Liu Sanli stared, dumbstruck, at Chen Yu standing ahead among those at the third layer of Qi Refining.
"Brother Chen Yu actually..."
"Wasn't he still short of the Qi Refining First Layer just a few days ago?"
After his mind froze for a moment, a smile returned to Liu Sanli's face. "It's truly a shame I can't become Spirit Essence alongside Brother Chen Yu. But everyone has their own destiny. Brother Chen Yu will enter the outer sect and keep striving for the Dao Sect, while I, Liu Sanli, will become Spirit Essence and help the Dao Sect reach even greater heights... We both have bright futures."
In fact, Liu Sanli wasn't the only one puzzled.
There was also Chen Yu's cultivation partner, Yun Miaozhen.
Seeing Chen Yu suddenly appear beside her, Yun Miaozhen tilted her head, looking puzzled.
She quietly sensed his spiritual energy and discovered that it was actually more abundant than her own.
What a loss!
That was Yun Miaozhen's first reaction.
If I'd known Chen Yu was this strong, I wouldn't have gone off to practice those sword forms. I should've harvested him thoroughly again last night, this morning, before noon, after lunch, and before the afternoon assessment!
Only once her frustration subsided did Yun Miaozhen begin wondering about Chen Yu's cultivation.
She remembered that Chen Yu had only reached the Qi Refining First Layer a few days ago. After several days of harvesting, his cultivation had fallen, and he had remained a mortal until yesterday... At that thought, Yun Miaozhen furrowed her brows. She suddenly remembered that when she woke up this morning, Chen Yu, lying beside her, had seemed especially brimming with blood and vitality. But with the assessment approaching, she had been so intent on practicing her sword forms again that she hadn't paid close attention.
Now it seemed she had missed out on hundreds of millions...
Cultivation can't keep going up and down. Chen Yu must have some method of concealing his energy. Could his background be extraordinary too? Yun Miaozhen wondered.
The three Registered Disciples who had reached the third layer of Qi Refining walked to the front of the group.
Elder Sun, who had spoken earlier, inspected the three of them.
He confirmed that all three had reached the third layer of Qi Refining.
Then he nodded.
"You three, wait here."
With that, Elder Sun strode over to the disciples who had failed to meet the requirement.
His gaze swept over them.
He already had a tally in mind.
This crop should yield sixteen pieces of high-grade Spirit Essence, thirty-seven mid-grade, and forty-three low-grade... Oh, no, that wasn't right. Elder Sun cast a sidelong glance at Chen Yu and the other two. There were another three pieces of high-grade Spirit Essence over there.
What a fine harvest!
At that thought, Elder Sun looked at the many Registered Disciples who had fallen short, his genuine feelings showing through a lethally kindly smile.
"Since you have failed to reach the third layer of Qi Refining, you cannot become Dao Sect Outer Disciples. But there is no need to feel sad. Everyone has their own value. By becoming Spirit Essence, your contribution to the Dao Sect will be no less than that of any official disciple!"
"I, Sun Shengcheng, as an outer sect elder, hereby guarantee that the Dao Sect will forever remember every one of your contributions!"
As he spoke,
Outer Sect Elder Sun Shengcheng cupped his hands and bowed to the Registered Disciples.
Registered Disciples like Liu Sanli had long since finished brainwashing themselves under the influence of the Soul-Delighting Incense. Now, hearing Elder Sun affirm their worth and seeing an exalted Dao Sect elder actually bow to them, they were overwhelmed by the honor and howled in excitement.
"It is our honor to contribute to the Dao Sect!"
"Once through the Dao Sect's gates, forever a Dao Sect soul!"
"Our talents are mediocre, and we cannot enter the outer sect to continue contributing to the Dao Sect. Becoming Spirit Essence will bring our merits to completion!"
"No regrets in this life for joining the Dao Sect!!!"
Hearing the Registered Disciples behind him shouting as though they had been injected with chicken blood, Chen Yu could only feel that this world was rather surreal.
They had literally been sweet-talked into becoming embryos.
He shook his head.
He knew he couldn't save anyone. Besides, he hadn't truly entered the outer sect himself yet.
Behind him,
Sun Shengcheng watched everyone with smiling eyes.
Seizing the moment when the Registered Disciples' emotions were running high and their enthusiasm had reached its peak,
Sun Shengcheng pointed somewhere.
"Everyone..."
"Please!"
Chen Yu looked where Elder Sun pointed and saw a circular area paved with white jade. Intricate, mysterious patterns were engraved within the circle. Since he wasn't looking down from above, he couldn't see the whole design, but it struck him as profoundly arcane.
Meanwhile, hearing Elder Sun say "please," the Registered Disciples eagerly walked toward the formation.
The formation was neither large nor small.
It was just big enough to hold everyone.
Sun Shengcheng glanced back at the other two elders, and both nodded slightly.
Then the three elders moved.
They hovered outside the circular area in a triangular arrangement, simultaneously forming hand seals and pouring three streams of spiritual energy into the center of the formation.
Buzzz-
A low, muffled sound rang out.
White light appeared.
It enveloped all the nominal disciples within the formation who had failed to meet the requirement.
Liu Sanli didn't like crowding together with others, so he had deliberately slowed his steps at the end and stood at the formation's edge. Watching the three elders pour in spiritual energy and the white light rise, he felt the spiritual energy within his body grow restless, his soul trembling along with it.
For some reason, he suddenly thought of his mother, far away in the Xia Kingdom. After he had secured a place in the Dao Sect, his mother had come under the royal family's protection and had no need to worry about her livelihood. It had only been three years since they had last seen each other, but he missed her a little.
At that thought, a sweet fragrance drifted to his nose.
Liu Sanli closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, only intoxication and delight remained in his gaze.
Standing at the edge of the crowd, he looked through the white light and saw towering mountains piercing the clouds ahead. Since joining the Dao Sect, he had never stood somewhere so high. Feeling the mountain wind rush around him, he felt as though he could touch the white clouds merely by reaching out. At that moment, half the setting sun had already sunk below the horizon, dyeing the sky orange-red, and an unprecedented sense of exhilaration and expansiveness surged through his heart.
Unable to help himself, Liu Sanli began, "Heaven and earth open wide within these gates, ten thousand ravines veiled in rosy mist..."
Before he could finish, a fierce light suddenly burst from the formation.
Every sound vanished.
A few seconds later,
The blazing light faded.
Everyone within the formation had disappeared.
Only a heap of white bones remained, along with pieces of red Rhyme Spirit suspended in midair.
The next second, Elder Wu, who stood at their head, flicked his sleeve. All the Rhyme Spirit vanished, already gathered up by him.
Then Elder Wu tossed out two more pieces of Rhyme Spirit, which landed in the hands of Elders Sun and Song respectively.
Seeing the Rhyme Spirit in their hands, Elder Sun
And Elder Song both looked delighted.
They said in unison,
"Thank you, Elder Wu!"
"Mm."
Elder Wu glanced at Chen Yu and the other two.
Elder Sun immediately understood.
He turned back and said,
"Although you three have reached the third layer of Qi Refining, you must fulfill one more condition to enter the outer sect."
Hearing this, the scar-faced man standing beside Chen Yu and Yun Miaozhen immediately asked, "What condition?"
Elder Sun pointed at the outer sect disciples nearby. "Choose any one of these outer sect disciples. If you win, you can advance."
"Huh?!"
The scar-faced man's eyes widened.
Beside him, Chen Yu and Yun Miaozhen showed little reaction upon hearing this...