Jiang Chen had a feeling that Qingning had definitely not done anything good.
But at that moment, he didn’t want to care.
He was more concerned about Xiao Hongyi’s condition, and the ominous premonition in his heart was growing stronger.
Just then, a blue figure descended from the sky; it was Sect Master Gu Changqing.
Gu Changqing’s arrival meant the test was about to begin, instantly igniting the disciples’ enthusiasm.
Under everyone’s gaze, he approached Xiao Hongyi and suggested, “Junior Sister, why don’t you let Senior Brother take over, and you go back to the peak to rest?”
Xiao Hongyi shook her head.
Gu Changqing had asked casually and naturally would not insist.
He walked slowly to the main seat and sat down, giving Li Fadu a meaningful glance.
Li Fadu understood and stepped forward, gathering his energy to shout, “Where is Lin Feng?”“I am here!”
Lin Feng responded instantly, leaping to the center of the platform and standing in front of Li Fadu.
“I haven’t had the chance to thank you for saving my life last time, Elder Li,” he said, bowing with his hands clasped.
“Although your cultivation is only at the late stage of Initial Formation, your Core Formation is exceptionally solid. It seems you are indeed cultivating an extremely difficult ancient technique. To achieve such accomplishments at your age shows you have great potential! Not bad, perhaps I have saved a prodigy for the sect!” Li Fadu said with a smile.
“Elder Li overpraises me,” Lin Feng replied modestly.
Li Fadu found himself liking Lin Feng more and more, almost unable to stop smiling.
Getting back to the matter at hand, he raised his voice again: “The test for the true discipleship consists of three parts: testing talent, testing fortune, and testing combat strength. If you meet the standards in all three, you will immediately be promoted to true disciple. If you exceed the standards in any one of them, you can also pass the test.”
“Exceed the standards?” Lin Feng was somewhat puzzled.
Li Fadu had anticipated this and pointed to both sides.
To the left, there were a hundred jade steps leading straight to the clouds.
To the right, there was an ancient disk with black and white fish pieced together in opposite directions, clearly showing the concept of yin and yang.
“That jade staircase is called the Ascending Sky Steps. There are a hundred steps in total. Reaching the thirtieth step indicates above-average talent, the fiftieth step indicates rare talent, the eightieth step indicates one-in-ten-thousand talent, and reaching the top signifies monstrous talent. The standard for true disciples is the fiftieth step, but if you can reach the eightieth step, you can skip the remaining tests,” Li Fadu explained patiently.
“I see,” Lin Feng realized.
“Then the ancient disk on the right is for testing fortune?”
“Correct.”
Li Fadu nodded and explained again: “Like the Ascending Sky Steps, this ancient disk is a superior grade spiritual instrument called the Destiny Dao Disk. You just need to place your hand on the disk, and the yin and yang fish will rotate on their own, connecting to the heavens and the earth to measure your fortune.”
“How is it determined if one meets the standard?”
“Fortune is divided into nine colors, with gold at the top and white at the bottom. The standard for true disciples is to reach the fifth color, with the fortune column not less than ten zhang high.”
“I understand,” Lin Feng nodded repeatedly.
Li Fadu suddenly lowered his voice, reminding him: “The combat strength test involves challenging a true disciple from the same peak and lasting at least ten moves! I suggest you choose Lin Mubai. Although he has an Innate Dao Bone and is at the Earthly Origin level of cultivation, he is definitely the easiest option compared to the others.”
This coincided with Lin Feng’s own thoughts.
Although Qingning’s realm was not much different from his, Qingning had a contracted beast!
Contracted beasts are often considered part of a cultivator’s strength and can be included in the test.
Undoubtedly, with Xiaobai’s strength comparable to that of a Heavenly Origin cultivator, that tiger could swallow him whole!
This meant that facing Qingning head-on was not a winning strategy for him.
Lin Feng had personally experienced Jiang Lianyue’s prowess, and without the help of Old Man Tianji’s soul power, he could at most withstand three moves.
As for Jiang Chen…
Lin Feng’s mouth twitched after he recalled the sword that had leveled Lingshan Town.
Without a doubt, he would be defeated in one move!
Compared to this, Lin Mubai was indeed the best choice.
