"So this is Taihua City? Just as I expected—poor and run-down."
A huge Flying Boat, like a fortress in the sky, hovered above Taihua City.
Yet from the inside, its walls and hull were completely transparent.
The guests aboard the Flying Boat had an unobstructed view of all of Taihua City.
In a hall covering nearly a hundred square meters of usable space, a plump man dressed in extreme luxury stood with his hands behind his back, gazing down at the city and clicking his tongue in admiration.
Then he looked up at Taihua Tianji in front of him and smiled.
"Junior Brother Tai Bai, it must have been hard for you to get into one of the Ten Great Immortal Sects from such a dilapidated place."
"But I'm curious. Can a poor, out-of-the-way place like this really produce nine geniuses qualified to enter the Preparatory Class?"
Before Taihua Tianji could answer, Ye Muyu beside him offered a smiling correction.
"Senior Brother Bao, it's eight."
"After all these years, your math skills are as outstanding as ever."
The Golden Core Doctor surnamed Bao kept smiling as he looked at the young man behind Taihua Tianji.
"Junior Brother Tai Bai, is this the disciple you think so highly of?"
"He looks utterly ordinary. He's practically giving off the sour stench of a pauper."
The young man True Man Bao was referring to was, naturally, Su Yuan.
That's right. Although this gathering was nominally a meeting of the ten examiners, it also had a bit of a "showing off their kids" vibe.
Su Yuan wasn't the only one there. Some of the visiting examiners had brought along their own prized disciples as well.
For instance, behind True Man Bao stood a young man dressed just as lavishly, with a faintly arrogant look