The cultivators behind the beaten man, upon hearing his words, seemingly looked like the subordinates of the beaten man. Subsequently, more than ten people imdiately released True Qi, charging towards Ding Fan.
"Stop!"
Suddenly, a loud and resonant voice echoed.
At this mont, everyone's minds involuntarily buzzed, then they all stopped and looked back. Two elders leisurely walked towards them.
These two elders were the ones originally hosting the disciple recruitnt assessnt at the front of the square—the plump elder and the tall elder. They were here to find Ding Fan, a cultivator whose startling performance they hadn't encountered in decades.
Not to ntion, the opponent completed the assessnt in less than one incense stick of ti, breaking nearly a century-old record!
How could they not try hard to recruit such a talent?
However, upon reaching the foot of the mountain, they witnessed this scene, their faces full of surprise.
Unexpectedly, such an exceptional talent had a conflict with their sect's disciple. Upon seeing this scene, the plump elder had already decided in his heart that regardless of whether the talented young man was at fault, he would do his utmost to win him over. If such a genius could be recruited as a disciple, it would truly be a grand event.
At this mont, upon seeing the two elders approaching, everyone's face turned extrely respectful, slightly bowing with great respect and saying:
"Disciple pays respect to Elder Xu and Elder Gao."
"..."
The plump elder slightly nodded, then with a displeased expression asked:
"What is happening here?"
Upon hearing the plump elder's words, the previously beaten cultivator disciple respectfully stepped forward, with a sowhat tearful expression saying:
"Elder Xu, Elder Gao, I hope you see clearly, this young man..."
He then thodically narrated the entire situation.
Ding Fan, from the side, could tell that the elder's cultivation was much stronger than his own, evidently an Out-of-Body cultivator, so he did not act rashly and naturally observed.
In no ti, the beaten man finished narrating, then with a face looking quite aggrieved said:
"I hope the elders uphold justice and avenge the disciple!"
After the beaten man finished speaking, instead of awaiting an angry promise from the other party, he received another resounding slap.
Clap!
A crisp sound rang out, at this mont everyone was completely dumbfounded!
The beaten man looked at the elder with a face filled with grievance, not understanding why the elder slapped him. Could it be that his handling of the matter was incorrect?
Should one ignore the blockade of our Dayang Sect?
At this ti, surrounding Dayang Sect disciples also looked at the elder with faces of puzzled shock, really unable to understand why the elder acted this way.
But seeing the elder's sullen expression, no one dared utter a word.
"He is the first disciple to complete the assessnt, what's wrong with that!"
The elder, observing the surrounding people's puzzled gazes, coldly said.
Upon hearing the elder's words, the surrounding people were once again utterly shocked!
First to complete the assessnt?
But wasn't he seen within one incense stick of ti, could it be he completed it even before that?
This was a bit too incredible!
At this mont, the beaten man looked at Ding Fan in shock, speechless for a mont.
The plump elder walked over to Ding Fan, his face clearing the previous sullenness, with a smile, saying to Ding Fan:
"I apologize on behalf of these disciples to the young man, hoping the youth won't take it to heart. I will certainly handle this matter properly and provide the young man with an explanation."
Hearing the plump elder's words, Ding Fan nodded towards the elder without speaking. He himself was not hard, planning to join the sect in the future, better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Seeing Ding Fan's deanor, the plump elder was not displeased by the youth's unspeaking and sowhat aloof attitude. Instead, he held Ding Fan in higher regard, knowing that many disciples would eagerly fawn upon encountering such an opportunity. This person was neither servile nor arrogant, despite his age, he was not simple.
At this mont, everyone was extrely shocked watching Ding Fan and the plump elder's interaction. That was Elder Xu, an extrely high-ranking figure within the sect, speaking on behalf of Ding Fan, yet he maintained such a cool and indifferent deanor, and crucially, Elder Xu was not the least bit upset.
On the contrary, the expression seed to admire Ding Fan even more, how could this be!
This kid is indeed too extraordinary!
However, thinking back, it seems reasonable, taking only less than one incense stick to complete the first assessnt indeed makes him a rare genius.
Elder Xu favoring him seems quite sensible.
After all, this disciple is indeed too outstanding, with such good results in the first assessnt unseen in almost a century!
"Looking forward to your good results in the next round."
The plump elder looked at Ding Fan with a smile in his eyes and spoke.
"I will."
Ding Fan replied directly.
Upon hearing Ding Fan's words, the plump elder gave a slight smile and nodded, then turned and left with the tall elder.
