Chapter 88

Donglin Martial Hall, occupying a vast area, is divided into three main zones: the "Martial Training Room," the "Spirit Testing Hall," and the "Arena."

A servant led Lin Xun through the hall, where he occasionally saw various cultivators, including some students wearing clothes with the Donglin Academy emblem.

However, most of these cultivators were at the True Martial Ninth Level, and it was rare to see the presence of Spirit Gale Realm cultivators.

Clearly, although the Martial Hall appeared large in scale, its main clientele were True Martial Realm cultivators.

Before long, Lin Xun was led by the servant into the "Spirit Testing Hall."

This was an extremely spacious hall, with a dark golden stone stele standing at its center, towering ten zhang high and emitting a series of spiritual energy fluctuations.

This was the Spirit Testing Stone, rumored to be a spiritual artifact created by a high-ranking expert from the empire's "Divine Craft Academy," capable of perfectly measuring a cultivator's spiritual energy.

Upon closer inspection, the surface of the Spirit Testing Stone was marked with intricate engravings, each representing a different meaning.

Lin Xun noticed that each engraving corresponded to a number, such as 100 jin, 400 jin, 600 jin, 800 jin, 1000 jin, and so on.

The servant explained at this moment, "Young Sir, generally speaking, cultivators at the True Martial First Level possess spiritual energy within 100 jin, those at the True Martial Second Level possess spiritual energy within 400 jin, and so on. Different cultivators have varying depths of spiritual energy."

Lin Xun then understood that "jin" was a unit of measurement for the strength of spiritual energy.

"Young Sir, if you wish to take the test, you need to pay ten silver coins," the servant said.

Ten silver coins equaled 500 copper coins, which was a considerable amount.

After some thought, Lin Xun finally took out ten silver coins. To advance in his cultivation, he indeed needed to know the extent of his spiritual energy.

The servant took the money and carefully withdrew, leaving Lin Xun alone in the vast "Spirit Testing Hall" to protect the guest.

After all, one's cultivation level is the most fundamental aspect of a cultivator's strength, and no one wants others to pry into it.

This arrangement satisfied Lin Xun.

He walked forward, carefully examined the Spirit Testing Stone for a long time, and finally took a deep breath, gathered all his spiritual energy, and gently placed his palm in a groove at the bottom of the stone.

Instantly, a strange energy fluctuation spread from the Spirit Testing Stone, making Lin Xun feel as if he were enveloped by a wave of water, but he did not feel any discomfort.

At the same time, a beam of light suddenly appeared on the surface of the Spirit Testing Stone, shooting straight up and quickly surpassing the "100 jin," "400 jin," "600 jin," and "800 jin" engravings.

Then, it continued to rise from the "800 jin" position.

The range between "800 jin" and "1000 jin" represented the spiritual energy of a True Martial Fifth Level cultivator. The exact strength of this energy depended on where the beam of light stopped within this range.

If it stopped at "800 jin," it would mean that the True Martial Fifth Level cultivator's strength was mediocre.

If it stopped at "1000 jin," it would prove that the cultivator's strength had reached the peak of the True Martial Fifth Level.

In general, most True Martial Fifth Level cultivators' strength would fluctuate between "800 jin" and "1000 jin," varying in intensity.

It's worth noting that this testing standard was based on the strength of the majority of cultivators in the world, and while it was precise, it only represented the thickness of spiritual energy, not the strength of cultivation levels.

Soon, the beam of light shot up to the "1800 jin" position, indicating that Lin Xun's spiritual energy had reached the peak level of a True Martial Sixth Level cultivator.

However, this was not the end.

The beam of light continued to rise after reaching the "1800 jin" position, much to Lin Xun's surprise.

The range between "1800 jin" and "3000 jin" represented the spiritual energy of a True Martial Seventh Level cultivator.

Could it be that his strength was already comparable to that of a True Martial Seventh Level cultivator?

Before Lin Xun could recover, the beam of light continued to rise and, in a few breaths, reached the "3000 jin" position.

But this was still not the end.

Soon, the beam of light entered the range between "3000 jin" and "5000 jin," representing the strength of a True Martial Eighth Level cultivator.

However, as the beam of light reached this range, its ascent gradually slowed.

Lin Xun suppressed his emotions and focused intently.

Finally, the beam of light stopped at the "4900 jin" position and did not rise further.

This position indicated that Lin Xun's spiritual energy was just a step away from reaching the peak level of a True Martial Eighth Level "Great Zhou Tian" cultivator.

Considering that Lin Xun was currently only at the True Martial Sixth Level "Ran Xue" stage, two levels below the True Martial Eighth Level, it was evident that, in terms of the thickness of spiritual energy alone, Lin Xun could already match the peak True Martial Eighth Level cultivators.

Seeing such a result, Lin Xun couldn't help but doubt whether the Spirit Testing Stone was broken.

If this were true, it would mean that, in terms of the thickness of spiritual energy, even a typical True Martial Eighth Level cultivator would not be his match.

A typical True Martial Eighth Level cultivator and a peak True Martial Eighth Level cultivator were two different concepts.

After much contemplation, Lin Xun concluded that this must be due to the four spiritual energy vortices in his "Heart Meridian Four Points."

