335: Chapter 335: Fresh Blood for the Daoist Sect

The entire venue went silent in an instant.

Chaos Spiritual Root?

That is an existence even rarer than the Heavenly Spiritual Root; it has no clear elemental inclination, but it also means it can be compatible with Cultivation Technique of any attribute.

And its Grade A-Superior Aptitude is even higher than Captain Zhao Wuji's Grade A-Intermediate.

Most importantly, the Dao Heart purity is 95%, even higher than Lin Xue's.

Captain Zhao Wuji's expression instantly became incredibly colorful.

"Impossible! A Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, how is it possible..."

His voice was somewhat out of control, but no one around him echoed his sentiment.

Everyone's gaze was focused on Zhou Han, that seemingly unremarkable youth standing in front of the stone tablet.

Zhou Han himself was also stunned.

He looked down at his hands, somewhat disbelieving.

"Kid, don't just stand there stunned."

Elder Qingyang's voice carried a hint of a smile.

"I told you, your Aptitude is not bad."

Zhou Han took a deep breath, withdrew his hand, and turned to walk back to the queue.

When passing by Captain Zhao Wuji, he did not look at him, but Captain Zhao Wuji's fists were clenched tightly, making a creaking sound, and his face was terrifyingly gloomy.

At the window of the distant side hall, Li Changsheng stood there, his gaze never leaving the testing field.

"Chaos Spiritual Root... Dao Heart purity 95%... This is interesting."

"A Spiritual Root like this, without a clear elemental inclination, is actually the hardest to constrain, but if you can guide him into the Righteous Path, the path he can walk will be longer than anyone else's."

In the subsequent tests, Shi Gandang's results were equally eye-catching.

His Spiritual Root was a mutated Earth Spiritual Root, with Grade A-Intermediate Aptitude and a Dao Heart purity of 81%.

A seemingly dirty youth from the Beggar Sect being able to produce such results made people look at him with new eyes.

But Zhou Han noticed that during the test, the light of the stone tablet flickered for a moment, as if it had sensed something abnormal, but it quickly returned to normal.

After the first round of the Spiritual Root test ended, the batch with the lowest scores among the nearly one thousand applicants was assigned to Group B, those with decent scores entered Group A, and those with excellent scores entered the Special Group.

Captain Zhao Wuji, Lin Xue, Zhou Han, Shi Gandang, and others were all assigned to the Special Group.

Second Round — Asking Dao Arena.

"Second Round, Asking Dao Arena."

"The rules are very simple — you will enter an arena generated by an illusion formation to fight against opponents, and the opponents will be generated by the illusion formation based on your results and Realm."

"The winner advances, the loser is eliminated."

"Each person can have at most three losses; those with three losses are out."

"The top one hundred who remain on the stage will enter the third round."

Li Changsheng's voice came from the high platform.

"This round tests not only combat power but also adaptability and combat wisdom."

"Remember — sometimes, winning is not the goal; the gains realized from the battle are more important than the victory or defeat itself."

The contestants of the Special Group were given priority to enter.

Zhou Han took a deep breath and stepped into the illusion formation.

A flash of light appeared before his eyes, and he was already standing on an arena with a radius of one hundred zhang.

The opponent was a phantom of a Sword Cultivator at the Soul Transformation Middle Stage, with a flickering figure and sharp Sword Intent.

Foundation Establishment Great Perfection versus Soul Transformation Middle Stage; the gap in cultivation was enormous.

Elder Qingyang's voice sounded: "Kid, don't think about fighting head-on."

"Although his Sword Intent is sharp, it is only a simulation generated by the illusion formation, and it is incomplete."

"You only need to see the flaws in his sword technique and defeat him with one strike."

Zhou Han gripped the sword in his hand, his gaze locked tightly on his opponent.

The opponent moved, thrusting with his sword; the sword light was like a rainbow.

Zhou Han did not meet it head-on, but dodged to the side, simultaneously swinging his sword to strike at the opening in the opponent's sword momentum.

The sword lights crossed, and the opponent's phantom dissipated.

Zhou Han felt a warm surge of spiritual power flow into his body; the victories gained in the illusion formation caused his cultivation to loosen slightly.

Once, twice, three times... He won consecutive battles on the arena, fighting more and more smoothly, and each battle deepened his understanding of sword techniques.

On another arena, Lin Xue was entangled in a fight with a phantom of an assassin at the Late Nascent Soul Stage.

Her short blade was like a venomous snake, and every strike pierced precisely at the opponent's vital points.

Her movements were concise and neat, without any unnecessary flourishes.

