Chapter Nine Test

  Please collect and! You just need to move your fingers lightly, which is the greatest support for me!

  "Does Uncle mean that if I join the Inner Hall suddenly, it will attract other people's attention?"

  "Yes!" Xu Haoran nodded and said: "Suddenly, a first-level Qi-refining stage family member comes in, it will definitely attract the attention of others. If Old Ninth and his people are willing to investigate, it's not a very difficult thing."

  "Then I'll start from the Family Academy." Xǔ Zǐyān said after thinking for a moment.

  "This won't do," Xu Haoran said with a bitter smile: "With your cultivation at the first level of Qi Refining, entering the Family Academy would attract even more attention."

  "I'll take care of this myself!"

  Xu Ziyuan was standing behind a group of people in the square, all of whom were disciples of the Xu family under the age of fifteen. The youngest was only three years old, and the oldest did not exceed fifteen years old. Because disciples over the age of fifteen either broke through to the fifth layer of acquired cultivation and entered the outer hall, or failed to break through and were expelled by the family to do some menial tasks for the family.

  Xu Ziyuan is now fifteen years old by virtual age, and two months short of fifteen by zodiac age. She was given a forged identity as the distant niece of a family steward to enter the Family Academy. She made herself a seal of concealment, hiding her true cultivation level, disguising it at the level of Post-Heavenly Fourth Layer.

  Standing behind a group of mostly little kids, Xu Ziyuan followed in a daze, punching and kicking...

  When Xie Ziyuan first entered the Family Academy, she seriously listened to Master's lectures for several days due to her lack of knowledge about cultivation. However, after just a few days, Xie Ziyuan had already fully grasped the cultivation methods below the fifth layer of acquired skills. After all, in Xie Ziyuan's soul, there was a complete set of inheritance. Although it was only a set of water-based exercises, this set of water-based exercises was extremely complete and its content was also extremely vast.

  Xu Ziyuan has been immersed in the water-based martial art "Shui Bing Jue" these days, and she is practicing a set of techniques called "Water Dragon's Humming". The content is complex and diverse. For Xu Ziyuan, who has never practiced spiritual cultivation before, it's not possible to reach the peak just by being given a set of techniques. It requires a solid foundation and extensive knowledge. However, the little knowledge she learned in school is clearly not enough for her studies. As a result, she yearns even more to enter the family's secret library to read those ancient manuals.

  These days, Xu Ziyuan has been using the money given to her by Xu Haoran to purchase large quantities of herbs in batches and at different times. At night, she uses her self-made Huo Ling symbol to refine many Yu Ling Dan pills.

  Every morning, after practicing with the masters in the college, in the afternoon, Xu Ziyuan would stay alone in her room to take the Lingdan and practice "Water Dragon Humming". She also had to spare time to make five paper talismans for her family every day. Xu Ziyuan's days were very busy, but also very fulfilling.

  Just last night, Xu Ziyuan finally broke through the first layer of the Refining Qi stage and reached the realm of the second layer. So, during today's training on the playground, Xu Ziyuan was still immersed in the joy of breaking through, and his mind was constantly thinking about the Water Dragon Chant's technique.

  At the sound of a command, Xu Ziyuan woke up from her contemplation. The instructor gathered everyone together and stood sternly in front of the team. His name was Xu Zhīyǒng, a martial artist who had reached the twelfth level after rigorous training. He served as the instructor for Xu Ziyuan's class at the family academy. At this moment, his gaze swept coldly over each person's face, and he shouted loudly:

  "There are still ten days until the family test, and among you there are eight fifteen-year-old disciples. If you can't reach the fifth layer of acquired cultivation in the test ten days later, then you will be the shame of our Xu family and will be expelled from the academy to do menial tasks."

  Before the words had fallen, Xu Zhiyong's gaze swept over the eight fifteen-year-old disciples, including Xu Ziyuan. Xu Ziyuan also quickly scanned the seven disciples who had reached the age of fifteen, five boys and two girls. Among them, three boys and one girl showed a proud expression on their faces, and it was clear that these four people had already reached the fifth layer of postnatal cultivation. The remaining two boys and one girl, however, clearly showed a look of disappointment. At the same time, the eyes of these seven people also swept over Xu Ziyuan, with the four who had broken through showing a faint disdain in their eyes, while the three disciples who had not broken through showed a sympathetic expression.

  Xu Ziyanyan smiled faintly, knowing that due to the seal of her cultivation, she only revealed a fourth-layer cultivation on the surface, which made everyone look at her with a gaze of looking at a loser, including Xu Zhiyong's gaze, which also showed disdain. Although the academy's classes were only in the morning, all the disciples would come to the training grounds voluntarily in the afternoon and even at night to practice, but Xu Zhiyong had never seen Xu Ziyanyan take the initiative to appear on the training grounds.

