Myriad Dragon Divine Sovereign

Next, everyone began to take the assessment one by one.

Yann Xiangyang! Pass!

Ren Hua! Pass!

Guu Lei! Pass!

Tang Long was a hair’s breadth from failing but ultimately scraped by.

Finally, dozens more senior students went up to try, but very few of them passed.

Generally, senior students don’t even attempt the Inner Courtyard assessment. They know their own limits and understand it’s too difficult; they know they won’t pass. The ones who dare to try are usually the more powerful senior students from the Outer Courtyard. New students are even less likely to participate, which is why there weren’t many people taking the test.

By this count, only a handful of people out of several thousand would be able to enter the Inner Courtyard.

Wang Chong watched the few who passed, unable to stop himself from shaking his head and sneering, ”This year’s group is really small. In previous years, there were over a dozen. And look, they all stopped after the twelfth layer. It seems their strength is quite limited.”

An Inner Courtyard student next to him nodded and said, ”Yeah, I heard the most powerful senior student this year, Lang Feng, even ran away. I didn’t see this year’s Four Mountains Martial Arts Gathering, but for a senior student to actually lose to a new student... I’m actually a little curious about this Wen Qingye’s strength.”

Hearing Wen Qingye’s name, Wang Chong grew displeased and snorted coldly. ”Hmph, just another piece of trash. His cultivation is only at the Sixth Level of Refining Essence.”

Next, all eyes turned to Wen Qingye. At this point, he was the only one who hadn’t taken the assessment.

Two longswords hung from Wen Qingye’s waist as he walked forward, step by step. When he reached the entrance, he suddenly paused, looked at Wang Chong, and asked, ”You’re the one who passed the fourteenth layer, right?”

Hearing this, Wang Chong’s eyes narrowed into slits. ”What? You think you can make it to the fourteenth layer, kid?”

”Hahaha!” Wen Qingye laughed loudly. ”The fourteenth layer is nothing! Watch me shatter it.”

With a clear laugh, Wen Qingye’s tall, straight figure vanished from the crowd’s sight, and he strode into the Heaven-Reaching Martial Pavilion.

”Well said! It’s just the fourteenth layer! Someone from our Outer Courtyard can clear it too!”

”Exactly! Wen Qingye’s right! Clear the fourteenth layer and show them what you’ve got!”

”We’re behind you! Make it through!”

Hearing Wen Qingye’s words, the eyes of the Outer Courtyard students turned red with passion. One by one, they jumped to their feet and roared their support.

Wang Chong sneered, ”Hmph. All talk. If Wen Qingye actually passes the fourteenth layer, I’ll kneel down and kowtow to him three times right here, right now.”

Yann Xiangyang, Ren Hua, Guu Lei, and the others all frowned. They had passed the twelfth layer and knew that each subsequent layer was harder than the last. They weren’t nearly as optimistic about Wen Qingye’s chances as the other Outer Courtyard students were.

Wen Qingye was seen rapidly ascending to the 8th Layer. Each floor took but a single sword strike. As the sword moved, he moved on, confident and unhurried, with an air of untraceable grace.

8th Layer! One strike!

9th Layer! One strike!

10th Layer! Still just one strike!

Ren Hua gasped, watching Wen Qingye. ”Wen Qingye’s strength is incredible. Although everyone’s power increased a bit after the Four Mountains Martial Arts Gathering, his improvement is on another level. I feel like his strength now... it’s so great it’s almost frightening.”

Wei Qiutong nodded grimly and, after a moment, said with a wry smile, ”Where in the world did this monster come from? It’s bad enough he didn’t go to the Purple Sun Prefecture, but he had to be in the same class as us too.”

Wen Qingye walked calmly to the eleventh layer. Facing the green humanoid monster, a faint smile touched his lips. A cold glint flashed from the sword in his hand, and threads of golden light rippled forth like a dancing Spiritual Snake, striking into the distance.

”PFFT!”

Wen Qingye’s footwork was also exceptionally fast. In an instant, he was in front of the green humanoid monster, his sword stabbing toward its throat.

The green humanoid monster had barely moved, but it was already unable to move at all.

Wen Qingye retrieved his sword and continued walking forward.

”So strong! He broke through the eleventh layer with a single strike!”

”Wen Qingye’s Step Technique and the speed of his sword strikes are so much faster now. His progress is advancing a thousand miles a day!”

”Such terrifying Swordsmanship. I can’t even begin to comprehend the profundity of his technique anymore. It’s too advanced.”

”You have to make it past the fourteenth layer! Go for it!”

At this moment, everyone from the Outer Courtyard was filled with anticipation. All their hopes were pinned on Wen Qingye.

...

Wen Qingye arrived at the twelfth layer. His gaze was icy as he stared intently at the three green humanoid monsters.

Wen Qingye’s judgment was extremely seasoned. He had seen not only the coordination between these three green humanoid monsters before, but also countless other strange and unpredictable Array combinations.

Wen Qingye’s footwork was nimble. Using the Butterfly Step, he appeared before one of the green humanoid monsters in an instant.

It had to be said, the position Wen Qingye had taken was exquisitely precise, right within a gap in the three green humanoid monsters’ attacks. Without hesitation, he thrust his sword forward in a brilliant flourish.

”SWOOSH!”

Wherever the sword light passed, it split the air with a piercing sound.

At that moment, a nearby green humanoid monster threw a swift punch at Wen Qingye. A massive amount of Primordial Qi coated its fist, making the very air tremble.

”Celestial Hand!”

Wen Qingye struck out with his palm. A tyrannical Palm Seal blasted forth, sending ripples of Primordial Qi through the air.

”BOOM!”

As the sound of exploding Primordial Qi filled the air, Wen Qingye’s sword was already slashing toward the chest of one of the green monsters. Meanwhile, another monster’s arm had stopped just three inches from his body.

Wen Qingye immediately retreated a step, then charged the green humanoid monster he had just exchanged palms with.

The green humanoid monster that had clashed palms with Wen Qingye looked as if its entire body had been shattered, but its immense Life Force immediately began to restore its broken form.

”Immortal Divine Wind Thunder Shock Finger!”

Wen Qingye pointed a finger. A flash of deep purple light pulsed through the air, carrying a strange aura. It was so fast it was breathtaking.

”THUD!”

Wen Qingye’s Finger Technique was unbelievably fast. He struck the green humanoid monster directly between the eyes. The monster froze on the spot, then ceased to move.

In the flash of an eye, Wen Qingye dealt with the last green humanoid monster, seemingly without breaking a sweat.

Below the Water Curtain, the crowd stared in stunned silence at Wen Qingye’s back as he walked toward the 13th Layer, their hearts reeling in shock.

”In just over a month, Wen Qingye’s strength has surged forward again.”

”Wen Qingye’s progress is just too much, way too much.”

”We’re not the same kind of people as him. He’s a monster.”

The crowd wasn’t just shocked by how powerful Wen Qingye was, but by the speed of his improvement. If his progress was this terrifying after just one month, what would he be like in a few years? At this thought, everyone’s heart gave a violent twitch.