Chapter Five: The Third Round of Assessment

The second round of assessment was, after all, different from the previous ones. When facing lifeless puppets in combat, achieving the highest "Grade A+" was not as rare as in the first round. Of course, even if it wasn’t as unattainable, it wasn’t something just anyone could obtain. There were years when not a single person managed to reach Grade A+.

Chen Fan completed the second round in a single breath, and the exchange with the instructor and the grading took no more than a few minutes. Upon exiting, the others were naturally astonished. Several disciples from White Cloud Martial Hall hurried over, their faces filled with amazement. Someone asked, “Junior Brother Chen Fan, was that stage really that difficult? How did you…”

Did he fail, perhaps? The young man who was also at the fourth level of martial cultivation looked over in curiosity.

“I passed,” Chen Fan answered directly.

If, with a mastery of subtle martial techniques, he still couldn’t defeat an unfeeling puppet, he might as well go home and plant potatoes.

“So fast?!” The group was shocked.

Chen Fan, not wishing to flaunt himself, didn’t mention he’d earned Grade A+, but simply held up his certificate and turned away. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

He had consumed two essence pills in one day, so he took the opportunity to quietly replenish his energy. It was worth noting that essence stones could rapidly help him restore his inner reserves. However, even though Chen Fan was not short of money, he wasn’t extravagant enough to use essence stones solely for this purpose. Unless absolutely necessary, he preferred to quietly refine his own energy.

Over an hour later, the other disciples from White Cloud Martial Hall completed their assessments one by one. Yet three more were eliminated. Even Chi Liuguang, who had mastered subtle movement techniques, only achieved a Grade B. His agility was impressive, but his attack power was somewhat lacking. Their senior brother, Zhang Fan, received a Grade A-, his strength considerable, and being several years younger than Chi Liuguang gave him an advantage.

By the end of the second round, dusk was falling. The martial academy arranged rooms for the disciples who had passed both rounds, allowing them to rest for the night.

The following morning, Chen Fan and the others were led to a spacious square at the heart of the academy. At this stage, only four or five hundred candidates remained.

Martial artists guarded the square on all sides. The ground was paved with marble, hardly looking like a place suited for combat. At the front of the square stood a colossal jade vessel. Its surface shimmered like liquid, with names flickering upon it. Each name was preceded by a number, running down in dense rows—exactly three hundred names in all.

Zhang Fan pointed out a name in the front rows. “Look, the fortieth name—Zhan Yi. Isn’t that Zhan Yi, one of the top ten young masters of Qinghe County from our own Yan Capital?”

So-called “top ten young masters” were rankings established by enthusiasts, listing the strongest martial artists of the county under forty. Every county had similar rankings. Among the current top ten of Qinghe County, only two were under thirty, one of whom was Li Linliu. Of course, such rankings weren’t entirely accurate, as many geniuses disliked the spotlight and might not even be listed. Still, those who made the list were undoubtedly formidable.

All the top ten were at the sixth level of martial cultivation, but not every ordinary sixth-level martial artist could enter these ranks. Even at the academy, to be ranked among the top ten, one had to be at the forefront of the Bright Moon Pavilion, or even a disciple of the Radiant Sun Hall.

Chi Liuguang’s eyes sparkled as he nodded, “That should be the same Zhan Yi. He’s from the Mengzheng Sect in Yan Capital and has been with the academy for over ten years. They say he has attained unity of spirit and body, just half a step away from becoming a grandmaster!”

Zhan Yi was ten years older than Li Linliu. Though both were among the top ten, and their strength was similar, their natural talent was quite different.

“Look at the twenty-seventh spot—Jian Qianyu. Isn’t he the top young master of Guming County? I heard that two years ago, at thirty-four, he had already become a grandmaster…”

A grandmaster in his thirties was exceptionally young indeed.

At this moment, not only Chen Fan and his fellow disciples recognized familiar names, but also other candidates nearby, all exclaiming in awe. As the martial artists around them identified more names, Chen Fan confirmed that this was indeed a ranking of the academy’s disciples by strength. He wondered, though, how these rankings were determined and what connection they had to the third round.

“Did we come to the wrong place? How are we supposed to take the third round here?” Many shared the same doubt.

Just then, a hearty laugh echoed across the square. Everyone looked up and saw, atop a distant platform, several figures—the leading elders of the academy. An elderly man, exuding an air of immortal grace, smiled at them.

“You are not mistaken. The location for the third round is right here.”

He stood at a distance, yet his voice carried to all corners, clearly amplified by some special technique. At his words, the disciples began to buzz with speculation. Although the square was vast, with hundreds crowded together, it hardly seemed suited for an assessment.

Chen Fan’s gaze drifted toward the high platform, and he soon spotted Ye Wuji. Ye Wuji noticed him as well and nodded slightly.

Suddenly, the elderly man who had spoken leaped high, almost as if walking on air, and floated effortlessly onto the giant jade vessel. Only a martial grandmaster could remain suspended in midair, and the man’s ease revealed he was no ordinary grandmaster; he possessed an aura wholly unlike common men.

Everyone looked up instinctively.

The old man smiled at the gathered candidates and declared, “My name is Mao Wangchen, and I am, by humble fortune, the head of Qingming Martial Academy. The third round of the assessment is related to this vessel.”

This old man was the head of the academy!

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes. His master had told him that to be an academy head, one had to be at least at the tenth level of martial cultivation—a master of the Leaping Fish realm. Such individuals had already stepped beyond the mundane, possessing mysterious supernatural abilities and longevity.

Mao Wangchen smiled at the crowd and said grandly, “This jade vessel is called the Myriad Phenomena Urn. It is a sub-artifact of the Great Myriad Phenomena Urn, the foremost Dao artifact of the Grand Qian dynasty. It possesses unfathomable powers: it can transform all things, and it can draw your very spirits within to undergo a trial in the illusory realm inside, battling fierce beasts!”

“A Dao artifact? Shaping all things? Illusory realm assessments?”

These words left Chen Fan wide-eyed. He had only heard of spiritual artifacts, a grade above treasure weapons, but never of Dao artifacts. In truth, his experience in martial arts was still too shallow for his master to have introduced him to such things. Dao artifacts were beyond the reach of most powers.

“For your third round, you will enter the illusory realm within the Myriad Phenomena Urn and undergo its trial. Only by passing the basic test can your name remain on the list, marking your true acceptance as disciples of the academy! The trial within is matched to your current cultivation and combat strength. Of course, beyond the basic trial, there are higher challenges…”

“This round ends when you ‘die’ in the illusory realm. Should you perish, you will immediately awaken in the real world, with no harm to your body!”

The crowd stared in amazement, astonished and in awe.

“There’s actually such a divine artifact in the academy?!”

“No need to fear injury, and a chance to fight beasts to the death—no wonder the academy attracts so many geniuses!”

Just the opportunity to engage in life-and-death battles without risk, thanks to the virtual world of the Myriad Phenomena Urn, was enough to draw countless talents, not to mention the academy’s other resources.

“No wonder Second Senior Brother insisted on joining the academy even at the cost of conflict with our brothers and master. Such an environment is something our solitary master could never provide…”

Chen Fan shook his head, his heart surging with anticipation. Unlike at the previous Demon-Slaying Assembly, where he had to hold back, here in the illusory realm he could fight without restraint, heedless of life or death—a truly different experience.