Only three seconds? He's already the Lord of All Realms, so it doesn't matter.

Ye Xuan put away his notes. For him at the moment, accumulating two thousand merit points was only a matter of time. As for being accepted as a disciple by an inner sect elder, that was something else entirely.

"Let's choose the simpler one."

He decided to try the inner sect assessment, but did not rush to set off. He first closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and circulated his spiritual energy throughout his body.

In the dantian, the blue and white energies and the emerald green willow shadows have completely merged, forming a stable triangular cycle. Each breath causes the spiritual meridians throughout the body to resonate slightly.

As long as one is willing, one can cultivate rapidly using this method of merging with the Dao. Even without using the Heavenly Dao Body or the path of the Immortal Seed, one can still make rapid progress!

However, this Dao-aligning operation requires even more energy to maintain, and it is not usually needed.

Ye Xuan opened his eyes and then got up and walked out of the cave.

He didn't go to the third floor of the Star-Picking Hall, but instead walked straight towards the depths of the outer gate.

The outer sect of the Holy Sect covers a vast area. In addition to the permanent areas such as disciples' cave dwellings, mission halls, and markets, there is also an independent building complex called the "Trial Academy," which is used for disciples' assessment and promotion.

The Trial Courtyard is located in the northwest corner of the outer gate. It is a square courtyard built of bluestone, with a tall and wide gate and a black plaque with gold characters hanging on the lintel, which is very eye-catching.

At this moment, several disciples were already waiting outside the courtyard gate. They were all at the late or even perfect stage of Foundation Establishment, with solid auras, clearly indicating that they were all disciples preparing for advancement.

As Ye Xuan approached, the group glanced at him and, upon noticing his Golden Core Realm cultivation, their expressions varied.

"Look at the name on that person's token, it's Zhao Wu."

"Holy crap, it really is!"

"I heard he was reported missing yesterday, yet he's back today with a significant increase in cultivation. He must have encountered some incredible opportunity..."

"Absolutely! A direct jump from the fifth level of Foundation Establishment to the Golden Core realm—that's truly heaven-defying!"

Ye Xuan was not surprised by this. News from the Star-Picking Hall usually spreads very quickly. After all, the second floor of the Star-Picking Hall is where information is sold. If something big happens, it can spread throughout the outer sect of the Holy Sect in half a day.

He ignored it and stepped into the courtyard.

The courtyard was quite spacious, with bluestone slabs paving the ground. In the center stood a stone platform about half a person's height, with three jade pillars of different colors inserted on the platform, their shafts covered with intricate runes.

Using his senses to probe, he roughly guessed that it was for testing cultivation level. Whether it was for official promotion or for outer sect to inner sect promotion, reaching the required cultivation level was a basic requirement.

At this moment, a gray-robed steward was standing beside the stone platform. He had been resting with his eyes closed, but when he sensed someone entering, he slowly opened his eyes and looked over.

"Token".

"Zhao Wu... Foundation Establishment Level 5?"

He glanced at the token Ye Xuan handed him, then at the person in front of him, and instantly realized that there was a discrepancy in the information. So he raised his hand and pressed a spot on the edge of the stone platform, and the three jade pillars lit up with a faint light at the same time.

"Place your hand on the central jade pillar and infuse it with spiritual power."

Ye Xuan placed his palm on the white jade pillar in the middle as instructed. As spiritual energy slowly flowed in, the runes on the surface of the jade pillar lit up one after another, spreading upwards from the bottom until they stopped halfway up.

He initially intended to suppress his cultivation level, keeping it around the Golden Core stage, but these three pillars were not as ordinary as they seemed, and they frequently pulled on the power within the test subject's body.

"If it weren't for the Taoist robe protecting me, I might have been exposed..."

Ye Xuan immediately became cautious, and the spiritual energy within his body no longer operated in a single path, but instead followed the laws of harmony with the Dao.

The three different methods converge, making it impossible for people to tell the difference.

"Bone age 23, Golden Core level 4... Meets the requirements for inner sect assessment."

The steward looked slightly surprised, withdrew his hand, and the light from the jade pillar gradually dimmed.

"The inner sect assessment is divided into two types. One is the Inquiry Arena, which tests the cultivation path and potential."

