The tens of thousands of people in the square were dumbfounded. Staring at the blindingly conspicuous name at the top of the rankings, their faces could no longer fully capture the shock in their hearts.
Three Zhang of Golden Light!
In the Great Xia Dynasty, the first person to achieve Three Zhang of Golden Light was Lin Cangxue. The second was Fatty Bai. And the third was actually Lin Huang. Not only that, but all one hundred Testing Stones on the arena had emitted Three Zhang of Golden Light. How terrifying was this?
"The Divine General’s Mansion is truly shameless, actually bribing the Four Great Sects to cheat," someone in the square said, refusing to give up.
"Exactly! Otherwise, how could a sixteen-year-old at the Human Element Seventh Heaven rank ahead of Fatty Bai, who is at the Human Element Ninth Heaven?"
"Brother, you couldn’t be more right! That Lin Huang is too shameless!" Fatty Bai chimed in upon hearing someone speak up for him, loudly cursing at Lin Huang on the arena.
In the crowd, Ming Ao looked up at Lin Huang with a dark gaze. Filled with extreme anger, he sneered in his heart, "I hope you can make it to the final match. I will let you know that in the face of true strength, your talent will not withstand a single blow!"
Xiao Yishan looked at Lin Huang on the arena and muttered, seemingly recalling something, "As expected of the Celestial Asura who once intimidated the continent. He is still as domineering as ever..."
Behind the arena, Elder Su Li of Qianying Valley spoke for the first time, chuckling merrily. "Elder Hann, Elder Qii, earlier you said you wouldn’t take this child into your sects, so my Qianying Valley will gladly accept him."
"Elder Su, what do you mean by this? Lin Huang will not enter Qianying Valley," Shen Diexin smiled coldly. "Do you not know that Lin Cangxue is a member of my Piaoxue Palace?"
"Elder Shen, your Piaoxue Palace doesn’t have the ability to protect such a promising disciple. Lin Cangxue is a prime example. You might as well yield him to my Qianying Valley," Su Li said with a smile.
"Then let’s wait and see," Shen Diexin said coldly.
Beside them, Hann Shan and Qii Lie also smiled, though their smiles concealed murderous intent. "Fight over him if you want. Just don’t end up bringing a corpse back—or at best, someone who ends up just like Lin Cangxue."
A genius could easily perish prematurely!
"The first round of the Four Sects’ grand selection concludes here! Ranking first on the list is Lin Huang!"
Following the announcement by Elder Su Li of Qianying Valley, the inside and outside of the square finally quieted down. The crowd looked at the cloaked youth slowly walking down from the arena and collectively sighed. Even if they had thousands of excuses in their hearts, they could not deceive themselves. There was no cheating in the Four Sects’ grand selection. The Testing Stones would not make a mistake. Nor would the elders of the Four Great Sects.
Even though Lin Huang was only at the Human Element Seventh Heaven, those Three Zhang of Golden Light could not be faked.
"This dandy has ultimately received heaven’s pity."
"The people of the Divine General’s Mansion are truly extraordinary!"
"The generation’s War God Lin Beichen, Lin Changtian twenty years ago, Lin Cangxue three years ago, and now Lin Huang..."
"He, perhaps, is no longer the dandy he once was."
Looking at the dazzling name on the screen of light, some still refused to believe it, while others had already accepted it, albeit with some reluctance and bitterness in their hearts. Such as Ming Ao and Lu Wuji. Or Crown Prince Lingyun and Ling Huangyi. However, these people only saw Lin Huang’s glory and doubted his achievements, completely unaware of how much effort he had put in for this. A thousand-foot waterfall beneath the Thousand Feet Cliff was not something just anyone could endure. Swinging a blade ninety thousand times a day was not something just anyone could persevere through.
As dusk fell, the first round of the Four Sects’ grand selection came to an end. The three hundred names on the screen of light were like dazzling stars, attracting envy and jealousy. Out of the dynasty’s thirty thousand young martial artists, only three hundred made the list. What a great honor this was! These were the cream of the crop, chosen from hundreds, and their future achievements would undoubtedly be extraordinary.
Of course, alongside the glory and joy, even more martial artists revealed deep disappointment and reluctance. In just the first round, they had missed their chance with the Four Great Sects. At this moment, they naturally felt terrible, regretting their lack of talent and not working hard enough in their cultivation. Perhaps they were just a tiny bit away from making the list. Just a tiny bit.
However, none of this mattered anymore! What mattered were the two upcoming rounds of assessment, which would be two more cruel eliminations. No one knew who would rejoice and who would grieve when the time came.
At nightfall, Qin Xuance, who had been missing for nearly three months, arrived at the Divine General’s Mansion once again. He was still dressed in spotless white clothes, ethereal and elegant. However, compared to three months ago, he was much thinner, his face paler, and he had two huge dark circles under his eyes.
"Are your legs healed?" Lin Huang could not help but laugh out loud as he watched Qin Xuance hobble, still not quite able to walk properly.
"Thanks to that Thousand Mechanism Bone-Cleansing Flower of yours, after a few months of recuperation, I can barely walk now," Qin Xuance smiled. Three months ago, he had originally come to the Divine General’s Mansion to express his gratitude, but he had ended up fleeing in panic. "Is Elder Xiao around?"
Lin Huang nodded and led Qin Xuance to Xiao Yishan’s residence.
