After a few seconds of deathly silence, the crowd erupted into a cacophony of voices.
"So many bones... what kind of evil technique is he practicing?!"
"He doesn't have a magical artifact, so where did those skeletons come from? And look at the shape of that statue; his control is incredibly precise."
On the arenas, the disciples of the four great sects were also discussing him.
"Senior Brother Ling, you've always enjoyed reading. Have you ever heard of this Bone Path?"
The man addressed as Senior Brother Ling shook his head. "I have not. I have spent my life reading the scriptures in the Shuanghua Sect's library, and I have never seen any record regarding the Bone Path."
"Could it be some evil technique for refining human remains? Perhaps the sect didn't keep records of it to prevent future disciples from going astray?"
"It doesn't look like it. Those skeletons show no signs of resentment, and the man's aura is clear and bright; he doesn't seem like an inherently evil person. Besides, any method that dares to call itself a 'Path' is unlikely to be the work of an evil cultivator."
"Named as a Path... interesting. President, you are a man of great experience. Have you ever heard of this Bone Path?" The speaker turned to the old man sitting beside him, the same one who had held the incense at the start.
The president of the chamber looked at Chen Xu. "In ancient times, many great experts established orthodoxies that were no less impressive than today's four great sects. However, those daoist laws could not be mastered except by those with immense willpower or great comprehension."
"Oh? Does the president mean that this young friend might have obtained an inheritance from an ancient expert?"
The president shook his head and did not answer.
"Then, in your opinion, could this person catch the eye of Tianxin?"
"The ones recognized by the chamber are already listed on the walls of the Tower of Three Excellences. Since Brother Chu has placed his bets, he should know well enough." The president took out a pipe, took a puff, and did not answer directly.
"I have seen them, of course. It is understandable that the disciples of famous sects like Shuanghua and Xuanhuo, as well as the successors of those mid-tier orthodoxies, would catch your eye." This man looked toward Arena Nine, which was also occupied by a team of rogue cultivators.
"The beloved son of Master Dong from the Zither Sect enjoys playing the role of a wolf in sheep's clothing, pretending to be a rogue cultivator. He is acceptable."
"But there is one left who has yet to take the stage—the rogue cultivator Chang Shu. I simply cannot understand that one. I wonder if the president could enlighten me?"
The president remained silent, merely holding his pipe and inhaling without exhaling.
After a long while, he lowered the pipe and slowly exhaled four words: "He is born sacred."
...
On the arena, the remaining members of the Tianshan Sect were glaring at Chen Xu with hatred due to his ruthless move.
"How can you be so cruel? I will seek justice for Junior Brother Cheng!" A man with long black hair and a sword in hand rushed onto the arena, intending to kill Chen Xu.
Before he could reach Chen Xu, he was stopped by the referee.
"Combat begins only after the referee gives the signal. The challenger must follow the rules." The referee glared at the man from the Tianshan Sect and pushed him back to the edge of the arena with a wave of his hand.
Chen Xu stood up from the bone throne and cupped his hands again. "Chen Xu of the Bone Path."
The opponent still did not respond, his eyes filled with resentment as he stared fixedly at Chen Xu.
"Sigh, how rude." Chen Xu shook his head and signaled to the referee.
"Begin the match!"
At the referee's command, the man used his left hand to cast a Black Tortoise Shield on himself. Then, he pressed two fingers of his left hand against his blade and charged at Chen Xu.
Chen Xu stood in the center of the arena, only about five meters from the edge.
In a single breath, the opponent was right in front of him, spiritual energy coating his sword. "Tianshan Swordplay: Treading Snow to Find Plum Blossoms!"
The long sword lunged forward. Chen Xu did not react at all; he did not summon any skeletons to block, nor did he dodge.
Clang!
The yellow-rank daoist robe was like a thin sheet of paper, failing to block the sword for even a second before it was pierced. The momentum of the sword did not slow as it plunged directly into Chen Xu's body, protruding through his back.
The Tianshan Sect disciple laughed wildly when he saw his blade pierce Chen Xu. "Hahaha, you villain!"
He immediately tried to pull the sword out to finish Chen Xu off.
To his surprise, no matter how hard he pulled, the sword did not budge an inch.
"The swordplay is decent, but the user is lacking."
The Tianshan Sect disciple snapped his head up to find Chen Xu expressionless, showing no sign of someone whose body had been impaled.
He pressed his fingers to his temples to check his senses; the impact sent a metallic taste of blood to his throat. 'It is not an illusion!'
"Of course it isn't an illusion. But you can have a good sleep later; you will have plenty of time to fantasize in your dreams."
The audience and those outside the arena did not know exactly what had happened; they only saw Chen Xu being stabbed through the chest by the Tianshan Sect disciple.
"Good! Senior Brother Ji's swordplay is unrivaled!" The Tianshan Sect side cheered.
A wave of gasps also rippled through the outer spectator stands.
"He was taken down just like that? This Bone Path is nothing but a facade."
"Maybe he used up all his true qi just to create that statue earlier."
"How boring. I thought there would be a good show."
Shen Mengqi's side, however, showed no reaction. None of them believed that the current top candidate of the Dragon Seed Program would be harmed by such a small trick.
On the arena, the Tianshan Sect disciple was still trying to pull his sword out.
But Chen Xu had finished his test and saw no need to keep playing along.
