The morning mountain breeze carried a hint of moist chill.
Gu Chengming stood in the center of the open space inside the room, his wrist turning as he steadily sheathed his sword by his side.
He stood still for a moment, adjusting the rhythm of his breathing.
His breath circulated within his body, moving slowly along his meridians; the previous sense of sluggishness had mostly faded away.
The effects of the second realm healing pills were indeed authoritative.
After only a few days of recuperation, the severely damaged meridians had been mostly repaired, and under the nourishment of the medicinal power, they were even a bit tougher than before the injury.
This state should be sufficient to participate in the evaluation.
And before his eyes, the murmurs appeared at the right time.
【Huiyuan Sword Manual warns you absolutely not to push yourself.】
【It says that although your injuries are mostly healed, it is still a recent recovery after all. It's enough to just pass this evaluation; don't go showing off and injure yourself again.】
Gu Chengming smiled and agreed in his heart.
He naturally knew his limits; for this evaluation, he only needed to achieve a rank that would satisfy Elder Ren.
He placed the wooden sword into the sword case and checked his belongings once more—pills, spare spirit stones, and so on—though he likely wouldn't need them, it was always good to be prepared.
After finishing this, he glanced at the brightening sky outside the window, estimating that the time was about right.
Just then, a flurry of footsteps came from outside the courtyard, followed by the sound of knocking on the door.
"Senior Brother Gu, are you up?" It was Jiang Lu's voice.
Gu Chengming walked over and opened the door, seeing Jiang Lu standing at the entrance in clean sect robes, a sword hanging at his waist, looking full of energy.
Seeing Gu Chengming come out, his gaze swept over him. Seeing that the latter had a healthy complexion, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"It seems Senior Brother has recovered well."
Jiang Lu stepped aside, gesturing toward the sky outside:
"It is getting late. I specifically came to find Senior Brother so we could head to the evaluation grounds together. I was afraid that while Senior Brother was recovering, he might have gotten the dates mixed up."
"Thank you for your concern, Junior Brother."
Gu Chengming turned back to close the door and straightened his collar:
"For such a major event, I naturally wouldn't forget. Let's go."
The two walked out of the small courtyard side by side, heading toward the main peak along the mountain path. The morning mist had not yet fully dispersed, and dew still hung on the ancient pines along the path.
Today's Wenjian Sect was exceptionally lively.
On the mountain paths that were usually quiet and deep, disciples dressed in various colored robes could be seen everywhere.
They were in groups of three or five, with varying expressions.
This evaluation was open to the entire sect; all disciples who met the criteria were required to participate, leading to a grand occasion rarely seen on ordinary days.
As the two gradually approached the main peak, the surrounding crowd became increasingly dense.
Jiang Lu was clearly quite familiar with such scenes. He led the way in front, avoiding the crowded areas while turning his head to explain the specific arrangements of this evaluation to Gu Chengming.
"The venue for this evaluation is set at the Sword-Questioning Platform. It's an open space large enough to accommodate thousands of people watching at the same time."
"Furthermore, I heard that for this debut after the restructuring, the sect specifically activated several Sect-Protecting Arrays around the Sword-Questioning Platform to suppress the spiritual energy fluctuations within the area, lest the disciples lose control during their matches."
Gu Chengming nodded slightly, casting his gaze into the distance.
He saw that at the summit of the main peak, a massive white jade plaza floated above the sea of clouds.
The plaza was enormous, paved entirely with solid white marble, reflecting a gentle luster under the sunlight.
Around the plaza stood dozens of stone pillars towering into the clouds, each carved with complex sword patterns, faintly emitting an aura of solemnity. In the very center of the plaza was a massive arena, surrounded by defensive restrictions.
At this time, the white jade plaza was already a sea of people.
Countless disciples were lined up according to their respective gates; at a glance, it was a dense, dark mass of moving heads.
"That is the Sword-Questioning Platform."
Jiang Lu pointed at that location and said:
"It is said that it was the place where our Wenjian Sect's Founding Grand-Patriarch attained enlightenment. If one can stand out there, it truly wouldn't be a wasted trip."
Gu Chengming nodded. Just as he was about to ask something more, several lines of text suddenly appeared before his eyes.
Perhaps because there were too many people around, the "Flowing Cloud Following Moon" sword intent, which had been silent, suddenly reacted defensively.
【Flowing Cloud Following Moon looks at the dense crowd of sword cultivators around and feels a wave of nausea.】
【So many sword cultivators... how disgusting.】
【Sword cultivators are like cockroaches in a gutter; it would be great if they could all be killed.】
Gu Chengming suddenly found it a bit hard to keep a straight face.
This fellow's resentment is truly heavy.
He ignored the murmurs of Flowing Cloud Following Moon and instead cast his gaze toward the highest point of the Sword-Questioning Platform.
On the high platform, the view was excellent, allowing one to take in the entire scene of the Sword-Questioning Platform.
