With a single touch, he completely activated all more than nine hundred Strength Runes!
With a single touch, he directly shattered the huge Strength-Testing Blue Stone formed from Fairy Jia Luo's True Qi!
Everyone found it unimaginable just how immense Ye Chen's power must be from that one finger; it was feared that if that touch landed on an early stage Spirit Sea Realm expert, it would directly kill them!
And yet, Ye Chen was merely at the eleventh layer of the True Qi Realm.
The eleventh layer of True Qi Realm, capable of killing an early stage Spirit Sea Realm expert with one touch?!
This completely overturned the understanding of all the sect disciples, completely overturned the understanding of those Rotating Pill Realm bigwigs standing at the peak of the Mountain Gate Square.
This was simply a legendary prodigy's move!
In this assessment of strength, Ye Chen had reached a legendary level of power!
Fairy Jia Luo took a deep breath, recollecting the True Qi released from the shattered blue stone by Ye Chen, and her heart raced.
She knew Ye Chen was strong but had never imagined he could elevate his strength to such an extent!
This was simply the move of an invincible True Qi Realm expert from the legends!
"The 'Strength Assessment' blue stone I created with True Qi could at least withstand the strike of a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artist. To shatter it, one would need strength at least at the level of late-stage Spirit Sea Realm. Has Ye Chen's power already risen to the level of the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm?!"
As the host of the examination, Fairy Jia Luo knew the capacity of the huge blue stone she had formed better than anyone else.
For those candidates participating to be selected as true disciples of the Taixuan Sect, it was enough to have a blue stone slightly stronger than the strength at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm for the assessment.
To be safe, she specifically increased the Strength Runes on the blue stone somewhat, but she never expected that even after surpassing the strength of mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm's Strength Runes, the Strength-Testing Blue Stone would still be shattered by Ye Chen!
Ye Chen had truly given Fairy Jia Luo an immense surprise!
"Sword Intent, it's second-stage Sword Intent, containing the power of slaughter!"
"This guy Ye Chen, he actually realized such a powerful Sword Intent!"
"Not only that, he didn't just understand it; he fully mastered it! Although it was only a slight touch of the finger, the power that burst forth from the Finger Sword in that instant was more shocking than any weapon!"
"Even more so, I feel that besides the Slaughter Sword Intent, he has added another source of powerful strength into the Finger Sword! I couldn't even identify that source of strength. This young guy Ye Chen, at such a young age, has so many moves, so many powerful techniques!"
At the high seats of Mountain Gate Square, the late-stage Rotating Pill Realm expert Daoist Wine Sword, who had sharper insights than others, could clearly see the true techniques Ye Chen used with his finger, but even he couldn't fully understand all of Ye Chen's moves!
"A natural-born genius indeed!"
"This kind of person, no wonder Jia Luo made an exception to let him into our Taixuan Sect. Such an individual joining our Taixuan is a great fortune for our sect!"
At the high seats of Mountain Gate Square, the Sect Leader of Taixuan Sect and the Inner Peak masters were filled with immense joy.
Even all the Peak Masters were resolutely thinking about offering great rewards to Ye Chen, to pull him into joining their Inner Peak, making him a true disciple of their Inner Peak, and focusing on cultivating him!
Ye Chen, with his display of such strength at the True Qi Realm, if his cultivation goes smoothly, it might be possible for him to even surpass them!
These bigwigs of the Rotating Pill Realm were not as formidable as Ye Chen back in their time at the True Qi Realm.
"Ye Chen, no wonder Jiang Yao likes him, he... he actually became so powerful!"
"Only he, indeed, is worthy of being with the comparably talented Jiang Yao!"
Above Mountain Gate Square, those sect disciples who were once filled with jealousy towards Ye Chen now had their jealousy completely vanish, leaving only admiration for a stronger expert.
Ye Chen deserved such admiration!
Jiang Yao looked at Ye Chen on the assessment field, at the normally always smiling Ye Chen, who always surprised people at the crucial moments.
The girl's clear eyes were full of joy.
She knew it, Ye Chen was still so impressive, just like in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, so powerful that it gave her an inexplicable sense of security, an inexplicable trust!
The person she liked was indeed so impressive!
While everyone was watching, Ye Chen turned back and smiled at Jiang Yao.
He also hadn't expected that using the Slaughter Sword Intent, Gang Yuan True Qi, and Nine Transformation Fighting Body Strength, these few techniques would directly shatter the Strength-Testing Blue Stone.
However, Ye Chen didn't plan to hide too much of his strength.
He had many more techniques, and bringing out a few for show was just fine!
To take the first place and join the Taixuan Sect had always been his goal.
It was only the first round of assessment, and he naturally aimed to put forth his best effort in every round to create excellent results, seizing the overall first place ranking in the end!
As Ye Chen concluded the assessment in such an unbelievable manner, the entire first round of "Strength Assessment" finally came to an end.
Amidst the shock of the crowd, Fairy Jia Luo turned to everyone on the Mountain Gate Square and said aloud, "Ye Chen could shatter my Strength-Testing Blue Stone, his strength in this assessment has exceeded the limits I set."
Everyone turned their attention to Fairy Jia Luo.
Indeed, while others merely exceeded a certain number of Strength Runes, Ye Chen had directly blasted the Strength-Testing Blue Stone.
Everyone wanted to know, under such circumstances, how Ye Chen's score for the first round of assessment should be calculated.
In the end, Fairy Jia Luo simply declared, "Ye Chen, by my most conservative estimate, he has exceeded at least a thousand Strength Runes!"
"For this first round of strength assessment, let's set his score at one thousand!"
As Fairy Jia Luo's voice echoed, the rankings of everyone on the giant screen all dropped by one place. The originally first-ranked Yu Luoxuan fell to second place, and the originally second-ranked Mu Yunlei fell to third place...
