Puppet Warrior

Elder Wang, whom Lu Ming had met before, presided over this preliminary competition. He was the one who had gone to Shuofeng City to verify Lu Ming's identity.

After appearing, he first explained the specifics of the preliminary competition, then laid out several requirements.

He then had everyone form ten teams according to the number plaques they had received yesterday and stand in their designated positions.

Zhu Ningyun naturally returned to the end of the tenth team.

Once the teams had been arranged, Elder Wang raised a hand. With that gesture, the ground suddenly began to tremble.

Then the earth split open, and stone paths more than a zhang wide rose one after another from the ground.

The sight was utterly magnificent.

It was Lu Ming's first time seeing such a scene. To be honest, the shock it brought was not the slightest bit inferior to the grand spectacles created by technology in his previous life.

And it carried a trace of mystical wonder besides.

At the entrance to each stone path stood a giant clad in heavy armor and holding a saber and shield.

Most of them stood over two meters tall, their entire bodies forged from steel. They looked imposing and majestic, radiating an overwhelming sense of oppression.

"So these are Puppet Warriors?"

Lu Ming watched in amazement, and the others were much the same.

Even disciples who had seen them before could not help but feel their hearts tighten.

"I got stuck at the first stage last time. This time, I'll definitely make it through," someone from the ninth team said beside him.

"Huh, no, look. Those Puppet Warriors don't seem to be the same as last time."

"That's true. I just wonder how strong they are. The first stage last time was already Peak Early True Qi Realm. They're not going to skip straight to the middle stage this time just to save time, are they?"

"No idea."

"Enough, quiet!"

Elder Wang stood in the air above the ten puppet paths, taking in the entire scene as he said:

"The puppet paths are ready. For the first stage, an ordinary Puppet Warrior at the Early True Qi Realm will stand guard. Disciples, step forward in order. Defeat the puppet to pass and proceed to the next stage!"

"I didn't expect it to become easier. That's good too—I'm even more confident about passing now."

"Now, I declare that the assessment has begun!"

Elder Wang spoke again.

As soon as he formally announced it, the Outer Sect elders stationed before each puppet path began to move.

Holding their record lists, they called out almost simultaneously:

"First team, first participant, Chi Xuan. Step forward now."

"Second team, first participant, Li Qi. Step forward now."

"Third team..."

The assessment had officially begun. Upon hearing his name called, Chi Xuan strolled out from the first team and walked toward the Puppet Warrior.

The Puppet Warrior seemed to sense someone approaching. Its previously dim eyes suddenly lit up like bulbs.

Then, as if it had come alive, it fully awakened.

It slapped its shield with its saber, then suddenly charged toward Chi Xuan on heavy footsteps.

As it ran, its heavy saber was already raised, its icy blade enough to send shivers down one's spine.

Yet Chi Xuan remained unmoved. Without any extra motion, he merely flicked out a blast of qi, sending the heavy Puppet Warrior flying and crashing to the ground.

"Passed!"

The elder in charge of the first path was not particularly surprised. Though he was an Outer Sect elder, there was no way he could be unfamiliar with the talented disciples of the Inner Sect.

Thus, once the Puppet Warrior had been knocked down, he declared Chi Xuan passed and allowed him through.

In the blink of an eye, Chi Xuan entered the passage and headed for the next stage.

Next came He Jianjun, ranked second. She likewise made short work of it. Without even taking the ancient zither from her back, she knocked down the Puppet Warrior with a single strike and entered the next stage.

Zongzheng Yunlou, ranked third, was the same.

Overall, aside from those newly promoted to the Inner Sect, the first stage posed no problem for most Inner Sect disciples.

It was merely a matter of how long it took.

But precisely because of that, there was also a time limit for passing. The first stage, for instance, required them to finish within half an incense stick's time.

Otherwise, some people could rely on their lightness skill to drag things out for half a day.

Restrictions had to be imposed.

And so, people began to be eliminated for exceeding the time limit.

Yet even with this restriction, the pace of progress differed completely among the teams. The fastest were naturally the first and tenth teams.

The first team was fast because they were strong and defeated the puppets quickly.

The tenth team was naturally fast because they were weak and got defeated quickly.

After all, the people in the tenth team had basically only entered the Inner Sect not long ago, and not every one of them was a genius like Lu Ming and Zhu Ningyun.

Thus, in less than half an hour, it was Lu Ming's turn.

"Next, number sixty-nine."

The responsible elder was somewhat surprised by Lu Ming's cultivation. After all, among those who had only recently entered the Inner Sect, very few possessed Mid True Qi Realm cultivation.

Clearly, he did not know about Lu Ming.

