"He did it!" Xu Lan almost jumped for joy when she saw the "Fourth" appear beside Li Yun's name. Until the last moment, she hadn't lost hope in him, and now she felt proud of her judgment.
"How could this be possible?" Zhu Mi muttered in shock and astonishment. She couldn't believe her eyes. It seemed impossible to her that, with all the odds stacked against him, he was still able to enter the fourth floor while others couldn't achieve such a feat.
Xu Lan only smiled with satisfaction and nodded to herself, thinking she had finally found a worthy genius to join their alliance.
"Let's go," she said to Zhu Mi as she began leaving the outer sect.
Zhu Mi looked at Xu Lan with wide eyes. "Aren't you going to invite him?"
"Now is not the right time," Xu Lan said, her eyes shining with brilliance.
Zhu Mi didn't understand why they were leaving when such a monstrous genius had just been uncovered, but she didn't complain and quickly followed behind. If not for Xu Lan, she might not have even come to this place.
---
"This kid... He did it. He achieved the imposition!" Peak Master Zhi uttered in shock as she looked at the name on the list. She couldn't believe something that couldn't be achieved by geniuses like Zhao Tian and the others had been accomplished by someone with no bone frame and only the 1st level of the Qi Training Realm.
All this seemed impossible, like a fairy tale, and yet the glaring truth was right in their faces.
"It is indeed a miracle. For someone with no bone frame to achieve this feat, especially for a nominal disciple like him," Peak Master Lu praised Li Yun for his achievements, but everyone could tell it was a sarcastic remark.
"Hahaha. It's very funny. To see a disciple create history in our sect should make me proud, but at the moment, I only feel pity," Peak Master Meng sighed. His heart ached at the thought that if Li Yun had possessed a higher-level bone frame, things might have been different.
"What do you people know?" Elder Qin grumpily replied, seeing their disappointment. "Li Yun, even with no bone frame and only the 1st level of Qi Training, could clear the third floor and enter the fourth floor. Don't you see his potential? What would happen if he had a higher cultivation with better martial techniques?"
Peak Master Shi shook his head. "You may be right. He might one day do even more impossible things with his potential, but his lack of bone frame will be his biggest obstacle. Without a bone frame, he cannot cultivate Qi. In fact, it's a miracle that he even has the cultivation of the 1st level of Qi Training. Who knows how long it will take him to increase his cultivation level, or if he can even increase it?" Disappointment clouded his face as he spoke.
"You don't understand at all," Elder Qin shouted lightly, seeing their attitude towards Li Yun, and shook his head.
"I do believe Li Yun will be a boon for the Mystic Cloud Sect, and I believe it won't be long before his name soars throughout the entire sect and the Greenwood Empire."
At that moment, someone gave Li Yun a very high praise that surprised the palace masters present. Turning around, they saw it was the rarely spoken Peak Master Jia of the Glacial Frost Peak.
"Peak Master Jia, you have overpraised Li Yun too much," Peak Master Meng sneered.
"This is what I believe; it has nothing to do with what you or anyone else thinks," Peak Master Jia said with her ice-cold expression.
Peak Master Lu wryly smiled and turned to Elder Zhao. "How long until the end of the assessment?"
"Around twelve hours," Elder Zhao replied.
Peak Master Lu nodded and walked back. "This isn't worth my wait. I will send an elder here at that time." He didn't forget to turn around and smirk at the other peak masters. "See you losers at the Outer Disciples Ranking Competition happening this time."
After saying that, he disappeared and left the outer sect.
"I guess I will go too," Peak Master Shi said before also leaving soon after.
"Peak Master Zhi, don't forget to inform us which peak decides to take Li Yun in. Since he is practically a core disciple now, he has to join a peak as well," Peak Master Meng said as he left.
At this moment, only four peak masters remained. Peak Master Yun of the Pill Sky Peak, who had not commented since he arrived, was an old man with a white beard down to his stomach. Among the peak masters, he seemed the oldest of them all.
The other three were Peak Master Zhi of Serene Waterfall Peak, Peak Master Huo of the Blazing Sun Peak, and lastly, Peak Master Jia of the Glacial Frost Peak.
Elder Qin sighed when he saw this and felt very disappointed. It had been so many years since a genius of Li Yun's caliber had arrived at the sect, and yet, when such a disciple finally appeared, he did not receive recognition from the seven peaks. This situation drove Elder Qin crazy.
"Elder Qin, don't think too much. Some things are bound to happen," Elder Zhao said with a profound look.
Elder Qin nodded and didn't dwell on it. He believed that if Li Yun was truly a once-in-a-generation genius, there was nothing that could stop him from soaring through the outer sect.
---
Inside the cave of the Combat Pagoda, all the disciples surrounding the Combat Pagoda were watching with wide eyes. They were as shocked, if not more, as the disciples watching from outside the cave.
"Isn't Li Yun supposed to be the weakest of us with no bone frame? Can someone explain how he accomplished this?"
"Am I dreaming or what?"
"Is this a joke? Are we supposed to believe this?"
"Damn, he's a tiger in pig's clothing."
The disciples began to murmur among themselves, astonished. It was one thing if someone like Lie Hua with a superior grade 5-star bone frame had entered the fourth floor, but someone like Li Yun, who had no bone frame, achieving it made one wonder how he accomplished such a feat.