The second is the Order of Life and Death, which is far more difficult to obtain than the Order of Jia, and is classified as the Order of Gui, the same as the Inner Gate.

The two are randomly assigned by drawing lots, and once selected, they cannot be changed. Do you understand?

Ye Xuan had already made up his mind. "May I ask, Steward, what are the specifics of the two types of assessments?"

"The Dao Asking Arena is located in the forbidden area of ​​the back mountain. It contains three layers of 3,000-step illusionary realms. The more realms you break through, the higher your rating will be. If you can break through the first three layers directly, you can pass."

The "Life and Death Order" is a top-secret mission specially set up for the outer sect of the Star-Picking Hall. Its contents are varied, but all involve a near-certain death.

The deacon in charge seemed quite patient, explaining everything in detail before asking again:

"Do you understand now?"

Upon hearing this, several disciples nearby all became serious.

"For this inner sect assessment, you still have to draw a spot in the Inquiry Arena."

"Yes, although neither is easy, the Daoist temple is safer after all."

After a moment's hesitation, he stopped thinking and said, "Alright, from where should we draw lots?"

"Just place your hand on the central jade pillar and infuse it with spiritual energy."

Ye Xuan immediately stepped forward and went to the white jade pillar in the middle, placing his palm on it.

As spiritual energy was injected, illusory images began to appear on the three pillars, rotating continuously around the person who activated the formation.

After a few breaths, the three pillars returned to their original positions, and one of them lit up with a faint light.

"One stick represents the questioning arena, and the other stick represents the life and death token. If the question is blank, you can draw it again."

"Zhao Wu, an outer sect disciple, this time you are... at the Dao Inquiry Arena."

As the luminous jade pillar runes were revealed, the deacon said:

"The Daoist Arena opens at Chenshi (7-9 AM) every day, so you still have some time to prepare."

You can bring anything you want into the assessment; there are no restrictions. As long as you pass, you will become an inner disciple.

Ye Xuan listened carefully, and based on the description just now, it seemed that he was quite lucky this time.

Thank you.

Since the steward had given such a reminder, Ye Xuan decided to go back and make some preparations, and then turned and left the Trial Academy.

Several disciples outside the courtyard watched him leave, then began to whisper among themselves.

"Should we bet? Let's see if Zhao Wu can pass the test."

"I'm betting twenty merit points; he won't pass!"

Discussions among the crowd about this bet leaned more towards the losing side, reflecting on how, in recent years, only a very small number of people in the Holy Sect have been able to pass the inner sect assessment.

Although he didn't draw a life-or-death order that was constantly in danger, the difficulty of the Daoist examination was anything but simple. Few people could pass it on their first try.

……

Along the way, he sensed the items in his storage bag:

There was Yu Chenzi's skeleton, a few remaining talismans, the cinnabar talisman paper that hadn't been used up last time, and a storage bag obtained from Tang Zhao.

Compared to his own, Tang Zhao's storage bag contained quite a lot of things, including some miscellaneous items and pills, as well as four mid-level thunder talismans and several high-quality protective magic artifacts.

"That saved us some preparation work."

Ye Xuan felt a little more at ease. Even though he had immortal techniques and a Daoist robe to protect him, he was a cautious person and would never do anything without a certainty of success.

After returning to his cave, he maximized the accuracy and distance of his perception, pointing directly at the forbidden area behind the mountain.

From the cave dwelling to the forbidden area behind the mountain, Ye Xuan encountered many reconnaissance formations along the way, but he still managed to get close enough to reach the vicinity.

Unlike the dense forest full of sandalwood, it was a valley shrouded in gray mist.

The mist was not formed naturally, but was formed by a restriction woven from countless fine runes. Even with Ye Xuan's current cultivation at the fourth level of the Golden Core stage, his perception was like a mud ox entering the sea, quickly swallowed up and dissolved.

In the brief intervals between the swirling mists, he felt as if the heavens and earth were one, like a giant eye, and a strange feeling arose from the depths of his heart.

That's right, that feeling of being stared at when I first arrived in this world has returned here.

"The Inquiry Arena...is it to test one's cultivation path and potential?"

Ye Xuan withdrew his senses; the feeling was extremely unpleasant. The blue and white aura and the emerald green willow shadows flashed in his eyes.

It seems we need to proceed with caution tomorrow...