One Stone Stirs a Thousand Waves!

Han Yuan remained calm as he inserted his Identity Token into the groove.

Then, he felt a strange fluctuation far more powerful than Spiritual Sense sweep over his body. It scanned his Dantian twice in particular.

Was that Spiritual Sense? Han Yuan muttered inwardly. That fluctuation resembled Spiritual Sense, yet it was far more powerful!

Before that Spiritual Sense, Qi Refining cultivators had no way to conceal their cultivation.

A flash of white light appeared, and several lines of text emerged.

Han Yuan casually glanced at them, then froze on the spot.

Not only him—even Lei Jiuxiao, who was watching beside him, exclaimed in shock, "How is that possible?"

The disciples in the stands and those waiting below for inspection all widened their eyes.

Name: Han Yuan

Status: Outer Sect Disciple

Affiliation: Courtyard D-17

Cultivation: Qi Refining Fourth Layer Lower-Upper

Spiritual Power Quality: Upper-mid

"Gasp! Fourth Layer!"

Lei Jiuxiao looked twice more. Once he confirmed that he had not misread it, his gaze at Han Yuan held a trace of amazement!

He had never imagined that Courtyard D-17, one of the more remote outer courtyards, would produce a Qi Refining Mid Stage disciple! In theory, breaking from Qi Refining Early Stage into Qi Refining Mid Stage involved a minor bottleneck that could hold cultivators back for quite some time!

Lei Jiuxiao drew a deep breath and loudly announced, "Congratulations! Han Yuan, your cultivation has now reached Qi Refining Layer 4. Among all disciples tested so far, yours is the highest. By the rules, on behalf of the sect, I award you five Spirit Gathering Pills, one Qi Condensing Pill, and the right to select any spell below Yellow-grade High-rank from the Scripture Repository! If you ultimately rank among the top ten, you may receive Inner Sect Disciple treatment in advance! Come receive your rewards!"

Lei Jiuxiao's voice rang across the entire square. The surrounding disciples snapped out of their daze, and an uproar immediately broke out.

"Where did this disciple come from? He's already broken through to Qi Refining Layer 4! This is too outrageous!"

"If I remember correctly, no other disciple has reached Qi Refining Layer 4 yet. Doesn't that mean this Han Yuan could take first place?"

Quite a few disciples looked toward the line from Courtyard C-1. The twenty disciples there, who had been composed until now, all changed expression!

Yang Yuanyang's face darkened, his brows tightly furrowed as blazing flames burst from his body.

The disciples of this year's First Courtyard among the Outer Sect had agreed beforehand not to break through to Qi Refining Layer 4, intending to consolidate their realms. Yet Yang Yuanyang had never expected that someone from another courtyard—especially Courtyard D-17—had already broken through to Qi Refining Layer 4. It was simply absurd beyond belief.

He gave Han Yuan on the platform a deep look, then, without another word, sat cross-legged in a corner. With a flip of his hand, he took out a pill and swallowed it. He was clearly preparing to force a breakthrough on the spot!

Nor was he the only one. Another genius, Nangong Zhuiyue, also realized the situation was bad. He likewise sat cross-legged, took out a pale golden pill, and swallowed it. His aura immediately began to surge.

The other dozen or so disciples also looked grim as they sat down to attempt breakthroughs.

Previously, all of them had been at the Qi Refining Third Layer Peak, and no one could say who would come first. But if they did not break through to Qi Refining Layer 4 now, forget first place—they did not even know whether they could contend for the top three!

The so-called agreement completely collapsed the moment Han Yuan revealed his Qi Refining Layer 4 cultivation!

In the stands, Liu Sisi stared dumbfoundedly when she saw Han Yuan's cultivation. She even pinched the arm of the junior sister beside her. Only after the girl was on the verge of tears did she accept the fact.

"This kid... he's talent! We have to poach him and make him raise Spirit Beasts for us!" Liu Sisi muttered to herself.

At this moment.

Han Yuan accepted Lei Jiuxiao's rewards with a bewildered expression.

Five Spirit Gathering Pills, worth fifty Spirit Stones.

One Qi Condensing Pill, worth fifty Spirit Stones.

A Yellow-grade High-rank Spell Exchange Voucher, worth four hundred Spirit Stones.

