Zhang Su's gaze was fixed tightly on the three puppets in the distance.
He had already watched three battles earlier, so he naturally knew that each puppet possessed combat power comparable to Early Mingjin!
With the three puppets joining forces, they far surpassed ordinary Early Mingjin martial artists.
Even he could not afford to underestimate the three puppets.
At this moment, the previously noisy crowd in the Inner Sect Main Hall gradually fell silent.
Just look at the previous three Internal Force disciples.
Not one of them had managed to pass the Combat Assessment.
That was enough to show just how powerful these three puppets were.
Although Zhang Su was known as the "Outer Sect's Finest," could he pass the Combat Assessment?
Zhang Su gripped the hilt of his sword.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh."
The three puppets moved.
They were swift as the wind. The distance of more than thirty meters was crossed in the blink of an eye.
Moreover, the three puppets moved in a horn-like formation, working closely together and leaving Zhang Su no opening to exploit.
Only by truly facing the three puppets could one feel just how difficult they were to defeat.
The instant the three puppets formed an encirclement around Zhang Su—
Clang!
Zhang Su drew his sword.
His mind was calm.
At that moment, the sounds around him seemed to vanish.
His eyes held only the three puppets.
The Blood Qi within him erupted thunderously.
It was not as though Blood Qi disappeared after one cultivated Internal Force.
Even after becoming an Internal Force martial artist, Blood Qi still existed.
It simply no longer increased.
Zhang Su still possessed only a thousand threads of Blood Qi.
Those thousand threads of Blood Qi could continuously be transformed into Internal Force.
However, when facing three puppets with Early Mingjin combat power, an eruption of Blood Qi alone was not enough.
The Internal Force within Zhang Su also erupted at once.
What Zhang Su had forged was a Supreme Foundation.
His Early Mingjin Internal Force was comparable to Mid Mingjin Internal Force.
Moreover, it carried the characteristics of utmost hardness and utmost yang.
Thus, with this eruption, Zhang Su's reactions, strength, and speed all surged in an instant to an unimaginable level.
The crowd only saw a blur before their eyes.
Afterimages seemed to appear around Zhang Su's body.
As for Zhang Su's sword...
No one could see it clearly at that moment.
Not even the Inner Sect disciples.
They could not see it.
By the time they could, Zhang Su had already stopped.
The three puppets stood completely motionless.
Crash!
Then, the three puppets completely shattered, scattering across the ground as broken stones.
Silence!
The surroundings fell quiet all at once.
Many people widened their eyes, staring fixedly at the heap of puppet fragments on the ground.
Those were three puppets comparable to Early Mingjin martial artists.
How had they ended up shattered all over the floor?
Perhaps some people had thought Zhang Su could defeat the three puppets and successfully pass the Combat Assessment.
But surely he should have gone through a bitter battle first?
Yet what had happened now?
One sword strike!
With only one sword strike, the three puppets had fallen apart.
Had they been three Early Mingjin martial artists instead, that single strike would have killed all three.
An instant kill!
Zhang Su had utterly annihilated them in an instant!
"How is that possible? Which of those three Internal Force disciples earlier wasn't beaten into a miserable state by the three puppets? Why did Zhang Su make it look so easy?"
"One sword strike! If I hadn't watched those three Internal Force disciples before this, I would have thought the Combat Assessment was easy. But now it seems it isn't the assessment that is easy—it's Senior Brother Zhang Su who is too strong!"
"In that sword strike just now, I seemed to vaguely see traces of the Light Shadow Killing Sword, Triple Wave, the Nine Shadows Sword Technique, and more. For Zhang Su to merge so many sword techniques into one is truly unbelievable."
"Is this the weight carried by the title 'Outer Sect's Finest'? He truly... lives up to his name!"
"Who said this Zhang Su's title as the 'Outer Sect's Finest' was undeserved?"
After the silence, the disciples began discussing it fervently.
That one sword strike had shaken them too deeply.
Many had only heard rumors about Zhang Su.
Those rumors came in all shapes and colors; there was every kind of claim.
But now that they had personally witnessed Zhang Su's terrifying sword strike, they understood that rumors could not be trusted!
How could Zhang Su's title as the "Outer Sect's Finest" possibly contain any false glitter?
He was the genuine, undisputed finest of the Outer Sect!
Amid the crowd, Lu Tianqing smiled knowingly.
Perhaps only he understood how strong Zhang Su truly was.
