Chapter 20: Xuanyun's First Test, Gathering of Geniuses

The carriage bumped along as it left the city where the Ye family lived, leaving behind the land that carried so many complicated memories.

After several days of traveling through mountains, forests, and plains, when the carriage finally came to a slow stop, a sound like a heat wave, far louder and more clamorous than the Yejia Market, suddenly hit us.

Ye Li lifted the car curtain and looked out.

Before him lay a vast valley plain. At that moment, the plain was already packed with people, shoulder to shoulder, and the noise was deafening! All manner of carriages and beasts filled the outer open space. Young men and women from dozens of cities within a thousand miles, hundreds of families, and even countless independent cultivators, gathered here like a hundred rivers converging into the sea.

Flags fluttered, clothes flowed, and the air was filled with the scent of youth, passion, tension, anticipation, and various spirit beasts and mounts, mixing into a unique and adrenaline-pumping atmosphere.

The place where Xuanyun Sect selects candidates!

As one of the three major sects that dominate this area, the Xuanyun Sect's triennial opening ceremony is undoubtedly a crucial opportunity for countless young cultivators to leap into the dragon gate and change their destiny! The competition is fierce, a hundred times more intense than the Ye Family Competition!

Ye Li, along with several other Ye family members, stepped off the carriage and was immediately swept away by the surging crowd, like a drop of water merging into the ocean. She could clearly sense the various auras around her, some strong and some weak, many of which gave her a subtle sense of pressure.

High-level Spirit Awakening Realm cultivators were everywhere, and even those halfway to the Condensation Vein stage were not uncommon! Occasionally, there were a few with incredibly condensed auras, already at the Condensation Vein stage! Clearly, they were true geniuses being diligently cultivated by some powerful faction!

This is the true level of the younger generation in the spiritual world! The Ye family is the king of that small town, but in this vast world, it is nothing.

"So... so many people..." Ye Xiaodou, who was standing beside him, turned pale and his voice trembled, clearly overwhelmed by the grand scene. Even the usually calm Ye Shi looked extremely solemn.

Ye Li calmly scanned the crowd, her powerful spiritual perception allowing her to roughly gauge the depth of many people's cultivation. She spotted many lavishly dressed, arrogant young men from aristocratic families; she also saw many casual cultivators dressed simply but with resolute eyes; she even spotted some young men with exotic features or with unusual pets.

At the same time, she also keenly noticed several people with particularly eye-catching auras:

A young girl in an ice-blue dress, with a cold and beautiful face and a faint chill lingering around her, stood alone on a slightly elevated slope, keeping strangers away. Her aura was remarkably that of a Meridian Condensation Realm! A jade pendant dangling from her waist, gleaming with mysterious runes, was clearly no ordinary item.

A young man with a long sword on his back, with a burly figure like an iron tower, bronze skin, muscular body, wild eyes, exuding a violent aura like a ferocious beast. His cultivation level is also at the peak of half-step condensation of meridians. There is a small area around him that is clear and no one dares to approach.

A young man holding a folding fan, wearing a brocade robe, looks very elegant. He always has a warm smile on his face, but his eyes reveal a subtle shrewdness and calculation. His aura is also unfathomable. He is surrounded by several young men who are obviously his followers.

These will all be her potential powerful opponents or people who need to be paid attention to within the sect.

Just as she was observing, a gentle and joyful voice sounded beside her: "Daoyou, it really is you!"

Ye Li turned around and saw Su Wanyun standing not far away, still wearing the same pale blue dress. Amidst the crowd of nervous and flamboyant young men and women, she looked particularly fresh and refined. She looked at Ye Li, her beautiful eyes filled with a smile and a hint of joy: "I found you after all!"

She seemed to recognize Ye Li, who had changed back into women's clothes but did not deliberately cover up, based on the impression and feeling she had that day.

Ye Li met her pure and joyful gaze, and his icy heart seemed to ease a little. He nodded slightly: "Miss Su."

