171: The Primordial Divine Palace Assessment Begins

Lin Yuan looked in the direction he pointed and could faintly see the majestic outlines of buildings amidst the clouds and mist. He asked thoughtfully, "I see only Dharma Domain Realm Martial Artists on the square. Does the Taichu Divine Palace only recruit Cultivators of this Realm?"

"Of course not." Clear Emptiness shook his head. "The Divine Palace Command Token will teleport a person to the corresponding reception square based on the holder's Realm. This is the examination area for Dharma Domain Realm Martial Artists; Martial Artists of other Realms will be teleported to different places for their assessments."

"Silence!"

The voice wasn't loud, yet it swept across the field like a physical ripple, instantly suppressing all whispers. Nine figures appeared on the high platform in the center of the square. The leading white-robed old man had hair and a beard as white as snow, and his cuffs were embroidered with complex star trajectories—the emblem of the Star Sanctuary. His gaze swept over the nearly ten thousand young and ambitious faces below as a Jade Slip flowing with golden light flew out from his sleeve.

"The Taichu Divine Palace Dharma Domain Realm Examination, begin!" The Jade Slip unfurled, and golden runes rose, condensing into a massive phantom of a leaderboard suspended above the square. "There are six assessment categories: Bone Age Potential, War Spirit Quality, Physique Origin, Basic Combat Power, Law Comprehension, and Will Origin Wisdom Sword! Each category will be scored individually. Those whose total score across the six categories reaches four thousand may enter the Taichu Divine Palace's Yellow-Grade Secret Realm to Cultivate! A total score of four thousand five hundred grants entry to the Black-Grade Secret Realm! Five thousand or more, the Earth-Grade Secret Realm! Above five thousand five hundred..." The old man's voice paused slightly, his gaze sweeping meaningfully toward Lin Yuan's direction, "...one will enter the Divine Palace's highest-tier Heaven-Grade Secret Realm! Now, we begin the first category—the Bone Age Potential Stele!"

Rumble! On the east side of the square, a jasper divine stele, entirely composed of flowing phantoms of the long river of time, rose from the ground. The stele stood ninety-nine feet tall, with a circle of complex silver array patterns slowly rotating at its base.

The rules were already imprinted in everyone's Sea of Consciousness: a base score of five hundred (the benchmark for reaching the Dharma Domain Realm at age one hundred); for every year younger than one hundred, add 5 points; for every minor stage of cultivation increased, add 20 points.

"I'll go first!"

With a loud shout, Zhao Lie, dressed in crimson war robes, stepped out from the crowd. Hailing from the Vast Ocean Holy Land, he carried an Aura like a prairie fire. His palm, as large as a cattail leaf fan, pressed heavily onto the center of the 'Source-Tracing Array Patterns' at the base of the stele.

Buzz! Light flowed across the jasper stele's surface as the phantom of the long river of time accelerated its surge. In the center of the stele, clear lines began to take shape—seventy-one distinct halos were nested layer by layer, each representing a year of spring and autumn. Outside the halos, strands of leaping flame patterns emerged.

[Zhao Lie of Vast Ocean Holy Land: Bone Age 71, Cultivation Fifth Level Dharma Domain Realm, Final Score: 685]

The numbers glittered with golden light, floating atop the stele. A few cheers rose from the crowd; among prodigies, this score was considered upper-middle.

Immediately after, an ice-blue figure floated forward, surrounded by a misty chill; it was Leng Shuang of the Cold Moon Holy Land. She pressed her slender hand down lightly. Though her movement seemed gentle, the long river of time on the stele's surface suddenly froze. Countless tiny ice crystals condensed and refracted within the river, actually manifesting forty-two crystal-clear rings that looked as if they were carved from diamonds!

[Leng Shuang of Cold Moon Holy Land: Bone Age 42, Cultivation Third Level Dharma Domain Realm, Final Score: 810]

"Hiss! A forty-two-year-old at the third level of the Dharma Domain!" Gasps of surprise rose one after another. Leng Shuang remained expressionless as she retreated to her original spot, her gaze showing no fluctuation.

The testing continued, with most scores fluctuating between four hundred and seven hundred. This lasted until a purple-clad young girl stepped forward; she squeezed a round bead of blood from her fingertip and let it drop onto the array patterns.

