Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword

On the Qixi Festival, pleading for a little sister~

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Zhu Xun quickly brought them to another room and handed a record over to the examiner there.

That record was the names and points of Zhou Heng and the other six who had earned extra points; only they needed to have their records taken. Who knew how many of the remaining twenty-four would be eliminated, and why would the failures deserve to have their names remembered?

"My name is Han Yulian, and I am your final examiner!" A woman with a very voluptuous figure stood before them, introducing herself. Around twenty-four or twenty-five years old, she exuded mature charm, capturing the attention of young men whose emotions were just beginning to stir. They couldn't help but let their gazes frequently sweep over her ample bust and round, perky buttocks.

In terms of facial beauty, Shen Xinqi was no less stunning than her, but when it came to allure, she couldn't hold a candle.

"The last assessment is a labyrinth!" Han Yulian took out a folded piece of paper, opened it, and posted it on the wall. As she turned her back and her full hips swayed provocatively, many of the young men's faces turned red and they placed their hands over their lower abdomen to hide their embarrassment.

The paper detailed an intricate maze.

Han Yulian pointed to a door beside her and said, "This is the entrance to the labyrinth—" Then she pointed to another door beside it, "This is the exit. If you can make it out within half an hour, you will pass. For every two minutes you finish early, you will earn one point!"

"You now have half an hour to memorize the route!"

This was the final assessment!

Could it be that the assessment for martial artists wasn't a direct comparison of strength, but all this miscellaneous stuff?

The young men and women were all puzzled, but they had no place to criticize the Nine Spirit Sect's rules for accepting disciples. They had to accept their fate, concentrating on memorizing the labyrinth on the piece of paper.

Zhou Heng thought about it and realized that the Nine Spirit Sect's approach made a lot of sense.

The first assessment tested the martial artists' endurance and will, the second their actual combat ability, and the third their memory and comprehension. If a candidate excelled in all areas, they were truly a talent among talents!

In terms of memory, he was an absolute genius, and as for comprehension—having mastered three forms of the Sky-soaring Nine Forms, what else could he not grasp?

In just five minutes, he memorized the entire maze's route and could even construct a three-dimensional layout of the whole maze in his mind. He closed his eyes and relaxed his mind, recovering from the mental strength he had spent in the previous challenge.

Seeing Zhou Heng so composed, Han Yulian felt a slight irritation in her heart—did this kid really think he could memorize the whole maze with just a glance?

What an arrogant guy, let him be eliminated then!

Han Yulian's patience wasn't good, and after a short while, she started pacing beneath the paper. This was bad, her bust was so animated, each step caused her ample bosom to quiver, creating surging waves.

It nearly dazzled the eyes of the young men, who kept shifting their gazes up and down, and distraction was inevitable.

But there were those with firm wills, like Shi Qingfeng, Zhang Zijun, and Chang Kang, who completely ignored Han Yulian and focused solely on memorizing the maze, each hoping to make a strong comeback in this round and reclaim the first-place position.

Soon, the half-hour was over.

Han Yulian took down the paper from the wall and said, "Begin. You, go first!" She casually pointed to someone.

The person showed a hint of joy; with the paper on the wall now put away, the sooner one started, the clearer the memory would naturally be since it was forced memorization which definitely fades over time.

He wasted no time and dashed into the doorway, disappearing around the corner in an instant.

"You, second!" After a minute, Han Yulian pointed to the next person.

Every minute, she sent off the next person. This little bit of time was enough for the previous and following individuals to maintain enough distance that they were unlikely to meet. Even if they took a wrong turn and did meet, without paper or pen, it was no good trying to consult each other. Who could trust that the other person's chosen path was the right one?

With fewer people left behind, Han Yulian, annoyed with Zhou Heng, deliberately left him for last—since the kid was arrogant, let him taste the consequences of arrogance!

"Your turn, go!" Finally, when it was time, Han Yulian pointed to Zhou Heng.

Zhou Heng nodded and stepped through the doorway.

The light inside the maze was very dim, with walls on either side stretching to the top, with no hope of jumping straight over the obstacles. After turning a corner, every few meters there was a lit torch illuminating the nearby area.

Zhou Heng was calm, a three-dimensional map forming in his mind. He pinpointed his location accurately, his feet barely touching the ground as he navigated unerringly towards the exit.

He didn't take a single wrong step, making his speed naturally much faster than the others. Soon, he caught up with the person ahead, and with the Cloud Flying Step, he passed by in a blur. The person behind didn't dare to chase with all their might, as who could be sure that Zhou Heng wasn't leading them astray?

Although Zhou Heng was running at full speed and hadn't made a single mistake, the scale of the maze was quite large. After winding around for a good ten minutes, he finally arrived at the exit.

He strode out decisively.

