Chapter 291: Attitude

"Slaying demons! It’s actually a demon-slaying assessment?!"

"Damn it! I specifically gathered information before coming. I heard several members of great families would be taking the assessment this time, so where are they?! Not a single one showed up?! We’re finished. The officers didn’t receive enough money, so when they ‘drew lots,’ they picked the hardest one out of thirty-four missions. My ten thousand Pure Yang Grand Pills went down the drain! My whole family spent ten years accumulating wealth just to win me this chance..."

"Isn’t there any wealthy cultivator left? Hurry and sign up for the heavenly favored assessment so the officers can cool off and lower the difficulty."

"Where would such wealthy cultivators come from? Any Golden Core cultivator wealthy enough would already belong to a great family. Great family members are born under the protection of Void-Piercing Realm elders and are directly taken in as personal disciples. Their status is even above inner sect disciples. Why would they need to come here and take an inner sect assessment?"

"It’s over. My family has been targeted by a fiend. We were only waiting for me to become an inner sect disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect so we could borrow the sect’s name to intimidate that fiend and stop it from acting recklessly. If I fail this assessment, that fiend will have no scruples left. My whole family is doomed."

A wave of unrest swept through more than four hundred examinees, and fear and despair filled many faces.

After finishing his conversation with the elder, Xiang Yunlong returned to the scene. He took in everyone’s reactions and inwardly sneered. You think ten thousand Pure Yang Grand Pills are enough to borrow the name of my sect for your own affairs? What fantasy is that?

Outwardly, however, he spoke in a righteous and unyielding tone, "The Nine Demon Race Lineages are the greatest enemy of the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects. As immortal cultivators, we must take it upon ourselves to uphold justice and slay demons and fiends. If you do not even possess the courage to confront demons, then why are you even seeking immortality? Why are you seeking the Dao? Therefore, your assessment this time is simple. Face this ninth-tier great demon and survive within the array for ten breaths."

He paused slightly. "Of course, every sect gives preferential treatment to geniuses. Our sect places exceptional importance on nurturing geniuses and prodigies. So I can give you one more opportunity. Anyone who believes himself a genius or heavenly favored person may apply for the corresponding assessment. You have three minutes to consider. Once three minutes pass, the assessment officially begins, and after that, you can only rely on your own strength to enter the sect."

Yaoguang calmly watched the performance put on by this officer and the Void-Piercing Realm elder.

He had heard more than once that the so-called Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects were, in truth, nothing more than a coalition of interests formed by people banding together for mutual benefit.

The elders, peak masters, lineage leaders, and sect masters belonged to the class that profited from that coalition. Everyone else existed to be exploited by them.

Now, his eyes had truly been opened. The outside world had romanticized these top sects far too much.

The top experts clearly have the power to establish order on the North Sea Star. But because of the North Sea Star’s special circumstances, the strongest group only cares about ascending as immortals. Once they become immortals, they depart for the immortal realm. They care little for the North Sea Star’s future. As for the Void-Shattering Realm experts just beneath them, chaos serves them better. Amid chaos, they can harvest greater profits and pursue the Great Dao more quickly. The same is true for Void-Refining Realm and Void-Piercing Realm cultivators.

Gradually, Yaoguang began to see the true face of the North Sea Star. I even suspect this chaos is something they deliberately tolerate, all so they can better sell the ‘sense of safety’ provided by top sects, forcing accomplished cultivators to find ways to join them.

They constantly promoted the outside world as a place of endless war and upheaval, where everyone lived on the edge of death and starvation. Only by joining their sects could one enjoy peace and security.

As a result, no matter how brutally these sects exploited the middle and lower ranks, no matter how much they treated them like beasts of burden, so long as they were allowed to survive, those beneath them did not dare betray the sect.

On the other hand, cultivators who had reached the Void-Piercing Realm had broken free from the limitations of the lower tiers. Their vision was broader, their strength greater, and their choices far wider. They had no need to bind themselves to a single sect, and countless top factions would compete to recruit them.

Void-Piercing Realm... Only by reaching the Void-Piercing Realm can one truly gain a voice on the North Sea Star and obtain the right to freedom. Yaoguang thought this quietly to himself.

That day was not far for him.

Once he became an inner sect disciple, he would immediately compete for true disciple status. After becoming a true disciple, he would head to the Great Shang, claim the bounty on Tong Yan and the others, then hunt in the Chaotic Sea for a period of time until he gathered enough Pure Yang Grand Pills to condense an Azure Golden Core.

Once his Azure Golden Core progressed to the second stage, the middle stage of the Azure Golden Core Realm, he would directly advance and challenge the Void-Piercing Realm.

Three minutes quickly passed.

Intimidated by the difficulty of the demon-slaying mission, only three more people chose the genius pathway.

The genius pathway required a staggering thirty thousand Pure Yang Grand Pills. Even Radiant Sun Golden Core cultivators from factions at the same level as the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects, working every avenue available, could only earn a little over one hundred Pure Yang Grand Pills a year.

Thirty thousand was the equivalent of saving for three hundred years! That was the equivalent of saving for three hundred years.

Under normal circumstances, if a Radiant Sun Golden Core disciple managed to save thirty thousand Pure Yang Grand Pills in one thousand years, that alone would count as extraordinary financial discipline.

Xiang Yunlong waited three minutes, then deliberately dragged things out for another minute or two. Seeing that no one else intended to enter either the genius pathway or heavenly favored pathway, he could only curse his bad luck for encountering a bunch of paupers before waving his hand.

"The assessment begins. Numbers one through ten, enter the array!" At his command, the array shifted, no longer suppressing human cultivators.

Ten Radiant Sun Golden Core cultivators gritted their teeth and stepped inside.

