Daojun Leshan was so startled by Daojun Qianshu that he couldn’t speak. After a long moment, he stammered, “You’re serious? Not just a whim?”

“Is it what I think it is!?” Daojun Leshan.

“You ask too many questions.” Daojun Qianshu couldn’t be bothered to answer him. He tapped the willow-white bamboo slip test paper on the table and declared, “This person is mine.” “

”……” Daojun Leshan.

Hearing this, Daojun Leshan was overcome with joy, nearly bursting into tears. I’ll take that as a yes!

Both Daojun Leshan and Daojun Mingshui, who were present, felt an extraordinary surge of excitement. It was like the feeling of a long-suffering wife finally becoming the matriarch and rising to prominence!

It wasn’t easy. It really wasn’t easy at all!

Daojun Leshan silently resolved: as long as Liu Baijian didn’t perform too poorly from now on, he would keep him. After all, this was the first person Daojun Qianshu had taken an interest in for years—no matter what, he had to be retained!

As if reading his thoughts, Daojun Qianshu lifted an eyelid to glance at him, then emitted a soft snort—a sound that seemed both dismissive and mocking.

“The results of the second trial are in! Those whose names are called, step forward…” Qi Yang, the senior disciple of the Wendao Sect, stood on the white jade plaza outside the sect’s mountain gates. His gaze swept over the crowd of young disciples—some excited, some anxious, some uneasy—before he began calling names: “Zhao Zhiqian, Liu Fangyu, Hua Shanlei…”

“To the following individuals, I regret to inform you that you have failed the second stage assessment,” Qi Yang stated, his tone heavy with disappointment.

After those who failed the second stage departed, forty-three remained.

Qi Yang’s gaze swept over the remaining youths, taking in the excitement, joy, agitation, and tension etched on their faces. His voice grew measured as he continued, “First, congratulations on passing the second trial. But do not rejoice too soon—the third trial begins immediately.”

At these words, the expressions on their faces grew even more intense, a mix of exhilaration and nervousness.

“Is this the final trial?” someone asked.

Qi Yang glanced at the questioner and nodded slowly. “Yes.”

Hearing this, the group visibly relaxed, their tension easing considerably.

“The final assessment! That’s wonderful!” someone exclaimed with relief. “We just need to pass this next one, right?”

“But I thought someone might catch the eye of a Daojun during the second stage, get taken on as a disciple right then and there, and skip the rest of the assessments. All that careful answering I did was for nothing. Guess I was overthinking it!”

“That’s just wishful thinking! How could a Daojun decide to take on a disciple based solely on an exam paper? That’s too good to be true. You’re not the protagonist in some cultivation novel,” retorted the youth standing beside him. “You’re right. It’s best to just keep those unrealistic fantasies to yourself.”

Before the Spirit Mirror

Daojun Qianshu listened to the two youths’ conversation within the mirror. Turning to the Daojun Leshan and the Daojun Qianshu beside him, he spoke thoughtfully, “Should I perhaps…”

“No, you shouldn’t!” Daojun Leshan and the Daojun Qianshu immediately grimaced at his words, hastily interrupting him.

“I think…” Daojun Qianshu began.

“No! You don’t!” Leshan and Daojun Mingshui shouted in unison.

Daojun Qianshu fell silent.

His gaze fixed on Leshan and Daojun Mingshui before him, he spoke calmly, “I want to cut someone down.”

Hearing this, Daojuns Leshan and Mingshui instantly grew tense. Their voices trembled as they asked, “Junior Brother Qianshu, are you feeling unwell? Is something troubling you? Would you like some tea to calm down?”

“Impulse is the devil, Qianshu. Think of the Sect Leader—he’s already gone gray from managing the sect’s affairs. For the sake of his poor, thinning hair, you must stay calm!” Daojun Mingshui pleaded earnestly.

Their panic wasn’t unfounded, nor were they overreacting. Because…

When Daojun Qianshu said he would chop someone, he would actually go and chop someone!

He never bluffed!

Whenever Daojun Qianshu flew into a rage, no one could stop him except the venerable elders of the Wendao Sect.

That’s why the entire Wendao Sect dreaded Daojun Qianshu’s frenzies. When he lost control, he’d slash indiscriminately—slaughtering enemy Demonic Cultivators and heretical practitioners outright, while leaving his own people half-dead. When he finally came to his senses, facing the corpses littering the ground and the battered, half-paralyzed disciples of the Wendao Sect, he would still pontificate with righteous indignation: “This was merely a test to gauge your combat prowess and cultivation! It shows you are still too weak! You must cultivate diligently.”

“But don’t be discouraged,” Qianshu continued nonchalantly. “Failure is the mother of success. Get used to it after a few more setbacks.”

“…” The innocent, pitiful, and wretched disciples of the Wendao Sect, whose bodies littered the mountain slopes after his rampage.

Their noses practically twisted with rage. So we’re supposed to thank you for this?!

Thank you for hacking us into such a sorry state!

Though seething inside, they dared not vent their anger directly at Daojun Qianshu. They dared not speak their minds, for who knew if he might fly into a rage again upon hearing their complaints, unleashing another round of merciless slaughter—all while calling it training in some so-called hellish ordeal!

