He used his divine sense to control an ice blade about as long as an arm, with a razor-thin edge.
The angle and style of the ice blade's attacks revealed a faint sense of aesthetic power.
Compared to her wind sword, the ice blade wasn't fast, but every strike shaved off a dozen stones.
Furthermore, the ice blade was freezing cold; every stone it touched was instantly frozen, shattering into falling ice crystals after the blade sliced through. It was a spectacular sight.
By the time Gu Ningyun looked over, Jun Luo had already dealt with most of the stones. He would likely finish ahead of time in just a short while.
Next to Jun Luo was Jiang Yao.
Unlike the fragile weapon he had condensed during the classroom test, the axe he had formed now had a dense spirit energy structure.
An aura of sharp metal coated the surface of the axe, radiating a sense of danger.
Unable to keep up with the speed of the stones, he used the hardness of gold spirit energy to simply push the axe horizontally.
With each horizontal sweep, he could knock away or slice through four or five stones using the aura of sharp metal.
Judging by his progress, knocking down over three thousand stones within the time of one incense stick wouldn't be a problem.
Farthest from Gu Ningyun was Mu Chenze.
This time, he had condensed a massive water hammer, its head as large as a person.
He operated the water hammer like he was playing whack-a-mole, slamming it down and crushing several stones with each strike.
After watching her companions' techniques, Gu Ningyun had a flash of inspiration. She would try some new ways to use her wind spirit energy when she had the chance.
When the incense in the burner finished, Martial Aunt Yang recorded everyone's assessment results and said, "Recover your spirit energy. We will conduct the second assessment after one incense stick has burned."
The five wind swords hadn't consumed much of Gu Ningyun's spirit energy. Combined with the fact that her cultivation technique could run on its own, her spirit energy had already fully recovered while she watched the others.
However, she didn't want to reveal the uniqueness of her technique, so she sat cross-legged and began to circulate her spirit energy as if cultivating.
Wind spirit energy was fast; one incense stick's time was enough for her to complete three Minor Orbits and accumulate quite a bit of energy.
...
The second assessment actually tested their animal condensation. The content was to manipulate their condensed animals to complete commands issued by Martial Aunt Yang.
Gu Ningyun's two reference objects, Cold Consort and the fat duck, both had very distinct personalities.
Since she had finished the first part early, her grade was guaranteed to be fine. For the second part, she wanted to play it safe and secure a Distinction.
Worried that Cold Consort's lazy attitude might affect her score, Gu Ningyun chose to condense the fat duck for the assessment.
With the fat duck's high spirituality from the wind spirit energy, it naturally completed the tasks beyond expectations.
Once both assessments were over, Martial Aunt Yang graded them on the spot and released the results.
Gu Ningyun sent her divine sense into her disciple token to check—Stage One | Spirit Energy Application | Distinction.
Success!!
Including the initial stage assessment, she had already earned three Distinctions!
Gu Ningyun gripped her identity jade token, trying her best to suppress the corners of her mouth from curling upward.
She had to keep this up and strive for Distinctions in every course!
She exchanged words with Wen Xuan and the others.
Jun Luo had also received a Distinction. Wen Xuan got a Grade A, while Jiang Yao and Mu Chenze only received Grade B because they hadn't smashed all the stones in the first part.
The body refining assessment in the afternoon was as simple and brutal as ever: climb from the bottom of the cliff to the peak and back five times within two hours while under the effects of a gravity array.
Gu Ningyun could already manage ten rounds, so she naturally earned a Distinction.
What made her even happier was that through her recent hard work, her climbing speed had finally surpassed Mu Chenze's again.
In the body refining assessment, Jun Luo and Mu Chenze also earned Distinctions, while Jiang Yao and Wen Xuan both received Grade A.
After the body refining assessment ended, Martial Uncle Lu gathered them together. "After the previous training, you have completed the most important foundation-building. From today onward, your time is your own."
He took out five identical jade slips and handed them out. "This is the sect's best body refining technique. After you finish soaking in today's final skin refining spirit herb pack, you can follow this manual for your future cultivation."
Wait, why did these words sound so much like a farewell?
Gu Ningyun took the jade slip. "Martial Uncle Lu, are all our basic classes finished?"
