Core-level assessment

Tang Waner's movements immediately attracted everyone's attention; the excitement they felt from successfully passing the test was suppressed.

Tang Waner's actions signaled that the climax of the assessment was approaching, as the Core Disciple assessment was about to begin.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, closed their mouths, and focused their gaze on Tang Waner.

"The Goddess is invincible, peerless in grace; passing with ease, Waner is undefeated!"

Just as Tang Waner stood before the stone wall, a deafening chant erupted from behind, uniform and soaring with Aura.

Tang Waner turned around and saw that, at some point, Long Chen had produced a small flag in his hand, waving it about as he directed everyone in chanting the slogan.

Seeing the smile on Long Chen's face, the pressure in Tang Waner's heart eased significantly; that smile made one feel warm and comforted.

This mischievous guy—a smile appeared on Tang Waner's face, as she knew Long Chen was doing this to help her relieve stress.

She waved at the crowd, stood on the steps, and said respectfully to Elder Tu Fang, "Sorry to trouble you, Elder. For the Core Disciple assessment, I choose the third one from the right in the middle section."

Elder Tu Fang nodded, looked at Tang Waner, and said kindly, "You must give it your all and not be careless. If it becomes impossible to continue, you may withdraw."

Regarding a monstrous Genius, Elder Tu Fang had become extremely cautious; if such a Disciple were to fall, the branch courtyard would suffer a massive loss.

"Thank you for your concern, Elder. Waner understands," Tang Waner nodded and said.

Elder Tu Fang waved his hand, and Tang Waner's body floated directly up to the thousand-foot stone wall, appearing at a stone cave entrance in the first row.

Tang Waner took a slight breath, and suddenly, wind blades erupted all over her body. As the complete wind blades manifested, the terrifying power of the wind caused the space to emit a horrifying, tearing shriek.

Everyone in the audience couldn't help but hold their breath. A monstrous-level expert was unleashing their full power; it was unknown if she would pass.

Long Chen also felt a trace of nervousness. Although Tang Waner's combat strength was formidable and her talent was the best among the group—after all, she was a Genius with a gold-grade Spiritual Root.

However, her mental fortitude was the weakest of them all, and her emotions fluctuated significantly, creating too many unstable factors. Therefore, Long Chen could only do his best to help her relax, hoping she could perform better.

Tang Waner did not hesitate. After summoning the wind blades, two huge wind blades, each a zhang in length, appeared in her jade hands. Runes flickered, and her Aura was heaven-shaking as she slowly walked into the cave.

"Boom!"

As soon as she entered the cave, people heard a loud explosion. The cave entrance shook, and a wave of Qi erupted from within.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Explosions continued, whistling sounds rang out incessantly, and the cliff trembled, making people's hearts quiver. Everyone clenched their fists tightly; no one wanted to see the tragic sight of a Fairy falling.

After the time it took for an incense stick to burn had passed, Long Chen breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, Elder Tu Fang and the other Elders also exhaled, the tension on their faces vanishing.

Watching everyone still worried, Long Chen smiled and said, "Rest assured, everyone. Young Miss Waner will definitely pass."

He knew that for Tang Waner, the initial battle was the hardest to endure. Once she pushed through it and overcame the fear in her heart, her combat strength would only grow stronger.

That was why Long Chen felt at ease. Since so much time had passed without issue, Tang Waner passing the assessment was just a matter of time.

Although they were both women, Tang Waner's personality was completely different from Meng Qi and Chu Yao, who were both the type to be soft on the outside but firm on the inside.

Tang Waner, however, was the type to be firm on the outside but soft on the inside. Beneath her powerful exterior, she hid a fragile heart. Through Long Chen's guidance, she had discovered her own problem.

Originally, for her, it would have been best to wait for others to test first. If others succeeded, she would have more confidence in passing.

However, Tang Waner still chose to go first. She wanted to overcome her mental obstacles and, through this challenge, truly mature.

Among those present, only Long Chen knew the significance of what Tang Waner was doing. She wanted to conquer her own fragility and become a true expert.

Seeing that Tang Waner had held on, the others felt their hearts relax slightly. As fellow Prodigy-level experts, if Tang Waner could withstand it, so could they; this was the advantage of going later.

The four of them walked forward one after another. As they passed by Long Chen, Lei Qianshang looked at him coldly and said, "Kid, you wouldn't be so pathetic as to choose the Inner Disciple assessment, would you? If you did, you might as well bash your head against the cliff and die."

Long Chen glanced at Lei Qianshang sideways and curled his lips, saying, "What I choose is none of your business. You're just meddling in things that don't concern you."

"Besides, you look like that, like a giant macaque. If you haven't died, why should I?"

Lei Qianshang was furious and was about to speak, but Qi Xin pulled him back, saying, "Forget it. Do not lower yourself to the level of such a person; it is beneath your status."

Lei Qianshang snorted coldly, turned his head, and walked toward the stone wall.

Ye Zhiqiu glanced at Long Chen, nodded, and also walked forward. Yue Zifeng, who was behind, followed closely.

The arrival of the four caused the entire crowd to boil over. Everyone couldn't help but feel excited; the monstrous-level experts were all about to be assessed. Who knew how many would pass?

