The Long Journey to Immortality

After brainstorming, under the guidance of Daoist Yunmin, a relatively safe and quick solution was finally finalized.

Taking out a sheet of paper, Daoist Yunmin instructed the ten disciples present to write their names on it.

Next, the letter was made into a paper sword and sent to the Five Elements Mountain Academy.

A moment later, a Qi Refining disciple who served the Five Elements Mountain Academy arrived at the conference room door carrying a stack of copies of the roster.

Upon seeing so many Golden Core elders and senior brothers and sisters with late Foundation Establishment cultivation, this Qi Refining disciple couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. He even had to rely on Han Lu's help to quickly complete the task of distributing the roster.

A roster recording the battle achievements of ten disciples present over decades of cultivation within the sect was placed before each of them.

Finally, Daoist Yunmin said, "You ten and the branch dean should carefully look at the roster, rank them according to your battle record and long-standing impressions, and send them to me after you have finished writing them down."

Yunmin Daoist's method was to have the ten people evaluate their own ranking, and then have everyone conduct a limited number of sparring matches based on the overall ranking list to identify any "errors" in the results, thus determining a final ranking.

The top three are the official participants sent by the Zhengyi Sect for this friendly match. The fourth and fifth ranked participants, as well as those cultivators who may not be in the sect at the moment but are equally outstanding and have been mentioned by the branch dean, need to go through another step to compete for the last spot.

This arrangement is as fair as possible and is the best method in Yunmin Daoren's opinion.

Chapter 594 Failing the Exam?

This selection method was mainly adapted from Zhong Kaige's idea.

As the champion of the previous competition, Zhong Kaige was confident that he was the strongest character in the eyes of both the Golden Core elder, Sect Master Yunmin, and his fellow disciples.

With the election conducted in this manner, there is no doubt that he will be able to rank in the top four.

Although Sect Master Yunmin reserved a spot for a disciple who is currently traveling outside the sect, based on the advice of Daoist Qingxu, he is still very likely to obtain a qualification to participate by relying on the reputation he has accumulated over the years.

Therefore, after deciding to use this method as the core, Zhong Kaige first put his own name first before flipping through the list distributed to him to rank the other competitors.

Driven by personal motives, although Zhong Kaige regarded Han Lu as his biggest rival and harbored some thoughts of fighting Han Lu.

However, in his own ranking, he placed Han Lu fourth.

This arrangement ensures that his personal interests are protected to the greatest extent.

Like Zhong Kaige, Han Lu also wrote her name first on the list of individuals without hesitation.

She didn't feel much pressure during the several major competitions. In addition, her experience of being able to defeat a True Spirit in the Transformation Realm several years ago made her set her level at which she could barely compete with a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.

With such a level of skill compared to the other nine fellow cultivators, it would be strange if he didn't rank first.

When evaluating others, Han Lu relies more on the information provided by the university.

Compared to her fellow disciples, she had only been at the late Foundation Establishment stage for a short time and was unaware of the true capabilities of the others.

The easiest and most accurate method is undoubtedly to rely entirely on the information and the data provided for evaluation.

According to the information, Han Lu made a list.

Zhong Kaige was placed third upon arrival.

The second-ranked person was Fu Tianqiao, a female cultivator from Zhongshan Academy.

According to the data, Fu Tianqiao was not particularly noteworthy, and in the previous competition, she barely ranked in the top 100.

The reason is not complicated: Fu Tianqiao encountered Han Lu during the Secret Realm test and was defeated by Han Lu's team, who then plundered all the Spirit Beads.

In the previous competition, Han Lu, who had competed against this female cultivator whose name she did not know at the time, was extremely impressed by the strength of this fellow disciple from Zhongshan Academy.

In fact, Han Lu felt that Fu Tianqiao was the strongest among the many fellow disciples she had faced in the previous competition.

Fu Tianqiao's second-place ranking on Han Lu's list is well-deserved.

