Chapter 355: New Heaven Chosen?

Yun Feng and Xiao Mei continued to wait in the queue while the Thousand Treasure Pavilion’s employees worked tirelessly and efficiently to distribute registration tokens to the participants and direct them toward one of the many testing grounds.

Given the sheer number of cultivators who had come to participate, the Thousand Treasure Pavilion had prepared multiple testing grounds to handle the crowd. Each one followed the same procedures, ensuring that every participant would be evaluated under the same conditions.

However, the test itself was rather different from what most cultivators expected.

It was not simply a matter of comparing cultivation levels and determining who possessed the greatest strength.

Under Wei Chen’s guidance, the Thousand Treasure Pavilion had devised an entirely new method of evaluation.

Rather than judging a participant solely by their cultivation, the test would measure their actual power output relative to their cultivation realm.

In other words, the evaluators wanted to determine just how much strength a cultivator could unleash compared to what someone at their level should reasonably be capable of.

For example, if a cultivator in the Qi Gathering Realm could unleash a punch with power comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, or even greater, they would receive a significantly higher score.

After all, such a result would demonstrate that the cultivator possessed exceptional potential. Despite their relatively low cultivation, they had managed to develop strength far beyond what their realm would normally allow.

This was precisely the kind of talent the Underworld Palace wanted to discover.

Conversely, if a cultivator with a higher cultivation level demonstrated power output below what was expected of someone in their realm, their score would be deducted.

Such a result suggested that the cultivator’s foundation was insufficiently solid, that their cultivation had advanced faster than their actual abilities, or that they had failed to make the most of their existing strength.

Of course, this did not mean that every cultivator with lower power output was necessarily lacking in talent. Their talents might be concentrated in other areas, such as artifact crafting or alchemy, and these were also fields that needed to be tested.

If a participant achieved a high score in another field, such as alchemy or artifact crafting, demonstrating greater talent in that area than in basic combat, they would still have a chance to enter the Underworld Palace!

Nevertheless, for the purpose of selecting promising disciples, the test provided a useful way to distinguish those who had developed their abilities properly from those who relied too heavily on their cultivation level.

After all, with the Underworld Palace’s vast resources, raising a cultivator’s cultivation was hardly an insurmountable challenge. With resources of that magnitude, even a pig could be raised to the heavens, eventually attaining a cultivation level comparable to that of a respectable expert.

Thus, the Underworld Palace would rather recruit individuals with high potential than those who merely possessed high cultivation.

Of course, the conventional practice in this world of judging people primarily by their cultivation realm was not without reason or merit. It had become the norm because training and raising a powerful cultivator required enormous investments.

Whether in terms of time or resources, the amount a sect needed to invest in raising someone into a powerful cultivator was nothing to scoff at.

The practice of judging people by their cultivation had been shaped by the scarcity of resources and the limited time available to sects.

Over time, it became the accepted norm throughout the cultivation world, eventually giving rise to countless misunderstandings and the familiar trope of a young master underestimating an underdog, only to have his face slapped senseless by that very same underdog.

Within one of the many testing grounds, a large crowd of cultivators had gathered around a specially constructed stone platform.

At the center of the platform stood a massive, dark-colored stone pillar. Its surface was covered in intricate inscriptions that glowed faintly with spiritual light. This was a specially designed strength measurement stone, an instrument developed by the Thousand Treasure Pavilion to accurately measure both a cultivator’s cultivation realm and the power output they could unleash.

Unlike ordinary strength-testing devices, this stone, created by Lian Cheng and his artificer department under Wei Chen could distinguish between a cultivator’s actual cultivation and the strength of their attacks.

No matter how well someone tried to conceal their cultivation or exaggerate their abilities, the stone would reveal the truth.

At the side of the platform stood a stern face referee responsible for recording each participant’s results.

"Next! Zhang Yue!"

A slender figure stepped forward, moving in a somewhat comical and awkward manner, as though a woman were trying to imitate the movements of a man.

At first glance, Zhang Yue appeared to be a young man. She wore a plain, rough white robe typical of male cultivators, and a conspicuous fake mustache had been attached to her upper lip in an attempt to disguise her identity.

Unfortunately, the disguise was far from convincing. Wei Chen, who was watching the testing ground, stared straight at her chest.

’Damn... Those things are the size of melons, and she still thinks she can pass herself off as a man? Who does this girl think she’s fooling?’

