Su Xiao Mo had defeated He Zongying, who had the most hope of becoming the next inner disciple.
When Third Elder loudly announced it, the scene entered a brief silence where even a dropped pin could be heard clearly.
“Hahaha!”
Suddenly, Sun Yingquan laughed and shouted loudly: “Junior Brother Su is mighty!”
His relationship with Su Xiao Mo was already very close. Now that he’d defeated the seemingly insurmountable He Zongying, he was definitely happy beyond measure!
“Amazing!”
“So Junior Brother Su is this strong!”
“We all underestimated him!”
The disciples who originally thought He Zongying would definitely win were slapped in the face, but the gazes they directed at Su Xiao Mo all rose with admiration.
Using dignified strength to defeat a powerful opponent on the arena would naturally earn martial artists’ respect.
Of course.
If there hadn’t been any groundwork laid.
Many disciples would subconsciously think: How could Su Gou Sheng possibly defeat He Zongying!
How could he?
Because of hard cultivation! Because of various resources!
“Pff!”
He Zongying, slumped on the ground, spat out a mouthful of blood. Clearly he couldn’t accept that he would lose to a disciple who just entered the sect, that he would be eliminated in the first round of the outer disciple examination!
“Participants number one and two, take the stage!” Third Elder called out.
Su Xiao Mo’s powerful performance had given him quite a surprise, but the outer disciple examination still had to continue.
“Swish!”
“Swish!”
The participants who drew tokens one and two came on stage to fight.
From this point, the outer disciple examination began proceeding in an orderly fashion.
As the victor.
Su Xiao Mo only needed to quietly wait for the next round.
……
“Boom!”
“Senior Brother Qin, I yield!”
On the arena, Su Xiao Mo cupped his hands.
Below the arena, the disciple surnamed Qin cupped his hands back: “Junior Brother Su’s cultivation is formidable. Senior Brother is convinced of his loss.”
Having defeated the championship favorite He Zongying, no one was surprised that Su Xiao Mo won the second round. They’d even concluded that the champion of this examination would definitely be him.
In this type of combat format, Su Xiao Mo continued Ten Thousand Ancients Sect’s fine tradition of fighting more simply and more concisely as he went.
Just like this.
After a few words, the outer disciple examination had reached the finals.
Su Xiao Mo still relied on those two martial techniques to easily defeat his opponent and obtain the championship of this examination.
“Too easy!”
“Completely lacking any sense of suspense!”
The disciples all looked speechless.
Thinking carefully, in the entire outer disciple examination, only the battle between Su Xiao Mo and He Zongying was somewhat exciting. That first-round battle could completely be called the finals battle.
“In this outer disciple examination, Su Gou Sheng has won first place. He is awarded 500 contribution points and gifted 20 natural spirit stones.”
Third Elder announced loudly, and after presenting the award said: “Come to the great hall.”
“Yes!”
Su Xiao Mo thought to himself: “The result of showing off is being closely watched.”
……
Inside the great hall.
Su Xiao Mo stood there obediently.
Several Elders sat in front. Their spiritual sense was constantly releasing, hoping to thoroughly investigate this young man.
Unfortunately, once the Concealment Cultivation Art from the upper realm was operating, it only gave them what they wanted to see.
“Little fellow.”
Third Elder said: “Will you speak yourself, or shall we elders ask?”
“Reporting to Elder!”
Su Xiao Mo said loudly: “Disciple’s real name is Su Jintang. I’m from Su Family Gully in Southern Barren Prefecture. In my youth, I encountered a senior who called himself Old Man Jun Tian, then took him as my master and followed him in cultivating martial arts for several years!”
At this point, he definitely couldn’t hide it anymore.
By proactively speaking, he earned approving nods from several Elders.
“Old Man Jun Tian.”
Third Elder stroked his chin: “Haven’t heard of this person.”
“Reporting to Elder!”
Su Xiao Mo said: “Master once said he rarely involves himself in the martial world and prefers to travel among mountains and waters.”
“So he’s a hermit.”
There were as many martial artists on Xingyun Continent as sand in the Ganges River. There were bound to be many powerful people who saw through fame and fortune living lives of idle clouds and wild cranes.
The most famous was none other than Taixuan Old Man.
Such a super-powerful expert who could cross the void had only passed down two manuals above divine-grade. His other deeds could be described as extremely few.
“So you’re saying you already had Wuzong cultivation before joining the sect?”
