The Crimson Devil de looked grim and emitted a dark aura. Bai Lan narrowed his eyes and then took a stance.


    This time, nothing was outstanding about this stance, and it was more suitable forpetitions thanforbattle. His posture was straight,his left foot was stepped backthree steps, and the sword handle was at neck level.


    The sword looked up at the sky, emitting a dangerous aura. Even those who were far away could feel the danger.


    "Oh..."


    "As expected of this de. Its history is not just ink on paper."


    "Ugh... it''s hard to breathe..."


    There were whispers in the crowd, manywere holding their throats and trying to breathe in more air, feeling suffocated.


    "How interesting..."


    Xie Qing narrowed his eyes, looking at the sword with interest. He could detect that the sword seemed to have a spirit. Judging by everything, this spirit was at least at the Soul Integration level, which was already incredible.


    Moreover, it seemed that this was not an ordinaryspirit,but an evil spirit, and an ancient oneat that.Thisgave the sword its characteristics.


    Meanwhile, Bai Lan proudly smiled. The members of the Bai family had an excellent filter for insults and mockery, letting through only ttery and praise.


    He looked at the elder, and the elder nodded, announcing the start of the exam.


    "Fuuu..."


    Even if Bai Lan was confident in himself, he did not dare to underestimate themannequinin front of him. At the very least, it was made of sturdy resources and adapted to the releasedbat power of the opponent.


    And so, a deep breath in and out. Bai Lan''s back became straight, and without hesitation, he tightly gripped the sword handle with both hands and then raised it into the air.


    Everyone held their breath. The sword emitted a grim glow, and there was a smell of blood. It did not take long for the deto swiftly fall.


    Swoosh! The sound of airbeing piercedby the de was heard. As if destroying all obstacles in its path, the Crimson Devil de brightly shone.


    Finally, the de did touch the head of themannequin. There was an explosion, and Bai Lan clenched his teeth, ignoring the sharp pain in his wrist from the impact inertia.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Three consecutive explosions with an aftershock brought the elder to admiration.However, when the dust and dirt rose into the air and were already going beyond the arena, the elder waved his hand.


    Swoosh.


    A soundwasheard,as if something was sucking, and the dirt and dust disappeared. The scene was clean, freeing the view for the spectators.


    "O-he..."


    "This is..."


    "Dark orange!"


    Many jumped up from their seats, clearly shocked as they looked at what color the mannequin was burning with!


    "Hm..."


    Xie Qing raised an eyebrow in surprise. He looked at the sword, which had slightly lost its luster. His eyes shed as the young man realized:


    "This is... he exhausted the spirit''s power for this attack? Interesting. Very interesting. But why waste such a valuable resource on an ordinary exam?" Xie Qing was genuinely puzzled: "Or isit that money isno object in the Bai family?"


    A spiritual item with a spirit was expensive, and few could afford it. The peculiarity was that they were many times stronger than ordinary spiritual items.


    At the very least, one could use the depletion of the spiritsto temporarily strengthen the item to show a better result.However, after that, theproperties of the item would be weakeruntil the spirit recovered.


    And this would take a very long time. Depending on the spirit, restoration could takefromten years to a hundred and a thousand!


    "Eh, bastards, they don''t understand how to use money properly!" Xie Qing thought with pity.


    However, no matter how much heined, Bai Lanhimselflooked pleasedandwith arrogance, hecast a lookat the otherparticipants,as if throwing them a challenge, which greatly angered them.


    "Bastard..."


    "What a show-off! He''s just a rich freak!"


    "Tsk!"


    Of course, this was unfair. However, the rules did not forbid bringing spiritual items that could strengthen you. You just had to register them.


    After all, strength decided. If you had the resources to buy a sword,thenyou were qualified enough to be considered amaincourtyard disciple.


    "How stupid. It would be bettertojustgive the same sword to all participants. We need to test their techniques, not their swords!"Xie Qingnarrowed his eyes inindignation: "No wonder the sect has been stagnating!Lian Lin probably found it too difficult to change the rules because of the elders."


    ***


    "Hm... sister, do you thinkthattherule shouldn''t be changed?" Lian Xin, who had returned to Lian Lin after supporting Xie Qing, was puzzled.


    "I also want to change it, but these old men don''t agree. And Master doesn''t want to interfere in the sect''s affairsat all. She will only help when the sect is on the brink of destruction," Lian Lin said, pouting her lips as she looked at the stage where the next examinees were passing: "But this Bai Lan did surprise me.


    The Crimson Devil de...this swordwas consideredforbidden in a way, but whenit was proventhat the spirit inside did not belong to a devil, there were fewer disgruntled people."


