Chapter 401 Xuanbing's Assessment
After several trips back and forth, Lou Chuan finally completed the transaction with Zhong and Wu.
He then left without lingering and went back to his residence to handle some business.
He was responsible for handling all matters of the War God Temple, and he could also take care of some of the less important miscellaneous affairs within the Spirit Immortal Sect.
Knowing that he was busy with other matters, Zhong and Wu did not try to stop him, but simply saw him off together.
Not long after Lou Chuan left, a gatekeeper disciple suddenly came to visit.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan exchanged a glance and invited the person in.
The gatekeeper then brought a message.
Zhong Cai raised an eyebrow slightly and immediately smiled, "So it's Senior Brother Xuan. He must have had a long journey."
Upon hearing this, the gatekeeper knew that the message was correct.
Zhong took out a small bottle of pills and handed it to the gatekeeper disciple, saying, "Thank you for your help, senior brother. Please accept this gift."
The gatekeeper disciple initially wanted to refuse, but upon seeing Zhong Cai's expression, he knew that the other party's attitude was resolute, so he didn't bother with formalities—he also really wanted the pill made by King Zhong!
So he laughed and said, "You're too kind, King Zhong Dan. I was just running an errand."
Then, the gatekeeper disciple and Zhong Wu and his wife went to the front hall together.
At this time, Xuan Bing was already sitting down drinking tea and had eaten a few snacks; he was in good spirits.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan both smiled as soon as they entered.
"Senior Brother Xuan, you've finally arrived."
Xuan Bing smiled, then looked behind the two of them. Not seeing his junior brother, he was immediately disappointed.
Zhong Cai chuckled and said, "Dong Xiao went to participate in the selection process. You should hurry up and take the entrance exam; you should be able to catch up with his session. Also, have Lao Wu register you. Disciples like you who are new to the program but missed the registration deadline can join midway."
Xuan Bing stood up, a bright smile on his face, and said, "It seems I need to step up my game."
Zhong Cai said with a smile, "Only then can we give Dong Xiao a surprise."
·
Thanks to Wu Shaogan's recommendation, Xuan Bing successfully entered the assessment tower to prepare for his entrance test.
As before, several disciples in charge of the deacons arrived.
Wu Shaogan and Zhong Cai were still there to accompany the examinees.
One of the disciples who had just been chosen again glanced at Zhong Wufu, his feelings somewhat complicated.
When he learned from Xuan Bing that the other party also came from the Middle Continent and was the senior brother of Wu Dongxiao and Zhong Wu, his lips twitched involuntarily.
What a big family!
It seems like you can make connections with anything.
I wonder what kind of strength this person possesses?
Considering Wu Dongxiao's combat prowess, none of these disciples dared to underestimate Xuan Bing. Although many junior disciples eventually surpass their seniors, and combat prowess depends on talent rather than age, they had all seen the carefree and relaxed demeanor of the Zhong-Wu couple, and knew that Xuan Bing was no ordinary person.
So, following the same procedure, a disciple in charge asked, "There are three levels of difficulty: normal, hard, and highest. New disciples, please select the difficulty level immediately."
Xuan Bing laughed and said, "Just like Dong Xiao, it's the highest difficulty level."
He knew his junior brother very well; he would definitely choose the highest difficulty level—even if he wanted to get away with it, he wouldn't dare to cheat under his junior brother Wu's watchful eye.
The disciple in charge agreed.
Next, the process was exactly the same as when Wu Dongxiao was assessed before.
·
After Xuan Bing entered the martial arts arena, he faced a puppet king.
The next moment, he held the Xuanhuang Spear and pierced the ground in an instant.
Suddenly, countless spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the ground, and thick ice froze, like blooming ice flowers, as if the entire training ground had been frozen in an instant.
The air was filled with a dense, icy blue sheen of water. This was extremely cold water that had not condensed into ice, yet it was even colder than ice.
