Xu Ning arrived at the waiting area.
A shed was temporarily built here, with tables and chairs inside.
There was water and food on the table. Obviously, the village had taken into account the candidates becoming hungry or thirsty.
When Xu Ning arrived at the waiting area, there were already more than ten people here.
Among them was Tao Jingxing's granddaughter, Tao Ye's sister, Tao Jin.
Xu Ning knew of Tao Jin because of her reputation. She was second only to Tao Qingyuan in the Tao Village. She was also a powerful character.
Xu Ning greeted some of his acquaintances and also nodded towards Tao Jin.
Xu Ning then found a place to sit down and stopped talking.
Although he had passed two assessments, the final result had not yet been determined. It was too soon for everyone to relax.
"Xu Ning, you came earlier than me?"
Tao Qingping, who had just passed the assessment, also came over. He was surprised to see Xu Ning appear here before him.
Tao Qingping seemed to think of something. He slapped his forehead and said, "Oh right, your Gale Knife Technique is in the intermediate realm. You must have passed the assessment faster than me."
"You are not bad either. You have already passed two assessments. You are also one of the best among the Tao Village young generation."
Xu Ning said some polite remarks.
Tao Qingping exceeded Xu Ning's expectations. When compared to when Xu Ning first saw Tao Qingping, he looked even more inconspicuous than now.
'How impressive…'
When Tao Qingping saw that there was water, he poured himself a cup of water and sat next to Xu Ning.
He glanced at the information sheet in Xu Ning's hand subconsciously.
In the internal skill column, Xu Ning put down muscle bone realm.
Tao Qingping's eyes widened. He thought he had misread, so he took another closer look.
"Muscle bone realm?"
Tao Qingping looked at Xu Ning and tried his best to lower his voice. "It's been less than two months since you have started to practice the Spring Breeze Tactic, but you have already reached the muscle bone realm?"
"I just got lucky."
Xu Ning smiled without explaining too much.
Tao Qingping felt quite uncomfortable seeing Xu Ning like this.
His family spent a lot of money on his cultivation, and even gave him an expensive spirit medicine just for him to enter the Black Armored Guards.
After practicing day and night, coupled with the blessing of the precious spirit medicine, he was barely able to reach the practice realm.
But Xu Ning was already in the muscle bone realm.
"Intermediate Gale Knife Technique, muscle bone realm Spring Breeze Tactic…"
Tao Qingping had realized that Xu Ning had already caught up with the two top geniuses of the Tao Village, Tao Qingyuan and Tao Jin.
'So strong…'
Tao Qingping kept muttering in his heart.
It wasn't just Tao Qingping, Tao Jin, who was sitting close to them, also overheard the conversation between the two.
Tao Jin's face changed slightly. She glanced sideways at Xu Ning calmly.
In less than two months, he had cultivated his Spring Breeze Tactic to the muscle bone realm. Even Tao Qingyuan had not achieved this kind of cultivation speed.
Tao Jin knew of Xu Ning because her grandfather Tao Jingxing praised Xu Ning's courage to risk his life to save others. Thus, Tao Jin's impression of Xu Ning was that he was "courageous".
But now, she had another impression of him.
Genius.
A genius comparable to Tao Qingyuan.
Tao Jin's heart began to feel a little uneasy.
At this final moment, the powerful characters emerged one by one.
'Regardless, I am only 18 years old this year, and I have achieved the intermediate realm in my external skill, and my internal skill is in the mortal realm third stage. In the Tao Village, no one can beat me except for Tao Qingyuan.'
When she realized that someone was gradually catching up with her, she began to comfort herself.
'The difficulty of leveling up an internal skill increases with each realm promotion. I am only one step away from the moral realm fourth stage. Once I break through, Xu Ning and the others will be no match for me, even Tao Qingyuan will be left behind…'
Tao Jin clenched her fists.
Xu Ning was sitting on the side. He vaguely felt that Tao Jin, who was next to him, was acting a little strange.
He noticed that Tao Jin kept staring at him.
