Chapter 1301: You Need to Be Able to Sleep!

"Damn it, damn it!"

Trembling all over, Zhang Qian's face darkened.

He had hoped to perform exceptionally and soar to the sky, but in the end, he was still not selected, while that guy surpassed him by one rank and passed directly!

He had thought that once he became an elite class student, his status and authority would increase, and teaching the other a lesson would be easy—he never expected this outcome.

"Brother Yun, it's this guy named Zhang Xuan who made a move against me, and he also pushed me out of the spot!"

Clenching his fists, he looked up at a young man not far away.

Another genius from the Zhang family who entered the elite class, Zhang Yunfeng, ranked forty-sixth.

"I know about your matter, but didn't you bring it on yourself?" Raising an eyebrow, Zhang Yunfeng snorted. "I wouldn't dare provoke the people of the Ice Palace, but you wanted to show off as soon as you arrived. Being taught a lesson serves you right!"

"Yes, I'm not as skilled, I brought humiliation upon myself, and I accept that. But this guy openly despises the Zhang family, saying that whenever Zhang family members see a pretty girl, they like to stick their noses in... his tone was arrogant... I couldn't stand it!"

Zhang Qian said.

"No need for provocation! Whether he despises the Zhang family or not, you revealed your identity and still made a move—that was indeed a bit arrogant. Don't worry, I'll teach him a lesson later and make him realize that with his meager talent, he has no right to be arrogant in the Saint Son Hall!"

Zhang Yunfeng said calmly.

"Thank you, Brother Yun..."

Hearing the agreement, Zhang Qian's eyes lit up, and he clenched his fists in excitement.

This Zhang Yunfeng had much purer bloodline than him, already reaching the first rank. Moreover, his cultivation was stronger, at the initial Domain Realm. If he made a move, it was foreseeable that the guy named Zhang Xuan would be defeated, and miserably at that.

"Mm."

Zhang Yunfeng said no more.

To him, this guy from some small place was just an episode in his cultivation, not worth taking to heart.

...

"Next are the ordinary class students!"

Ignoring the crowd's astonishment, Elder Haoyu waved his hand again.

The sky shimmered like silver light, and one name after another flickered out.

Soon all the names were displayed. Seeing that Zhang Jiuxiao was indeed among them, Zhang Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the rank was not high, at over 460, he had indeed passed the assessment and become a member of the Saint Son Hall.

Of those who came with them, Ma Minghai and others also successfully advanced, a total of seven. Though not particularly good, it was decent proportionally.

"Next are the auditing students!"

After announcing the ordinary students, Elder Haoyu's voice continued, and then a list of five hundred names appeared.

The officially enrolled students of the Saint Son Hall, including elite and ordinary, totaled about five hundred, with another five hundred auditors.

With the appearance of these five hundred names, sounds of excitement and disappointment rose and fell.

Zhang Xuan looked.

Of the thirty-three who came from the Qianchong Empire direction, seven advanced, and four became auditors—over a third, which was a decent result.

"Those on the list, stay; the others, please leave!"

With the list announced, Elder Haoyu was no longer polite. He waved his hand, indicating dismissal.

The talents who were not selected for either ordinary or auditing had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

An assessment is an assessment; no matter where, it is equally cruel.

Once you fail, to turn things around, you must pay a price many times greater than before.

In less than ten minutes, only the thousand who had just been kept remained in the square.

"Welcome, everyone, to become a member of the Saint Son Hall!"

Elder Haoyu pointed in the air, and countless identity tokens immediately appeared in everyone's hands: "These are your identity jade tokens, which will automatically display your corresponding responsibilities as students."

Zhang Xuan looked at the falling token.

Auditors had light blue, ordinary students light yellow, while he, as an elite class student, had black.

Looking down, the token was engraved with a seal-script character 'Saint,' carrying an ancient and vast flavor, surrounded by layers of patterns like human eyes, stacked without end.

Flicking his finger, a drop of blood merged into it, and he immediately felt fused with the token. Entering the Saint Son Hall again, he would no longer be affected by its formations and could move freely.

Zhang Jiuxiao also refined his token, looking very satisfied.

As a branch family member, he had originally been unimportant, but becoming a member of the Saint Son Hall significantly elevated his status.

"This year... maybe I'll be eligible to attend the annual meeting!"

His eyes shone.

The Zhang family's annual meeting was only for core members and accomplished branch members; he couldn't go before. But now, as one of the five hundred members of the Saint Son Hall, his status had risen sharply, and returning to the family, he was now qualified for such a meeting.

"All this is thanks to Teacher Zhang!"

Knowing that his current achievements were largely due to the help of the person before him, Zhang Jiuxiao let out a breath, full of gratitude.

Although he was a Zhang family member, he had received no substantial help from the family. Instead, this Teacher Zhang had been tirelessly guiding him, never holding a grudge because they were once opponents. Both in character and understanding of knowledge, he admired him wholeheartedly.