Inside the room, Xiao Yishan was studying something ’elegant.’ He was completely engrossed, his eyes staring blankly as he gulped from time to time. On his slightly weathered face was an indescribable... shameless grin!
Seeing the two arrive, Xiao Yishan reacted with extreme speed, hiding the books away. He sat bolt upright with a serious expression, looking quite like a distinguished expert. Only, his clothes were a bit shabby, still resembling the attire of a peasant.
"You’re amazing, kid! You came to find me in just three months. I thought it would take you three years!"
Qin Xuance smiled awkwardly. It had taken him three full months to come up with eighty-one methods to decipher the Celestial Secret Dao Map. This was way past the one-month deadline Li Baiyi had mentioned.
"Elder Xiao, may I have a word with my master?" Qin Xuance asked with a smile.
"Oh, oh, oh... Are those your words? Didn’t you say no one was worthy of being your master? Fourth, is there something wrong with your master’s ears? Tell me, what did this little brat just say?" Xiao Yishan laughed sarcastically.
"Elder Xiao, please don’t mock me," Qin Xuance smiled awkwardly, then continued. "There is a message left by Elder Li Baiyi in the Celestial Secret Dao Map. By deciphering the Celestial Secret Dao Map using eighty-one methods, one can become his Registered Disciple."
"Fine, no mocking!" Xiao Yishan said with a straightforward look. "But you’ve offended me! If you want to talk to that Li Baiyi kid, no way!"
"This..." Qin Xuance was put in a difficult position. After glancing at Lin Huang, he said slowly, "Elder, my family has a collection of eighty thousand scrolls. Among them, there should be hundreds of books explaining binding Martial Techniques, the Divine Whip Martial Soul, the Yin Yang Skill, and the Wooden Horse Technique. Assuming you are a martial arts fanatic, I wonder if you would be interested in these?"
"What did you say?" Xiao Yishan asked with a serious and righteous expression.
"There are also some books reflecting the lives of the common people. For example, an old man pushing a cart, sweating profusely; an old ox plowing a field with great vigor; a soldier guarding the frontier, dreaming of Guanyin arriving on a lotus; and a generation’s peerless painting, the Jade Person Playing the Flute Painting..."
"Hahaha... You’re not bad, kid! Well-read, cultured, and just as elegant as me!" Xiao Yishan laughed heartily, looking as if he had just found a kindred spirit. "Fourth, look at Xuance, and then look at yourself. Why don’t you read more books to cultivate your character?"
Qin Xuance broke into a cold sweat, astonished by Xiao Yishan’s sudden change in attitude. Lin Huang, on the other hand, was dumbfounded. He naturally knew what kind of virtues Xiao Yishan possessed, but Qin Xuance looked so gentle and refined—how could he speak of such things in such a fresh and refined manner? Spouting elegance with every breath. Why hadn’t he noticed this before? Damn...
"Write down whatever you want to say yourself. Since we’re so familiar with each other, there’s no need to be polite," Xiao Yishan said boldly, taking out a paper crane and throwing it to Qin Xuance.
Qin Xuance hurriedly nodded and took the paper crane.
Xiao Yishan peeked at what Qin Xuance was writing and said disdainfully, "When scholars write apprenticeship posts, they are just so overly pedantic and boring. But Li Baiyi actually falls for this kind of stuff!"
"Master, who is this Li Baiyi?" Lin Huang asked from the side.
At this question, Qin Xuance also raised his head and looked at Xiao Yishan expectantly. Having felt the exquisite brilliance of Li Baiyi’s Celestial Secret Dao Map, he was naturally quite curious about his background. He had only been able to decipher the Celestial Secret Dao Map using eighty-one methods. But Li Baiyi could decipher it using eight thousand one hundred methods. How terrifying was this! One had to know that finding each new deciphering method took several times longer than the previous one.
"Hmm... Since Wang Yifeng vanished without a trace, Li Baiyi should be the most formidable Fortune Teller in the world today," Xiao Yishan said after thinking for a long while.
Qin Xuance looked deeply shocked.
Lin Huang, however, curled his lips, knowing that Xiao Yishan was talking nonsense again. According to what he knew from his past life, the most formidable Fortune Teller on the Azure Sky Continent was the Pavilion Master of the Celestial Secret Pavilion, who established the world’s Nine Rankings. The Celestial Secret Elder! As for who Li Baiyi was, he had never heard of him. Perhaps the ’world’ Xiao Yishan spoke of was merely one Great Domain, not the entire Azure Sky Continent.
After toiling for two hours, Qin Xuance finally sent the paper crane out... However, Li Baiyi didn’t seem to pay him any attention, leaving Qin Xuance to wait for more than half the night before leaving helplessly. And Xiao Yishan actually followed Qin Xuance to the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel’s Mansion to study those Martial Techniques and books reflecting the lives of the common people.
"I think that binding Martial Technique must be an Earth-Tier Martial Technique. I have to study it properly. I happen to be in a poetic mood today, but I’m lacking a bit of inspiration. Looking at the Jade Person Playing the Flute Painting and some books reflecting the lives of the common people will surely provide plenty of inspiration," Xiao Yishan muttered as they left.
Watching their retreating figures, Lin Huang secretly clicked his tongue. Only today did he realize that Xiao Yishan was actually so easy to talk to. Should he go to the Ministry of War’s Mansion and bring over Fatty Bai’s whole room of treasures?