Clearing the Trial

Five Assessment Puppets at the Houtian Ninth Layer Early Stage—this at least made Qin Shaofeng feel a little less bored.

That was right, only a little less bored. There was still no pressure at all!

Whoosh!

The five Assessment Puppets struck first.

Qin Shaofeng raised a brow. Though he did not regard the five puppets before him as a threat, he was not careless in the slightest.

Smack!

Facing one puppet that charged at him and slapped out with its palm, Qin Shaofeng threw a punch.

But Qin Shaofeng quickly sensed that something was wrong.

The moment they exchanged blows, he discovered that an Assessment Puppet at the Houtian Ninth Layer possessed several times the strength of one at the Houtian Eighth Layer Late Stage.

Had Qin Shaofeng not remained vigilant all along, he might have suffered a minor loss in that exchange.

Before he could continue attacking that puppet, Qin Shaofeng sensed another puppet attacking him.

Hmph!

A sharp glint flashed through his eyes. Qin Shaofeng spun around and launched a Wudang Long Fist.

Bang!

In an instant, Qin Shaofeng lost 50 Inner Qi Points, but those 50 Inner Qi Points sent that Assessment Puppet flying.

Smack!

After it landed, the puppet did not move again. It had been defeated!

Seeing this, Qin Shaofeng did not hesitate any longer. He threw four more punches in succession at the remaining four Assessment Puppets.

200 Inner Qi Points were instantly consumed.

At the same time, the gate outside the trial grounds gave a faint tremor, and the seventh ring lit up.

The seventh stage had been cleared!

Whoosh!

Clearing the seventh stage meant one could become a Formal Student of Lianyang Academy.

Reaching Formal Student status at merely the Houtian Eighth Layer naturally set the crowd buzzing, drawing the envy of countless people.

Having cleared the seventh stage, Qin Shaofeng began challenging the eighth.

But what left Qin Shaofeng dumbfounded was that although the eighth stage did not increase the number of Assessment Puppets, the rank of its Assessment Puppets made his heart jolt.

Assessment Puppet

Level: Early stage of the tenth level of Houtian (strength restricted)

...

"You—damn—uncle, they're actually at the tenth level of Houtian? And this is only the eighth stage!"

Seeing the Assessment Puppet's level attributes, Qin Shaofeng nearly jumped to his feet and started cursing.

But the five Assessment Puppets gave him no time for that. With several whooshes, five figures pounced fiercely toward Qin Shaofeng.

"Damn, do you really have to be this ruthless?"

With a strange cry, Qin Shaofeng realized that the five Assessment Puppets had sealed off all directions around him, leaving him nowhere to dodge. Helplessness flashed across his face, but in the end, he activated Lightning Armor.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The instant Qin Shaofeng activated Lightning Armor, he was hit by five attacks.

Fortunately, compared to Du Meng, these five Assessment Puppets were still somewhat weaker. They simply could not break through the defense of Lightning Armor, let alone harm Qin Shaofeng.

But Qin Shaofeng did not waste any time. Once Lightning Armor was activated, it consumed 100 Inner Qi Points every minute, and being attacked would consume even more Inner Qi Points.

See? Just five attacks from the five Assessment Puppets had already cost Qin Shaofeng 200 Inner Qi Points.

At this rate, even with his 2,750 Inner Qi Points, he would not be able to take many more hits.

Whoosh!

His figure flashed, and Qin Shaofeng appeared directly before one of the Assessment Puppets, throwing out a Wudang Long Fist.

Ever since obtaining the Wudang Long Fist skill, Qin Shaofeng had practiced it quite a bit. It had now reached Level 3.

Level 3 Wudang Long Fist had three tiers: consuming 10 Inner Qi Points, 50 Inner Qi Points, or 100 Inner Qi Points.

Now that he faced an Assessment Puppet at the Early stage of the tenth level of Houtian, Qin Shaofeng did not need to think twice before directly using a Wudang Long Fist that consumed 100 Inner Qi Points.

And sure enough, a 100-Inner-Qi-Point Wudang Long Fist was truly different.

With just one punch, it sent that Assessment Puppet flying.

But Qin Shaofeng's face twitched when he saw that this time, after the Assessment Puppet was sent flying, it had not been defeated. After shakily getting back to its feet, it charged at him again.

Its movements, however, had become somewhat unsteady.

"One punch isn't enough? Then I'll use two!"

