Chapter 194: Qingyun Sect Examination (Part 4)
"SILENCE!!!"
The word arrived like a physical force—Bai Tianhu's voice cracking through the air and into the ground simultaneously, rattling stones and stilling breath.
His silver eyes bore down on the crowd as though they personally owed him money.
"Hey, let them celebrate," Huo Changfeng said with an easy smile, resting a hand on Bai Tianhu's shoulder. His light brown eyes dropped to the crowd below. "Let reality wipe those smiles off their faces."
His words were harsh. His smile made them worse.
Several youngsters gulped. Others straightened their spines nervously. A few couples in the crowd found each other's hands and held on quietly. And the select few who were genuinely confident remained utterly still, completely unmoved.
"Brother Tianhao, there are so many people here," Wang Bing said, her eyes scanning the crowd with wide-eyed amusement. "How many do you think will pass?"
Su Tianhao looked out across the thousands gathered in the waiting ground—every emotional register represented somewhere in that sea of faces. Fear. Anxiety. Excitement. Resolve. Determination. Confidence. Indifference.
"Not many," he said, without turning.
Wang Bing's brows furrowed. Before she could press on for answers, she noticed his eyes had narrowed.
She followed his gaze quietly.
A group stood watching them from across the ground.
The Su family.
Su Jian's expression carried fierce determination, fists clenched at his sides. Su Lei radiated calm confidence—settled, unshaken. Su Ruxue held quiet resolve. Su Ji and Su Gang fidgeted nervously beside each other. Behind them stood Su Huiqing, Su Minghe, and Su Yuan, their eyes wide as they took in the figure Su Tianhao had become.
"Brother Tianhao..." Wang Bing said softly, watching his face. "Who are they?"
"They were my family," Su Tianhao muttered, his expression remained unfazed.
His gaze met the Su family's upper echelon. He offered a single, subtle nod in greeting—then moved past them entirely, eyes finding only one face among the younger generation.
Su Lei.
Their eyes met.
A full exchange happened in the space of a second—wordless, complete.
Su Tianhao smiled. Warm. Genuine. Almost light-hearted. The kind of smile that made Wang Bing's heart do something she chose not to examine.
'1st level Martial Adept,' he noted inwardly. 'Good work, Su Lei. Your growth impresses me.'
Across the ground, Su Lei's lips curved with quiet satisfaction—and then almost immediately with quiet challenge.
'He's grown even stronger. I have to do better.'
Su Jian watched both of them. His fist tightened further. Su Tianhao hadn't looked at him. Not even for a moment. He had been passed over like a relic of the past—a stepping stone no longer worth acknowledging.
"I know I can't rival you yet," Su Jian muttered through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing with something that had nothing to do with hatred and everything to do with a hunger he hadn't felt before his defeat. "But I will make you look. I am no longer the man I once was."
Just then, Huo Changfeng's voice carried across the entire ground.
"We're about to begin—guardians, family members, and well-wishers of the participants, please clear the circle!"
The instruction cut cleanly through the crowd. Those who were not participating moved without hesitation, regardless of status or background—offering final words of encouragement and reassurance to their companions as they went.
Within minutes, the training ground had been stripped of adults. What remained were the youngsters—thousands of them, standing under the open sky with the weight of expectations pressing down on their backs. Most had earned their place here through regional trials in their home cities. Many had come with personal recommendations from their families. All of them had worked toward this moment.
Surrounding the circular floor, the spectators resettled themselves—some standing at the perimeter, others rising into the air to watch from above.
Among those hovering were a handful of Martial Grandmasters like Elder Xuan. The vast majority were Martial Masters carried aloft by flying swords or other flying treasures. Su Huiqing, Su Minghe, and Su Yuan each stood on their own individual flying swords. Under ordinary circumstances, artifacts of that quality weren't something they would display casually—but this gathering was not ordinary. It was as much a display of a force's influence and resources as it was a trial for their juniors. As a third-rate force—even as a bottom-tier one—the Su family couldn't afford to appear lacking. And with their recent prosperity, the luxury was well within reach.
