Chapter 37

In the midst of cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

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Among the three people, one was clearly the Confucian scholar from Jiuying Mountain, Zhu Chi, and another was a beautiful Taoist nun in her thirties with a head full of black hair.

At this moment, Liu Ming already knew the Confucian scholar's full name was Gui Ruquan. The beautiful Taoist nun standing with them was clearly the long-closed Zhong Shigu.

As for the other inner disciples, apart from the new recruits and those he had met before, there were also many older disciples over thirty years old.

These older disciples had unfamiliar faces, but each exuded a thick aura, clearly indicating that most of them had considerable cultivation.

After a while, another dozen or so inner disciples landed around the square, and then no one else appeared. Gui Ruquan cleared his throat and spoke.

"Very good. Apart from those few disciples who couldn't return in time due to sect missions, all the disciples of our Jiuying lineage are present. This is also the first small competition since the new junior brothers joined. Any disciple who performs well in the competition will receive a certain reward, and the best performer will receive an additional significant reward. Junior Brother Zhu, bring out the testing equipment."

The Confucian scholar's last few words were directed at Zhu Chi.

"Senior Brother, rest assured, I have already prepared everything." The long-haired man chuckled, took a few steps forward, and suddenly had several light yellow talismans in his hands, which he raised with both hands.

After a series of "bang" sounds, white mist unfurled, and several items appeared in the center of the square.

Liu Ming's eyes lit up at this sight; those talismans were likely the storage talismans mentioned by Senior Uncle Su.

It was truly amazing that so many things could be stored in such small talismans!

There were five iron locks of varying sizes, a white, half-zhang tall stone stele, and seven to eight crude human figurines, some wearing thick armor and others holding a person-sized iron sword.

"According to the old rules, the competition will be divided into three groups. New disciples in one group, disciples over thirty in another, and the remaining disciples in a third group. The competition content will be divided into strength, magic, and practical combat. Junior Brother Zhu, you will be responsible for testing the disciples over thirty, Junior Sister Zhou for those under thirty, and I will personally handle the new disciples." Gui Ruquan explained briefly and then said.

Naturally, Zhu Chi and Zhong Shigu did not object.

After a brief discussion, they decided to start with the new disciples, then those under thirty, and finally the older disciples over thirty.

The Confucian scholar cleared his throat again and said, "New disciples, step forward so that the senior brothers and sisters who haven't met you can get to know you. Our Jiuying lineage may not be the strongest in the sect, but in terms of unity, we are no less than any other lineage."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ming and the other four new disciples naturally stepped forward, introduced themselves, and bowed to the others.

The other disciples also smiled and returned the bows.

"Yu Cheng, as a direct disciple, you will start first. Let me see the results of your half-year of cultivation." The Confucian scholar glanced at the five new disciples and finally paused at the red-haired youth.

The red-haired youth naturally bowed and walked to the five black iron locks, stopping in front of the smallest one.

Although it was the smallest, the black iron lock in front of him was as large as a basin, weighing about four to five hundred pounds, which no ordinary person could move at all.

Liu Ming believed that even he would find it quite challenging without activating his potential.

The red-haired youth let out a low cry, grabbed the handle of the iron lock with both hands, and exerted all his strength.

The iron lock only wobbled a few times and did not lift off the ground.

The red-haired youth's face turned red, and he suddenly began to chant, a faint yellow light enveloping his body, making his aura completely different from before.

With another loud cry, several fine yellow spiritual patterns appeared on the youth's arms, and he finally managed to lift the iron lock, trembling.

With a "bang," the youth's face turned red, and he threw the iron lock back to the ground, even creating a shallow pit.

"It seems you have already completed the first level of Earth Spirit Technique. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to lift this lock with just your magic power. Do you want to try the second one?" Gui Ruquan smiled and said, not commenting on the red-haired youth's performance.

The other inner disciples watching from the sides also mostly smiled, showing no surprise.

"Disciple can barely lift this one; the second one is impossible to lift." The red-haired youth took a few deep breaths to calm his panting chest and respectfully replied.

"Alright, then use your strongest spell to attack the stone stele made of white myanmar crystal from ten steps away. The depth of the mark you leave on it within ten breaths will determine your spell proficiency and power." The Confucian scholar said slowly.

"Understood, Senior Gui!" Yu Cheng responded, took a few steps to stand ten steps away from the white stone stele, and quickly formed seals. After a few breaths, a palm-sized green thin sheet appeared between his hands, growing brighter.

The youth suddenly shouted, "Wind Blade," and with a flick of his hand, the thin sheet shot out.

