The first round of the assessment ended.
Two hundred outer disciples had taken the stage.
Only ten remained standing in the advancement area.
The other disciples were either lying below the arena, howling in pain, or slinking into corners, not daring even to raise their heads.
Eight of them had performed so poorly that the elder disqualified them on the spot.
The white-haired elder swept a glance over them, his voice utterly devoid of warmth.
"These eight are to be expelled from the Azure Mystic Sect immediately."
The eight went deathly pale.
Some knelt and begged for mercy; others burst into tears.
Others clung to the enforcement disciples' legs, refusing to leave no matter what.
But none of it helped.
Two enforcement disciples hauled them straight out of the square.
Silence settled over the surroundings.
Every outer disciple understood.
The first round had merely weeded out the weak.
The second round was when their fates would truly be decided.
The white-haired elder rose, his gaze sweeping over the ten who had advanced.
"Second round: draw lots for your matches."
"The five winners may enter the inner sect to cultivate."
At the words "inner sect," all ten disciples' breathing grew heavier.
For outer disciples, entering the inner sect meant more than simply changing their lodgings.
Better cultivation resources, higher-grade cultivation methods and martial techniques, monthly spirit stone allotments, and an entirely different standing within the sect.
Only by taking that step could they truly enter the core of the Azure Mystic Sect.
Soon, a bronze cauldron was carried into the center of the square.
Inside were ten bamboo lots, with matching numbers in pairs.
Chu Yunfei stepped forward and casually drew one.
Seven.
He glanced at it, then closed his hand around the lot.
Not far away, a burly arm rose high.
The bamboo lot in that hand also bore the number seven.
"What a coincidence."
The burly Wu Kou pushed through the crowd and came up to Chu Yunfei.
He was an expert ranked among the outer sect's top ten.
He was at the eighth level of Body Tempering, only half a step from the Body Tempering ninth stage.
Wu Kou waved his bamboo lot and grinned.
"Trash, looks like your good luck has run out."
Chu Yunfei merely glanced at him.
He ignored him.
Such disregard was more infuriating than any retort.
The smile on Wu Kou's face turned cold.
"Don't be scared."
"For the sake of being fellow disciples, I'll leave you a breath."
"One move at most. I guarantee you'll go down with your dignity intact."
A few low chuckles sounded around them.
Chu Yunfei still did not respond.
Wu Kou snorted coldly and was about to leave when an inner disciple passed him, his palm patting Wu Kou's shoulder with apparent casualness.
A wax pellet slipped silently into his sleeve.
"Senior Brother Ling sent this."
The confidant did not stop, his voice lowered to a near whisper.
"Take it before you enter the arena. It'll increase your blood and Qi by thirty percent."
"As for the consequences, Senior Brother Ling will handle them for you."
Wu Kou felt the wax pellet, and his heart skipped a beat.
He pinched open its outer layer, revealing a dark red pill.
A Blood Burst Pill.
It could stimulate blood and Qi for a short time, but it would scorch the meridians and, in severe cases, even damage one's cultivation foundation.
Wu Kou hesitated for a moment, then tucked the pill into his palm.
As long as he crippled Chu Yunfei, he would not only enter the inner sect but also earn Ling Feng's appreciation.
As for a little damage...
Once he entered the inner sect, there would be plenty of opportunities to make up for it.
At the front of the spectator stands.
Ling Feng took in the scene, and his gloomy expression finally eased somewhat.
Wu Kou at the eighth level of Body Tempering, plus a Blood Burst Pill.
For a short time, he could unleash strength close to the Body Tempering ninth stage.
He did not believe Chu Yunfei could withstand that.
Those fifth- and sixth-level Body Tempering disciples in the first round had been nothing but a disorderly mob.
Defeating them proved nothing.
Wu Kou was the true killing move.
The first two matches ended quickly.
"Lot number seven."
The referee looked toward the crowd.
"Chu Yunfei versus Wu Kou!"
As his words fell, the entire square immediately came alive.
