Among the seven people, there was an elder with an immortal bearing, a steady and powerful middle-aged man, and a lively, flamboyant young man.
There was also a fairy-like woman with ethereal grace and skin as smooth as cream.
“Damn, this Cultivation world really is different. Even a random woman is prettier than a Douyin Level 10 beauty filter!”
Li Shangyan glanced at the woman and could not help muttering to himself.
At that moment, a middle-aged man with a dignified and imposing presence stepped forward and shouted, “Cultivation depends not only on aptitude and opportunity, but also on character.”
“Those few trash from earlier could not even withstand the aura of the immortal beasts. How are they supposed to cultivate in the future?”
“Even if they can step onto the path of cultivation, they will not get far!”
“Rather than waste effort, it is better to save the resources.”
Hearing this, everyone lowered their heads and did not dare speak.
Yes, sir. Whatever you say goes.
Just don’t kick me offline.
The middle-aged man waved his hand, and a fist-sized sphere floated in front of everyone.
He continued, “Alright, enough nonsense. You’ve already had one year to cultivate. Now let’s begin the assessment.”
“This is the Immortal Fate Stone. The assessment is very simple: inject the spiritual energy in your body into this Immortal Fate Stone!”
“As long as the Immortal Fate Stone lights up, it means you have cultivated spiritual energy.”
“Moreover, it will display the attributes of your spiritual energy.”
“Gold represents the metal element, green represents wood, blue represents water, red represents fire, and yellow represents earth.”
“If it does not light up, it means you still have not cultivated spiritual energy. Useless!”
“Alright, let’s start with you!”
The middle-aged man casually pointed at an examinee and told him to step forward.
The man was not nervous at all. He immediately stepped up and placed his hand on the Immortal Fate Stone.
After a moment, the Immortal Fate Stone lit up with a faint golden glow.
The middle-aged man nodded and said, “Assessment passed. Qi Refining Layer 1, metal element.”
The young examinee excitedly punched the air, then stood respectfully to the side.
“Next!”
One by one, the others went up to undergo the assessment.
“Assessment failed!”
“Assessment passed. Qi Refining Layer 2, wood element. Not bad!”
“Assessment failed!”
“Assessment failed!”
“Assessment passed. Qi Refining Layer 1, fire element.”
“Assessment failed!”
“Assessment failed!”
“Assessment passed. Huh? Not bad, actually reached Qi Refining Layer 4, earth element. A genius!”
Everyone stared nervously at the examinees. Li Shangyan silently estimated that the pass rate was basically only one-third.
He could not help sighing inwardly at how high the standard of Cultivation really was.
These examinees had all been selected by major powers, and there was a very high chance they could step onto the immortal path.
Yet even so, the pass rate was still this low.
However, there was no shortage of extremely gifted people among them.
So far, there had already been one Qi Refining Layer 4, two Qi Refining Layer 3, and eleven Qi Refining Layer 2.
These people had already shown superior talent.
Soon, it was Yu Hua and the others’ turn.
“Assessment passed. Qi Refining Layer 1, metal element.”
“Assessment passed. Qi Refining Layer 1, earth element.”
“Assessment passed. Qi Refining Layer 1, metal element.”
Yu Hua, Yang Baicheng, and Qian Wuliang all smiled, then looked at Li Shangyan with malicious expressions.
They chuckled, apparently very interested in his assessment result.
Li Shangyan was also very curious about his current level. He had never cultivated himself, so he did not know what realm he was in.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward, walked up to the Immortal Fate Stone, and activated the spiritual energy in his dantian.
The moment his spiritual energy touched the Immortal Fate Stone, the stone immediately shone with red light!
Seeing this, Yu Hua and the others’ faces changed!
They had not expected the Third Prince to really be able to cultivate!
This made them feel somewhat uneasy.
But then!
The Immortal Fate Stone changed again.
It actually shone with green light!
Then came golden light!
Yellow light!
Blue light!
Finally, it turned into a combined five-colored radiance!
