Cultivation Online

“Then I’ll see you guys later,” Yuan said his goodbyes to the others before following Elder Sun to the Inner Court examination area, which was held not too far away from the Hunting Grounds.

When they arrived, Yuan noticed there were about 30 other disciples there.

“Did you think you would be the only one taking the examination?” Elder Sun asked.

“Of course not.”

Elder Sun then said, “Regardless of how many disciples participate in the examination, only five of you will be able to pass.”

When the other participants noticed Yuan, their eyes widened with surprise.

“Hey, look! Isn’t that the guy who killed Bai Zhan?”

“It is him! But what’s he doing here? He was only a Spirit Warrior before his two-year confinement!”

The disciples were confused by Yuan’s presence at the examination, as they couldn’t fathom how Yuan had managed to qualify for it.

‘This brat… His cultivation has increased again in the past three weeks! There’s no way he’s constantly consuming treasures. How is he progressing so fast?’ Elder Sun was shocked when she realized Yuan’s cultivation had reached the fifth level of Spirit Master in just three short weeks.

“Forget about him. Look at who he came here with. Isn’t that Elder Sun? Do you think she’d accepted him as her disciple?” The disciples continued to gossip.

“No way. Elder Sun is famous within the sect for being the only sect elder who has not had a single disciple since she joined the sect. My master always talks about it.”

“Seriously? Why did she even come to the sect?”

“Who knows…”

The conversations quickly shifted from Yuan to Elder Sun, who had her own reputation within the sect.

Yuan knew very well that Elder Sun was known as the ‘incompetent elder’ by the other sect elders due to her lack of disciples. However, Elder Sun did not let her reputation within the sect get to her and would spend most of her time at the Hunting Grounds, protecting the disciples there, so she was quite popular with the disciples, especially the male disciples, as she was considered to be one of the prettiest sect elders in the Immortal Monastery.

Sometime later, another sect elder arrived and said, “I am this year’s examiner. There are 78 participants for this year’s examination, but only five of you will become an Inner Court disciple today.”

“The rules are simple. You will be required to hunt magical beasts in a specific area. Each magical beast will be graded depending on their strength, with three different ranks. From the weakest, we have green, red, and black. You can tell a beast’s rank from the color of the ribbon attached to them.”

“A green ribbon is worth one point, and a red ribbon is worth five points. If you manage to hunt a black ribbon beast, you’ll automatically pass the test, but there is only one black ribbon beast available.”

“You all have 72 hours to acquire as many points as you can, and by the end of the examination, the five disciples with the most points will become Inner Court disciples.”

“All participants will be provided with a Spirit-grade weapon of their choosing, and you are forbidden from using anything that wasn’t provided to you. This includes medicine, such as recovery pills and strengthening pills. Any questions?”

When nobody responded, the sect elder handed everyone a weapon of their choosing before announcing, “Then I will officially begin the examination now. Good luck, everyone.”

The moment the examination began, every participant—except for Yuan—immediately rushed into the examination area, eager to prove themselves. The area itself was vast, resembling the Hunting Grounds with its dense forests, rugged terrain, and lurking dangers.

“What are you waiting for?” Elder Sun asked Yuan.

“Nothing. I’ll see you soon.”

Yuan said before entering the area the next moment.

After entering the examination area, Yuan immediately used his Divine Sense to survey his surroundings.

‘I can see a few Spirit Master-level magical beasts between the third and sixth level nearby, but they only have a green ribbon.’

Yuan encountered his first magical beast with a red ribbon, and it was at the eighth level of Spirit Master.

Most of the participants for the examination were far beyond the first level of Spirit Master, with many of them between the seventh level and even the peak of Spirit Master. However, even then, most of them only fought beasts weaker than their own cultivation.

As for Yuan, he ignored every single magical beast he encountered to find the beast with a black ribbon.

Of course, he wasn’t the only one who thought of this strategy, as several other disciples wanted to go straight for the black ribbon.

After several hours of moving without stopping, Yuan finally encountered the beast with a black ribbon. It was a magical beast with cultivation at the 3rd level of Spirit Grandmaster. However, he was not the first to find it, as there was already someone fighting it.

This disciple was at the first level of Spirit Grandmaster, and he was struggling against the beast. It was clear that this disciple did not have the capability to defeat it.

Seeing this, instead of waiting for the disciple to meet his inevitable defeat, Yuan joined the fight and, with a single devastating strike, decapitated the beast.

“W-What?!” The disciple who was fighting the beast was shocked, to say the least. Of course, he was also angry that someone had the audacity to steal his kill.

“You bastard! Didn’t you see I was already fighting that beast?! How dare you steal my kill?!”

Yuan picked up the black ribbon and turned to look at the disciple.

“Yes, I saw, and it was clear that you wouldn’t have defeated it. Instead of cursing at me, you should be thanking me for helping you save time and energy. If you start hunting seriously, you might catch up to the others,” Yuan said before turning away.

“Where do you think you’re going with my black ribbon?!” The disciple quickly stopped him from leaving by blocking his path.