Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

The appearance of Di Tian filled the more than twenty thousand people in the Earth Martial Hall with immense excitement.

He was a top expert on the Earth List.

An expert of his caliber was normally elusive and rarely seen, yet here within the Saint Martial Sword Sect, they had actually laid eyes on one.

The Holy Dragon Knight, Di Tian!

This terrifying figure, who had once slain a Union Palace Realm Demon in the Azure Sky Sea, was an idol to countless geniuses.

Tangg Ning’s gaze swept over the crowd before he spoke. "Quiet down, everyone... As long as you can pass the trial, forget about merely seeing experts from the Earth List—you’ll even have the chance to meet the legendary titans on the Celestial List. The Saint Martial Sword Sect is the Martial Arts Holy Land of the Saint Martial Dynasty, filled with countless masters. If your talent is astonishing enough, even those legendary titans might be moved to appear and accept you as their personal disciples!"

"A chance to become a disciple of a Celestial List titan?"

"I have to give it my all!"

Nalan Qiantian clenched his fists, glancing at Jiang Chen from the corner of his eye. ’Jiang Chen,’ he thought, ’you may have stolen the show during the First Stage of the assessment, but the upcoming trials are the real main event. Just you wait. I will display my unparalleled talent and leave you in total awe of me!’

「Not long after...」

Tangg Ning began organizing the Second Stage of the assessment. "The First Stage was mere child’s play, meant only to weed out the absolute worst. What comes next is the real trial. I now announce the contents of the Second Stage—the Talent Test!"

"A talent test?"

"Isn’t talent just about the grade of one’s Martial Soul? Why not just have everyone release their Martial Souls and be done with it?"

"If it were really that simple, it wouldn’t be an assessment for the Saint Martial Sword Sect!"

The crowd whispered among themselves.

Jiang Chen’s brow furrowed as he, too, wondered what this so-called "talent test" would entail.

’Could it really be as simple as just releasing our Martial Souls?’

"My Saint Martial Sword Sect only accepts geniuses, not mediocrities. This second trial, the talent test, consists of two parts. The first is, of course, the Martial Soul test, and the second is a Martial Arts Talent test. For the Martial Soul test, all you need to do is inject your Martial Soul Power into this Testing Spirit Stele. The Spirit Stele has a total of fifty-four stars. Lighting one star represents Yellow Tier First Grade, two stars represent Yellow Tier Second Grade, and so on. Only those who light up seven or more stars will be considered to have passed!"

Tangg Ning pointed to the stone stele on the left.

The stele was pitch-black, with fifty-four dim, gray stars arranged in a neat row across its surface.

Martial Souls were divided into six tiers—Yellow, Profound, Earth, Celestial, Saint, and Divine—for a total of fifty-four grades!

Hence the fifty-four stars.

"This one on the right is the Martial Arts Spirit Stele, which specifically tests Martial Arts Talent. On the Qiankun Continent, there are many super experts whose Martial Souls are not high-grade and whose cultivation progresses very slowly. And yet, they can still become supreme Overlords. These powerhouses rely on heaven-defying Martial Arts Talent. They can master the most powerful Martial Skills and Secret Techniques in the shortest amount of time, enabling them to fight opponents far beyond their own level. Such people are also considered geniuses!"

Then, Tangg Ning pointed to the stele on the right, which had nine hexagrams on it, and explained, "The Martial Arts Spirit Stele has nine stars in total. One star is ordinary, two stars is a pass, and three stars makes you a martial arts expert. If you can reach four stars, you are a martial arts genius. Such a person needs only half the time of others to cultivate the same Martial Arts Technique. Even if they score less than seven stars on the Martial Soul test, they can still enter my Saint Martial Sword Sect!"

"Of course, if your Martial Arts Talent fails to reach even one star, you will be eliminated—unless you possess a Martial Soul of Profound Tier Fifth Grade or higher! Now, we’ll start with the person who was last to arrive at the Earth Martial Hall!"

Tangg Ning pointed at one of the contestants.

The man was immensely muscular, as if his body had been forged from lead. He strode confidently to the Testing Spirit Stele.

OMM...

The stars on the Martial Soul Testing Spirit Stele lit up one after another, stopping only when the eighth star shone brightly.

A Yellow Tier Eighth Grade Martial Soul!

He then walked over to the Martial Arts Talent Spirit Stele and pressed his palm upon it. The stele flickered a few times, but the first star only lit up halfway before stopping.

"Wh-what’s going on?" the burly youth asked, completely baffled.

Tangg Ning glanced at him and said flatly, "Martial Arts Talent is less than one star. Unqualified. Eliminated!"

"There must be something wrong! I have a Yellow Tier Eighth Grade Martial Soul, how could I not even reach one star? The Testing Spirit Stele must be broken! I demand a retest..." the burly youth roared at Tangg Ning, his face red with rage.

Tangg Ning snorted coldly and, with a flick of his wrist, unleashed a blast of dusky yellow True Essence.

BANG—

The powerful young man was sent flying, landing heavily with his mouth full of blood.

Tangg Ning stated coolly, "If anyone else dares to question the Testing Spirit Stele, I will show no mercy! Next..."

With the burly youth as a precedent, the remaining hopefuls no longer dared to act out, obediently stepping forward one by one to test their Martial Soul and Martial Arts Talent.