Han Yulian had fetched a cup of water from somewhere and was drinking when she saw him emerge. She couldn't help but "pfft" out loud, spraying the water from her mouth and then coughing nonstop.

How is that possible!

This kid only took ten minutes to come out! How could this be!

It's not that no one has already come out; Shen Xinqi, because she set off early, had been out for a good seven or eight minutes and got five points. Additionally, among the first few who set off, there were also two who had arrived, all within the half-hour mark.

Since the people who set off first would have no idea about the order of those entering the maze after them, Shen Xinqi and the others did not know how long Zhou Heng had taken to come out, and naturally, they wouldn't be surprised. It was rather the sight of Han Yulian suddenly losing her composure and coughing that puzzled everyone.

"You, you, you—" Han Yulian stared at Zhou Heng as if she had seen a ghost.

"Senior Sister Han, what's wrong?" In such a short time, Shen Xinqi had already formed a relationship with Han Yulian.

It was then that Han Yulian realized her gaffe and quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe the water stain by her mouth. She looked at Zhou Heng for a long time before asking, "What's your name?"

"I am Zhou Heng!"

"Zhou Heng?" Han Yulian looked at the record in her hand and saw Zhou Heng's name at the top with five points!

This meant that he had cleared the entire Copper Man Array!

Han Yulian didn't initially know who Zhou Heng was, but now realizing that Zhou Heng was only at the Body Refinement Seventh Layer, her expression changed again and again, finally settling into a sigh as she wrote a few strokes on the paper.

Shen Xinqi glanced over and saw beside Zhou Heng's name, the words "ten minutes, reward ten points" had been added!

What, ten minutes to pass the level!

Shen Xinqi's pretty face also changed color, and she couldn't help but look at Zhou Heng with a fluctuating gaze.

She found Zhou Heng more and more unfathomable now.

Twenty minutes later, some more people came out, but it had been half an hour since Zhou Heng, the last one to start, meaning those still inside the maze had failed.

Counting the remaining people, there were merely nine left!

Recruiting sect members once every five years, but only nine made it through in the end—an average of less than two people per year!

Those who had passed were naturally overflowing with joy, but when the others found out that Zhou Heng had only taken ten minutes to exit the maze, they were first startled and then did not take it to heart; after all, what's the use of having a good memory when cultivation is not dependent on memory!

A cultivation technique I can't memorize in one day, can't I take two or three days? What impact could this two-day delay possibly have on cultivation?

It was with this kind of thinking that the sect members grumbled about the Nine Spirit Sect's method of choosing disciples.

"Follow me!" Han Yulian led the nine people away, arriving at a refined courtyard where Zhu Xun was already waiting.

"Very good!" Zhu Xun greeted Zhou Heng and the eight others with a smile, "Congratulations, you have passed the final assessment and become disciples of the Nine Spirit Sect! Now, tell me your names, and I'll have you registered in the roster!"

After each of the nine reported their names and ages, Han Yulian had already taken out nine white tokens from inside the building, handing them out to everyone.

Zhou Heng examined the token he received. On one side of the token was written the words "Nine Spirit," the other side was blank, quite similar to Feng Tengyuan's token, but one was black while the other was white.

Perhaps, this was the lowest ranking token in the Nine Spirit Sect.

Han Yulian quickly clarified, "Upon joining the sect, you are Outer Sect disciples. Once you break through to the Blood Refinement Realm, you'll be promoted to Inner Sect Disciples. Within the sect, age is irrelevant; status is based on cultivation level. If you encounter a fellow sect member at the Tenth Layer of Body Refinement, even if they are younger than you, they are still your Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters!"

"The tokens for Inner Sect Disciples are black. The day you break through to the Blood Refinement Realm, you can come here to exchange for a token!"

"Above that, there are purple tokens and gold tokens!"

"The purple token represents the Spirit Gathering Realm cultivation level and denotes an Elder of the sect!"

"There is only one gold token, and that is the Sect Master's!"

"Remember this, disrespecting those above you is considered a grave disrespect in the sect and will be severely punished!"

Zhu Xun took over, saying, "Alright, all of you follow me, and I will arrange your accommodation!"

"Yes, Senior Brother Zhu!" All nine, including Zhou Heng, nodded.

Shortly after, they arrived at a huge courtyard where Zhu Xun arranged their accommodation—one room per person, so there was no need to separate by gender. Once everything was settled, Zhu Xun said, "Every ten days, Inner Sect Disciples will come to explain doubts about cultivation. Work hard and don't let the hopes of the sect down!"

After saying this, he left.

At that moment, people started coming out from various houses in the courtyard, almost a hundred in number, and four young men walked up to cut off Zhou Heng and the eight others, each emanating an air of arrogance.

It seems there's trouble afoot!