And the first place, surprisingly, a new name appeared: Ye Chen!
Watching the rankings settle on the giant screen, tens of thousands of people in the Mountain Gate Square watching the selection contest were filled with anticipation for the next round of assessments.
In the first round of strength assessment, Ye Chen had already created a miracle, surpassing all candidates of the Taixuan Sect, but could he remain this powerful in the next round of assessments?
Or was it that his strength was his only strong suit?
That's when Fairy Jia Luo announced, "The first round of 'strength assessment' has ended. The extra number of Strength Runes obtained by each candidate will be their Assessment Score for this round!"
"First place, Ye Chen, with a thousand Assessment Score!"
"Second place, Yu Luoxuan, with three hundred seventy-three Assessment Score!"
"Third place, Mu Yunlei, with three hundred forty-one Assessment Score!"
After all the Assessment Scores were revealed, Fairy Jia Luo looked towards all the young candidates: "Although Ye Chen has taken a significant lead in the first round, there are still three rounds and three more opportunities to compete for Assessment Scores!"
"Your final assessment results will be determined by the total Assessment Scores from all four rounds."
"The strength assessment, this first round, is just the beginning."
Fairy Jia Luo's words instantly boosted the confidence of all the Taixuan Sect's candidates.
Leading the first round does not mean one can keep the lead in the next three rounds, everyone has a chance to change their rankings.
Yu Luoxuan, Mu Yunlei, and the other top ten youths all turned their gazes towards Ye Chen, intending to continue competing with him in the subsequent three rounds.
The others also had their own targets and were silently preparing in their hearts.
At this point, Fairy Jia Luo raised her voice to announce, "Now, we will begin the second round of assessments, the agility and speed assessment!"
The first round, strength assessment.
The second round, agility and speed assessment.
Strength assessment was determined by the Strength-Testing Blue Stone, what form would this agility and speed assessment take?
All the young candidates in the true disciple selection area, and the countless disciples watching from the Mountain Gate Square, turned their attention to Fairy Jia Luo, eager to hear how she would define the second round of assessments.
Then, Fairy Jia Luo extended her fair palm, and a fist-sized purple pearl appeared in her hand.
Ye Chen looked at the purple pearl in Fairy Jia Luo's palm and saw that within the pearl, countless lightning flashes were moving as if it contained endless lightning.
"This pearl is one of my attacking Treasure Instruments, called the 'Purple Lightning Pearl'!"
Fairy Jia Luo lifted the purple pearl in her hand high into the air.
"This 'Purple Lightning Pearl' can instantly emit endless purple electrical light rays, illuminating all directions, and when it attacks, these purple electrical rays can even instantaneously kill Spirit Sea Realm experts!"
Fairy Jia Luo's words caused countless disciples below to take a deep breath.
This little pearl is actually a Treasure Instrument!
To think it's so powerful that it can instantly kill Spirit Sea Realm experts!
"A Treasure Instrument, no wonder this pearl is so magical, it turns out to be a Treasure Instrument!"
At that moment, Ye Chen, looking at the purple pearl in Fairy Jia Luo's palm, also had a flash of brilliance in his eyes.
He had heard that the treasures used by martial cultivators could be divided into several levels, which were "Mysterious Instruments" commonly used by True Qi Realm cultivators, "Spiritual Artifacts" commonly used by Spirit Sea Realm cultivators, "Treasure Instruments" commonly used by Rotating Pill Realm cultivators, and "Sacred Artifacts" commonly used by Heavenly Saint Realm cultivators!
Sacred Artifacts, Ye Chen had previously entered the "Thousand Lotus Cave Abode" and the secret grounds of the ancestor's land, the "Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple," both of which were Sacred Artifacts.
And Mysterious Instruments and Spiritual Artifacts, Ye Chen had also exchanged many at the Myriad Treasures Stele.
But he had never seen a Treasure Instrument.
Now, in the hands of Rotating Pill Realm expert Fairy Jia Luo, he finally witnessed the elegance of a Treasure Instrument.
"Fairy Jia Luo took out this pearl, could it be that the second round of the agility and speed assessment has something to do with this pearl?"
"Purple Lightning, perhaps this light will be used for the assessment..."
Ye Chen began to speculate about the method of the second round of assessments in his heart.
"Purple Lightning Pearl, Fairy Jia Luo is actually prepared to use it for the agility and speed assessment, how clever, indeed clever!" At the high seats of the Mountain Gate Square, those Rotating Pill Realm notables, seeing Fairy Jia Luo bring out the Purple Lightning Pearl, were also silently impressed; they figured out Fairy Jia Luo's intentions.
That's when Fairy Jia Luo finally announced the method for the second round of assessments: "The second round's 'agility and speed assessment' will be conducted using this 'Purple Lightning Pearl'."
"I will negate the lethal power of the pearl, leaving only the 'purple electrical rays' that it emits to shine across the entire assessment area."
"During the illumination by the purple electrical rays, which will last the time it takes for one cup of tea, each time a candidate is struck by a purple electrical ray, they will lose one Assessment Score point."
"At the end, ranking will be based on the number of times candidates are struck by purple electrical rays; the more times one is hit, the lower their ranking, and the fewer times one is hit, the higher their ranking."
"Candidates, bring out your strongest agility, your greatest speed, to dodge the strikes from the 'Purple Lightning Pearl's purple electrical rays!'"
As Fairy Jia Luo's thundering words filled the air, the purple pearl in her palm trembled with a 'hum' and flew up into the air above the selection area spanning hundreds of zhang, floating above the heads of all the young candidates participating in the true disciple selection contest, slowly beginning to rotate.