Many held their breath as Qingyi released his full Qi, the subtle blue glow covered in silvery threads exploded, the runes running down the thundercloud swordâs blade pulsing intensely.
âIâll end this with a single blow,â Qingyi decided, stepping forward while swinging his sword.
The disciple didnât flinch at the power of Qingyiâs aura.
He was at the seventh stage of the Qi Refinement Realm while Qingyi was only at the sixth. Even his spiritual root was of a higher level, so he wasnât afraid.
Raising his sword, he parried Qingyiâs blow, but the next moment, he regretted it.
His arms trembled and he felt his Qi being suppressed.
Looking at his sword, his eyes widened. Qingyiâs blade was sunk into his, the metal melting like butter under the Qi surrounding the thundercloud sword.
Silence.
No one spoke a word as the melted tip of the sword fell to the ground with a metallic clang.
Qingyi just smiled slightly as he retracted his blade. He had expected it.
It was one of the biggest reasons why he preferred to try his luck with a fused bloodline instead of simply evolving his current one.
It was simply too broken!
The sword spirit root increased sharpness and strength to a level where Iron Body realm cultivators could even use their bare hands as swords, while the lightning spirit root added the destructive power that was lacking.
If that had been a human body instead of a sword, it would probably have been cut in half, and even if it hadnât, all its meridians would have been destroyed by the lightning root.
Turning around, Qingyi saw Tianmingâs fallen face, his mouth open as he tried to understand.
How on earth had he cut the sword of a higher level cultivator so easily?
âCalm down!â
Tianming lowered his head.
He still had a spiritual root of a much higher level than Qingyiâs and was two cultivation stages above, as well as being supported by a powerful family.
His gaze then flicked to Feiyan, who was smiling at Qingyi, as if he were her sun.
He was dumb, but not dumb enough to be unable to understand what she wanted, and that only made him despise himself even more.
Whenever his eyes fell on her body, any desire to move on disappeared. He just wanted to have her all to himself, for all eternity.
Why on earth couldnât she just accept being a concubine? Why did she have to insist on becoming an official wife?
There would be no shortage of riches for her as a concubine. Did that damned wife status really make her go that far just to provoke him?
"It was quite a... demonstration," Elder Tian said, taking everyoneâs attention.
He had to admit, fused spiritual roots were terrifying.
Even as a powerful Iron Body Realm expert, he still felt a slight threat from Qingyiâs blade.
It wasnât something that could kill him, but it was certainly enough to draw blood.
"This humble one thanks Elder Tian for the compliment," Qingyi bowed respectfully to the elder before returning to his seat, ignoring the suppressed whispers among the recruits and disciples.
Soon, the tests began again, but they didnât attract much attention from anyone. Mediocre disciples, no great talent revealed itself.
Only two other young people with seventh level spiritual roots managed to defeat the outer disciples, all the others ended in a draw or defeat for the recruits.
The separation wasnât long either. The outer disciples gathered up those who had failed and led them out of the Sect. Soon, only fifty recruits remained.
Elder Tian stopped in front of the recruits, his eyes sweeping over everyone there before he let out a disappointed sigh.
This batch of recruits had been very disappointing. Even with a few surprises, it simply wasnât enough.
There were about five young people with seventh-level spiritual roots. They were talented, but far from being true geniuses.
In all the previous selections, there was at least one disciple with eighth level spiritual roots, sometimes even ninth level roots.
But in this one, the most impressive thing he saw was Qingyiâs spirit root, which was only a fifth-level spirit root.
Regaining his composure, he waved his hands in the air as he stepped onto the arena floor. A marble table rose from the ground as fifty tokens appeared in the air, falling onto it.
They were wooden tokens, identical to each other, bearing the image of a dragon and a place for the discipleâs name, all with one exception, a golden token.
"These are your disciple tokens. As long as you are an outer disciple, they are everything to you.
If you lose them, the punishment will be severe. Without them, you wonât be able to go on missions, you wonât have access to the Sectâs facilities or receive your monthly salaries as disciples," Elder Tian explained, taking the golden token.
"This is the golden dragon token, given to disciples the Sect sees great potential in. By receiving this token, not only will they have a private residence, but they will also have twice the resources of ordinary outer disciples."
Elder Tian studied the features and emotions of each of the recruits with seventh level spiritual roots.
The only ones who stood out among them were Feiyan and Tianming. But neither of them pleased him.
Feiyan looked like a vile woman who would cling to any man, while Tianming was even worse.
A pathetic man, staring at a woman clearly uninterested in him like a dog in heat, unable to control his own murderous intent.
âThe Xu family is lucky not to depend on this young man...â he shook his head. The Xu family had many competent heirs and Tianming was far from the line of succession.
The mere fact that Tianming was from a family as powerful and with as much land as the Xu family would probably be enough for Elder Tian to choose him, but thinking about the young manâs personality, the old man hesitated.
His gaze swept over everyone there, until it stopped on Qingyi, one of the best surprises of this test.
He was an extremely handsome young man, but he didnât show a hint of arrogance. His face was always calm, his smile always kind and his white clothes always immaculate.
Even when that lustful woman pushed herself against him, he didnât show an ounce of lust.
âThatâs what a true orthodox cultivator should be like... if his spiritual root was at least one level higher...â Elder Tian gritted his teeth and, raising his gaze, made a decision.
"Long Qingyi, one step forward."