“Reporting to Elder, disciple broke through during this month of cultivation, thanks to the sect’s resources and the natural spirit stones given by Senior Brother Sun and Senior Sister Xia!”
“Being able to break through to Wuzong in such a short time relying on resources is very difficult without extremely high spiritual roots.”
“Come.”
Third Elder waved his hand and took out a glass orb-like object: “Place your palm on top of it.”
Su Xiao Mo knew this was used to test spiritual roots. So he walked forward two steps, placed his right hand on it, then operated the Concealment Cultivation Art to suppress his spiritual root level.
“Whoosh whoosh!”
After a moment, the glass orb flashed with light and displayed a slightly reddish color.
Third Elder said: “So it’s supreme-grade spiritual roots.”
The other Elders discussed among themselves.
Su Xiao Mo thought to himself: “The Concealment Cultivation Art Sect Master gave is truly amazing—it can even suppress spiritual root level!”
“Having supreme-grade spiritual roots, relying on large quantities of spirit stones and resources plus his own efforts, breaking through from Wushi to Wuzong in a short time is quite normal.”
Many Elders reached this conclusion. They could understand Su Xiao Mo’s increased strength even more.
“Little fellow.”
Third Elder smiled: “You’ve hidden quite deeply.”
“Uh…” Su Xiao Mo scratched his head: “When I came down the mountain, Master instructed me to be low-key as a person and must not be ostentatious.”
The Elders laughed.
A hermit teaching a low-key disciple was quite reasonable.
“You may go.”
Third Elder waved his hand.
“Yes!”
Su Xiao Mo withdrew. After returning to his quarters, he grabbed a teapot and gulped down the contents.
In the great hall just now, facing a group of Taixuan Holy Sect higher-ups’ probing, he was extremely nervous inside, afraid of revealing flaws that would make the higher-ups suspicious.
“Having shown supreme-grade spiritual roots this time, they’ll definitely investigate my identity. I hope no loose ends are revealed.” Su Xiao Mo thought to himself.
Sure enough.
The Elders in the great hall were still discussing Su Xiao Mo, and had already ordered the Intelligence Hall to quickly investigate this Su Jintang.
It wasn’t that they suspected him of being a spy.
Rather, supreme-grade aptitude was already considered excellent. A major sect would naturally handle things according to regulations and thoroughly investigate his identity.
Unlike Ten Thousand Ancients Sect.
Because they had various restrictions and weren’t worried about secrets being leaked, they didn’t excessively audit disciples’ identities. As long as they passed the examination, they would be accepted.
Taixuan Holy Sect moved very quickly.
In just a few days they found information about Su Jintang, which matched what Su Xiao Mo had said.
There really was a person called Su Jintang on Xingyun Continent who lived in Su Family Gully in Southern Barren Prefecture and possessed supreme-grade spiritual roots. However, after the age of eight or nine, he left home.
Where was the person?
At Ten Thousand Ancients Sect.
Taixuan Holy Sect definitely couldn’t investigate this aspect, nor Old Man Jun Tian.
“Everyone.”
Third Elder said: “Su Jintang has decent spiritual roots and took a hermit master in his youth. I believe he has cultivation value.”
“This boy is smooth and versatile, and doesn’t like showing off in front of others. He’s indeed a good seedling that can be cultivated.” Elder Sun stated his position.
As long as there was an opportunity, he would definitely speak well of Su Xiao Mo in front of the Elder Council, after all his son was involved.
Elder Xia said: “We can give him this opportunity.”
With two Elders stating their positions, the other higher-ups also agreed one after another. So Third Elder, after some consideration, announced: “Place Su Jintang on the list as one of the Examination Pavilion members.”
The Examination Pavilion was a special department of Taixuan Holy Sect. Disciples who entered it all possessed various potential and enjoyed certain martial arts resources. In the future, if they had outstanding performance, advancing to inner disciples would be completely unproblematic.
“Sect Master.”
When Su Xiao Mo learned from Sun Yingquan’s mouth that he had become a member of the Examination Pavilion, he thought to himself: “Disciple has already gained the higher-ups’ trust. The next step is to advance to inner disciple, and even become a core disciple!”
Jun Changxiao, at Ten Thousand Ancients Sect, after receiving intelligence reported by Li Luo Qiu, leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, smiling: “My precious disciple, when the day comes to close the net, I hope you’ve already become one of Taixuan Holy Sect’s pivotal higher-ups.”
—