Chapter 146 A Thousand Feet of Glow

After all, strength was strength, but potential was potential.

Although Ye Fan's Aptitude was also astonishing, with Prodigies like Ye Feng from the hidden dragon ranking setting such a high standard, everyone felt somewhat uneasy.

"Heh, I thought you wouldn't dare to show up."

As Ye Feng spoke, the Prodigies behind him continuously mocked, openly stating that given Ye Fan's Realm, which was propped up entirely by Medicinal Pills, it was uncertain if he could even light up the purple light.

Ye Fan seemed not to hear the mockery and leisurely stepped into the testing Formation.

But contrary to everyone's expectations, the testing Formation showed absolutely no reaction. Forget purple or green light; there wasn't even a hint of white light.

"This..."

Even Ye Fan was stunned this time, secretly wondering if the Formation was malfunctioning. How could there be no reaction at all?

The people from the Nine Great Sects were all dumbfounded, their eyes wide with disbelief.

Those following Ye Feng burst into laughter, repeatedly mocking Ye Fan as trash because the testing Formation showed no response whatsoever.

"Hmph, what a waste of time. I actually thought I finally had a worthy opponent."

Ye Feng shook his head, displaying a look of disdain.

But just as he was about to say something, Fairy Han Yue suddenly spoke up from the side.

"Wait... it's reacting..."

"What reaction...?"

Ye Feng hadn't finished speaking when the previously calm testing Formation suddenly began to tremble violently, making the entire ruin feel like it was experiencing an earthquake.

Under everyone's incredulous gaze, a hundred-zhang golden light shot straight into the sky!

Staring at this sudden scene, the noisy desert instantly fell into a dead silence.

The Cultivators from the Nine Great Sects, the Prodigies from the Central Continent—everyone stared blankly at the hundred-zhang pillar of light, seemingly unable to believe what had happened.

"A... hundred-zhang... golden light... How is this possible?!"

Ye Feng's confident smile vanished, replaced by unwillingness, anger, and even intense jealousy.

As the Dao Son of the Creation Gate, a top power in the Central Continent, he had enjoyed smooth sailing since childhood, crushing his peers to reach this point—he was clearly living the protagonist's script.

But he never dreamed that in this desolate place like the Southwest Continent, he would be crushed by a native Cultivator. This was something Ye Feng absolutely could not accept.

Just as he was about to say something to regain face, the golden pillar of light that reached the heavens suddenly disappeared, dissipating much faster than that of other testers.

"What's going on... Could the Formation really have malfunctioned?!"

Ye Fan was also speechless, unsure what was wrong with the Formation that it only seemed to malfunction when he used it.

Seeing this, Ye Feng breathed a slight sigh of relief, thinking that the Formation must have truly had a problem.

"Hmph, I knew it. How could a mere Southwest native possess such Aptitude."

Ye Feng didn't even notice that his palms were covered in cold sweat; clearly, the previous scene had stimulated him quite a bit.

Qing Mingzi and the others also looked regretful, cursing the Formation for acting up, saying it was just making people happy for nothing.

But just as Ye Feng was preparing to mock a bit, the Formation that had just extinguished reactivated, and a thousand-zhang radiant glow shot up without warning.

Seven-colored radiant light—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple—interwove across the firmament. From afar, it looked like the rarely seen Kunlun Divine Light of a century, and this illusory scene completely shattered everyone's established worldview.

"Seven-colored radiant light... This... How is this possible!"

The Prodigies from the Central Continent stared at the thousand-zhang radiant glow, looking like wooden statues, completely unable to comprehend what was happening.

They frantically searched their memories, but in all the records they knew, they had never heard of any seven-colored radiant light.

What happened to the promised four grades of Aptitude: white, blue, purple, and gold?!

Did this testing Formation create a new grade just for Ye Fan?!

Although the testing Formation of the Xuantian Sword Sect was marvelous, it clearly could not detect the existence of the System.

In its testing logic, Ye Fan was under twenty years old, had only consumed a few low-level Medicinal Pills, yet his cultivation had reached the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment Realm.

Such Heaven-Defying Aptitude far exceeded its ability to comprehend, causing two instances of 'System crash and restart,' leading to the appearance of the thousand-zhang radiant glow.

Although he had somewhat anticipated a similar result, the thousand-zhang radiant glow was still a bit too exaggerated.

Seeing everyone looking stunned, Ye Fan even felt a little embarrassed for once.

"Ahem, lucky break, lucky break. Don't worry too much about it."

"Lucky break?!"

Lü Xuan and the others almost spat blood upon hearing this. If this is a lucky break, what does that make us?!

Are we just weeds by the roadside?!

Ye Feng's expression turned even uglier. He couldn't believe that he, the dignified first on the hidden dragon ranking, would end up being a stepping stone for a Southwest native.

After a moment of stunned silence, Qing Mingzi and the others burst out laughing, their backs straightening considerably. They praised Ye Fan for still being so low-key, which nearly made the Prodigies from the Central Continent vomit blood from anger.

"Low-key? You call this low-key?!"

Ye Feng took great effort to suppress his anger, giving Ye Fan a meaningful glance, as if to say that being happy now was far too early.

"Stop standing around, prepare for the second round of assessment."

Ye Feng's words startled everyone, and they reluctantly regained their senses.

Although they still sounded unconvinced and resentful, their gazes towards Ye Fan now held a degree of fear; they dared not treat him as some mere Southwest native anymore.

Every Cultivator who passed the assessment would have a special mark appear on their back, which served as their result for the first round of assessment.

After all the assessments were concluded, the Trial Grand Array would judge based on the total scores of the trial participants to determine their qualifications to inherit Divine Abilities and Cultivation Techniques, as well as their respective Ranks.

After the first test concluded, aside from Ye Fan, Murong Wan, and You Tan, only a few Disciples from each of the Nine Great Sects passed, causing many to sigh deeply, their eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

The envy and jealousy were directed towards the Joyous Union Sect for producing a monster like Ye Fan, while the hatred was aimed at those Prodigies from the Central Continent.

If those people hadn't plotted beforehand and injured many Prodigies and Dao Sons from various sects, there wouldn't have been only this few who passed.

But since it had already happened, talking about it was useless. They could only hope these Disciples could create a miracle; even obtaining one or two Legacies and Cultivation Techniques would be acceptable.

After the first round of the trial, the originally vast and empty desert suddenly manifested an endless Heaven Rank, which, to the naked eye, looked like a path to immortality reaching the firmament.

"What kind of assessment is this now?"

If the first round tested potential, the second round was a contest of perseverance and cultivation.

All trial participants had to ascend the Heaven Rank step by step. Exceeding three hundred levels was the passing mark, and the score would increase for every subsequent hundred levels.

Although legends claimed the Heaven Rank had a total of one thousand levels, whether that was true remained unknown.

The moment the Heaven Rank appeared, Ye Feng was the first to charge up.

It seemed the previous stimulation had been too severe, making him somewhat lose his composure, as if he wanted to take the lead and win back some ground.