The spiritual energy in his body, refined by these four vortices, became extremely pure and potent.

"Now that I have 4900 jin of strength, how much more will my spiritual energy increase when I advance to the True Martial Sixth Level?"

Lin Xun pondered this as he walked out of the "Spirit Testing Hall."

However, as soon as he stepped out, he saw a commotion in the hall, with loud noises and chaos.

A group of soldiers, clad in the empire's standard heavy armor and exuding a solemn and lethal aura, charged in, clearing a path. Some cultivators who couldn't get out of the way in time were thrown out by the soldiers.

In a blink, a path was cleared in the "Donglin Martial Hall." A tall and heroic young man, draped in a crimson cloak, strode in.

This young man had broad eyebrows, tiger-like eyes, and a tall, muscular build, exuding an aura of overwhelming dominance.

"Where is the Spirit Testing Stone?" the heroic young man asked in a deep voice.

"It's—it's over there," a servant, intimidated by the scene, stammered, pointing behind Lin Xun.

The heroic young man flicked his fingers, sending a golden coin to the servant, "This is the fee. Use the extra money to buy wine and entertain my brothers."

Saying this, he walked toward the "Spirit Testing Hall."

Lin Xun moved aside, subtly making way. The young man's grand entrance indicated that he was someone of significant importance, and the fact that he could casually spend a gold coin suggested that he came from a wealthy background.

The young man glanced at Lin Xun, suddenly remembering something, and asked, "Did you use the Spirit Testing Stone just now?"

Lin Xun nodded.

"Given your age, you're only about thirteen or fourteen, right? What level of cultivation have you reached?" The young man's voice was deep and direct, which was considered impolite among cultivators, as directly inquiring about someone's cultivation level was taboo.

However, his eyes were filled with curiosity, suggesting he wasn't intentionally provoking.

Lin Xun thought for a moment and replied vaguely, "I have just recently reached the True Martial Sixth Level 'Ran Xue' stage. I am far inferior to you, sir."

This was a humble response, but the young man seemed to miss the nuance, nodding and saying, "You have a good sense of self-awareness. I had already reached the True Martial Ninth Level at the age of nine, but my cultivation was suppressed by my grandfather for four years to consider my future path. Otherwise, I would have entered the Spirit Gale Realm four years ago. In terms of cultivation, you indeed cannot compare to me."

Lin Xun was taken aback. This guy was truly peculiar, sharing such information with a stranger on their first meeting.

Moreover, he seemed to be earnestly praising himself, which was quite bizarre.

However, from this, Lin Xun learned that the young man was the same age as him, only thirteen.

Yet, the young man seemed to have grown too quickly, looking more like a ten-year-old.

As Lin Xun pondered, the heroic young man had already entered the "Spirit Testing Hall."

The group of heavily armored soldiers remained outside, intimidating the crowd into silence.

Many people had already left.

Lin Xun didn't linger either, stepping out.

He had originally planned to visit the "Martial Training Room" to experience the power of the copper-skinned puppets, but this incident and his concern for Xia Zhi at home made him hesitant to stay longer.

"The soldiers exude a lethal aura, clearly veterans who have fought in countless battles. They are likely from the empire's renowned Iron Blood Legion, as indicated by the emblem on their armor."

"The Iron Blood Legion of the empire—good heavens, could it be the Iron Blood Legion under the command of the Iron Blood King, stationed on the western border of the empire?"

"Who else would dare to wear the specially crafted heavy armor of the Iron Blood Legion except for those under the command of the Iron Blood King?"

"I wonder who that young man is, to have a squad of Iron Blood Legion soldiers escorting him?"

"He must be someone significant, possibly even related to the Iron Blood King."

"I'm curious, the Iron Blood Legion is stationed in the Qingsha Province on the western border of the empire, thousands of miles away from Donglin City. What are they doing here? Could something significant be happening?"

Before Lin Xun could leave the "Donglin Martial Hall," he heard a wave of discussions, which made him pause.

Iron Blood King

Could it be the Iron Blood King Ning Meng, known for his motto, "Born to fight, even in death, I will rest on a mountain of corpses and lie in a sea of blood, facing the sky and lying with the earth"?

Lin Xun couldn't help but stop and glance at the squad of soldiers.

Indeed, these soldiers exuded a fierce and battle-hardened aura, with a sense of iron-blooded determination.

"If these are truly soldiers from the Iron Blood King's legion, the young man's background becomes even more mysterious."

Lin Xun pondered this, then shook his head and disappeared into the bustling streets outside the Donglin Martial Hall.

At the same time, inside the Spirit Testing Hall, the heroic young man suddenly shouted in anger, "What a liar! You clearly have the strength of a True Martial Eighth Level peak cultivator, yet you lied to me, saying you were only at the True Martial Sixth Level. I, Ning Meng, have never been deceived before. How dare you, how dare you!"

If Lin Xun had returned, he would have realized that when he left the Spirit Testing Hall, he had been so preoccupied with his thoughts about his spiritual energy that he forgot to erase the test record on the Spirit Testing Stone.

Unfortunately, this record led to a misunderstanding by the young man who called himself "Ning Meng."

However, it's worth noting that Ning Meng probably never imagined that Lin Xun truly had only the cultivation level of a True Martial Sixth Level cultivator.

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