Chương 299: Talent test

Long Feng followed behind the old man as they walked down the mountain. At some point, they began to spot several pavilions and many disciples rushing around. They were all dressed in white robes with a golden imprint on the chest of the robe. All the disciples they passed by clasped their fists and paid respects to the old man leading Long Feng. From their greetings, Long Feng learned the identity of this old man. He was the 'Head Warden' of the outer peak, apparently.

Moreover, Long Feng couldn't sense his aura at all. Without doubt, this old man was very strong, at the very least, peak of the deity realm. It was more likely that he was a Dao realm master. Also, Long Feng observed the auras of each disciple that they met and his face turned black after a while. Ao Zhentian was right. The weakest he had met were rank five Imperials, yet their auras wouldn't lose out to that of Huang Fang Hao. He had even met a few whose auras could absolutely compare to Lu Jian's!

That was peak imperial realm! And they were all nothing but the lowest outer disciples in the supreme heaven sect! This caused Long Feng to suddenly feel heavy in his heart. Did he have what it takes to surpass all of these geniuses and earn a place for himself? Or would he end up like them? Each of them probably came filled with hope and great aspirations like him. But now, they had all learnt the hard way and failed. Would he also face the same fate? No. His path was vastly different from theirs.

Even if that was his fate, then he had no choice but to change it. Because to fulfill his goal of killing a direct descendant of the Liu Royal Clan, he would need more strength than he had ever wielded before in his life. He was far from having that yet, but he would gain that strength through any means possible. Killing Liu Shan wasn't an option. It was something he just had to do, otherwise he would never be able to face his heart demon.

The old man led Long Feng all the way to around the center of the high mountain, where a wide area was cleared. There was a large tower in the center of that land and right by the entrance of the tower was a long and wide stone stele. Written on the stele were a thousand names arranged in order. The first name was written boldly in dark red and the following nine names were slightly smaller and written in lighter red.

The next ninety names were even smaller, and then the following nine hundred names were all the same size and color. Surprisingly, Long Feng was unable to see the names no matter how hard he tried. It was as though there was a thick curtain between him and the stele blocking his sight. After the palace, there was a strange black crystal to the side. It was half the size of a grown human and it glimmered slightly, it's rough edges reflecting light.

There were quite a lot of youths in this place, and most of them were sparring with each other. The old man's arrival startled them all and they paused their movements and paid their respects. The old man nodded and turned to Long Feng.

"This is the training ground of the outer disciples. The entrance test already ended a year ago, so you'll be taking your tests here." He pointed at the tower.

"That is the warrior tower. It tests your strength and possible combat power." Then he pointed at the black crystal.

"That over there is a talent testing stone. It is very accurate and had never gone wrong, not once." Then he faced Long Feng again.

"These are two among the three tests you must undergo. The final test is merely to confirm your bone age and put down your identity. If you're able to pass these two, then you're already an outer disciple of the Supreme Heaven Sect. It will be worth watching to see how a rank five spirit realm kid will make history and become an outer disciple of this sect." The old man said with amusement flickering in his eyes. He said this openly and everyone in the training ground heard him clearly.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. A heavy silence descended upon the training ground and all of the youths turned to Long Feng with some shock. When they sensed his aura for themselves, they found it ridiculous. Some of them even burst out laughing instantly.

"Is this some sort of a joke? A rank five spirit realm warrior?"

"What idiot is this? Is the sect really allowing this fool to do as he pleases?"

"Hehehehe, a rank five spirit realm warrior planning to become an outer disciple? Hahahaha! This is so hilarious."

"Is he making fun of our sect? Or does he look down on us? I barely succeeded as a rank five Imperial. Yet a hairless brat comes here to fool around? The Head Warden should allow me to kick him off the peak instantly!"

"Just kick him off? That's far too lenient. We'd break both his arms and legs and hang him at the bottom of the mountain." The disciples chattered endlessly, expressing their ridicule and anger at this 'joke'. Many of them would have instantly attacked Long Feng if it wasn't for the Head Warden standing beside him.

"Enough! You all have no manners? To think you wish to throw out someone personally recommended by Lord Ao?" The Head Warden looked around and shouted coldly, instantly silencing everyone again. But a few seconds later, they glared at Long Feng and began to speak in hushed tones or using voice transmission.

"Recommended by Lord Ao? Is the Head Warden serious?"

"I suppose it must be the truth. How else would a mere rank five spirit realm warrior be allowed here?"

"But what is Lord Ao thinking? Does he thinks this is another Bei Xuanchen? What a joke!"

"Hah! Bei Xuanchen was an anomaly. This kid… he must be Lord Ao's illegal son."

