Immortals and Daoists Await the Entrance Examination! (Please Bookmark, Please Vote at the Start of the Month)

"Young Master, we're here." Beishan Hu pointed ahead.

Xia Manggan looked up.

Before him stood a colossal structure.

Above its hundred-zhang-tall main gate,

the four words "Black-White Academy" could be seen clearly even from miles away.

At the center of those four characters was a Black-White Millstone Diagram.

"The Black-White Millstone Diagram." Xia Manggan's eyes lit up.

Looking closely, he indeed sensed endless mysteries contained within it.

"The words 'Black-White Academy' and the Black-White Millstone Diagram were both left behind by the Heavenly Immortal patriarch from the Academy's history," Beishan Hu explained. "I heard there is an even larger millstone diagram beside the true Black-White Diagram. It is far more complex and detailed than this one. After you enter the Academy, Young Master, you can study it carefully."

"Mm. Wait for me here."

Seeing that it was indeed getting late, Xia Manggan went with the flow and entered the Black-White Academy's main gate alone.

At the lake not far from the main gate, there were no longer any young cultivators waiting to be tested.

Only relatives accompanying their juniors to the entrance examination remained gathered by the lake, waiting anxiously and eagerly.

The sun was now setting.

Only half the outline of the Sun Star remained visible.

Amid the afterglow of the setting sun, Xia Manggan slowly approached.

The black-haired middle-aged man, who had nearly turned into a "husband-watching stone," finally breathed a sigh of relief.

[He finally came!]

The two immortal senior uncles, especially Senior Uncle Hanshan, the oldest and highest-ranking figure in the Academy, had been waiting at the entrance examination site since early morning.

As a result, while conducting the first round of tests by the lake, he had felt as though a pair of icy eyes were watching him from behind every moment.

And the person Senior Uncle Hanshan was waiting for had stubbornly refused to show up.

That chill down his spine, piercing straight into his heart...

Even though he was a Primordial Spirit Daoist of the Black-White Academy, with strength not inferior to an ordinary Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal outside, he was having a hard time enduring it.

"Senior." Xia Manggan calmly walked up to the black-haired middle-aged man.

He could address Beishan Yin directly by name since they had no relationship.

But before a Primordial Spirit Daoist of the Black-White Academy, basic courtesy was still necessary.

After all, these would be his fellow members of the sect in the future.

"Mm." The black-haired middle-aged man nodded and was about to tell him to go over.

Then he suddenly looked toward the Bronze Mirror in the sky and exclaimed in shock, "Y-you broke through from early Purple Mansion Qi Refining to perfected Purple Mansion?"

"Perfected Purple Mansion?"

"Haha, is this guy an idiot? He's already at perfected Purple Mansion, yet he still came to seek a master!"

The black-haired middle-aged man's words immediately drew mocking discussion from the onlookers in the distance.

Not to mention that they were all cultivators from the major tribes of Anchan Commandery, among them no shortage of powerful figures at the level of Wanxiang Daoists.

Even those who understood nothing had watched the testing all day and knew the rules by now.

For entrance disciples, the Black-White Academy only accepted young cultivators at early Purple Mansion.

They did not even accept mid Purple Mansion cultivators, much less someone at perfected Purple Mansion.

Among the crowd, only White Water Marsh understood after recognizing Xia Manggan.

[No wonder this Primordial Spirit Daoist had seemed to be waiting for someone all this time. So it was him...]

Xia Manggan frowned slightly as he considered how to explain.

Then he felt a vast force sweep over from afar. It was icy, yet not unpleasant; instead, it made his mind feel clear and refreshed as it enveloped him.

Then an elderly voice sounded beside his ear.

"Do not resist. I will inspect your Purple Mansion. I mean no harm."

Xia Manggan's brow relaxed, and he allowed the other party's divine sense to examine him.

[Which immortal of the Black-White Academy from the original novel could this be?] Xia Manggan secretly guessed.

Given the talent he had displayed, and the fact that he had already met with the headmaster, Jade Sea Daoist,

after entering the Black-White Academy, he would surely be taken as a disciple by one of the highest-ranking Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals.

Thus, this divine sense, clearly surpassing the level of an ordinary Primordial Spirit Daoist, was very likely from one of the Academy's immortals.

And quite possibly, his future master.

"It is fine. He cultivates an immortal-tier Qi Refining technique, so it is not a problem."

The elderly voice sounded from the void.

The black-haired middle-aged man's expression relaxed. He said to Xia Manggan, "All right. Go over."

After speaking, he did not wait for Xia Manggan's response and directly sent a stream of Origin Force sweeping out, carrying Xia Manggan across the lake.

"What is going on?"

"Why can that youth pass when he is already at perfected Purple Mansion?"

"Exactly! The second young master of our tribe only cultivated to mid Purple Mansion because his talent was too good and he did not understand the rules. Why was he not allowed through?"

At this sight, the waiting crowd immediately erupted.

Many whose tribe members had been eliminated in the first round began shouting at the tops of their lungs.

"Silence!"

The black-haired middle-aged man suddenly shouted.

His gaze instantly became terrifying.

A powerful wave of divine sense swept across the crowd. Several cultivators who had been shouting the loudest froze, then collapsed to the ground as though they had gone stupid.

"The affairs of my Black-White Academy are beyond even the Anchan Marquis Mansion's authority to interfere with. What do you think you are? Get lost, all of you!"

As soon as his words fell, several hundred Black Armor Soldiers guarding the gate immediately flew over, raising their spears and halberds as they charged at the crowd.

