Holy Emperor
Disciples of Jingying Hall!
When Ye Chen saw the three spiritual patterns on the chest of the two people who suddenly came, he understood their identities. The breath of the two was very strong, and at least Ye Chen couldn't see through their cultivation.
Two elite disciples from the Hall of Elegance arrived and glanced at the crowd with a hint of disdain. One of them spoke, "You are all here to participate in the selection process for our Spiritual Spring Blessed Land, having traveled far and wide. Although there are many of you, we do not have a limited quota for this recruitment. As long as you can pass the first round of assessment, everyone will be able to become an entry-level disciple of our Spiritual Spring Blessed Land."
"After the first round of assessment, the second round of talent selection assessment will be conducted immediately. If you can pass the second round of assessment, you will directly enjoy the quota for external disciples. By analogy, every time you successfully pass a round of assessment, it means that your qualifications and potential are greater, and you have the opportunity to become an inner disciple, elite, core, or even a direct disciple!"
The disciples of the Elite Hall fell silent, and a low murmur spread throughout the scene. The participants in the selection all showed eager expressions, with an unutterable yearning for the inner courtyard.
Ye Chen noticed that the purple-clothed youth had a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, he confidently looked at the two elite hall's sons, and when his eyes swept over the crowd, they carried a deep disdain.
Ye Chen glanced at the purple-clothed youth, this person was extremely arrogant, even saying he was overbearing, not putting others in his eyes. For such a person, Ye Chen rarely paid attention to him.
Just as Ye Chen's gaze met his, the purple-clothed youth seemed to sense that someone was staring at him. He suddenly turned his head around, his eyes sharp as a knife, piercing through Ye Chen, filled with cold intent.
Yechen ignored the gaze of the purple-robed youth, withdrawing his eyes to look ahead at the two elite disciples, waiting for them to announce the start of the first round of testing.
"Everyone look over there." A disciple of Jingying Hall pointed to a vacant lot on the left, he raised his hand and struck out a spiritual symbol. The symbol flew into the air, suddenly radiating thousands of rays of light, and in an instant, the vacant lot below began to transform. Countless brown characters appeared on the originally empty ground, those characters seemed to be branded onto the ground, constantly flashing with a faint glow, flickering on and off.
Everyone was unclear and obviously did not understand what the flickering characters on the empty land were and what they had to do with the assessment.
"Have you seen the characters flickering on the ground of that empty space?" said the elite disciple who had just thrown out a spiritual symbol. He glanced at everyone and continued to explain: "I have already imbued the earth attribute spiritual power into that area with my spiritual symbol, so when you step onto that land, your gravity will increase tenfold. The first round of assessment is for you to pass through that gravity-enhanced empty space within ten breaths and enter the Secret Realm of Fate. Those who use spiritual power will be disqualified from the selection process. Remember, no matter which round of assessment, you must rely on your own blood energy to get through it and bring out your greatest potential."
"Do you remember?" said another elite disciple who had yet to speak up until now.
"Remember!" The crowd responded loudly.
"Alright then, let's begin. Remember, you only have ten breaths of time. If you exceed that, it will be considered a failure." The elite disciple reminded them.
"Yes!"
Over a thousand participating disciples all walked to the edge of the empty land with heavy gravity, each internal circulation of blood and gas, bringing their physical strength to its peak state.
"Let's start!"
At the announcement of a senior brother, everyone rushed to the other side of the empty space, where another senior brother had been waiting.
As soon as the crowd stepped onto the gravity-enhanced empty ground, those brown characters suddenly burst out with a brilliant light. Everyone's body shape was momentarily stunned, and they only felt that their bodies had suddenly become ten times heavier, while taking steps was even more difficult, as if there were invisible big hands stretching out from the ground to grab their ankles.
Ye Chen saw the purple-robed youth strolling leisurely, with a hint of cold smile at the corner of his mouth. In just two or three breaths, he traversed the gravity-enhanced empty space and appeared in front of the elite disciple on the opposite side, whose face clearly showed a hint of surprise.
Ye Chen walked with a steady pace, and this bit of gravity was essentially non-existent to him. Not even his blood flow had changed, but in the same instant that the purple-robed youth arrived, he also reached the opposite side.
At that moment, the purple-clothed youth turned to look at Ye Chen, a flash of cold light passing through his eyes. From that gaze, Ye Chen felt a thread of icy killing intent, and he sneered inwardly, but his face remained expressionless. This purple-clothed youth's jealousy was too strong, his heart was too narrow, but as long as he didn't provoke Ye Chen himself, Ye Chen wouldn't take the initiative to provoke him.
Very soon, most people passed through the gravity-free zone within ten breaths, only a small number of people exceeded the time and were eliminated with an unwilling gaze.
"Very good, you have passed the first round of assessment and now have the qualifications to become a beginner disciple. Next is the second round of assessment, those who pass can enter the outer courtyard for cultivation and become an outer courtyard disciple." The Elite Hall disciples said.