The moisture clung to the Puppet King's body, causing his initial lunge to slow down considerably.
At the same time, its body was quickly covered with a layer of frost.
Xuan Bing gripped the Xuanhuang Spear with both hands, and his arms suddenly trembled—
Countless layers of energy, like ocean waves, spread out, making the area filled with water vapor in the entire training ground even wider, and giving the Puppet King a greater ability to be restricted.
The Puppet King's original speed should have been extremely fast, and it still is—but in Xuan Bing's eyes, it can almost only be described as slow motion.
...Too slow.
It's so slow.
Xuan Bing brandished his spear again, striking the puppet king fiercely.
The puppet king was utterly powerless to resist.
Xuan Bing's spear technique was extremely powerful, which was completely out of character for him. Under such power, the Puppet King was either frozen and cracked by the ice, injured by the spear technique, or both... In the end, the Puppet King was blown to pieces again.
The entire process only took about a dozen breaths.
·
Before the disciples could even figure out Xuan Bing's battle strategy, the battle was already over.
The intensity of the frost in the arena startled them, and the destruction of the Puppet King once again left them with mixed feelings.
So you're determined to go against the Puppet King, aren't you?
The junior brother destroyed a puppet king, and a new one was just replaced, but the senior brother destroyed another one.
The deacon disciple, in particular, who witnessed the destruction of the Puppet King firsthand, is now in a state of utter dismay.
He couldn't help but wonder if the two brothers would still be so fierce if they had to pay compensation for damaging the Puppet King—but he immediately dismissed the thought.
We definitely can't let them lose money, otherwise those outstanding young geniuses would feel deeply insulted, and they wouldn't be willing to actively join the Temple of War!
More importantly, if we want the cultivators who come to participate in the assessment to fully demonstrate their abilities, we naturally cannot impose any restrictions on them.
If it's destroyed, then it's just destroyed.
—No, wait a minute.
Junior Brother Wu Dongxiao displayed great strength during the assessment. When competing for the cave dwelling spots, countless disciples went to watch and found that his combat power was even stronger than they had imagined, which led to a continuous rise in everyone's evaluation of him—for example, what his ranking would be among the Dou Wangs.
At least when he started his winning streak, many disciples who couldn't accurately assess his abilities brought their masters to check on him. After seeing him, they estimated that he should already be ranked around thirteenth or fourteenth.
There are even rumors that Wu Dongxiao's ranking during the entrance exam was around his early twenties.
And in just a month or two, his strength has increased dramatically!
The progress is terrifying.
So, Wu Dongxiao's senior brother was already this fierce during the assessment...
His strength is definitely among the ranks of Dou Wang, but what exactly is his ranking?
They definitely won't be lower than the top twenty.
Or could it go even higher?
·
The disciples in charge were all filled with excitement and quickly exchanged glances.
They all realized that they were completely unable to judge the situation, because although they were also outstanding geniuses, they had never been on the Sky Ranking and were well aware of the gap between themselves and those top geniuses. Even though they were a whole realm higher, they still could not accurately judge their strength.
So, this is the only way for now.
The disciples in charge withdrew from the formation and released Xuan Bing from it.
Then, the disciple in charge of the hall that Xuan Bing wanted to enter led him into that hall and arranged a residence and other accommodations for him.
Normally, if he's lucky, this disciple would meet the temple master.
If the temple master happens to be busy, the disciple will be taken by a steward disciple to see a senior member of the temple who can take charge. The senior member will then present the disciple with a token, and the steward disciple will give a general introduction to the Temple of War and provide basic benefits, etc.
Someone as obviously powerful as Xuan Bing should naturally be seen by the Palace Master in person.
Perhaps the temple master will personally take another look at the other party's specific strength—if he reaches a certain extremely powerful standard, this disciple will also receive more treatment and rewards commensurate with it.
At this moment, a disciple in charge glanced at the disciple in charge of the 124th Hall, then at Zhong Wufu, quickly recorded the assessment results on his personal panel, and then took his leave.