"Wu Kou's at the eighth level of Body Tempering. Now we'll have a good show."
"Chu Yunfei was certainly fierce in the first round, but Wu Kou isn't one of those soft persimmons."
"This match will show just how much of his cultivation he's recovered."
Wu Kou entered the arena first.
Every step he took sent a dull thud through the stone platform.
Reaching the center of the arena, he folded his arms and looked down at Chu Yunfei.
"Get up here."
"I'll give you a chance to surrender."
Chu Yunfei climbed the stone steps and stopped three zhang away.
The mountain wind swept past, making both their robes snap.
Wu Kou stared fixedly at Chu Yunfei and, as he turned sideways, slipped the Blood Burst Pill into his mouth.
The wax coating rested beneath his tongue without dissolving immediately.
Spiritual power surged from his dantian, forming a pale golden glow over his body.
The eighth level of Body Tempering: spiritual power protecting the body.
"Brat, those tricks you used to bully soft persimmons in the first round won't work on me."
Wu Kou clenched his fists, his knuckles crackling.
"I cultivated for ten years to get where I am today."
"A thing like you, with your cultivation completely crippled-even if you got lucky and recovered a few levels, what can you possibly fight me with?"
He took half a step forward and lowered his voice.
"Senior Brother Ling said it."
"Today, you're leaving this arena lying down."
At last, Chu Yunfei's gaze changed.
So it really was Ling Feng.
After his assassination attempt failed, he reached into the outer sect assessment too.
Sooner or later, he would settle this score with him.
Chu Yunfei looked at Wu Kou, his tone calm.
"Finished talking?"
"You!"
Wu Kou's expression darkened.
The referee raised his arm and swung it sharply down.
"Begin!"
Wu Kou curled his tongue and bit straight through the wax coating.
The dark red pill entered his stomach.
Boom!
Scalding medicinal potency erupted instantly, flooding his limbs and bones.
Wu Kou's muscles bulged violently, veins stood out on his neck, and bloodshot lines rapidly spread across his eyes.
His already vigorous blood and Qi surged another thirty percent.
His presence was now infinitely close to the Body Tempering ninth stage!
Several outer disciples' expressions changed.
"Why did Wu Kou's presence suddenly grow stronger?"
"Could he have been hiding his strength earlier?"
Chu Yunfei's nose twitched slightly. He had already caught that familiar medicinal scent.
"A Blood Burst Pill?"
He gave Wu Kou an indifferent glance.
"Ling Feng really is willing to spend."
Wu Kou's pupils contracted.
He actually recognized it?
Before Wu Kou could think further, the Blood Burst Pill's potency surged through him completely.
"Iron-Shattering Fist!"
Wu Kou roared, shattering the ground beneath his feet as he launched himself straight at Chu Yunfei like a crazed tiger.
Pale golden spiritual power wrapped around his fist.
Where his fist passed, the air gave off a piercing hum.
Wu Kou held nothing back in this punch.
The Blood Burst Pill's potency, combined with the mid-grade yellow-rank martial technique Iron-Shattering Fist, was enough to severely wound an ordinary cultivator at the Body Tempering ninth stage.
Ling Feng wanted Chu Yunfei to leave lying down.
Then he would shatter every bone in Chu Yunfei's body, one by one!
The wind from the punch rushed at his face.
Chu Yunfei neither dodged nor retreated.
He did not even assume a defensive stance.
A vicious grin surfaced in Wu Kou's eyes.
Courting death!
The next moment, Chu Yunfei raised his right hand.
He, too, threw a punch.
No martial technique, no spiritual glow.
Only power of the utmost purity.
Boom!
The two fists collided head-on.
A deep, thunderous crash rang across the entire square.
A shock wave exploded outward from the two of them, splitting several cracks across the arena's surface on the spot.
The vicious grin froze on Wu Kou's face.
Crack!
The spiritual power shield covering his body shattered at the sound.
It had not lasted even a single breath.
That terrifying force surged through his fist into his arm, like a flood crushing a dike, giving him no chance whatsoever to resist.
