The second Heaven Rank
"I-I didn't see that wrong, did I... the Qianyuan Spirit Stone... exploded?"
"What color was it before it exploded? I can't even tell whether I'm dreaming anymore. My eyes feel like they're about to be blinded..."
"I think it was gold! But I think it's more likely we're all dreaming!"
"Agreed! This has to be a dream!"
"..."
The onlookers exchanged looks. Even now, they still couldn't believe any of this was real!
The Qianyuan Spirit Stone was derived from that legendary immortal treasure, the Qianyuan Sacred Stone!
And a single strand of this young man's spiritual power had actually made it explode?
That was simply impossible!
"When this kid... no, when this brother entered the mountain gate earlier, I happened to be right beside him. His cultivation was only at Golden Core Second Tier!"
Someone in the crowd muttered in disbelief. After what had just happened, he finally remembered that he had witnessed Lin Yu's cultivation test with his own eyes!
"Is that true? But if that's the case, this test result is far too outrageous..."
Someone nodded and reasoned, "Could the Qianyuan Spirit Stone have malfunctioned? Even something derived from an Immortal's possession can't be guaranteed to be a hundred percent accurate!"
"I agree! I already thought so when that young lady Xiaobai tested as having Heaven Rank talent!"
As soon as the possibility of the Qianyuan Spirit Stone malfunctioning was raised, many onlookers immediately agreed.
After all, under the current circumstances, this was already the most likely explanation!
Could Xiaobai really have Heaven Rank talent, while Lin Yu's talent surpassed even Heaven Rank and made the Qianyuan Spirit Stone explode outright?
The odds of that had to be even lower than winning the jackpot twice in a row with lottery tickets!
Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
Everyone present argued heatedly, each sticking to their own opinion, and the situation was already threatening to spiral out of control!
"Sect Master, wh-what should we do now?"
At this point, the elder in charge of testing finally came to his senses and asked Yun Tianci in a trembling voice.
Only the Sect Master could decide this matter!
Yet Yun Tianci was panicking too. After all, he had no idea whether Lin Yu had done this deliberately!
What else could he do? Just give up trying!
In his desperation, Yun Tianci had a flash of inspiration and immediately sent a thread of condensed sound into Lin Yu's ears!
"Senior, what should we do now?"
In any case, as long as he let Lin Yu make the decision himself, Yun Tianci wouldn't be left holding the blame.
Otherwise, if he angered this person, the Qianyuan Sect's fate would probably be unimaginably miserable!
"Ahem... a minor slipup. Get another Spirit Stone."
Lin Yu couldn't help laughing helplessly as he transmitted his voice to Yun Tianci.
He hadn't expected things to turn out like this either.
"Understood, understood..."
Yun Tianci nodded as though he had been granted a pardon, then hurriedly instructed the trial elder.
"Get another Qianyuan Spirit Stone. This one might have malfunctioned!"
Yun Tianci casually found an excuse. After all, a faulty Spirit Stone was the most convincing explanation.
"Yes, Sect Master!"
The elder immediately breathed a sigh of relief. So the Spirit Stone had malfunctioned! That explained everything!
"Everyone, our sincere apologies. There may have been a problem with the Qianyuan Spirit Stone. We will replace it with a new one shortly and conduct the test again!"
Yun Tianci's voice echoed through the center of the trial grounds, swiftly reaching everyone's ears!
"So that's what happened! The Qianyuan Spirit Stone actually malfunctioned!"
"I knew it! How could anyone have talent beyond Heaven Rank? That would be far too outrageous!"
Hearing Yun Tianci's explanation, many onlookers also breathed a sigh of relief.
They would never believe that Lin Yu's talent was greater than Heaven Rank!
That was nothing short of a ghost story!
"Sect Master Yun, was that young lady Xiaobai's test result also caused by this malfunction?"
Just then, a distinctly discordant voice suddenly rang out.
The speaker was none other than Tang Yu, his face dark and full of resentment!
"Sect Master Yun, since this Qianyuan Spirit Stone was faulty, surely that young lady Xiaobai's test result cannot count either!"
"I demand that everyone be tested again!"
