Chapter 1: Crossing into Another World

  Not long after, Xu Zhen returned to the woodshed. He sat cross-legged in the middle of the shed, quickly swallowing a few buns from his hands, and began to recall the records of "Intake Key" in his mind.

  "Encountering wind becomes wind, encountering water dissolves itself, encountering fire scorches into flames, encountering earth transforms into wood..."

  The ultimate state of "Breath Control" is to be in harmony with all things, merging one's breath with the environment. Making others feel that you are just a gust of wind, a river!

  Of course, now Xu Zhen is only practicing "Breath Holding Technique" simply to cover up his own cultivation.

  Calm and peaceful, Xu Zhen sank deeply into his cultivation...

  The day after tomorrow is the disciple assessment, and this evening, Xu Zhen slowly withdrew his power. If there was someone with a higher cultivation level nearby, they would find that at this moment, Xu Zhen's realm had fallen from Xiantian to Ling Shi realm.

  "The Hong Meng Zhuan Lun Jing is indeed profound, and the 'Yan Xi Jue' attached to the foundation-building chapter actually has such a miraculous effect. With just a small achievement, it can make people who have reached the foundation-building realm unable to spy on my initial foundation-building realm."

  After several days of practice, the "Breath-Gathering Technique" has made some progress.

  "The Art of Concealment" lives up to its name! It's just that a small achievement can make people below the spiritual master unable to see through one's disguise.

  "The day after tomorrow is the sect assessment, and now I have made some progress in my cultivation. The discomfort of entering the prenatal stage for the first time has also been adapted to. As long as I'm careful, there shouldn't be any unexpected situations."

  Looking out of the window, Xu Zhen muttered to himself...

  At this time, Xu Zhen never thought that because of a momentary lapse in judgment a few days ago, he had already been remembered by an old man...

  An Anxin's day of closed-door training in the barn has come to an end. The assessment is about to begin.

  This morning, Xu Zhen woke up early from his cultivation. Although he didn't plan to draw attention to himself, having been in this world for half a year now, he still wanted to witness the assessment of the Five Great Sects.

  Perhaps after half a year of fusion, he has gradually entered the role that combines the souls of Cang Ye and Xu Zhen. Due to the influence of his body, even he himself did not notice it. If he didn't deliberately recall, he now habitually thinks of himself as Cang Ye, rather than the previous life's Xu Zhen.

  "Wow, it's indeed lively. As expected of the Five Great Sects! I'm afraid there are almost 10,000 people from outside the sect who have come to participate in the assessment to become an inner disciple this time."

  I thought I had arrived quite early, but when I got here, I found that there were already nearly 10,000 people gathered in the square.

  It's likely that most of the outsiders have arrived. The elder in charge of the assessment hasn't come yet, and most of the disciples are excitedly whispering to each other, with several familiar faces gathering together to flatter one another.

  "Brother Wang, this time the inner sect disciples are probably going to take a seat, I don't know which elder you will be lucky enough to follow."

  "Oh, Brother Li is too kind to me. Who doesn't know that you, Brother Li, are incredibly talented? Your natural ability is unmatched, and you've already entered the realm of Innate before even being formally assessed. I don't know how you broke through to Innate, could you share your experience with me?"

  "Lucky, lucky... if it weren't for the protection of a few elderly clansmen, I'm afraid Brother Wang wouldn't have seen me..." said the person known as Li, with a face full of lingering fear.

  When he heard that someone had also become a spiritual master, Xu Zhen couldn't help but stop in his tracks and turn around to observe. However, it wasn't long before Xu Zhen furrowed his brow. Under his perception, this disciple named Li indeed had a majestic aura flowing within him. But why were these spiritual energies so...so mixed up? Ah, yes! They were mixed up!

  That's the feeling Li brought to Xu Zhen.

  He then walked around and observed those disciples who had achieved spiritual enlightenment.

  Xu Zhen discovered that it wasn't just Li brother. All the Ling Shi disciples he observed had messy and disheveled spiritual energy.