That made sense. Without a certain position, one truly could not be privy to such information.

Lu Ming stepped forward without wasting time. With a flash of his figure, he arrived before the Puppet Warrior that had taken the initiative to attack. Before it could even raise its blade, he stretched out his palm and lightly pressed it to the ground.

As though laying down someone about to fall asleep.

The responsible elder's eyes lit up. He had subdued it so effortlessly, without seeming to circulate much true qi at all. It was truly no simple feat.

One had to know that the Puppet Warrior weighed a thousand jin.

"Not bad. Pass."

He could not help adding those two extra words.

"Thank you, Elder."

Lu Ming gave a salute, turned back to nod at Cui Bai and Zhu Ningyun, then entered the next round.

"Next, number seventy."

Hearing his number called, Cui Bai took a deep breath and stepped forward.

After nearly a year of cultivation, he had also reached the Peak Early True Qi Realm. Moreover, he had cultivated the [Hundred Refinements Profound Art] he had switched to to a certain level.

Thus, dealing with a puppet possessing ordinary Early True Qi Realm strength was no challenge for him.

With a low, concentrated shout, he threw a punch as the puppet attacked.

He successfully knocked the puppet down.

"Pass."

The responsible elder could not help nodding as well. Though he could see that Cui Bai had used most of his strength, the fight had still been clean and decisive.

He was far better than those disciples assessed before him.

Cui Bai happily exhaled a puff of white breath, saluted the elder, and quickly entered the next round.

Next came three people who had entered the Inner Sect at the same time as Lu Ming. Compared to Cui Bai, they were a notch weaker.

Therefore, they found it rather strenuous to deal with the puppet.

In truth, based on their strength, facing a True Person might have been easier. After all, Puppet Warriors were exceptionally heavy and unafraid of injury, making them very difficult to knock down.

Of the three, only two barely passed.

Those after them were even weaker. Only a handful managed to hold out a little longer by relying on their lightness skills, but they still ultimately failed.

Thus, it was soon Zhu Ningyun's turn.

"Last one, number ninety-two."

The responsible elder turned his gaze toward her. Compared with Lu Ming, whose existence the sect had deliberately kept secret, Zhu Ningyun was far more famous.

Not only within the Wuji Sect—many people outside the sect knew of her as well.

Therefore, the responsible elder knew who she was.

Zhu Ningyun stepped out and easily dodged the Puppet Warrior's slash. Then, with a lift of her still-sheathed sword, she sent the Puppet Warrior sprawling.

"Not bad. Pass. Proceed to the next round."

The responsible elder's eyes likewise lit up. With his discernment, he naturally saw that she had not mobilized much true qi either. And unlike Lu Ming—

She had not used much physical strength. Instead, she had relied entirely on technique, taking advantage of the gap between the Puppet Warrior's attacks and following the direction of its force to send it down with the flow.

It carried the intent of using four ounces to shift a thousand pounds.

That required extraordinarily keen powers of observation.

Thus, the tenth team's first-round assessment came to an end. The number advancing to the next round had visibly dwindled. Out of ninety-two people, only thirty-seven remained.

Lu Ming and the others waited until the responsible elder who had entered together with Zhu Ningyun arrived, which meant the second round was about to begin.

The Puppet Warrior guarding the second round possessed strength equivalent to the Peak Early True Qi Realm.

Clearly, even fewer people from the tenth team would pass this round.

But for Lu Ming, it was nothing. When his turn came, he similarly pressed it to the ground without allowing any refusal.

Cui Bai came next. It was clear that he was struggling somewhat, but he cultivated a technique that tempered both inside and out. His defenses were strong, and he possessed great strength as well.

Therefore, he still passed within the allotted time.

There was naturally no need to mention Zhu Ningyun.

Thus, by the third round, only eleven people remained from the tenth team.

The third round had two Peak Early True Qi Realm puppet guards, increasing the difficulty still further.

Thus, only Lu Ming and Zhu Ningyun passed. Cui Bai was fairly strong as well, but facing two heavy puppets at once was somewhat beyond him.

In the end, he exceeded the time limit and failed with regret.

It was not just Team Ten. By this stage, the number of people eliminated from the other teams had also increased drastically.

"Sure enough, things are easiest on my side. All right, you two and the remaining members of Team Nine will merge into Team Eight and continue the assessment."

Upon reaching the fourth stage, the elder in charge suddenly said this.

It turned out the puppet path was shaped like a thorn, with fewer stone passageways the farther one went in.

By the fourth stage, only eight stone passageways remained.

"Yes."

The two did as instructed, while the elder in charge took their information to assist the elder of Team Eight.