They all thought: This new temple is really lucky! Or perhaps it should be said that their Temple of War is lucky, one after another.
What they envied even more was that the Zhong and Wu couple would receive a large reward for bringing in so many strong individuals or young geniuses.
It was clear that Xuan Bing was about to receive another reward.
·
—And that is indeed the case.
Because of these family members, the Zhong and Wu couple did indeed receive substantial rewards from their respective factions.
Although Wu Shaogan brought more people, the significance of a Dan Emperor was extraordinary, so the benefits gained by both sides were roughly the same, greatly increasing the size of their "little treasury".
They became even wealthier.
·
After the disciples left, the disciples from the new hall took out a flying artifact and prepared to take everyone to their own territory to pay their respects to their hall master.
Zhong and Wu, along with Xuan Bing, boarded the flying artifact with smiles, chatting quietly and jokingly.
Out of the corner of Zhong Cai's eye, he inadvertently glanced at the middle-aged deacon disciple who was manipulating the magical artifact.
·
This person appears to only show respect to Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan, without much interaction with them, but in reality, he is a special Dao soldier.
Now, this special Dao soldier is adapting well as a disciple and steward disciple of the War God Temple.
Moreover, perhaps because of the extraordinary treatment he received in the palace, his strength has already begun to surge. If everything goes smoothly afterward, he might actually be able to transform into a spirit in just a few years!
For such a special Dao soldier with intelligence, it's already like being reborn.
Although their lives were entirely in the hands of the two city lords, the city lords were kind-hearted and, as long as they did not betray them, they did not usually care about them, only taking a share of their profits.
For the special soldiers, life is brand new now.
Both are good.
·
The group quickly arrived at the "cone"-shaped mountain range and went straight to the main peak.
After that, there was no need for the disciples to do anything else. The rest was handed over to Wu Shaogan, who, along with Zhong Cai, took Xuan Bing to find Jiang Chongguang and complete the next steps.
The disciple, having accomplished his task, then retired.
Xuan Bingze looked respectful and entered the mansion with his two former junior brothers.
Nowadays, Jiang Chongguang no longer digs a cave to live in.
He finally managed to get a decent mansion.
·
Danwu Sky Curtain, on the forum.
[Discussion] Yes, it's me again. I've been caught for evaluation again. It always seems to repeat itself...
This post attracted the attention of some disciples.
Especially since the competition for that spot has been so intense recently, there are a lot of disciples posting on the forum, and they naturally pay attention to many of the more novel things.
The moment the title was posted, a disciple remembered that this familiar poster was the one who supervised Wu Dongxiao's disciple assessment back then.
What does he mean by saying things will repeat themselves?
At that time, countless disciples rushed to the post with great interest.
The opening of the main building was filled with the helplessness of this disciple.
[OP: The disciple I supervised during today's assessment is Wu Dongxiao's senior brother!]
[Battle Through the Heavens: What are you saying? We're all Wu Dongxiao's senior brothers!]
[Battle Through the Heavens: I think I understand now. Does the poster mean that Wu Dongxiao's former senior brother is also here? And also a senior brother from some force in the Middle Continent?]
A series of echoes.
[That might really be true] [I wonder how skilled they are] [Oh, I see] [Perhaps it really is] [Let's see their strength]
Then, the original poster's answer came right away.
[OP: That's exactly what I meant!]
[OP: I was dragged in again today, and Junior Brother Wu Shaogan and Zhong Danwang were there again! After hearing the examiners' introductions, I really don't know how to describe my feelings. That's not all; what's even more terrifying is that this Junior Brother Xuan Bing is even stronger than Junior Brother Dong Xiao!]
[OP: Maybe this is because of the senior and junior disciples? There's not a single bad one in their sect!]
The poster's long post, filled with astonishment, sparked curiosity and surprise among countless disciples, who all began to ask questions.