"Just call me Wanyun." Su Wanyun took a few steps closer with a gentle smile, "I didn't expect to meet you again so soon. It seems we are really destined to be together. This selection seems to be more difficult than I thought." She looked at the huge crowds of people around her and sighed softly, but without any fear.

"Yeah." Ye Li responded.

The simple communication between the two naturally formed a small, temporary alliance in this unfamiliar and tense environment.

At this moment, several powerful auras suddenly descended from the high platform in front of the valley! The pressure was like a substance, instantly silencing the noisy valley!

Everyone looked up and saw over a dozen cultivators wearing the Xuanyun Sect's distinctive white robes with cloud patterns appear on the platform. Leading them were three middle-aged or elderly men with auras as profound as the ocean. Their eyes gleamed with brilliance, and the pressure came from them! Their cultivation was at least at the Spiritual Mansion Realm, or even higher!

The dozen or so people who followed behind also had extraordinary bearings and their cultivation was above the Condensed Veins Realm. They were obviously inner disciples or deacons of the Xuanyun Sect.

"Silence!" A stern-faced Xuanyun Sect deacon stepped forward. His voice was as cold as ice, clearly reaching everyone's ears. "The Xuanyun Sect selection begins now! The first stage is to measure age and test talent!"

The rules were simple and crude. Dozens of testing points had already been established at the valley's entrance, each housing a massive age-testing stone and a more precious fragment (a replica) of a "Sky-Viewing Mirror" capable of roughly assessing a person's potential.

All candidates must pass in turn, their bone age must not exceed eighteen, and their talent potential must meet the minimum standard (usually the Sky-Viewing Mirror can emit a red light or above).

The team began to slowly move forward. The process was swift. Most of the young men and women placed their hands on the age-testing stone, indicating their passing age. Then, they placed their hands on the Sky-Viewing Mirror, which emitted red, orange, and yellow light, representing different levels of talent. Red indicated passing, orange good, and yellow excellent. Those who could evoke a green light were considered rare talents, prompting a small exclamation.

Occasionally, there would be people who were over the age limit, or whose talents only gave off a faint white glow (unqualified), who would suddenly look as pale as death and be directly dismissed by the sect stewards standing by. The scene was brutal.

It was the turn of the Ye family. Ye Shi stepped forward and passed the age test. The Sky-peek Mirror glowed a deep orange, almost yellow, attracting a second glance from the sect disciple in charge of recording. He nodded in approval.

Ye Xiaodou was so nervous that his palms were full of sweat. The age test was passed, and the Sky-peeking Mirror emitted an orange light, which was considered good, which made him greatly relieved.

It's Ye Li's turn.

She calmly placed her hand on the age-testing stone. It read: 15. Passed.

Then, she placed her hand on the ancient sky-viewing mirror.

The "Emperor's Scripture of the Underworld" within her body was slightly activated, but it was not fully activated. She carefully controlled the output of her spiritual power.

However, the moment her spiritual power touched the Sky-Viewing Mirror, something strange happened!

The Sky-Viewing Mirror trembled slightly before suddenly bursting out with a dazzling blue light! The light was so bright that it even overwhelmed all the surrounding detection points!

"Blue...blue! It's actually a blue talent!"

"Oh my god! Another cyan genius!"

"Whose lady is this? I've never heard of her before!"

A huge cry of surprise suddenly rang out from all around! Even the Xuanyun Sect elders who had been resting with their eyes closed on the high platform could not help but open their eyes and look over!

The blue talent means the potential of a true disciple!

However, the azure light only flared for a moment before, as if forcibly suppressed by some invisible force, it suddenly withered and quickly receded, finally settling into a deep and solid... yellow light. While still the yellow that represented excellence, it seemed much more "mediocre" than the brilliant azure light just now.

The disciple who was recording the information was stunned for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and seemed to suspect that he had read it wrongly. Finally, he wrote it down on the roster: "Ye Li, fifteen, talent: yellow (upper)."

The crowd around also sighed with regret.

"It turns out to be a flash in the pan..."

"It scared me. I thought another monster had appeared."

"Yellow top grade is also very impressive..."

