He Stole the Show! And Reaped Enormous Benefits

"Hm?"

On the raised platform in Sacred Pill City's central square.

Sensing something, Xuan Yi turned toward Ye Qingzhou, her gaze seemingly piercing through space.

The next moment, her figure vanished. No one could see how she had moved.

After only a momentary daze, Ye Qingzhou saw Xuan Yi standing before him, her feet on empty air.

She wore high heels, her toes like jade and her legs long and straight.

Her brows and eyes held a distinctive allure, and the way she looked at people made it seem as though she wanted to swallow them whole.

"You're very talented. You're a disciple of the Ye Clan, aren't you?" Xuan Yi said, the corners of her lips lifting slightly. "I'm willing to take you as my disciple. Are you willing!?"

In an instant, Ye Qingzhou became the focus of everyone present.

This was supposed to be the ceremony at which Xuan Kongzi took Cao Ying as his disciple, and members of the Pill Tower's Five Great Families and numerous factions, both great and small, had gathered there.

Before the eyes of the crowd, Xuan Yi, another of the Pill Tower's Three Giants, had personally taken a liking to Ye Qingzhou and publicly declared that she wanted to take him as her disciple.

What an honor that was!

He had even stolen Cao Ying's thunder.

Among the Ye Clan's group, the excitement on Ye Zhong's and the others' faces was plain to see.

Everyone was waiting for Ye Qingzhou to nod.

Only Ye Qingzhou's eyes cleared, and he said, "I'm not willing!"

"Hm?" Xuan Yi looked puzzled. "Why?"

"Because..." Flames of Purifying Lotus Demon Flame appeared around Ye Qingzhou. "I don't want to become a traitorous disciple who makes a move on his master."

Crack.

The illusion shattered.

The last thing Ye Qingzhou saw was the stunned expression on Xuan Yi's face.

All of this took a long time to describe, but in the outside world, only two breaths had actually passed for Ye Qingzhou.

Boom!

The white jade tablet suddenly erupted with dazzling white light, its brilliance startling everyone in the square.

Mu Feng's half-closed eyes snapped open, and he said in disbelief, "That fast?"

The white light vanished as quickly as it had come, fading completely in just a few breaths.

Ye Qingzhou opened his eyes and stepped back, his expression unchanged.

A new line of writing had appeared on the surface of the white jade tablet.

First place: Ye Qingzhou

The name was displayed in none of the colors Mu Feng had mentioned, but in gold.

"Gold!?" Mu Feng's eyes widened, and his gaze grew fervent as he looked at Ye Qingzhou. "Good lad, it's actually gold! That hasn't appeared in nearly twenty years-a superlative rating."

"With a gold rating, you get an extra five hundred Fire Energy points on top of the original reward."

Whoa.

That really was an unexpected windfall.

Xiao Yan had turned the tables and robbed the older students, yet he had entered the Inner Academy with only three hundred Fire Energy points.

He had now passed the assessment. If his ranking remained unchanged, he could receive a reward of one hundred plus fifty plus five hundred-a full six hundred and fifty corresponding reward points.

Gasp!

"Superlative! So there's gold in Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy special recruitment assessment too."

"Didn't you hear that Lord Dou Emperor say it hasn't appeared in more than twenty years? That's probably why he didn't mention it."

"It's not as if no one from the Ye Clan has passed the assessment and gone to Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy over the years, but he's the first to do this."

"As expected of the Ye Clan's seed."

"A seed disciple from one of the Pill Tower's Five Great Families really is extraordinary."

"A starving camel is still bigger than a horse. No matter how far the Ye Clan has fallen, it's still one of the Five Great Clans, and it has two chances at the assessment. It might just keep its elder's seat and privileges."

"Ye Qingzhou. I'll remember that name."

The square fell silent for a moment, then erupted in a buzz of discussion.

Ye Xinlan had known Ye Qingzhou would take first place, but she hadn't expected his performance to be so dazzling.