"All of you, leave the Academy immediately! Those who resist will be killed without mercy!"

Whoosh!

The crowd instantly scattered in all directions.

A few whose souls were too weak and who still lay unconscious on the ground were dragged away by their companions.

"Ridiculous. If your tribes possessed immortal-tier Qi Refining techniques, naturally you would not need to obey the early Purple Mansion cultivation restriction. Unfortunately, you do not."

After snorting coldly, the black-haired middle-aged man could not be bothered with this side any longer and Teleported away as well.

He had waited for a month, then an entire day.

He also wanted to see just how monstrous the prodigy was who had entered the Great Dao of Life and Death at the Purple Mansion stage and comprehended a trace of Great Dao True Intent.

Whoosh!

Space shifted.

The black-haired middle-aged man appeared above the gorge.

There, atop the clouds, more than twenty figures were already standing.

At the very front stood none other than Senior Uncle Immortal Hanshan and Senior Uncle Black Crown Immortal.

[They all came?] The black-haired middle-aged man was secretly startled.

Good heavens.

Nearly all the Primordial Spirit Daoists who had remained in the Academy rather than venturing outside had arrived.

The few who had not come were probably watching through Water Mirror Techniques in their own abodes.

"Junior Brother Wu Xiu came too."

"It has been several years since we last met. Junior Brother, your Soul Shaking Technique has grown ever more profound."

Several Primordial Spirit Daoists who were close to the black-haired middle-aged man greeted him.

But even more Primordial Spirit Daoists were watching below.

The more than nine hundred young cultivators who had passed the first round of cultivation aptitude screening had already entered the gorge under the guidance of a young man wearing an ink-wash Daoist robe.

"How many of these nine hundred little fellows do you think can pass the Thunder Dragon Puppet Formation today?"

"Ask Wu Xiu. We were not responsible for the aptitude screening, so how would we know... But judging by the usual rate of one in a hundred, it would be pretty good if nine, at most ten, passed this second Puppet Formation trial."

"Mm, that is right. But that little imperial clansman will definitely pass."

...Amid the quiet discussions of the Primordial Spirit Daoists,

the eight hundred and ten puppet dragon heads protruding from the gorge walls simultaneously erupted with dazzling azure light.

Then each dragon head shot streams of azure lightning from its mouth.

Instantly—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A thousand bolts of lightning fired at once.

The sky above the broad valley floor, spanning several miles within the gorge, almost instantly became a field of lightning.

"Watch carefully. It has begun."

"Quick, let us see how that imperial youth gets through."

The Primordial Spirit Daoists all spoke with great interest.

"With that unhurried temperament of his, he will probably wait until the final moment before attempting the trial."

The black-haired middle-aged man, who felt he had already figured out a little of Xia Manggan's personality, had just said this to the fellow disciples beside him.

Then a massive mountain suddenly rose from the bottom of the gorge below.

After forcibly withstanding a thousand azure lightning bolts fired from all eight hundred and ten puppet dragon heads,

it flew directly into a cave above the gorge.

"..."

The black-haired middle-aged man froze.

The other Primordial Spirit Daoists were speechless as well.

So we waited all this time just to watch that?

He directly used a magic treasure to force his way through, without displaying even the slightest true intent technique?

"Ah, right." The black-haired middle-aged man came to his senses.

"This little fellow's Qi Refining cultivation is already at late Purple Mansion. Since he cultivates an immortal-tier technique, his Origin Force is abundant. With a top-grade mortal-tier magic treasure as well, the Puppet Formation cannot do anything to him."

So that was it.

The Primordial Spirit Daoists came to the realization and all said, "Then we can only watch the third trial."

...At the front of the clouds.

"Jade Sea,"

Immortal Hanshan, who looked like a young child, said, "Inform the little fellow guarding the third trial. He need not suppress his cultivation, and he may use any immortal arts or secret techniques he wishes. He only needs to restrict the level of his magic treasures."

"Senior Uncle." Jade Sea Daoist was startled. "But the trial guardian is—"

"Give the order as I said." Delight showed through Immortal Hanshan's elderly voice. "Otherwise, I fear we will not be able to force out this little fellow's true strength."

"...Yes."

Within the gorge.

The more than nine hundred young cultivators stared blankly at the gray-robed figure above.

Too fast.

It was simply too fast!

Before the lightning unleashed by the eight hundred and ten puppet dragon heads had even descended, he had already forced his way through the trial by using the mountain seal magic treasure he had summoned.

"Did he not even test the lightning's power first?"

A young cultivator dressed in luxurious black robes muttered, disbelief filling his eyes.

"Perhaps those bolts of lightning only look impressive, but are actually weak. Maybe they are just for show."

Several young cultivators followed his example, summoning magic treasures and charging toward the cave at the top of the gorge.

Crackle, crackle~~~

The young cultivators who had just been brimming with momentum fell straight from the sky.

Some were even smoking.

One young cultivator had been seriously injured. Seeing that he could no longer attempt the trial again, he said to the others, "Those lightning bolts are extremely powerful. Each one carries the force of a full-power strike from an early Purple Mansion cultivator."

What!?

Everyone was shocked.

Then how had that person managed to charge through while enduring every lightning strike?

That made no sense!

"Each bolt of lightning is equivalent to a full-power attack from an early Purple Mansion cultivator?"

Ji Ning looked up at the sky above the gorge.

He could do it.

So could I!

Whoosh~~~

A flower with six full layers of Water-Fire Lotus Petals immediately formed around Ji Ning's body.

At the same time, a flying sword appeared beneath his feet, and he shot into the sky.

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