The two started to make their way to the sword testing area. They had initially registered at the Sword Testing Hall, which is now the assessment location.
Today, Stellaria City was abnormally alive. Walking down the road, one could see young people dressed as martial artists marching in the direction of the testing hall. 80 to 90% of these individuals were most likely planning to participate in the Zephyr Blade Sect's sect acceptance evaluation. The rest of the people planned to watch the assessment so that when they took it later, they would have a better understanding of it.
Two people in front of Leo appeared to be familiar. They were casually conversing, as if they had nothing to do. Leo also overheard them speaking.
"Brother Valdor, this time's assessment to enter the Zephyr Blade Sect should be in the bag, right?" A martial artist with a massive axe on his back laughed loudly while discussing it with the guy next to him.
The individual shook his head and grinned sadly, and said, "It's hard! This is my third time failing. If I continue to fail, then I can probably only attach myself to a small clan."
Leo glanced over at the person, who was likely also a swordsman, and He gave off a sense of warmth.
"No way," the surprised warrior said upon hearing the swordsman's comments. "It has been said that you have already attained the third degree of peak body refinement. Is it possible that the Zephyr Blade Sect has such a high entrance requirement? I am new to taking part in assessments like this one. Could you, Brother Valdor, kindly offer me some counsel?"
"It's true that I'm at the third level of body refinement, but I will be twenty years old in a few months. In addition to your strength, the Zephyr Blade Sect assesses your age. If I were a year younger and had peak body refining third level strength, I may have adequate self confidence. Unfortunately, when I took the evaluation, I had only just completed the body refining third level and was disqualified."
Speaking of which, Valdor, the swordsman, appeared to be depressed. He began participating in the evaluation when he was sixteen and did not skip a single year. Unfortunately, he was usually missing by a small margin.
"Just becoming an outer disciple has such high requirements? The Zephyr Blade Sect is such a large sect that I would imagine that they need quite a few outer disciples. With such a stringent requirement, then I'd think that even with all of Stellaria City's young martial artists participating in the assessment, not too many people would be recruited, right?" That martial artist said it in disbelief.
That swordsman, Valdor, grinned and added, "That's where you are wrong. It is true that the Zephyr Blade Sect needs many outer disciples, but the martial artists taking part in the examination are not restricted to Stellaria City."
After a pause, he continued to say, "You should know, our Stellaria City is not only a city in the Heavenly Martial Empire. There are at least ten cities in all of the Heavenly Martial Empire that are similar to Stellaria City, and as far as I know, the east side's Warflame Empire and the south side's Scarlet Flame Empire are all within the Zephyr Blade Sect's boundaries. I'm not sure if its boundary is even bigger, but think about it. With so many heroes from so many places all coming to participate in the Zephyr Blade Sect's assessment, would they be lacking people?"
The swordsman Valdor's statements stunned the martial artist. Leo couldn't help but be astonished. It was the first time he had heard about the size of the Aetherblade Continent. So the Aetherblade Continent was indeed this big!
Also, this was simply what the swordsman Valdor was aware of. How much larger would it be if he didn't know about the other areas?
Contemplating further, Leo couldn't help but indulge in fantasies. Will there be a day when his might is sufficient to go over the entire Aetherblade Continent?
Regardless, the route must be followed step by step. The first thing he had to do was become an inner sect disciple of the Zephyr Blade Sect. If he could not accomplish this, there was no use in talking about traveling across the continent.
"Older brother Leo, if even this peak body refining third level person isn't able to definitely make it past the assessment, then wouldn't my hopes be even slimmer?" Alden expressed some worry.
Leo smiled softly and added, "Don't worry. Didn't you hear that the assessment considers both your strength and age? He is already twenty, while you are only a few months away from sixteen. How can you stereotype based on that?"
As Leo reassured Alden, the martial artist also recovered from his shock and said to the swordsman Valdor, "I did not think that the world was so big. I was ignorant. Many thanks for your advice. I am now eighteen and have just entered the body refinement third level. What do you think, brother? Will I be able to enter the Zephyr Blade Sect?"
"The hope for an eighteen year old body refining to the third level is not small. Use it well for a while. The assessment does not only assess strength. It also tests the heart, perception, and so on. You will know in a while."
Next, this swordsman, Valdor, gave a few more pieces of advice to the martial artist, as well as a few things that had occurred during the past few assessments. Leo and Alden listened with full attention.
Not long after, Leo, walking behind those two, could see the sword testing hall in the distance.
The surrounding area of the sword testing hall was filled with martial artists. All of the martial artists currently taking the assessment and those who would take it in the future have gathered here. The gathering could be considered rare due to the large number of participants.
Due to the large number of participants, the assessment's first round took place outside in the Sword Testing Hall's square. Passing by many crowds, Leo could see in the square that there were a few strength testing monuments.
The content of the Zephyr Blade Sect assessment wasn't some kind of secret. Just listening in, one would know that the first round's test was testing the martial artist's strength. Leo had known this for a long time. For body refining martial artists, strength was the most intuitive method of demonstrating a martial artist's power.
Leo and Alden arrived a bit early. The assessment began at 10 a.m., and it was not that time yet, so it had not started. Leo stood silently to the side with his eyes closed, composing himself. Alden's eyes wildly looked around, searching for where there were pretty ladies.
Soon, Alden suddenly shook Leo and said with a bit of excitement, "Hey, hey, brother Leo, look quickly! She is here; sister-in-law is here!"
Hearing this, Leo opened his eyes in curiosity. "Sister-in-law? What sister-in-law?"
Looking in the direction that Alden was pointing at, Leo immediately bitterly smiled. Who was the sister-in-law over there? Surprisingly, it was Cassia and Freya arriving. Naturally, they had not walked over but instead had ridden the City Lord Mansion's carriage here. Also, they hadn't come to Leo's area to wait but were directly going to the judging area.
Seeing the direction that Alden was pointing in, the crowd of martial artists next to them immediately looked at Leo and Alden with contempt, filled with disdain. Almost every martial artist in Stellaria City knew Cassia and Freya. Even though almost all of the martial artists in the square regarded them as goddesses, those like Alden with so little face and an openly shouting sister-in-law were actually pretty rare.
Alden was indifferent to the looks of contempt from the people on the side, and Leo did not mind them either. As he was watching the location with Cassia, he noticed that it was not just the two of them getting off the carriage. He originally thought it would be Stellaria City's lord, but unexpectedly, it was actually the old shopkeeper from the Golden Pavilion, Ninth Uncle!
And upon closer inspection, it became clear that Ninth Uncle played the main role, and Cassia and Freya were merely there to support him.
Leo was astonished by the unfolding events. Although Cassia's two attitudes had long convinced him that Ninth Uncle's identity was more than simply that of a Golden Pavilion merchant, he had not expected Ninth Uncle to be able to come as a judge on such an occasion.