"He's indeed very powerful, but he isn't half as good as Senior Brother Su Chen."
Looking at the fading light of the crystal ball, He Jing said silently in her heart.
She had been listening to the discussions in the crowd. She realized that although everyone was amazed by Liu Yang's strong cultivation, he had not entered the Forbidden Stage in the Qi Gathering Realm.
Even though Liu Yang hadn't stepped into the Forbidden Stage, the light emitted by the crystal ball was so bright.
Then how bright the light Senior Brother Su Chen made the crystal ball emit would be?
He Jing was very curious and excited at the same time. She wanted to see Su Chen go on stage as soon as possible.
There were many people who shared her thoughts.
Liu Yang walked into the second formation and came to the actual combat stage.
The discussions in the crowd gradually died down. Everyone wanted to know how long it would take for him to defeat the 30 puppets.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In the formation, the puppets flashed around, tearing through the air, and producing piercing sounds.
Facing the attacks of 30 puppets, Liu Yang remained calm as he wielded a heavy sword made of dark steel.
Every time he swung his sword, the air would explode.
A single puppet was not very powerful, but when thirty of them were combined in an orderly manner, their combat power would increase by dozens of times.
"So strong!"
"What an obvious gap…"
"Is this the strength of a genius? I wonder if I have the chance to reach this stage."
"Is this the strength of a publicly acknowledged genius?"
Some of the disciples who had just joined the Great Mystery Sect got really excited.
The disciples who had participated in the outer sect trial were too far behind Liu Yang.
The other disciples were having an extremely difficult time in the actual combat test. There were even some who were severely injured and were stopped by the monitoring elder.
However, Liu Yang seemed to be able to handle the siege of 30 puppets with ease, and his breathing was stable.
Liu Yang was unable to defeat the puppets in a short period of time. They were well-cooperated, forming a battle formation.
In order to defeat thirty puppets in a short period of time, one had to reach a certain level of attack, defense, and movement techniques.
"Liu Yang is indeed not bad, but if he wants to be ranked first in the Qi Gathering Realm, he still needs a little more work," Elder Wang commented while looking at Liu Yang.
If that was all Liu Yang got, then Liu Yang would be far inferior to Lu Zhen, whom he valued highly.
"Hehe, it's still too early to make a decision," Elder Li said with a chuckle.
As the 30 puppets became more cooperative in attacking, Liu Yang started to struggle.
However…
Just when everyone thought that Liu Yang was going to be injured, he suddenly became extremely agile and withstood the combined attacks of the puppets with more ease.
"This is the yellow-level middle-rank martial art, Flitting Phantasm!"
"I was wondering how he could only be at this level. So, he had been hiding his strength all along."
"With his strength and his perfected yellow-level middle-rank sword techniques, Sky Shattering Sword and Flitting Phantasm, he can barely be considered an ace in the Qi Gathering Realm."
Elder Wang nodded in agreement.
Such strength was worthy of being valued and invested by the elders.
Even so, there was still a certain gap between Liu Yang and Lu Zhen whom he valued highly.
Boom!
The time it took to brew a pot of tea passed.
Liu Yang seized the opportunity and swung his sword at a puppet in front of him.
Cracks immediately appeared on the puppet's body, and it fell to the ground, unable to move.
The way to defeat a puppet was to make it out of action with a strong attack.
Defeating a puppet instantly reduced the pressure on Liu Yang.
Quickly.
Boom!
Another puppet fell.
Immediately after.
The third, the fourth, and the fifth fell…
When all 30 puppets fell to the ground, Liu Yang stood on the spot with his Darksteel Sword in hand. His chest heaved up and down violently as he panted heavily.
Even though he had successfully dealt with the 30 puppets, it was not easy for Liu Yang.
"You've passed the second test!"
The monitoring elder stood up and announced.
"He's not even injured and is just a little exhausted…"
"As expected, there is a huge difference in strength between cultivators of the same realm."
"He has nimble movements. Those puppets can't touch him at all."
"Flitting Phantasm, the yellow-level middle-rank movement techniques! When will I be qualified to cultivate it?"
"He's terrifyingly powerful. I wonder when I'll be able to reach this realm."
…
Liu Yang passed the actual combat test without any injuries, and as expected, it caused a commotion among the outer disciples.
"It's too early to get excited. The show is yet to come."
"That's true. Senior Brother Lu Zhen and Senior Sister Mu Qingxue haven't gone on stage yet."
"Senior Sister Mu Qingxue's strength should be about the same as Senior Brother Liu Yang's. Senior Brother Lu Zhen is the real powerful one!"
"You forgot another person!"
"Hmm? Who else?"
"Senior Brother Su Chen!"
"Senior Brother Su Chen? I admit that he's very charming. Even I, a man, think that he's very handsome. However, appearance has no actual use. Strength is everything!"
"Humph! That's because you don't know how strong Senior Brother Su Chen is!"
"Junior Sister! You've fallen for him! You are only mesmerized by his appearance, but your strength is very different from his. He can help you improve by guiding you, but many senior brothers can also do this. They are just unwilling to give you guidance."
"Hehe, then why don't you give us some pointers? Moreover, Senior Brother Su Chen has already stepped into the Forbidden Stage!"
"Hmm? The Forbidden Stage? Poor you, it seems that you have really fallen."
"Senior brother, have you been in seclusion all this time, or have you just returned from the outside? How come you don't even know that Senior Brother Su Chen has entered the Forbidden Stage?"
"You said that he entered the Forbidden Stage, did you see him attack with your own eyes? You're only at the third level of the Qi Gathering Realm. Can you tell the aura of the Forbidden Stage?"
"I haven't seen it before, but Senior Brother Su Chen has indeed stepped into the Forbidden Stage!"
"That's it. You haven't seen him fight with your own eyes. Who knows where this news came from? Stop spreading the false information."
"Hehe, Elder Xie said it himself!"
"Hmm? What did you say? Elder Xie said it himself?"
In the crowd, an outer sect disciple was staggered by the news.
Looking at the shocked expression of this disciple in front of her, He Jing felt a burst of joy in her heart.
This senior brother whose name she didn't even know actually dared to question Senior Brother Su Chen. This made her very unhappy.
Her friends were also annoyed.
Senior Brother Su Chen held a very high position in their hearts, and they would never allow anyone to doubt him!
The outer sect disciple did not expect that Elder Xie would personally say this.
He dared to question the other outer sect disciples, but he did not dare to question the outer sect elders.
At the same time.
He did not expect that his words would be met with hostility from the junior brothers and sisters around him.
Many junior brothers and sisters who were originally standing with him looked at him with hostility.
Then, they quietly distanced themselves from him, unwilling to get too close to this person who questioned Su Chen.