250: Chapter 250 Breaking Through the Formation, the Talent Test, Haha, the Spirit Testing Stone Has No Reaction

The Spirit Testing Platform was located on a natural stone terrace called "Starfall Plateau" within the Tianyin Mountains.

The stone platform was wide and flat, pitch-black throughout, looking like a giant meteorite embedded in the mountainside; its surface was smooth as a mirror but covered in naturally formed, profound, and mysterious silver patterns, like the trajectories of stars.

In the center of the stone platform stood an ancient stone pillar about two people high, its body also covered in silver patterns, while the top was embedded with a head-sized, crystal-clear, strange crystal that seemed to have nebulae swirling inside—this was the "spirit testing stone" passed down by the Taihu Clan for thousands of years, and also the core of the first trial of the Nine-Aperture Exquisite Array, the "Aptitude Trial."

At this moment, many members of the Taihu Clan had already gathered around the Spirit Testing Platform.

Aside from those on duty at the Moon Fox Palace, many clansmen learned the news through the clan's "yingxi stone" network (a type of magical creation similar to remote monitoring and image transmission) and rushed to the scene, or watched through light screens projected by yingxi stones in various locations.

After all, an outsider—especially a "Sect Master of Hehuan Sect in the Qi Refinement Stage" who had been the subject of much buzz—coming to challenge the Nine-Aperture Exquisite Array was a test personally set by the Grand Elder, which was enough to pique everyone's curiosity.

Elder Mo Feng personally "escorted" Xu Ruyu to the Spirit Testing Platform, his face carrying an undisguised look of ridicule and anticipation of a good show.

Madame Qingli followed closely behind, her beautiful face shrouded in a layer of frost, clearly in a bad mood.

Elder Lan Yi also arrived gracefully and stood to the side, her expression calm and her gaze full of scrutiny.

Below the platform, a dense crowd of Taihu Clan members—men, women, young, and old—all possessed outstanding looks and extraordinary temperaments.

They whispered among themselves, their gazes focusing on Xu Ruyu like searchlights, mostly filled with curiosity, scrutiny, and undisguised doubt and contempt.

"This is the new Sect Master of Hehuan Sect? Tsk, he looks delicate enough, but this aura... it's too weak, isn't it? Is he really in the Qi Refinement Stage?"

"A Qi Refinement Stage cultivator challenging the Nine-Aperture Exquisite Array? And the first trial is Aptitude? Hahaha, what a joke! I bet the spirit testing stone won't even react at all!"

"Elder Qingli has really lost her mind this time. To repay some old debt, she actually brought back such trouble and even staked her own future... I think she's been bewitched by this pretty boy!"

"Exactly! Maybe she saw how young and handsome he is and developed a Mortal heart? Giggle..."

"Elder Mo Feng has really caught her red-handed this time, look how smug he is."

"Look, look! It's about to start!"

The noisy discussions were like countless flies buzzing in his ears.

Xu Ruyu turned a deaf ear to it all; standing below the Spirit Testing Platform, he looked up at the ancient stone pillar and the nebula-swirling spirit testing stone at its top, his heart as calm as still water.

Aptitude? Testing Spiritual Root attributes, Spiritual Qi affinity, and Origin potential?

For someone like him who cultivated the True Explanation of Taixu Source Energy and drew power directly from the fundamental energy of all things (ground-state spiritons), would this traditional testing system really apply? He wasn't sure, but things had come to this point; he could only face it.

"Sect Leader Xu, please."

Elder Mo Feng stood at the edge of the stone platform, making a "please" gesture, the mockery in his tone almost overflowing.

"You only need to place your palm on the spirit testing stone and infuse a sliver of spiritual power—oh, that's right, Sect Leader Xu is in the Qi Refinement Stage, so your spiritual power is meager. Remember to use all your strength; it would be... quite a laughingstock if you can't even stir a single ripple.

Hahaha!"

A chorus of echoing laughter immediately erupted from below the platform.

Madame Qingli shot a cold glance at Mo Feng but said nothing, though her eyes were filled with worry and encouragement as she looked at Xu Ruyu.

Xu Ruyu nodded slightly to Madame Qingli, then took a deep breath and stepped onto the pitch-black Starfall stone platform.

The moment his foot touched the stone platform, he felt the silver natural patterns beneath him seem to light up slightly, and a strange energy—cool with a hint of heat—surged into his body through the soles of his feet, as if inspecting something.

The stone platform itself seemed to be part of the Formation.

He walked step by step toward the central stone pillar; he didn't walk fast, but his pace was steady.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, he finally arrived before the spirit testing stone.

Observing it up close, the spirit testing stone was even more magnificent and mysterious.

Inside the crystal-clear stone, there seemed to be a miniature Universe; nebulae rotated slowly, and specks of starlight flickered, emitting an ancient and vast aura.

It sat there quietly, as if it had been waiting for thousands of years, witnessing the rise and fall of countless geniuses.

Xu Ruyu extended his right hand, his palm slowly pressing against the cool surface of the spirit testing stone.

The touch was warm yet carried a strange sense of spatial detachment, as if his palm were pressing into a miniature sea of stars.

He closed his eyes and, following the most traditional method, attempted to mobilize the strand of "Haotian True Qi" in his Dantian—obtained from cultivating the Haotian True Qi Chapter, which was slightly different from conventional spiritual power and more inclined toward pure "kinetic energy" conversion—carefully infusing it into the spirit testing stone.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

The spirit testing stone had no reaction.

The nebulae inside the crystal continued to rotate slowly at their inherent rhythm; the specks of starlight flickered, with no abnormal light or color changes, nor any energy ripples spreading from the crystal.

Silence.

Around the Spirit Testing Platform, the originally noisy discussions instantly quieted down into whispers, but then, irrepressible snickers and mockery surged up like a tide!

"Hahaha! Did you see that? No reaction at all! He really couldn't even stir a single ripple!"

"My god! This is too pathetic! Even a Mortal child who just finished Qi induction would at least make the nebulae brighten a little by touching the spirit testing stone!"

"This isn't just poor Aptitude; this is simply... having no Aptitude! Is it the legendary 'Spirit-Severing Waste Body'?!"

"Spirit-Severing Waste Body? That one-in-a-billion constitution that completely fails to sense or absorb any form of Spiritual Qi? It actually exists? And Elder Qingli brought him back like some treasure?"

"Elder Qingli is really... blind this time! No, her heart is blind! To stake her own future on such a waste? Simply idiotic!"

"I don't think she's idiotic; she's blinded by lust! She's been completely infatuated with this pretty boy!"

"Tsk tsk, let's see how she settles this! He can't even pass the first trial of the Grand Elder's test. According to the agreement, both she and this waste have to get out of Tianyin Mountain! Say, her authority really might be stripped away!"

Ridicule, jeers, and gloating discussions shot toward Xu Ruyu on the stone platform like a rain of cold needles, and also toward Madame Qingli, whose face was ashen below the platform.