At that moment, a voice came from the referee.

"Young man! Throw your punch with all you’ve got! Don’t hold back. The measurement stone can take it!" the referee said, acting as though nothing was amiss.

’Seriously, is this guy blind or what?’ Wei Chen retorted inwardly.

Despite the mustache, her face remained remarkably beautiful, with delicate features that would have attracted plenty of attention even among female cultivators. Her disguise did little to conceal that fact.

Still, Zhang Yue seemed entirely oblivious about the obvious fact of her mismatched appearance.

She walked up to the strength measurement stone, raised her fist, and punched it without hesitation.

BANG!

The stone trembled slightly.

Its inscriptions lit up, and two lines of characters appeared on its surface.

"Cultivation: Qi Gathering Realm, Early Stage."

"Power Output: Foundation Establishment Realm, Early Stage."

The results were clearly displayed for everyone to see.

For a brief moment, the surrounding cultivators fell silent.

Then, laughter erupted from the crowd.

"Hahaha! What a joke! A Qi Gathering cultivator dares to participate in the Underworld Palace’s recruitment?"

"Look at that cultivation! She’s only in the Early Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, yet she actually thinks she can compete for an outer disciple position!"

"And what’s with that strange, crippling physique? Does he think the Underworld Palace is some kind of charity organization!?"

"Perhaps he knows he has no chance of passing, so he decided to entertain us instead!"

The voice of mockery and sneers filled the testing ground. Most of the cultivators present had yet to understand the purpose of the test.

In their eyes, cultivation realm was the most important measure of a cultivator’s strength. Someone in the Qi Gathering Realm was practically insignificant compared to the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators who had gathered here.

They naturally assumed that Zhang Yue’s result was nothing worth celebrating.

The referee, however, remained completely unfazed like this is an expected reaction of these ignorant people.

He glanced at the displayed results, made a few notes, and announced her score.

"One hundred points."

The laughter abruptly weakened.

One hundred points?

Had they heard that correctly?

Zhang Yue herself blinked in surprise, seemingly just as puzzled by the result as the surrounding cultivators.

The referee paid no attention to their reactions. He simply gestured for her to step aside and called for the next participant, while the referee assistant gave her the score sheet and a brooch that signifies her as passing the first test.

Only a handful of people who understood the testing system recognized the significance of that score.

Zhang Yue cultivation was only at the Early Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, yet her punch had produced power equivalent to that of a cultivator at the Early Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

In other words, her power output had surpassed her cultivation by an entire major realm!

Such a result was an unmistakable indication that she has a very exceptional potential! The same as Heaven’s Chosen potential!

But to the majority of the crowd, she was still nothing more than a low-level cultivator with a comical mustache and a physique that clearly did not match her disguise.

The next participant stepped onto the platform.

He was a muscular man with a confident smile, and his spiritual aura was vastly stronger than Zhang Yue’s. Judging by the fluctuations of spiritual energy around him, he was clearly a cultivator who had already reached the Core Formation Realm.

"Begin!" the referee instructed.

The man nodded. He circulated his spiritual energy, gathered his strength into his fist, and struck the measurement stone with a powerful punch.

BOOM!

The stone shook violently, its inscriptions shining brightly before the results appeared.

"Cultivation: Core Formation Realm, Middle Stage."

"Power Output: Core Formation Realm, Early Stage."

The referee examined the results and announced, "Twenty-five points."

The man’s confident expression froze.

"Twenty-five points?!" he exclaimed, staring at the stone in disbelief. "How can that be? There must be some misunderstanding!"

He had reached the Middle Stage of the Core Formation Realm. Even if he could not defeat every opponent at the same cultivation level, he had always considered himself a genius, especially since he had reached the Core Formation Realm before the age of thirty!

Yet now, his score was only twenty-five points.

The referee gave him an indifferent glance.

"There is no misunderstanding! The score reflects your performance. Next!"

The man’s face flushed with anger, but before he could throw a tantrum, he noticed a squad of Enforcers watching him with smiles on their faces, as if daring him to cause a scene.

The cultivator quickly reined in his arrogance and left the platform, his expression filled with disappointment.

Wei Chen, who was watching from the VIP room, felt a little disappointed. He had been hoping for some spicy content to include in tonight’s new broadcast, but it seemed that common sense was finally beginning to take effect among the cultivators of this world.