Yan Zaizen's words caused various cultivators and spectators to focus on him. The only people who've succeeded in challenging the Earth and Heaven banner were Long Bailin and Long Wulin respectively. As for him, he had not a speck of qi aura. In fact, he seemed completely normal to the onlookers. Not many could perceive or even recognize vital energy signatures.
However, the examiner had met Body Refiners before, and even fought them. While Yan Zaizen's aura was irregular, he couldn't have mistaken it. Therefore, he didn't react with disbelief when Yan Zaizen asked those words. And, he knew why he asked.
Yan Zaizen wasn't sure if he could participate without a hint of Qi cultivation. With this uncertainty, he felt this might not yield any fruit. Luckily, the examiner didn't discriminate or underestimate him. As for needing to say his age, that was irrelevant. Just from Yan Zaizen's life aura, he could tell that Yan Zaizen was at sixteen years of age.
"You can challenge as you wish. As long as you can defeat or last ten moves against him, you'll be accepted as an outer disciple." His words were calm and outside of everyone's expectations.
Wasn't this assisted suicide?
Even Long Wulin's eyebrows furrowed as he was confused. While having a high cultivation meant you could hide or disguise your cultivation, he didn't get that feeling of being one with the world's aura. Instead, he legitimately felt like a mortal who had never cultivated for a moment in his life.
The beautiful girl by his side said, "Don't underestimate him. He's a Body Refiner."
Startled, Long Wulin asked, "Body Refiner?" He was ignorant of many things unlike this beauty beside him.
"A Body Refiner cultivates their body's vital energy stored within their cells, bones, and flesh. They have profoundly powerful flesh and can even externalize their vital energies to assault or defend, much like Qi Cultivators." Her explanation was a good overview of Body Refiners.
Long Wulin felt enlightened. When he turned to see Yan Zaizen, he felt excitement in his heart. The world truly was expansive and had all sorts of things within.
Yan Zaizen kept the puppy in his arms as he walked forward on the platform and stood before the Earth banner disciple. His action caused many animal lovers to wince and want to drag Yan Zaizen down from the platform to save the little puppy.
"Just because you're going to your death, why drag the cute pup too?!" Were their thoughts.
The young disciple said a few words. He warned, told Yan Zaizen to appreciate his life and that he would kill him, but not the dog. In fact, he would raise it himself. It was a very long boring spiel of monologue. Yan Zaizen felt that if this continued, he'd go into his likes and dislikes.
"Can we fight?" Yan Zaizen indifferently asked the examiner. He nodded in response. This obviously angered the young disciple but Yan Zaizen vanished before his eyes.
The next moment, a figure shot out like a rocket out of the platform, smashing into several buildings until it stopped. Yan Zaizen realized he had used a little too much power. Even though he used 1% of his strength, it had instantly killed the young man…
The subsequent crushing of buildings was an accident. He wanted to prevent the disciple from flying, simply use a kick to shake his body and brain into unconsciousness. Unfortunately, when he tried to pull back his power at the last minute having used far too much, he couldn't skillfully keep the disciple from flying.
Eyes were wide. Disbelieving thoughts flew wildly in the air! People gawked, others started, a few hadn't even processed what had happened.
The examiner's eyes shrunk to a needlepoint. It was only after several seconds did he send his senses to inspect the disciple's horrendous state, only to realize that his entire person had transformed into a mush of blood and bones, unrecognizable. A ghastly fear flashed in his heart.
Yan Zaizen was at the Nascent Herculean Physique Level, Initial Success Stage, which should be equivalent to a peak-Qi Cyclone cultivator. However, thanks to his Dao energy continuously circulating through his body, his strength was invincible to all those beneath the Qi Unification Realm.
And, this was only the Initial Success Stage.
As for the second level, Grand Herculean Physique, it can rival Heavenly Cultivators. This was also one of the reasons Yan Zaizen needed to cultivate and venture into the higher levels of this heaven. The Grand Herculean Physique required Heavenly Law Liquid. When he cultivated it with his original body, it took him hundreds of years in chaotic space to achieve perfection.
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Fortunately, he now had a Pseudo Grand Dao. With it, he could easily condense thousands of years of cultivating effort into a single year. He just needed time and a place to cultivate in peace.
"I'm an outer disciple now, right?" While he had just accidentally killed someone, he felt no guilt in his heart. The cultivation world was cruel and fighting or accepting fights came with the risk of death. Similar to how others could expect death challenging the young man, he should've long prepared himself to be slain. If he hadn't, that wasn't Yan Zaizen's fault.