  Xu Ziyuan has been at the academy for a month now. When he first arrived, Xu Zhiyong saw that Xu Ziyuan had a cultivation level of Post-Heaven Fourth Layer and was very excited, thinking that his class would produce another talent who could break through to Post-Heaven Fifth Layer. However, as time went on and he saw Xu Ziyuan's performance, Xu Zhiyong became disappointed. He still tried to hold back his temper and talk to Xu Ziyuan twice, but each time after their conversation, Xu Ziyuan remained unchanged, causing Xu Zhiyong to go from disappointment to anger and finally to disdain for Xu Ziyuan, mentally labeling him as trash.

  Xu Ziyuan didn't have time to care about their feelings, and continued to do her own things in an orderly manner. On the ninth day, with only one day left before the academy's test, Xu Ziyuan replaced the seal on her body with a new one, revealing her cultivation level to be at the fifth layer of the Post-Heaven realm.

  On the tenth day, all the disciples of the entire college gathered on the playground. More than 300 disciples stood quietly in a row, their faces solemn. The test began with the youngest, and there were ten test pillars on the playground, each with twelve levels. The disciple being tested only needed to walk in front of a test pillar, use all his strength to punch it, and whichever level lit up would indicate which level the disciple's cultivation had reached.

  Time slowly passed, and by noon, more than 200 disciples had finished the test. Only 23 people broke through to the fifth layer of the Post-Heavenly stage, less than one-tenth of the total number of people. At this time, there were not many people left who had not been tested, only about thirty people, and these twenty or so people were all disciples who had reached the age of 15 in each class.

  Actually, once a person reaches the age of fifteen, even if they break through to the fifth layer of acquired skills, they will not have much prospects in the future. Those who can make a name for themselves in the future are all disciples who broke through before the age of ten, and those are the ones that the family focuses on cultivating. Therefore, every time there is an assessment, it starts from the youngest disciple, and the last ones remaining are these disciples who have already reached the age of fifteen. They only have two paths left: either to break through further and enter the outer hall of the family or be expelled from the academy to do some menial work for the family. However, no matter which path it is, today is their last day staying in the academy, so this day is called by the disciples in the family's academy as "The Fifteenth Birthday Farewell".

  A young man walked solemnly to the front of the testing pillar, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead, mobilizing all his cultivation, and let out a loud shout as he heavily punched the testing pillar. The fifth mark from the bottom lit up for a moment, and the testing teacher beside him called out in a light tone:

  "Xu Yi, fifth floor tomorrow, passed. Entering the outer hall of the family."

  Xu Yi was so excited that his whole body trembled, and he walked shakily to the front of the testing teacher, bowed deeply and said respectfully:

  "Thank you! Thank you!"

  The teacher's expression slightly softened and said faintly: "Go gather over there!"

  "Yes!"

  Xu Yi bowed again, then left the testing pillar, secretly clenched his fists and walked into the crowd of people who had reached the fifth layer of the acquired stage, standing among them with his eyes fixed on the testing pillar.

  At this time, in front of another testing pillar, a young man punched the testing pillar, and the testing pillar flashed brightly at the fourth mark. The young man immediately turned pale, his body shook, and he fainted. The testing teacher next to him frowned in disgust, waved his hand, and two disciples rushed over, picked up the unconscious young man from the ground, and roughly dragged him away. From now on, that young man could only do lowly work in the family, like a slave. His life had lost hope and dignity.

  In front of the testing pillar, people kept fainting one after another. Those who hadn't broken through by the age of fourteen were definitely not considered to be of good quality. So wanting to break through within a year's time was simply not easy.

  Soon, most of the remaining twenty or so people were eliminated. When only three people were left, it was Xu Ziyuan's turn. Xu Ziyuan slowly walked towards one of the testing pillars, considering in her heart how much strength she should use to just reach the fifth layer of post-heavenly cultivation. If she used too little strength and didn't reach the fifth layer of post-heavenly cultivation, she would be expelled from the academy, which would be a great injustice. However, if she used too much strength and exceeded the fifth layer of post-heavenly cultivation by too much, it would attract too much attention. After all, she still needed to keep a low profile for now.

  As she pondered, Xu Ziyuan had already walked to the front of the testing pillar. From a distance, Xu Yi saw that it was Xu Ziyuan being tested and shook his head in disdain, shifting his gaze to observe the last two remaining disciples on the other side.

  Xu Ziyuan took a deep breath, grasped the force, and punched the test pillar. A bright light flashed at the sixth mark. The testing teacher next to her looked at Xu Ziyuan unexpectedly and shouted loudly:

  "Xu Ziyuan, passed on the sixth day of next month. Entered the outer hall of the family."

  "Wow..."

  Xu Ziyanyan exhaled a breath and thought to herself: "Still can't accurately control her own inner energy, accidentally adding an extra layer."

  Walked slowly in front of the test teacher, bowed and said softly: "Thank you!"

  "Alright, go over there then!" The test teacher's expression obviously softened a lot.

  Xu Ziyuan turned around and walked towards the crowd that had broken through, with Xu Yi's shocked gaze behind her.