As he was feeling moved, Elder Haoyu's voice sounded again from the sky: "The assessment is over, and your identities are set. I guess many of you still feel unwilling and want to compare with each other. Don't worry, the Saint Son Hall gives you this opportunity. Next is a challenge match!"

"Great, I've been waiting for this chance..."

"Challenge matches are rarely held; I didn't expect us to catch one. This time, I must become a student of the Saint Son Hall!"

Excited, everyone's eyes lit up.

Those who came to the Saint Son Hall generally did their homework. Challenge matches, though not mandatory every time, had occurred many times and could be looked up.

"The so-called challenge is very simple. Auditors can challenge ordinary class members; if successful, they can replace them! Ordinary class members can also challenge elite class members. Each person has only one chance to challenge, and failure incurs corresponding penalties."

Elder Haoyu said: "I believe you all have some understanding of this. If you really don't understand, it's also recorded in the identity token."

"Recorded?"

Zhang Xuan extended his divine sense to the token in his palm and indeed saw many regulations of the Saint Son Hall, including those about challenge matches.

This match was for fairness: the strong ascend, the weak descend, survival of the fittest. Similarly, challenging from a lower status to a higher one was a great disrespect; failure meant not recognizing one's own strength and must be punished.

Some punishments were penalties, some were compensation payments, and some were apologies... not uniform.

However, all required the winner's satisfaction.

That is, challenges were allowed, but one must act within one's means.

Questioning the results of the Saint Son Hall's mountain gate assessment naturally incurred corresponding punishment.

"Begin!"

With a loud shout, Elder Haoyu waved his hand, and a circular arena slowly rose from the ground in the center of the square.

Elder Hanzhu explained the rules, and the crowd gathered around, each recalling the names and introductions on the list, planning their challenges.

"I challenge Xue Ning, the five-hundredth ordinary student!"

A voice rang out.

It was one of the auditing students.

"This Zhao Qi is the first among the auditing students, meaning... he's ranked exactly 501, unwilling to accept, challenging the five-hundredth!"

"No wonder; the difference in scores between these two should be small."

"Yeah, anyone would want to fight it out!"

...

Those who came out from the crowd all nodded.

This kind of challenge was not questioning the fairness of the Saint Son Hall, but feeling unwilling.

The two were not far apart; the latter was just an auditor, while the former became a member of the Saint Son Hall. Anyone would be somewhat unconvinced and want to take this opportunity to prove themselves.

Whoosh!

Having stated his challenge, Zhao Qi jumped onto the platform.

"As you wish!"

With a leap, a young man from the ordinary class also came up.

Zhang Xuan glanced.

It was none other than the Third Young Master Xue of the Saint Xue family, who had fought him over Tianchen Drunkenness in Qianchong Empire and lost fifteen high-grade spirit stones of essence.

During that fight, this guy spun too fast and threw up, mocked by countless people.

Unexpectedly, in just over ten days, he had learned from his shame and advanced further in cultivation, reaching the pseudo-Out-of-Body realm.

This strength, among the many geniuses assessing the Saint Son Hall, was not much, but it was definitely not weak talent.

"Xue Ning, what did you assess in the mountain gate? Which aspect do you accept the opponent's challenge?"

Elder Hanzhu said.

The Saint Son Hall's selection of talents was not based solely on pure strength but many comprehensive considerations. Since accepting a challenge, one naturally had to face the opponent with one's strongest area.

"I passed the selection because of my speed and attack power. The opponent only needs to suppress their cultivation to match mine; if they can win in battle, I lose."

Raising his head, Xue Ning's eyes were full of confidence.

The Saint Xue family, though only a third-rate clan, had a unique skill, [Golden Silk Slash], not to be underestimated.

If not for encountering that freak Zhang Xuan, he would be invincible at the same level.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have passed the mountain gate assessment and become a member of the Saint Son Hall.

"Suppressing cultivation to fight you, fine."

Nodding, Zhao Qi let out a loud roar, and his cultivation rapidly dropped until it matched the other's, reaching the pseudo-Out-of-Body level.

Boom!

The two immediately engaged in battle.

As expected of geniuses, both their techniques were exquisite, each move stronger than the last, various forces rolling, making it hard to determine the winner in a short time.

"Teacher Zhang... who do you think will win?"

Zhang Jiuxiao looked over.

"Xue Ning should be slightly better." Zhang Xuan said.

"I think he will win too."

Sighing with emotion, Zhang Jiuxiao remembered something and couldn't help asking: "By the way, Teacher Zhang, how did you succeed in the mountain gate and become an elite class student? Can you share your successful experience?"

This person before him was proficient in cultivation, teaching, appraisal, calligraphy and painting... everything. He couldn't imagine what he relied on to pass the assessment, full of curiosity.

"Experience?"

Hesitating for a moment, Zhang Xuan sighed with emotion: "First... you need to be able to sleep!"