“Of course, if you exceed the standards in either of the first two tests, you can choose to skip the combat strength test. That’s the safest way,” Li Fadu added.
“Thank you for the reminder, Elder!” Lin Feng thanked him with a bow.
Although he was full of confidence, he did not want to face a madman again. After all, madmen are brutal and should be avoided!
After giving Lin Feng some time to mentally prepare, Li Fadu once again gathered his vital energy to shout:
“The test begins. Ascend the sky steps to test your talent!”
With this announcement, everyone from the high ranks of the Jiuyan Sect to the ordinary disciples watched eagerly.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Lin Feng approached the Ascending Sky Steps.
With a calm expression, he took a deep breath and then stepped onto the staircase.
Without even breaking a sweat, he quickly ascended thirty steps!
“Not bad. By observing his breathing, I see that he should at least reach fifty.”
Gu Changqing nodded. “Junior Sister, this Lin Feng has some real substance.”
“Bullshit!”
Xiao Hongyi had yet to reply when Lin Mubai interjected: “I knew from the beginning that Eldest Senior Brother leaped up eighty jade steps without even a change in his complexion! That’s what you call real substance!”
Gu Changqing’s face darkened.
“Sect Master Senior Brother, please forgive him, you know how Mubai is…” Xiao Hongyi forced a smile while rubbing her temples.
“Hmph!” Gu Changqing turned away.
As the Sect Master, it was indeed beneath him to argue with a madman in public.
While he looked away, Lin Feng had already reached the seventieth step.
This gave Gu Changqing something to say, and he laughed: “Junior Sister, it seems Lin Feng might reach the eightieth jade step. Such talent is one in ten thousand. The Ninth Peak has found another treasure!”
“Hmph, ignorant!” Jiang Lianyue scoffed.
“What’s so great about eighty steps? That’s Lin Feng’s limit. When Eldest Senior Brother was tested, he reached the eighty-ninth step!”
Gu Changqing’s face darkened again.
Why was he always being rebuked by madmen?
“Sect Master Senior Brother, please forgive her, you know how Lianyue is…” Xiao Hongyi tried to smooth things over again.
Helplessly, Gu Changqing had to turn away again.
As he expected, although Lin Feng was showing signs of fatigue, he still managed to reach the eightieth jade step.
“Good!”
Gu Changqing clapped his hands, becoming excited.
The Jiuyan Sect had gained another disciple with one in ten thousand talent, which was definitely a blessing for the sect.
In his excitement, he turned to congratulate Xiao Hongyi, only to see Qingning smiling at him.
“Sect Master, what did you want to say?” Qingning asked.
Gu Changqing swallowed his words.
“Junior Sister, congratulations!”
Zhang Lingfeng, Sword Peak’s Master, insensitively joked: “Congratulations to Junior Sister for gaining another ‘normal’ disciple!”
“Master Zhang, your words are not right,” Qingning blinked her big eyes and retorted just as quickly.
“Although I have just returned to the sect, I have heard about your Earthly Origin realm disciple who surrendered after being frightened by a single sword from Eldest Senior Brother. In my opinion, it’s Sword Peak that seems a bit abnormal in its strength.”
Zhang Lingfeng’s mouth twitched.
Although Xiao Hongyi intended to keep it quiet, the Jiuyan Sect’s higher-ups were basically aware of Qingning’s madness.
And since Sword Peak had lost to Ninth Peak in a recent exchange, Zhang Lingfeng had already been struggling to hold his head high, and now being reminded of it was indeed embarrassing.
Jiang Chen, on the other hand, was speechless.
Every time he wanted to retort, Jiang Lianyue and others would speak first.
This left him with nothing to say!
At this moment, he just wanted to ask who was really the villain?
Why didn’t he even get a chance to make an appearance?
As for Xiao Hongyi, she was even more speechless.
Although she wasn’t in the right state of mind, she had been paying attention to Lin Feng all along.
When Lin Feng reached the eightieth jade step, she also praised him in her heart.
But this praise only made her more dizzy.
Not only that, but even the praise from others towards Lin Feng sounded extremely grating to her!
Just then, the Weapon Peak’s Peak Master leaned in and said, “Junior Sister, this Lin Feng is indeed impressive! Not only does he have exceptional talent, but also…”
“Shut up!!” Xiao Hongyi’s gaze turned icy.
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