That came to five hundred Spirit Stones altogether. Although spells were something intangible, it was still an enormous reward.

But why had his cultivation been tested as Qi Refining Layer 4 when he was clearly at the Qi Refining Third Layer... Han Yuan suddenly realized something—the Random Buff Multiplier!

With a threefold buff, the size of his Dantian was equivalent to someone else breaking through twice. In terms of sheer spiritual power, it was also comparable to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer Early Stage. From the surface, he really was at Qi Refining Layer 4!

Unexpected, yet perfectly reasonable.

Han Yuan sighed inwardly and walked down from the platform with a calm expression.

When he returned to the line, the Outer Sect Disciples of Courtyard D-17 all looked at him with complicated expressions.

Hu Yifan stood in a corner, hanging his head and staring at his toes as though the ground held something fascinating. He did not raise his head to look at Han Yuan. He was furious to death: What kind of damned thing is this Han Yuan? His cultivation was obviously so high, yet he hid it so deeply. Would it have killed you to show your cultivation? What am I supposed to do now? Will he take revenge on me...

Compared to Hu Yifan's worry, Zhao Donglai was simply jealous and frustrated. He had originally planned to teach Han Yuan a lesson after the tests ended, but that thought died before it was even born.

As for Qin Feng, he only felt his face burning. Whenever he remembered the harsh words he had thrown at Han Yuan earlier, he felt awkward. Still, his mentality was not bad. He stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Congratulations, Senior Brother Han, on breaking through to Qi Refining Layer 4. So Senior Brother Han was the one truly hiding his strength. Qin Feng admits he is inferior! Please forgive me for my earlier offenses, Senior Brother Han!"

Han Yuan was somewhat surprised, but he smiled. "We are fellow disciples. A few disputes born of youthful spirit are nothing."

At those words, Qin Feng broke into a chuckle. There was not a trace left of his previous arrogance or disbelief. He sidled close to Han Yuan, waggling his brows as he said, "Brother Han, you like Senior Sister Liu too, right? I know some of her preferences. Want me to share them with you?"

He looked toward a certain direction in the stands and whispered, "I noticed that Senior Sister Liu had been staring at you the whole time! Maybe she likes you too! Seize the chance, and you might just win her heart!"

Han Yuan did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Senior Sister Liu and I have only met twice, and I have no such intentions toward her at all. You misunderstand."

Qin Feng anxiously said, "Don't be like that! Senior Sister Liu has plenty of suitors. We can't let the rich water flow into outsiders' fields. I have no hope, but you mustn't give up!"

Han Yuan was speechless. Weren't you the one telling me not to get close to Senior Sister Liu before? Why are you now urging me so hard to pursue her, talking about keeping the rich water within the family? What relationship do you have with her?

"Watch the tests."

Han Yuan ignored Qin Feng and turned his eyes toward the platform.

Qin Feng sighed, looking utterly despondent, as though he had already suffered a second heartbreak.

Next came the test results for Courtyard D-16.

Compared to Courtyard D-17, Courtyard D-16's results were too embarrassing to show. There were only two at the Qi Refining Second Layer Peak, not even a single Qi Refining Third Layer disciple. Everyone was greatly disappointed.

As Han Yuan watched, he was already considering how to resolve the potential danger brought by "Qi Refining Layer 4."

Someone might ask: where was the danger?

Obviously, as someone with a Mid-grade Five Elements Spiritual Root, his cultivation was actually advancing faster than disciples with Mid-grade Single Spiritual Roots. He was not some disciple with a powerful background. Would that not be as good as plainly telling others that he carried a great secret?

Someone might even suspect that he possessed some great opportunity!

Would they be tempted?

Would they make a move?

Han Yuan felt that the safest course now was to reveal a small secret in order to conceal his greater one. And in the Cultivation World, there was one thing that, once exposed, would generally draw little covetous attention from others—that was aptitude!

After thinking it over, he stretched out a hand as though concealing his actions, yet inadvertently revealed a white Spirit Gathering Pill and put it into his mouth. Then, while standing there, he began circulating his cultivation method to refine the pill.

And as expected, his actions would be seen by certain presences amid the clouds above Miscellaneous Peak. They would infer that his cultivation method had already reached the Minor Accomplishment Realm, enough to explain why his cultivation was relatively high. Perfect!