As for her fellow disciples, Han Lu tried her best to give them a fair evaluation.

Although it sounds a bit exaggerated, in Han Lu's opinion, apart from the top three, the other cultivators who came here were somewhat like mediocre fish, just there to make up the numbers. Even the few pseudo-core cultivators from the Zhengyi Sect who were traveling outside were more qualified to be on this list than the others.

The other people's lists also varied, but they all unanimously raised their rankings slightly.

Originally ranked fifth, it was moved to third.

Those who initially felt confident and believed they could be in the top three placed themselves in first place.

Apart from Fu Tianqiao, Zhong Kaige's name appeared in the top two of almost everyone's list, while Han Lu, having only recently advanced to the late Foundation Establishment stage half a year ago, often appeared in the seventh or even eighth position.

This was only because Han Lu broke the record in the competition a few years ago; otherwise, the ranking would have been even worse.

Such an outcome is quite normal. After all, in the pursuit of cultivation, the longer one endures the years of hardship, the deeper one's accumulation generally becomes.

It is a truth in the eyes of ordinary cultivators that cultivators who have stayed in the late Foundation Establishment stage for thirty or forty years have more profound magical power than Han Lu.

Fu Tianqiao was the only one who ranked Han Lu first.

Similar to the reason why Han Lu ranked Fu Tianqiao second, Fu Tianqiao, who was defeated by Han Lu, fully recognized Han Lu's strength.

She knew that Han Lu's evaluation could not be based solely on her level of understanding.

As for the five branch deans, when determining the rankings, they tried to respect objective facts as much as possible, while also taking some consideration for the cultivators in their respective branch academies.

Although the responsibility for this matter was not clearly assigned to each department, it was still a good opportunity for the department heads to save face.

Of the five branch deans, only Elder Qingxu hesitated slightly.

In his opinion, Han Lu's strength should be slightly inferior to Zhong Kaige's.

However, because Han Lu had a friendly relationship with him and had done him a great favor, Elder Qingxu ultimately placed Han Lu first.

"This way, at least we can slightly improve Han Lu's ranking, so that when we rank her later, she can be in a better position and save some trouble."

From this perspective alone, Han Lu's unintentional befriending of Elder Qingxu can be considered a smart move within the sect.

Reading speeds varied, and the level of understanding among the less than ten participating disciples varied as well.

The slowest one, the dean of Zhongshan Academy who had only been in office for a year, took a full ten minutes to finish writing and hand in his paper, sending the list of rankings he had written to Daoist Yunmin.

The statistics are not complicated.

Yunmin Daoren, who enjoys reading "Common Sense" in his spare time, took the opportunity to show off his mathematical skills learned from "Common Sense".

After refusing Zhong Kaige's eager offer of help, Yunmin Daoist drew circles on a piece of white paper with a brush for a while before finally arriving at the final result.

Master Yunmin, holding the written list, said.

"If anyone is unhappy with the rankings, they can say so later."

"It's still early today, so we can arrange a few challenges on the spot."

"It would be best to determine the final top three candidates within two days."

"Don't delay this matter."

This matter is not only related to the Zhengyi Sect, but also to the Xuan Yang Valley.

After deciding on the candidates for the Zhengyi Sect, Daoist Yunmin still needed to consult with Xuanyang Valley to decide which disciples would go to the Dayu Dynasty and which disciples would stay in the Central Plains, in order to obtain the double crown and bring great success to the Central Plains in the matter of East-West exchange.

Therefore, it is very important to get a clear result as soon as possible.

The list was announced, and people reacted in various ways.

Zhong Kaige was quite pleased to see that he had been recognized by his fellow disciples and ranked first.

Fu Tianqiao, who was ranked fifth, was slightly disappointed.

What about Han Lu? Ranked sixth, she had mixed feelings.

She longed for more battles, to hone herself in combat against powerful late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, to attempt enlightenment, and to fully integrate the new path of enlightenment.

