Assessment begins

The ball of light was not large, only about a foot in diameter, and from the outside, it looked as if it were composed of countless threads.

However, those were not threads, but countless tiny wind blades, just like countless spinning sharp blades that had been forcibly compressed into a ball.

Furthermore, within that sphere, there was a mass of red liquid that was constantly flowing, appearing extremely eerie.

As the sphere flew out, everything in a straight line along the ground, including dead branches and fallen leaves, was pulverized into dust.

As the sphere flew past, the terrifying force of the wind forcibly plowed a deep trench into the ground, whistling straight toward Qi Xin.

Good heavens, Long Chen himself was startled. Xiaoxue had told Long Chen that it had its own ultimate move, and this was the first time it had used it.

"You brat surnamed Qi, you better hold on. Don't you dare die, or else I'll be killed by you," Long Chen prayed incessantly in his heart.

Upon seeing that attack, Qi Xin's Face turned pale with fright. He felt like he was suffocating; he was under a lethal threat.

"Heavenly Water Protection!"

Qi Xin shouted loudly, circulating his Spiritual Qi throughout his body. On the water sphere surrounding him, many eerie patterns immediately emerged, and the entire sphere instantly transformed into a bead covered in markings.

"Boom!"

Just as Qi Xin finished setting up his defense, Xiaoxue's attack arrived, slamming into the water sphere like a meteor.

The world seemed to lose its color, and time appeared to slow down. People felt as if everything between heaven and earth had become unreal.

Suddenly, people let out cries of alarm and began to flee, because the ground seemed to have turned into a tidal wave, rushing rapidly in all directions.

Those who were close by were struck by the waves of earth, instantly spitting out blood as they were swallowed by the earth waves and pushed further away.

For a moment, people screamed in a frenzy, fleeing for their lives. With the point of impact as the core, an open space was blasted out for several miles around.

This open space was perfectly circular. The ground within these few miles had collapsed by a full ten zhang. In the center of this clearing was a deep pit, and across from the pit, Long Chen sat on Xiaoxue's back, staring at Qi Xin on the other side.

At this moment, Qi Xin's hair was disheveled, his clothes were partially torn, and his aura was slightly chaotic. Clearly, the previous strike had consumed a great deal of his energy.

Although he looked down on Qi Xin's character, Long Chen had to admit that Qi Xin was too strong to have withstood such a terrifying attack from Xiaoxue.

One had to know that Xiaoxue's attack was a Fusion of wind and fire. The power unleashed after the two fused could destroy mountains and topple Peaks; looking at the devastation around them, one could tell just how strong that strike was.

Yet, Qi Xin had actually withstood such a powerful attack, and it seemed he wasn't even injured much. This combat strength was truly astonishing.

"How about it? Do you want to continue your performance?" Long Chen asked.

"You… Hmph! If it weren't for your Demonic Beast protecting you, I could crush you to death with a single palm," Qi Xin said angrily.

Although he said this, Qi Xin was also incredibly shocked in his heart. He never imagined that the white wolf would possess such a terrifying attack.

"So what? Didn't I just say that having a Demonic Beast is also a form of strength? By saying that, aren't you admitting that you're not even as good as a Demonic Beast?" Long Chen said indifferently.

"Hmph, having such a powerful Demonic Beast, isn't it just relying on the power of your Family? Only a spoiled brat would show off like this," Qi Xin sneered.

"You can show off too. You can also summon your Demonic Beast to fight together," Long Chen said, shrugging his shoulders indifferently while sitting on Xiaoxue's back.

Upon hearing Long Chen's words, Qi Xin's Face darkened. His mount was only a Rank 2 Demonic Beast.

His Family did have a Rank 3 Demonic Beast, but firstly, it was a precious combat asset that wouldn't be used lightly, and secondly, that Rank 3 Demonic Beast was not a flying mount, making it very inconvenient for travel.

If he summoned his own Demonic Beast now, it would be instantly killed by Long Chen's snow wolf. Although he came from a great clan, a Rank 2 Demonic Beast was still very valuable, and he was unwilling to take the risk, leaving him speechless at Long Chen's words.

Long Chen's meaning was very clear: I may not have the ability, but I have an awesome mount. You're not convinced? Come and bite me then?

This made Qi Xin furious. Although his combat strength was high, he suffered from a low Realm, being suppressed at the Peak of Blood Condensation. If he entered the Tendon Transformation Realm, he would definitely not fear the Crimson Flame Snow Wolf beneath Long Chen.

For a moment, the scene became extremely awkward. Qi Xin wanted to attack, but he didn't dare to. After all, Xiaoxue was a Demonic Beast, and it was very possible that it had the ability to unleash another attack like the one just now.

But Qi Xin could not. Even if he were arrogant, he would not dare to take another attack of that intensity. That wouldn't be arrogance; that would be seeking death.

However, if he backed down, how could he save Face? How would those who relied on him view him?

If he had lost in a fight against the likes of Lei Qianshang or Tang Waner, it would be fine; everyone was an expert of the same Rank, so it wouldn't be a loss of Face.

But now, to lose repeatedly at the hands of an unknown brat, he had truly lost too much Face. Now, he couldn't afford to attack, and he couldn't afford to retreat; for a moment, Qi Xin fell into a dilemma.

In the dense forest in the distance, Tang Waner watched Long Chen, who acted like a spoiled brat, and a smile appeared on the corner of her lips.

This bastard actually forced Qi Xin into this situation; he has some ability after all. Hmph, but he has offended me, so we will settle our accounts slowly.

