression and desolation that could contend with the supreme intent of the sword.
'That girl also has a special physique.' Meng Yan and Elder Sister thought.
"The Elder Gold Flame will finish us.' They thought again as they wished that a small punishment would happen. Elder Gold Flame is the Artifact Refiner of Jade Cleansing. He was a renowned Artifact Refiner that every Sect had been poaching him to become their Sect's Weapon Refiner.
Although they are worried, they will be rewarded immensely in this mission. The whim to go down a mountain and recruit disciples benefited them greatly. Someone with an unknown Sword Body and someone with an unknown body for Body Cultivation.
Hong Tianya will surely go to the sect even if her comprehension is not satisfactory to the Sect's standard.
A body cultivator only needed to push their limits and not memorize anything. If they are good in Martial Arts as a mortal would be terrifying for others, however
When they are thinking about such things. Ming Feiyu touches the boulder. His mind is of clarity without the thought of destroying it. He only wishes that he has a spiritual root even if it is trash to be accepted.
He will try to catch up in the Comprehension section trying to prove that he was qualified to become a Disciple. If he fails, then he will try to catch up to those two.
There is a saying that different roads lead in one direction. He will surpass all odds and create his direction. At the very least, he will try in his lifetime to find them.
He would not give up when he saw his two friends having unknown physiques. He was not shameless enough to curry favor with both of them or let them face the fact they owned him too much.
If he has no chance and fails, he will try his best to love his remaining life.
When he was thinking of such absurd thoughts, the academy became painted in multi-colored light. Five elements intertwined creating a balanced uniformity, in this state of balance, the yin and yang let out a radiance. The 7 elements then fuse and a human made of pure light manifested.
He controls all those elements and even the imaginary truth– the Dao. On his whim, he created things, with his thought, he destroyed everything.
If he had an ounce of qi on his body, a phenomenon would be created where everyone would worship him. Images of Gods and Buddhas bowing their heads. Sacred beasts flying all over him.
"This… this is ridiculous." The young man thought.