Chapter 14: Everyone Stunned, A Powerful Cauldron-Lift!
Though Gu Lin’s registration had caused an enormous stir, the rules of fairness governing the trial stood firm, and none among the academy’s leadership dared openly object.
After a long moment, the leader of the Blade-Bearers under the Heavenly Mystery Guard stepped to the center, his orange flying-fish robe especially dazzling.
His voice rolled like thunder, each word deliberate:
“Shiyang Academy—does anyone else wish to register?”
The square fell into absolute silence.
No one answered.
“Ten breaths,” the orange-robed figure said, his expression stern.
After ten breaths passed, he ordered his subordinate Blade-Bearers to burn sandalwood incense, read aloud once more from the dynasty’s official document, and then declared in a ringing voice:
“The Shiyang Academy Seed Selection Trial officially begins!”
“Three preliminary events—overall rankings, top twenty advance to the final competition!”
“Consuming secret pills during the trial counts as cheating. Anyone caught will be executed on the spot!”
At the words executed on the spot, all eighty contestants’ expressions turned grave.
The orange-robed figure looked to the other three Blade-Bearer Bureaus and nodded.
“Bring out the cauldron!”
A moment later, several Blade-Bearers carried out from the reception hall a massive bronze cauldron, powerfully forged and exquisitely patterned, two yellow talismans pasted onto its body.
Not just the eighty contestants, but even the academy’s leadership were seeing this cauldron for the first time.
The seed-qualification trial truly was strict—anyone who dared gain advance knowledge of the test content would be violating the dynasty’s laws!
The orange-robed figure swept his gaze across the crowd and spoke sternly:
“Lift the cauldron to measure your internal energy. Raise it above your head—the number of lifts determines your ranking.”
“Draw lots for the order.”
A Blade-Bearer had already prepared a black box. He casually drew out a slip of paper and read the name aloud:
“Guo Bang!”
The entire academy was gripped by tension, everyone holding their breath, eyes fixed on the center of the platform.
Three preliminary events, each one critical!
Only the top twenty would advance to the final competition!
Guo Bang, upon hearing his name called, went rigid, his limbs frozen with nerves, unable to move for a long moment.
He took a deep breath and walked toward the bronze cauldron.
Bending his knees, drawing energy deep into his dantian, he let out a fierce shout.
He hoisted the bronze cauldron high overhead.
But his footing faltered—he nearly dropped it to the ground.
Under everyone’s gaze, Guo Bang’s arms shook violently as he accelerated the flow of his internal energy.
He repeated the lift three times before his strength gave out entirely.
Energy Condensation Second Tier—only three lifts.
Guo Bang’s face flushed red with embarrassment. He was bitterly disappointed in himself.
“Guo Bang, three lifts,” a Blade-Bearer noted, brush in hand.
Next, a student at Energy Condensation Third Tier took the stage.
He gave everything he had—six lifts!
Over the span of a single incense stick, students came forward one after another.
Though they were all elites of the Heaven cohort, the best result so far belonged to Qian Ya, at Energy Condensation Fourth Tier—eleven lifts!!
“Yan Shouxu!”
When this name was drawn, the entire academy fell instantly silent.
Young Master Tiger-Cub had arrived!
The headmaster rose instinctively, his face locked tight, his heart pounding with tension.
His grandson, upon whom he’d pinned such high hopes, into whom he’d poured so many resources—he couldn’t let the Yan Family down!
Yan Shouxu had always been composed, utterly unfazed by pressure.
He lifted the cauldron with fierce determination, repeating the motion thirty-six times before his strength finally gave out.
“Magnificent!”
“Young Master Tiger-Cub is truly mighty!!”
The academy’s senior figures couldn’t help clapping in admiration.
The onlookers both inside and outside the square were even more stirred—that was fully three times the second-place result!!
Yet the noble Blade-Bearers remained expressionless.
Energy Condensation Seventh Tier, thirty-six lifts—that was, in truth, rather mediocre.
Next, the academy’s various luminaries took their turns one by one.
Wei Xuan—twenty-four lifts.
Lin Yan’er—twenty-four lifts.
Wei Yuan—twenty-six lifts.
Zhang Weizheng—twenty-three lifts.
Liu Si—twenty-seven lifts.
***
“Li Qingwu!” the Blade-Bearer continued calling names.
Li Qingwu walked toward the bronze cauldron.
The internal energy throughout her body no longer held back—she let it all burst forth.
She had reached Energy Condensation Fifth Tier, having finally broken through her plateau just eight days earlier.
Her dream was to become a Blade-Bearer. She meant to marry an exceptional prodigy from one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds. Her ambitions could not be confined to this insignificant county.
Li Qingwu lifted the great cauldron.
A full twenty-five times!
At that moment, every elite of the academy turned to look at Li Qingwu, a trace of genuine admiration in their eyes.
No one had expected Li Qingwu’s result to surpass even Wei Xuan and Lin Yan’er’s!
Among the Heaven cohort’s three great beauties, Li Qingwu had always lagged slightly behind.
This time, she had truly astonished everyone!
“Excellent!”
Li Jisheng, head of the Fisherman’s Guild, was overjoyed, and congratulations poured in from the dignitaries of Shiyang around him.
An impressive result indeed!
Up on the platform, the lifting continued.
But the next several best results only reached seventeen.
