The assessment began

"This... this is the presence of a Great Emperor!"

Looking at the puppet before him, Wan Kong felt towering waves of shock surge through his heart.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Great Emperors were the most powerful beings on the entire Heavenly Profound Continent, and exceedingly rare.

Since the great war a hundred thousand years ago, not a single one had even appeared.

Yet now, a Great Emperor Realm puppet was actually standing before him.

How could he possibly believe it?

Most importantly, if even this puppet was in the Great Emperor Realm, what realm must its creator have reached?

They had to be an immortal!

Could the Ye Lineage truly have an immortal helping them now, and be poised to rise again?

At that thought, his eyes widened, and a chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.

The Ye Lineage was truly... truly terrifying beyond measure!

Terrifying beyond measure!

But before he could let his imagination run any further, the puppet slowly turned its gaze toward him.

In an instant, every hair on his body stood on end as though pricked by needles. His whole body began trembling uncontrollably, and even his blood began flowing backward.

A moment later, beneath his utterly horrified gaze, a sky-supporting pillar slowly appeared in the void.

He immediately felt as though a colossal mountain from primordial times was bearing down on him, leaving him unable to move at all.

"A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding!"

He hurriedly shouted, his expression terrified.

Only then did Ye Xuan come back to his senses and tell the puppet not to attack yet.

When Ye Chen had handed him the puppet, he had also passed on the method for controlling it.

He had never expected the puppet Ye Chen left behind to be so powerful.

Since Wan Kong had not announced the puppet's realm in public, he was not very clear on exactly how powerful it was.

Still, since this puppet could suppress this man in blue, it had to be an existence above the Saint Realm.

At that thought, his entire body began trembling uncontrollably.

He dared not imagine just how powerful the ancestor was!

The other members of the Ye Lineage were shaken to their cores as well.

They had never expected even the puppet their ancestor left behind to possess such formidable strength, and their necks flushed red with excitement.

"Hmph."

Ye Xuan snorted coldly and said, "Senior, we have done nothing to offend you. Why did you attack our Ye Lineage's guardian divine beast the moment you arrived?"

"A misunderstanding, purely a misunderstanding!"

Wan Kong hurriedly put on an ingratiating smile. "An elder of our holy land perished here a few days ago, so I came especially to investigate!"

As he spoke, he kept stealing glances at the puppet out of the corner of his eye.

He could not help it. The pressure from a Great Emperor puppet was simply too overwhelming. He feared that a single lapse in attention would get him slapped to death.

Wouldn't that be a terrible loss?

"Oh, have you finished investigating, then? Was it our Ye Lineage's doing?"

Ye Xuan had naturally guessed that the mysterious expert who appeared at the Breeze Sect that day was very likely the elder this man was looking for.

But so what?

With the puppet their ancestor had given him, he could stand tall no matter whom he faced.

Hearing this, Wan Kong inwardly cursed, "Bastard," then shamelessly put on another smile. "I've finished investigating, I've finished investigating. Our elder most likely wasn't paying attention while flying and fell to his death."

"This matter definitely has nothing to do with the Ye Lineage!"

"Mm, good, then!"

Ye Xuan spoke indifferently.

"If there's nothing else, please leave!"

"Farewell!"

Wan Kong could not wait to leave and ran off like a wisp of smoke.

His speed was who knew how many times faster than when he had arrived.

Seeing this, the demonic ape burst out laughing.

Qilin knocked him on the head. "What are you laughing at?"

The demonic ape winced in pain and covered his forehead with both hands, saying aggrievedly, "I think he looks like a dog!"

Qilin looked thoughtful. "Mm... he really does!"

The demonic ape: ...

Elsewhere, Wan Kong mustered every ounce of strength he had and raced hundreds of millions of li away, only stopping once even the spiritual power inside him was exhausted.

Still shaken, he looked behind him and touched his heart. "That scared me to death, scared me to death!"

"Why didn't anyone say earlier that the Ye Lineage had a Great Emperor Realm puppet guarding them?"

"Isn't this outright playing the pig to eat the tiger?"

After swallowing several bottles of fast-acting heart-saving pills, he checked his location and discovered that he had unwittingly reached the edge of Heavenly Origin Province.

"Ah, I just kept running and ended up here without even realizing it!"

"The grand elder happens to be at the Heavenly Origin Holy Land. I'd better go talk to him about the Ye Lineage first!"

Then, after resting briefly, he transformed into a streak of blue light and flew toward the Heavenly Origin Holy Land.

The outer sect square of the Heavenly Origin Holy Land.

Today was the day the Heavenly Origin Holy Land recruited disciples.

The Heavenly Origin Holy Land recruited disciples once every ten years, which was quite frequent for a holy land.

Moreover, its recruitment criteria only concerned age and cultivation, with no restrictions on family, background, or various other conditions.

It was unlike many holy lands, which imposed numerous restrictions.

Thus, the Heavenly Origin Holy Land had always enjoyed a very good reputation in the cultivation world.

Whenever it recruited disciples, the streets emptied as everyone flocked over, creating an unprecedented spectacle.

At this moment, nearly a million boys and girls taking the assessment stood in the square, holding their breath in concentration.

They gazed at the holy land ahead, wreathed in ethereal immortal mist, their eyes full of longing.

Meanwhile, within a forbidden area in the holy land's rear mountain, Ye Chen was sitting in a pavilion drinking tea with Tian Yuanzi and Elder Wan.

A stone mirror stood before the three of them, displaying the scene in the outer sect square.

"There really are so many disciples here to take the assessment this year!"

Elder Wan sighed in admiration.

"There certainly are quite a few, but more people is a good thing!"

Tian Yuanzi said with a chuckle.

"Oh? Little brother, with so many people, how many does your Heavenly Origin Holy Land actually admit?"

Elder Wan was rather curious.

The Heavenly Origin Holy Land drew so many assessment candidates each time that even if it only admitted a tenth of them, that would still be a truly staggering number.

"Not many, not many. Just a few thousand!"

Elder Wan was astonished. "With such a low admission rate, why make such a huge production of it?"

Assessing such a vast crowd required considerable effort.

That was why many holy lands raised their standards, or simply recruited talented disciples from their subordinate forces.

Tian Yuanzi chuckled and said, "Great waves sift the sand. The more people there are, the more talented disciples there will be!"

Elder Wan nodded and gave it no further thought.

Ye Chen, however, sneered inwardly beside them.

Wasn't this taking off your pants to fart?

They could simply go looking in places with plenty of talented disciples. Why expend so much manpower and resources searching through a boundless sea of people?

How low must those odds be?

It was completely unnecessary.

The holy land wasn't stupid, nor would it overflow with saintly compassion. It surely had a purpose in doing this.

He picked up the tea from the table beside him and slowly drank.

There was no hurry anyway. He would just see what tricks this Tian Yuanzi was playing.

Just then, the assessment began.

The first assessment was a secret realm trial, a very conventional form of trial.

The boys and girls taking the assessment had to reach the designated endpoint within the secret realm in half a day.

The secret realm contained all manner of obstacles, including demonic beasts, mazes, and miasma, so reaching the endpoint was no easy task.

At the command, countless people swarmed toward the secret realm's entrance, afraid of falling a step behind anyone else.

Ye Tian was among the fastest few in the crowd.

He looked toward the secret realm's entrance, his eyes filled with longing.

"Heavenly Origin Holy Land, here I come!"