22: Chapter 22 Martial Arts Assessment, Successfully Passed

"Not simple?"

Chu Shaotian frowned slightly; this was the first time he had heard such an evaluation from his own sister.

And regarding a peer at that.

"Yes, he's too composed, and there's an aura about him that makes me..."

Chu Lingyan slowly raised her head, speaking thoughtfully.

"Composed? Hmph, he's just putting on an act. I've seen plenty of people like him. As for being 'not simple,' how 'not simple' can he be? Could he actually pass the assessment? If even the Twin Stars of our Chu family can't pass, he can?"

Chu Shaotian said with some disdain,

"If he can pass the assessment, I'll straight up do a handstand and eat sh*..."

Chu Lingyan ignored Chu Shaotian's words, merely recalling that aura from just now.

That aura gave her a sliver of fear, as if she had encountered some kind of natural predator...

"It should... just be an illusion..."

After a long while, the young girl murmured to herself.

Chu Shaotian continued to disparage Zhou Bai verbally, making all sorts of poisonous oaths about what he would do if Zhou Bai could pass the assessment.

Naturally, Zhou Bai didn't know that the two outside were discussing him.

At this moment, Zhou Bai was already waiting for the assessment to begin.

The assessment room was quite dim, with only a single, faint small lamp.

"Many wooden stakes are hidden within the assessment room. These stakes will continuously attack in irregular trajectories and speeds. If you survive in the room for ten minutes without being hit by any stake, you pass. During this period, you are not allowed to use any innate martial technique or spiritual power; otherwise, it will also be considered a failure!"

"The assessment will begin in three minutes!"

A crisp electronic voice sounded, informing Zhou Bai of the assessment rules.

Zhou Bai also understood why the assessment room was kept so dark.

If it were too bright, with the visual perception of martial artists, the difficulty would be significantly reduced, which wouldn't align with Grandmaster Yue Ying's original intention.

"Boom!!!"

Three minutes later, the sound of wind whistling through the air rang out.

A wooden stake flew out from the left, crashing directly toward Zhou Bai.

Zhou Bai immediately used his perfected Shadow Step. His body moved like a dark shadow, quickly evading it.

After dodging the first wooden stake, two more stakes crashed toward Zhou Bai simultaneously.

Zhou Bai remained undaunted. With his Shadow Step at the perfected stage, two wooden stakes couldn't threaten him at all.

Then, there were even more stakes...

...

Fifteen minutes later, Shadow Moon Martial Arts Hall, third floor.

A middle-aged man with white hair and eyebrows, wearing loose gray clothes, was flipping through an ancient book in the room.

Some of the text in the ancient book was missing or faded, making it completely illegible.

However, the middle-aged man wore glasses and examined it carefully, occasionally taking other books from the nearby shelf as if he were researching something.

"Moon Shadow Goddess is calling! Moon Shadow Goddess is calling!!!"

Before long, a crisp electronic parrot voice rang out.

Gu Chen was startled, and the book he was flipping through almost fell to the floor.

He wanted to be angry, but thinking of the owner of this voice, Gu Chen sighed helplessly.

Then, Gu Chen carefully placed the ancient book into a box on the table and clicked a call button on the desk.

After the button was pressed, a projection was cast from the parrot's beak nearby.

The projection was of a stunningly beautiful woman with a cold temperament and a tall, slender figure.

She wore a white pencil skirt and gold-rimmed glasses. There was a soul-stirring charm between her brows that made people unable to help but sink into it.

"Greetings, Grandmaster Yue Ying!"

Gu Chen then said respectfully to the projection.

"How many times have I told you? Call me Moon Shadow Goddess!"

Grandmaster Yue Ying said indifferently upon hearing Gu Chen's words.

"Yes, Moon Shadow Goddess!"

Gu Chen's lips twitched slightly; Grandmaster Yue Ying was as eccentric as ever.

"May I ask what instructions Moon Shadow Goddess has?"

Gu Chen continued to ask.

Besides teaching courses at various major universities, Gu Chen was also a member of the Moon Shadow Martial Arts Hall. Usually, while Grandmaster Yue Ying was busy with her cultivation, Gu Chen would handle the various affairs of the Moon Shadow Martial Arts Hall.

"Someone in the Qingcheng Branch passed the martial technique assessment for the Moon Shadow Step. Go and take a look for me, and pass on Phantom Sky Travel to him while you're at it!"

Grandmaster Yue Ying continued.

"Someone in the Qingcheng Branch passed the assessment?"

Gu Chen was slightly stunned upon hearing this.

Gu Chen had a certain understanding of the martial artists who frequently hung around the Qingcheng Branch of the Moon Shadow Martial Arts Hall.

Although Shadow Step was a B-rank martial technique, it was quite profound, and reaching the perfected stage was not simple.

In the Qingcheng Branch, some people practiced Shadow Step well, but reaching the perfected stage shouldn't be easy.

"It seems to be someone from the Azure Bird Academy where you've been teaching recently!"

Grandmaster Yue Ying added.

After saying that, Grandmaster Yue Ying's projection disappeared from the room.

"From Azure Bird Academy? Could it be..."

After Grandmaster Yue Ying finished speaking, the figure of an extraordinarily handsome youth immediately surfaced in Gu Chen's mind.

"No, impossible. He's only been in contact with Shadow Step for a few days!"

Gu Chen quickly suppressed the thought in his heart. "Perhaps it's some instructor from Azure Bird Academy..."

"I'll know once I go and see!"

Gu Chen put away the box containing the ancient book, stood up, and left the room...

...

"Ling Yan, almost twenty minutes have passed. That guy couldn't really pass, could he?"

Outside the assessment room, seeing that Zhou Bai had yet to come out, Chu Shaotian muttered in a low voice.

Chu Shaotian had just failed the assessment not long ago, so he naturally knew the duration of the test.

These nearly 20 minutes—if no other accidents had occurred—meant there was a very high probability he had passed the assessment.

"Don't worry, I've recorded everything you said. If that student really passes the assessment, I'll make sure you follow through!"

At this time, the girl beside him, Chu Lingyan, raised the smart bracelet in her hand and said coldly.

"Hey, is this how a sister should act? You're using all your tricks on your own brother?"

Hearing Chu Lingyan's words, Chu Shaotian's face stiffened, and he felt terrible.

This sister of his usually didn't crack a smile, a total cold ice mountain goddess.

But when she got mischievous, she was truly hard to handle.

To make matters worse, he couldn't even beat this genius sister of his in a fight...

"Creeak!!!"

Before long, the door to the assessment room opened.

Both Chu Lingyan and Chu Shaotian's attention was drawn by the sound, and they looked toward the assessment room.

They saw an incredibly handsome youth slowly walking out of the assessment room.

"Student Zhou Bai, congratulations on passing the assessment. A teacher from our Moon Shadow Martial Arts Hall will be here shortly!"

The girl from the martial arts hall said to Zhou Bai with a smile.

"He... he really passed..."

Hearing the words of the martial arts hall staff, Chu Shaotian's pupils constricted as he stared intently at Zhou Bai at the entrance of the assessment room.

Although he had anticipated just now that this youth, who was about the same age as him, might have passed the assessment.

But when he learned that Zhou Bai had actually passed, Chu Shaotian still felt a wave of shock.

Who on earth is this kid? He's even more badass than me!!!

Chu Lingyan didn't say anything, but her beautiful eyes stared straight at Zhou Bai, as if she wanted to see through his background.

...