True Person Ling!

"A guest elder of the Holy Sect, a Foundation Establishment great demon-True Person Ling!"

Among the Outer Mansion disciples were some with broad knowledge and experience. At the sight of this black-robed man with his imposing presence and unusual brows, they immediately recognized his background.

"So he's... a guest elder of the Holy Sect..." At those words, disciples like Shen Fan, who had backers in the inner manor, immediately showed a barely perceptible flicker of contempt and understanding in their eyes.

Others might have been ignorant, but they knew perfectly well.

The so-called "guest elder" title was merely the last shred of dignity the Holy Sect preserved for these great demons who had been captured alive and reduced to slaves.

After all, degrading those in the Foundation Establishment Realm too far would also make the True Persons lose face.

True Person Ling's narrow, slightly upturned eyes, sharp as a hawk's, swept indifferently over the dense crowd below.

An immense pressure belonging to the Foundation Establishment Realm crashed down like an invisible mountain!

The air seemed to freeze in an instant. The thousand-odd disciples suddenly felt their shoulders sink, their breathing catching.

Before Jade Blood Hall, everything instantly fell deathly silent. A falling needle could have been heard.

"Today, I have been ordered to preside over this Outer Mansion assessment. The subject of this assessment is the Mirage Thousand-Faced Realm!"

Consult your Great Void Jade Tallies yourselves for the specific details.

The assessment will officially begin in one hour.

There are no restrictions on life and death in this assessment. Anyone withdrawing may leave of their own accord and will be ranked in the bottom tier!"

Once everyone had quieted down, True Person Ling slowly spoke, laying out the rules and content of the assessment.

Only after his words fell did that heavy pressure ease slightly.

The Mirage Thousand-Faced Realm...

Standing amid the crowd in a grayish-white cloth robe, Qi Yun looked exceptionally ordinary, as though he would be forgotten in the blink of an eye if tossed into a crowd.

Hearing True Person Ling announce the subject of the assessment, Qi Yun took out his Great Void Jade Tally to check the details, just like everyone around him.

[Assessment subject: Mirage Thousand-Faced Realm]

[Details: All disciples will be randomly placed within the Mirage Thousand-Faced Realm, an immensely vast labyrinth world composed of countless enormous "mirage Qi crystal walls," smooth as mirrors. The crystal walls themselves slowly move and rearrange, reflecting distorted light and shadows and scenes from certain areas. The labyrinth's passages are complex, with numerous forks.]

[Objective: Nine portals exist deep within the labyrinth. Each portal requires a unique "crystal key" to open. There are nine crystal keys in total, hidden throughout the labyrinth. The crystal keys themselves emit distinctive fluctuations of illusory light, but interference from the surrounding mirage Qi makes precise location from a distance difficult.]

[Within the ten-day time limit, find a "crystal key," open a portal, and leave the Mirage Realm.]

[Only those who successfully open a portal will be considered to have passed the assessment.]

The assessment looked very simple.

In short, they merely had to find a key within this labyrinth called the Mirage Thousand-Faced Realm and open a portal to pass.

But as this was a year-end assessment designed by the Holy Sect for its Outer Mansion disciples, everyone present knew very well that this seemingly ordinary, simple assessment surely concealed deadly dangers. Some could spot them, while others could not.

There was a pitfall!

With just a glance at the assessment details on the Great Void Jade Tally, Qi Yun had already spotted the tricks and traps within.

He already had quite a good understanding of what sort of creature the Holy Sect was.

Even its entrance trial involved deception, trickery, and cheating.

If this Outer Mansion assessment really was so simple, the only possibility was that the Holy Sect's sect master had been possessed.

Nine crystal keys, nine portals... only those who successfully open a portal will be considered to have passed the assessment.

The answer is already written into the riddle.

But there must be some important information about this so-called assessment that hasn't been revealed in the Great Void Jade Tally.

And the contents of the Great Void Jade Tally can't be trusted completely, either.

With the entrance trial as a precedent, heaven knows how much of this is true and how much is false. His gaze shifted slightly. Qi Yun put away the Great Void Jade Token and stood where he was, saying nothing more.

Soon, after learning the specifics of the assessment, some Outer Mansion disciples began stepping back of their own accord. A clear gap opened in the formerly dense crowd, dividing it into two groups, one large and one small.

Most of those who voluntarily stepped back were at the Qi Refining First Layer, with a few at the Qi Refining Second Layer.

Though their cultivation was weak, their discernment was not. They had spotted the dangers hidden within this seemingly ordinary assessment.

In any case, they would only be thrown into the talent market after ranking in the bottom tier for two consecutive years.

Better to play it safe and preserve their lives first. It would not be too late to compete next year.

And quite a few shared that thought-a full two or three hundred.

True Person Ling stood before the hall with his hands behind his back, taking everything in, his gaze indifferent as ice and utterly unruffled. Without a word, he merely waved a hand casually, indicating that the withdrawing disciples could leave.

"The time has come." True Person Ling's icy voice rang out again. "The rest of you, enter the hall!"

He stepped aside from Jade Blood Hall's massive, heavy doors and formed hand seals with one hand, his fingers flitting like illusions.

Then, with a sweep of his sleeve, a dazzling emerald-green divine radiance shot forth, striking the hall doors precisely!

Rumble-

The heavy hall doors slowly swung inward!

Beyond the doors was not a hall, but a rapidly spinning vortex in the void, emitting an uncanny green glow.

Surging currents of air roared out like a tide. Through the vortex, they could vaguely glimpse the boundless, crystalline labyrinth world beyond, refracting bewildering halos of light!

The crowd began to move. With tension, resolve, or greed, the Outer Mansion disciples climbed the stone steps before the hall one after another and walked toward the unknown vortex entrance.

Qi Yun was swept forward by the crowd.

Someone ahead paused briefly. With the press of bodies behind him, he stumbled, and his toe stepped on the heel of the person in front, neither lightly nor heavily.

"Hiss!"

The man whose heel had been stepped on sucked in a sharp breath and turned around with tightly furrowed brows and a displeased expression.

Yet when faced with Qi Yun standing right behind him, his gaze slid smoothly past like flowing water, as though nothing was there.

After searching several times, his gaze finally locked firmly onto another burly disciple beside Qi Yun who was about to take a step.

"Are you fucking blind? You stepped on your daddy's foot!" Shooting a vicious glare at the man about to walk forward, the man whose foot had been stepped on immediately began cursing.

The man being cursed first looked bewildered, his eyes widening as he glanced around, then immediately reacted:

"Me? Step on you? I stepped on your fucking mother's..."

A clash was about to erupt. Both men rolled up their sleeves and glared at each other.

Just then, a terrifying gaze, bone-chillingly cold, majestic, and indifferent, abruptly descended.

The two instantly felt as though they had fallen into an ice pit. Their bodies stiffened, all their fury forcibly suppressed. They exchanged a resentful glare, lowered their banners and stilled their drums, then sheepishly continued forward.

Meanwhile, the instigator of this farce had already walked ahead of them. Listening to the abruptly halted conflict behind him, Qi Yun's lips curved in a barely perceptible arc.

Version 6.0 really was pretty good!

What do you think of Qi Yun's appearance, brothers~