Chapter 73: The Assessment Begins

Yang Ze lowered his voice to ask the question, so quietly that only he and Lu Qing could hear it. The faint smile that had lingered on Lu Qing’s face vanished the moment the words left Yang Ze’s lips.

“Brother Yang, whose disciple do you think I am?” Lu Qing responded with a question of his own.

“I believe you must be Lord Ouyang’s disciple,” Yang Ze replied calmly.

“And what makes you think I am Lord Ouyang’s disciple?”

“There are three reasons. First, among those in the government, only Lord Ouyang and Lord Yuan possess the ability to teach a prodigy such as yourself. Second, you seem to regard Lord Yuan with less reverence, which suggests a closer connection with Lord Ouyang. Third, you bear little resemblance to Lord Ouyang, so you are more likely his disciple than his son.”

Yang Ze laid out his thoughts. In truth, he had considered that Lu Qing might be connected to the city lord, but rumor had it that the lord of Yuyang City was no great talent, so he had dismissed that possibility.

Lu Qing’s smile returned, but to Yang Ze, it now seemed strangely forced. “Hahaha, Brother Yang, your guess is quite accurate. Indeed, I am Lord Ouyang’s disciple.”

As the two spoke, another man entered the hall, escorted by two attendants. The aura they exuded made it clear they were both at the advanced stage of channeling qi.

The young man in the center was brought to the same viewing platform as Yang Ze and the others. He, too, sought to take a seat in the highest row, but was stopped by those already seated. Yang Ze’s reputation had been hard won; Lu Qing had already demonstrated his extraordinary ties to the authorities, so no one dared object to their presence above. But now, as this newcomer tried to ascend, how could the others simply allow it?

“Xu Hongyuan, what makes you think you deserve a seat up here?” someone demanded, rising to his feet. It was Yang Hai.

At the sound of Yang Hai’s voice, Yang Ze immediately realized who this was: Xu Hongyuan, son of Xu Wenwu, the foremost talent of the Xu family’s younger generation. It was rumored he had once fought Yang Hai and narrowly bested him.

Now Yang Ze understood why Yang Hai was so incensed at Xu Hongyuan’s attempt to take the upper seat.

Confronted by Yang Hai’s challenge, Xu Hongyuan did not grow angry. Instead, he sneered at Yang Hai, then turned to Lu Qing. “Brother Lu, as Lord Ouyang’s personal disciple, you hold the highest status here. Do you think I am qualified to sit above?”

At this, the crowd erupted in whispers.

“So this is Lord Ouyang, the chief constable’s disciple! They say Lord Ouyang brought a disciple back with him this time—so it’s him!”

Hearing this, Yang Ze realized why he had never heard stories of Lu Qing; it was because Lu Qing had been brought back by Ouyang Xin. He gave Lu Qing another appraising look.

Lu Qing had not expected Xu Hongyuan to make his origins public, and his expression changed ever so slightly before returning to calm. “Brother Xu, as the legitimate son of the Xu family and one who broke through to the intermediate level of qi-channeling just last month, how could you not be qualified to sit here?”

Now it was Xu Hongyuan’s turn to be unsettled. He had kept his breakthrough secret, yet Lu Qing had somehow learned of it and announced it openly.

Xu Hongyuan’s face flushed and paled before he finally composed himself and took the uppermost seat. Now Yang Hai and the others dared not stop him. Who could have anticipated that Xu Hongyuan would surpass them all by advancing first, widening the gap between them?

With Xu Hongyuan’s arrival, the atmosphere in the hall shifted. After another quarter of an hour, the last arrival appeared—Yuan Heng—who strode toward their platform.

Looking over the hundred gathered before him, Yuan Heng announced, “This assessment consists of three rounds. I will preside over the first two. Only those who reach the final round will have the chance to meet the representatives of Wuyang Martial Academy. Is that clear?”

His voice was not loud, but every word carried clearly to all present. They nodded in unison.

