All of the disciples had arrived. Puppets created by spells directed them to their respective seats.

　　These puppets were created by an elder who cultivated Liu Ding Liu Jia. Even though they were not comparable to clones, but they were capable of performing menial tasks. The main ingredient was Yin Jade, which was why they seemed to have the power of the spirit and the physical appearance of a human.

　　If they could obtain spirituality, they would look similar to the golden armored heroes and Celestial soldiers in the legends.

　　Yan Bugui contributed to the Dao assessment too. As he was an expert in Dao of Talisman, he prepared a lot of Talismans and turned them into spiritual creatures. The mystique exhibited by them filled the cloud platform, and the entire setting gave off the vibe of Celestialism.

　　At the center of the cloud platform, there were towers. Everyone was seated in different towers according to the branch they belonged to. These towers were joined and together they formed a Dao restriction that circled the center of the cloud platform. Under this arrangement, the surrounding areas would not be affected by the battles between the disciples.

　　Some towers were more populated than others; there were some who sat alone in their respective towers.

　　Moreover, not all of the disciples had a teacher-elder. After the incident with Yanxu, there were a lot of branches who lost their respective orthodoxy. Hence, some of the survivors had sent a few of their disciples to the branches that got wiped out as a sign of remembrance to their fallen comrades.

　　The division of branches in Qing Xuan was not strict. Generally, it meant that the disciples in a particular branch mainly cultivated one of the one hundred and eight techniques of Qing Xuan.

　　As for the prodigies who could cultivate multiple Dao formulas at once remained rare.

　　The existence of different branches was to encourage exchanges between the disciples who were cultivating the same Dao formula. Moreover, the records of their cultivation experience would benefit the successors immensely.

　　Since the creation of the one hundred and eight techniques, a lot of the contents had been modified. However, as a whole, the quality improved and had been perfected.

　　The most valuable treasure of each branch was the records on the evolution that transformed the original Dao formula to the current Dao formula. This represented the complete inheritance and was something that Taiwei Pavilion could not record.

　　The more successors a branch had, the likelier that there would be an expert who managed to attain the state of Huandan. The reasoning behind this was simple; the collective wisdom of the numerous predecessors were gathered and served as the foundation for the successors to cultivate upon.

　　Dao formulas that were extremely powerful, such as Taixu Strategy, were at risk of being a lost art if there was no prodigy who could carry on the legacy.

　　Shen Lian was accompanied by Ruoxi at the eastern tower.

　　The rest of the disciples saw and could not help but to think that it was better to be born into the right family rather than cultivating hard.

　　Gu Caiwei walked in the air at a calm pace. Ruoxi spoke, “Aunt Caiwei.”

　　Gu Caiwei smiled and replied, “Xi Er, I heard that you are going to participate in the Dao assessment. Do you have confidence to be the champion?”

　　Ruoxi raised her head proudly as she replied, “Aunt Caiwei, let me know there are any disciples whom you are close with. If I happen to run into them, I will go easy on them.”

　　Gu Caiwei pointed at Shen Lian and spoke, “Indeed, she is from the Shen Family.”

　　Shen Lian rubbed Ruoxi’s head and replied, “Young child, you are talking big. Amongst these disciples, there is one of them that you might not win against.”

　　Ruoxi extended her fair hand and pointed at Choushi. She said, “He too, would not be a challenge to me.”

　　Choushi was seated alone in the tower. He was in deep thoughts when he noticed that Ruoxi was pointing at him. Even though he did not understand the meaning behind this, he still replied with a smile.

　　Gu Caiwei was surprised, she exclaimed, “What’s with the brat’s transformation? His spiritual sense has gotten so sharp.”

　　Shen Lian replied, “Everyone has their own fate.”

　　Gu Caiwei continued, “Previously, I thought Senior Apprentice-Brother Zhao and Yu’s disciple are the distinguished individuals of their generation. However, I did not expect this brat to make it so far too. I am unsure about my initial opinion now.”

