#967 - Variables in the audition process

The preliminary selection was a simple test of strength, without any complicated environment.

A long queue lined up below the high platform, all waiting to go on stage for the preliminary assessment.

Jun Wuxie and Jing Ya stepped forward, joining the end of the line.

"You go ahead, I'll wait for you here."

Aunt Jing stood quietly in the crowd, attracting many gazes.

People around her all looked at her, their faces filled with amazement, their gazes fervent, even infatuated, as if they had lost their souls.

Some of them tried to get closer to her, but when they were about two meters away, they felt a surge of energy, impacting them and forcing them to retreat, their eyes revealing shock.

"Get lost!"

Seeing this, Jun Wuxie immediately abandoned the queue, returned to Jing Ya's side in a few steps, and coldly shouted at those who were trying to squeeze forward.

Seeing the young man suddenly return and scold them like that, those people were angered, their eyes flashed with ferocity, and they glared at him fiercely.

Pairs of eyes met his gaze, but those people quickly averted their eyes, feeling fear in their hearts, and reluctantly snorted coldly, backing away a little, not daring to continue their impudence.

Jun Wuxie's expression was a little unsightly. He had only left Aunt Jing's side a few steps, and already someone wanted to squeeze over.

"Wuxie, you go ahead, I'm fine," Jing Ya said softly.

"No rush. I'll go last after they've all been assessed," Jun Wuxie replied, his face a little cold, saying, "There are too many people here, lots of flies and vermin. Don't let them affect your mood."

Time slowly passed, and people continued to ascend the high platform to undergo the preliminary assessment, but people were constantly being eliminated.

Half of the people found it difficult to budge the bronze cauldron, and even fewer could lift it above their heads.

It was already noon, and countless people had gone up to lift the cauldron, but only a few dozen had passed.

The line of people waiting for the assessment below the high platform had shrunk to half its original length, and almost no new people joined the line.

Clearly, the Qingyun Cave Heaven's preliminary selection assessment had already spread throughout Qingyun City, and everyone who wanted to participate in the assessment had arrived in advance. Those currently present were the total number of people participating in this assessment.

During this period, people in the crowd would occasionally try to get close to Jing Ya, but everyone who tried to do so was struck by a wave of energy when they were about one meter away from her, their internal qi and blood churning, almost being shaken to the point of vomiting blood.

Those who suffered in silence all looked at Jing Ya and Jun Wuxie with horrified eyes.

They didn't know where this power came from, whether it was from the breathtakingly beautiful woman or the young man beside her.

But one thing they understood was that these were beings they couldn't afford to offend, and they couldn't continue kicking the iron plate, or the consequences might be severe.

… …

At the same time, in a pavilion near the square, the head of Qingyun Cave Heaven's True Martial Peak was standing quietly by the window, watching the assessment site.

In his hand was an energy-condensed communication talisman, and the content written on the talisman caused him to reveal a look of contemplation.

"Could it be him they're talking about?"

The head of True Martial Peak muttered to himself, lowered his head and looked again at the content on the communication talisman, and then raised his head to look at the backs of the man and woman near the high platform at the assessment site.

"The talisman says it's a young man who is a half-step Saint Realm or just entering the Saint Realm. That's strange. Why would the Daqian Dynasty issue this secret wanted order to all the sects in the territory? Entering the Saint Realm, how could he be wanted by the dynasty? This is really strange… …"

The head of True Martial Peak couldn't figure it out. In his opinion, this was really too strange.

A young man who had just entered the Saint Realm, or perhaps was only at the half-step Saint Realm, shouldn't have any connection with the Daqian Dynasty's royal family, let alone conflict.

But now, the Daqian Dynasty's royal family had personally issued a secret wanted order, and this kind of wanted order had been transmitted to all the forces within the territory.

Just as he was wondering, a flash of light appeared in front of him, and another communication talisman arrived.

He stretched out his palm, and the talisman smoothly landed on his hand. Looking at the content on it, the corners of his eyes twitched slightly, and the look of shock on his face became even more intense.

"The royal family of the Wu'an Dynasty has also issued a secret wanted order. What secrets are on the body of the target they want to arrest? The two major dynasties of Qingzhou are simultaneously hunting down one person… …"

He was truly astonished. Daqian and Wu'an were mortal enemies. There were frequent frictions between the two dynasties, and the conflicts on the border had almost never stopped for many years. Sometimes, even large-scale wars would break out.

Two opposing dynasties were actually hunting down the same target.

"Age around twenty, body cultivator, golden blood energy. These all completely match that young man. Could it really be him?"

The head of True Martial Peak's expression was uncertain, and the true qi in his palm surged, shattering the talisman, and a look of entanglement appeared in his eyes.

He just kept looking at Jun Wuxie's back.

Until the afternoon, near dusk, almost everyone who had come to participate in the preliminary selection assessment had finished their assessment, and only a dozen people remained in the line.