She was furious when she saw that she was being looked down upon, feeling that it was incomprehensible that her outstanding performance was not recognized by her fellow disciples.

Therefore, when Daoist Yunmin asked who was dissatisfied with the ranking and wanted to challenge for a higher position, Han Lu, who was always low-key, was the first to stand up and speak.

"Sect Master, I would like to learn a few tricks from Senior Brother Zhong, who is ranked first."

Chapter 595 One Move?

It's not surprising that Han Lu ranked sixth under these rules.

Although Han Lu, as a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, led Wen Erya and Shui Bingxin, two cultivators who were also only mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators, to overcome all obstacles in the Secret Realm Competition in the last competition and broke the competition record.

However, the exact number of powerful enemies "slain" along the way was not recorded in the academy's records.

To his fellow disciples and branch deans who were unfamiliar with Han Lu, Han Lu at this time was not a champion who had won the mid-Foundation Establishment level competition, but a "young man" who had only advanced to the late Foundation Establishment level for half a year.

Given her background and the politically correct environment in the cultivation world where strength is measured by cultivation level, Han Lu's ranking of sixth is already considered "overrated."

After all, below Han Lu, there are four cultivators in the late Foundation Establishment stage. The youngest of them has been waiting for at least twenty years after reaching Foundation Establishment, and has participated in at least four of the highest-level competitions, possessing countless achievements that can prove his strength.

In fact, one of them was already close to the Pseudo-Core Formation realm. If it weren't for his only average performance in the last competition, he would definitely be ahead of Han Lu, causing Han Lu to drop another place.

Big reputation, good record, low ranking.

Han Lu took the initiative to challenge the higher-ups, which was expected by everyone in the conference room.

However, it was unexpected that Han Lu bypassed the third and second place winners and directly challenged Zhong Kaige, who was ranked first on the list.

The other disciples ranked below third remained silent, only interested in watching the show.

Elder Qingxu was slightly displeased. In his view as the branch dean of Dongshan Academy, Han Lu's challenge to Zhong Kaige had a hint of "mutual destruction".

He preferred to see Han Lu defeat the second-ranked cultivator from another courtyard, and then have a pseudo-core cultivator from the East Mountain Academy who was traveling outside take the fourth spot, giving the East Mountain Academy a great opportunity to shine in this secret but important friendly match.

However, since Han Lu had already spoken, he naturally didn't try to change her mind through telepathy.

Observing the situation calmly was Qingxu Daoren's choice.

Zhong Kaige was the only one who was very excited. He felt that he finally had a chance to prove that he was far superior to Han Lu and should not be ranked alongside this junior sister who had been cultivating for less than twenty years among his fellow disciples.

However, he also felt a pang of regret. This matter was too secretive, and even if it got out, not many people would believe it. If he wanted to truly elevate his image in the eyes of his fellow disciples to a level above Han Lu, he could only hope that the two would face off in the next competition.

Since the rules allowed it, Daoist Yunmin didn't stop her, but reminded Han Lu, "Each person only has one chance to challenge, Han Lu, you should think it over."

Han Lu bowed and replied, "Sect Leader, this is my choice."

"We would appreciate it if the sect leader could act as the referee."

If even Zhong Kaige couldn't handle her, how could Han Lu possibly compete with the top geniuses of a powerful force like the Extreme Heaven Palace, to fight, compete, and vie for the so-called championship title?

Moreover, Han Lu had a general idea of ​​Zhong Kaige's strength. Relatively speaking, the two were in a state of open confrontation, with Han Lu even confident that she could defeat him in one move.

Zhong Kaige suppressed a laugh and stood up to reply, "Sect Master, since Junior Sister Han wants to challenge me, then let's follow the rules. May I ask which arena the challenge will take place on?"

Yunmin Daoist estimated that with this ranking arrangement, it would take seven or eight matches to resolve the dispute within two days, so he simply said so.