The First Day of Assessment

“Oh?! Is Miss Luo also an examiner?” Li Yao spotted Luo Yingkong with her flowing white hair immediately; there was no mistaking her, she was simply too conspicuous.

“Ah, it’s Brother Li Yao. Do you two know each other?” Li Yuan was unaware that Li Yao was the one Luo Yingkong had brought back during her first mission.

“Senior Brother Li Yuan, please go attend to your duties. I’ll take Miss Luo to the rainforest.”

“Very well. Take these tokens. If you lose one, you can retrieve it by seizing it from another, but you must not possess more than fifteen at any time.” Li Yuan produced fifteen talismans and handed them to Luo Yingkong.

****

As Li Yuan departed, Li Yao brought forth a blue spirit vessel.

“Brother Li, you’ve already reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Are you also an examiner?” Luo Yingkong asked, puzzled.

“I’m not participating in the assessment. I’m merely here to supervise the examiners and prevent any cheating among the participants.”

The two boarded the spirit vessel and flew towards the southern rainforest. As numerous small flying boats streaked across the sky, a colossal vessel suddenly materialized above the training grounds.

It was a massive flying boat capable of carrying thousands of people, hovering in the air like a magnificent beast! Luo Yingkong felt a ripple of awe, while the disciples below gazed with envy. The cost of such a spirit vessel was substantial, with large ones comparable in value to top-tier magical artifacts.

“Brother Li, if these tokens are seized, will there be any repercussions?”

“None at all. Examiners also receive rewards, allocated according to their performance. If you manage not to lose a single token, the reward will be incredibly generous. Miss Luo, being at the peak of Qi Condensation, is considered among the top examiners. An excellent performance might even catch the eye of a Core Formation cultivator, leading to your selection as a core disciple.”

Luo Yingkong nodded, understanding the immense benefits of becoming a core disciple from Li Yao’s own status. Guidance from a Core Formation master would undoubtedly be invaluable.

“Oh, by the way, Miss Luo, I’ve collected five Foundation Establishment Pills this past year. You should receive one more after the selection concludes. Even with the poorest aptitude, that should be enough to reach Foundation Establishment, right?” Li Yao presented her with a wooden box.

“This…” Luo Yingkong had only mentioned it casually back then, yet she never imagined that in just a year, Li Yao would truly find so many Foundation Establishment Pills!

She gently opened the wooden box, and a rich medicinal aroma wafted out, revealing five golden pills. They were indeed Foundation Establishment Pills.

“Thank you, Brother Li. Should you ever face difficulties in the future, I will not hesitate to assist you.” Luo Yingkong quickly expressed her gratitude, gaining a new understanding of him and a hint of goodwill. These Foundation Establishment Pills were worth fifty thousand spirit stones! Luo Yingkong wouldn’t be able to gather such a sum even if she undertook missions for several years.

‘Are core disciples all this wealthy? He seems even richer than my master, Li Yuan.’ She mused, recalling how he couldn’t even produce a thousand spirit stones before, yet now he acquired so many precious pills with ease.

“Miss Luo, you’re too kind. I always keep my promises; this was merely a trivial matter…”

“We’ve arrived.” The flying boat landed on a hill within the rainforest, offering a panoramic view.

“The assessment begins at sunrise tomorrow. Examiners, however, may only act two hours after the participants start. This is to prevent examiners from being too concentrated, which could lead to uncontrollable skirmishes. The activity area is restricted to within the rainforest, and examiners are not permitted to hide.” Li Yao instructed further, and Luo Yingkong nodded.

“This is a Primordial Spirit Star Compass. It allows you to see the locations of all cultivators in the rainforest. If someone forfeits, you can activate the compass, and I will come to retrieve them. Remember not to let any participants obtain it.”

Li Yao handed her another compass, shaped like an inverted small bowl, somewhat resembling a radar detector. The glowing purple dot on it marked her own position.

“I still need to visit other examiners. Miss Luo, please wait here for the competition to begin.”

“Brother Li, please attend to your duties. I will not see you off.”

He piloted the spirit vessel away, and Luo Yingkong found a dry spot to rest. The sky had already darkened, and she gazed at the night sky, recalling the massive flying boat she had seen earlier.

‘If I could understand how it floats, I could build a small satellite to monitor distant places.’ She had wanted to create one before, but she didn’t know how high the sky was in this world, nor did she have enough energy to keep it afloat against the gravitational field.