The middle-aged man in charge of the assessment could not help letting out a gasp of surprise!
Even the other six cultivators, who had been quietly serving as tools, could not help widening their eyes!
Even that ethereal female cultivator could not help opening her mouth slightly.
Her cherry-red lips could almost fit a lollipop!
“A Five Elements Great Perfectionist, and already at Qi Refining Layer 2?”
“How is that possible?”
Several cultivators were stunned.
Seeing this, Li Shangyan was a little dazed, as if things had gone beyond his expectations.
He nervously asked the middle-aged man, “Senior, did I pass the assessment?”
The middle-aged man said with a complicated expression, “Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. These five elements are the most basic components of the Cultivation world.”
“Most cultivators tend to favor one element, such as fire. The more outstanding they are in that element, the stronger their cultivation talent.”
“Of course, there are also powerful cultivators who are good at two elements, or even three.”
“These cultivators are extremely strong among their peers. You could even say they are invincible.”
“But in the same way, the time they must spend is twice, or even several times, that of their peers.”
“Even if they are invincible at the same stage, if their peers have already reached Core Formation while they are still at Foundation Establishment, they will still be crushed.”
“So, having talent in more elements might not make you a genius. It might instead make you mediocre talent!”
“And you are a Five Elements Great Perfectionist, which means your five elements are distributed very evenly.”
“One could say you are a genius, and one could also say you are the very definition of mediocrity.”
“Mediocrity is not a derogatory term. It means average talent!”
Hearing this, Li Shangyan instantly understood, and was also stunned!
No wonder his predecessor had cultivated with such difficulty. It turned out that in order to break through, he had to spend five times as much time as others!
No, it might even be 16 times!
Because every time another element was added, the difficulty would increase by one fold!
The difficulty rose exponentially!
That beautiful fairy spoke for the first time, her voice pleasant and clear. “And you reached Qi Refining Layer 2 in one year.”
“If you had talent in only one element, you might already be at Foundation Establishment, perhaps even around Foundation Establishment Layer 3!”
“Reaching this level in just one year could be said to be the strongest talent Xuan Yuan Sect has seen in a thousand years.”
“But unfortunately, you are a Five Elements Great Perfectionist. Even if you had three elements, that would still count as extremely gifted!”
Hearing this, Li Shangyan finally understood, and also wanted to cry!
He stammered, “Then… did I pass the assessment?”
The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before saying, “As long as you reach Qi Refining Layer 1, you pass the assessment.”
“But in your case, I’m afraid no peak will want you.”
Li Shangyan quickly asked, “Why?”
The middle-aged man said, “In theory, a Five Elements Great Perfectionist is the strongest at the same stage, but the resources consumed may be more than ten times that of the same stage!”
“With the same resources, we could train more than a dozen geniuses. But if we use them on you, we might only produce one low-level expert who is invincible at the same stage.”
Li Shangyan panicked. “Then what should I do?”
The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said, “Continue with the assessment first. I can only report your situation to the Sect for handling.”
Li Shangyan had no choice but to agree.
And in the crowd, Yu Hua and the others nearly could not hold back their laughter when they heard this!
So he was still a useless one!
The following assessments became somewhat dull.
There was nothing that made anyone’s eyes light up.
Several examiners repeatedly glanced at Li Shangyan with regret.
If only his spiritual energy attributes had a few fewer elements. Then Xuan Yuan Sect would have another super genius!
Finally!
All ten thousand people finished the assessment!
Only 3,123 people passed, less than one-third!
The middle-aged man waved his sleeve and said, “Those who did not pass the assessment will have their cultivation memories erased and be expelled from the sect gate!”
The nearly seven thousand people were instantly swept up by some force and, amid one scream after another, were thrown out of the sect gate.
The remaining three thousand-plus people showed relieved expressions.
Among them, Yu Hua and the others looked at Li Shangyan with schadenfreude.
Just now, they had been shocked, thinking that this prince might become a strong figure again.
Unexpectedly, he was still just mediocre!