"Have you seen the stone wall behind me?" The disciple of Jingying Hall said, turning around and pointing to a hundred-meter-high vertical stone wall with a radiant glow: "This stone wall is your second round of assessment. The surface of the stone wall is extremely hard, and it also has gravity support. What you need to do is climb up with your bare hands, without any time limit. As long as you can climb to the top of the stone wall and stand on it, then you will pass the second round of assessment."
Ye Chen looked at the stone wall in front of him, and unexpectedly, the second round of assessment was to climb the stone wall. Under the influence of gravity, he had to use his hands to grab into the stone wall that was much harder than ordinary rocks and climb up a hundred feet high stone wall, which was simply impossible for an average nine-stage peak cultivator.
"Let's start, I'm waiting for you all up there, hoping that everyone can climb this stone wall." An elite disciple said, as soon as the words fell, he stepped into the air and appeared at the top of the cliff in an instant.
Those who passed the first round of assessment had a physical cultivation that was not bad, at least stronger than those of the same rank in the secular world. However, as they looked at this stone wall, many people's eyes revealed a wavering color, apparently lacking confidence in successfully climbing it.
The crowd gritted their teeth and rushed towards the stone wall, starting to climb. Ye Chen walked at the end, neither anxious nor impatient. The purple-clothed youth once again charged to the front, his hands like steel claws, easily tearing through the stone wall, deeply embedded in it, quickly climbing upwards. In contrast, the others seemed to be struggling, with a few people from the Mysterious Realm of Life and Death managing to keep up with the purple-clothed youth's pace.
Ye Chen arrived at the edge of the stone wall, curled his fingers into claws, and in an instant, his five fingers became as hard as divine iron. With a "poof" sound, they were inserted into the stone wall, as if grasping tofu with ease. The weight-bearing force on his body didn't have the slightest effect.
He was like a gecko on the wall, quickly catching up with those people from the Secret Realm of Life and Death, chasing after that purple-robed youth.
The stone wall was densely packed with human shadows, hundreds of people were climbing, some had only climbed to a third and were already unable to hold on, in the unwilling gaze, they stretched out their hands and desperately grabbed the legs of the person above them who was still climbing and pulled down with all their might.
"What are you doing? You son of a bitch! Are you looking for death?" Those who were dragged by their feet cursed loudly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One by one, people fell from the stone wall, some exhausted and others dragged down by force.
Ye Chen shook his head silently, that's just how human nature is, people won't let others do what they can't do themselves, it's all due to jealousy.
In an instant, the stone wall was in a mess, with many people climbing and attacking those closest to them, all thinking of taking the initiative to avoid being ambushed by their opponents.
Countless cries of exclamation rose and fell, as people continuously tumbled down from the stone walls. The elite disciples of Spiritual Spring Sect gazed on indifferently, not stopping them, as long as no one died, they wouldn't bother to intervene. The path of cultivation was originally arduous; only those who could overcome difficulties could go further. Being pulled down by others could only be blamed on oneself for lacking ability.
Soon, Ye Chen approached the purple-clothed youth, while the others in the Secret Realm of the Fate Sea kept a distance from each other, clearly wanting to complete the assessment calmly and not eager to compete with anyone, lest they end up injuring each other.
"Hmm!"
A faint cold hum entered Ye Chen's ears, and the purple-clothed youth who was climbing above suddenly stopped, looked down at Ye Chen with a glance, his eyes flashing with cold light, and suddenly kicked one leg towards Ye Chen.
Ye Chen had long been prepared and when that leg kicked out, he dodged with one hand and pointed upwards.
At that moment, a muffled sound was heard. The purple-robed youth's face changed drastically, and his entire leg twitched several times. Ye Chen pointed at the sole of his foot, and a powerful force pierced through his body, causing his entire leg to ache with a piercing pain.
The purple-robed youth's face turned even colder, his murderous intent openly exposed. In his heart, Ye Chen had already become the biggest obstacle in this assessment. The other sects' disciples did not have a quota limit, but there was only one spot available for core and direct disciples.
The young man in purple felt the pressure, for the core disciple he was bound to get, and even wanted to become a direct disciple, this opportunity must not be lost, while Ye Chen had already become his greatest competitor.
In an instant, the purple-clothed youth's body suddenly flipped over, head down and feet up, with both toes embedded in the stone wall to pin himself to the wall, and a fist was already smashing towards Ye Chen's head.
Buzz!
A burst of humming noise in the void, the fist passed by with a fierce gust of wind, and the stone wall cracked with spider web-like cracks.
Ye Chen didn't want to show off, nor did he want to be too eye-catching, but at this moment, the purple-clothed youth had already bullied him to his head, and with a chill in his heart, he grabbed him with one hand.
Bang!
Under Ye Chen's grasp, the fist wind was instantly dispersed, and Ye Chen's hand momentum did not decrease. He grabbed the purple-clothed youth's fist with one hand, and with a single finger, a series of cracking sounds echoed as bones fractured.