Chapter 726: Affinity Test!
After that, it was Li Yun’s turn to be tested.
He placed his palm on the cyan stone. Ripples appeared, revealing a line of characters.
Nineteen years old, 1st level of Heavenly Core Realm.
"Passable."
Daoist Scarlet Brow nodded, but a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes.
Originally, Li Yun had achieved a good result in the first trial despite only being at the 1st level of Heavenly Core Realm. This had filled Daoist Scarlet Brow with some anticipation. He believed Li Yun might be a promising seedling with extraordinary potential.
But Li Yun’s bone age disappointed him greatly.
A nineteen-year-old at the 1st level of Heavenly Core Realm might be considered decent among ordinary second-rate or first-rate powers. However, in the Profound Origin Immortal Sect, this result appeared far too ordinary.
Even geniuses like Fan Wuhen, who had reached the perfection stage of the 9th level of Heavenly Core Realm at twenty-three, were not unique within the Profound Origin Immortal Sect. There were still some people of that level.
In comparison, Li Yun’s cultivation progress seemed quite average.
"Nothing special after all."
At the same time, many surrounding cultivators relaxed their expressions. Then, disdain and scorn appeared in their eyes as they stopped paying attention to Li Yun.
A cultivator who had only reached the 1st level of Heavenly Core Realm at nineteen clearly had limited talent in their view. He was destined to pose no threat to them.
After this trial, he would probably be kicked out of the Candidate Elite List.
Such a person was not even qualified to be regarded as their competitor.
Li Yun himself did not care about this at all.
A nineteen-year-old at the 1st level of Heavenly Core Realm could be considered a genius in the Azure Void Region. But when placed in the entire Central Continent, it could only barely be considered excellent. It would not even count as true genius-level talent.
However, that judgment was based on the assumption that Li Yun had cultivated normally since childhood.
In reality, Li Yun had wasted his first sixteen years. At sixteen, he had not even begun true cultivation. To reach the 1st level of Heavenly Core Realm at nineteen under such circumstances was beyond monstrous.
Such speed could be considered top-tier even in the entire Central Continent. Even Fan Wuhen or Bai Xueya might not have been able to achieve it.
If others knew this, they would definitely overturn their previous assumptions and recognize Li Yun as a peerless genius.
However, Li Yun saw no need to volunteer this information.
Even if he said it, no one would necessarily believe him. Instead, they might only think he was bragging shamelessly.
After Li Yun, the bone age testing continued.
Several hours later, all of the nearly five thousand cultivators had finally finished testing.
This time, another two thousand cultivators were eliminated, and Yan Shuo’s name was among them.
In truth, his talent was not too bad. If he had been born in the Central Continent, he might have had a chance to enter the Profound Origin Immortal Sect. Unfortunately, he had wasted too much time in the Azure Void Region, causing his potential to be almost completely drained. Because of that, he could only accept the fate of elimination.
Zhu Heng, on the other hand, barely passed the test despite ranking near the bottom.
However, it was expected that passing the subsequent tests would be extremely difficult for him.
Furthermore, after this round of testing ended, the Candidate Elite List underwent massive changes.
The top three remained unchanged, still Fan Wuhen, Bai Xueya, and Yun Canglan. However, from the fourth rank onward, there were significant shifts.
Xuan Long’s rank moved up slightly to eighth, while Fatty Chu’s rank jumped directly from seventeenth to seventh.
As for Li Yun, his rank dropped significantly, falling straight to ninety-sixth. He was only a hair’s breadth away from falling off the Candidate Elite List entirely.
This was only because the powerful figures of the Profound Origin Immortal Sect considered that Li Yun was still young and still had potential to be tapped. Because of that, they showed leniency and kept him on the Candidate Elite List.
Otherwise, under normal circumstances, he would definitely have fallen off the Candidate Elite List after this round.
The other cultivators did not care much about this.
It was not because they were magnanimous. Rather, they believed Li Yun’s subsequent performance would only get worse, and that he was destined to have no connection with becoming an elite disciple. Naturally, they no longer felt any need to pay him attention.
"Next, we begin the third stage, the Affinity Test."
Daoist Scarlet Brow spoke again. "There are three thousand Daos, and every Dao can lead to the peak of the martial path. However, every cultivator has different paths they excel in. This stage is meant to identify your areas of expertise."
"This stage is not only a test for you. It will also determine which peak you enter if you are able to join the Profound Origin Immortal Sect. Therefore, I hope all of you maintain sufficient focus during this stage."
He and the other elders exchanged glances, then simultaneously struck out a seal.
Suddenly, the ground rumbled and split open. A green pillar rose from below, radiating a mysterious luster.
"Similar to the previous stage, you only need to place your palm against this Heavenly Affinity Pillar while concentrating. The Heavenly Affinity Pillar will then automatically manifest a vision."
"The manifested vision determines the domain you excel in. Likewise, the rank of the vision determines your potential in that domain."
"Next, following the combined rankings of the first two stages, we will begin the testing in order."
As Daoist Scarlet Brow’s voice fell, Fan Wuhen took a step forward, once again being the first to begin the test.
He placed his palm on the Heavenly Affinity Pillar with a solemn expression, and strange brilliance flashed in his eyes.
Rumble!
Suddenly, the Heavenly Affinity Pillar shook violently.
A green light soared into the sky and transformed into a small white flower in the void.
At first, the flower was only the size of a thumb. But as time passed, it expanded rapidly. In just a few breaths, it had become a massive thousand feet in size.
The thousand-foot-wide white flower radiated brilliant light.
That light was dazzling to the extreme, and a strange luster appeared on every petal, making anyone who saw it unable to resist becoming intoxicated.
It was beautiful.
It was truly too beautiful.
Words could not fully describe the beauty of this white flower. It was as if it were the purest and most dazzling existence in the world, leaving people thoroughly enchanted.