For some reason, looking at Long Chen's appearance, an inexplicable excitement arose in Tang Waner's heart, and she felt that her life in the Xuantian Branch in the future would not be so boring.

"Clang!"

Just at this moment, a melodious bell toll resounded and entered everyone's ears, instantly making everyone excited.

"Registration has begun, hurry over!"

For a moment, no one paid attention to the battle between Long Chen and Qi Xin anymore, and the crowd surged like a tide toward the end of the valley.

Hearing this bell toll, Qi Xin felt a sense of relief. He coldly glanced at Long Chen and said, "I will remember you. After entering the academy, you better pray for your own good fortune."

After speaking, he didn't give Long Chen a chance to respond, directly dashing toward the crowd. Those who were originally waiting for him also followed behind him and ran into the distance.

Even at this point, he didn't forget to act cool while using the excuse to back down. Long Chen shook his head, jumped off Xiaoxue's back, and gently stroked Xiaoxue's large head:

"Today, it's all thanks to you. Otherwise, the one who would have lost Face might have been me."

"Woo woo…" Xiaoxue rubbed its large head against Long Chen.

"Hehe, alright, I know you still have ultimate moves, but killing is not allowed here, so we have to hold back a little," Long Chen comforted Xiaoxue softly.

At this moment, Guo Ran had already limped over to Long Chen's side. Long Chen said with annoyance, "Stop acting pitiful."

Guo Ran chuckled and gave a thumbs up, saying, "Boss, you're really something. Even a figure like Qi Xin can't do anything to you."

"Alright, this is all thanks to Xiaoxue. Let's go quickly; it seems registration has begun." Long Chen and Guo Ran followed the crowd and walked forward.

Leaving the valley, there was an open clearing ahead. By the time Long Chen arrived, tens of thousands of applicants were already standing there obediently.

Behind each person, their Demonic Beasts were also lying there obediently. On the vast clearing, the crowd surged and Demonic Beasts were scattered about; it was extremely spectacular.

In front of the clearing was a gate tower, standing a hundred zhang tall. It was extremely magnificent, exuding an aura of ancient simplicity and vicissitudes.

On the gate tower, four vigorous characters were written in ancient script—Xuantian Branch—the characters were gilded and dazzling to the eyes.

Seeing this magnificent gate tower, it seemed this was the entrance to the Xuantian Branch, but Long Chen did not see the large bell that had made the sound.

"Creak…"

Suddenly, the tightly closed gate slowly opened. The gate, standing over a dozen zhang tall, opened like the mouth of a monster.

As soon as the gate opened, a rush of extremely dense Spiritual Qi swept toward them, causing everyone's spirits to tremble.

Good heavens, this gate was strange. Long Chen was startled in his heart; it seemed this gate could actually prevent Spiritual Qi from leaking out, so this gate must be part of a Formation.

No wonder so many people were desperately trying to squeeze into the Xuantian Branch; just this dense Spiritual Qi alone could double a person's cultivation speed.

As the gate opened, a group of people came out from inside. They all looked to be in their twenties and looked at these applicants outside with indifferent expressions.

The leader was a man wearing a black robe with a calm expression. As his eyes opened and closed, a sharp light flowed within them, giving people an extremely capable feeling.

The man glanced at everyone and said, "First, let me introduce myself. I am the Deacon here to welcome you, and I am also the instructor in charge of your entrance assessment."

I also have another identity: we are all your Senior Brothers, meaning we were the applicants from the previous intake."

"Three years ago, we were just like you, standing here in the same way, being received by the Senior Brothers of the previous intake."

Hearing the man's words, many people were in an uproar, clearly not expecting that those welcoming them were Disciples from the previous intake.

However, Guo Ran was calm, clearly having known about this process long ago. When the uproar settled down slightly, the man said indifferently:

"Three years ago, we were like you, arriving here with dreams and aspirations. But here, I must pour a bucket of cold water on you: this place is not what you imagine it to be."

"It is very cruel here. Compared to the life you had at home, this place is Hell. Therefore, if you want to quit, it is still not too late."

The people present, upon hearing such cold words, could not help but feel a jolt in their hearts. An ominous feeling immediately rose from within them.

"May I ask, Senior Brother, are there only this many of you left from the previous intake?" someone asked, emboldened.

"Yes, the experts have all left, and only we are left, because in that intake, we were the bottom-tier existences," the man said without any hesitation.

"Tch, so they were cannon fodder level; what are they acting all tough for?" someone muttered, and the initial awe many felt for these few people immediately vanished significantly.

The man smiled slightly, as if he had long expected their reaction. He scanned the crowd, nodded, and said, "Time is up. Take out your registration tokens; we are going to check them one by one."

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly took out their own registration tokens, and the twenty-something men began to check them one by one.

Suddenly, one person pointed to an applicant and asked, "Where did you get your registration token?"

The applicant was slightly panicked, but immediately covered it up and said coldly, "It was issued by your branch; do you not even recognize your own?"

"This registration token does not belong to you. Although you have disguised yourself, you cannot fool me. You killed that applicant, didn't you?"

Seeing this, the applicant's Face changed instantly. Without thinking, he threw a punch at the man, but that punch was a feint, and he had already flown backward, wanting to escape.

A mocking expression appeared on the man's Face. He slowly raised one hand, and the man who was originally fleeing in a frenzy was immediately horrified to find that he could not move.

Most eerily, his body was slowly floating into mid-air. The applicant was terrified, screaming frantically, but he could not break free from the strange force.

"Die."

"Puff."

A rain of blood filled the sky; that expert at the Late Stage of Blood Condensation simply exploded in mid-air.