Qin Shaofeng hardened his heart and stopped fretting over the consumption of Inner Qi Points. He kept unleashing Wudang Long Fist attacks costing 100 Inner Qi Points each, sending the five Assessment Puppets flying again and again.

Finally, after taking three punches each, the five Assessment Puppets did not get back up.

Qin Shaofeng let out a breath of relief.

But when he thought of how 1,500 Inner Qi Points had been spent just like that, his heart ached again.

"Damn it, this is only the eighth stage!"

If not for the lavish rewards for taking first place in this assessment—raising one's level by one, 100 Points, and one Normal Lottery chance—Qin Shaofeng would have long since considered giving up.

Fortunately, Qin Shaofeng had quite a few Qi Replenishing Pills on him.

"Passed. Will you proceed with the ninth-stage challenge?"

The aged voice sounded again, but this time Qin Shaofeng did not respond immediately. Instead, he pulled a medicine bottle from his robes, poured out several Qi Replenishing Pills, and gobbled them down.

What Qin Shaofeng did not know was that the crowd outside had already erupted into an uproar.

Qin Shaofeng might have unleashed a barrage of Wudang Long Fist attacks, but in truth, he had only barely spent a quarter of an hour on the eighth stage.

Clearing the eighth stage in just a quarter of an hour was not only the best result at this assessment site—it ranked among the very best across all assessment sites.

Du Meng found this perfectly normal.

After all, he knew quite well about Qin Shaofeng's lightning-attributed attack power. Du Meng also admitted that, in terms of offensive strength, he was inferior to Qin Shaofeng.

Du Meng was fine with it, but Chen Yuanxin was thoroughly disordered at the moment.

One Du Meng was one thing. After all, the other party was also a genius at the Houtian Tenth Layer.

But what was going on with this guy in front of him?

At the Houtian Eighth Layer, he had actually cleared the eighth stage in less than a quarter of an hour?

Although the Assessment Puppets would be somewhat weaker when someone at the Houtian Eighth Layer challenged the stages, Chen Yuanxin knew very clearly that no matter what realm one was in, the difficulty of the Assessment Puppets encountered during the assessment was the same.

After all, those Assessment Puppets had been crafted by a legendary figure from Lianyang Academy. There was simply no way anything could go wrong with them.

Could it be that the Assessment Puppets appearing this time had not been crafted by that person?

In the end, Chen Yuanxin could only make this guess, though deep down, he understood that such a possibility seemed unlikely.

The ninth stage inside the assessment site began!

Before agreeing to challenge the ninth stage, Qin Shaofeng had kept an extra eye out. He directly activated Lightning Armor and even took out the longsword that had been hanging at his waist all along.

This longsword was merely a backup weapon for Qin Shaofeng, but given the situation, he had no choice but to use it.

And the facts proved that Qin Shaofeng's caution was entirely correct.

Assessment Puppet

Level: Peak Houtian Tenth Layer (strength restricted)

...

Ah, screw you!

After seeing the Assessment Puppet's attributes, Qin Shaofeng's mouth twitched. He did not even have the urge to curse aloud.

This was too damn unfair.

Peak Houtian Tenth Layer!

Why not just send five Xiantian First Layer opponents straight at him!

Qin Shaofeng was deeply displeased, but the five Assessment Puppets did not care whether he was pleased or not. They lunged at him like vicious beasts.

"Hmph, so what if you're at the peak of the Houtian Tenth Layer? I'll chop you five heaps of scrap metal to pieces!"

Raising his right hand, Qin Shaofeng lifted the longsword in his grip and slashed out with several swift strokes.

Qin Shaofeng was not swinging blindly. Over this period of time, he had already thoroughly mastered the Huashan Basic Swordplay Moves.

With this swing, he unleashed White Clouds Emerge from the Peaks, chopping toward one Assessment Puppet.

Clang!

The longsword struck the Assessment Puppet, sending several sparks flying.

Not only that, but after taking Qin Shaofeng's White Clouds Emerge from the Peaks, the Assessment Puppet was instantly knocked back.

Qin Shaofeng was not happy. It had only been knocked back, and that was just one of them. There were still four left!

Swish!

Drawing back his sword and turning around, Qin Shaofeng unleashed another move toward his right—Phoenix Arrives with Auspiciousness!

Clang!

Sparks flew in all directions as another Assessment Puppet was knocked back by Qin Shaofeng's sword strike.

But at this moment, the remaining three Assessment Puppets charged at him together.

