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There were more than a dozen martial artists around, also waiting. Some were familiar with each other and were chatting quietly, while those who were not acquainted were closing their eyes to rest. Upon closer inspection, they all seemed to be low-level warriors, likely having just broken through recently to participate in the assessment at the Great Chu Academy.
Suddenly, Ren Pingsheng spotted two acquaintances, Chen Luo Qiu and Li Mu, and was surprised by the coincidence. The two seemed to sense his presence as well. They turned to look at him, but their expressions were different. Chen Luo Qiu appeared slightly surprised, clearly having some impression of Ren Pingsheng. Li Mu's expression darkened, but he did not take any action.
About an hour later, a middle-aged man in his forties walked out from the academy. He glanced over and approached with a smile.
"You are the martial artists participating in the assessment; follow me. I will be in charge of you from now on. By the way, you can call me Elder Qi."
The dozen or so martial artists immediately greeted him respectfully and followed Elder Qi obediently into the Great Chu Academy, which they had longed for.
Inside, the halls and towers were arranged at varying heights, with bamboo groves and rockeries creating a picturesque scene. Occasionally, martial artists from the academy would pass by them, casting indifferent glances without any particular interest. Perhaps they were already accustomed to such scenes since the Great Chu Academy held these assessments twice a month.
"Alright, the assessment is very simple. You just need to place your hand on the stone tablet and circulate your true energy until it turns red," Elder Qi explained to the group of martial artists in the assessment hall.
"Okay, I'll go first." One martial artist stepped forward confidently and placed his hand on the stone tablet as his true energy surged. The color of the tablet gradually deepened until it settled on a light red.
"Just barely passed. It seems you have only recently broken through; your true energy is not yet fully controlled."
"Elder has a keen eye; I indeed just broke through. I didn't spend much time consolidating my cultivation in order to make it for this assessment," the martial artist said with an embarrassed expression.
"Alright, next one; let's begin!" Elder Qi nodded and continued.
In fact, this assessment was not difficult at all. Rather than an assessment, it was more of a verification of whether one's cultivation had reached the Warrior Realm. As long as one's true energy was fully transformed, passing would be quite easy.
Ren Pingsheng walked up with a calm expression, gently pressed his palm down, and circulated his true energy; the stone tablet was soon covered in red. He easily passed the assessment.
"Alright, all fifteen of you have passed the assessment. Please register your sect affiliations so that we can assign you to your respective places," Elder Qi took out a booklet and quickly recorded everyone's information.
"Tianya Pavilion? The senior brothers who came in before you are all in the Eastern Courtyard. You two will also go to the Eastern Courtyard." Ren Pingsheng glanced at Li Mu and Chen Luo Qiu; he did not have much impression of this sect.
"Canglan Sword Sect? The senior brothers who came in before you are all in the Western Courtyard; you will also go to the Western Courtyard." One by one, under Elder Qi's assignments, each of the fifteen individuals found their designated places.
The outer sect of the Great Chu Academy is divided into five courtyards: East, South, West, North, and Central. Within the territory of the Great Chu Dynasty, there are many forces at the fifth and sixth ranks, so each courtyard has dozens of sects or family powers.
The only person assigned to the Western Courtyard along with Ren Pingsheng was a man named Hua Mu, a disciple of the Tiger Howl Sect, which surprised him a little.
After learning each other's identities, they exchanged glances.
"I have long heard of your great reputation. When I was still a disciple in the inner sect, I often heard my seniors mention you. I just didn't expect you to break through only now," Hua Mu said with a mix of nostalgia and regret.
"Is that so? However, breaking through depends on opportunities; being able to break through is a good thing. Whether it happens sooner or later doesn't make much difference," Ren Pingsheng said with a light smile as he followed the guide toward the Western Courtyard.
As the guide introduced, the area of the Western Courtyard is quite large, housing about a thousand Warrior Realm martial artists. This number is not insignificant; considering that the Canglan Sword Sect has only about twenty Warrior Realm martial artists at most, if you add up all five courtyards, it would be even more terrifying.
"Ha ha! Junior Brother Ren, you finally made it! I've been waiting for a long time!" As soon as they entered the main gate of the Western Courtyard, Kong Zhan walked over happily from a distance.
"So it's Senior Brother Kong! It's been a long time," Ren Pingsheng also smiled; it felt good to see an acquaintance here.
"Indeed, it's been over half a year. Calculating the time, it’s about when you should arrive, so I came here to stroll around. I didn't expect to run into you today. Come on, I'll take you to meet some other seniors."
"Ha ha! I couldn't ask for more!" After thanking the guide, Ren Pingsheng followed Kong Zhan and left.
"It seems that Senior Brother Kong has made considerable progress during this time at the academy. His internal energy is quite rich; he should be able to break through soon!"
"Ha ha! This academy is indeed a great place. As long as you have talent, you can find whatever you want—cultivation methods, martial skills, elixirs. I've just managed to gather enough points recently to learn an intermediate-level mysterious technique."
"Points? It seems similar to the contribution points we have in the Canglan Sword Sect. I wonder how these points are earned?" Ren Pingsheng asked with interest.
