Passing Three Trials in a Row

The guardian puppet for the fourth stage had become a mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm practitioner, with a qualitative improvement in both strength and speed.

Of course, this was all relative. Compared to Lu Ming, it was still far too weak.

It was still undeniably pinned to the ground.

"Good heavens, this speed of approach, this pinning strength... how can there be such a formidable existence in the last three teams?"

"I think I've seen this person before. I remember last time at the Mission Hall, he took on a Level 3 mission with his early-stage Zhen Qi Realm cultivation, targeting the great bandit Lan Wuying."

"Lan Wuying? Wasn't it said that his master, Xiao Zan, even appeared? I didn't expect him to be able to return."

"Yeah, and now he's actually mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm."

Since they had reached the fourth stage, the rule changed to first come, first assessed, so there were many spectators behind and beside Lu Ming.

Some of them clearly recognized Lu Ming.

"Look at the one with the sword! He easily knocked down the puppet without even drawing his sword. This is too monstrous."

Soon, they witnessed Zhu Ningyun's performance as well, letting out a burst of exclamations.

And so, as time went by, Lu Ming and Zhu Ningyun broke through all obstacles like a hot knife through butter, reaching the sixth stage.

This was a watershed moment, because the guardian puppet for this stage possessed the strength of a peak mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm Martial Artist.

And there were two of them.

Consequently, the number of people who reached this point greatly decreased.

The passage entrance also split into five, further mixing the incoming participants.

Fortunately, many Steward Disciples continuously recorded information and sent it to the Elders, allowing the trial to proceed smoothly.

"Sixth team, number seven, Chu Yunxiao!"

Lu Ming encountered an acquaintance here. Back then, he was only in the early stages of Zhen Qi Realm, but now he had already reached the mid-stage.

And judging by his appearance, he had been in the mid-stage for some time, with an exceptionally stable aura.

He slowly walked out, holding his long sword, then held his breath and focused his attention.

Crack!

Sensing someone's presence, the two puppets' eyes immediately lit up, and they flanked him from left and right.

Chu Yunxiao also made his move. He suddenly leaped from the ground, then drew his sword from its sheath in mid-air, shooting out an astonishing sword light towards one of the puppets.

"It's Chasing Stars and Seizing the Moon from the Flying Star Sword Technique!"

Someone immediately recognized the sword move he used.

The sword light struck the chest of the puppet flanking him from the right with a "bang," pushing it back a few steps.

Meanwhile, Chu Yunxiao used the opening to flash towards the other puppet rushing towards him from the left, using his long sword in conjunction with his fists to knock it down.

He then faced the other puppet that charged at him again, and quickly knocked it to the ground as well.

In this way, the two puppets, equivalent to peak mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm strength, were defeated by him one by one.

His strength was clearly extraordinary.

"Trial passed!"

The Elder in charge nodded at him, allowing him to proceed to the next stage, and then called the next person.

After about twenty people, Lu Ming was called.

"Tenth team, number sixty-nine!"

"Tenth team?"

Hearing the Elder's voice, the crowd couldn't help but be stunned.

"Did I hear that right? The tenth team has over nine hundred members, basically all of whom just entered the inner sect not long ago. How could they have reached here?"

"Look, he's mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm."

Lu Ming walked out, and the crowd saw his cultivation level.

"So that's how it is, no wonder. But why has he cultivated so quickly?"

"He's probably taken some pills. After all, some people disregard their potential in pursuit of rapid cultivation."

"Let's wait and see."

Lu Ming ignored their discussions and walked to the front. After nodding to the Elder in charge, he suddenly flashed, arriving before one of the puppets ahead of schedule and slapping it down with a palm strike.

Then, in an instant, he unleashed Whirlwind Sweeping Leaves Leg, turning into an afterimage and reaching the other puppet in the blink of an eye.

A kick landed squarely on its chest, sending it flying backward.

