Chapter 9: The Test

“Eldest Uncle meant that if I suddenly joined the Inner Hall, I would attract others’ attention?”

“Yes!” Xu Haoran nodded and said, “If a clan disciple at the first level of the Qi Refining Stage suddenly appears, it will definitely draw attention. If Old Ninth and the others bother to investigate, it’s not exactly a difficult matter.”

“Then I’ll start from the clan academy.” Xu Ziyan thought for a moment and said.

“That won’t work,” Xu Haoran gave a bitter smile, “With your first layer of Qi Refining Stage cultivation, entering the clan academy would draw even more attention.”

“I have my own way to handle this!”

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Xu Ziyan was now standing at the back of a group in the plaza. This group consisted of disciples from the Xu Family Clan who were under fifteen years old, with the youngest being only three and the oldest not exceeding fifteen. Because disciples over fifteen either broke through to the Postnatal Fifth Layer and entered the Outer Hall, or if they didn’t break through, they were expelled from the clan to do lowly jobs for the family.

Xu Ziyan was currently fifteen in nominal age, still two months short of her actual fifteenth birthday. She forged an identity as the distant niece of a clan steward to enter the clan academy. She made a Breath-Concealing Talisman to hide her true cultivation level, masking it at the Fourth Layer of Houtian.

Standing behind a bunch of mostly young kids, Xu Ziyan spaced out as she followed along with the movements—throwing punches, kicking legs…

When she first entered the clan academy, Xu Ziyan actually paid serious attention for a few days to the teachings of the Master because she lacked knowledge about cultivation. But after those days, she had already fully understood cultivation methods up to the Postnatal Fifth Layer. After all, within Xu Ziyan’s soul was a complete legacy. Although it was only a set of Water Element Techniques, this set of Water Element Techniques was extremely complete and vast in content.

Xu Ziyan had been immersing herself in that Water Element Technique called the “Water Ice Art” these days. She was cultivating a technique within the “Water Ice Art” named “Water Dragon Chant.” Its contents were intricate and complex. For someone like Xu Ziyan who had never received any cultivation training before, it wasn’t a matter of just being given a cultivation method and being able to reach the peak in one go. It required a solid foundation and broad knowledge. And the little knowledge learned in the academy clearly wasn’t enough for Xu Ziyan. Thus, she became even more eager to enter the clan’s Library Pavilion to browse those secret manuals.

During these days, Xu Ziyan had used the money given by Xu Haoran to buy large quantities of Medicinal Herbs in batches. At night, she used her self-made Fire Spirit Talisman to refine many Spirit Nurturing Pills.

Every morning, after cultivating with the academy Master, in the afternoon Xu Ziyan would stay alone in her room, taking the Spirit Nurturing Pills and practicing the “Water Dragon Chant.” She also had to find time to make five Paper Talismans daily for the clan. Xu Ziyan’s days were very busy, but also very fulfilling.

Just last night, Xu Ziyan finally broke through the First Level of the Qi Refining Stage and reached the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Stage. So, today during the training on the field, Xu Ziyan was still immersed in the joy of her breakthrough, continuously pondering the “Water Dragon Chant” cultivation method in her mind.

At a command shout, Xu Ziyan snapped out of her thoughts. The teaching Master gathered everyone, standing authoritatively in front of the group. His name was Xu Zhiyong, a warrior at the Postnatal Twelfth Layer. He served as the teaching Master for Xu Ziyan’s class in the clan academy. His gaze swept coldly and sharply over each person’s face as he boomed loudly:

“There are only ten days left until the clan test. Among you, there are eight disciples who are fifteen this year. If you fail to reach the Postnatal Fifth Layer in the test ten days from now, then you will be the shame of our Xu Clan and will be expelled from the academy to do lowly tasks.”

His words barely finished when Xu Zhiyong’s gaze swept over the eight fifteen-year-old disciples, including Xu Ziyan. Xu Ziyan also quickly glanced at the other seven who had reached fifteen. There were five boys and two girls. Three boys and one girl had proud expressions, clearly indicating that these four had probably already reached the Postnatal Fifth Layer cultivation. The remaining two boys and one girl clearly showed dejected faces. Meanwhile, these seven also glanced at Xu Ziyan. The four who had broken through showed faint contempt in their eyes, while the three who hadn’t broken through showed looks of shared misfortune.

Xu Ziyan gave a faint smile. She knew that because of the Breath-Concealing Talisman, she only displayed the Fourth Layer of Houtian cultivation externally, which made everyone look at her as a failure. Even Xu Zhiyong’s gaze held disdain. Although academy teaching hours were only in the morning, all the disciples voluntarily came to the field to practice extra in the afternoon, even at night. But Xu Zhiyong had never seen Xu Ziyan show up on the field voluntarily.