“Good. Now, divide into two groups. Those from government, noble families, and major factions, follow me. The rest—the commoners—go to the other side to Chief Constable Wang.”

With that, Yuan Heng began forming the groups. The reason for this was obvious: among these hundred, the disparity in strength was vast. Those like Yang Ze had trained for many years, while the common children looked frail and inexperienced—placing them together would be grossly unfair.

Yuan Heng led Yang Ze and the others to one side of the square and had them line up for the assessment.

“Wuyang Martial Academy is unlike anything here. The martial path they pursue is entirely different, with a far higher demand for innate talent. Thus, the first round will test your aptitude.”

“You are not like the commoners; you have all trained. Here I have a test stone. Place your hand upon it in turn, and it will emit a light based on your talent. From best to worst, the colors are gold, red, white, black, and gray. If the stone glows black or gray, you fail and are eliminated!”

The announcement of the first round’s rules caused an uproar. None had expected the test to be so, nor that such a method could reveal a person’s talent.

Yang Ze suddenly understood. Regardless of how the test stone worked, it must judge by bone age and current cultivation, thus filtering out those with poor talent. By that logic, he should be safe.

Looking at the other side, he saw only young children had been sent for the commoners’ test. Clearly, the authorities had let slip some information: the younger the child, the better. If their innate talent proved high, Wuyang Martial Academy would surely welcome them.

“Enough dawdling. First one, step forward!” Yuan Heng now held a round stone in his hand and called to the line.

The first in line, the child of a Yuyang official, steeled himself and stepped up, placing his hand on the stone.

As his hand made contact, specks of light formed on the stone’s surface, coalescing before erupting in a black glow.

This miraculous sight drew the eyes of everyone in the square, even Yuan Heng, who was witnessing this for the first time. The stone was certainly not native to Yuyang City, but had been lent by Wuyang Martial Academy specifically for this test.

Unlike the others, the first candidate, upon seeing the black light, nearly fainted. He had not expected to be eliminated so swiftly.

“No, my father paid a great price for this opportunity—how could I be eliminated like this?”

He muttered to himself, but Yuan Heng frowned and ordered the constables to escort him out. By the rules, the eliminated had no right to remain.

“Second!” Yuan Heng called.

Frightened by the first’s failure, the next candidate hesitated, barely daring to step forward.

Yuan Heng’s face darkened. “You have three breaths. If you don’t step forward, I’ll send you out myself.”

At this, the candidate hurriedly placed his hand on the stone. Again, black light flared, and the youth collapsed to his knees. Yuan Heng had him removed as well, and the test continued.

In quick succession, twenty were tested. Only six produced white light; none showed red. Most were eliminated by black light, and three produced gray, the mark of utter failure.

After so many, it was finally Yang Hai’s turn. Yang Ze watched from behind as Yang Hai placed his hand on the stone, which quickly shone with white light.

Yang Hai breathed a sigh of relief; so many had been eliminated before him that he had grown nervous. Luckily, he passed.

Yang Ze felt little emotion at this outcome. Glancing at his own position—deliberately chosen toward the back to avoid attracting attention—he realized he still had some time to wait.

The testing continued. When it was Xu Hongyuan’s turn, for the first time, the stone’s glow changed: white tinged with faint red, signaling the highest talent yet. Xu Hongyuan’s face shone with pride as he took his place behind Yuan Heng, watching the others.

Next was Lu Qing. He placed his hand on the stone; the gathered specks of light erupted into pure red, unmarred by any trace of black.

Xu Hongyuan’s pride vanished as he watched Lu Qing step ahead of him, his fists clenching tightly.

With Lu Qing finished, Yang Ze stepped forward.

Placing his hand slowly onto the stone, he immediately felt an icy chill, as cold as a block of frozen jade. Looking down, Yang Ze saw the specks within the stone converge, and then a dazzling light burst forth.

At that moment, everyone present drew a sharp breath in astonishment!