[Battle Through the Heavens: What happened? How did you figure it out?]
[Battle Through the Heavens: Is it because Junior Brother Xuan Bing spent less time? Or is his cultivation level higher?]
[Battle Through the Nine Heavens: Could you please explain in more detail, Senior Brother Deacon?]
[Battle Through the Arena: Junior Brother Dong Xiao's strength is comparable to a top-ranked Battle King. If Junior Brother Xuan Bing is even stronger, wouldn't his ranking be even higher?]
[Continuous Bombing and Running: I also want to ask, is it possible to determine his ranking? And how high is his skill level?]
[I've bombarded you with questions today: You martial arts disciples have been really restless lately. Another formidable person has arrived; will they also try to compete for a selection spot?]
[Battle Through the Sky: I feel that Junior Brother Xuanbing will definitely try to get a spot. Since he's encountered such an opportunity, how could he let it slip by? Besides, he's already here; wouldn't he care about his junior brother and want to enter the cave together to support each other? Junior Brother Dongxiao is a fire-attribute cultivator, so that cave is a huge opportunity for him. He'll definitely be able to get a spot!]
[No explosion, no explosion: On another note, what attribute does Junior Brother Xuanbing have?]
The crowd chattered and asked many questions, and the poster answered them one by one.
[OP: I'm also unsure about Junior Brother Xuan Bing's ranking in the Dou Wang rankings. Palace Master Jiang was probably a fellow disciple of Junior Brother Xuan Bing before, and both are newcomers to the top-tier continent. He probably doesn't know the current rankings of the genius disciples on the Sky Ranking, so it's impossible to judge. If we really want to know, we can only wait and see if Junior Brother Xuan Bing registers for the selection, and then ask our master to come and determine it.]
[OP: Our faction will definitely make an accurate assessment, otherwise how would we determine the specific treatment for Junior Brother Xuanbing? Once the rankings are confirmed, the news should spread, and then we'll know.]
[OP: Junior Brother Xuan Bing has reached the peak of the Fusion Realm, meeting the selection criteria. However, he cultivates the water attribute and has mastered the method to convert water attribute into ice attribute, making him extremely powerful in combat.]
[OP: As for his exact age... he should be about three years older than Junior Brother Wu and King Zhong Dan.]
Suddenly, several more comments appeared.
[This made the senior brother cry: By the way! How old is Junior Brother Xuanbing?]
[Don't Cry After the Bombing: What Does He Look Like?]
No one had asked this question before, but now that someone has brought it up, quite a few people are interested and are asking follow-up questions.
[Exactly!] [Handsome?] [Sounds like a good man.] [Maybe he's a big guy.] [He might also be quite old.]
However, before the original poster could even speak, other cultivators had already started posting comments.
[The gatekeeper: I am the gatekeeper who delivered the message from Junior Brother Xuanbing to Junior Brother Wu Shaogan today, and I was also the first person to see Junior Brother Xuanbing.]
[The gatekeeper: When Junior Brother Xuan Bing came over, he was wearing a set of silver armor, which was very similar to the uniforms of our War God Hall disciples. I initially thought he was a fellow disciple, but after he got closer and spoke to me, I realized he wasn't.]
[The goalkeeper: This junior brother is handsome, has a free and easy temperament, maintains a youthful appearance, and has a very upright posture; he is clearly a young genius.]
The gatekeeper even released a video of Xuan Bing that he had secretly left behind.
Many disciples were immediately struck by the image of the dashing young man in silver armor.
Xuan Bing's appearance wasn't as outstanding as his junior brother Wu Shaogan, who was so striking that he was almost unbearable to look at, but his looks were no less than those of his junior brother Wu Dongxiao, and his temperament was also quite unique.
Compared to others, many disciples found Junior Brother Wu Dongxiao more attractive, but when they looked at Junior Brother Xuan Bing, they were all full of admiration.
Immediately, the comments shifted to evaluating appearance.