Qin Shaofeng did not panic. Unhurriedly, he raised his longsword and spun several sword flowers before suddenly shouting in a low voice, "Three Azure Peaks of Mount Tai!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

With a low shout from Qin Shaofeng, the longsword in his hand flashed like lightning as he slashed three times in rapid succession.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three dark figures were instantly sent flying, retreating more than ten meters.

Seeing this, Qin Shaofeng knew his chance had come.

Taking advantage of the three Assessment Puppets he had knocked back, Qin Shaofeng immediately spun around and charged toward the two Assessment Puppets he had sent flying at the very beginning.

"White Rainbow Piercing the Sun!"

"Green Pine Welcomes Guests!"

With two low shouts, Qin Shaofeng swung his longsword twice again. But this time, as he swung, his Inner Qi Points instantly dropped by 400.

Two Huashan Basic Swordplay Moves had consumed 400 Inner Qi Points. One could well imagine just how formidable their power was.

Bang! Bang!

The two Assessment Puppets were sent flying once more, but this time, after hitting the ground, they did not move again.

Taken care of!

He breathed a sigh of relief, but Qin Shaofeng knew this was not yet the time to celebrate.

With a light flick of his right hand, his longsword pointed straight at the three Assessment Puppets opposite him, and Qin Shaofeng moved again.

"Boundless Falling Leaves!"

"Unrivaled and Matchless!"

"Golden Jade Full Hall!"

Following three low shouts, Qin Shaofeng dealt with the remaining three Assessment Puppets as well.

"Passed. Will you proceed with the challenge for the tenth stage?"

The aged voice rang out again. Qin Shaofeng understood that he had also passed the ninth stage.

However, Qin Shaofeng did not answer immediately. Instead, he took out the Qi Replenishing Pills he had prepared beforehand and swallowed several. Only after his Inner Qi Points had fully recovered did he nod and say, "Yes!"

Crack! Crack! Crack!

To Qin Shaofeng's surprise, after he agreed to challenge the tenth stage, all five Assessment Puppets lying on the ground rose to their feet. Yet four of them actually returned to the walls, and when the walls split open, they went straight inside and left.

What was this?

Qin Shaofeng could not make sense of it, but soon afterward, he noticed that something was wrong.

Crack!

The sole remaining Assessment Puppet suddenly shuddered all over, and its aura surged sharply.

The moment he sensed that aura, Qin Shaofeng was rendered speechless.

Damn it, just as I guessed—the final tenth stage really has a Xiantian-level puppet!

Assessment Puppet

Level: Xiantian First Layer Late Stage (strength restricted)

...

Holy hell, this damn thing is actually Xiantian First Layer Late Stage!

After seeing the Assessment Puppet's attributes, Qin Shaofeng felt a pang of agony.

This assessment was clearly messing with him!

Houtian Eighth Layer against Xiantian First Layer—was that even remotely the same level?

Though that was what he thought, Qin Shaofeng still prepared to give it everything he had.

Whoosh!

Worthy of being a puppet at the Xiantian First Layer, it was unbelievably fast. Qin Shaofeng could not see it clearly at all.

Bang!

The puppet's fist slammed into Qin Shaofeng's body. Sparks of electricity flickered, but they quickly vanished—and something very bad happened.

Crack!

A crisp shattering sound rang out as the Lightning Armor was destroyed.

Just as Qin Shaofeng had expected, his Lightning Armor simply could not withstand Xiantian inner qi.

Yet at that moment, a trace of triumph appeared in Qin Shaofeng's eyes.

Though it had broken through the Lightning Armor, the puppet had still paused ever so slightly because of it.

And that was precisely the moment Qin Shaofeng had been waiting for. At that instant, he moved.

His left hand, which had long been poised and ready, gave a slight shake.

Whoosh!

A silver blade-light flashed forth, and a piercing sound split the air!

Bang!

Silver Light's blade aura shot straight at the puppet's chest.

After trading blows many times, Qin Shaofeng had long discovered that the weakness of these Assessment Puppets lay in one spot on their chests, because the power that set them in motion came from there.

Qin Shaofeng had guessed right—and acted right.

Struck by Silver Light's blade aura, the Assessment Puppet's chest was blasted open, and something inside seemed to shatter.

The Assessment Puppet fell in response. A moment later, the aged voice suddenly rang out.

"Passed. All ten stages cleared. Assessment complete!"