The examiner gave Yan Zaizen a deep, long look. That gaze was as if he wanted to peer into all of Yan Zaizen's secrets, but he was only met with the reply of a puppy's soft bark and an indifferent smile. He sighed in the end and nodded. The entire process was swift and the examiner did not try to make things difficult for Yan Zaizen.
His belief coincided with Yan Zaizen's. If you believe you could take other's lives, you have to be ready to lose your own in any capacity. To make a fuss over a dead disciple was pointless, especially one as insignificant as a late-Qi Cyclone disciple.
Yan Zaizen's current strength and potential was worth a thousand him. At least his death benefitted the sect. Thinking up to here, he finished the last of his assessment of the children, still only bringing eight out of nearly a thousand. They were all three to five years old and showed decent innate talent. It was a good yield.
With a satisfied nod, he brought along the disciples who acted as gatekeepers for sect entry and said, "We'll be leaving in three days. Prepare yourself and meet here." After those words, he gave Yan Zaizen one last look before leaving with the two disciples.
The puppy in his arms softly yipped out a few barks and rubbed its belly with its small paw. From its eyes, it seemed that working so hard had made it hungry again. Yan Zaizen found this pup becoming increasingly cute and endearing. In fact, he too was hungry. As a developing herculean without an ounce of qi cultivation, he realized that this body needed an enormous amount of sustenance.
He leapt off the platform and made his way to the restaurant. Those in his path moved away in fear. To one-shot a late-Qi Cyclone disciple like nothing made them birth fear from the bottom of their hearts. This fear was definitely warranted.
Just as he was making his way through after everyone gave him a wide berth, a shout resounded.
"You thief! Halt!!" A group of armored individuals arrived with Old Man Bo. He was a part of the city's guards and was a captain, so he responded due to the commotion of the disciple meeting various buildings. Of course, they only came to inspect due to understanding that the Soaring Sword Sect was conducting their examinations for new disciples.
However, they hadn't witnessed Yan Zaizen's actions. In fact, very few people even saw him take action. It was like blinking one moment and then the disciple was off and he had moved near the disciple's original position.
Yan Zaizen's eyes shifted to see Old Man Bo's furious expression as he ordered his men to encircle Yan Zaizen. When it was finished, he finally had a triumphant light flash into his eyes. "I will not let you escape this time!"
Old Man Bo had sun-burned brown skin, a muscular body with some fat around his belly, a goatee and large black eyes. On his right cheek was a scar made by a dagger, seemingly older than Yan Zaizen's new body. It gave him a ferocious aura, making him look more like a mercenary or veteran soldier than a mere city guard.
When he arrived before Yan Zaizen, his aura erupted to enshroud and restrict. He was at mid-Qi Cyclone Realm. Therefore, when the crowd saw this, their eyes widened as they saw these guards, especially Old Man Bo court death.
Yan Zaizen indifferently smiled. Old Man Bo was his memory-less self's most notable person. In fact, he and Old Man Bo weren't always at odds. When he was about eight years old, it was Old Man Bo who helped him survive. He would offer protection or linger in the areas he slept. One time, he had directly stopped him from being abused by a group of men.
He had said he was merely doing his job at the time, protecting the city and its inhabitants, but he knew that he acted as his guardian angel. Later, as his ambition and appetite grew, unable to accept a futureless path, Yan Zaizen resorted to stealing. When he was still nascent, Old Man Bo had caught him red-handed. In the end, he let him go with a warning and a lesson - if you're going to steal, be sure to never get caught.
Unfortunately, as he grew as a little thief, he became a scourge of the people and the conflict meant Old Man Bo had been forced to try to capture him. However, as he listened to his advice, he was never caught again.
Therefore, while he looked at this imposing man with a hint of ferocity in his aura, Yan Zaizen couldn't help but feel warm emotions.
"What are you smiling for!" Old Man Bo asked, as if he was about to lunge at Yan Zaizen. Yan Zaizen knew that he might, so that Yan Zaizen could use his body as leverage to escape, just like he did in the alleyway earlier. His posture was only a prelude, telling him: "I'm going to lunge like this!" His indifferent smile turned warm.
"I'm leaving for the Soaring Sword Sect. You're wasted here, and I owe you a debt. Come with me!" Yan Zaizen said, shocking everyone present, including Old Man Bo!