One difference was that the god’s face had eyes with pupils that resembled crucifixes, while this illusory eye had a vertical pupil. What was more, compared to what he’d felt when the city he lived in was turned into a forbidden region, the current sense of might was like a firefly compared to the sun.

It had to be because of how much the drop of blood in the bottle had been diluted. If it had been a pure drop of blood, the mightiness would have been terrifying.

But even then, that level of might would have been as different from the open eyes of the god above as heaven was from earth.

Regardless, Xu Qing was shaken to the core. Only part of that was the physical reaction, though. The rest came from how this event was changing his view of the world.

Don’t tell me Seven Blood Eyes has actually extracted blood from the god above? No, that’s impossible.... The feeling I get is roughly the same, but one is very different from the other. Does that mean that... there are other god-like beings alive in this world?

That conjecture caused Xu Qing to suddenly want to learn much, much more about the world around him.

The rumbling continued, and more people coughed up blood. About half of them couldn’t hold out, and collapsed into unconsciousness, whereupon the long-faced cultivator took them away. Eventually, only three other people were left. One of them was Zhou Qingpeng, another was Li Zimei, and third was a young man who, though he wasn’t dressed like a scavenger, wore simple clothes that indicated he came from a small city. Finally, that third young man couldn’t take it any longer, and gave up.

Now, there were only three remaining, including Xu Qing. If he wanted to, he could put on an act during this test of will, to make himself seem weaker than he was. But in the face of this cold god, he didn’t want to.

He refused to yield. He stared into the eye, his muscles tensed, his heart pounding, his will pushing against the eye.

I survived under the gaze of the broken god face. So how could I possibly yield to a bit of watered-down blood like this?

Xu Qing’s eyes were bloodshot, and he was shaking from head to toe. His blood screamed at him, but after his harsh tempering in the slums, and his training in the forbidden region, his will had become strong, and he held firm.

Eventually, he was the only one left standing, which left the rest of the assessment-takers shocked as they watched.

Even the long-faced cultivator and his two companions were visibly surprised. After all, Xu Qing had been holding on for a long time. In the months since this specific assessment had been administered, Xu Qing was one of only three people who had lasted this long.

“I wonder if he’ll get past the final wave.”

“Nobody’s succeeded at that so far this year.”

As the cultivators shared these words, the melting of the golden liquid passed the halfway point. However... as it was about to fade away completely, the illusory eye twitched, and then seemed to stare intently at Xu Qing.

Terrifying pressure converged on him, as though this god demanded that he yield. Mountain-toppling, sea-draining force crushed down on him. He shook, and his head slowly began to bow, as though forced by the pressure.

Seeing this, the three assessment officiators looked surprised, and closely observed what was happening.

As Xu Qing’s head bowed, he shook harder, and then slowly lifted his chin. Veins bulged on his forehead, but his eyes were as cold and unyielding as those of a wolf.

Staring at the illusory eye, he tapped into the seventh level of the Sea and Mountain Incantation, forcing power to erupt from within him and form the spectral hobgoblin. It was many meters tall, with pitch black skin, twin, spiraling horns, violet eyes, and a gaping red mouth. Glaring at the eye, it unleashed a soundless roar.

ROAR!!

Xu Qing also roared at the illusory eye.

As he did, a tremor passed through him, as though his mind had been struck with a hammer. Blood sprayed out of his mouth, and the hobgoblin disappeared. However, the eye also faded away into nothing.

It was over.

Xu Qing panted for breath, and his head ached, but he struggled to his feet, wiped the blood from his mouth, then clasped hands and bowed to the three officiators. Then he walked back into line.

The spectators were looking at Xu Qing as if he were some sort of freak, and all of them had expressions of utter disbelief on their faces.

“Was that... a projection of energy and blood?” someone said. “That’s what you see at the great circle of body refinement. It’s the same as the great circle of Qi Condensation!”

Numerous gasps could be heard.

Xu Qing simply stood there with his eyes closed as the pain in his head slowly dissipated. At the same time, he felt stronger than before. It was like when metal was pounded over and over again, turning it into something sharper and stronger.

This second phase of the assessment... had brought good fortune to Xu Qing. He had acquired something as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns. [1]

It was actually a shock to him. He could tell that his perceptions had grown sharper, and his will, tougher. Of course, the latter was impossible to test out, so he wasn’t absolutely sure if he was right.

