Assessment Ends

"Cui Bai, you've done well. To go head-to-head with a Black Rock Bear and kill it with your bare hands shows you've put in a lot of effort."

"Now, you've passed the assessment. Stand aside and wait."

After hearing the report from the Steward Disciples, Elder Ming understood the disciple's assessment situation and thus praised him.

The disciple named Cui Bai was overjoyed upon hearing this. Lu Ming could see that his body visibly relaxed after learning the result.

Clearly, he had been under a lot of pressure recently.

"Thank you, Elder."

Suppressing his joy, he bowed and stood beside Lu Ming.

The assessment continued, and soon another disciple emerged. He had also participated in a previous assessment and succeeded this time.

However, the Demonic Beast he hunted was quite ordinary.

But since he had completed the assessment requirements and, under the supervision of the Steward Disciples, had not used any external forces or cheating methods, he successfully stood beside Lu Ming and Cui Bai.

Next, another disciple came out. This was also someone who had participated before, a female disciple dressed in a sharp and capable manner. She had also successfully hunted a Demonic Beast and passed the assessment.

Following her was the disciple surnamed Qi. Like Lu Ming, this was his first assessment, and he had also succeeded.

However, he was in a sorry state, with a scratch on his face. It was clear he had suffered quite a bit.

Now, only three disciples remained inside. Two of them had participated before.

After a while longer, the only disciple who had not participated before came out. The result was clearly a failure.

Closely following him, another person emerged. He had not succeeded and was visibly unwilling to accept it.

Through the Steward Disciples' explanation, everyone finally understood the reason for this person's failure.

It turned out that he had been entangled in a prolonged fight with one Demonic Beast, which had attracted other Demonic Beasts – two of them, no less.

Facing the encirclement of three Demonic Beasts, the Steward Disciple had almost failed to save him.

"Elder, can I have another chance? I would have succeeded this time, but my luck was just bad."

The disciple knew he was already past seventeen and a half and would no longer have a chance to participate in the assessment, so he pleaded.

Elder Ming initially wanted to reprimand him, but at the last moment, he couldn't bear to and said gently:

"The rules are the rules. If I make an exception for you today, it would be unfair to the disciples who were eliminated before."

"But..."

Tears welled up in the disciple's eyes. "But I don't want to go back like this."

The scene was silent. No one spoke, or rather, no one knew what to say.

Elder Ming sighed. "Every year there are those who are unwilling to leave, but every year I must be hard-hearted. It's unavoidable."

He continued, his gaze turning stern again.

"You say you had bad luck, but in reality, it's still because your strength was insufficient. If you could have dealt with your opponent faster, you wouldn't have been surrounded."

"Moreover, you've already participated twice, yet you're still lacking. A little lacking in the Hundred Beasts Garden, and someone saves your life. A little lacking outside, and no one will save you."

The disciple lowered his head even further after hearing this.

"Especially before the assessment, I already said that the dangers you face after becoming an Inner Sect disciple are not few. So don't blame me for not giving you a chance."

He was indirectly telling him to leave. If his strength wasn't up to par and he entered the Inner Sect, he might not live long. It was better to go back.

"I understand. Thank you, Elder."

The disciple no longer insisted. After taking a deep breath, he bowed to Elder Ming and then left.

Everyone, including Lu Ming, watched him slowly disappear.

Honestly, this had a profound impact on them.

There was only one disciple left in the Hundred Beasts Garden, and the incense stick was almost burned out.

Finally, after the incense stick completely burned out and a while longer passed, the last disciple emerged. For some reason, he kept shouting "Unfair!"

"What's going on?"

Elder Ming frowned and looked at the Steward Disciple accompanying him. He clearly couldn't stand the word "unfair."

The Steward Disciple was also frustrated and quickly explained, "Reporting to the Elder, this person's Qinggong is good, so he kept running circles around the Demonic Beasts until time was up. I had to forcibly bring him out."

"Is what he says true?"

