Year-End Assessment (Part 2)

A gasp of surprise erupted from the disciples. While so many others had only managed to pass, Qi Haozhi alone had achieved an excellent result.

Hearing the envious exclamations and gasps from around him, Qi Haozhi's face showed a hint of smugness. After bowing once more to the stewards, he gracefully leaped off the demonstration stage.

Upon returning to the new disciples, he was greeted with flattery and praise from the others. This demonstration of the Spirit Sword Technique had clearly earned him considerable prestige.

After all, when other disciples couldn't even afford defensive Spiritual Artifacts, possessing a Flying Sword Spiritual Artifact was practically unrivaled among cultivators of the same level.

Indeed, while a Spiritual Qi shield condensed from Spiritual Qi could block sorcery like the Fireball Technique, it couldn't withstand a single strike from a Flying Sword.

Xu Chunniang frowned. It was evident that Qi Haozhi had put considerable effort into the Spirit Sword Technique. His Flying Sword was not only fast but also incredibly agile.

"If I were hit by his Flying Sword..."

Xu Chunniang instinctively imagined herself being struck by the Flying Sword. She possessed neither defensive sorcery nor defensive Spiritual Artifacts. Forget being hit by a Flying Sword; even a hit from a Fireball Technique would leave her half-dead.

For a moment, her expression grew serious as she continuously pondered countermeasures, not even bothering to watch the subsequent demonstrations.

One by one, people went on stage to demonstrate their sorcery. However, after witnessing the Spirit Sword Technique, the disciples found all other techniques to be utterly ordinary, even beginning to critique them.

"Hahaha, what kind of sorcery is this? Lying on the ground, disguising yourself as a big rock?"

"This must be some kind of concealment sorcery, but it looks so ugly."

Xu Chunniang heard the commotion, steadied her mind, and looked towards the stage. She saw a disciple lying on the ground in a peculiar posture, surrounded by earthy yellow Spiritual Qi. Obscured by this Spiritual Qi, his entire figure became indistinct. From a distance, he was unremarkable, just like a rock by the roadside.

However, his cultivation might not have been sufficient. A few more glances would reveal his disguise.

"Hahaha, what kind of trash sorcery is this? Just get a little closer, and this low-level disguise can be broken!"

"It's better to learn the Light Body Technique than this. You can at least run when you're being attacked. This sorcery is too foolish, squatting in place pretending to be a rock, covering your ears while stealing bells."

The surrounding disciples erupted in laughter.

Xu Chunniang's mind, however, was stirred. That's right, why did she forget the Light Body Technique!

Ever since Qi Haozhi demonstrated the Spirit Sword Technique, she had been thinking about how to defend against Flying Swords. She had pondered for a long time without finding a solution. But what if, instead of defending, she chose to dodge?

The more Xu Chunniang thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Her current speed made it difficult to dodge a Flying Sword, but if she learned a movement-based sorcery to increase her speed, dodging a Flying Sword wouldn't be too difficult.

Although Qi Haozhi could control a Flying Sword, his cultivation was only at the second level of Qi Condensation. How long could he sustain it?

Xu Chunniang made up her mind. After the assessment ended and she received her new year's benefits, she would go buy a movement-based sorcery for self-defense. Better safe than sorry.

This assessment only tested the proficiency of sorcery casting, not the quality of the sorcery itself. The disciple who disguised himself as a rock on stage successfully passed the assessment.

However, after passing, this disciple showed no joy on his face. Instead, he looked dejected, clearly having heard the remarks made by those below.

Cui Li glanced at the commotion below, a hint of hesitation flashing across his face. "Martial Aunt Mu, the disciples are making quite a bit of noise. Should I stop them?"

The female steward seated at the head opened her eyes. She was the Martial Aunt Mu that Cui Li mentioned. It turned out that this steward of the Merit Pavilion was actually a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Steward Mu shook her head. "In our Carefree Sect, as long as it doesn't violate sect rules, we will not intervene in whatever happens between disciples. This is the case even in the Inner Sect."

Cui Li nodded. He already had a general understanding of this, and asking the question was merely to confirm.

Many of the more perceptive disciples below had been paying attention to the stewards' reactions. Seeing that they were completely ignoring the situation below, they relaxed and began to critique the demonstrations on stage without holding back.

"Oh, this is a Metal element sorcery, the Golden Armor Technique, right?"

"That's right. I'm also Metal element and was interested in this sorcery at the time, but the description mentioned it had a high cultivation difficulty, so I chose another one."

"After casting the Golden Armor Technique, it allows golden Spiritual Qi to cover the entire body, forming a thin layer of armor. Since the Metal attribute is the most stable Spiritual Qi among the Five Elements, this layer of armor makes it quite capable in both offense and defense."

"This Golden Armor Technique is truly excellent, having two functions in one sorcery. Besides Qi Haozhi's Spirit Sword Technique, this might be the strongest sorcery!"

Xu Chunniang looked up at the stage but shook her head.

While the Golden Armor Technique was indeed powerful, its Spiritual Qi consumption was almost double that of sorceries at the same level. In actual combat, one could simply avoid its sharp edge and wait for his Spiritual Qi to be depleted, then win easily.

New disciples went up to demonstrate their sorcery one after another. Soon, several disciples who used Spiritual Artifacts appeared, and all of them received "excellent" results, drawing everyone's attention.

After all, most people were still being frugal with one or two Spirit Stones, while those who could afford Spiritual Artifacts stood out from the crowd. And these people, without exception, all had backgrounds in cultivation.

Looking at the Spiritual Artifacts brimming with Spiritual Qi, Xu Chunniang also yearned for them. However, she knew without even thinking that these Spiritual Artifacts were prohibitively expensive for her at the moment.

"Stop thinking about it. Spiritual Artifacts are still a long way off for me."

Xu Chunniang shook her head mournfully. It was better to think about which movement technique to choose than to dwell on that.

She had already seen several movement techniques from below. The most commonly used by disciples was the Light Body Technique, followed by the Wind element's Wind Riding Technique and Wind Concealment Technique.

Wind element movement techniques had better effects, but she didn't have a Wind Spiritual Root. Instead, neutral-attribute techniques like the Light Body Technique and Swift Travel Technique were more suitable for her.

"Next, Xu Chunniang."

Just as Xu Chunniang was struggling with her decision, she heard a light shout. It turned out to be her turn to go on stage for the demonstration.

After waiting for so long, Xu Chunniang had already decided which sorcery to demonstrate. Excluding the Earth Moistening Technique, which she hadn't started learning yet, she knew a total of three sorceries: Spiritual Rain Technique, Spring Growth Technique, and Hidden Spirit Art.

Of course, she had no intention of using the Spiritual Dew Technique, Spirit Blast Technique, which evolved from these three sorceries, or the "Manifesting Spirit Art," which could make her cultivation appear higher than it actually was.

When she first watched others demonstrate their sorcery, Xu Chunniang thought that others, like her, could develop infinite uses for their sorcery. However, after watching for a long time, she found that no one could do it, and many were not even proficient in controlling their sorcery.

Therefore, it was highly likely that this flexible application of sorcery was her unique strength.

Xu Chunniang secretly thought that in the future, when using these new sorceries, she would need to be more discreet and not let others notice anything unusual.