The Heavenly Master Palace's Recruitment Reveals Divine Might

After enjoying quite a show, Yang Xiao took advantage of the crowd's distraction with the Pig-Slaughter Guards and used Shrinking Earth to Inches to slip over to the Heavenly Master Palace's entrance.

Twenty or thirty white-robed youths already stood there, proud smiles on their faces. They all seemed to be taking part in the Heavenly Master Palace's recruitment.

Twenty or thirty might sound like a lot, but Slaughter Heaven City housed the only branch of the Heavenly Master Palace in the entire Heaven Domain, so these were already more than half the domain's young Heavenly Masters.

He had arrived rather late. After he waited another half-quarter of an hour, the palace gates slowly opened, and two elderly men with half-gray hair emerged.

Both wore White Cloud Robes, the standard uniform of the Great Zhou Heavenly Master Palace's Heavenly Masters.

The vigorous old Heavenly Master on the left cleared his throat. "I am Murong Chong, the Heavenly Master overseeing this recruitment. Everyone taking the assessment, step forward."

At his words, the twenty-odd youths all took a step forward. Yang Xiao moved to the very back. Since he had come to cause trouble, how could he do that without going inside?

Murong Chong nodded in satisfaction. "Good. We have more people this year than in previous years, twenty-five participants in all. Follow me inside."

Trailing at the rear, Yang Xiao studied the palace's layout. White clouds stretched across the vast sky. Under the Heavenly Masters' influence, the weather here remained springlike throughout the year. Every so often, a warm breeze swept across the square, refreshing the spirit and bathing everyone in spring warmth.

The palace's layout, however, was rather ordinary, neither particularly good nor particularly bad. There was no Earth Vein Grand Formation around it. Apparently, the relationship between the Heavenly Master Palace and the Earth Master Hall was rather interesting.

The surroundings were wide open. A single glance took in the palace's outer walls.

Murong Chong stepped onto the raised platform in the center. "As Heavenly Masters, ensuring favorable winds and timely rains for a region is our sacred duty. Therefore, the assessment will test your Wind and Rain Invocation.

"The weather over this square is influenced by the palace's experts, making it difficult to summon nourishing rain. Anyone who can come onto the platform and make it rain for half a quarter of an hour will pass.

"Of course, the longer your rain lasts, the greater your aptitude, and the more importance you will be given after joining the palace.

"I now declare the assessment open."

Yang Xiao stood among the crowd, looking around. Most of the others did the same. The first person to go up usually served as a foil: do well, and others used you for comparison; do poorly, and you earned a round of mockery. After standing there for ages, nobody wanted to be the first bird to stick its head out.

Seeing this, Murong Chong's expression gradually darkened. He snorted coldly. "If no one comes up within half a quarter of an hour, you will all be disqualified and never accepted."

Some of them grew anxious at that, but Yang Xiao remained perfectly calm among the crowd. Murong Chong clearly had grounds for his confidence. Hadn't these people come here precisely to join the palace? Someone would step forward in the end.

Besides, seeing them all disqualified would suit him just fine, childish though that thought might be.

Sure enough, barely two minutes passed before someone could no longer bear the pressure. He leaped onto the platform and cupped his fists toward everyone. "I am Li Huaian. Please forgive my humble display."

"Wind, come!"

Li Huaian flew into the air, circulated his magical power, and shouted.

A gentle breeze stirred the hem of his robes. Someone below could not hold back a laugh.

The breeze was so faint that Yang Xiao could barely tell whether it was the existing spring breeze or one the young man had summoned.

Li Huaian strained until his face turned crimson and pointed skyward. "Clouds, gather!"

The white clouds slowly drifted toward the center, forming a dark cloud about ten square meters in size overhead.

The spectators could not help laughing again. Had it not been surrounded by white clouds, they would hardly have noticed that dark cloud at all.

Li Huaian simply threw caution to the wind, closed his eyes, and shouted, "Rain, fall!"

A light drizzle began to fall, landing squarely around Li Huaian. Everyone else still basked in sunshine and warm breezes.