"It's simple: complete tasks or rank in the outer disciples' Bronze List Top One Hundred. Of course, new disciples receive one hundred points for free and one free low-level mysterious technique," Kong Zhan explained.
"It seems this academy is quite generous with its low-level mysterious techniques. Back then, many people risked their lives in the Canglan Secret Realm just to get one."
"This shows the difference; the Great Chu Academy has the support of a fourth-rank force behind it and naturally doesn’t care about these things. However, this technique is considered the lowest grade and has average power. Many people choose not to practice it and prefer to spend more time exchanging for better ones. So Junior Brother Ren, don’t get too excited and rush into learning something."
Before Ren Pingsheng could respond, Kong Zhan led him into a courtyard. The courtyard was large, with a spacious plaza in the center and dozens of rooms surrounding it.
"Hey, Junior Brother Kong is back! Who is this?" A familiar disciple asked, surprised.
"Haha, this is our sect's newly promoted Junior Brother Ren Pingsheng. He just arrived today."
"Oh, so you’re the one who’s been talked about often, the one with impressive strength, Ren Pingsheng." Many people seemed quite interested.
"These are all our senior brothers from the Canglan Sword Sect. They entered the Dazhong Academy before us. There are currently fifty-eight of them," Kong Zhan explained to Ren Pingsheng in detail.
"This is Senior Brother Lan Shaoqiu, our eldest senior brother. He has achieved full mastery in the Warrior Realm, very impressive."
"Hello, Senior Brother Lan." Ren Pingsheng immediately greeted him.
"Hehe, hello. Our sect's strength in the Dazhong Academy is considered mid to lower tier. I hope you can work hard and enhance our sect's strength," Lan Shaoqiu said with a warm smile.
"Our Western Courtyard has a total of sixteen sects, each with its own courtyard. The largest has three to four hundred members, while the smallest has only twenty or so. There are many conflicts here; for example, Yunxing Sect and Huxiao Sect are also in the western area and have similar strength to us."
Soon, Ren Pingsheng gained some basic understanding of the Dazhong Academy and the Western Courtyard. Following Kong Zhan's lead, he received some essential items for outer disciples, including two sets of blue robes, a low-level Xuan-class cultivation technique, a magic sword, and a disciple Identity Jade Token.
From this, it was clear that the Dazhong Academy was quite affluent, whether it was regarding magic swords or Xuan-class techniques.
"Ren Pingsheng, you can stay in this room. Next door are mine and Fei Hou's rooms; if you need anything, we can take care of you," Kong Zhan said as he stopped outside a room and pointed to the two rooms on the right with a smile.
"He and Senior Brother Feng have tasks to attend to and should be back later. You can rest for now; I’ll come find you again."
The room was spacious, with areas for resting and cultivating. Ren Pingsheng sat down in the front hall, closed his eyes, and reflected on the events of the day for quite some time before letting out a long breath.
"The Dazhong Academy starts here; let my new journey begin!"
Just as he was about to examine the so-called low-level Xuan-class technique, a sudden commotion erupted outside. Curious, Ren Pingsheng opened the door and stepped out to see several injured disciples being helped inside by others.
"Damn it, those scoundrels from the Tiger Howl Sect actually dared to ambush us while we were on a mission. Next time, I will make them pay," shouted an injured disciple in anger.
"Alright, let's talk about this later. You should go rest for a bit. Your injuries are serious," advised a helpless disciple, Fei Hou. As he raised his eyes, he saw Ren Pingsheng.
"Ah, Junior Brother Ren, you're here," he said with a smile as he handed the injured person over to someone else and walked over.
"Yes, I just arrived today," Ren Pingsheng replied with a smile. "What happened here?"
"It makes me angry just talking about it. We were on a mission to hunt down some beasts. We were about to complete it when somehow the disciples from the Tiger Howl Sect got wind of it and ambushed us, resulting in this mess."
"The Tiger Howl Sect? It seems they are quite active here."
"We have no choice. I heard they have the support of the Tiger Sha Sect, which is ranked third in the Western Courtyard, so they are so arrogant. Otherwise, if it were based on strength alone, our Canglan Sword Sect is not inferior to them."
"By the way, Wu Yang from the Tiger Howl Sect is involved this time. He is already a mid-level warrior now, and I heard he might be on the verge of breaking through again," Fei Hou reminded him kindly. He also knew that there was conflict between Wu Yang and Ren Pingsheng.
"Heh, there's nothing to worry about; he's just a mid-level warrior. He wasn't my opponent back then, and he still won't be now. Even if he breaks through to become a high-level warrior, he will still lose to me," Ren Pingsheng said with a smile, not taking it to heart.
"I hope so. Just be careful; if he finds out you are here, he will definitely come looking for trouble."
"This news can't be kept secret for long; I'm actually looking forward to his arrival. I want to see what skills he has now."
Fei Hou frowned; he didn't understand where Ren Pingsheng's confidence came from. However, from what he knew, Ren Pingsheng was not someone who boasted without reason. Could it be that he really had some hidden trump card? he thought to himself.
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