With a muffled "pu" sound, a clear white mark appeared on the seemingly smooth stone stele, about half an inch deep.

The stone stele was surprisingly hard.

Yu Cheng continued to chant, but this time, before he could fully form the wind blade, Gui Ruquan said, "Time's up."

The red-haired youth had to disperse his incomplete spell, his face showing a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Being able to leave a half-inch mark on the stele shows that you have spent considerable time on this spell and have truly mastered it. If you continue to work hard, you can reach the minor accomplishment stage by launching two attacks within ten breaths. However, the more advanced the spell, the harder it is to improve, so be prepared for that." The Confucian scholar glanced at the stele and nodded, giving some advice.

The red-haired youth acknowledged it.

"For the first two tests, I can only give you a medium evaluation. The final result will depend on your practical combat. As new disciples, you only need to fight the lowest-level puppet." The Confucian scholar said as he walked to the human-shaped puppets.

He stopped in front of the shortest puppet, which had no weapons, and pressed a white myanmar crystal stone into a slot on its chest. Then he pointed a finger at the puppet's head, and a wisp of black gas flashed and entered it.

In the next moment, the puppet, which had been motionless, suddenly had red light in its eyes and walked into the circle already drawn in the square, stopping again.

"You will fight this puppet, which has been infused with a low-level battle soul, within this circle. Whoever steps out of the circle first will be considered the loser. Your performance will be judged by how long you can withstand the puppet's attacks." Gui Ruquan said, folding his arms.

The red-haired youth did not dare to be careless, took a green short blade from his waist, and cautiously walked into the circle.

As soon as his feet touched the circle, the puppet, which had seemed clumsy, suddenly moved like a gust of wind and pounced at him.

The red-haired youth was startled and instinctively slashed the short blade at the puppet.

With a "pu" sound, a pale green blade of light shot out but only made the puppet's body pause slightly before it continued its attack.

The youth became anxious and retreated hastily.

He continued to swing the short blade and tried to chant the wind blade spell, but in his panic, he made mistakes and failed to form even one wind blade.

After a moment, the puppet, withstanding his talisman attacks, reached him and struck him out of the circle with a single palm.

"Practical combat: low. Overall evaluation: medium-low." Gui Ruquan shook his head and said calmly.

Yu Cheng was not really injured, but he could only hang his head and return to the other disciples.

The new disciples, including Liu Ming, exchanged glances.

"Next, Xue Shan." The Confucian scholar called out the next name without hesitation.

Xue Shan grinned but had to step forward.

Indeed, after the three tests, he, who had not yet completed the first level of the basic cultivation technique, could not lift any of the iron locks. In the spell test, he could only use the fireball spell to leave a faint mark on the stele. His practical combat result was even worse, and he was quickly thrown out of the circle by the puppet.

His final evaluation was naturally "low."

The next one, Wan Xiaoqian, performed slightly better.

Although she performed poorly in strength and spell tests, in the practical combat, she first cast a light body spell on herself and used another wind attribute spell to assist her. She managed to withstand the puppet's attacks for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea and received a medium-low evaluation.

"White Congtian."

The Confucian scholar's gaze finally fell on Liu Ming.

Liu Ming took a deep breath, slightly activated the Nether Bone Technique, and a faint black mist enveloped his body as he walked toward the iron locks.

The Confucian scholar's gaze sharpened at this sight.

On the other side, Zhu Chi, who had been whispering to the Taoist nun, also noticed Liu Ming's unusual aura and let out a light "hmm."

The Taoist nun, noticing this, raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's the matter, Senior Brother Zhu?"

"Junior Sister Zhong, you may not know, but this boy has only three spirit veins and chose to cultivate a technique not emphasized by our lineage, the Ghost Spirit Technique. However, from his appearance, it's clear he has already completed the first level of the Ghost Spirit Technique, which is somewhat unexpected." Zhu Chi replied slowly.

"Is that so? It seems this boy is not just a simple three-vein individual." The beautiful Taoist nun, upon hearing this, also showed interest in Liu Ming.

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(Tonight, Wang Yu will draw the last batch of book friends from the WeChat platform and gift them a signed copy of the book. This is the last chance for those who want it.

To join the WeChat platform, you can scan the QR code on my Tencent Weibo, or click on "Contacts" at the bottom of the WeChat platform, then click the "+" at the top, enter "Find Public Accounts," and search for "Wang Yu" or the WeChat ID "wang-yu." Make sure to look for the golden verification mark after the name.)

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