Of course, some people were more interested in his strength, but Xuan Bing had not yet shown his strength to the public, so there wasn't much to talk about. Unlike his appearance, there were no images of him, so in the end... the topic of his strength was swept aside.
·
On the selection stage.
Wu Dongxiao, wielding the Black Dragon Halberd, swept it horizontally, knocking his opponent off the stage.
The disciples of the Temple of War surrounding his arena all had strange expressions on their faces.
As the crowd watched, they not only discovered that Wu Dongxiao was getting stronger with each battle, but also that his combat power was constantly improving with each encounter, and he was constantly turning his opponent's combat strategies into his own!
This scene seems vaguely familiar.
Soon, one of the disciples figured it out!
Isn't this exactly what my junior brother Wu Shaogan did?
Each move is more ferocious than the last, and any weakness is quickly repaired in the course of battle. Whenever the opponent displays a brilliant fighting technique, it will be immediately used in the next round to strike back! This not only inflicts physical damage on the opponent but also severely undermines their confidence. Afterward, the opponent's fighting spirit naturally fades, making it easy for them to lose.
As the battles progress, your strength will increase rapidly at a visible speed. Often, after fighting dozens of battles, you can easily defeat opponents that you previously found difficult to handle!
Wu Shaogan is like that.
Wu Dongxiao seemed to have been testing the waters for a while, or perhaps he was adapting to the fighting style of the War God Temple disciples. His earlier progress was not as obvious as Wu Shaogan's at the beginning.
However, as Wu Dongxiao won battle after battle, he learned from his opponents' combat experience at an increasingly faster pace!
The somewhat bewildered disciples of the War God Temple, after being reminded by other disciples around them and carefully observing Wu Dongxiao's battle, suddenly realized what was happening and even felt countless sighs of admiration.
This uncle and nephew are just too outrageous!
Back then, when his junior brother Wu Shaogan was in the late stage of fusion, he became the top of the Sky Ranking. Moreover, the top of the Sky Ranking that time was at least many times stronger than the top five rankings of recent years, but he was still dethroned by Wu Shaogan.
Wu Dongxiao is currently only in the early stages of fusion, yet he can already rank in the teens on the Sky Ranking.
Although it is not easy to improve the rankings at higher levels, when Wu Dongxiao's realm reaches the later stage, he will probably have a great chance to become the top-ranked player!
Moreover, since this year's Sky Ranking is much less prestigious than the one when Wu Shaogan was in power, Wu Dongxiao might still have a chance to become the top of the list!
Then their Temple of War must be incredibly prestigious!
·
Lou Chuan received a message from the disciples in charge—this new disciple's strength is extraordinary, and it's impossible to determine what kind of treatment to give him!
Naturally, Lou Chuan had to handle this matter personally.
Anyone capable of defeating the Puppet King must have reached the Battle King level, and the War God Temple cannot afford to mistreat them.
When Lou Chuan examined the situation closely and discovered that the other party had joined the new hall, and when he heard the deacon disciples mention the other party's relationship with Wu Dongxiao... he knew that this was another top genius from the Azure Dragon Academy of the Intermediate Continent.
Therefore, Lou Chuan personally went to Jiang Chongguang's residence to personally investigate Xuanbing.
Under the watchful gaze of this Nirvana Peak senior, Xuan Bing unleashed his full combat power.
Lou Chuan looked at Xuan Bing's presentation with a strange look in his eyes.
After Xuan Bing finished his presentation, he stood respectfully before Lou Chuan and bowed...
Lou Chuan revealed a satisfied smile.
"Your strength is now comparable to the second-ranked player on the Sky Ranking."
Moreover, as long as Xuan Bing cultivates in the Temple of War for a period of time, perhaps not too long, he will be able to compete for the top spot this time!
Although he may not be able to truly ascend to the Sky Ranking, his strength might be able to reach that level before Wu Dongxiao.
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