Chapter 32: Chapter 32 King-level Aptitude
The aptitude testing on the Enlightennt Stone continued, with most disciples who ca to the True Martial Holy Sect having third or fourth class aptitudes, and many also possessing first or second class aptitudes.
Just as the aptitude testing was about to co to an end, everything changed when a young man clad in a black robe placed his hand on the Enlightennt Stone.
Instantly, lines of Tao beca visible on the stone, the patterns emitting beams of golden light that shot straight up into the sky.
“King-level aptitude,” an Outer Sect Elder excitedly declared.
“The last ti we saw a king-level aptitude was ten years ago, if I rember correctly,” an Inner Sect Elder said with a smile.
King-level aptitude was not rare within the True Martial Holy Sect, but it definitely belonged to those with considerable potential and extraordinary talents.
...
King-level aptitude was one notch above first class aptitude.
The young man seed to have known about his talent all along; he was not at all surprised, instead, he proudly basked in the envious glances of the other youths around him.
“What is your na?” an Inner Sect Elder stepped forward and inquired.
“Disciple Yu Bo,” the young man hurriedly answered with respect.
“Would you like to beco my direct disciple,” the Inner Sect Elder asked, “Even if you don’t pass this trial, I can still take you as my disciple if you agree.”
“Thank you, Master. I am willing,” Yu Bo did not stand on ceremony and began to kneel and kowtow imdiately.
The youths nearby were filled with envy, “Just arrived at the True Martial Holy Sect and already taken as a direct disciple by an Inner Sect Elder, Yu Bo’s future is boundless!”
“Brother Yu’s talents are unrivaled, hardly comparable to re mortals like yourselves,” a keen disciple by the side began to butter up right away.
“Zimo, shall we recruit him to our side?” Lin Ruhu asked as he looked at Yu Bo.
“He’s just a jumping clown,” Xu Zii shook his head. In his past life, Yu Bo indeed had a mont of glory, but all he had was talent; his Dao heart was unstable, and ultimately, he faded into obscurity.
As a martial artist, one can work on gradually improving inferior talents; there’s always a way.
But if there’s an issue with one’s Dao heart, then one is unlikely to achieve much in this lifeti.
Therefore, among martial artists, there’s a saying that goes, “If you have an invincible Dao heart, then you have the qualification to beco a strong person.”
After the second stage of the aptitude test was over, everyone rested for a short spell before moving on to the third stage.
The third stage was to test the Dao heart.
The True Martial Holy Sect would create an illusion, and the person who remained lucid the longest within would score the highest in this stage.
If one could remain lucid until the end of the illusion, a full score would be attained.
Generally, there were two types of lucidity: one where the spirit doesn’t fall into delusion from the start, demonstrating a resilient Dao heart; the other is where a person succumbs but manages to extricate themselves from the temptation of the illusion and achieves self-awareness at the last mont—a Dao heart with imperfections, yet teeming with potential, riting a full score as well.
After the brief rest, a young man erged from within the Holy Sect.
The youth was dressed in the special blue robe of the True Martial Holy Sect, his features resolute, and there seed to be a sort of magic in his eyes that could make one lose themselves if looked into for too long.
The Seventh Elder of the True Martial Holy Sect was an Array Master, under whom were five direct disciples, famously known in the martial world as the Ten Thousand Arrays Five Disciples.
These Five Disciples each specialized in different formations: so excelled in killing arrays, others in defense formations, and so in auxiliary formations.
The young man nad Qi Shan was the most skilled in illusion arrays among the Ten Thousand Arrays Five Disciples.
“I’ll be setting the challenge for the third round,” Qi Shan said lightly as he looked at the young n before him, “I’ll lay out a Seven Emotions and Six Desires Formation. Just from the na, you should guess the purpose of this Formation, so I won’t explain further.”
Spiritual Energy surged in Qi Shan’s palms as he began to form Array Seals with his hands, crafting each one, the size of a thumb, from the Spiritual Energy.
He ford the seals at a rapid pace. In just a few breaths, a hundred Array Seals were conjured.
Formations also have a strict hierarchy, similar to the realms of a Vein Practitioner.
Based on the number of Array Seals, ten seals would constitute a first-tier Formation, while one hundred seals belonged to a second-tier Formation.
Once these one hundred Array Seals were set in their strategic positions on the ground, lined up in order, and rged into the Spiritual Energy,
Qi Shan’s hands once again stirred up Spiritual Energy, transforming it into a beam of light that fell into the Formation, which was then instantly activated.
The inside of the Formation was shrouded in a thin layer of mist, making it impossible to see what was within.
Outside the Formation were white streams of Spiritual Energy, forming a circle of light that was both luminescent and mist-laden,
“The assessnt will last a quarter of an hour. After a quarter of an hour, I will dismantle the Formation,” announced Qi Shan.
The new disciples each made their way into the Formation, sitting cross-legged and relaxing their minds, seeking to be in the best state to face the assessnt.
“Let’s go join the fun,” Xu Zii suggested to Lin Ruhu.
He led Lin Ruhu into the Formation and had just settled down when the Formation began to operate.
Layers of mist enveloped everyone.
The surrounding youths were instantly subjected to illusions, but Xu Zii remained unaffected, taking a mont to survey the Formation.
In his view, although it was full of flaws, it was still decent by the standards of a second-tier Array Master.
Xu Zii emptied his mind and allowed the mist to draw him into an illusory world.
If he hadn’t been willing, such a low-level Formation would never have been able to compromise his mind and spirit.
……
All around was a vast expanse of white. Laughter, clear as silver bells, reached Xu Zii’s ears.
Several scantily clad won approached him with a sultry gait, their ample bosoms and long legs exposed, and their black hair billowing loosely behind them as if they had just bathed.
However, before these won could co close, Xu Zii lashed out with a palm strike, dispelling all the illusions.
“How uninspired, cliché. Beautiful won are fleeting; in the end, they’re nothing but skeletons.”
The next mont, thunderous cheers suddenly erupted in Xu Zii’s ears.
He saw himself standing at the summit of the firmant, surrounded by Destiny. He looked regal in a purple robe, his presence monuntal and unstoppable, as if he were the Great Emperor who ruled over the world.
No, he was the Emperor, the mightiest of his era. Countless beings knelt before him in worship.
“Having been reborn in this life, I am destined to ascend the Firmant and beco the Great Emperor. Why should I indulge in these fantasies?” Xu Zii shook his head and shattered the illusions with a punch.
At the next mont, the scene before Xu Zii’s eyes transford.
He beca an ant, crawling between heaven and earth, while ten Great Emperors strode through the air above the summit of the Firmant. Their imperial majesty swept across vast distances, their purples aura spanning ninety thousand miles, holding the sun and the moon, plucking stars from the sky.
“Xu Zii, do you plead guilty?” the ten Emperors challenged him simultaneously, their gazes divine, their statures colossal, shoulders carrying the heavens, feet treading upon clouds. Their oppressive might bore down like the collapse of the nine heavens, leaving Xu Zii gasping for breath.
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