Chapter 1305: Ruo Xi, I'm here

The fierce wind whistled as the sacred beast soared through the sky, moving so fast that it left a white vapor trail in its wake.

Zhang Xuan sat in the room on the beast's back, looking at the young man before him and nodding with satisfaction.

The results of the retest were set aside, and everyone, led by Zhao Xingmo, flew towards the Saint Son Hall.

The journey was uneventful. During this time, he meticulously taught Zhang Jiuxiao the Three Swords of Lingxu, along with his profound understanding of the Sword Dao.

As expected of a Zhang Clan genius, his learning ability was astonishing. In just half a month, his comprehension of the Sword Dao had reached the level of Half-True Comprehension. Although still far behind Zhang Xuan's own level, when he wielded his sword, he was already unmatched among the other examinees!

Not only that, his cultivation had also smoothly broken through to the peak of the Primordial Spirit Realm. With this strength, coupled with his sword intent, even a head-on confrontation with Sun Qian, Ma Minghai, and others would not put him at a disadvantage.

If the former Zhang Jiuxiao could barely pass the Saint Son Hall's assessment, now, among the numerous geniuses, he could definitely rank and be considered a prominent figure.

Once a person's strength reaches a certain limit, progress slows down significantly. It's like a 100-meter dash: improving from thirteen seconds to twelve seconds is easy, but going from 10.3 seconds to 10.2 seconds increases the difficulty many times over.

Zhang Jiuxiao was exactly in this situation. His talent was already good, and with his own cultivation methods, even a slight improvement was difficult. For him to have such a massive breakthrough in half a month, if word got out, it would undoubtedly leave countless people speechless with shock.

It was a miraculous feat, a technique only possible for a 9-star Master Teacher.

"Limitless Wanderer has finally reached the second level!"

While guiding Zhang Jiuxiao, Zhang Xuan hadn't been idle either. In half a month, he integrated the movement techniques he had learned with the Heaven's Path Movement Art, finally forming the second level of the Heaven's Path Cultivation Technique, Limitless Wanderer, and successfully mastered it.

However, on the beast's back, he couldn't test it, so he didn't know the exact effects of this move.

Not only had Limitless Wanderer reached the second level, but his cultivation at the peak of the Primordial Spirit Realm was also completely consolidated. His primordial spirit within his body seemed ready to leap out at any moment, preparing to break through to the Half-Spirit Separation Realm.

Of course, his greatest progress was in his sword art.

Having comprehended the true essence of the Sword Dao and combining it with the sword moves from the Three Swords of Lingxu, his understanding of the sword far surpassed that of other weapons. Not to mention the Lingxu Sword, even the former Ice Rain Sword in his hands could unleash power far beyond ordinary.

Previously, he could at most fight to a draw with someone at the early Domain Realm. Now, as long as he used a sword, he could easily overwhelm them.

"The most important thing now is to gather more sword techniques to compensate for the flaws in the Three Swords of Lingxu. Once it forms a Heaven's Path Cultivation Technique, my combat power will definitely skyrocket again!"

He sighed and stood up.

The Three Swords of Lingxu were indeed terrifyingly powerful, but they had too many flaws. For a perfectionist like him, it was truly difficult to cultivate them further.

It seemed he could only enter the Saint Son Hall to find more secret manuals, complete the Heaven's Path Cultivation Technique, and then properly study it.

Throughout the journey, he and Zhang Jiuxiao continuously cultivated. Ma Minghai, Sun Qian, and others were not idle either; they seemed to have been spurred on, cultivating even more diligently.

Although their strength hadn't significantly changed, their aura and temperament were noticeably sharper than before.

"A gem unpolished will not shine. These individuals are all geniuses from their respective factions. Having been challenged by Master Teacher Zhang once and realizing the gap, it's a good thing for them…"

Witnessing this scene, Zhao Xingmo nodded in satisfaction.

Those chosen by him were almost all the most talented and immensely proud individuals from their respective factions. Having been severely defeated by Zhang Xuan, they were inwardly unwilling to accept it. For the past half month, they had all cultivated assiduously, striving to surpass him soon and wash away their past humiliation.

"Master Teacher Zhao, what is the final assessment for the Saint Son Hall? It won't be another battle, will it?"

As he was musing, a Master Teacher asked.

He turned his head to look; it was Sun Qian.

Hearing this, the others also stopped cultivating and looked over curiously.

They were about to arrive at the Saint Son Hall, and they were full of curiosity about the final assessment.

"This assessment is much more difficult than the previous initial test and retest. It's not a simple battle!"

Zhao Xingmo hesitated for a moment and said, "It's a comprehensive evaluation!"

"Comprehensive evaluation?"

Everyone looked puzzled.

"The Saint Son Hall is the foremost academy on the Master Teacher Continent. To enter it, your strength, wisdom, adaptability, magnanimity, courage... all will be factored into your score. The difficulty is much greater than the retest!"

Zhao Xingmo continued, "Based on past experience, if there are no surprises, it should be... the Gate-Crashing Challenge!"

"The Gate-Crashing Challenge?"

"Yes, the Gate is an assessment ground painstakingly set up by the Master Teacher Pavilion. It severely tests a cultivator's temperament and strength. To become a member of the Saint Son Hall, you must complete a series of assessments within a specified time. The shorter the time, the higher your score... If you exceed the time limit, you fail and are eliminated!"

Zhao Xingmo stated with a solemn expression.

