Everyone else was afraid of Zhao Siming, only Shoujing was unafraid of him.

　　Before Jia Yili even opened his mouth, Shoujing asked, “How is it uncomparable stupidity?”

　　“An ordinary person is afraid of power and might, but not appreciative and understanding when being treated fairly. Does Qing Xuan, being one of the four main Daoist sects, really need to rely on this generosity of ordinary man giving out wealth? All of you who praised him, I’m afraid all of you are also thinking about benefiting from this person and the only intention is to reap without sowing.” He took a step forward, his robes trembling as he held his long sword. There was an unstoppable imposing manner.

　　That was truly a murderous intent that could only be cultivated after bathing in countless amounts of fresh blood.

　　Jia Yili did not have the intention to stir up trouble and he too knew about Zhao Siming’s ego. However, he was talented and he had an extensive background. Even though Qing Xuan forbids internal fights, it would be best to not provoke this kind of person.

　　That was why he answered, “Junior Apprentice-Brother Zhao, Yuyang Peak is the dwelling for upper house disciples. You are from Qingliang Peak, why do you need to trouble yourself by coming here?”

　　Yuyang Peak was for the upper house disciples. Most of them were related to the adept of Qing Xuan. They were many in numbers.

　　Qingliang Peak, however, was the residence for the lower house disciples who were recruited every fifty years when the mountain gates opened. For every batch, only ten were selected so there always had been fewer people. However, most of the disciples from the lower house had high qualifications and were talented, which was why for ten thousand years, there were many exceptional figures in Qing Xuan. There were even some upper house disciples whose predecessors came from the Qingliang Peak. Even Lu Shouyi, who had achieved Huandan, still stayed in Qingliang Peak.

　　Even so, between the upper house and lower house, there was a vague unseen gap that separated them entirely.

　　Zhao Siming sneered, “Did you all think I actually want to come here. I followed the Chief’s orders to come and inform all of you regarding a matter.”

　　Shoujing asked, “What is it?” He heard that Zhao Siming brought the Headmaster’s order and did not dare to go overboard with his words. All of those in Qing Xuan, who would not revere the Headmaster as god?

　　Zhao Siming answered, “The Headmaster has ordered me to inform all of you that half a year later, there will be a once in twelve years Dao assessment. Due to the fact that this assessment is being held after the disciples returning from their travels, the Headmaster decided to change the content of the Dao assessment. Anyone’s cultivation that is sixty years and below are to register to participate this assessment. The assessment is that, within the group of registered disciples, a team of two shall compete on the mana arena. The victor will enter the next round. When the time comes, eight of the treasures forged from the Heavenly Cauldron will be chosen as rewards for the top eight. The top eight can even follow the Headmaster to the bier and discuss Dao, expand on one’s insight.”

　　The lot of them focused their attention on hearing Zhao Siming announcing the Headmaster’s orders. Every twelve years, a Dao assessment will be held within the Qing Xuan sect to inspect the disciples’ cultivation.

　　Even though the other celestial sects would always hold big tournaments within their sect, but Qing Xuan prided itself on being unconventional. All this time, the Dao assessment’s questions were all kinds of bizarre and its main aim was to inspect the nature of Dao. Now that the Dao assessment had been changed to combat, it was truly beyond everyone’s expectation.

　　However, at the thought of the Headmaster forging treasures using the Heavenly Cauldron, there would be uncountable spiritual material being tossed into it, there would definitely be many treasure items being forged. To distribute these treasures to the top eight disciples was fair enough to convince many.

　　Another person asked, “I wonder, what different treatment would the top achiever get?”

　　All this while, there was no first place in a writing contest, nor was there a second place in a martial art contest. The detail he asked was what a majority of them thought of.

　　The one who asked was Shoujing’s Senior Apprentice-Brother, Shouxuan. The both of them had always entered and retreat together. Shouxuan always wore a cold expression and his words were sparse. This time, just to find out what was the difference for the first prize, he spoke a few more sentence.

　　Zhao Siming added, “For the top achiever, besides all that I have mentioned just now, there is also a mysterious prize.”

　　“What is it? Spit it out!” The crowd shouted.

　　Zhao Siming smiled coldly, “The Headmaster did not disclose this to me. What could you all do even if you all knew? To be number one for this Dao assessment, one only has to compete with one whose Dao techniques is superb. Could it be that there is someone amongst all of you that could endure my sword?”

