Chapter 83

In the grand hall, the young Ten Heavenly Guards were all nervous and uneasy.

Including Ye Lingyun and the three guards, their expressions were somewhat tense.

Zhao Feng frowned slightly, finding it hard to believe that among the Ten Heavenly Guards, not a single one had truly caught the eye of Lord Guangjun, at least not to the extent of being qualified to become a personal disciple.

"Nine levels of martial arts are essentially a process of building a foundation, and even just an entry stage. At this stage, the significance of cultivation and strength is not very great. No matter how strong one is, if they cannot break through the constraints of this level, they are like floating clouds and ants, not worth mentioning."

Lord Guangjun's deep and resonant voice echoed in the grand hall. Without deliberately emitting any aura, he exuded the demeanor of a king standing at the peak, looking down upon the world.

The young men present only understood a little of what he said.

Only a few seemed to be thinking, pondering the meaning of Lord Guangjun's words.

"According to his words, the entire nine levels of martial arts are just a foundational stage... In this foundational stage, even if one's strength is high, if they cannot surpass this level, it is all in vain."

Zhao Feng seemed to have an epiphany.

He recalled his conversation with Master Ye Lingyun a month ago.

Ye Lingyun had also said that the essence of the nine levels of martial arts is to cultivate the body, from skin and flesh to tendons, bones, and organs, all of which undergo refinement. Therefore, excessively pursuing the power of martial arts inner strength is actually putting the cart before the horse.

At that time, Zhao Feng remembered it well, realizing that the true purpose of the "nine levels of martial arts" seemed not to be in martial techniques and killing enemies.

This view coincided with what Lord Guangjun was saying now. After all, Ye Lingyun himself was a registered disciple of Lord Guangjun.

"May I boldly ask, if cultivation and strength are not important at the nine levels of martial arts, then what truly has reference value?"

Feng Yin Yue stood up and bowed respectfully.

As he asked this question, cold sweat trickled down his spine.

The other young Ten Heavenly Guards were all holding their breaths for him, admiring his courage.

Only Ye Lingyun and the taciturn young man showed a hint of approval in their eyes.

Lord Guangjun's expression was calm, and he seemed to have a good impression of Feng Yin Yue, smiling slightly: "In the foundational stage, strength and martial power are secondary. What truly matters is the future, an infinite future that can go further."

The future.

An infinite future that can go further!

Zhao Feng suddenly understood. At Lord Guangjun's level, their vision was indeed beyond what he and others could reach.

For example, a martial artist, even if their cultivation and strength are high in the foundational stage, if they cannot break through to the seventh level master, and do not have that potential, in the eyes of top experts, they have little value to cultivate.

In other words, Lord Guangjun had seen the potential of the young Ten Heavenly Guards with just a glance.

Therefore, Lord Guangjun did not place much importance on their current cultivation and strength.

Of course, those with potential usually have stronger cultivation and strength than their peers, which is why he chose disciples from the Ten Heavenly Guards.

"Although that's the case, testing is still necessary."

Lord Guangjun said, taking out a crystal sphere the size of a fist.

This crystal sphere was crystal clear and made of a very special material.

At his gesture, the personal disciple Beimo took the crystal sphere and walked to the Ten Heavenly Guards.

"It's this thing!"

Nangong Fan's heart skipped a beat.

Years ago, when he and Beimo first entered the Spirit Martial Hall, Lord Guangjun had also taken out this strange crystal sphere.

Lord Guangjun said: "This is a rare object in the world that can verify a martial artist's bone and talent. Your future potential and hope can be assessed with about 99% accuracy through it."

Upon hearing this, the young men present looked surprised and felt even more uncertain.

"There is actually such a rare object in the world that can assess a person's talent and potential."

Zhao Feng was slightly interested.

At this moment, Beimo handed the crystal sphere to Feng Yin Yue, the top-ranked among the Ten Heavenly Guards.

"Close your eyes, focus all your mind on the crystal sphere in your hand, and inject a small amount of martial arts inner strength."

Lord Guangjun instructed.

"Yes, my lord."

Feng Yin Yue took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, gathered his mind, and focused all his attention on the crystal sphere, injecting a thread of martial arts inner strength.

Whirr~

Inside the crystal sphere, a series of white halos rippled.

One, two, three... five!

The fifth halo turned light green, distinctly different from the first four white halos.

"Exceeding the fourth halo indicates that your potential is beyond the ordinary, which is acceptable, but it is not enough to become my personal disciple."

Lord Guangjun commented.

Upon hearing this, Feng Yin Yue's expression turned gloomy. Despite his superior talent and cultivation in the Heavenly Guard Camp, in Lord Guangjun's eyes, he was only barely acceptable.

If the top-ranked Feng Yin Yue was like this, the other talented young men were even more anxious.

Soon, it was the turn of the second-ranked Lei Zuo.

Lei Zuo took the crystal sphere, his palms sweating and trembling. He finally gathered his mind and injected martial arts inner strength.

Inside the crystal sphere, a series of white halos lit up.

One, two, three, four!

At the fourth halo, the white halo stopped, and no other color appeared for the fifth halo.

"Your talent has reached the extreme of ordinary people, but it is still insufficient by my current standards."

Lord Guangjun shook his head.

How could this be!

Lei Zuo's face turned ashen, and he seemed to lose his soul.

His assessment was much worse than Feng Yin Yue's.