Though his rain was weak, Li Huaian persevered through astonishing determination. In the end, he even abandoned the spiritual-power barrier shielding him from the rain, letting himself get drenched as he held out for half a quarter of an hour.

Once the rain stopped, Murong Chong half-opened his eyes. "Ordinary talent, but commendable perseverance. You barely pass. Come stand beside me."

Li Huaian lowered his head and walked behind Murong Chong, his face red. Hearing people below still mocking him, he flushed even more deeply.

Watching Li Huaian summon wind and rain from below had seemed amusing, but only after the remaining candidates stepped onto the platform did they understand his struggle.

The weather here was indeed unusual. Of the twenty-three people who went up, twelve were eliminated. Some could not summon even a wisp of breeze.

Only two remained in the square: Yang Xiao and a handsome youth. The latter stood with his hands clasped behind his back, occasionally casting sidelong glances at Yang Xiao, as though saying, Hurry up and go. I'm the grand finale.

The candidates who had passed began discussing them.

"I know the one on the left. He's Huangfu Shenghua, Slaughter Heaven City's greatest genius. I heard Lord Yun Tianji of the Heavenly Master Palace in the Imperial Capital once said he would take him as a disciple as soon as he came to the capital."

"Good heavens! Lord Yun Tianji is the head of the Imperial Capital's Heavenly Master Palace, overseeing the palaces of all eight domains. Just what sort of talent does Huangfu Shenghua possess to make Lord Yun Tianji say that?"

"Do any of you know the one on the right? I've been around Slaughter Heaven City for eighteen years, but I don't think I've ever seen him."

"Probably someone from some backwater, not worth mentioning. He thinks being hailed as a genius in his little corner of the world means something, but whether he can even make a respectable showing here in Slaughter Heaven City remains to be seen."

"Well said, brother. He really doesn't know his place, daring to compete with Huangfu Shenghua for the finale. If it were up to me, I'd have gone over and driven him out of the palace already."

"Exactly, exactly."

Yang Xiao stood calmly in place, letting their chatter go in one ear and out the other. He was a genius unseen in the Heavenly Master lineage for ten thousand years—bah, an unprecedented genius! Why would he care what others said?

"Hey." Huangfu Shenghua looked at him. "Hurry up and get on the platform."

Yang Xiao copied him, clasping his hands behind his back, and glanced over. "Why should I listen to you? If you want to go, then go. Stop wasting time here."

A cold gleam flashed through Huangfu Shenghua's eyes. He settled back into place, prepared to wait him out.

By now, Murong Chong was growing impatient again on the platform. "Half a quarter of an hour. Anyone who hasn't come up by then will be disqualified."

Yang Xiao rolled his eyes. Did he have nothing else to threaten them with? Apparently not.

As the deadline approached, Yang Xiao yawned. He did not care about the assessment at all; he was here to cause trouble anyway. Huangfu Shenghua, on the other hand, grew increasingly anxious. At first, he glanced at Yang Xiao every thirty seconds. Now it was every three.

Finally, in the last second before the deadline, Huangfu Shenghua fixed him with an icy stare. "I'll remember you. Wherever you came from, once this assessment is over, I'll make sure you die without a place to be buried."

"Heavenly Master Murong." Yang Xiao stepped forward, first bowing to Murong Chong, then pointing at Huangfu Shenghua. "This man has publicly threatened a candidate. I request that you disqualify him."

Murong Chong merely watched him through half-narrowed eyes without speaking. Huangfu Shenghua snorted coldly and leaped onto the platform.

"Wind, come!"

Huangfu Shenghua swept his sleeve, summoning a powerful gust. He continued, "Clouds, gather! Lightning, flash!"

The white clouds scattered as dark clouds gathered. In the blink of an eye, they covered ten li, streaked with flashes of lightning. With a clap of thunder, rain began to fall. It continued for a full quarter of an hour before stopping amid Murong Chong's laughter.

Passing Yang Xiao, Huangfu Shenghua tossed out a remark. "Country bumpkin. I'll be waiting to watch you make a fool of yourself."

Yang Xiao stretched lazily, his right hand sweeping "accidentally" over Huangfu Shenghua's head. Huangfu Shenghua glared at him. "You're courting death."

