The leaders and teachers watching from outside were all a bit surprised.
Yuehai Province wasn’t even in their scope of attention; their focus had been on the Capital Province, which seemed to promise the most excitement.
When they saw Shen Bofeng leading the Capital Province team to surround and nearly wipe out another province, they couldn’t help but nod in approval.
No wonder he’s the first candidate in twenty years to score over 1200 Points.
Eighteen years old, Qi Refining Seventh Layer, suppressing all challengers.
“Is Xiaofeng planning to go to Jifa?” the Test Director asked with a smile.
The representative from the Four Great Academies’ Jifa Academy grinned and nodded. “Yes, yes, of course. After all, Professor Shen is still working at our academy.
“Ying Qian has always loved to compete with Xiaofeng. I’m sure he’ll be happy to have him at Jifa as well…”
The other three academies all rolled their eyes discreetly at this and silently watched the good seedlings on the field. Suddenly, they heard the Jifa teacher’s voice, which abruptly stopped showing off.
“Li Yunxian?” The Jifa teacher’s voice was puzzled.
This was his reaction upon seeing Li Yunxian’s name appear in fifth place on the Qingteng Ranking.
When the other teachers looked over, Li Yunxian’s name had already jumped to second.
They couldn’t help but blink, and when they opened their eyes again, Li Yunxian was already in first place.
Kill Score: 7.
Kill Score: 10.
A series of score jumps, all accomplished in just a few breaths.
The Test Director didn’t seem all that surprised.
He’d already heard the Foundation Establishment of Kui City’s report about escorting students on the way and was no stranger to the name Li Yunxian.
But at the start, when the camera panned over Yuehai Province, the Test Director had seen Li Yunxian sitting quietly at the edge, silent.
He’d thought she was planning to lie low for a while and then give everyone a ‘surprise.’
Who could have guessed she’d act so decisively, completely catching everyone off guard?
The Test Director couldn’t help but smile to himself and said, “Pull up the footage.”
Very soon, the battle footage of Li Yunxian and Pingling Province was displayed before everyone.
Jumping down, killing, switching positions, killing again, turning, killing, and even grabbing someone while retreating.
The twenty-second battle scene ended in a flash, leaving everyone’s eyes spinning.
The teachers and leaders watching:
“How come only four were eliminated?” someone asked in confusion.
The platform manager quickly provided the answer: She’s at Qi Refinement Second Layer.
If she kills someone with higher cultivation, she gets 1 point for the kill, plus 1 extra point for each layer above her, and 2 extra points if it’s two layers higher.
“The eliminated ones were two at Qi Refining Third Layer and two at Qi Refining Fourth Layer.”
Everyone was stunned: “She’s at what Qi Refining layer?”
“…Qi Refining Second Layer,” the manager answered.
Everyone present:
They had nothing to say.
That level, that killing method, was truly thought-provoking.
All the teachers present were at least at Nascent Soul Stage or above, but watching this video, they felt as if they’d missed countless details.
She was only at Qi Refinement Second Layer—where did she get so much Qi to eliminate so many people and still escape successfully?
They turned to the Test Director. “Director, play it again.”
The Test Director also hid the surprise in his eyes.
With his cultivation, he could see everything clearly, which only made him more astonished.
According to the Foundation Establishment of Kui City, Li Yunxian’s uniqueness was only in her powerful Sword Technique; her skills weren’t even mentioned.
But now… her awareness and combat skills were on a completely different level from the other students.
The Test Director nodded. “Alright, play it in slow motion.”
Li Yunxian’s battle footage replayed.
Even in slow motion, her flying sword was still just a blurry afterimage, almost impossible to catch. But this time, everyone’s attention wasn’t on the sword.
They stared straight at Li Yunxian.
They watched as she used the tree to block everyone’s sight, dropping down silently without using any Qi at all.
They glanced at the Pingling Province students and confirmed very clearly that before Li Yunxian reached out, not a single one of them noticed her presence.
Because she still hadn’t used any Qi.
The students, not sensing any Qi fluctuation, had absolutely no sense of danger.
That’s the confidence—and arrogance—of cultivators.
It wasn’t until Li Yunxian’s fingers used a touch of Qi and the crisp sound of a neck being twisted rang out that the Pingling Province students finally reacted.