He had thus resolved the situation smoothly, the entire process flowing like water, effortless and elegant.

Hiss!

Seeing Lu Ming's sequence of moves, everyone was dumbfounded.

"My goodness, that was so easy. It doesn't look like he boosted his strength with pills."

"Alright, cleared!"

The outer sect Elder in charge, like the others initially, had guessed Lu Ming had taken some pill to boost his cultivation.

Now, it was confirmed; absolutely not.

"Next, team ten, number ninety-two, Zhu Ningyun!"

"Whoa, she's Zhu Ningyun?"

"Yeah, I've heard so much about her, but I've never seen her before."

Compared to Lu Ming, the crowd clearly had fewer doubts about Zhu Ningyun; she was just too famous.

"Four hundred and fifty-sixth. Okay, you can go inside and wait."

As Lu Ming stepped into the seventh stage, an Elder at the entrance counted.

It turned out that after reaching this stage, one had to wait for the assessments to finish and for no one else to enter before starting the challenge for this stage.

And being the four hundred and fifty-sixth meant that four hundred and fifty-five people had already reached this point before him.

There was still a need to filter out more people to get down to three hundred.

Lu Ming walked inside and saw that even the top ten figures from the inner sect were waiting there.

His arrival didn't draw much attention; after all, there were quite a few cultivators at the middle stage of the Zhen Qi Realm here.

In fact, there were even a few at the early stage of the Zhen Qi Realm present, who were far more noticeable than him.

Only Li Biehe paid special attention to him.

Upon seeing Lu Ming appear, his brow furrowed. "I didn't expect this guy's strength to be this good, actually making it to the seventh stage."

"Hmph, the puppet in this stage is at the late Zhen Qi Realm. He can only go this far."

"No, if he doesn't pass, how can I meet him in the arena battle and then openly break his arms and legs?"

His thoughts raced.

Lu Ming was unaware of others' internal monologues or their inner turmoil. Even if he knew, he wouldn't care, as it was still unclear who would be fighting whom.

Right now, he was catching up with Chu Yunxiao.

"I didn't expect you to reach the middle stage of the Zhen Qi Realm after so long."

Sizing Lu Ming up, Chu Yunxiao's eyes showed surprise. During this time, he had been fully focused on advancing his realm and practicing martial arts, rarely going out.

Therefore, he was unaware of Lu Ming's situation.

Unexpectedly, he had received two rewards for no apparent reason, which made him vaguely feel it was related to the person in front of him.

Seeing his cultivation speed now, he was even more certain.

After all, although he didn't know Lu Ming's exact cultivation time, he knew it must have been very fast.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought him into the sect.

"You're not doing badly either."

Lu Ming smiled and they chatted about their recent situations.

A moment later, Zhu Ningyun also entered the seventh stage.

Her arrival attracted much more attention. Although she didn't often appear in the inner sect, many of these highly ranked individuals had seen her before.

Zhu Ningyun ignored their gazes and, finding Lu Ming, walked towards him.

Lu Ming naturally introduced Chu Yunxiao to her and vice versa.

Chu Yunxiao had naturally heard of Zhu Ningyun; in fact, he was the one who had informed Lu Ming of her existence.

He just hadn't had the chance to meet her until now.

Now, he was surprised that she and Lu Ming already knew each other, and their relationship seemed quite good.

It was somewhat unbelievable.

Meanwhile, Li Biehe, watching Zhu Ningyun actively seek out Lu Ming, was so jealous his eyes could spew fire. "Damn it, you'd better be crippled by the seventh stage puppet and fail the challenge, otherwise, I'll make you know pain in the arena battle!"

He clenched his fists, leaving those nearby looking at him in confusion.

Soon, another half-hour passed, and an announcement came from outside: no one else was entering.

Therefore, the challenge for the seventh stage began. A total of four hundred and seventy-eight participants, with another one hundred and seventy-eight needing to be eliminated, would mark the end of the preliminary selection.