"Not quite. There are still two required courses arranged by the sect, but the schedule hasn't been set yet."
What kind of courses were so mysterious?
"There's no rush for those," Martial Uncle Lu said. "Martial Aunt Yang and I discussed it, and given your talents, continuing with collective classes would actually be counterproductive."
"Two days ago, Martial Aunt Yang and I applied to the Disciple Training Department of Governing Peak. As long as you passed all four of your initial assessments on the first try, you can unlock all formal disciple privileges early."
"Check your disciple tokens; you should have received a notification by now."
So fast!
Gu Ningyun sent her divine sense into her jade token, and her eyes instantly widened.
Good heavens, this is like a combination of a university intranet and a chat app from my past life.
The Xiaoyao Patriarch is definitely a transmigrator. It’s practically confirmed. Maybe even more than one person crossed over!!!
Unlike before, when it only contained basic identity information, a recording of the recruitment assessment, and stage assessment results, the content of the disciple token had undergone a massive change.
First, there were six parallel tabs: Personal, Friends, Chat, Mission Hall, Platforms, and Forums.
Gu Ningyun clicked on "Personal." It contained her basic identity info, historical grades, and so on. The recruitment recording and stage assessment results were now categorized under historical grades.
Friends were divided into "My Friends" and "Sect." Gu Ningyun clicked on "Sect" to take a look. First were the names of the two Martial Uncles and her four companions. Below them were people she didn't recognize, likely all formal disciples of Xiaoyao.
For the sake of chatting convenience, Gu Ningyun simply moved the two Martial Uncles, Wen Xuan, and the others to her "My Friends" interface.
The chat interface was blank, with a button in the top right to start a chat.
The Mission Hall was grayed out. Gu Ningyun tapped it, and a pop-up appeared: "Insufficient cultivation! Level 3 Qi Refining required!"
Gu Ningyun: "..."
So much for "all formal disciple privileges"...
The Platforms were divided into "Common" and "All." Under "Common," she saw the Trial Tower, Technique Hall, Sword Hall, Alchemy Hall, Array Hall, Talisman Hall, Artifact Hall, and more. They all seemed to be platforms belonging to Preaching Peak.
The "All" section was arranged in order: the four main peaks, the seventy-two inner peaks, the thirty-two outer peaks, and the external areas.
However, she could currently only open the four main peaks—Book Peak, Governing Peak, Punishment Peak, and Preaching Peak—as well as Qixia Peak and the Xiaoyao external areas. Clicking on other peaks showed a lack of permission.
Was this the platform Martial Aunt Yang mentioned when she reserved the spirit beast garden at Changting Abode?
The Forums were divided into "Xiaoyao Forum" and "World Forum." Gu Ningyun clicked the Xiaoyao section first. As soon as she entered, she was dazzled by the variety of messages.
There were people gathering teams: "An anomaly has appeared five hundred miles outside Yangshan City in Dingyuanzhou! Investigation suggests an ancient cultivator's cave-dwelling has emerged. Sincerely inviting fellow disciples in the area to team up for exploration!"
There were people complaining: "Warning: Stay away from the Tianhu Sect in Nanwangzhou. They team up with you only to stab you in the back..."
There were over a hundred comments under that message.
Zheng Hai of Book Peak: "Tianhu Sect? I was scammed by them last time too. I had to recover from my injuries for a long time after I got back."
Wang Le of Book Peak: "The time a month ago? Senior Brother, didn't you say you were injured by a spirit beast? You were actually scammed?"
Zheng Hai of Book Peak tried to retract a comment. Retraction failed due to time limit.
Wang Le of Book Peak: "..."
Chen Yingxi of Alchemy Peak: "Tianhu Sect, huh? Just wait. I was just worrying about having no one to test my newly refined poison pills on."
Lin Ci of Alchemy Peak: "Junior Sister is so badass."
Lin Song of Alchemy Peak: "Junior Sister is so badass."
Shu Ziming of Artifact Peak: "Junior Sister Chen Yingxi of Alchemy Peak, come to my place to pick up a protective artifact before you set out, lest they try any underhanded tricks."
Chen Yingxi of Alchemy Peak: "Got it."
...
Gu Ningyun clicked on the World Forum, only to find that the first pop-up was gossip about Xiaoyao.
Rate on N.U.