He was not the least bit surprised that Zhang Su had defeated three Early Mingjin puppets with one sword strike.
Zhang Su possessed that level of strength!
"A Supreme Foundation forged through the Second Limit Break—what could three mere Early Mingjin puppets possibly amount to?"
Lu Tianqing murmured softly.
If he did not even possess such strength, then why would he have wasted six years in the Outer Sect back then, all for the Second Limit Break and the condensation of a thousand threads of Blood Qi?
Lu Tianqing knew very well that the Supreme Foundation forged through the Second Limit Break possessed boundless potential.
Zhang Su had yet to cultivate martial arts at the Internal Force level.
Once he did, his advantages would only grow greater and greater.
That was the Supreme Foundation!
Unfortunately, Lu Tianqing had wasted six years in the Outer Sect. Even when he underwent Ultimate Ascension in his final battle with Zhang Su, he still failed to achieve the Second Limit Break and forge a Supreme Foundation.
This was Lu Tianqing's lifelong regret.
Click.
Zhang Su sheathed his sword.
His gaze turned toward the Inner Sect elder.
The Inner Sect elder immediately announced, "Outer Sect disciple Zhang Su has passed the Combat Assessment. From this moment onward, he is promoted to the Inner Sect!"
Upon hearing the Inner Sect elder's announcement, many Outer Sect disciples showed a hint of envy in their eyes.
The Inner Sect!
They dreamed of being promoted to the Inner Sect and becoming Inner Sect disciples.
Unfortunately, among the tens of thousands of Outer Sect disciples, only a minority could ultimately advance to the Inner Sect.
"Congratulations to Senior Brother Zhang on entering the Inner Sect!"
The many Outer Sect disciples all saluted Zhang Su.
For a time, the entire Inner Sect Main Hall echoed with voices of congratulations.
Zhang Su had just walked out of the Martial Arts Arena and was about to leave when the Inner Sect elder spoke again. "Zhang Su, Inner Sect disciples are also divided into ranks. Having passed the Combat Assessment, you can only become an ordinary Inner Sect disciple for now."
"If you choose to face ten puppets and defeat them, you can be rated as a One-Star Disciple. Whether in status, position, or treatment, you would stand far above ordinary Inner Sect disciples."
"Will you challenge the ten puppets now?"
Hearing this, Zhang Su stopped.
Many Outer Sect disciples also wore bewildered expressions.
A One-Star Disciple?
They had never even heard of it.
That was actually quite normal.
Outer Sect disciples of the Guiyuan Sect could only be considered expendable material, not worth the sect's focused cultivation.
Only Inner Sect disciples received the sect's focused cultivation.
Therefore, only Inner Sect disciples knew the significance of a One-Star Disciple.
The expressions of these Inner Sect disciples all became grave.
"A One-Star Disciple... the elder is right. A One-Star Disciple indeed stands above ordinary disciples."
"If advancing to the Inner Sect makes one a genius, then a One-Star Disciple is a genius among geniuses. The sect will value them even more, and their treatment will be better as well."
"But defeating ten puppets of the same realm is difficult..."
Zhang Su frowned.
"May I ask, Elder—if I challenge ten puppets of the same realm in the future and succeed, can I still become a One-Star Disciple?"
"You can! So long as you defeat ten puppets of the same realm and accomplish one against ten, you can become a One-Star Disciple. There are even higher ratings above One-Star Disciple, though naturally, the difficulty is even greater."
Zhang Su understood.
Although he had defeated three puppets of the same realm with one sword strike just now, he had not even cultivated Internal Force-level martial arts yet. In truth, he was at a considerable disadvantage.
The difficulty of defeating three puppets and the difficulty of defeating ten puppets were not comparable.
If he challenged ten puppets now, even if he succeeded by chance, it would not be worthwhile. On the contrary, there was still the risk of failure.
Why rush for the moment?
Merely to show off and seize the title of "One-Star Disciple upon Initiation"?
It sounded impressive, but it was only an empty name.
There was no need at all!
"Elder, may I leave now?"
Zhang Su suddenly asked.
"Uh... of course."
Without the slightest hesitation, Zhang Su passed through the crowd and disappeared from everyone's sight.
Zhang Su seemed to have turned a deaf ear to the Inner Sect elder's "proposal" and had not considered it at all.
Everyone looked at one another, and the entire Inner Sect Main Hall sank into deathly silence.
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