… …

In front of the high platform, Jun Wuxie saw that the assessment was about to be completed, and it was time for him to go on stage.

Just then, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

"Young man, are you called Jun Wuxie?"

This sentence shocked him.

This was the Upper Realm. Apart from reporting his name in front of Yuan Feng and the Yuan family's higher-ups, no one else knew his name.

Yuan Feng and the Yuan family's higher-ups were all dead, some killed by him, and the rest were probably killed by other families in Liuyun City. How could anyone still know his name?

Moreover, this was Qingyun City, not Liuyun City!

His divine sense quickly searched the surroundings. At this time, the divine sense transmission sounded again in his mind: "You don't need to answer whether it's yes or no. What I want to tell you is that if you are, you can't let people know that you are. After passing the assessment, don't use your real name, use a different name."

"Senior, who are you?" Jun Wuxie responded secretly, his tone filled with doubt and confusion, saying, "Who is the Jun Wuxie that Senior is talking about? Senior, are you mistaken for someone else?"

"Perhaps," the divine sense voice replied, and then fell silent.

Jun Wuxie finally found the person who had transmitted the voice to him through his divine sense.

It was actually him?

He was a little surprised. It was the old man with the Saint King Realm Limitless Great Perfection he had met outside Liuyun City.

How could that old man know his name?

"It seems that something I don't know about has happened. Apart from the forces to which those enemies from the Upper Realm that I encountered in the Lower Realm belong, no one in this world should know my name. And those forces are far away in the Central Territory or other territories close to the Central Territory, extremely far from Qingzhou… …"

"Wuxie, what's wrong?" Jing Ya's divine sense was sharp, sensing the fluctuations in his mood, and secretly inquired.

"It's nothing," Jun Wuxie temporarily didn't tell her about this.

Seeing the last assessor ascend the high platform, he stepped forward and waited below the high platform steps.

Soon, that assessor returned dejectedly, looking lifeless, and walked down the stage. When he passed Jun Wuxie, he glared at him inexplicably and snorted coldly.

Jun Wuxie was speechless. Was this because he was in a bad mood and wanted to vent his anger on anyone he saw?

"Are you here to participate in the preliminary selection as well?" On the high platform, a middle-aged man looked at Jun Wuxie below the stage and said, "If you are here to participate in the preliminary selection, come up quickly. This preliminary selection is about to end, and you are the last one."

His voice was a little impatient. The young man hadn't lined up at the beginning, and only came out when it was about to end, and he was still dawdling. He was already preparing to put away the cauldron.

Of the preliminary selectors, only one or two out of a hundred could pass. He didn't believe that this young man could pass.

If he had confidence, he should have come to line up and participate earlier. Waiting until now probably meant he lacked confidence in himself.

Jun Wuxie stepped onto the stage and stood in front of the bronze cauldron.

He reached out and grabbed the edge of the cauldron. This scene made everyone below the stage open their eyes wide.

This bronze cauldron was incredibly heavy because it had special runes engraved on it.

All the people participating in the preliminary selection used the best way to exert force, such as grabbing the cauldron's legs with one hand and the edge with the other, so that it would be easier to lift.

But at this time, the young man lifting the cauldron was grabbing the edge of the cauldron with both hands. This method was suitable for lifting the cauldron, but not for raising it.

Because if you raise the cauldron in this way, you need to lift the cauldron up and then flip the cauldron in the air before you can raise it.

The difficulty of this is not just increased by a little bit.

"Have you thought about it? Do you really want to lift the cauldron like this?" The Qingyun Cave Heaven's deacon couldn't help but remind him, saying, "Everyone only has one chance to lift the cauldron. If you fail, you will face elimination."

"I feel like I should be able to do it," Jun Wuxie replied with a smile, and then exerted force with both hands, exhaling and shouting.

The incredibly heavy bronze cauldron was immediately lifted off the ground by him.

His right foot took a half step, and when it landed, with a boom, the entire high platform trembled twice.

Everyone's eyes revealed shock, and they stared at him intently.

Rise!

As his voice sounded, the bronze cauldron was immediately turned upside down by his strength, with the cauldron's legs facing up and the cauldron's mouth facing down, and it was raised above his head at once.

"What strong power!" People exclaimed, some being shocked.

In today's preliminary selection of Qingyun Cave Heaven, thousands of people had lifted the cauldron, but no one had been able to lift the cauldron like this.

Jun Wuxie grabbed the edge of the cauldron with both hands, raising the bronze cauldron high above his head, the veins on his neck bulging, and his face slightly flushed, appearing a little strenuous.

Jing Ya watched from below, the corners of her sexy mouth slightly raised, knowing that he was hiding his strength, not wanting to be too high-profile.

Although this kind of bronze cauldron was incredibly heavy due to the runes, it was nothing to him, but he had to pretend to be strenuous.

"Huh? That's not right. Why aren't the runes on the Bronze Cauldron glowing?"