So the disciples of the Wendao Sect could only grit their teeth, crawl back up from the ground, and with faces swollen and bruised beyond recognition, offer a muffled, forced thank you to Daojun Qianshu: “Thank you for your guidance, Daojun.”

As if we’d thank you!

Daojun Qianshu nodded with a composed, indifferent expression. “Not at all. It’s my duty.”

So beating disciples is your duty, huh?

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Hearing this, Daojuns Leshan and Mingshui immediately grew tense, fearing he might fly into a rage and start hacking people down. If he targeted them, that might be bearable. But if he stormed to the front gate and slaughtered all the youths who’d come for today’s disciple selection…

…then the Wendao Sect might not recruit any disciples next year—no one would dare apply.

To prevent such a catastrophe, the two Daojuns hastily stroked Daojun Qianshu’s fur, hoping to prevent him from bristling and losing his temper.

Daojun Qianshu watched them fussing over him with nervous expressions, as if facing a formidable enemy. With a mischievous grin, he remained silent, leaving them in anxious anticipation.

Only when he saw sweat beading on their foreheads and their expressions growing increasingly tense and anxious did Daojun Qianshu finally speak in a deep, resonant voice: “You’re blocking my view of my disciple.”

“…” Daojun Leshan.

“…” Daojun Mingshui.

Wait, where did you even get a disciple?!

In just this short while, you managed to scoop up a perfectly good, pure young lad and make him yours?

Daojun Qianshu looked at them, his tone calm as he said, “I find myself longing for the feel of a sword in my hand.”

“!!!!” Leshan and Mingshui.

Without another word, they immediately stepped aside, clearing a wide space in the center and exposing the entire Spirit Mirror before Daojun Qianshu.

Before the Spirit Mirror.

“The third trial’s assessment begins here!”

Before the White Jade Plaza.

Qi Yang swept his sleeve before the gathered youths. A wave of white mist rose, obscuring their vision until everything became blurred.

Moments later, as the mist dissipated and their eyes opened, the scene before them had drastically transformed.

The original white jade plaza had become a vermilion battlefield. Within it, countless mechanical puppet automatons moved back and forth, emitting the creaking sounds of “creak, creak, creak.”

Standing outside the battlefield’s perimeter, the youths gazed curiously at the crimson arena and its mechanical puppets, their expressions filled with astonishment.

Such exquisitely crafted automatons were a first for them! They moved with the agility of living beings, their workmanship exceptionally refined—both intricate and beautiful.

“These automatons represent the cultivation levels of Qi Refining stages one, two, and three.” The white ones represent the first layer of Qi Refining, the red ones the second layer, and the black ones the third layer. Qi Yang stood outside the vermilion battlefield, pointing at the automatons within and explaining to the group of youths.

Hearing his words, the youths’ expressions grew even more curious. Their eyes scanned the automatons within the vermilion battlefield, searching back and forth for different colored ones. Huh! These automatons actually had distinctions!

“Your test is to defeat these automatons,” Qi Yang continued.

Hearing this, the youths instantly lifted their heads to look at him.

Meeting their gaze, Qi Yang detailed the rules for the third assessment: “The third assessment has two requirements. First, each of you must remain within the automaton battlefield for two full hours. If you are defeated and unable to continue fighting, you fail. Second, each of you must earn one hundred points. Defeating a white automaton counts as one point, a red one as two points, and a black one as three points.” Only by fulfilling both conditions will you pass!“ Qi Yang stated. His gaze swept over the group of youths listening intently before him. He asked in a deep voice, ”Understood?“

”Understood!“ the youths answered in unison.

”But I have a question!“ someone raised their hand to speak.

Hearing this, Qi Yang turned his gaze to him and gestured for him to speak. ”What is your question?”

“Well, isn’t this a bit of a waste of time?” the youth continued, launching into his reasoning. “They’re merely third-tier Qi Refining puppets. Defeating them isn’t hard. One hundred points could be earned in as little as two quarters of an hour. Yet we’re required to stay inside for a full two hours. Isn’t that an enormous waste of time?”

One hundred points, targeting only the black automatons. At one per minute, thirty would be defeated in two quarters of an hour.

His words immediately drew agreement from the other youths. “That’s exactly right!”

“I was thinking the same thing earlier.”

“I don’t see why we need to stay inside for the full two hours.”

“Not a single one of these automatons is worth fighting. They’re all just here to be slaughtered.”

“…”

“…”

The youths voiced their opinions one after another, their words brimming with confidence and certainty, as if victory were already assured. They held these automatons in utter contempt.

Their confidence wasn’t entirely blind, however. Automatons capped at the third layer of Qi Refining were indeed no match for them.

Nearly all the youths present possessed mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation. Dealing with mere low-stage Qi Refining automatons was a piece of cake.

That was why they reacted this way—except for two individuals.

Among this group of youths, relaxed and certain of victory, only Liu Baijian and Yuan Ziqiu wore grave expressions.

Liu Baijian was puzzled by the oddness of this assessment…

As the final, crucial—perhaps even the most important—screening stage, could it really be this simple?

As for Yuan Ziqiu, it was because…

He was the only one present without any cultivation base.