Elder Ming looked at the disciple again.

Seeing his expression, the disciple flinched, but still retorted stubbornly, "It's unfair! Not everyone is suited for combat. The sect can't just want disciples with good martial prowess."

Everyone was stunned, including Elder Ming. However, he quickly recovered, clearly not encountering this situation for the first time. He asked the Steward Disciple accompanying him:

"How good is his Qinggong specifically?"

"Reporting to the Elder, I said his Qinggong was good relative to his own overall strength. Compared to others, it's only slightly better than average."

"Impossible," the disciple immediately retorted.

The Steward Disciples didn't argue.

Elder Ming felt a bit displeased and let out a cold snort, ordering the disciple to demonstrate. The result was indeed as the Steward Disciples had said.

He was performing the Human-grade Mid-tier movement technique, [Flying Cloud Steps], with his furthest leap only reaching a little over sixty meters.

At this distance, Elder Ming merely shook his head before asking Lu Ming to come out and demonstrate his movement technique.

Lu Ming's [Cloud Soaring Skill] was also Human-grade Mid-tier, but he had already practiced it to its peak. With a single, light leap, he covered more than eighty meters.

This was even without him activating his Heavenly Blade Inner Energy, otherwise, he could have gone further.

Seeing Lu Ming float away lightly, the disciple's eyes visibly widened. "How could it be so far?"

Then, Elder Ming had the others who passed the assessment demonstrate their movement techniques one by one.

As a result, even Cui Bai, who primarily cultivated external techniques, could leap over sixty meters in a single step.

The disciple naturally had nothing more to say.

"Hmph, martial prowess doesn't represent everything, but relying solely on movement technique is clearly not enough. Although there have been disciples like you in previous years, they knew how to use their movement technique advantage to kite their opponents, while you only know how to dodge mindlessly."

After a comparison, Elder Ming sternly criticized, "Moreover, your movement technique isn't even that outstanding."

The disciple had already lowered his head in shame.

"Normally, with my usual temper, I wouldn't waste so much time on you. However, considering you still have another chance to participate in the assessment, I'm giving you a stern warning so you understand that whether you're living your life or doing things, you need to calm down."

Elder Ming's intentions were truly profound.

"Alright, you may go!"

Hearing this, the disciple dared not linger and quickly departed.

Lu Ming and the others couldn't help but shake their heads, thinking that with such a restless spirit, he probably wouldn't pass the next time either.

Elder Ming didn't dwell on it. Perhaps having seen too much, a reminder was all he could offer, and he had done his utmost.

He waved his hand, dismissing the Steward Disciples, and then led the five who had passed the assessment to a Jade Tablet.

This Jade Tablet was divided into two parts: one was jade green, and the other was grayish-white.

What they had in common was that both were covered with jade plaques bearing names.

"These are the names of the Inner Sect disciples; some are still alive, and some have already died."

Arriving at this place, Elder Ming's voice grew somewhat heavy. "The living are on this jade green Jade Tablet, and the order of names on it represents their strength ranking."

"This ranking is updated once every three years during the Inner Sect Grand Competition. Those who consistently rank low will face penalties, and may even be expelled from the Inner Sect."

Upon hearing Elder Ming's words, the five couldn't help but look at the names. Lu Ming saw Chu Yunxiao's name at the six hundred and seventh position.

He had witnessed Chu Yunxiao's strength firsthand; he could handle two Demonic Cult members alone with ease.

In other words, his strength was formidable.

For someone like him to be ranked six hundred and seventh was enough to show the value of this Jade Tablet's ranking.

"The main reason I brought you here is not to look at this, but at this gray Jade Tablet. The names on it are those who have been confirmed dead."

"And there are others who have been missing and unheard from; these people are not on it."

Elder Ming spoke again.

When the group saw these names, their hearts tightened. This was death and brutality laid bare before them.

"Therefore, I brought you here to give you one more chance to choose: do you wish to join the Inner Sect?"