Someone in the crowd below noticed the difference from when others had lifted the cauldron before and immediately voiced their doubts.

At this moment, the two stewards of Azure Cloud Paradise revealed strange expressions.

They looked at each other, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

Boom!

Just then, Jun Wuxie put the Bronze Cauldron down.

He turned to look at the two stewards and said, "Am I considered to have passed the preliminary selection?"

"No, we regret to inform you that you have not passed the preliminary selection."

One of the stewards of Azure Cloud Paradise said.

Jun Wuxie was taken aback for a moment and asked, "Reason?"

"The reason is simple. The runes on the cauldron did not light up when you lifted it."

"What does that prove?"

Jun Wuxie did not expect to encounter variables in such a simple assessment.

"It shows that you are not cultivating true energy. You are a body refiner, aren't you?"

"That's right, I am a body refiner."

Jun Wuxie replied calmly. What about body refiners? Did body refiners and true energy cultivators have different assessment standards, or was it that Azure Cloud Paradise did not accept body refiners?

"He's actually a body refiner?"

A cry of surprise erupted from below the platform.

Body refiners were rare in the world, a path chosen only out of necessity. Although body refinement was said to grant astonishing power, it also had a very low upper limit.

Generally speaking, only those with inherent defects who were unable to cultivate true energy would choose the path of physical cultivation. Otherwise, who would be willing to embark on a path with such a low upper limit?

For a body refiner to break through to the Saint Realm and step into the Lesser Saint Heaven Realm was as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, rarely seen throughout the ages.

Basically, the vast majority of body refiners could only stop at the Half-Step Saint Realm, unable to advance any further in their lifetime.

This was a dead end, a broken road!

Moreover, some body refiners, disregarding the cost, pushed for higher realms, over-exploiting their physical potential, severely overdrawing their life force. They might appear to have vigorous blood, but in reality, their essence and blood were depleted, and they would not live long, their lifespan much shorter than that of true energy cultivators.

"Hahaha, so he's a body refiner, no wonder he's so strong!"

"Body refiners, ah, it's normal for them to be strong, but it's a pity that their strength is exchanged for their health."

"That's right, the higher the body refiner's realm, the shorter their lifespan. This is something that anyone with even a little cultivation knowledge knows."

"Body refinement, it looks impressive now, but can you break through to the Saint Realm? Once you reach the Saint Realm, any true energy cultivator can pin a body refiner to the ground and rub them in the dirt."

"Heh heh, does Azure Cloud Paradise even accept body refiners? No way, right?"

"A body refiner even came to take the assessment. Who doesn't know that you body refiners are resource-devouring beasts? Most importantly, you consume a lot of resources, but your realm will forever stagnate. Which sect would be willing to accept you?"

"Alas, body refinement, truly lacking self-awareness, hey."

… …

Below the platform, many people began to mock him.

Most of these people were not just watching the excitement. Most of them were those who had been eliminated earlier, and those who had wanted to get close to Jingya earlier but had failed, and had been holding back their unhappiness for a long time.

Jun Wuxie glanced at the people below the platform, ignored the cold ridicule, and then looked at the two stewards of Azure Cloud Paradise, saying, "You are conducting preliminary selections here, but you don't seem to have said that body refiners cannot participate in the preliminary selection. Since that's the case, why can't I, a body refiner, participate in the preliminary selection?"

The two stewards, upon hearing this, looked at each other, then said, "You're right, we indeed haven't explicitly stated that body refiners cannot participate in the preliminary selection. It's mainly because we didn't expect a body refiner to come and participate. You do have the right to participate in the assessment, but the assessment standards cannot be the same as those for true energy cultivators."

"So, you're going to set a separate assessment standard for me. I have no objections, whatever the standard, just tell me."

The two stewards were slightly silent for a moment, then turned around and secretly discussed.

After a while, they turned around and said, "Since body refiners are far stronger than true energy cultivators at the same realm, we have decided to give you the assessment standard of lifting the cauldron with one hand. If you are willing to try, you can start now; if you can't accept it, then leave."

Immediately, someone below the platform gloated and ridiculed him.

"Lift the cauldron with one hand, hahaha, that so-called body refiner, do you dare to try? Everyone says body refiners are strong, why don't you lift it with one hand for us to see?"

"Dream on, lift the cauldron with one hand? That difficulty is more than doubled compared to using both hands. With the blessing of the runes, this cauldron weighs ninety million xuan, who can lift it with one hand?"

Xuan is one of the common units of weight in the cultivation world of the Upper Realm, with one hundred billion jin equaling one xuan!

Ninety million xuan is equivalent to the weight of a medium-sized star in the Lower Realm.

The corners of Jun Wuxie's mouth curled up slightly. He put his left hand behind his back, grabbed the edge of the cauldron with his right hand, and said, "If I lift this cauldron with one hand, will I have passed the preliminary selection? Will you not have any other requirements?"