The registration plaza at the foot of the Heaven-Ascension Steps swarmed with over ten thousand young hopefuls. Dressed in fine silks, heavy armor, or simple linen, cultivators from every corner of the Southern Continent gathered in dense queues, their voices buzzing with anxious tension.
In the center of the white-marble plaza stood the Nine-Star Talent-Testing Pillar, a thirty-foot column of black obsidian carved with ancient spirit runes. Beside it, four outer-sect elders sat on raised stone thrones under embroidered silk banners, looking down with cold indifference.
"Next! Wang Jian from the City of Iron-Will!" an examiner shouted, his voice amplified across the plaza.
A young man stepped forward and pressed both palms against the base of the obsidian pillar. He channeled his Qi with a grunt. Three faint green runes lit up along the column.
"Three Stars! Low Grade-3 Spiritual Roots!" the examiner announced dispassionately. "Outer Sect trial participant! Next!"
Groans and envious whispers rippled through the crowd. In the Great Void Sect, three stars meant barely scraping past the entrance threshold.
Adam Hale stood midway down the central queue, his gray cloak drawn around him, its hood shading his face. Inside his dantian, the newly received Void-Cleaving Sword hovered beside the trembling golden seed of his unformed Golden Core: an ancient, jet-black longsword carved with starry runes, its aura asleep.
’A Heaven-Grade spirit blade,’ Adam evaluated quietly. ’Ancient, restless, and far too eager to be noticed.’
"Move aside, trash!"
A sharp, arrogant voice cut through the crowd behind him. A young man in silk robes trimmed with golden thread pushed through the queue, flanked by four hulking guards at the 7th Layer of Qi Condensation.
The crowd parted quickly, murmuring in low, fearful tones.
"That’s Zhou Tian! The young master of the Zhou Marquis House in the Capital!"
"I heard he reached the Peak 8th Layer of Qi Condensation at just eighteen years old!"
"He’s guaranteed to be selected directly into the Inner Sect..."
Zhou Tian strutted past Adam, glancing sideways with disgust at his patched gray cloak.
"Rogue trash with no background," Zhou Tian sneered loudly, flicking his sleeve as if brushing away dust. "Why does the sect even allow these lowborn worms to waste space on the plaza?"
Adam didn’t turn his head. To a Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, Zhou Tian’s barking was no different from a cricket chirping beside a dragon’s foot.
"Next! Zhou Tian!" the examiner called, his tone softening into respectful politeness.
Zhou Tian stepped onto the marble dais with a smirk. He placed his hands upon the obsidian pillar and poured his Qi into the runes with a dramatic yell.
HUMMM—!
One, two, three... five... six... seven stars flared into brilliant orange light! The black pillar trembled as spiritual energy surged nearly to the top!
"Seven Stars! High Grade-7 Flame Roots!" the examiner yelled, his face lighting up. "Excellent! Direct candidate for Inner Sect Disciple!"
On the thrones, the primary outer-sect deacon, Elder Mo, opened his eyes and nodded with approval. "Not bad. A talent of Grade-7 is worthy of nurture."
Zhou Tian turned on the dais, puffing out his chest and casting a mocking glance at Adam in the queue. "Did you see that, rogue dog? That is the difference between noble blood and mud!"
"Next!" the examiner called, ignoring the commotion. "Adam Hale!"
Adam stepped out of the crowd, his boots tapping softly against the smooth marble. He climbed the dais with a calm, unhurried stride, his hands tucked into his wide sleeves.
Zhou Tian lingered at the edge of the platform, one hand on his sword hilt and a cruel sneer on his lips. "Don’t break the stone with your low-grade trash Qi, beggar."
Adam reached the Nine-Star Pillar. He didn’t bother with a formal stance or a martial technique. He simply raised his right hand and laid his bare palm flat against the black obsidian.
’I need to keep a low profile inside the sect for now,’ Adam thought, intending to channel a single droplet of Qi, equal to that of a 5th-Layer Qi Condensation cultivator.
But the moment his palm touched the pillar, the Void-Cleaving Sword in his dantian let out a faint, curious pulse.
Sizzle—
A single, infinitesimal spark of sword intent leaked out through his palm.
BOOM!!
The Nine-Star Pillar didn’t flash three stars. It didn’t flash seven. All nine stars erupted at once, blazing with a light so intense that it blinded half the cultivators in the front rows.
"What—?!" Zhou Tian screamed, stumbling backward and landing flat on his rear.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Deep, spiderweb fissures spread across the ancient obsidian. The pillar groaned under a pressure it had never been built to measure.
Then the light died. The pillar stood dark and cracked, its nine runes smoldering, as a thin shockwave rolled across the plaza and knocked the nearest hopefuls off their feet.
The noise died with it. Ten thousand cultivators stood frozen, their jaws hanging open in silent disbelief.
On the thrones, all four elders leapt to their feet. Elder Mo’s teacup shattered in his hand, his eyes wide as saucers as he stared at the cracked pillar that had stood for three hundred years.
"Nine stars?!" Elder Mo gasped, his voice shaking. "In three hundred years, no one has lit more than eight! A Grade-9 Heavenly Talent?!"
He dropped from his throne as a streak of light and landed directly in front of Adam. His face was pale, his eyes burning with intense, fanatical excitement.
"Young man!" Elder Mo shouted, grabbing for Adam’s sleeve, until an invisible pressure pushed his fingers back an inch. "What is your name?! Which grand ancient clan do you hail from?!"
Zhou Tian lay on the ground, trembling as he stared at Adam’s back, his arrogant face drained of color. ’He cracked the testing pillar with a single touch?!’
Adam slowly lowered his hand and adjusted his hood with perfect composure.
"Adam Hale," he replied calmly, his voice carrying through the silent plaza. "A rogue cultivator from the mountains. Did I pass?"