  These discoveries left Xu Zhen bewildered. Had he made some mistake in his cultivation? Or was this a characteristic of the Hongmeng Qi within him? If so, it would be best to conceal it carefully! It wouldn't do for others to discover that he could observe the spiritual energy within them!

  Just as Xu Zhen was thinking, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

  "All disciples who have been assessed, listen up! Those who have already become Spiritual Masters, come out and stand on the left side. The others, stand on the right side!"

  At this time, a person appeared on the square, arranging something loudly there.

  "I guess those spiritual masters' disciples didn't need to take an assessment and were directly accepted into the sect."

  Seeing several disciples walking sparsely to the left, Xu Zhen guessed.

  As expected, those Ling Shifu disciples were directly led into the sect's interior by this person. The remaining disciples were organized by others and divided into several teams.

  Xu Zhen also casually joined the crowd as required.

  The team continued to advance, and soon it was his turn. Seeing the test situation in front of him, Xu Zhen was very glad that he had made some progress with "Intake Key".

  At the front of the team was a middle-aged man, and the test was also very simple, just walking in front of him for observation. The middle-aged man's cultivation, according to Xu Zhen's perception, should have the strength of Tianling!

  The greatest sect in the world is indeed the greatest, even a disciple responsible for testing has such high cultivation! Tianling Shifu, in some small schools and factions, can be a respected elder warrior!

  Looking at the test in front of him, Xu Zhen rummaged through his memories for a moment. He knew the reason, although he couldn't cultivate, but some common sense was still there in Cang Ye's memory.

  Many tests used to rely on the Ling Stone, which could quickly distinguish a person's qualifications. However, after many unexpected events, this testing method was gradually eliminated by the major sects. Only some small sects still relied on the Ling Stone for selecting disciples.

  Xu Zhen walked up to the middle-aged man, who gazed at him with a dull expression, staring until Xu Zhen felt a bit numb before slightly lowering his head with a hint of sympathy and jotting down something on paper.

  Xie Xun quickly drew something on a piece of paper as he was leaving and saw a few words.

  Xu Zhen, 11 years old, talent: extremely poor. Cultivation: Primary Spirit Master.

  Each boundary has four divisions: primary, intermediate, advanced and pinnacle. Primary spirit masters with poor qualifications mean that according to the above records, Xu Zhen has no hope of becoming a spirit master in this life.

  As one of the five major sects standing at the top of the world, if a disciple doesn't even have the possibility of becoming a Terran Master, they will absolutely not be accepted as an inner door disciple, and can only be called an outer door disciple, and later become a secular manager of the sect.

  For these, Xu Zhen didn't have the slightest intention because he never planned to enter the inner sect now. He came here just to see it for himself.

  Just as Xu Zhen was about to turn around and leave, he found an old man with a noble temperament standing in front of him, staring at him intensely.

  Not long after, Xu Zhen made the old man's heart feel hairy.

  "Excuse me, sir, you're blocking my way. Do you have any advice?"

  "Old man? Am I old, is Lao Tzu old?! Let me tell you, young one, compared to those who refuse to die of old age, I'm still in my prime! This is the time when I'm truly in my heyday. What's your age, you little brat, how can you possibly understand the realm of true youth that Lao Tzu has attained?!"

  One sentence shattered the image of Gaohuang in Xu Zhen's heart. The one who kept calling himself "Laozi" and "Laofu" actually said he was in his prime, what a joke! Xu Zhen muttered to himself.

  "Huh? What was that? Do you dare speak louder?"

  "Ah... you're not old, you don't look old at all." Xu Zhen's mouth corners twitched slightly. Grandma, obviously with no cultivation, and already half a foot in the coffin, how can his hearing still be so good?

  "Ah, you little scamp, you're quite perceptive to see through my restless heart! Good! Very good! Hahaha..."

  Xu Zhen now just wants to hurry and leave. The surrounding eyes are all gathered, he has never been so embarrassed, even when others called him a waste person, he didn't feel this way. But at this moment facing the gaze of the crowd, he just wants to find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

  Seeing the old man indulging in some unknown fantasy, Xu Zhenli hastily squeezed out of the crowd and escaped from here.