　　Shen Lian spoke, “Those who have entered Dao have their own established practices, and it would not be right to make generalizations. I used to think that the proper way was to break through the door sills of Dao with a heart of irresistible force and attain Huandan. In hindsight, that was not accurate at all. There are many ways of crossing the river, whether it is through a bridge, a boat, or to swim, there is no difference so long as one could make it past the river. The path of Dao is endless to begin with. Moreover, there is no direct way that would lead one right to the end. A Dao practitioner should strive to be inclusive, and that is the only way to ensure one’s progress. Here is something for our mutual encouragement.”

　　Gu Caiwei knew that for Shen Lian to say something as such, he must have experienced it first hand.

　　Moreover, she was shocked. According to what Shen Lian said, he probably gained a new perspective about Taixu Strategy and intended to create his own path.

　　This was what it meant to attain the Dharma without being constrained by it. Despite being a good move, the risk that came along with it was higher than recultivating after an initial failure.

　　However, she was aware of Shen Lian’s determination to be inclusive of all possibilities and to walk off the beaten path. This fitted in perfectly with his character. She decided against voicing her worries, as she did not want them to come true unexpectedly afterward.

　　Shen Lian did not direct his attention to Gu Caiwei’s thought process.

　　There were a total of one hundred and twenty-eight people who participated in the Dao assessment. They were the crème de la crème of Qing Xuan. In another few hundred years, some of them would be the elites of Qing Xuan.

　　Shen Lian pointed his finger at the center of the cloud platform, and five-colored rays started emerging at that spot.

　　The colored ray disappeared and the white clouds solidified. A lustrous veil appeared.

　　Two disciples whose names were called marched forward to the set-up at the center. They started their battle.

　　Ge Yuan and Lu Shouyi were situated in the south and the north respectively. They were on standby outside of the lustrous veil and were ready to lend a helping hand in the event of emergencies.

　　It was not as though Shen Lian did not think about setting up more venues for multiple disciples to engage in battles simultaneously; it was his intention to create a tense atmosphere for the disciples who took part in the Dao assessment. As they fought in front of the spectators, the elders could review their performance and submit their views. The disciples who fought in the Dao assessment would have access to it so that they were aware of what they did well and what they did not.

　　After informing the elders about it, they were all very impressed by the effort that the headmaster had put in.

　　Dao assessment was not merely held to identify the best disciple, but it was also an opportunity for the average disciples to receive feedback from the elders who would be scrutinizing their performance to identify their strengths and weaknesses. This information would no doubt be useful to the disciples’ cultivation process in the future.

　　In the beginning, sixty-four pairs of disciples had to battle against each other, and it took up quite some time – ten days.

　　The second round took another five days.

　　On the eighteenth day, three rounds had taken place. Sixteen disciples were left.

　　It was only then that the atmosphere started to get tense. They only needed to defeat one more fellow disciple to receive a prize from the headmaster.

　　Ruoxi had received significant attention in the first three rounds. Her opponents were popular candidates who were forecasted to be in the top eight. Moreover, they had at least fifty years of cultivation and were all in their prime. However, they collapsed right after meeting Ruoxi’s gaze.

　　Not only that it was a quick defeat, they did not know how they were defeated. There was no point talking about summary and analysis afterward.

　　Initially, some elders thought that Ruoxi had mastered Shen Lian’s Deity Vanquishing Sword, and they were blaming her for being so cruel. However, the disciples who were defeated came out unscathed. Only then did they realize that they had misjudged Ruoxi. Though, they were still unsure what technique she had used.

　　There was another person who drew the same amount of attention that Ruoxi did. The person was Choushi. He would spend a significant amount of time-fighting against his opponent. It was only when his opponent had exhausted all means that he would strike the final decisive blow.

　　Moreover, he would tell his opponent about his deficiencies afterward.

　　However, Shoujing did not have the mood to think about Ruoxi and Choushi. His next opponent was Zhao Siming. He could not help but curse at the system of the Dao assessment. He only needed to be in the top eight, to think that he had such bad luck!