Passing the Test!

This punch, he didn't use any magical power.

He relied solely on his physical body, tempered by magical power and far stronger than those of the same rank, combined with precise control of his strength to simulate the surge of qi and blood characteristic of Body Tempering Realm martial artists.

"Bang!"

A dull, heavy thud, deeper than any before, exploded in the open space!

The metal puppet, which had remained motionless, was violently jolted backward by Zhou Xuan's punch!

The jeers from the entire venue ceased abruptly.

Everyone's eyes widened, staring intently at the crystal on the puppet's chest.

The dull gray crystal, after a second of silence, suddenly erupted in a blinding white light!

The light was so intense it was almost blinding!

In the center of the brilliant white light, a clear, ancient number, even with a faint golden border, slowly and firmly appeared.

Five!

Body Tempering Realm, fifth layer!

The entire world seemed to fall silent at that moment.

You could hear a pin drop.

Everyone stood frozen as if under a petrification spell, their expressions shifting from schadenfreude to shock, then to disbelief, and finally settling into utter stupefication.

"Body Tempering fifth layer?"

Someone, in a dreamlike whisper, uttered the words with a tremor.

Boom!

The entire place erupted instantly!

"How is that possible? Am I seeing things? Zhou Xuan? Body Tempering fifth layer?!"

"It must be fake! Is this puppet broken? Three months ago, no, a month ago, I saw him being chased by Li Ergou, who's only at Body Tempering third layer!"

"How could he possibly reach Body Tempering fifth layer all of a sudden?!"

"Is this guy a monster?"

The crowd was in an uproar, every gaze fixed on Zhou Xuan filled with shock, awe, and a trace of unconcealed jealousy.

None of them knew what entanglements Zhou Xuan had with the aloof Saintess Candidate Liu Ruyan.

All they knew was that this guy, whom they had considered a good-for-nothing for years, had just slapped everyone across the face in a way they couldn't comprehend!

"Cheating! He must have cheated!"

After a brief, dead silence, someone in the crowd, with a hoarse cry, shouted this out, instantly igniting everyone's emotions.

"Right! It's definitely cheating! How could he possibly reach Body Tempering fifth layer!"

"Investigate him! Chief Steward Wang, you must investigate him!"

"This guy must have hidden some Great Strength Talismans on him, or secretly taken some forbidden medicine!"

A handyman, who had barely passed the Body Tempering fifth layer test and still looked pale, pointed at Zhou Xuan, his eyes red.

He had painstakingly cultivated for seven or eight years to barely reach this level. Why should Zhou Xuan, this eternal good-for-nothing, catch up in just a few months? It wasn't fair!

"Exactly! A month ago, he was beaten so badly he was spitting teeth by Li Ergou, and Li Ergou is only Body Tempering third layer! This is absolutely impossible!"

"He must have used some underhanded means!"

"If someone like him passes, it's too unfair to us who have been diligently cultivating!"

Doubts, curses, and jealous roars surged towards Zhou Xuan like a tide.

Those who had been mocking him moments ago now seemed to have transformed into crusaders for justice, indignantly demanding severe punishment for the cheater.

They couldn't accept, and absolutely refused to believe, that a good-for-nothing they had always kept under their feet, a source of laughter and superiority, had suddenly soared to the heavens.

This was worse than killing them!

Zhou Xuan remained standing in place, his expression calm, as if the harsh scolding were merely the noisy buzzing of flies, unrelated to him.

Under the shade of a tree, Chief Steward Wang, who had been lazily reclining in his armchair, slowly sat up straight.

In his eyes, which were always narrowed, flickered a shrewdness that saw through everything and a naked greed.

Cheating?

He scoffed inwardly.

These fools, what do they know!

Great Strength Talisman?

Those low-grade talismans produced obvious spiritual energy fluctuations when activated, and they only purely amplified physical brute strength, completely unable to simulate the surge of qi and blood that permeated the entire body, characteristic of Body Tempering Realm martial artists.

That punch just now, with its condensed qi and blood and explosive power, was definitely something only a genuine Body Tempering fifth layer could unleash.

As for elixirs?

Any medicinal pill capable of forcibly boosting one's cultivation in a short period is nothing but a harsh, aggressive drug.

Without exception, they all carry massive side effects; after consumption, one's qi and blood become unstable, the complexion turns sallow, and it can even damage one's foundation.

Yet, looking at Zhou Xuan, his aura was steady, his complexion ruddy, and he stood there as immovable as a mountain—where was there any sign of being hollowed out by pills?

Chief Steward Wang's gaze swept over Zhou Xuan repeatedly, like a venomous snake.

Even taking a step back, even if this brat had truly hit the jackpot and obtained some top-tier pill that could perfectly mask the side effects, or a Great Strength Talisman capable of simulating the power of qi and blood.

So what?

Whether it be pills or talismans, they are merely external aids.

To forcibly elevate a piece of trash at the first or second level of Body Forging to the level of the fifth, the value of the pills and talismans required would likely be even higher than three Qi Gathering Pills!

Does this brat have that kind of capital?

Even if he did, to unleash the power of the fifth level of Body Forging, his own foundation would have to be at least at the fourth level!

To go from a piece of trash who could barely stand at the first level of Body Forging to the fourth or even fifth level in just a few short months.

Chief Steward Wang's heart began to beat violently and uncontrollably, and an irrepressible heat surged from the depths of his dantian straight to his crown!

A fortuitous encounter!

This had to be a goddamn heaven-sent opportunity!

He instantly recalled Zhou Xuan's abnormal behavior at the Miscellaneous Affairs Department some time ago.

He had taken on all the work himself and acted all mysterious all day long.

At the time, he thought the brat was just giving up on himself and acting recklessly, but now it seemed that wasn't the case at all!

This brat must have dug up some heaven-defying treasure in that trash heap at the Miscellaneous Affairs Department!

An opportunity that allowed a Five Elements Waste Spirit Root to make such rapid progress in cultivation in just a few months!

Chief Steward Wang's breathing became heavy.

He knew his own situation better than anyone.

His cultivation at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage was enough to throw his weight around in this Chore Servant Courtyard, but trying to climb any higher was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

His talent was mediocre to begin with, and having achieved Foundation Establishment at an advanced age, his potential was already exhausted; without a heaven-defying opportunity, this was basically the end of the road for him.

But what if he could get his hands on Zhou Xuan's opportunity?

Golden Core Formation!

As long as he could reach Golden Core Formation, he could shed this shitty identity as a Chore Servant Chief Steward and go to the outer sect, or even the inner sect, to secure a lucrative position as an elder in charge!

By then, spirit stones, pills, female disciples... wouldn't he be able to have whatever he wanted?

Compared to being the local tyrant of this garbage dump, that kind of life was like the difference between heaven and earth!

Thinking of this, the way Chief Steward Wang looked at Zhou Xuan was no longer that of looking at a chore servant, but like looking at a fat, slaughtered sheep covered in treasures!

"Everyone shut the fuck up!"

Chief Steward Wang slammed his armrest, his booming voice full of vitality like a thunderclap, instantly suppressing all the noise.

Releasing a sliver of his pressure as a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, the entire area fell deathly silent; those clamoring chore servants were all struck dumb, not daring to utter another word.