Chapter 128: Exam (Part 2)
The elder’s loud cry made the stands fall silent. Many were rubbing their ears, not quite understanding if they had misheard or if the examiner had simply called out the wrong grade.
“The elder didn’t make a mistake, did he? I heard the word ‘jadeite’ correctly, right? Haha, I must be dreaming, pinch me… OW! I said pinch, not hit!”
“Jadeite… how many years has it been since such talents have appeared among the younger generation?”
“The Heavens have blessed the Heavenly Sword Sect!”
After a brief pause, the noise returned. Many elders were breathing heavily with excitement. They could not fail to understand that the appearance of a genius like Xie Qing could be a turning point for the sect.
It was not only about attractiveness in the eyes of young talents but also a potential increase in the average level of disciples!
“Amazing! The Four Great Competitions have been postponed until next year… finally, our sect will show everyone a miracle!” many elders joyfully shouted.
The reaction of the main courtyard disciples was slightly sour. A young man who was much younger than them had received such wonderful and amazing results, so they, as seniors, had completely lost their authority.
As for the reaction of the leading figures, such as Lian Lin, it was more calm than the others. Although this still amazed the girl, she was prepared for such a result.
“Considering that he has the legacy of two main swordsmen in history… it’s no wonder that he has reached such a level of understanding,” Lian Lin thought. She yawned and looked at Xie Qing, who stood proudly alone on the podium: “There’s the bastard. Acting like he’s someone important, but he’s probably already ready to jump for joy.”
Lian Lin smiled and rolled her eyes, reading her younger brother’s mood. And, in general, she was right.
“Jadeite!”
Xie Qing had been preparing for this day for a very long time. He had not slept at night and had trained to strengthen his understanding. It was not easy to reach this level by just reading books.
Practice was needed! Every night, in any weather, his sword shook the air with piercing strikes. His fingers were covered with calluses, but in the end, he achieved success!
“Finally!”
Even the most excellent genius, without effort, will be nothing but garbage. Climbing to the top of the mountain, one must be careful not to be carried away by the wind.
Lian Lin pursed her lips and sighed. Unconsciously, a smile appeared on her face, which did not look as carefree and sleepy as usual.
Rather, this smile gave her a certain adult charm.
“Well done”.
***
Although one could admire Xie Qing’s results forever, this was still an exam. It was necessary to immediately return to the schedule and appoint the next stage.
The participants looked dejected, clearly having lost their fighting spirit. They no longer hoped to have a chance to shine on this exam. It can be said that the scene with Xie Qing was too overwhelming for them.
“Sigh. Now they will probably doubt themselves,” thought the elder examiner, and then looked at Xie Qing, who had looked indifferent from the very beginning – as if it didn’t matter to him: “He is both a blessing and a curse. He will be hated out of envy, but respected for his strength. This is the eternal curse of geniuses.”
When you see someone more successful than you several times… it makes you feel discomfort. And when he is younger than you by several times, it causes envy.
Nineteen years old. It seemed that in the world of cultivation, this was still like a child, but now this child was standing on the stage and blinding everyone around him.
“Well, let’s see what the future holds,” thought the elder and shook her head, then announced out loud: “The second stage of the exam begins. You have to show your best technique and make this mannequin turn dark yellow!”
The audience stirred with interest, eagerly awaiting the performance. It was this round that weeded out those who were unskilled in sword techniques.
“Finally, an interesting show!”
“I wonder what this genius will show this time…”
“I’m even afraid to imagine. I hope he doesn’t cut the arena in half…”
“Hahaha, that’s impossible… uh…”
“Bastard, you raised the red flag!”
Ignoring the overly excited audience, the elder examiner took a token in her hand with the names of the participants. She thought for a moment and called out the first name:
“Li Jun, come on stage!”
“Okay”.
Step by step, a tall man walked onto the stage. He had long chestnut hair and gray eyes. He looked handsome, tall, and muscular.
“This is Li Jun from the Li family! He is considered one of the strongest disciples of the inner courtyard!”
“Oh? He exudes the aura of a cultivator at the fifth stage of Core Formation! Amazing!”
“True! Moreover, his Master is the famous swordsman Elder Chen Lu!”
“Looking forward to the results!”