The night passed in silence. Luo Yingkong set up a simple isolation array and drifted off to sleep to the sound of crickets.

****

The rainforest was not particularly vast; circling it entirely would only take a day or two. Early the next morning, she released her divine sense, probing for movement in her surroundings.

The sun had yet to rise, but the colossal spirit vessel had already docked at the edge of the rainforest. The participants had gathered in groups of three to five, forming teams to seize tokens. Most of them were cultivators between the first and ninth layers, and those possessing a cultivation technique were rare. Their equipment consisted of low-grade magical artifacts, or sometimes none at all.

However, there were exceptions. Occasionally, outstanding individuals emerged. Though their cultivation was low, they possessed enough strength to challenge an examiner alone.

“The competition is about to begin. You all know the rules. Regardless of the methods you use to obtain tokens, remember not to take lives. You are all fellow disciples; do not harm your camaraderie.”

As a sliver of the sun appeared and the elder loudly declared the start of the selection, the participants surged into the rainforest like swift leopards! Others chose to conserve their energy, advancing at a leisurely pace.

Luo Yingkong took out her star compass and began to study it, using her divine sense to probe its internal structure. Since she couldn’t act for another two hours, she might as well pass the time.

The nearest examiner was twenty miles away, a cultivator at the fourteenth layer of Qi Condensation. He would serve as a defensive line for Luo Yingkong, as participants from the north would surely pass through his location.

Two hours quickly passed. Luo Yingkong chose to remain stationary, while other examiners slowly shifted their positions.

Barely had the competition begun when two examiners fell under siege, their tokens inevitably snatched away. With too few tokens remaining, some participants began to seize them from each other.

On the first day of the competition, no one came to challenge Luo Yingkong. She was unaware that her location had been designated as ‘difficult,’ requiring elite dark horse teams to overcome. This arrangement was specifically made by Li Yao based on her perceived strength.

‘No one coming is good, too.’ Luo Yingkong thought. She could simply wait for the selection to end and claim her reward. Other examiners had all been challenged to some extent, with six having already been defeated.

Early the next morning, casualties had already appeared. Many cultivators were ambushed while resting, causing everyone to forgo sleep. They could only replenish their spiritual power with spirit stones or take turns guarding while recovering.

****

“Hey! There should be an examiner here, right? We want to challenge them!”

At noon, Luo Yingkong was resting in a tree when she saw five cultivators in yellow robes approach. She reluctantly jumped down.

“You wish to challenge me? Then make your move.” Luo Yingkong didn’t even bother to retrieve a magical artifact. The cultivation of these individuals was around the seventh or eighth layer, posing no threat whatsoever.

“You’re an examiner?” The group looked bewildered. If Luo Yingkong hadn’t released her peak Qi Condensation aura, they would have mistaken her for some child who had wandered off.

“Wait a moment. Let us see your tokens. We were unlucky enough to seize tokens from two examiners who had none left.”

“Oh…” Luo Yingkong took out a stack of talismans, fanning them open.

“Fifteen!” All of them were astonished. The previous examiners held at most seven or eight. If they won this round, they could all pass the selection.

“Don’t panic yet. Don’t be fooled by her childlike appearance; she’s definitely not easy to deal with… Let’s first…”

Before the leader could finish, one of the cultivators charged forward: “What are we waiting for?! A few of us together are afraid of a little girl?!”

The man was robust, with a Thousand-Catty Talisman affixed to his arm. Seeing Luo Yingkong’s slender build, his first thought was to close in and deliver a kick!

The kick landed on empty air. Luo Yingkong’s figure appeared on a distant hill, looking down at the group. “Time to try out a new move.”

Luo Yingkong silently recited an incantation, and from her sleeve extended a white bone, pointed at both ends, like a javelin.

“Go!” Luo Yingkong didn’t use brute force to throw it; instead, she launched it with spiritual energy. This was a concession to the participants; if she had used her full strength, it would surely have been a fatal blow.

“Xiao Ya! Block it quickly!”

A female cultivator behind them produced a yellow umbrella and flashed to the front of the group, opening it to block the projectile.

‘Is that a high-grade magical artifact?’ Luo Yingkong wondered as she observed it.

The cultivators lacked sufficient artifacts, so they were working in cooperation. They seemed very confident in the yellow umbrella, standing behind it unhurriedly.

However, in the next instant, the yellow umbrella was pierced through as if it were made of paper. They were all startled, but it was too late to dodge!