　　He stood firm and tall, his imposing manner was extremely swift and fierce.

　　The rest of team not only thought that he was wildly arrogant but they also speculated Zhao Siming’s superb swordcraft. After this travel, he vaguely showed the lingering charm that Zhenren Chen had back then. That was why they could not guarantee they could take on his sword technique and quietly stared at him.

　　Only Choushi contemplated Zhao Siming profoundly. However, his gaze blended with the gaze of the others. Zhao Siming did not sense anything.

　　He did not even know that this person had already undergone the eighth transformation of Huandan.

　　Shoujing had the intention to retort back but Shouxuan stopped him. It turned out that Shouxuan’s thought deep enough to know that Zhao Siming’s imposing manner was in its prime after returning from his travels. When he was provoked and starts to fight, it would cause a scene and alert the Headmaster. What if the Headmaster did not allow them to participate in the Dao assessment, would that not be a major loss?

　　Why not just grit one’s teeth and then settle the score when the Dao assessment came?

　　To the contract, Jia Yili said, “Junior Apprentice-Brother Zhao, we are from the same sect. It hasn’t even been thirty years since you joined Qing Xuan and most of the people here are more senior than you. Why do you need to be this overbearing? Qing Xuan has thriving talents, are you so sure that you can defeat all of us?” He was originally a well-tempered person but Zhao Siming absolutely did not have any regards for others. He could not take it and confront him.

　　As he spoke, there was a blue light that sparked from his fingertips. It expanded with the wind and became an electrical snake of around ten feet. It smashed into the thirty feet wide rock by the side and it immediately turned to dust.

　　These rocks on Yuyang Peak were nurtured by the Qi of heaven and earth, and they were as tough as fine iron that had been forged a hundred times. It actually turned into powder when Jia Yili hit it with his thunder technique. The key point was that when he cast that thunder technique, he made it seemed effortless. It was pretty obvious that his mastery of the thunder technique was hard to contend within the Qing Xuan sect.

　　Zhao Siming’s expression changed slightly at first, and then his smile became chilling as his hand moved in a swoosh.

　　The rest of them could not even react to what he was about to do when their eyes blurred and the booming clap of thunder rang in their ears.

　　And then, they saw a strand of hair by Jia Yili’s ear landed on to the ground.

　　The thunderous sword aura.

　　Jia Yili’s face was pale, his hands shook slightly.

　　The lot of them did not think that with Zhao Siming spending three years beyond the sea, he could actually cultivate such a terrifying swordcraft. Not even the weaker elders were his opponents. No wonder he was wildly arrogant.

　　Zhao Siming’s sword aura was so quick. So what if Jia Yili’s thunder technique might was even stronger? Chances were, even before he could cast it, he had already been hit by the other’s sword aura.

　　After Zhao Siming pulled out his sword and did not stay back. With a groan of his sword, he immediately transformed into an eerily pale Qi of essence, broke through the cumulus clouds outside of the mountain and vanished without a trace.

　　All of them was inexplicably shocked. After a long while, someone spoke, “Zhao Wuji, junior apprentice-brother of Ge Yuan, is also a gifted leader of men. He wouldn’t be able to win if he was faced with Zhao Siming.”

　　The one who spoke suffered losses at the hands of Zhao Wuji.

　　Apart from the crowd discussing Zhao Siming, they looked very much forward to this Dao assessment. After all, even without being number one, to be able to enter into the top eight, one would still receive a treasure item. Furthermore, one could even follow the Headmaster to the bier to discuss Dao. By that time, one could meet many of the big time cultivators and even the immortal Zhenren. There were also talents from other sects. How could this not be tempting?

　　Of course, they had not achieved Huandan. Naturally, they were not qualified to participate the discussion of Dao at the bier. However, to be able to follow alongside Headmaster and to be able to have an insight of such a grand scene was also really great.

　　Choushi, on the other hand, had a more solemn expression. He did not think that Zhao Siming had already cultivated the thunderous sword aura, which would be able to stir up some trouble for him. Nonetheless, the one thing he worried the most was that after the Headmaster understood his Huandan, the Headmaster would not allow him to participate in the Dao assessment. After all, he was very interested in that mysterious prize.

　　As for the rest of the disciples, no one suspected the eligibility of Zhao Siming’s words. After all, who would have the guts to pass on fake orders by the Headmaster?