Supreme Emperor of Swords

Swordsmanship-seeking Sect only took in around 2,000 disciples every year and this ranking list in front of him looked like it contained around 2,000 names as well. This meant that if no major upset occurred in the afternoon's test of physical quality and test of perseverance, this list would likely be the final name list of disciples that accepted into Swordsmanship-seeking Sect. How could anyone remain calm at the sight of this list?

Ding Hao stood at the fringes of the crowd, from where he could clearly see the names on the list.

For some reason, from right to left, the names of the top five candidates had been covered with red paper. The top five spots had indeed been taken but their names were not revealed to the public.

Only the names of those who ranked sixth onwards could be clearly seen.

Ding Hao found himself at tenth place.

In other words, Ding Hao's qualifications ranked amongst the top ten of all the youths who had participated in the entrance exam that morning.

"I had not expected that. This shows that just like there is always bound to be mountain taller than the tall mountain, there is always someone stronger than the strong one. I had thought that I was already considered superhuman with my god-like comprehension ability and second-level metal meridians, and so I did not expect that there would be people even more superhuman than myself."

Ding Hao was secretly rather surprised.

Unfortunately, since Swordsmanship-seeking Sect only revealed their rankings but not the scores each participant scored in the individual assessments, he could not determine how far was the gap between himself and those ranked above or below him nor what was the reason for this gap.

Ding Hao soon figured out that his weakness most likely laid in his age and his meridians.

...

An hour later, it was time for the afternoon assessments to begin.

Ding Hao followed the crowd to the fifth assessment center.

This was a test of their physical attributes.

According to legend, countless people on this Land of Infinity were descendants of the ancient celestial beings. Due to the passage of time, there was no longer a way to prove this theory. However, there were still a few people amongst all the people in this world today who still carried a trace of celestial being blood. Although this trace was barely detectable, once it was activated, it could be terribly powerful.

As for those who possessed such a blood type, they would have unbelievable talent in their cultivation of martial arts. Their talent would even far surpass some of those who possessed an innate divine physical attribute.

These people were known as "martial artists by blood".

This fifth assessment center was where all the young men were tested for the physical attributes of the martial artists by blood.

It was a simple test.

All the young men lined up in a row to take turns walking past a mysterious picture of a martial sword laid out on the floor. As they did so, an elder clad in a silver robe would take note of the reaction of this formation to determine the final result.

At the same time, due to how rare and treasured the martial artists by blood were, the results would not be publicly announced but it would be considered an undisclosed result and taken into consideration for the final score.

Ding Hao joined the line and walked past the mysterious marital sword picture.

This sword picture looked deceptively normal, but some sword patterns that were engraved on a blue rock and linked together by thin engravings. They contained traces of mysterious divine force that rippled as they scanned through the bodies of each person that walked past.

Ding Hao slowly walked past this sword picture without detecting anything out of the ordinary.

The elder clad in a silver robe remained expressionless throughout, neither smiling nor shaking his head at anyone. Therefore, no one could tell from his expressions if they possessed a martial artist by blood physical attribute.

This assessment was soon over.

After Ding Hao's turn was over, he remained at the side and carefully observed the sword picture on the ground. Unfortunately, he did not manage to gain any further insight and finally left the venue, shaking his head disappointedly.

...

The final assessment was a test of perseverance.

To all martial artists, in addition to innate qualities like talent and meridians, one's will and perseverance were also very important in their path to cultivate magic martial arts.

Innate qualities were not everything.

In this world, there was no lack of people who had been blessed with extraordinary innate qualities, only to end up as mediocre martial artists. There were also people who were deemed useless might managed to take their place amongst the strong through incredible perseverance and strong will.

Swordsmanship-seeking Sect had devised a set of assessments based on a perfectly scientific method a thousand years after it was founded.

One of the tests they had devised was a test of perseverance.

Their method of assessment was pretty similar to the earlier test of the bloodline. What awaited these young men was a large picture of a sword formation.

The only difference was that this formation exuded a terrifying pressure. Once one entered the formation, one would suddenly feel like he was carrying an object that weighed a hefty 500 kilograms. It was extremely tough.

These young men were required to sit quietly in the formation and they were judged based on the length of time spent within the formation.

This was indeed an excellent method to test one's perseverance.

One hundred people, including Ding Hao, were assigned to sword formation picture number eight.

Once they had all sat down cross-legged and were ready to begin, the elder clad in a silver robe who stood outside the formation then activated the formation. Suddenly, the gravitational force of the place seemed to increase by multiple times, as though an ancient mountain was unexpectedly pressing down on their backs. Some in the group were not adequately prepared and ended up being pressed flat onto the ground with a loud cry.

In less than three or four minutes, there were people who cried out in pain and backed out of the assessment. There were also some who immediately lost consciousnesses and had to be carried out by the third generation disciples on standby outside the formation.

Soon, out of the hundred that entered the formation, only 60 odd people remained.

A large majority of the participants had their brows tightly knit together and their eyes closed as they did their best to hang on. Beads of sweat as large as beans rolled down their foreheads, cheeks, and their backs.

There was even some who could not take the weight and bit their lips till they drew blood. Traces of dark red blood could be seen dripping out from the corners of their mouths and the sounds of bones cracking could be heard coming from their bodies.

Of course, there were people who were very relaxed. They had a pretty solid martial arts foundation and their bodies shone with a faint radiance which was a sign that they had grasped Qi. They could then use this Qi to resist the pressure that was piling up on their bodies, which was much easier than purely relying on one's physical body to resist the gravitational force.

Ding Hao was the only exception.

After the miraculous encounter at the mountain cave, his body had undergone a complete transformation. His physical strength was now comparable to a one-apertured martial disciple. His bones were sturdy and had the force of 1,000 kilograms, which made him stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Since this was nothing to him, his expression was relaxed and he even had time to closely observe the expressions of those around him.

"Hm? Isn't that guy known as 'Zhang Fan'? There is also the young master of Xiyang Town, Li Canyang!"

Ding Hao suddenly realized that on his upper right side sat a dark-skinned young man whose muscles rippled across his naked chest. This was the young man that he had met at the test of property—that young man who had been determined to have poor qualities and a second level earth-level hunter—Zhang Fan.

Probably due to the fact that he often hunted, Zhang Fan's physical strength was stronger than most.

Under the sunlight, his muscles gleamed darkly, just like knives or axes, full of strength and power. This enabled him to perform better than most in this formation even though his body was coated with a layer of sweat droplets, but he did not look like he was in pain.

Next to Zhang Fan was the beautiful young master of Xiyang Town, Li Canyang. He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his expression calm and relaxed, a picture of someone at ease.