The four of them each chose their own caves and were teleported up. The facts proved that the strength of the enemies within the same standard of caves depended entirely on one's luck and had nothing to do with the location.

After arriving at the cave entrances, the four of them each unleashed their strongest Aura and brought out their ultimate methods before walking into the caves.

As expected, as soon as the four entered the caves, shouts erupted instantly, waves of Qi overlapped, and intense rumbling sounds echoed out. It was clear the battles inside were already fierce, but unfortunately, those outside could not see them, which was a great pity.

Long Chen thought for a moment, then walked toward the stone wall and stopped before the steps.

"Long Chen, which Rank of assessment do you choose?" Tu Fang asked while looking at Long Chen.

"Whichever one in the top row, any of them will do," Long Chen said indifferently. Since the standards were all the same, there was no need to choose.

In the end, Long Chen decided to choose the Core Disciple assessment because he discovered that the battles of Core Disciples were not visible from the outside. This meant there was no danger of being exposed, so why not choose Core?

"Very well, you may choose one for him at random," Tu Fang said to the old men.

An old man looked at Long Chen with a smile and said, "Not bad. It has been many years since I've seen such an interesting little guy. Then, I shall pick one for you at random."

The man slapped the stone pillar in front of him with his large hand, and a gentle force emanated from it, carrying Long Chen directly up to a cave in the highest row.

"Young man, good luck," the old man smiled.

At first, Tu Fang hadn't paid much attention, but suddenly remembering something, his expression changed slightly.

After hesitating for a moment, Tu Fang ultimately said nothing. His eyes were fixed on Long Chen: Could this be an anomaly? How could he have happened to pick that specific place?

Among those present, only Tu Fang knew what was inside that cave. No one would intentionally send Long Chen there, which meant, was this just Long Chen's luck?

Long Chen stood at the cave entrance and looked inside, seeing only pitch-black darkness. The Spiritual Qi within his Fengfu Star circulated at full power, and at the same time, his Soul power spread out as he walked into the cave.

"Holy crap, he isn't even unleashing his Aura. Is he trying to die?"

Someone couldn't help but exclaim aloud. Just a moment ago, they saw Long Chen cheering everyone on, commanding with composure, and displaying an extraordinary bearing; they hadn't expected him to be an idiot.

They didn't know that all of Long Chen's power was condensed within his Fengfu Star; he didn't need to unleash his Aura like others to exert his maximum combat strength.

With just a single thought, Long Chen could mobilize the energy within his Fengfu Star at any time, which was much faster than the Dantian.

His Soul power spread out completely to explore the situation inside the cave. He discovered that this cave was extremely deep. After advancing a dozen zhang, he still hadn't encountered an enemy, which made him feel puzzled.

Others were attacked as soon as they entered the cave. Could it be that the owner of this cave had a big ego and needed to be invited personally?

Not daring to be careless in the slightest, he walked forward cautiously, his every nerve taut to cope with any sudden attacks.

When Long Chen had walked in over thirty zhang, the path ahead suddenly became wide. Long Chen's vision recovered a bit, and he could see that this was a large hall, surprisingly a hundred zhang in diameter and ten zhang high; it was very spacious.

"Kekeke…"

A strange laugh echoed, sounding like the wailing of a vengeful ghost, making one's scalp tingle and bones turn cold. It felt like sharp blades causing pain to one's eardrums.

Long Chen was startled and hurriedly looked forward. He saw that in the center of the hall, a person wearing a long robe was bowing their head, long hair hanging down, making it impossible to see their face.

That sound seemed to come from that person, but it couldn't be confirmed. The entire hall was empty, and countless echoes collided, making it impossible to distinguish the source of the sound.

"Hey, since you can laugh, can you speak human language?" Long Chen stood in the distance, looking guarded.

He dared not walk closer. If that figure was merely a decoy to attract his attention while the real body ambushed him from the side, that would be troublesome.

"Hehe, unexpected. It has been nearly a thousand years, and I have smelled the scent of a living person again. How nostalgic."

That person's voice was hoarse and unpleasant, like iron scraping. He slowly raised his head, and Long Chen then realized that it was a man who looked to be in his thirties.

His face was pitch black, like a dried corpse that had been burned by fire. His eyes were empty, containing nothing at all, and his cheeks were shriveled. However, right at the center of his forehead, a steel nail was stuck.

The steel nail was as thick as a finger and over a foot long, having actually pierced through his skull. Long Chen's heart shook; it was indeed a dead person.

This was merely a shell, devoid of any vitality, yet within his body, there was a strange fluctuation of energy.

"Soul power? Are you a Soul entity?"

Long Chen exclaimed. Wasn't that power Soul power? It was just that this Soul power was too strong.

"I didn't expect you to know quite a lot. Those bastards locked my Soul here, actually wanting to enslave me and turn me into their tool for testing."

"Hehe, am I, Gui Sha, so easily subdued? Kid, I am giving you two paths now: either die, or submit to this Seat."

"Don't even think about escaping. Let alone you, who are just a rookie in the Blood Condensation Realm, even those Elders of yours outside would be walking a path to death if they came here," Gui Sha said chillingly.

Long Chen's heart skipped a beat, feeling that something was amiss. The long saber in his hand, carrying a whistling gust of wind, slashed down toward that person.