They were not the only one with such mentality. Other third-rate forces had their representatives similarly positioned in the air. Upper-ranked third-rate forces arrived with Martial Grandmasters carrying their companions aloft through sheer cultivation. Only the unrated forces remained grounded—most of their representatives Martial Soul Realm experts, with only a handful of early-stage Martial Masters among them.
Su Tianhao was still quietly cataloguing the surroundings when Wang Bing tugged his sleeve.
"The four elders are coming forward."
He glanced over. The four Outer Sect Elders descended from the hovering formation—each one a genuine Martial Master in their own right, their presence distinct and measured.
One of them stepped ahead of the others. An old man with a neatly trimmed goatee, his bearing carrying the particular authority of someone whose entire identity was wrapped up in discipline.
"I am Elder Gu Lie—Disciplinary Elder of the Jadeclaw Peak." His voice ground out like granite on stone. "While you stand on this mountain, my word is law. Break it, and you'll wish you'd never climbed up here."
He straightened. "I will serve as Chief Examiner of this examination."
He turned to the three Martial Grandmasters above and introduced them with the measured reverence of someone who understood exactly whose presence he was working alongside.
First, he turned to Huo Changfeng.
"This is Lord Huo Changfeng—Leader of the entire Outer Court!"
The crowd absorbed that. Several hadn't expected it—this casually dressed, sleeves-rolled-up man was the overall leader? Some had already suspected it, like Su Tianhao. Others, like Wang Bing, had known in advance. For the rest, the revelation landed with quiet surprise.
Gu Lie turned to Bai Tianhu.
"This is Lord Bai—Peak Master of the Jadeclaw Peak!"
The crowd erupted.
"It's the Storm Tiger Elder!"
"Heavens—how did I not recognise him sooner!"
"Those scars! That hair! It's really him!"
Bai Tianhu's introduction drew more noise than Huo Changfeng's. Where the Outer Court Leader had earned curiosity, the Storm Tiger Elder had earned recognition—his reputation across Longzhou Country was already established, his name spoken with a mixture of admiration and caution. Before things could escalate, he chose to act.
"SILENCE. I will not repeat myself again."
The crowd went immediately still. Some youngsters trembled. Others clamped their mouths shut on instinct.
Elder Gu Lie smiled with deep satisfaction. That was his Peak Master!
He turned to Duan Fei.
She stood there like a pearl that had simply decided to be present—untouched by the surrounding noise, radiating an ease that had nothing to perform and nothing to prove. Gu Lie's lips twitched. The Jadeclaw Peak and the Silverblade Peak were natural rivals, which meant he felt no particular obligation to sell her introduction. But duty was duty.
The enthusiasm drained visibly from his voice.
"This is Lord Duan—Peak Master of the Silverblade Peak."
He had underestimated her.
A single wave of her hand—unhurried, effortless—and the crowd erupted. Not just the young men, but the women too, looking up at her with open admiration and barely concealed envy. In seconds, the noise had surpassed even Bai Tianhu's reception. Somewhere in the crowd, Bai Tianhu's warning had been entirely forgotten.
"We love you, Lord Duan!"
"I want to join the Silverblade Peak!"
"Me too! Silverblade Peak!"
Gu Lie's expression darkened. He turned to Duan Fei. She wasn't doing anything. Her lips had simply curved into a slight smile, her presence radiating an effortless allure that required no effort precisely because it wasn't an act—it was simply what she was. And that, somehow, made it worse.
"Tch," he clicked his tongue, irritated.
Duan Fei raised one hand gently.
"It's alright, everyone." Her voice arrived like silk drawn across a blade—soft, unhurried, carrying something beneath its surface that couldn't quite be named. "Don't forget why you're here."
The crowd went quiet in an instant. The only sound was the collective exhale of several hundred people who had briefly forgotten to breathe.
Bai Tianhu's eyes narrowed. Even the guests hovering above found themselves glancing away from Duan Fei—not from hostility, but from the particular discomfort of looking too long at something they couldn't fully process.
"Ahem." Gu Lie coughed deliberately, reclaiming the moment. "The three esteemed Martial Grandmasters will oversee the examination as judges." He gestured to his three colleagues. "These Elders will assist me as Examiners."