The two elders hadn't walked for long when the tall elder looked at him with so confusion and asked,
"Senior brother, why not directly accept such a good apprentice as a disciple, why let him continue the assessnt?"
Hearing the tall elder's words, the plump elder couldn't help but furrow his brows slightly, then said thoughtfully,
"I just observed this kid up close, and indeed there was no visible True Qi fluctuation on his body. But just now, that captain was at the Early Nascent Soul Stage, and yet he was beaten into that state by this person, which indicates that the other party is definitely hiding his cultivation. Moreover, based on that youth's personality, if I were to ask directly, he might not reveal anything. After all, every cultivator has their secrets. It's best to just watch and wait. In the second phase of the test, his cultivation will naturally beco apparent, so there's no rush."
"I see, senior brother, you are truly farsighted."
The tall elder replied respectfully.
The two then returned to the plaza with smiles on their faces.
...
At the foot of the mountain, with the elder's intervention, the disciples of the Dayang Sect now looked at Ding Fan with admiration, and so even showed a desire to curry favor with him.
After all, such a genius figure would definitely beco a key target for cultivation within the Sect in the future, and his status and position would naturally be different.
For ordinary disciple cultivators, befriending such a future expert would undoubtedly be a huge benefit.
Under the seemingly ingratiating gazes of the crowd, Ding Fan went straight down the mountain, showing no interest in the disciples.
Upon reaching the plaza after the assessnt ended, the results were announced. Unsurprisingly, Ding Fan climbed up the "Cloud Ascension Peak" at the fastest speed and took first place in this round of assessnts.
Though a few from the subsequent five groups also passed the assessnt, none could match Ding Fan's speed.
In the first assessnt, Ding Fan passed with the image of a strong black horse, becoming the center of attention of the entire scene.
However, after the results were announced, Ding Fan was nowhere to be found. By then, he had already left, having no reason to stay there after the announcent, and promptly returned to the inn.
"Did you hear? The first assessnt is over, and a guy nad Ding Fan finished it in less ti than it takes to burn a stick of incense!"
"Really? That's impressive! He must be the dark horse of this assessnt."
"Yeah, I wonder what he looks like. eting him would be such a luck!"
"Ha! et him? He's not soone you can just see! You might not know this, but I heard that the Dayang Sect elder hosting the assessnt slapped one of his own Sect disciples because of Ding Fan!"
"What! No way! That's incredible!"
"..."
For a mont, the focus of all discussions in the inn's first-floor hall was on this disciple assessnt, or more precisely, on the youth nad Ding Fan.
At this ti, Ding Fan had yet to realize he had beco the hottest topic in all of Xueling City.
After a short while, Ding Fan entered the inn, not in a hurry to return to his room. The first-floor hall was relatively crowded, as it's a place for travelers to rest and have tea, gathering many people.
Ding Fan hoped to overhear so information about Zhou Ruoran and others from these people.
He soon found an empty spot and sat down, ordering a pot of tea.
In no ti, Ding Fan noticed that the topics of discussion all centered around the admiration for him, yet no one recognized him. On the contrary, so people even looked at him with a hint of mockery, making him chuckle.
"Look, didn't that kid also participate in the disciple assessnt this afternoon? He's back already, probably scared off!"
"Haha, it's nothing. Not everyone has Ding Fan's strength. It's normal for the weaker ones to get scared back..."
"Heh, such people are simply embarrassing. Look at us; we know ourselves well. We don't have the strength, so we don't put on airs."
"..."
For a ti, many eyes focused on Ding Fan, yet no one recognized him.
Seeing this, Ding Fan couldn't help but find it amusing and chose to ignore it. Before long, the chubby innkeeper quickly approached him with tea, having overheard the discussions around Ding Fan. The innkeeper reverently said to Ding Fan,
"Young master, you needn't mind idle gossip. If you find the environnt here unsuitable, I can arrange a private room for you."
Hearing the innkeeper's words, Ding Fan knew the innkeeper didn't know his na, but this attitude was clearly due to the jade plate on Ding Fan, indicating the innkeeper was shrewd and observant. Ding Fan replied calmly,
"It's unnecessary, thank you."
Ding Fan answered simply.
Everyone observing the scene was taken aback, especially puzzled by the innkeeper's attitude. What idle gossip?
Then, at a nearby table, one of the four cultivators, a sowhat burly one, suddenly stood up and confronted the plump innkeeper, saying,
"How is the innkeeper speaking! Calling what we said idle gossip for that worthless guy?"
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