The mannequin was brought onto the stage. It was two meters tall, looked quite similar to a human, and although it had no facial features, this mannequin was considered high-class. It adjusted to the level of the disciple
Many can forget, but the mannequin had the following levels of damage:
Light green: weak, a small scratch.
Dark green: a minor wound.
Light yellow: deep wound.
Dark yellow: serious injury.
Light orange: almost fatal wound.
Dark orange: fatal wound.
And so, Li Jun found himself in front of the mannequin. He drew his sword from its scabbard.
“This is… the Bright Moon Blade! One of the precious swords of the Li family!”
“Just think, they gave this sword to him! Now it will definitely be fun!”
The Bright Moon Blade. It was a fairly old sword in terms of history. The blade had a silver color that shone brightly. The handle was made of ancient wood, which yielded only to immortal stone.
The peculiarity of this sword was its strength and sharpness. In addition, it strengthened attacks performed from the Sword Aura every time.
“Li Jun… alright, you can attack when it’s convenient for you”.
The man nodded and took a deep breath. He stepped back two steps with his left foot, and two steps to the left with his right foot. He leaned his torso forward at 45 degrees. He held the sword with both hands at waist level, at arm’s length.
“Fuuuh…”
Taking a deep breath, Li Jun’s eyes lit up. He gripped the handle tighter, and then muttered:
“Blessing of the Moon Goddess!”
The elder squinted from the bright silver light. In the vision of each, an image of the moon appeared.
Soon, the blade, which was the source of the light, easily and without problems collided with the head of the mannequin.
Boom!
A muffled explosion sounded, and two small cracks appeared under Li Jun’s feet. He clenched his teeth and swallowed blood, suppressing the recoil with his Qi.
For a split second, silence hung, until the mannequin began to change color.
First, it was light green, and then it darkened. Then light yellow, which did not last long and also darkened.
And so, the mannequin turned light orange. The mannequin was still swaying and the light orange in places darkened, but in the end, returned to its usual state – light orange.
“What a pity…” Li Jun muttered with a sigh.
Indeed. The audience sighed disappointedly. Even though the light orange color was a good result… it was still a pity that Li Jun could not achieve higher results.
Nevertheless, the audience still welcomed his achievements with loud applause. The result was already quite good.
“This is a good result. You have a great future ahead of you, young man!” praised the elder.
“Thank you,” Li Jun bowed and stepped back from the stage.
The next was Bai Lan from the Bai family. He looked proud and arrogant, walking forward with his nose in the air.
“This is Bai Lan… an arrogant bastard. Since his older brother Bai Bai was killed, he has become even more insolent.”
“What did you expect? The Bai family is an ancient family who were subjects of the Golden Emperor in ancient times. They have history behind them and power.”
“Pfft, my cat shit on their history! Just a family of arrogant and greedy idiots!”
The Bai family had high control over spiritual items such as weapons, as well as a high share in the sale of pills and medicinal herbs.
If it were not for the fact that Yu Longfeng strictly regards the concentration of control over any industry on one hand, the Bai family would-be monopolists.
Bai Lan was not deaf and heard all the mockery directed at him. Even though he was overcome with righteous anger, those who sat on the tribune were not pitiful boys from the backyard, so to insult them was more expensive than himself.
He took a deep breath and wiped his forehead, on which a vein had popped out.
“Calm down, calm down. Don’t listen to these lower beings, they don’t understand the greatness of the mountains and the height of the Heavens!”
Having calmed down, Bai Lan waited for the signal from the elder and then drew his sword.
“This is…”
“The Crimson Devil Blade… what a terrible and disgusting blade!”
The Crimson Devil Blade had a dark red color as if blood.
The blade was 80 centimeters long, and had terrible serrations, which, when hitting the body of the enemy, would reduce the chance of survival.
Such swords were mostly considered forbidden because they were more often than not endowed with special charms.
“Hm…”
Bai Lan smiled. He acquired this sword twenty years ago on the black market. In addition to the fact that it had special charms for strength and sharpness, it also had holes for poison on the tips of the serrations.
If this weapon was used in a real battle, the enemy’s chance of survival would be halved.
“Silence!” came the loud cry of the chief elder, who, frowning, looked at the stands: “As long as the sword does not possess devilish Qi, it will be considered suitable for the exam! And now don’t interfere!”
This had a good effect. Everyone fell silent, waiting for the beginning of Bai Lan’s test.