Long ago, after promoting to Necrotic Lord, he had obtained the 【Lord's Covenant】 skill.
【Lord's Covenant (Exclusive): All damage received by the Necrotic Lord is shared equally among all summons.】
Previously, Chen Xu had always let his skeleton army face the enemy while he stayed in the back as a hands-off manager, so he never had the chance to test this skill.
As for the two assessments with Cyntia, he had asked Xuan Chu afterward, and the skeleton army had not been affected. It didn't seem like the mental attacks were shared.
Later, while chatting with Cyntia during his reading breaks, she had laughed at him. According to Cyntia, her mental techniques didn't carry damage; they were evolved from certain mating techniques of spiritual creatures in the Sea of Spirit. The fainting and discomfort Chen Xu felt back then was merely his mind reaching a peak, not external damage.
One could only say that a mage's imagination was bizarre; they could research and abstract almost anything into a spell.
For this Tianxin Assessment, Chen Xu needed to find his limit and see how much damage he could withstand, as it would affect his future tactics. Thus, he allowed the sword to enter his body.
He didn't feel even a hint of pain. Chen Xu only felt a sharp object entering his body, which felt a bit strange. Based on the soul information fed back by Xuan Chu, this tiny sword wound, when shared among millions of skeletons, didn't even leave a scratch.
Having obtained his result, Chen Xu planned to send this rude person down to reunite with his junior brother.
A giant hand appeared behind the Tianshan Sect disciple. The Black Tortoise Shield couldn't even last a second before it was crushed, and the man was caught in the grip of the bone palm.
"Ugh..." The immense pressure made it impossible for him to breathe.
Chen Xu raised his right hand and pressed two fingers together, pointing them at the sword in his chest. Although he didn't know any sword-kinesis arts, he knew a thing or two about the psychokinesis techniques for controlling objects.
The long sword was not a typical inanimate object; it still held its master's divine sense, which resisted Chen Xu's control. However, against Chen Xu's vast, ocean-like mental strength, the resistance was futile.
He guided his fingers forward, and the sword slid out backward, even performing a flourish in the air.
"I am returning your sword, lest outsiders say that we of the Bone Path lack manners."
Chen Xu pointed his fingers at the Tianshan Sect disciple held by the bone hand.
Swish!
The sword whistled through the air, piercing through the man's body up to the hilt.
"Aargh!"
The Tianshan Sect disciple let out a scream of agony. The spray of blood from his mouth almost hit Chen Xu, causing him to instinctively take two steps back in surprise.
The giant hand let go, letting him fall onto the arena where he lay motionless.
Chen Xu looked at the referee and signaled with his eyes.
The referee nodded. "Arena Seven, defense successful! Challenger, please send your next member or forfeit the arena!"
...
With Chen Xu defeating two people in such a crushing manner, the Tianshan Sect gave up on the challenge.
The skeletal arms that appeared everywhere, the strange giant hand, and the bizarre ability to ignore a sword strike had drained the Tianshan Sect of their courage. They slunk away in disgrace.
For a long time afterward, no one came up to challenge them, choosing instead to try their luck on other arenas.
Finding it boring, Chen Xu stepped down and let his teammates take over.
Zheng Hong was the one to take Chen Xu's place. Carrying a three-meter-long spear, she leaped lightly onto the arena without making a sound.
Seeing the change in defender, other teams began to have ideas again. Even if they couldn't defeat the bone cultivator in the end, it wouldn't be a wasted trip if they could make a name for themselves here.
However, everyone who had that thought fell to Zheng Hong's spear.
The three-meter spear seemed weightless in her hands as it danced through the air, moving with the wind. With every strike, the wind arrived first, followed by the spear. Zheng Hong's strikes grew faster and faster, and the wind became more violent. As the spear lunged forward and the wind swirled backward, her opponents' footwork fell into chaos. If they couldn't suppress her from the start, their defeat was certain.
It wasn't until a water-element cultivator used a Water Imprisonment Art to interfere with her movements—and her true qi began to fail after constant fighting—that she was defeated. Multiple water prisons formed a formation, and once the formation was set, her loss was sealed.
After Zheng Hong stepped down, Shi Jing went up. Chen Xu didn't know the exact relationship between the two, but he always felt it wasn't simple. Shi Jing's footsteps were quite loud, which didn't seem like the control a cultivator should have, especially for one practicing earth-walking arts.
After the referee gave the command, multiple earth spikes shot toward the opposing cultivator from all directions, while dust continuously rose from the ground to obstruct their spellcasting. While the opponent was busy dodging, Shi Jing's entire body was covered in rock, and he charged forward with such force that he left a crater in the ground.
He didn't use any complex techniques; it seemed he didn't know any close-combat arts. He simply relied on the shield provided by the Rock Skin Technique and his immense strength to physically knock his opponent flying, sending them crashing into the crowd.
This crude fighting style also drew gasps from the audience.
After Shi Jing used the same method to knock several teams away, Arena Seven once again fell into a state where no one dared to challenge them. There was no helping it; being knocked into the crowd like that was simply too humiliating.
...
Twenty-four hours passed, and the green incense was extinguished. The president of the chamber walked to the tripod in the center. "The Tianxin incense is out. The first round of assessment is over." He bowed toward the tripod, and the last bit of the incense stump turned into smoke and dissipated.
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