They attacked Li Yunxian almost without pause.
Including Ying Hu, who was being suppressed by her longsword.
“She’s multitasking?”
“Here, her fingers moved to form a Sword Formula, loosening the sword’s pressure on Ying Hu for a moment—clear evidence of dual control.”
“Ying Hu couldn’t react in time, his Qi fluctuated, and his attack broke off, failing to coordinate with Ying Shi.”
Everyone chimed in with their observations.
“She only used Qi on Ying Hu’s side.”
“Her second target was chosen deliberately. She used a corpse to block the attack from the front, creating a blind spot for attacks from other directions.”
“These two sword strikes were executed right through the crowd from Pingling, brushing past their weapons’ attack paths.”
“And she only used Qi when delivering a killing blow.”
“This isn’t just dual control—it’s at least triple control…”
***
Everyone focused intently on the details and then saw the moment when Li Yunxian’s sword hand came up empty.
“When the sword disappeared, look at her expression.” They all chuckled, but after laughing, someone still gave a suggestion.
“Next time, the platform should improve this. Learn from those alien folks’ Wanwuwu—make it so when someone picks up a weapon, it doesn’t disappear.
“Add some realism.”
“Oh~ here, her footwork changes—she’s already planning to retreat at this point.”
“That sword at Ying Shi… oh, she made them think she still wanted to fight.”
“So cunning! These Pingling students are okay in combat, but too formulaic.”
“Well, they’re only eighteen. With experience, they’ll improve.”
“Tsk… that move during the retreat—at first, she wasn’t planning to take anyone, but when she turned and saw the opportunity, she took someone with her at the last moment?”
“Looks like it.”
“This combat awareness is a little scary, isn’t it?” Even the teachers from the Four Great Academies muttered to themselves, wondering if they themselves had this kind of pure combat instinct.
“Director, is there anything wrong with her?”
They confirmed with the Test Director.
The Test Director sat calmly. “Even if there’s a problem, it’s not a big one.”
With a single sword at Qi Refining slaying eight Foundation Establishments, the Test Director had naturally checked all of Li Yunxian’s records.
That, of course, included the entire video of her Cultivator Academic Test.
“She was required to take a Heart-Questioning Test during her Cultivator Academic Test.”
“She has Merit Golden Light.”
“And she lay in a Medical Pod on the way here—test results confirm it was her, Spirit-Soul Compatibility confirmed, age eighteen.”
“As for the rest, that’s just a matter of Fate—nothing to do with you or me.”
With that, the matter was settled, and no one else said more.
Only, the eyes of several teachers from the Four Great Academies showed a hint of eagerness.
Everyone could see Li Yunxian’s strength—Qi Refining Second Layer, killing above her level and getting extra points, making it into the top hundred of the Qingteng Ranking was practically guaranteed.
They were already thinking about how to recruit her.
Meanwhile, in the platform, Li Yunxian silently took away a few more people.
When she ran into groups, she just repeated her actions from Pingling Province.
When she ran into small teams—those who had split up or quarreled within their groups—
Li Yunxian showed no mercy, choosing to take them all out.
Currently, the Qingteng Ranking stands at…
- Li Yunxian, Jincheng, 146
- Shen Bofeng, Capital City, 59
- Qu Yingzi, Xia City, 37
Li Yunxian glanced at the scores of the two behind her and couldn’t help but click her tongue.
So ruthless.
It’s only been a little over an hour since the selection test started, and so many people have already been eliminated.
Her score was high thanks to the bonus points, but the other two’s scores were all from actual kills.
In terms of sheer numbers, she’d only taken care of about forty or so…
Li Yunxian glanced at Qu Yingzi’s kill count again and coughed softly.
…Thinking about it, she’d also spent a lot of time running around. It was about time to regroup with her companions from Yuehai Province.
Li Yunxian silently whistled and quickly made her way to the unremarkable hill she’d marked earlier.
There were already quite a few people gathered in the hill.
Aside from their own Yuehai Province group…
Li Yunxian’s gaze fell on someone wearing an innocent expression while holding one of the Yuehai students hostage.
Chen Chen from Kui City met Li Yunxian’s eyes and quickly coughed, blurting out her intentions at once.
“I’m here on behalf of Yihua to discuss cooperation!!”