His wrist snapped, and the bones of his forearm shattered one after another.
His shoulder abruptly caved in.
"Aah!"
Wu Kou had barely let out half a scream before his entire body was lifted off the ground.
Blood sprayed from his mouth, tracing a red line through the air.
Bam!
He flew past the edge of the arena and slammed onto the stone paving, then slid several more yards backward.
His right arm hung limp.
His limbs twitched twice before he passed out completely.
From the punch to the finish, not even a single breath had passed.
He had taken the pill and staked his foundation on it.
And still, all it took was one punch.
The entire square fell silent as the grave.
Everyone looked as though someone had seized them by the throat.
That was Wu Kou, at the eighth level of Body Tempering.
He had fully activated his protective spiritual power and unleashed Iron-Shattering Fist, his presence even briefly approaching the Body Tempering ninth stage.
And then he was finished, just like that, with one punch?
Only after three full breaths did the crowd erupt.
"One punch even against that?"
"Wu Kou's protective spiritual power was like paper!"
"Just what realm has Chu Yunfei recovered to?"
"The Body Tempering ninth stage. Definitely the Body Tempering ninth stage!"
The disciples who had declared that Chu Yunfei was certain to lose clamped their mouths shut and quietly retreated toward the back of the crowd.
In the front row of the stands.
The smile had vanished from Yan Guining's face.
His opponents in the first round had been at low realms, and each had fought on their own.
She had always believed that crushing victory did not reflect Chu Yunfei's true strength.
But Wu Kou was different.
He was a seeded contender at the eighth level of Body Tempering, half a step into the ninth stage.
Yet he still had not lasted a single punch.
Remembering the wager between them, Yan Guining suddenly felt a trace of bitterness in her mouth.
Not far away, Situ Shuang'er abruptly stood up.
She stared fixedly at Chu Yunfei in the arena, no longer even mindful of the disciples' gazes around her.
Just days ago, this man had clearly only been at the Body Tempering third layer.
But now, he had defeated Wu Kou with one punch.
A tiny crack suddenly appeared in a conviction Situ Shuang'er had held with absolute certainty.
No.
This proves nothing.
The Body Tempering Realm is ultimately only the starting point of the martial path.
And I am already the holy maiden of the Azure Mystic Sect, with an awakened special constitution.
The gap between us is still as vast as heaven and earth.
I will never regret it.
Situ Shuang'er slowly sat down, her face regaining its indifference.
Only the hand gripping the corner of her robe never loosened.
On the other side of the stands.
Ling Feng's face was terrifyingly dark.
He had not expected Wu Kou to lose even after taking the Blood Burst Pill.
Not only had he lost, he had failed to withstand even a single punch from Chu Yunfei.
This meant that he had not only lost a pill, but Wu Kou, his pawn, had also been utterly ruined.
"Trash."
Ling Feng forced the word through clenched teeth.
His confidant beside him kept his head lowered, not daring even to breathe heavily.
In the arena.
Chu Yunfei flexed his fingers, his breathing completely unchanged.
With the Boundless Creation Scripture tempering his body day and night, coupled with the nourishment fed back by the Dragon and Phoenix Dao Yellow Scripture, his current strength had long since surpassed what could be measured by an ordinary eighth-level Body Tempering cultivator.
So what if he took a Blood Burst Pill?
No matter how thickly you stack window paper, it is still window paper.
He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over Yan Guining, passing over Situ Shuang'er, and finally settling on Ling Feng.
Chu Yunfei smiled faintly.
There was not the slightest killing intent in that smile.
Yet Ling Feng found it more stinging than a slap across the face in public.
The referee remained silent for a moment before finally coming to his senses.
"Lot number seven, Chu Yunfei wins!"
Chu Yunfei turned and walked down from the arena.
The mountain wind swept up his outer disciple's robe, washed pale with wear.
Behind him, the cracked arena and that glaring trail of blood silently proclaimed one fact.
The former prodigy whom everyone had mocked.
Had returned.