Feng Yin Yue at least received a "barely acceptable" evaluation from Lord Guangjun.

Next was the third-ranked Lu Xiaoyun.

"It's my turn."

Lu Xiaoyun, who was usually carefree, now looked extremely serious, focusing his mind on the crystal sphere.

The crystal sphere lit up with three white halos, and then struggled to extend another half, reaching three and a half.

Three and a half, which was half a circle less than Lei Zuo's four.

"Among ordinary people, you are considered a genius, but on the true world stage, it is far from enough."

Lord Guangjun continued to shake his head.

After Feng Yin Yue, two more people did not even meet Lord Guangjun's minimum standards.

"This Lu Xiaoyun and Lei Zuo, if placed in the three major families of Yuyang City, would be among the top geniuses, but here they are so worthless."

Zhao Feng's heart trembled.

He was also pondering what Lord Guangjun meant by the "true world stage."

After Lu Xiaoyun, it was the fourth-ranked Zhao Yufei's turn.

Zhao Yufei's eyelashes trembled, and she closed her beautiful eyes, gently holding the crystal sphere and focusing her mind.

Whirr~

Inside the crystal sphere, a series of halos rippled, but they were very unstable.

Sometimes they fluctuated to two or three circles, and sometimes they rose to four or five circles, with the colors being somewhat chaotic, not the usual white or light green.

"Hmm?"

Lord Guangjun showed a hint of surprise and fell into deep thought.

Zhao Yufei's situation was distinctly different from the other talented young men.

"Could Yufei's constitution be different from ordinary people?"

Zhao Feng wondered.

After a long moment of thought, Lord Guangjun finally spoke: "Your constitution is special, but it should not be inferior to the top-ranked Feng Yin Yue."

Receiving such an evaluation, Zhao Yufei let out a long sigh of relief.

After Zhao Yufei, it was the turn of the fifth, sixth, and seventh-ranked.

Several more talented young men followed, but their talent and potential were far below Lord Guangjun's minimum standards.

"It's my turn."

The eighth-ranked Huang Qi, hands trembling, took the crystal sphere from Beimo.

Soon, the halos in the crystal sphere extended to three and a half circles.

His talent was roughly equivalent to Lu Xiaoyun's, considered a top-notch talent in an ordinary small city, and among the best in the Heavenly Guard Camp.

However, in Lord Guangjun's eyes, this was still insufficient.

Failed!

Huang Qi was somewhat dejected. He had been the top genius in Zhulin City and thought he could make a name for himself in the county city, but he could not even meet Lord Guangjun's minimum standards.

After Huang Qi, it was the ninth-ranked Li Ziwén's turn.

Li Ziwén, the tattooed young man, had been in the same team as Lu Xiaoyun during the bandit suppression mission.

"I..."

Li Ziwén was even more nervous, his whole body trembling, unable to calm down.

Slap!

Beimo slapped him, making his blood and qi stagnate, stabilizing him.

Li Ziwén's test was also unsurprising; the halos in the crystal sphere extended to three feet and then stopped.

"Next."

Lord Guangjun's expression was indifferent.

Next?

Zhao Feng's heart skipped a beat. It was his turn.

The last of the Ten Heavenly Guards was Zhao Feng.

At this moment, everyone's eyes were fixed on him.

At this moment, Zhao Feng felt the expectation and confidence in Zhao Yufei's beautiful eyes.

Ye Lingyun and the taciturn young man also smiled slightly, looking at Zhao Feng.

They had high hopes for Zhao Feng's talent and potential.

After all, Zhao Feng was one of the youngest in the Ten Heavenly Guards, yet his cultivation was among the top three at the seventh level of martial arts.

Previously, Zhao Feng had won first place in the bandit suppression mission and had a memory ability that surpassed Beimo.

Beimo handed the crystal sphere to Zhao Feng, his eyes showing a hint of interest.

He had a strong impression of Zhao Feng, who was the only genius in many years to surpass him in memory.

After losing to Zhao Feng in the memory competition, he had been quite depressed.

Now, he wanted to see how Zhao Feng's talent was.

"Master, he is the genius who surpassed Beimo in memory and won first place in the bandit suppression mission. He is also one of the youngest in the Ten Heavenly Guards."

The taciturn young man whispered.

"Oh?"

Lord Guangjun's eyes showed a hint of surprise and interest.

Under everyone's gaze, Zhao Feng took the crystal sphere, took a deep breath, focused his mind, and injected a small amount of martial arts inner strength.

Whirr!

Inside the crystal sphere, the white halo extended to the first circle.

What's going on!

Zhao Feng's heart skipped a beat. He found that after the white halo extended to the first circle, its speed suddenly slowed down.

Even with all his focus, the white halo barely extended to one and a half circles, and almost stopped when it approached two circles.

Hmm?

Everyone in the hall was slightly stunned.

Zhao Feng's talent should not be inferior to Feng Yin Yue's.

The taciturn young man and Ye Lingyun both looked surprised.

Lord Guangjun showed a hint of disappointment and was about to speak.

Thump! Thump... Thump...

Suddenly, Zhao Feng felt a pulsing sensation in his left eye, and a warm sensation spread throughout his body.

Whirr!

The white halo, which had almost stopped, continued to extend, reaching two circles.

After two circles, the white halo extended further, reaching two and a half... three... three and a half...

(End of the page)