“Zhao Yao!”
The moment those two brief syllables fell, the entire square went so quiet a dropped pin could be heard.
Every eye turned toward that noble figure.
Shiyang County’s most dazzling gem had arrived!!
Zhao Yao strolled forward at an unhurried pace. Before he’d even touched the cauldron, every meridian point on his body opened wide, internal energy surging forth in full.
Energy Condensation Ninth Tier!
The outside world had assumed Young Master Qilin remained stuck at the peak of Eighth Tier—no one had realized he’d already broken through to Ninth Tier, and wasn’t far from its peak either.
Zhao Yao bent down, gripped the cauldron’s handles, and lifted it in one smooth, continuous motion.
The very air seemed to freeze solid.
Every gaze fixed on the bronze cauldron.
All the way to the eighty-ninth lift.
Just as Young Master Qilin’s strength gave out, his breath in complete disarray, he still forced out one final lift.
Ninety times.
A terrifying ninety times!!
The entire square was stunned into a long, prolonged silence.
Then, all at once, thunderous applause erupted.
Countless people clapped spontaneously, the atmosphere blazing with excitement.
Second place, Young Master Tiger-Cub Yan Shouxu, had managed only thirty lifts.
While Young Master Qilin had achieved a terrifying ninety!
This was total, crushing domination!
There was simply no rival!
There was no suspense left at all—of the three preliminary events, Young Master Qilin would undoubtedly claim first place. No one could shake his position; no one even qualified to watch his back from behind.
Deputy Magistrate Zhao stroked his beard, chuckling softly, restrained yet unmistakably smug.
Wasn’t this only natural?
Little Yao’s only goal was to join one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds!
“Blade-Bearer Lin, how did my son’s performance fare?”
Deputy Magistrate Zhao asked, turning to the Blade-Bearer Bureau under the Martial Extremity Palace.
Blade-Bearer Lin nodded in approval.
“Outstanding.”
Two brief, economical words.
Though the selection content differed from county academy to county academy, making direct comparison impossible, achieving ninety lifts while still below the Cavern Mystery realm was, without question, remarkable.
The cauldron-lifting assessment was now past its halfway point. A dozen or so more students took their turns, though their results were unremarkable.
“Gu Lin.”
The Blade-Bearer continued calling names.
In that instant, students from every cohort across the square exchanged knowing smiles, watching the scene unfold with eager anticipation.
Instructor Zhao and chubby Wang Mu both lowered their heads to the ground, unable to bring themselves to watch such an excruciatingly awkward moment.
Up on the platform, every elite present cast cold, dismissive glances his way.
So this bottom-feeding maggot from the Wilderness cohort wanted to make a name for himself this way?
Now that it was actually time to lift the cauldron, what was he going to do?
If he lifted it, he’d surely be crushed into a bloody pulp by the bronze cauldron.
If he refused to lift it, that would count as maliciously disrupting the order—an unforgivable crime!
Li Qingwu’s lips curled slightly. Once the trial had officially begun, why would any Blade-Bearer bother listening to the surnamed Gu’s whining? Refusing to lift the cauldron would be nothing short of disrupting order, showing contempt for the dynasty’s laws.
Facing the mixed, judging stares from all sides, Gu Lin remained utterly unmoved, walking step by step toward the bronze cauldron.
He knew perfectly well that in this particular event, he was at a severe disadvantage.
He trusted his own combat ability, but when it came to pure internal energy alone, he was, after all, still only at Energy Condensation Third Tier.
But he had to give it everything.
“Is he really going to dare touch the cauldron’s handles?”
Watching this unfold, countless students’ eyes went wide.
Suddenly—
Internal energy surfaced across his palms.
Boom—
Like a peal of thunder crashing down from the ninth heaven, the world itself seemed to fall utterly still.
The academy’s senior figures rose to their feet all at once, scarcely able to believe what they were seeing.
Even the noble Blade-Bearers’ expressions shifted—a rare occurrence—stunned that their secret arts had failed to detect this youth’s true cultivation within his dantian at all.
As for the onlookers both within and beyond the square, their eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets.
Energy Condensation Third Tier!
How could this possibly be?
From a hall of washouts that only taught cultivation theory, someone had actually emerged at Energy Condensation Third Tier?
Instructor Zhao’s expression went slack, his mind reeling in confusion.
‘This was Gu Jingming, of all people?’
This was his own student?
He’d been playing the fool this whole time?
Chubby Wang Mu’s vision swam, and he collapsed straight onto the ground, utterly overwhelmed by the shockwave of surging internal energy.
‘Jingming, how could you hide something this deep!’
‘We were all supposed to be washouts together—how could you do this to me!!’
The smile frozen on Li Qingwu’s lips, her eyes filling with thick, undisguised horror.
‘Impossible!!’
Nothing could have been more terrifying than this scene before her.
For years, this groveling washout, this fool she’d toyed with at will, this spineless dog—had actually possessed cultivation at Energy Condensation Third Tier this whole time?
‘Was this the confidence that let you dare insult me?’
‘How could you possibly be at Energy Condensation!!’
Li Qingwu couldn’t accept it. She couldn’t understand how the surnamed Gu had managed to endure years of ridicule without ever revealing his true cultivation, how he’d managed to stay content wasting away in the Wilderness cohort.
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