These ninth-tier great demons were beings comparable to Azure Golden Core cultivators; they were not mindless beasts. They clearly understood how to make their own lives easier in the future.

Since this batch had failed to satisfy the elders of the Heavenly Dao Sect, they could slaughter them without restraint, venting their hatred for humanity while currying favor with that human Void-Piercing Realm elder. They were killing two birds with one stone.

The moment the ten Radiant Sun Golden Core cultivators entered, those ninth-tier great demons, which had seemed docile just moments ago, violently erupted, roaring as they charged at the human cultivators.

Within a few breaths, three examinees were brutally torn apart, their blood spraying across the field.

Of the remaining seven, only one barely held on. The others all fled from the array, their eyes filled with terror. "I’m not taking it anymore. I quit..."

"Hmph!" Xiang Yunlong snorted coldly. "Our sect is one of the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects. We have always been meticulous in recruiting disciples! If your talent is lacking, then you must display sufficient combat strength. No talent, no strength, and you still wish to enter our sect? Do you really think our sect is a garbage dump?"

As he spoke, he violently waved his hand. A savage force swept up the six fleeing Radiant Sun Golden Core cultivators and hurled them straight off the mountain peak.

"Get out of Heavenly Dao Sect!" he said.

Perhaps in their own cities, families, or sects, they had been revered as eldest senior brothers, family hopes, and stars of their sects. But in Xiang Yunlong’s eyes, they could not produce money, which meant they had no background.

They were weak, which meant they had no talent.

No background. No talent. Not even members of Heavenly Dao Sect. He didn't feel guilty whatsoever when bullying and humiliating Radiant Sun Golden Core cultivators like them.

The six who were thrown felt their blood burn with humiliation, fear, and fury. But after glancing at the Void-Piercing Realm elder overseeing the assessment, they swallowed those feelings.

Life on the North Sea Star had long since taught them how to fear the strong.

After being thrown out from the upper level of the mountain, the six struggled to their feet in disgrace and hurriedly left.

Trash. Xiang Yunlong sneered inwardly with contempt.

He glanced at the candidate inside the array, the one who had stubbornly held on to the bitter end, only to truly die beneath the claws of the ninth-tier great demon. Then, in a mocking tone clearly aimed at others, he said, "Blind fool. Did he really not know his own limits?"

His gaze swept across the crowd again as he spoke from on high. "You’ve all seen the difficulty of the assessment. If you’re not confident, leave now rather than throw your life away for nothing. Alright, next batch."

Of the ten candidates, six failed, four died, and not a single one passed.

That horrifying casualty rate immediately frightened the remaining candidates.

But ten thousand Pure Yang Grand Pills were already the full lifetime savings many Radiant Sun Golden Core cultivators could ever hope to accumulate. No matter how dangerous the assessment was, the opportunity they had bought with those ten thousand Pure Yang Grand Pills was still worth risking their lives for.

Out of the four hundred-plus people present, fewer than thirty left, fearing for their lives. The rest steeled themselves and continued forward, one by one, to take the assessment.

Of the next ten, two died miserably, while the remaining eight reacted quickly enough to escape the array and failed.

Looking at those eight who escaped, Xiang Yunlong even cursed inwardly, wondering why the sect had designed these arrays to allow free entry and exit.

If they failed, they should have simply died inside.

Anyone who could not even afford the fee for the genius pathway would likely only come for this assessment once in their lifetime. They would never count as "returning customers."

But after thinking it through, he understood that precisely because the array allowed people to retreat when they realized they were outmatched, these Radiant Sun Golden Core cultivators would hold onto false hope and dare to enter.

Besides, if the death rate grew too high, it would frighten away future applicants.

And if fewer people came, their income would drop as well.

With each round lasting only ten breaths, the assessments progressed extremely quickly.

The pass rate, however, was abysmally low. Of the first 130 candidates, only eight passed, less than ten percent. But twenty-five had died, nearly twenty percent.

Compared to everyone else, Xiang Yunlong’s attitude toward those who passed was noticeably better.

After all, anyone who could clear the assessment might one day have a chance to compete for true disciple status.

"Next batch." As Xiang Yunlong called out again, Yaoguang stepped forward from the crowd and entered the array.

The moment he stepped inside, he sharply sensed something unusual.

This array region appeared to cover only a hundred meters in radius, yet the internal space had expanded tenfold. Moreover, entering it felt like stepping into flowing water, where the dispersal of energy and the eruption of force were both affected.

As he was considering this, the ninth-tier great demon, which had already devoured several Golden Core Realm candidates, charged over with a furious roar. Its savage expression and the lingering blood at the corners of its mouth were enough to deliver a crushing mental shock to any cultivator.

But Yaoguang’s expression barely changed.

He did not draw the Wandering Dragon Sword. Instead, he opened with a single Space-Splitting Strike.

The next step after becoming an inner sect disciple was competing for true disciple status. Yet the Heavenly Dao Sect had even fewer true disciple seats than the Taiyi Immortal Sect, only eighty-eight in total. Among those eighty-eight true disciples, only six were Blazing White Golden Core cultivators. The remaining eighty-two were all Azure Golden Core cultivators.

If he wanted to seize a true disciple seat, he had to display strength on the level of an Azure Golden Core cultivator.

Therefore, when facing this ninth-tier great demon, he used the Space-Splitting Strike —without the amplification of the Wandering Dragon Sword—to force the beast backward in a frontal clash.

And this was the first time since the assessment began that anyone had been able to confront a ninth-tier great demon directly.

At that sight, Xiang Yunlong’s heart trembled.

Even the Void-Piercing Realm elder overseeing the assessment opened his eyes at once, a trace of delight flashing within them.