"Roar—!" A dragon's cry shook the clouds! A majestic purple dragon shadow soared from within the stele, circling nine times! Only thirty-nine rings appeared on the stele's surface, but within each ring, a miniature dragon shadow swam!

[Ao Qing of Heavenly Dragon Holy Land: Bone Age 39, Cultivation Seventh Level Dharma Domain Realm, Final Score: 865]

The crowd completely boiled over! A score of nine hundred was almost within reach!

At that moment, Lin Yuan moved. His pace was ordinary, yet he seemed to step on some invisible rhythm. Wherever he passed, the crowded masses involuntarily parted to form a path. Countless gazes focused on him instantly, filled with scrutiny and curiosity, as well as the unabashed skepticism and coldness of Luo Hou, Xiang Zhan, and others.

He stopped before the jasper stele, reached out his right hand, and calmly pressed it toward the center of the array patterns where the long river of time flowed.

There was no world-shaking Aura, no phenomenon of ten thousand beams of light.

However, the very instant his palm touched the cold body of the stele—

Crack! A sharp, ear-piercing sound of fracturing caused all the clamor to come to a screeching halt!

On the jasper stele's surface, which had been as smooth as a mirror, several hideous spider-web-like cracks burst open without warning! The phantom of the long river of time surging inside the stele seemed to hit an invisible dam and suddenly surged backward! Countless tiny fragments of time collided and annihilated frantically within the back-flowing river!

[Bone Age: 16]

[Cultivation: Fourth Level Dharma Domain Realm]

After a brief, dead silence, an uproar like a mountain tsunami erupted!

"Sixteen?! Fourth Level Dharma Domain?! You've got to be joking!"

"The Bone Age Stele cracked! This... this has never happened before!"

"Cheating! He must have used a forbidden tool that disrupts time and space!" Xiang Zhan of the Thunder Prison Sect had bloodshot eyes as he pointed at Lin Yuan and roared harshly. He could not accept that someone whose bone age was less than one-fifth of his own was standing in the same Realm!

"Noisy!" On the high platform, a Black-Robed Examiner snorted coldly and flicked a finger. An invisible surge of Qi struck Xiang Zhan's chest like a whip, sending him staggering back. His blood surged, and a trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

"Baseless questioning and interfering with the examination results in a fifty-point deduction! Repeat the offense, and you will be disqualified!" The Black-Robed Examiner's voice was as cold as a wind from the Nine Netherworld.

Xiang Zhan's face turned pale as he gritted his teeth, not daring to speak further. Others who were about to stir were like people having ice water poured over their heads.

On the jasper stele, at the edges of the cracks, new light struggled to condense and leap, finally settling into a number that seemed to make the entire Taichu Divine Palace tremble:

[Bone Age Potential Score: 980]

Silence. Absolute silence.

The upper limit for Bone Age was one thousand, and he got nine hundred and eighty! What did this mean? It meant that by the eternal evaluation standards of the Taichu Divine Palace, the potential represented by reaching the Fourth Level Dharma Domain at age sixteen was nearly perfect! If Lin Yuan were given just one more year to Cultivate, his potential score might have broken one thousand!

Luo Hou's knuckles turned white as he gripped his Destruction Battle-Axe. Within Luo Shen's eternally calm eyes, a violent ripple surged for the first time. For the first time, a solemn expression appeared on Clear Emptiness's face. The only sound left in the entire square was the sound of people drawing in cold breath.

"The first category is complete; Bone Age Potential scores are being recorded!" The White-Robed Examiner's voice carried a trace of nearly undetectable trembling as he forced down his shock. "Next category: War Spirit Quality! Black Iron Divine Stele!"

Boom! On the west side of the square, the earth shook as a massive Black Iron Stele, pitch-black and towering into the clouds, rose up! The body of the stele was covered in dense marks of varying depths—blade scars, sword holes, fist prints, palm pits... these were the marks left by the strikes of countless prodigies' War Spirits over countless eons! Inside the stele, nine distinct yet harmoniously unified pulsations could be faintly heard, like nine exquisite hearts beating simultaneously—the Nine-Aperture Exquisite Stone! It could precisely sense the depth of the War Spirit resonance triggered by a strike to determine the War Spirit's quality!