Xu Ning turned his head to look at Tao Jin. He saw that her expression had slightly changed, as if she was holding back her emotions.
After lowering his head, his fists clenched again.
'She must have heard the conversation between Tao Qingping and I…'
Xu Ning guessed the reason. He was just confused as to why Tao Jin had such an unusual reaction.
The two were not close friends with one another, even though they knew of each other, they had never spoken to each other before.
Now that Tao Jin realized how fast Xu Ning was advancing through the realms, she became a little…
'Uncomfortable?'
Xu Ning suddenly felt that he was worrying too much.
Perhaps Tao Jin was really thinking about the next assessment.
Xu Ning didn't think too much. He continued to wait for the examiners with Tao Qingping.
Another half hour had passed.
At this point, there were nearly 40 candidates in the waiting area.
There were more than 200 candidates participating in the assessment today, about 20% of those candidates passed the first two assessments—the elimination rate was relatively high.
'The notice stated that the number of talents that the Black Armoured Guards would select this time is 20. In other words, in the final qualification assessment, nearly half of us will be eliminated…'
Xu Ning thought in his mind.
At this moment, another Black Armored Guard came.
"Congratulations everyone."
The Black Armored Guard said, "Next, follow me for the last qualification test."
40 candidates lined up and walked towards the center of the school field.
A wooden shelf had been set up there. Xia Yuanxing and the Tao Village clan elders were sitting around it.
They were going to spectate the final assessment..
"Tao Jin, you look a little nervous."
It was Tao Qingyuan who said that. With his aptitude, he should pass the assessment easily.
"Not nervous, just a little curious about the format of the test."
Tao Jin was in front of Tao Qingyuan.
Tao Qingyuan listened and didn't respond.
Although he knew that Tao Jin had always regarded him as her greatest enemy, in Tao Qingyuan's own mind, Tao Jin was just a sensitive sister.
"Xu Ning, I'm a little nervous."
Tao Qingping said to Xu Ning.
He had passed the first two assessments, but the process of passing them was difficult and dangerous. If he had been careless, he would have been eliminated.
Tao Qingping felt like he had mediocre talent at best, so his heart began to race to the thought of the upcoming test.
"Relax."
This was the only thing Xu Ning could say.
In fact, Xu Ning also thought the same.
His predecessor had worse martial arts talent than Tao Qingping. He hadn't even achieved the elementary realm after practicing the Gale Knife Technique for years.
Whether he could pass the third assessment was still uncertain.
But Xu Ning's mentality was better than Tao Qingping's.
Even if he failed the assessment, he would just have fewer resources, which would slow down his progress. It would just be a tiny setback.
With the Martial Arts Panel, his future path was still bright.
"Sit down cross-legged."
The Black Armored Guards gave everyone an order.
Xu Ning sat down with everyone.
They were surrounded by clan elders and Black Armored Guards, and in front of them was a shelf, but at the moment there was nothing on it—it was empty.
Soon, several Black Armored Guards carried an object that was covered by a piece of cloth.
The object was huge. It had a round outline, making it look heavy. Even the Black Armored Guards had a tough time carrying it.
Dang!
The object was placed on the shelf.
"Captain Xia, what is this?"
The question was asked by Tao Jingxing.
Yesterday, the Black Armored Guards had already delivered the tool for measuring aptitude to the Tao Village.
But this tool had been hidden the entire time, so none of the Tao Village elders could guess what it was.
Xia Yuanxing smiled and did not respond immediately. "Clan Head, you will know soon."
"Let's start."
Xia Yuanxing gave out an order.
The deputy next to him took out a metal can and a feather.
He walked to the first candidate. "Look up, open your eyes."
The candidate was confused, but he followed the instructions.
The deputy dipped the feather into the metal pot and lightly pressed it against the candidate's forehead.
Then, he moved on to the next person.
'What the hell is this?'
Xu Ning was puzzled.
Xu Ning wasn't the only one that was confused, as Tao Qingyuan and Tao Jin were equally confused.