Xu Ziyan had been at the academy for a month. When she first arrived, Xu Zhiyong saw that she had Fourth Layer Houtian cultivation and was quite happy, thinking his class would have another talent breaking through to the Postnatal Fifth Layer. But after observing Xu Ziyan’s behavior later, Xu Zhiyong became disappointed. He still tried to talk to Xu Ziyan twice, patiently holding back his temper, but each time after the talk, Xu Ziyan still did her own thing. This made Xu Zhiyong go from disappointed to angry, and finally to contempt for Xu Ziyan. In his heart, he had already labeled Xu Ziyan as trash.

Xu Ziyan had no time to care about their feelings. She still went about her own business methodically every day. On the ninth day, with one day left until the academy test, Xu Ziyan replaced the Breath-Concealing Talisman on herself, raising the cultivation level she displayed externally to the Postnatal Fifth Layer.

On the tenth day, all the academy disciples gathered on the field. Over three hundred disciples stood there neatly and quietly, their expressions solemn. The test started with the youngest. Ten testing pillars were placed on the field. Each pillar had twelve marks. A testing disciple only needed to walk up to one pillar, put all their cultivation into one punch, and whichever mark lit up indicated that disciple’s cultivation layer.

Time passed slowly. By noon, over two hundred disciples had finished testing. Only twenty-three had broken through to the Postnatal Fifth Layer—less than one-tenth of the total. Only about thirty people remained untested now. These twenty-some were all the disciples from various classes who had reached fifteen years old.

Actually, if someone reached fifteen, even if they broke through to the Postnatal Fifth Layer, they wouldn’t have much future prospects. Those who could truly achieve great things in the future were the disciples who broke through before ten years old. Those were the talents the clan focused on nurturing. So, every test started with the youngest disciples. The last remaining were always these fifteen-year-old disciples. They faced only two paths: either advance by breaking through and enter the clan Outer Hall, or be expelled from the academy to do lowly work for the clan. But whichever path, today was their last day staying in the academy. So this day was called by the clan academy disciples: The Fifteen-Year-Old Farewell Day.

A youth walked solemnly up to a testing pillar, fine beads of sweat forming on his temples. He gathered all his cultivation, gave a loud shout, and punched the pillar hard. The fifth mark from the bottom lit up. The testing teacher nearby called out indifferently:

“Xu Yi, Postnatal Fifth Layer, passed. Enter the clan Outer Hall.”

Xu Yi trembled with excitement, shakily walking up to the testing teacher. He bowed deeply and said respectfully:

“Thank you! Thank you!”

The testing teacher’s expression softened slightly. He said calmly, “Go assemble over there.”

“Yes!”

Xu Yi bowed once more, then left the testing pillar, secretly clenching his fists. He went and stood among the group who had reached the Postnatal Fifth Layer, lifting his eyes to watch the testing pillars.

Meanwhile, in front of another testing pillar, a youth punched the pillar. The pillar lit up at the fourth mark. The youth’s face immediately turned ashen. He swayed and fainted on the spot. The testing teacher nearby frowned with disgust and waved his hand. Two disciples immediately ran up, lifted the unconscious youth, and roughly dragged him away. From then on, that youth could only do lowly jobs for the clan, like a slave. His life had no hope left, no dignity.

People kept fainting in front of the testing pillars. For those who hadn’t broken through by age fourteen, their aptitude definitely wasn’t good. So wanting to break through within a year was easier said than done.

Soon, most of the remaining twenty-some people were eliminated. When only three were left, it was Xu Ziyan’s turn. Xu Ziyan slowly walked toward one of the testing pillars, thinking in her heart about how much strength she should use to exactly display Postnatal Fifth Layer cultivation. If she used too little force and didn’t reach the Postnatal Fifth Layer, getting expelled from the academy, wouldn’t that be an utterly unjust death? But if she used too much force, exceeding the Postnatal Fifth Layer by too much, that would be too conspicuous. After all, she still needed to keep a low profile for now.

While pondering, Xu Ziyan had already reached the testing pillar. From a distance, Xu Yi saw it was Xu Ziyan testing and shook his head disdainfully, turning his gaze to observe the last two remaining disciples.

Xu Ziyan took a deep breath, gauged her strength carefully, and punched the testing pillar. A light flashed at the sixth mark. The testing teacher nearby looked at Xu Ziyan in surprise and boomed:

“Xu Ziyan, Sixth Level of Houtian, passed. Enter the clan Outer Hall.”

“Whew~~”

Xu Ziyan let out a breath, thinking to herself, “Still can’t control my energy precisely—ended up one layer higher.”

She slowly walked up to the testing teacher, bowed, and said softly, “Thank you!”

“Mhmm, go over there.” The testing teacher’s expression was noticeably much warmer.

Xu Ziyan turned and walked toward the group who had broken through. Behind her was Xu Yi’s utterly astonished gaze.