Chapter 37: Disciple Assessment

Chapter 37: Disciple Assessment

Shen Lian hid the emotions in his eyes and went back to his usual self. He stood among the crowd, trying his best to make himself less noticeable.

But Shen Lian still noticed a gaze and looked toward the spectator seats not far away.

Zheng Huifeng was nodding at him.

Even so, seeing a friend show up at a time like this put Shen Lian at ease. He smiled and nodded back at Zheng Huifeng.

Zheng Huifeng sat back down, and a cultivator beside him nudged him with an elbow. "Something up?"

Zheng Huifeng coughed. "Keep your voice down."

The cultivator beside him, Wang Lin, grinned. "So there really is something going on?"

"Don't read too much into it. Right now, it's just me liking him," Zheng Huifeng said, then warned seriously, "He doesn't know yet."

It was one thing for him to like Shen Lian, but he didn't want to burden him with it.

Wang Lin clicked his tongue. "Well, well, our great genius Zheng finally got some sense knocked into him after falling in love."

Hearing that, Zheng Huifeng cut him off. "What genius am I? The real genius is that one—the guy sitting in the examiner's seat."

Zheng Huifeng's gaze shifted to the examiner's platform, only to see the man in pure white, cold and aloof, lift his eyes and meet his gaze head-on.

A chill went down Zheng Huifeng's spine.

But since Yan Huaixuan was his senior, it wouldn't be right to look away, so he steeled himself and clasped his hands toward him with a forced smile.

Only then did those cold, indifferent eyes look away.

Wang Lin noticed his expression suddenly turn grim. "What's wrong?"

Zheng Huifeng waved a hand. "Nothing."

But inwardly, he couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. As expected of a genius—just one glance carried so much oppressive pressure that it felt like a hand was squeezing his insides, leaving him frozen in place.

Meanwhile, Shen Lian held his token, ready to take the assessment with the others.

The first round was, naturally, the talent test.

It immediately weeded out around a thousand people.

Shen Lian unexpectedly got a decent talent rating.

Immortal, Heaven, Earth, Mystic, Yellow—

Shen Lian's Earth-grade talent made him stand out, and a lot of eyes in the arena landed on him.

And when they got a look at Shen Lian's face, they couldn't look away.

A beauty like that, and with such high talent—plenty of people were already starting to get ideas.

Shen Lian couldn't keep a low profile now even if he wanted to.

Just as some people were about to go up to Shen Lian to chat him up, a chill ran down everyone's spine.

The next moment, they were dumped into an open clearing.

A voice rang out above their heads.

"Second round."

"Cross the bridge."

Just two words. At that, the white mist in front of them parted.

All around them were ferocious, terrifying beasts, and beyond them, everyone could see a rift—a bottomless abyss. Spanning the two sides was only a rope as thin as a finger.

On it was written: Void Bridge.

Everyone immediately understood that to cross the bridge, they'd have to get through the beasts first.

Shen Lian tightened his grip on Chen Xue. This was his first real fight.

But he didn't back down. He raised his sword and charged.

He was up against an ugly thing that looked like a mutated crocodile.

It immediately reminded Shen Lian of something.

But right now, he didn't have the chance to let his mind wander.

The beast was slow, but its bite was incredibly strong, and its body was massive.

Shen Lian could land hits on it easily, but his attacks did nothing against its tough hide, only leaving a few scratches.

He even nearly got caught in its jaws. Luckily, he rolled away just in time, but the beast's tail still caught him in the gut, sending him flying several meters back.

Above the clouds, the examiners and some disciples were watching the action.

They naturally paid extra attention to Shen Lian, the one with decent talent, and saw him get knocked around by the beast.

Cold sweat broke out on Zheng Huifeng's forehead.

The examiners whispered among themselves. "This kid has talent, but no combat experience. With his current cultivation, dodging a mutated crocodile beast should be a piece of cake."

Seeing Shen Lian lower his head and spit out a mouthful of blood, Yan Huaixuan's hand, which had been holding his teacup, paused almost imperceptibly.

Only when Shen Lian pushed himself back up with his sword did Yan Huaixuan go back to sipping his tea. No one noticed the other hand hidden in his sleeve clench slightly.

With one battle under his belt, Shen Lian got much quicker. Not only could he easily dodge the crocodile beast's attacks, he also found its weak spot.

Its eyes.

Every time he attacked it, the beast would instinctively pull its head back.

Shen Lian seized the moment. This time, when the crocodile beast charged, instead of dodging, he flipped onto its back and mounted it.

Zheng Huifeng broke out in a cold sweat without realizing it.

Yan Huaixuan's gaze also faltered slightly.

The moment Shen Lian mounted it, the beast started thrashing its head wildly. Shen Lian seized the chance, raised Chen Xue with both hands, and brought the sword down in one clean strike.

It pierced straight through the crocodile beast, from its left eye to its right eye.

Blood splattered onto Shen Lian's face.

Shen Lian didn't dodge. Instead, he squinted, slowly reaching up to wipe a streak of blood from his face—it looked starkly vivid against his pale fingertips.

This was Shen Lian's first battle, but it wouldn't be his last.

By now, Shen Lian was drenched in blood from head to toe, his silver-white disciple robe unrecognizable.

Yet Shen Lian felt good about himself right now.

Out of habit, he ran a hand through his hair, then lifted his sword and slowly continued forward.

Above the clouds, the examiner couldn't help but remark, "Not bad. His combat skills are weak, but every attack shows improvement."

Someone in the audience also couldn't help but say, "Honestly, when I first saw him, I figured he was just here through connections."

Zheng Huifeng, on the other hand, curled his lips slightly into a smile. He knew Shen Lian wouldn't disappoint.

For some reason, he instinctively glanced toward the examiner's seat and noticed Yan Huaixuan was also watching Shen Lian.

But Zheng Huifeng didn't think much of it—maybe it was just appreciation.

When Shen Lian reached the cliff's edge, the others were in slightly better shape than him, since most had come knowing at least a few people and had formed alliances. After fighting through the beast horde together, they couldn't help but break into smiles.

When they spotted the rope bridge, they let their guard down.

"Crossing the bridge? Easy. We'll just go one at a time."

But when the thick fog on the other side cleared, everyone's smiles vanished.

Because on the other side, there were only twenty advancement tokens.

Meaning, out of the thousand people here, only twenty could pass. Nearby, a stick of incense slowly began to burn.

In that instant, everyone's minds started racing.

Whether they were old friends or newly formed allies, the atmosphere among them all began to grow tense.

Shen Lian, meanwhile, was pondering the name of the bridge. Before he could figure it out, the fighting around him erupted.