On second thought, though, Ye Qingzhou had even obtained the inheritance left by Ancestor Ye Qingtian. It was only natural that he would excel in Jia Nan Academy's assessment.

The Ye Clan's disciples were also elated. Ye Qingzhou had brought honor to the clan.

Some Ye Clan elders present at the scene and others hidden in the shadows also smiled.

"I told him not to stand out too much. The tree that rises above the forest is bound to be battered by the wind. Why wouldn't he listen?" Ye Zhong said reproachfully.

"Exactly, exactly," Ye Zhengqing chimed in beside him, grumbling inwardly.

Father, you're complaining, but at least wipe that smile off your face.

On the Qiu Family's side, Qiu Tao could not restrain the killing intent in his eyes.

The Qiu Family would not allow the Ye Clan to have a genius like this.

By the black jade tablet, Qiu Tao was still sitting on a rosewood chair with his eyes tightly shut, clearly not yet finished with the test.

Ye Qingzhou strode into the black jade tablet's testing area.

As he focused his spiritual power, the world changed again.

This time, he appeared on a desolate stretch of land, with an enormous rocky mountain before him.

Following Mu Feng's instructions, Ye Qingzhou unleashed the ordinary Dou Technique Blazing Sun Palm against the mountain with all his strength.

The palm strike left no trace on the mountain, and two words soon appeared directly above it: excellent!

"An Intermediate Xuan Tier Dou Technique gets an excellent rating?"

He had three chances in total. For his second attempt, Ye Qingzhou chose to use a High-grade Profound Tier Dou Technique, the Fire Python Heavenly Dance Spear Technique.

After one move, the words on the rock flickered, but did not change.

"Even a High-grade Profound Tier Dou Technique won't do it?"

Ye Qingzhou didn't mind drawing more attention to himself. The most important thing now was to get more Fire Energy points.

When the time came, he would go straight to the bottom level of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower to cultivate.

With the seed of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, he had a feeling he wouldn't be troubled by fire poison.

He could also use the diary to double the effects of his cultivation, allowing his cultivation to improve rapidly.

"Profound Flame Dragon Soaring!"

Ye Qingzhou used the strongest Dou Technique he had mastered.

He gathered his strength and summoned a colossal flame dragon, which charged at the rocky mountain with terrifying might.

Boom!

After a thunderous rumble, his consciousness was ejected directly from the assessment space.

The black jade tablet suddenly erupted with dazzling white light, its brilliance once again startling everyone in the square.

Mu Feng clenched both hands and said excitedly, "Could it be another superlative?"

The answer was revealed the next moment.

A new line of writing appeared at the very top of the black jade tablet.

First place: Ye Qingzhou

It was in gold as well.

"Excellent." Mu Feng's gaze grew even more fervent as he looked at Ye Qingzhou. "You actually earned two superlative ratings in a row. Your combat strength and soul power surpass everyone of your generation, and you're capable of fighting above your level."

"And you're a sixteen-year-old Dou Ling. Your cultivation talent is beyond question too."

"It seems that in a few years, Jia Nan Academy will have another heaven-blessed graduate whose name will shake the Dou Qi Continent."

Another five hundred Fire Energy points in the bag.

All Ye Qingzhou was thinking about now was how to keep fleecing them.

Having passed two assessments in succession, with results exceeding the excellent standard in both, he went straight to the golden jade tablet and concentrated his spiritual power.

The next moment, he once again arrived in an illusory space, seemingly in the night sky.

Countless streaks of light flew through the space.

"Are these cultivation methods?"

A sense of understanding dawned on Ye Qingzhou.

This golden jade tablet was a test, but even more than that, it was an opportunity.

Only students who had earned an excellent rating in both of the first two rounds were qualified to open this assessment space.

They could then pluck a star from the star-filled sky, which meant obtaining a cultivation method.

The assessment ranking depended on the grade of the cultivation method obtained.

It tested comprehension, as well as a little luck.

"Tsk, I can rely entirely on strength."

"Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, appear!"