New week, looking for some recommendations and support~~~
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Among the five people beside him, four were at the Body Refinement Ninth Layer, and even at the Body Refinement Ninth Layer Peak. It was no surprise that they could hold out until the end!
But what about Zhou Heng?
He was merely in the late stage of the Seventh Layer of Body Refinement. It was true that by bursting forth with potential, he indeed could have reached the point within three minutes of their arrival, but to say that he could closely follow step by step without any deviation was just too hard to believe.
Furthermore, this young man seemed not to have reached his limit yet!
Hiss, how could there be such a freak, with such a terrifying accumulation of True Yuan Force?
Yet Yu Dongcheng thought too simply; Zhou Heng did not have such profound accumulation of True Yuan Force. Instead, it was the Cloud Flying Step that allowed him to borrow the natural forces of heaven and earth, saving him a great deal of True Yuan Force!
Had there not been the limitations of his body, he could have sprinted at full strength for another hour without any problem.
The Twelfth Layer of Body Refinement was indeed a step by step elevation, completely different in the way it strengthened the body! Zhou Heng glanced at Shen Xinqi and the others; although their breathing was somewhat disordered, none of them were as exhausted as him.
There was no helping it, all four of them were at the Body Refinement Ninth Layer Peak, two levels higher than Zhou Heng in the refining effect, which meant a stark difference in physical strength.
"What is your name?" Yu Dongcheng suddenly asked Zhou Heng.
Seeing the examiner asking only for Zhou Heng's name, Shen Xinqi and the others all showed a hint of resentment, but now they dared not offend the examiner; begrudging as they might be, they had to suppress it.
"I am Zhou Heng," Zhou Heng replied respectfully yet confidently.
"Mhm!" Yu Dongcheng nodded, etching the appearance of the young man into his memory. Meanwhile, person after person continued to arrive, each with reddened cheeks and breath as coarse as a bellows.
Slap, slap, slap, as soon as these people reached the finish line, they immediately collapsed onto the ground. However, knowing that it was harmful and not beneficial to fall asleep directly after exhausting a great amount of strength, they struggled to stand up and circulate their cultivation technique to recover their True Yuan Force.
－By the last moments, they had already exhausted their True Yuan Force, completely relying on their body's physical strength to run; it was nearly a desperate struggle.
Three minutes passed quickly, and without hesitation Yu Dongcheng said, "Let's go!"
He turned around, facing a gigantic mountain gate, and after respectfully bowing, he led the youths up the steps. Those who arrived later were blocked by an invisible force, left to sigh longingly.
Many thought of how their families had sent them off in such grand style, yet they couldn't even pass the first trial, and they immediately broke down crying loudly. It seemed contagious; soon there was a chorus of weeping at the gate.
For those who missed this chance, it would be another five years before Nine Spirit Sect would open its mountain gate again, by which time they would be well past twenty and no longer eligible. Not being able to join any of the three great sects meant that they would never be able to embark on the road to ascension in this lifetime. How could this not be a crushing blow?
There was a mysterious force at the mountain gate stopping people from entering, yet it did not stop their cries. Listening to the weeping sounds coming from behind, those who remained also felt bitterness in their hearts, as this was only the first examination, and no one was guaranteed not to be eliminated in the next round!
The mountain was extensive, with rows of houses starting at the foot of the mountain. The higher up one went, the larger and more aesthetically pleasing they became. It was clear that the higher the status of the person, the higher they resided.
"Is this the group taking the examination this year?"
"They don't look very impressive!"
"The highest level of cultivation is only at the Ninth Layer of Body Refinement; none can directly enter the inner gate!"
As they passed by, youths of various ages, from fourteen or fifteen to under twenty, and with cultivation levels ranging from the Fifth Layer of Body Refinement to the Ninth Layer, came out from the houses on both sides.
There were so many at the Ninth Layer of Body Refinement!
Zhou Heng was slightly shocked. Shen Xinqi and the others were geniuses that stood out from over a hundred towns under Fengyu City's jurisdiction, truly one in ten thousand. How was it that in Nine Spirit Sect, they were as common as a handful of beans?
However, hearing these youths' clear disdain, everyone's faces showed anger. In their own towns, they were absolute geniuses; when had they ever been scorned like this?
Yu Dongcheng, however, did not pay any heed, his figure light and floating as he quickly arrived at a place halfway up the mountain, leading the youths into an extremely majestic hall.
"Old Yu, these are the ones who passed the examination?" Another middle-aged man walked over, his figure lean and his face bedecked with a genial smile, seemingly easy to talk to, "One, two, three, four, five, six... only forty-seven in total, alas, the new generations are worse with each passing year!"
Twelfth Layer of Body Refinement!
Zhou Heng was inwardly shocked. As a ruler of a territory, the Twelfth Layer of Body Refinement in Origin Stone Town meant an unparalleled expert; the Zhou Family could only present one such individual! But in Nine Spirit Sect, those at the Twelfth Layer of Body Refinement seemed to be only doing menial tasks, not valued at all!
The others were in better shape than Zhou Heng; they had heard of the reputation of Nine Spirit Sect since they were young and knew how terrifying its heritage was, which was precisely why they were so desperate to be admitted!
Yu Dongcheng nodded slightly, then turned around to the youths and said, "This is Zhu Xun, the examiner responsible for your second trial. Those who pass the second trial will follow Zhu Xun to find the third examiner, and those who fail... come outside and find me!"