Tang Yu spoke with absolute conviction. He simply refused to believe that Xiaobai could possess Heaven Rank talent!
"You have no right to make such a demand!"
"There was nothing wrong with any of the previous test results!"
"Anyone who raises further objections will be expelled from Qianyuan Mountain!"
Yet upon hearing Tang Yu's words, Yun Tianci shook his head in denial, and his voice clearly carried a trace of anger!
Question Xiaobai's test result?
Do you know who Xiaobai is?
You're not fucking questioning the test result at all.
You're trying to get me, Yun Tianci, killed!
If he hadn't wanted to avoid ruining the atmosphere of the sect recruitment assembly, Yun Tianci would have dearly liked to tag Xiaobai manually and have her serve this dumbass a tiger-claw combo!
"Sect Master Yun, you..."
Tang Yu's face was full of disbelief. For Xiaobai's sake, Yun Tianci had actually treated him with such discourtesy!
What was his status? He was the eldest young master of the Tang Household in Spirit Ice City!
Moreover, he was a super powerhouse of the younger generation at Golden Core Fourth Tier!
And who were Xiaobai and Lin Yu?
Nameless nobodies, mere country bumpkins!
Their status was so far beneath his, yet Yun Tianci had actually made him lose face for their sake?
To Tang Yu, this was humiliation!
Yet faced with this humiliation, he could find no way to fight back!
Because Yun Tianci was a Peak Spirit Transformation powerhouse, and he truly couldn't beat him!
Even the head of his Tang Household couldn't do it!
"Fine. Very good..." Tang Yu's face alternated between green and white, and his entire demeanor turned utterly gloomy.
Now, he not only planned to kill Xiaobai, Lin Yu, and the others, but also planned to slaughter everyone in the Qianyuan Sect once he achieved success and fame in the future!
If he didn't, he wouldn't be true to his nature of repaying even the slightest grievance!
Until then, he would lie low within the Qianyuan Sect!
Tang Yu sneered inwardly, continually refining the grand plan in his mind.
Meanwhile, the testing elder flew over in a hurry, holding a brand-new Qianyuan Spirit Stone!
This Qianyuan Spirit Stone was now one of only two remaining in the Qianyuan Sect's stock!
"Mr. Lin Yu, please take the test again."
The testing elder carefully handed the Qianyuan Spirit Stone to Lin Yu, his words far more cautious as well.
After all, what if the person before him really was that one-in-ten-thousand possessor of talent beyond Heaven Rank?
"All right."
Nodding lightly, Lin Yu took the Spirit Stone and injected another strand of spiritual power into it.
This time, Lin Yu diluted it a billionfold!
As Lin Yu moved, countless gazes from all around converged on the Spirit Stone!
Many people grew extremely tense, holding their breath and focusing intently, not daring to breathe loudly!
After all, Lin Yu's bizarre feat of making the Spirit Stone explode had left the onlookers extremely curious about his true talent!
Besides, surely it wouldn't malfunction again this time!
One second,
Two seconds,
Three seconds.
Just as before, five seconds passed without anything happening.
But this time, no one voiced any doubts.
After all, they had just watched that Spirit Stone explode with their own eyes!
And now, the colors inside the Spirit Stone underwent rapid, dramatic changes, almost exactly as before!
White, yellow, black, red.
Gold!
The changes in color were almost identical to before!
The only difference was that this time, it took twenty seconds in total to go from white to gold.
Last time, it had taken only five seconds.
This time, although the golden light was still dazzling, it finally managed to stabilize, and the Spirit Stone did not explode again!
Seeing the golden light stabilize, Yun Tianci also breathed a sigh of relief.
It finally didn't explode this time!
Yet unlike Yun Tianci,
The surrounding onlookers were now completely dumbstruck!
Gold!
An even more brilliant and pure gold than when that young lady Xiaobai had taken her trial!
Moreover, the Spirit Stone hadn't exploded, proving that it hadn't malfunctioned this time!
In other words, this young man truly possessed terrifying Heaven Rank talent!
Two possessors of Heaven Rank talent had actually appeared at this year's Qianyuan Sect recruitment assembly!
The Qianyuan Sect was about to flourish!