A row of grandmaster chairs was lined up, with various elders seated according to their seniority.
Sitting in the center was an elderly man with white hair and beard and a kind face.
He did not say much today, merely looking at the disciples below with a smile. On either side of him were the presiding elders of each peak.
At this moment, these big figures, who were usually high and mighty, were also gathered together.
"Oh, Senior Brother Zhao, I heard that your Qingfeng Gate has produced several good prospects this year."
A purple-robed elder holding a teacup looked toward Zhao Wuji beside him with a smile:
"Especially that one called... Li Qing? I heard he only entered the sect three years ago, yet he has already touched the threshold of the third realm and even mastered the Azure Cloud Sword Art? Truly, the younger generation is to be feared."
Hearing this, a reserved smile appeared on Zhao Wuji's face as he waved his hand:
"Not at all, not at all. Junior Brother Wang overpraises him. That kid is just lucky and has a bit of cleverness, that's all."
"Senior Brother Zhao is too modest."
Elder Wang laughed loudly:
"Who doesn't know that your Qingfeng Gate's Azure Cloud Sword Art is extremely difficult to learn and is a true specialty?"
"I wouldn't dare claim that, I wouldn't dare."
Although Zhao Wuji said he wouldn't dare, the smile lines at the corners of his eyes could not be hidden at all.
The elders chatted back and forth, flattering each other, and the atmosphere was exceptionally harmonious.
Their topic circled around the major gates, leaving only Ren Wencai, who sat at the very end, as if he had been forgotten by everyone.
Today, he wore a set of half-old, grey Taoist robes. Holding a teacup in his hands, he had his head lowered, focused intently on blowing the tea leaves floating on the surface.
It wasn't until everyone had finished most of their conversation that Elder Wang seemed to suddenly remember something. He turned his head to look at Ren Wencai and said:
"Oh, I almost forgot Senior Brother Ren. Senior Brother Ren, how is your Huiyuan Gate doing this year? Are there any disciples worth showing off?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the gazes of the surrounding elders also drifted over, more or less.
The status of Huiyuan Gate within the sect had always been somewhat awkward.
In previous evaluations, Huiyuan Gate was basically always at the bottom, and everyone was used to using them as a joke after tea and meals.
Hearing someone call him, Ren Wencai finally raised his head slowly.
He first looked at everyone blankly, then let out a long sigh, a look of extreme distress appearing on his face.
"Sigh, Junior Brother Wang, stop making fun of this senior brother."
Ren Wencai put down his teacup and shook his head, his tone full of helplessness:
"This year... it's still the same old story. As for the rankings and such, this old man has long since looked past it. Let it be, let it be."
As he spoke, he also shook his head cooperatively, looking like a man with "no successors and a miserable late life."
Seeing this, the elders all spoke up to offer comfort.
"Senior Brother Ren doesn't need to be so pessimistic. Who can say for sure when it comes to fate?"
"Yes, yes. Perhaps you'll recruit a good prospect next year."
"The important thing is participating, just participating."
Everyone said a few polite words and then turned their attention back to their own disciples.
Only Zhao Wuji sat there without speaking.
He had fought with Ren Wencai for most of his life and knew this old fellow's character inside out.
What this old thing was best at was playing the pig to eat the tiger.
Back when they were young, every time everyone went out for training together, this old fellow would always hide at the very back, letting everyone else protect him in front.
Then, when it truly came to the critical moment of seizing opportunities, this old fellow's hands were blacker than anyone's, and he ran faster than anyone.
This miserable act now, no matter how he looked at it, reeked of a familiar scent.
—Something's not right.
Zhao Wuji muttered inwardly.
If he truly had no trump cards, he wouldn't have come to this high platform today to be slighted.
But Huiyuan Gate indeed had no records of any newly entered genius disciples in the past two years; he had checked this.
The few new disciples they had were all of mediocre aptitude, with only one named Jiang Lu having a decent progression in cultivation, but it was limited to that and couldn't cause any major waves.
Thinking this, he picked up his teacup, using the motion of drinking tea to hide his gaze as he quietly scanned the queue of Huiyuan Gate disciples below.
There were only a sparse few dozen people there, looking exceptionally pathetic standing among the major gates.
After identifying them carefully, he did not find any disciples with particularly outstanding realms.
Could it be that he was overthinking it?
On the plaza below the high platform, Gu Chengming was boredly listening to Jiang Lu chatter about gossip.
Suddenly, he felt as if he had noticed something and subconsciously looked up at the high platform.
The distance was too far to see the faces of those elders clearly; he could only see a row of blurred figures.
"What's wrong, Senior Brother?" Jiang Lu asked, seeing his strange expression.
"It's nothing."
Gu Chengming withdrew his gaze and shook his head.
Just then, a melodious chime of a bell resounded throughout the entire Sword-Questioning Platform.
"Dong—"
The crowd, which had been whispering, fell silent instantly.
The evaluation had begun.
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