Having said this, he strode forward, exited the hall, and stood outside like a javelin.
"Alright, everyone, follow me!" Zhu Xun clapped his hands and led the crowd deeper into the hall, through a training field, and then stopped before a long corridor.
This corridor was quite wide, about three meters from side to side, and a hundred meters long, empty and echoing.
"This is your second assessment, very simple, pass the fifty-meter mark and you'll pass the test, and beyond that, for every additional ten meters you traverse, you'll earn one point. The three individuals with the highest points in the end will receive a certain reward!" Zhu Xun said indifferently.
Not a single person was naive enough to think this corridor would be easy to cross, it surely contained countless mechanisms!
"You now have half an hour to rest!" Zhu Xun was actually quite considerate, not starting the second examination immediately but giving everyone a substantial amount of rest time, "I will demonstrate where the difficulty of this corridor lies!"
Everyone had only recovered some True Yuan Force, and upon hearing this, they quickly sat down to recover once more, while Zhu Xun strode into the corridor.
Bang!
As soon as he set foot inside, the walls on both sides suddenly cracked open to reveal a pair of Copper Men, and bang, bang, bang, pairs of Copper Men sprang out from the walls one after another. Whoosh, whoosh, the first two Copper Men actually swung their arms towards Zhu Xun, punching with whistling force, their power reaching at least the Seventh Layer of Body Refinement!
With a twist of his hands, Zhu Xun effortlessly knocked the two Copper Men aside, as he himself was an expert at the Body Refining Twelfth Layer, and it was quite easy for him to repel a pair of Copper Men at the Seventh Layer of Body Refinement.
Bang, bang, bang!
As he went forward, he fought against the Copper Men on both sides, but although there were many, not one could slow down Zhu Xun's pace. However, when Zhu Xun had walked out fifty meters, the Copper Men here clearly became stronger!
Eighth Layer of Body Refinement!
Further ahead, the Ninth Layer, Tenth Layer, Eleventh Layer, Twelfth Layer!
By the last twenty meters, even Zhu Xun could not deal with it calmly. Although he forced his way through, he ended up in a sorry state, sweating profusely on his forehead.
How terrifying!
Thankfully, just getting through the first fifty meters was enough to pass!
The shock in the hearts of the young talents was followed by a sigh of relief.
Zhu Xun didn't speak again; after pressing a mechanism on the wall, all the Copper Men retracted, and he walked back to wait quietly. Soon, half an hour had passed, and the young talents got up one after another. After such a long time, each of them had more or less returned to their peak condition.
"Let's begin!" Zhu Xun didn't waste words, pointing at someone and reactivating the mechanisms, "You, you're the first!"
As everyone had recovered, it didn't matter much who went first or last. The person didn't dare defy Zhu Xun, nor did he protest about why he had to be the first. He quickly stood up, carefully entering the corridor.
Ten meters, twenty meters, thirty meters, the person parried the Copper Men's attacks while striving to rush forward, but there were simply too many Copper Men. They were everywhere, hemming him in tightly. Bang, bang, bang, he was hit repeatedly, and even a body at the Seventh Layer of Body Refinement couldn't withstand such impacts, and he suddenly spouted fresh blood from his mouth.
Thud, he fell around the forty-meter mark.
Zhu Xun immediately slapped the wall, and all the Copper Men immediately ceased their movement, retracting back into the walls.
"Failure!" he said coldly, walking over to lift the person up like trash and tossed him aside, then pointed to another, saying, "You, you're the second!"
The crowd couldn't help but look at the failed contestant, who was indeed beaten miserably. Fortunately, his bones weren't broken, it was just superficial wounds that are easily healed.
They then breathed a sigh of relief; if failure in the challenge resulted in disability or even death, they would need to reconsider whether to continue.
Zhu Xun reactivated the mechanisms, starting the test for the second person.
Just like the previous, at the Seventh Layer of Body Refinement, but there was a considerable gap in strength. The second person was far more formidable, successfully getting past fifty meters. But he didn't overdo it, promptly halting and asking to exit.
"Passed!"
"Passed!"
"Failure!"
Time slowly passed, more and more entered the mechanism-laden corridor, facing the test of the Copper Men. The pass rate was less than fifty percent, and only a mere two people managed to earn points, and even then, only one point each!
Zhu Xun's gaze swept over the last five people, four of whom were at the Ninth Layer of Body Refinement, the strongest contenders in this assessment, and the last one... late Seventh Layer of Body Refinement, yet he wondered why Yu Dongcheng had specifically asked him to pay extra attention to this individual.
After pondering for a moment, he pointed at Shi Qingfeng and said, "Next, you!"
Taken aback, Shi Qingfeng's face clouded over. Why him? With his strength, he should have been the last stellar performer to appear! Not daring to get angry at Zhu Xun, he could only enter the corridor with a dark expression, secretly resolving to go all out and show everyone just how formidable his strength was.
"Begin!"
Shi Qingfeng strode forward, bang, bang, bang, Copper Men leapt out one by one, only to be easily demolished by him. He quickly crossed the minimum fifty-meter requirement—naturally, a breeze for someone at the Body Refinement Ninth Layer.
"Haha, I will definitely take first place!" he laughed aloud, beginning his assault on the last fifty meters of the Copper Man Array.