Just before Huangfu Shenghua could lose control and attack, Yang Xiao flew toward the platform. Huangfu Shenghua was a Soul Seed Realm cultivator. Yang Xiao could beat him, but doing so would expose too many of his trump cards.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Yang Xiao walked into the sky, step by step. Gasps rose from below.

"That looks like Void Stroll, the Heavenly Masters' supreme art lost for a thousand years. Supposedly, it's a technique from the wondrous scripture of heaven and earth, the Carefree Scripture. To think he knows it!"

Yang Xiao glanced at them and stood calmly in midair. Pointing east, he casually said, "Wind, come!"

A gale struck without warning. Caught unprepared, many candidates below swayed from side to side, their sleeves snapping in the wind.

"How... can the wind... be this strong? Impossible!" someone said, forcing out each word against the gale.

It was not that he did not want to say it all in one breath. The conditions simply would not allow it.

Yang Xiao pointed skyward and shouted, "Clouds, gather! Thunderfall!"

Dark clouds gathered, covering a hundred li in an instant, lightning flickering within them. Boom! A thunderclap shook all of Slaughter Heaven City. The lightning's glare forced the residents of half the city to shut their eyes, and torrential rain poured down.

"Enough!" Murong Chong flew into the sky and swept his sleeve.

But his expression changed the next moment. He had intended to stop the downpour, yet the rain merely weakened instead of ceasing.

Murong Chong flushed slightly. At his age, dignity mattered greatly. He could hardly humble himself and beg a junior to stop the rain.

He swept his sleeve three times, nearly tearing it off in the gale, before the raging wind finally subsided, along with the torrential rain and thunder.

Murong Chong forced out a smile and called across the air, "Excellent talent. You pass outright. When can you report for duty?"

Murong Chong's pride would not let him lower himself. Managing a smile was already quite an accomplishment.

Yang Xiao stretched again and turned his head. "Report for duty? I only came to play around. I've still got another event to catch. Goodbye."

With that, he flew out of the Heavenly Master Palace, landed in the street, blended into the crowd, and departed using Shrinking Earth to Inches.

Murong Chong's expression changed, and he gave chase. But by the time he reached the gates, Yang Xiao was already gone.

The Heavenly Master Palace's assessment had taken only six hours, and the Earth Master Hall's had yet to begin. Still, after his experience that morning, Yang Xiao knew arriving late would mean facing another enormous crowd.

His luck might be good, but he did not believe another fool like the one from that morning would appear. After all, there were plenty of arrogant people in the world—and seemingly quite a few arrogant fools, too.

When he reached the Earth Master Hall, he realized he had still underestimated Slaughter Heaven City's residents. People packed an entire street. A shove from behind might topple a thousand of them.

Yang Xiao drew on the earth veins to protect himself and walked into the crowd. With every step, those ahead shuddered all over, then opened a path for him.

Halfway through, he spotted a restaurant. It had three floors, every one packed with diners.

His stomach protested just then. Fine—it was really because the delicious aromas had made his mouth water.

Inside the restaurant was an entirely different world from outside. Though every seat was occupied, not a single customer stood about. Only the servers were on their feet.

Looks like this restaurant's owner has both money and power, Yang Xiao thought.

"Sir, we're full. If you'd like to eat, please try somewhere else," a server said, hurrying over.

"Full?" Yang Xiao surveyed the restaurant. Suddenly, he spotted a table with only one person seated at it—and someone he knew, at that.

"Can I sit here?" Yang Xiao plopped into the seat.

Across from him sat a black-robed figure whose gender was impossible to discern. No matter which angle one looked from, their face remained invisible; there was only darkness.

"If I said no, would you leave?" the black-robed figure asked.

Their voice was peculiar too, offering no clue whether they were male or female. For a moment, Yang Xiao thought of a particular profession from ancient times. Could this be a eunuch?

Given this person's formidable cultivation, he did not dare ask.

The server had intended to stop him, but seeing that he knew the black-robed figure, stepped aside and lowered his head, resting both hands over his abdomen.