"That must be right. I never really trusted that man. But even if he is his son, that doesn't give him the right to abuse his authority! I'm guessing even if the brat fails the tests tragically, he would still be allowed into the sect."

"How unfair. But that's the advantage of having a strong father. Heh. If he does join the sect, I'd like to see him get a moment of peace!" The Head Warden ignored the hushed discussions and turned to Long Feng.

"You will first test your talent. After that, you will undergo the Warrior Tower." Saying that, he led Long Feng to the black crystal. All the disciples moved out of the way and stood by the side with mocking expressions. Long Feng ignored everything. From the moment the old man started talking, Long Feng could sense that he was trying to turn everyone against him. He probably didn't like the idea of a rank five spirit realm warrior causing him to waste his time.

He also heard the mutterings of the disciples around, and he could sense the ridicule in their eyes as they prepared to watch a show. But he wasn't bothered at all. All that mattered was for him to pass these two tests and join the Supreme Heaven Sect; nothing else mattered.

"The talent testing stone is a rare mineral found in the depths of the earth. You will need to place your hand on it and let it scan through your body. After that, it will show the results. There are several results. The lowest is white glow in the crystal, which signifies a spirit talent and body; complete trash. The next is the blue glow which signifies an Imperial body. That is merely so so. It's also not worthy of this sect. Next is bronze glow. It signifies a mortal grade talent.

From this stage, rings of light appear around the crystal based on how good the talent is. Low rank is one ring, mid rank is three rings and high rank is nine rings." The head warden paused and glanced at Long Feng.

"Low rank mortal grade talent is the least requirement to pass this test." Then he continued,"After the mortal grade talent is the silver glow which represents earth grade talent, then golden glow which represents the legendary Heaven grade talent. That level of talent often means a special constitution has appeared.

Only people with special constitutions have ever reached the heaven talent rank, and only rare divine constitutions like the Sword Spirit Body have ever surpassed that and achieved an unknown level, the black glow. We don't have a name for it and it only appears once every millennium." He explained. No one appeared surprised at his explanation as they already knew all these. All except Long Feng, that is. He was shocked by this ranking. Who knew that even talent had such a ranking?

He began to wonder what exactly his rank was. Could he be an earth grade talent? Or even a heaven grade? And then he recalled that Li Yue'er had a special constitution. That meant her talent was at least the legendary Heaven grade talent! They had all severely underestimated her talent. She was directly among the top ranks of the mainland in terms of talent! That would explain why the Frozen Empress Valley were willing to do anything to keep her.

"What of bloodlines? How do they rank?" Long Feng quickly asked. The Head Warden frowned slightly but still replied.

"Bloodlines? … Why are you asking? Even the weakest bloodline is an earth grade talent. No matter how trash a bloodline is, it is an earth grade talent automatically. Some bloodlines are heaven grade and even surpass that grade." Long Feng sighed inwardly.

"Bloodlines are all at least earth grade talents. Then brother Yan Jian…" He felt his heart aching slightly. Yan Jian had a bloodline, and it was anything but weak. He merely didn't care much about cultivating otherwise his cultivation speed would have surely been astounding.

"That's enough. Hurry up and take the test. Place your palm on the crystal!" The Head Warden urged. Long Feng nodded and stepped forward, standing before the talent testing stone. Then he slowly placed his palm on it with his heart beating in anticipation. Everyone paid attention, waiting eagerly to see just what sort of heaven shaking talent this brat had to draw the interest of Lord Ao enough to make him recommend him.

As Long Feng's palm touched the crystal, he felt a weird cold travel up his arm and into his body, then it circulated around his body, causing him to feel very comfortable. The cold slowly seeped into every vein, every meridian, every acupoint, every bone and every organ within his body. The feeling was indescribable and Long Feng almost laid down to sleep instantly. The cold was extremely soothing, and it spreading to his entire body multiplied that effect. Then the energy slowly seeped into his Dantian.

The instant it gushed into his Dantian, everything stopped. The cold vanished like a single pebble falling into an endless ocean, or a stone falling into an endless abyss. It wasn't destroyed. It simply vanished out of existence as though it never existed, cut off entirely from the talent testing stone. The stone then began to glow with a faint white glow. Everyone tensed up and watched the white glow brighten slowly and turned into a faint blue glow, representing an Imperial grade talent.

It paused briefly before the blue glow began to become brighter and brighter, causing Long Feng to sigh in relief. He had really thought that it would stop at the faint blue glow when it paused suddenly. Long Feng's heart skipped a beat as he stared at the blue light deeply. Why had it paused? Was this the result? Imperial grade talent? That wasn't even enough to join the Supreme Heaven Sect! Everyone also stared at the crystal, waiting to know if this was the final result.