The moment those words fell, the crowd that had been murmuring quietly erupted into a clamor. Some protested indignantly, some fell silent with ashen faces, and others looked relieved, as though a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
The voices of those who had been singled out were soon drowned beneath the louder arguments.
Only after the uproar had subsided somewhat did the voice continue, its tone still calm as water. "This is the first round of selection, intended to assess your talent and foundations. If, after seven days in the secret realm, you have yet to absorb nearly half the Hidden Dragon Qi, your foundations are insufficient, and you must be eliminated."
Li Bufan was slightly startled by this.
After absorbing Hidden Dragon Qi in Hidden Dragon Valley for three days, he had refined all of it into cultivation within the Small Cauldron's space.
Although a little Hidden Dragon Qi still remained in his dantian, it could hardly be called abundant compared with that of cultivators who had never refined theirs.
If, as that voice had just said, having less than half the Hidden Dragon Qi in one's dantian meant elimination, wasn't he quite likely to be mistakenly judged unqualified?
As soon as the voice from the void finished speaking, someone in the crowd shouted in objection, "What if we absorbed Hidden Dragon Qi while refining it for our own use inside the secret realm? Naturally, less than half would remain in our dantian. Would we still be eliminated? That's unfair!"
"Rest assured. Before entering the secret realm, all of you registered your identity tokens and underwent an array inspection. Your aura imprints are already on record."
"If anyone truly possessed the ability to convert Hidden Dragon Qi into their own strength within the secret realm, that, too,