After half a month of flying, they were already not far from the Saint Son Hall, and announcing the rules in advance was not against protocol.

"These two failed the Gate-Crashing Challenge, but their scores were still decent. That's why they had the chance to become auditing students. Otherwise, they wouldn't even qualify as auditing students!"

As he spoke, Zhao Xingmo pointed to the two young men who had been in charge of the initial test.

"So... by that logic, they are all geniuses who passed the retest?"

Everyone was startled.

Being able to attempt the Gate-Crashing Challenge meant they had passed the retest. Although they also had the chance to attempt it, under normal circumstances, at least a dozen of them should have been eliminated.

In other words, a small portion of the current group had not actually passed the retest.

It was only because of an unforeseen development in the retest that they were fortunate enough to join.

"Yes, they all passed the retest but were eliminated during the Gate-Crashing Challenge!" Zhao Xingmo nodded.

"Master Teacher Zhao, based on your experience, how many of us do you think will pass?" Ma Minghai couldn't help but ask.

"Your talents and strengths are commendable. However, the Gate-Crashing Challenge requires you to compete against geniuses and experts from major powers. The difficulty is incomparable to the previous caged battles. By my estimation, if luck is on your side, around ten people should pass. If luck is against you... perhaps only one or two, or even all of you might fail!"

The Gate-Crashing Challenge is not just an internal assessment for these thirty-plus individuals. It also involves peerless geniuses from alliances, the Sage Clans, and various other major powers...

Strength is one factor, but luck is another. Although these thirty-three individuals are not weak in strength or talent, at most ten will genuinely pass. If luck is bad, perhaps not a single one will be admitted.

Such situations have occurred before.

"Jiuxiao is from the Sage Zhang Clan. He should know a lot about this kind of assessment!"

Seeing that everyone found it hard to accept, Zhao Xingmo turned his head.

"Yes, it is indeed very difficult. Even half of the quota sent by the Sage Zhang Clan each year fails to pass..."

Zhang Jiuxiao nodded.

Although he was from a collateral branch of the Zhang Clan, he still knew quite a lot about the Saint Son Hall and was aware of the difficulty of the Gate-Crashing Challenge.

The Zhang Clan had countless core disciples. Many possessed greater talent and higher strength than him. Even so, many were eliminated each year, so the immense difficulty was imaginable.

"A genius from my branch, Zhang Yunqi, was twenty-eight years old last year, and his cultivation had reached the early Spirit Separation Realm, having overcome one lightning tribulation. With such strength, he was already unmatched among us. Unfortunately, he also failed the assessment and did not pass..."

Zhang Jiuxiao continued.

"Even someone at the early Spirit Separation Realm failed?"

Everyone was stunned.

The strongest among them was only at the Pseudo-Spirit Separation Realm. If even a Spirit Separation Realm expert who had undergone lightning tribulation couldn't pass, didn't that mean none of them could succeed?

"Indeed. However, this assessment isn't determined solely by strength. Zhang Yunqi's younger brother, whose cultivation was only at the late Primordial Spirit Realm, also attempted the Gate-Crashing Challenge and passed... I'm not entirely sure what exactly is being assessed or what the standards are!"

Zhang Jiuxiao gave a bitter smile.

Many Zhang Clan geniuses attempted it every year. Some couldn't succeed even after more than ten consecutive years, while others achieved good results in a single attempt... Without personally experiencing it, it was probably impossible to understand exactly what was going on.

"The Gate-Crashing Challenge has diverse assessments. Even those assessed together might encounter different scenarios. You can only rely on your personal abilities to adapt on the fly. There's no way to train for it, nor can we inform you in advance! The specifics depend on yourselves..."

Zhao Xingmo nodded.

"This..."

Everyone fell silent.

They had originally thought that knowing in advance would allow them to prepare quickly, but hearing this, they realized it wasn't that simple.

That's right. If the continent's foremost academy were so easy to pass, wouldn't it have been overcrowded long ago?

"Actually, there's no need for everyone to worry too much. After entering the Gate, as long as you exert your maximum strength and skill, even if you can't pass, there's still a high chance of becoming an auditing student! As long as you can audit, when the time is right, you can take the assessment again... It's not a one-time elimination where you lose all chances!"

Seeing that after speaking for a while everyone was somewhat scared and nervous, Zhao Xingmo smiled.

Although the Saint Son Hall's assessment was strict, it wasn't a case of having only one chance. As long as one's performance wasn't too poor and they managed to become an auditing student, they could absolutely try again the next year.

Of course, the second assessment would definitely be more difficult than the first... However, to prevent everyone from getting discouraged, he kept these thoughts to himself. Otherwise, if they were too disheartened and lost confidence, and genuinely all failed, he, as the welcoming envoy, would lose all face.

"As long as it's not a direct elimination, that's good..."

Hearing that there was still a chance if they performed well, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"The Saint Son Hall has arrived. Everyone, prepare yourselves. If there are no surprises, the Gate-Crashing Challenge should take place within three days!"

After chatting for a while longer, Zhao Xingmo suddenly pointed forward.

Everyone quickly looked and immediately saw a colossal city standing amidst the mountain range. Around it, there seemed to be massive spirit-gathering arrays, collecting spiritual energy from hundreds of thousands of miles around. Even before they reached it, they felt a powerful, refreshing aura invigorating them.

"This is the Saint Son Hall?"

Zhang Xuan suddenly stood up, his fists beneath his sleeves involuntarily clenching. "Ruoxi... I'm here!"