Mo Qi mused that he himself had advanced from the Core Formation stage to the Spirit Severing stage over the past few years, but he had achieved this through enduring hardships and life-or-death trials in the Myriad Phenomena Valley.
As for Xue Nü, either she had encountered some earth-shattering fortuitous encounter in these years, or she had been hiding her strength before.
At this moment, another commotion arose from the waiting area outside the line, with exclamations of surprise and wonder echoing incessantly.
Following their gazes, Mo Qi saw a male cultivator standing beside Xue Nü. The crystal ball before him had also turned purple.
The male cultivator was clad in a green long robe, with a handsome face and a perpetually smiling demeanor.
Mo Qi felt as if he were looking at himself, suddenly having an urge to get acquainted with him.
Xue Nü slowly walked to the outside of the line. As she emerged, her eyes swept over Mo Qi’s face, her gaze carrying a hint of provocation.
Mo Qi responded with a smile.
The test concluded, and in this group of testers, only one person was eliminated.
That person seemed to have truly come to try his luck, appearing to be on the verge of advancing from the Core Formation stage to the Nascent Soul stage. He pushed his spiritual power to its limit, and the crystal ball quickly turned from yellow to red, but in a blink of an eye, it reverted to yellow.
He continued to urge it on, but the crystal ball showed no further change, remaining fixed at yellow.
Finally, the man had to give up dejectedly.
With a declaration from the examiner, the second group of candidates entered the testing area.
Mo Qi also walked to his testing platform as arranged and placed his hand on the crystal ball.
Xue Nü’s eyes were fixed on Mo Qi, her gaze filled with an unutterable meaning.
Mo Qi, however, was thinking that in response to Xue Nü’s provocation, he must not only respond with his eyes but also with his actions.
In the Vast Sky Realm, cultivators with high cultivation were everywhere, so there was no need for him to deliberately conceal his cultivation at this moment. Thus, he injected his entire lifetime of cultivation into the crystal ball in an instant.
The crystal ball had no time to change from green to blue, then from blue to yellow, then from yellow to red, and then from red to purple. It instantly turned purple and then exploded with a roar.
“Ah!” As the crystal ball burst, everyone watching his test let out a collective gasp.
What did this explosion signify? No score?
Including all those who were currently being tested, everyone looked uniformly at the examiner.
The examiner was also utterly astonished, wondering if this fellow was perhaps at the Mahayana stage.
He quickly deployed his divine sense, letting it roam over Mo Qi. After a moment, he let out a long sigh of relief, realizing he was only at the Spirit Severing stage.
I can still manage this!
Mo Qi feigned panic as he looked at the examiner, “I’m sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose. How about you give me another crystal ball, and I’ll try again?”
The examiner waved to the assistant at the door, signaling her to fetch another crystal ball.
The student assistant quickly went to the material room to get a new crystal ball. As she stepped out of the room, her head was struck with a thud, and she fainted to the ground.
Seven people walked over and quietly swapped the crystal ball in her hand for another one.
Then, the group of people clumsily woke her up and ran away before she could open her eyes.
The student assistant didn’t know what had happened. Seeing that the crystal ball was still in her hand, she didn’t think too much about it and decided to deliver the crystal ball first, so as not to keep the tester waiting too long.
A moment later, the student assistant, holding the crystal ball, walked directly to Mo Qi and placed the crystal ball on the platform.
By this time, the other testers in the second group had finished their tests and all passed, exiting the line. Everyone’s attention was focused on Mo Qi.
Mo Qi placed his hand on this new crystal ball again and injected his spiritual power.
The crystal ball surprisingly showed no color.
Mo Qi panicked. What was going on?
He increased his strength a bit, but the crystal ball still showed no color change.
There was a chorus of mockery from the surroundings: “He deliberately made the crystal ball explode earlier. What is he trying to show off?”
“Stop pretending to be a master. If you can’t do it, you can’t. You’ve been exposed now, haven’t you?”
“That’s a slap in the face, isn’t it?”
Xue Nü watched him from afar, a hint of nervousness in her beautiful eyes.
Mo Qi didn’t know what had gone wrong, nor did he have the patience to figure it out.
In his haste, he became even more determined to pass, so he intensified his spiritual power infusion.
If he were eliminated now, how could he live up to Xue Ying’s eager expectations?
The examiner, however, noticed something was amiss. This candidate had been able to make the crystal ball explode earlier, so why was there no color change with a new crystal ball?
Even at the very least, it should be green!
Moreover, when he tested earlier, although the testing crystal ball had exploded, it had already displayed purple, which indicated that he had passed.
The reason he agreed to have another crystal ball fetched was because he wanted Mo Qi to finally fix the color as purple, so he would have a tangible score.
He had checked Mo Qi’s cultivation, which was at the Spirit Severing stage. Therefore, under normal circumstances, when his testing crystal ball was finalized, it would be purple.
This type of crystal ball was called a Spirit Severing Crystal Ball, its spiritual power limit being the Spirit Severing stage. Once it was attacked by spiritual power of a higher cultivation, it would explode.
Therefore, cultivators at the Mahayana stage and above would cause it to explode when tested with this crystal ball.
And those with excess spiritual power, when deliberately acting shamelessly, would also cause it to explode!
He realized that Mo Qi belonged to the category of those with excess spiritual power, and he was shamelessly playing rogue.
And with Mo Qi’s Spirit Severing stage cultivation inputting spiritual power into the second crystal ball, the lack of color change suggested that he might have received a Tribulation Crossing Crystal Ball.
A Tribulation Crossing Crystal Ball’s testing started at the Minor Ascension stage, displaying red, Major Ascension stage displaying brown, and Tribulation Crossing stage displaying black.
What should he do?