“Excellent!” said the long-faced cultivator, looking at Xu Qing with an approving nod. “You’re Xu Qing, right? Since you endured the final wave of might from the second phase, you’ll experience an increase in psychic power. Consider the blood of a godly entity as a grindstone that can sharpen your will to incomparable levels!”

“Godly entity?” Xu Qing asked, looking at the long-faced cultivator.

The man didn’t offer any explanation, but instead looked away and launched into the third phase of assessments.

The final officiator was the third cultivator. He had a round face with small eyes that glittered sharply. Walking out in front of his companions, he said, “The third phase is combat, in which you’ll fight illusory versions of mutant beasts.”

The round-faced cultivator pointed at Xu Qing.

“You, Xu Qing, won’t need to participate. Evidently, you’ve practiced body refinement to the point of unleashing a projection of energy and blood. In other words, you have battle prowess equivalent to the great circle. There’s no point in you participating in the third phase, so you are officially the first person to pass the assessment.”

The other assessment-takers looked at Xu Qing enviously, but none of them offered any words of complaint.

“Many thanks, Senior,” Xu Qing said, clasping hands and bowing deeply. He wasn’t a big talker, but when he was shown favor, he would respond with courtesy.

The third phase began. While the others participated, Xu Qing sat down cross-legged to settle his psyche. By the time the third phase was over, he was mostly recovered.

Based on what he could sense, it seemed to him like his perception and awareness were twice as good as before. As of now, he could observe things such as the way the breeze stirred the grass. This development caused his heart to beat with excitement.

The grindstone of will worked wonders.... Once I’m done here, I need to go test my level of control over my shadow. I bet it’s improved.

After the third phase of the assessment was over, and everyone was back in their original positions, Xu Qing stood and joined them. Some distance away, the officiators were making their final decisions.

It’s too bad the First Peak requires a special identity medallion, Xu Qing thought, looking at his own medallion and wondering where he would end up.

A moment later, the results were announced. Of the sixty participants, a small group didn’t meet the qualifications. They were told that, having failed to become members of Seven Blood Eyes, they had two hours to leave the sect. If they stayed longer, the sect’s spell formation would automatically kill them.

When Xu Qing heard that, his pupils constricted. Meanwhile, the people who had failed looked both frightened and dejected.

But then another option was presented to them. If they had enough spirit stones to buy merit points, they could stay in the city and live as ordinary citizens. All it cost was thirty merit points per day. The disciples who passed the assessment had to pay the same fee, but they also earned the privilege of being able to buy cultivation resources from the sect. Xu Qing was a bit confused by how all this worked, but assumed he would figure it out later.

After this, the long-faced cultivator announced the Peak assignments.

“Zhen Han. First Peak.

“Zhao Chungang. Third Peak.

“Zhou Qingpeng. Seventh Peak.”

There were five people assigned to the first peak, three to the seventh, and the rest of the five peaks got about six or seven each.

As the man announced the names, Xu Qing quietly waited to hear his own assignment.

“Xu Qing. Seventh Peak.”

After announcing Xu Qing’s assignment, the long-faced cultivator looked at the group of young men and women and said, “Those of you who passed the assessment will be rewarded with a thousand merit points. As for Xu Qing, who took first place, he will receive ten thousand merit points.”

When Xu Qing heard that, he sucked in a breath. Just getting to the Seventh Peak was a good thing, but getting that much wealth as a reward was quite a shock.

Doing some quick mental math, he determined that since merit points were worth the same as spirit coins, his ten thousand merit points were worth ten thousand spirit coins. And if you converted the spirit coins, it meant he had ten spirit stones.

That’s so much!

The long-faced cultivator produced a jade slip and made some adjustments to it. A moment later, Xu Qing felt his identity medallion vibrating. Looking down, he saw the ancient character for ‘ten thousand’ appear on its surface.

However, a moment later, it changed into nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine. It was missing one!

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted.

The other disciples who had passed the assessment also looked at their identity medallion, and many of them looked rueful. A moment later, the long-faced cultivator started taking away the disciples in small groups.

Meanwhile, the round-faced cultivator approached Xu Qing, glanced at his identity medallion, and then smiled faintly. “Ignore that for the time being. I’ll explain everything later.”

With that, he gathered the other disciples who were now assigned to the Seventh Peak. Then he led them toward the mountain itself.

“Let’s go,” he said. “I’m going to take you to visit the headquarters of the Seventh Peak. Cherish this opportunity, it could well be the only time you ever go up the mountain!”