“Pass!”
After the disciple in charge of the test shouted, Du Liang finally reacted. His whole person was overjoyed. He put down the testing crystal and rushed toward Ye Chu.
“I passed, Ye Chu, did you hear me, I passed!” Du Liang stared at Ye Chu excitedly, his face full of coldness.
Seeing Du Liang so excited, Ye Chu looked at him and smiled. “Not bad! You passed the first test. You can start thinking about trying the second test!”
Du Liang’s originally excited heart instantly cooled down. Yes, he had only passed the first test. There were still two tests to pass to become a formal disciple.
Du Liang took Ye Chu to the venue for the second test. The disciple in charge of the second test saw Du Liang coming over with the pass tag. His gaze swept over Du Liang, and he signalled for Du Liang to enter.
“The first test measures talent. The second test measures perseverance. A cultivator who only has talent but no perseverance cannot become a strong person. There are many people in the world with outstanding talent who end up becoming unknown. The main reason is that their perseverance is lacking!” The testing elder shouted at the seated cultivators. “In this test, Sha Ling practitioners will act, using Yuan Ling power to test your perseverance. Disciples who can persist for one incense stick’s time will pass!”
After the testing elder finished speaking, he signalled to the many disciples to sit cross-legged. Then he nodded to the several people beside him.
The several people each stood in one direction. Terrifying Yuan Ling power enveloped these disciples, as if dark clouds were pressing down on their heads, oppressing Du Liang and the others.
“Sha Ling practitioners!” Ye Chu saw these cultivators’ methods and could not help but be surprised. Looking at their use of Yuan Ling, various artistic conceptions fused within, and their bodies even flickered with Sha Qi aura. Ye Chu understood these people’s identity.
This truly surprised Ye Chu. He had not encountered many Sha Ling practitioners. He had even less seen Sha Ling practitioners who had reached the Xuan Ming Realm. He had not expected to see three Xuan Ming Realm Sha Ling practitioners here.
Seeing their exquisite control of Yuan Ling power, Ye Chu’s heart itched slightly. Although he was a King, his Sha Ling practitioner methods only consisted of the Silent Sword and the Soul Devouring Yuan Transformation Method. He had no other Sha Ling practitioner methods at all.
Ye Chu had also studied some rare cultivation books about Sha Ling practitioners, and had even obtained some at auction. But their use to him was very limited. Without anyone to guide him into the proper path, relying only on those books’ knowledge, Ye Chu only had a rough understanding of Sha Ling practitioners.
Seeing these three Sha Ling practitioners’ driving of Yuan Ling reach perfection, this gave Ye Chu some interest as well.
The three Sha Ling practitioners using Sha Ling arts were clearly oppressing everyone’s Yuan Ling, manifesting various conditions, sometimes cold, sometimes hot. The artistic conceptions did not change much, constantly tempering the cultivators.
The cultivators felt as if they were in fire, in ice, or constantly passing through sword qi. Even though they knew it was false, they still broke out in sweat, their faces pale.
Ye Chu looked at Du Liang. He saw Du Liang’s hands tightly clenched, biting his teeth and persisting. Even though cold sweat flowed down his body, he sat cross-legged there without moving a muscle.
Ye Chu nodded silently, thinking that perhaps Du Liang’s talent was insufficient. But his perseverance was extremely tenacious. He was not afraid of being surpassed by others.
When half the incense stick had burned, some cultivators already could not persist. Their bodies went limp and they were carried out by disciples. Looking at Du Liang again, even though his face was pale, his figure was as stable as a boulder. Ye Chu was not worried. In terms of perseverance, Du Liang could pass without his help.
Ye Chu began to focus entirely on the Sha Ling practitioners. He watched them dancing with Sha Ling arts, using their own artistic conceptions to oppress each cultivator. Their Yuan Ling power was used extremely exquisitely. The artistic conceptions manifested various conditions to oppress the disciples. This strange method made Ye Chu doubly interested.
“Since Tian Xiao Pavilion has Sha Ling practitioners, they definitely do not lack Sha Ling practitioner cultivation techniques. I just do not know how to obtain them?” Ye Chu pondered secretly in his heart.
After studying for a long time how these Sha Ling practitioners executed Sha Ling arts without success, Ye Chu ultimately shook his head and gave up. Sha Ling arts were profound and unfathomable, much harder to grasp than ordinary cultivation martial techniques. To learn them, simply watching was almost impossible. Unless he could obtain their complete secret manual to examine.
“Time’s up!”
After the incense stick finished burning, the testing elder shouted loudly. Du Liang felt the pressure on him instantly disappear. His whole body was trembling, his face pale. But he was incredibly excited!
He passed the second test!
“Rest for one hour, then take the third test. If everyone can pass the third test, then you can become formal disciples of the pavilion!” The testing elder shouted, signalling Du Liang and the others to rest.
Du Liang walked to Ye Chu’s side and lay down without any dignity. Clearly, the pressure from resisting the several Sha Ling practitioners just now had been too much for him.
Ye Chu smiled and handed over a cup of water. Du Liang took it and drank it in one gulp. Unlike the previous coolness that penetrated to his bones, this time he felt the fatigue in his body swept away entirely. His whole person felt somewhat clearer.
“Eh?” This strange sensation made Du Liang surprised. He looked at Ye Chu curiously. “What did you put in this water?”
“Not bad, you can guess I put something in it!” Ye Chu smiled. “Just some pill residue. These past days, my recovery has relied on these pills.”
Ye Chu was talking nonsense. This was certainly not pill residue. It was true Ling Yuan Dan dissolved into water. With Du Liang’s current strength, having Ling Yuan Dan replenish his physical strength, he would naturally recover quickly.
“Oh, so that is how it is!” Du Liang was not surprised. He thought that Ye Chu’s injuries had healed so quickly because of taking pills. He was merely exhausted. Even if it was just some pill residue, it was enough to let him recover.
Du Liang had passed two tests in a row. He was both excited and worried in his heart. He was afraid he could not pass the third test. His appearance of worrying about gains and losses made Ye Chu shake his head. In the end, he could not be bothered to listen to Du Liang’s nonsense and directly sat down cross-legged to meditate.
One hour quickly passed. Du Liang gritted his teeth and walked toward the field. The third test was very easy. It tested martial power. And it was very simple. As long as he could make a move that shook back a fifth layer Xiantian Realm disciple, he would pass this test.
Du Liang had a bitter face. The fifth layer Xiantian Realm and him, who had just reached the Xiantian Realm, were worlds apart. He did not have a shred of confidence that he could shake back the opponent.
When it was Du Liang’s turn, he could only bite his teeth. All the power in his body vibrated out. Power gathered in his arm. A fist fiercely struck toward the testing disciple.
The testing disciple looked at Du Liang’s attack and shook his head. Such power wanted to shake him. Extremely difficult.
Sure enough, when this fist landed on him, it was blocked by him. Du Liang gritted his teeth and erupted with all his power. But even so, he was powerless to advance an inch.
Just when Du Liang was helpless about this, he felt a huge power surge out from his body. This power directly rushed to his arm. The fist that originally could not advance a fraction directly blasted the fifth layer Xiantian Realm disciple backwards several steps. His face was full of shock.
This scene made the fifth layer Xiantian Realm disciple unable to believe it. Even Du Liang stared blankly at his own hands. And a King sitting high up, his cold gaze also suddenly shot toward this side. But very quickly he frowned in puzzlement, thinking, was it an illusion?