"Martial Soul, Nine-Star. Martial Arts Talent, half a star. Eliminated!"

"Martial Soul, six and a half stars. Eliminated..."

"Eliminated..."

"Mm, not bad. Martial Soul, Nine-Star. Martial Arts Talent, one and a half stars. Passed!"

"Eliminated..."

"Passed..."

"Passed..."

It was a scene of joy for some and sorrow for others. A surprising number of powerful cultivators were eliminated at the Martial Arts Talent test.

One contestant’s Martial Soul even reached twelve stars—a Profound Tier Third Grade Martial Soul. He was brimming with confidence, certain he would pass. But in the end, his Martial Arts Talent was less than a single star, and he was cruelly eliminated, a look of utter despair on his face.

「Before long...」

It was Li Ke’s turn.

As Li Ke walked forward, he passed by Jiang Chen, a provocative glint in his eyes. He said coolly, "Kid, being fast doesn’t mean your talent and strength are any good. Open your eyes and watch closely. This young master’s talent is enough to make you despair!"

’Uh... when did I ever get on his bad side?’ Jiang Chen thought, looking bewildered.

「A moment later.」

Li Ke’s test results were in.

Martial Soul Test: eighteen stars, a Profound Tier Ninth Grade Martial Soul.

Martial Arts Talent Test: two and a half stars—the highest score so far!

Tangg Ning’s gaze lingered on Li Ke for a moment before he nodded with a slight smile. "Worthy of the Li Family’s Sword Dao genius. With talent like yours, an outstanding performance in the third trial could very well win you the favor of an Outer Sect Elder!"

"Thank you!"

Li Ke cupped his hands toward Tangg Ning. Then he turned, chin held high, and looked at Jiang Chen with a smug expression. "Kid, do you see the gap between us now?"

"Idiot,"

Jiang Chen muttered, completely nonplussed.

Li Ke’s face stiffened. He snorted, a cold, murderous glint flashing in his eyes. "You just wait!"

The experts who followed were all scions of prominent families. None had a Martial Soul Talent below fifteen stars, and even the weakest among them scored one and a half stars for Martial Arts Talent.

All of them passed without a hitch.

As for Niu Geng and Sunx Peng, both their Martial Soul and Martial Arts Talents just barely met the requirements, allowing them to scrape by.

Next up were Chen Huan and Chen Xiao. To everyone’s surprise, both of their Martial Souls reached thirteen stars, making them Profound Tier Fourth Grade.

Their Martial Arts Talent also reached two stars, which made Tangg Ning’s eyes light up. He seemed quite interested in the pair of vivacious twins. "With your talent, passing the Third Stage of the assessment shouldn’t be difficult. If you run into any trouble within the Sword Sect in the future, feel free to come and find me!"

"Thank you, Senior Brother Tangg!" Chen Xiao and Chen Huan said, their faces alight with joy.

Then, it was Nalan Qiantian’s turn.

He took a deep breath, pausing beside Jiang Chen to say coolly, "Jiang Chen, try not to be too frightened by this young master’s talent in a moment."

"I can’t wait to see it," Jiang Chen said with a grin.

Nalan Qiantian strode to the Testing Spirit Stele with the powerful gait of a dragon, his face a mask of absolute confidence.

OMM—

One, two, three... The stars on the Martial Soul Testing Spirit Stele lit up one after another, finally stopping at the nineteenth star.

"Holy shit... An Earth Tier First Grade Martial Soul?"

"Who is this guy? How can he have such incredible talent?"

"Young Master Nalan is incredible!"

Everyone cried out in alarm.

Tangg Ning’s eyes lit up as well. An Earth-tier Martial Soul was a rare sight in the Saint Martial Dynasty!

For a genius like this, as long as his Martial Arts Talent wasn’t complete trash, once he entered the Sect, he would earn the favor of an Outer Sect... or even an Inner Sect Elder, and be taken as a disciple!

Nalan Qiantian was brimming with confidence. He glanced at Jiang Chen out of the corner of his eye, only to find him merely smiling, without a hint of shock or admiration. This secretly infuriated him. ’Hmph, he’s just putting on an act. I know he’s completely stunned and overwhelmed by my talent; he just refuses to show it. Let’s see you keep pretending after my Martial Arts Talent test is done!’

OMM—

Nalan Qiantian’s final Martial Arts Talent score was three and a half stars!

He was, by far, the strongest one yet!

"Hahaha, Junior Brother Nalan, congratulations!" Tangg Ning roared with laughter, his way of addressing Nalan Qiantian having already changed.

An Earth-tier Martial Soul and a three-and-a-half-star Martial Arts Talent—a genius like that had a boundless future ahead of him.

Of course Tangg Ning would want to get on his good side!

Nalan Qiantian grinned at Tangg Ning. "Thank you, Senior Brother Tangg. If you ever need me for anything in the future, just say the word. I, Nalan Qiantian, will be there without a second thought!"

"Of course, of course!"

Tangg Ning nodded with a smile, then turned to Jiang Chen. "Jiang Chen, you’re up!"

"Alright."

Jiang Chen took a deep breath, walked up to the Martial Soul Testing Spirit Stele, and pressed his palm against it, pouring his Martial Soul Power into the stele.

OMM...

Rays of light shot toward the heavens!