The crowd nodded in understanding.
Wang Bing leaned toward Su Tianhao, her voice dropping to a pointed whisper.
"Were you looking at Lord Duan?"
"Everyone was looking at Lord Duan," Su Tianhao said mildly. "It would have been stranger not to."
Wang Bing's lips pursed. "Were you admiring her?"
"Observing her," he said. "There's a difference." He glanced at her briefly. "She just asserted dominance over an entire crowd without saying a word. Half the prodigies here are already deciding to join the Silverblade Peak—not because of her cultivation, but because of her presence."
Wang Bing's expression shifted—less suspicious, more thoughtful.
"Are you joining the Silverblade Peak?"
"Yes."
"Because of her?"
"Because I'm a sword cultivator," he said, with a slight shrug. "Remember?"
Something flickered in Wang Bing's eyes. She thought back to the first time she saw him—one strike, nine precise cuts, a Phantom Blade member dismembered in a single motion. Her lips curved before she could stop them.
"Right... A sword cultivator. A very skilled one."
Before the exchange could continue, Gu Lie's voice cut across the ground, sharp and heavy.
"Listen carefully. If you are not under twenty years of age—leave the circle now."
His eyes swept the thousands before him like a blade edge. Nobody moved. A few foreheads were beginning to glisten with sweat, but no one stepped out.
"Good." A beat. "Because we have our ways of finding you."
Several youngsters who had been quietly hoping that was a bluff now cried inwardly—but still didn't move. Gu Lie had already spotted a few of them. It happens every year, so we wasn't surprised. He moved on without comment.
He raised his voice higher, amplified by his spiritual energy:
"There are over ten thousand of you standing here. Prepare yourselves—because more than half of you are about to be eliminated."
The silence that followed was a different kind of silence from Bai Tianhu's. That one had been the silence of obedience. This one was the silence of people quietly absorbing something they hadn't expected.
Panic moved through the crowd without sound—written in eyes, in the set of jaws, in hands that found their way to the hilts of weapons they couldn't yet draw.
Su Tianhao wasn't surprised. Elder Xuan had briefed him, so he already knew what was coming.
"Hmph! Bumpkins!"
A sharp voice cut through the stunned quiet—dripping with scorn.
Every head turned.
A young man stood near the center of the crowd as though he owned it. Blue robes trimmed with silver—strikingly close in colour to the Outer Court Disciple uniform, as though he had already dressed himself for a result he considered inevitable. Long blonde hair, piercing green eyes, a clean-cut face that knew it was handsome and had decided to make that someone else's problem. Jade earrings—two on each ear—caught the light as he tilted his chin upward and let the contempt settle naturally across his features.
This was Jin Yulong—heir to the Goldcrest Jin family of Emerald Basin City, an upper ranked third-rate force of comparable standing to the Wang Mansion.
The hostile stares and muttered curses directed at him from the surrounding crowd only widened his smirk.
"Of course you're panicking," he said, voice carrying easily through the stillness. "You came to an examination without doing any research. All we have to do is endure the Qi pressure from the Chief Examiner. Those who fall aren't worthy to proceed—that's it."
Sceptical glances moved through the crowd. Could it really be that simple?
Gu Lie's voice answered before anyone could ask.
"He's right. Endure my aura. Those who fall are not worthy to enter the Qingyun Sect."
A wave of murmurs swept through the crowd. Faces relaxed. Shoulders dropped.
If it was just pressure, how hard could it be?
"It won't be easy," Su Tianhao muttered.
"You're right," Wang Bing said quietly. "I understand now why you said not many would pass. They don't know what a Martial Master's aura actually feels like."
"Hmph," Jin Yulong sneered nearby, clearly having overheard. "Bumpkins with no idea what they've walked into."
Gu Lie crossed his arms. His aura began to climb—slowly, deliberately—causing his robes to flutter around him like living banners in a wind that didn't exist.
"Prepare yourselves," he said, stroking his goatee with quiet satisfaction.
"For the most bittersweet day of your lives."
Boom!
His aura erupted.
The Qingyun Sect Examination had begun.