The elders on the platform also had a flicker of surprise and confusion in their eyes, but they didn't delve into it, simply dismissing it as an occasional fluctuation in the Sky-Viewing Mirror. After all, this kind of imitation wasn't absolutely accurate.

Only Ye Li herself knew what had just happened! It was a fragment of the Samsara Mirror! Just as the Sky-Seeing Mirror was about to thoroughly probe her, it moved slightly on its own, not only concealing her true talent (which was probably far more than cyan), but also forcibly suppressing the energy fluctuations and simulating them into a superior yellow one!

He was neither too conspicuous to become the target of public criticism, nor did he show enough potential to gain the sect's attention.

Just right.

She calmly withdrew her hand, as if the shocking vision just now had nothing to do with her, and walked to the area for those who had passed and waited.

Not far away, Su Wanyun had also completed the test. Her pure green talent had attracted considerable attention. She looked at Ye Li with a hint of concern and confusion in her eyes. She had clearly noticed something unusual, but she didn't ask any further questions. She simply smiled gently at Ye Li and walked over.

"Those who passed the first level, follow me to the second level, the test of the Illusionary Heart Array!" A sect deacon shouted loudly, leading thousands of young men and women who passed the first level to an area shrouded in fog deep in the valley.

The Illusionary Heart Formation tests your will, perseverance, and the strength of your soul! This level is the most brutal!

The fog rushed over and swallowed everyone in an instant.

Ye Li felt the scene before her eyes suddenly change! It was as if she was back in the shabby little house of the Ye family, with Wang Pozi and Li San rushing towards her ferociously... It was as if she had returned to the moment of her fall, and the betraying faces of Ling Hao, Mo Shang, and Xuan Cong were extremely clear... Countless illusions came one after another, assaulting her mind!

However, she had experienced two lives, and the essence of her soul was once supreme. How could such a strong heart of Tao be shaken by an illusion array of this level?

To her, those illusions were like clumsy shadow puppetry. She could even clearly sense the flow of the array's energy.

Almost the next second after she stepped into the illusion array, her eyes regained clarity, and her steps did not pause at all. She walked straight through the foggy array area as if strolling in the garden!

Suddenly, the scene before her eyes opened up, and she was already standing on the other side of the illusion array! She was the first one out!

Several Xuanyun Sect deacons and disciples who were waiting at the exit were shocked and incredulous when they saw someone coming out so quickly, and it was such a young girl!

"You..." A disciple couldn't help but speak.

Ye Li just nodded slightly to them, then walked aside and stood quietly waiting, his eyes cast towards the illusion array that was still shrouded in fog, as if waiting for someone.

Time passed slowly. Young men and women, pale-faced, sweaty, and even tearful, continued to struggle out of the illusion array, clearly having undergone a difficult mental and spiritual test.

Half an hour later, Su Wanyun appeared at the exit. Her face was slightly pale, and her breathing was a little rapid, but her eyes remained clear and determined. Seeing Ye Li, who had been waiting there for a long time, she immediately showed a relieved and happy smile on her face and walked over quickly.

"Sister Yeli, you...you came out so soon?" She asked in amazement.

Ye Li nodded: "Not bad."

The two smiled at each other, and a tacit understanding quietly grew after going through the test together.

A moment later, Ye Shi also rushed out, gritting his teeth, sweating profusely, as if he had just been pulled out of the water. Ye Xiaodou, on the other hand, barely managed to stumble out at the last moment, nearly exhausted.

In the end, fewer than a thousand people passed the two rounds of testing. The elimination rate was frighteningly high.

A presiding elder stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over those who had passed the assessment. He paused for a moment, especially on Ye Li, before speaking loudly, "Congratulations on passing the preliminary examination and officially qualifying for the final selection of our Xuanyun Sect! Tomorrow, the final assessment will take place at Qingyun Peak! Now, follow me to my temporary residence to rest!"

Upon hearing this, most people showed excitement and anticipation.

Ye Li stood in the crowd, looking calmly at the towering and majestic Qingyun Peak in the distance.

She knew that the real challenge had just begun.

And her arrival will surely create new waves within this sect.

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