    "The Bai family controlsarge sector ofspiritual items such as weapons. No wonder they''ll show themselves well in thispetition," Lian Xin muttered with a twist of her mouth: "This is very unfair."


    "Hmph, as if you''re not worried about that guy!"


    "Eh?!"


    Lian Xin blushed deeply, and Lian Lin just snorted. She understood that her sister was worried about the fairness of thispetition only because she did not want to see Xie Qing lose.


    "I doubt that guy will lose. I had to try hard to create a suitable mannequin for him!" Lian Linined: "It cost me a lot of money!"


    "Sister, but you used the moneythat weearned thanks to his image..."


    "Eh... w-well, y-you''re right."


    ***


    "Light yellow... failed."


    "Dark yellow... passed."


    "Light orange... passed."


    "Dark yellow..."


    "Light yellow..."


    The elder announced the results in turn. Some left disappointed, while others, on the contrary, smiled from ear to ear.


    In the end, only Xie Qingwas left, who stood in ce and waited for the queue to clear.


    And when he was about to draw his sword, he was interrupted by the elder.


    "Disciple Xie Qing, wait a moment. We will now bring out a mannequin suitable for you."


    "Hm?"


    Xie Qing raised an eyebrow inpuzzlement,and then could not help but twist the corners of his mouth when he sawthat ten people werecarrying a one-meter mannequin with a graytexture,resembling stone.


    Although it was not immediately clear what material itwas madeof, Xie Qing could guess by the distorted faces of these guys.


    "Immortal stone... damn."


    Even if he was confident in himself, striking such a stone would bedifficult, andit was not excludedthat one could break their hands.


    "Well, since the test is like this, I need to try harder," thought Xie Qing, rolling his eyes.


    The audience also recognized themannequin,andtheycould not help but whisper about it.


    "This is amannequinmade of immortal stone.Theysay it can withstand a full-force blow from a Divine Transformation cultivator!"


    "Well, you''re exaggerating, but close to the truth. This stone is of medium quality, so at most, it''s a Spiritual Ascension cultivator at full power."


    "Even so, that''s amazing. It looks like the sect master is serious this time."


    "And what did you think? It would have been a miracle ifafterthe attack of thismonsterthat mannequin could havebeen collectedin pieces. It''s expensive!"


    "Eh, where are our taxes going?"


    Xie Qing ignored thechatter of the crowdand, seeing that the elder nodded to him, he nodded in response.


    Then, under the expectant gazes, he drew his sword.


    "Hm?"


    "This is it... the sword of the famous genius? It looks...very ordinary."


    "Agreed. I expected something like the Crimson Devil de, but it turned out..."


    "I''m a little disappointed..."


    The sword that Xie Qing drew was the Nameless Sword. It had aquiteordinary andboringlook.


    However, Lian Lin and other high-level cultivators did not underestimate this sword, as they felt a sharp Sword Aura and danger from its de.


    This time,the examinee was not an ordinary person, so Lian Lin reced the examiner.She clicked her fingers and erected a barrier that would block this blow.


    "Youhave touse your strongest technique... if you believe the rules. However, I''m not interested in seeing what you got from the Master. I want to see what you''ve been working on for so long!" Lian Lin dered, narrowing her eyes: "This time, I''m not just your oldersister,but also the sect master! Proveto methat you''re worthy of bing a main courtyard disciple!"


    The audience stirred with excitement. Xie Qing nodded.


    He had been trying to develop his technique for a long time but had failed. Only after hewas able todestroy so many monsters and train at night did he gain some understanding.


    Partly, his technique could not be considerepletelyoriginal, but this wasonlyif you delved into the details.


    "Good."


    The young man nodded. He didn''t even bother to take a normalstance,justgrabbed the handle with both hands and raised it to neck level, holding the sword vertically.


    Many wereonce again disappointed, and Bai Lan and some participants smiled, but...


    WHOOSH!


    Xie Qing''s eyes lit up, and a vortex appeared around him.Thiswas not an ordinaryvortex,but a vortex of Sword Aura!


    "I-I... c-can''t breathe!"


    "H-help..."


    "Ugh... i-it hurts..."


    Many in the stands lost consciousness from the overwhelming aura. Even Lian Lin''s barrier did not help.


    The elders quickly took action and erected a barrier for the stands. It had beenmore thana thousand years sincethis barrier wasst used.


    Lian Lin becameserious, and her eyes narrowed when she met Xie Qing''s eyes, which were glowing with a golden light.


    And then, as if he was the only being in this world, his voice sounded in the ears of everyone.


    "Sword God Strike."


    Boom!