Flames burned in her eyes, as if she were not facing an illusion formation, but the murderer who wiped out her entire family.

Captain Zhao Wuji was also on his own arena.

His opponent was a giant-axe warrior at the Late Nascent Soul Stage, whose attacks were wide and powerful, with astonishing strength.

Relying on the spiritual power advantage of his Heavenly Spiritual Root, he withstood the opponent's attacks time and time again, and finally won by crushing the opponent with spiritual power.

His face wore a look of smugness, but that smugness turned into faint unease when he thought of Zhou Han and Lin Xue's results.

Before long, all of them entered the final round.

Third Round: Dao Heart Illusion.

"Third Round, Dao Heart Illusion; you will enter the illusion formation to face your own inner heart."

"Fear, desire, obsession, regret... everything you deliberately avoid will appear in the illusion."

"Those who pass will advance, those who sink will be eliminated."

Li Changsheng's voice sounded; he paused, then continued.

"There is no victory or defeat in this round, only success or failure."

The moment Zhou Han stepped into the illusion formation, the scene before his eyes changed abruptly.

He found himself standing in front of a dilapidated house in Kumu Town, the sun setting, and the twilight gathering.

His father was drinking in the courtyard, drunk, and beckoned to him: "Kid, come over and have a drink with Dad."

Zhou Han's heart sank abruptly.

This is an illusion.

He told himself, but his father's appearance was too real, even the ragged clothes and dirty beard were exactly the same.

"Kid, this is an illusion."

Elder Qingyang's voice sounded in his mind.

"Don't be fooled, your father is already dead; you must move forward and cannot turn back."

Zhou Han took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and opened them again.

He turned around and walked in the opposite direction; the voice behind him grew farther and farther away, finally dissipating into the wind.

Lin Xue's illusion was a sea of fire at the Lin family mansion.

She stood in the ruins, surrounded by corpses strewn about, blood staining the ground red.

Those men in black stood at the edge of the sea of fire, the leader with his back to her, his figure blurry.

"Who are you?"

Lin Xue's voice was hoarse.

The man in black did not turn around, only let out a low laugh.

Lin Xue gripped her short blade and rushed forward, but a high wall of fire suddenly rose, blocking her outside.

"Who are you?!"

She roared, over and over again. The man in black finally turned around, but his face was a blank slate, with nothing on it.

Lin Xue was stunned.

Just when she thought she was about to be trapped, a voice sounded in the illusion.

"You only have two choices: remain trapped in the past, or walk toward the future."

When Lin Xue opened her eyes, she found herself already standing outside the illusion formation.

There were tear stains on her face, but she didn't know when they had been left there.

In her hand, the short blade had been gripped until her knuckles turned white.

Shi Gandang's illusion was a expanse of darkness.

He stood in the darkness, with nothing around him, only the sound of his own heartbeat.

He heard a voice saying: "The Seal in your Dantian, don't you want to know what is inside?"

Shi Gandang was silent for a moment: "I don't."

He turned around and walked into the darkness, stepping firmly with every step.

After the three rounds of trials ended, Li Changsheng stood on the high platform, holding a list in his hand.

"Those who passed the three rounds total one hundred thirty-seven people."

"Congratulations on becoming the new batch of Core Disciple of the Supreme Dao Palace; you will practice, grow, and seek your own Dao here."

His gaze swept across the crowd, falling on Zhou Han, Lin Xue, Shi Gandang, and others, pausing slightly.

"Someone once asked me, what is the Righteous Path."

"I said the Righteous Path is not a road, but a group of people willing to walk on the same road."

"You come from different places, carrying different pasts, but from today on, you will walk side by side." Li Changsheng paused.

"Welcome to the Supreme Dao Palace."

On the plaza, applause thundered.

Zhou Han stood in the crowd, watching that white figure on the high platform, an indescribable emotion welling up in his heart.

On the ring finger of his left hand, the ring grew slightly warm, and Elder Qingyang's voice sounded in his mind: "Kid, you did it; this old man didn't misjudge you."

Zhou Han lowered his head: "Thank you, Senior."

He looked up, looking at the distant sky.

The morning light was just right, and there were no clouds for ten thousand miles.

He also looked at Lin Xue standing not far away, that woman in red, still expressionless.

He also saw Shi Gandang, who was squatting in the corner, drawing incomprehensible patterns with a pebble.

He also saw Captain Zhao Wuji, his face terrifyingly gloomy, seemingly clenching his fists and calculating something.

The Immortal Ascension Assembly had ended.

A new batch of blood for the Dao Sect had emerged.