Should he ask the assistant to fetch another crystal ball, or directly announce that he had passed?
While the examiner was hesitating, Mo Qi let out a loud roar and poured his entire lifetime of spiritual power into the crystal ball.
A clear “Zheng” sound could be heard, and the crystal ball turned red!
The examiner’s face twitched. You rogue, you got lucky!
The surroundings were still filled with disdain: “It looks like he’s using all his might.”
“Does it really take that much effort? I feel like I could do it so easily.”
Mo Qi was also dissatisfied; his score seemed to have regressed. Just as he was about to continue channeling his spiritual power, he heard the examiner announce, “Test passed!”
Mo Qi had no choice but to stop and withdraw his hand from the crystal ball.
Whatever, he passed anyway!
The seven people outside the window heard the examiner’s voice and felt as if they had been struck by lightning!
They felt like they had been slapped in the face again!
This damned fellow is so tenacious, he can’t be stopped!
The group left dejectedly, but they didn’t go far.
After finishing his test, Mo Qi also cast a provocative glance at Xue Nü. Xue Nü rolled her eyes, giving him the illusion that he had returned to the past.
However, when he looked closely, Xue Nü had already turned her face away, looking elsewhere, as if ignoring his existence.
After the student assistant recorded everyone’s scores, she distributed the scorebooks to all those who had passed the test.
Just as everyone was preparing to leave, the student assistant announced that everyone would have to undergo another test, the Heaven-Reaching Test.
This test would not eliminate anyone, but it could determine each person’s depth of cultivation.
The Heaven-Reaching Test, as the name suggested, was to test whether everyone had the potential to reach the celestial realm.
In the center of the academy square stood a Heaven-Reaching Tower, several thousand feet high in the center of the garden. It was transparent and usually invisible. When spiritual power was input, the pearls at the four corners of each level would light up, and then the outline of the Heaven-Reaching Tower would appear.
The Heaven-Reaching Tower had nine levels. By inputting spiritual power, those who could light up the pearls on all nine levels meant they had the potential to enter the celestial realm. Below the ninth level, their aptitudes varied, but generally speaking, they had no potential to enter the celestial realm, only the possibility.
Because the path to the celestial realm was fraught with rolling heavenly thunder, blazing heavenly fire, and fierce winds and malevolent energies, one could not pass without a celestial body constitution.
However, not being able to light up the Heaven-Reaching Tower did not mean one had completely lost the chance to enter the celestial realm.
This was because every hundred years, the celestial realm would descend a Heaven-Reaching Talisman Seal to the lower world. Thousands of talisman seals would be sent down to each continent. Those who obtained a Heaven-Reaching Talisman Seal could also enter the celestial realm.
At that time, those who felt their cultivation was sufficient would compete for the Heaven-Reaching Talisman Seals, and the opportunities were still quite good.
Therefore, people were especially expectant, yet not overly envious, of those who could light up the Heaven-Reaching Tower.
Based on historical experience, the number of testers each year who could light up the pearls on all nine levels of the Heaven-Reaching Tower did not exceed five.
Last year, Shi Siyao and Lu Xiaoyue lit up the nine levels of pearls.
At this time of year, it was always an exciting moment. Not only would students who had enrolled in previous years come to watch, but the academy’s teachers (including the dean) would also come to watch.
This was because they all wished to witness the birth of celestial beings with their own eyes.
Supervisor Yue also came every year. He claimed to have celestial eyes, capable of discerning everyone’s innate talent. He could predict the number of levels each person would light up on the Heaven-Reaching Tower.
Therefore, every time, he would stand beside Dean Xing Mian and fully display his "talents."
Initially, Xing Mian was indeed impressed, but after Supervisor Yue’s countless, incessant displays, he found it tedious.
He always wanted to mock him but couldn’t find a reason.
At this moment, the square was already crowded with people, everyone craning their necks to look forward, chattering and commenting.
“Why are the students in this batch so unattractive?”
“There’s also a beauty. Look at that delicate face, that icy skin, as if carved from jade and painted with powder. It’s too perfect. Ah, how can such a beautiful woman exist in this world? I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
“And Young Master Yuwen, he’s so handsome! I want to marry him.”
Amidst these monkey-like gazes, the testers lined up and walked all the way to the Heaven-Reaching Tower.
Dean Xing Mian and several teachers stood on a nearby building, looking down and quietly observing this grand event.
After the student assistant led them and explained the purpose, rules, and methods of the test, each person stepped forward one by one to undergo the test.
The onlookers widened their eyes, their gazes filled with immense anticipation.
The first person stepped up. He was handsome and refined, and many began to whisper their bold predictions: “Two levels!”
“Three levels!”
“Nine levels!”
Supervisor Yue said to Xing Mian, “Five or six levels, perhaps!”
A moment later, the pearls lit up layer by layer from bottom to top, a total of five levels being illuminated.
The person still seemed unconvinced and fully activated his spiritual power, but only the pearls on the first to fifth levels were illuminated.
Everyone shook their heads, yet felt it was only natural, and began to nod.
Supervisor Yue’s smile bloomed like a flower as he looked at Xing Mian and said, “See, I predicted it accurately.”
Xing Mian perfunctorily replied, “Accurate, very accurate!”
The second person stepped up and lit up six levels of pearls, the third person lit up four levels of pearls.
Everyone felt a bit bored and regretted coming to watch.
“What a waste of time!”
“To come and embarrass themselves with this level of skill. Last year, I lit up seven levels of pearls.”
“Hey, I think it’s good. It saves me from being jealous!”
Supervisor Yue, however, became increasingly excited because he had predicted accurately every time.
The ones that followed appeared successively, all at six levels, five levels, five levels…
Below, the crowd gradually fell silent, their nerves numbed.