The young man left frustrated, after being rejected of entering the sect he had dreamed his whole life about.
"I just turned fifteen a few days ago and now I can't enter. All because of this change of requirements, why couldn't they wait another year before doing so?"
Ling Xu heard him complain as he passed next to him where he was waiting on the line.
"You haven't even entered the third stage of Blood Qi and you are still on the line, are you stupid?"
Several more people on the line were failed before the first person to reach the requirements appeared.
"You have reached the third stage of Blood Qi at the age of fourteen years old, pass."
The tester looked at the young man's face with a raised eyebrow, he didn't expect to find someone in his line to pass under these conditions.
After all, previously, you would directly enter as an outer disciple if you reached the third stage and were below fifteen. This already showed that the new young disciple in front of him was quite talented.
There were less than a handful in every town that met this criteria, showing the difficulty of reaching the level at such a young age.
"If only the sect hadn't changed the requirements, this year you would have entered directly as an outer disciple. Such a shame."
A few minutes passed and after testing several more people and failing the majority, it was the turn of the person in front of Ling Xu.
The tester touched the wrist of the young man who looked even younger than the one who passed previously under fifteen years old.
"Young man, what's your name?"
Ling Xu saw the face of the tester twitch with surprise as he then asked for the young man's age.
It wasn't normal as for the rest of the people that were tested he barely touched their wrists and then said if they failed or passed the test.
"Luo Weisheng."
"Junior brother Luo, my name is Xiao Jinguo. Wait here for a second, I'm going to ask elder Zhao what we should do with you."
Xiao Jinguo went out of his post and walked to the inner elder who had already noticed him.
Luo Weisheng looked at the person who tested his bone age talking to the inner elder.
Instantly, Zhao Liu looked at Luo Weisheng with a face full of shock as he walked hurriedly towards him, leaving his post to Xiao Jinguo who took his place in the middle line.
"Young man, can you land me your wrist?"
"Is something wrong, elder?"
"Not at all, it's just that your case is something we didn't expect."
Luo Weisheng gave his wrist once again, but this time, to the elder who put his finger with delicacy as he barely touched it.
"Young man, are you willing to enter as an outer disciple directly?"
Everyone who was on the line that could hear and even those that noticed the inner elder change in line to test the bone age of the young kid looked in astonishment.
"Am I hearing things right? Didn't he say that there wouldn't be anyone who would enter directly as an outer disciple unless they reached the Qi Refining Realm?"
"What is going on? What did the young man do to impress the elder?"
Ling Xu was right behind Luo Weisheng and elder Zhao.
"Is it possible that this kid isn't even fifteen years old? That could be the reason why his fifth stage level has impressed them so much."
Ling Xu was already speculating in his mind as he observed the birth of the first outer disciple in the annual disciples selection.
"Come with me young man."
The inner elder took Luo Weisheng and the few young cultivators that had passed the age bone test and moved his hand as a flying boat appeared in front of him.
"This should be his spatial ring, it must have a higher level for it to be able to contain already such a large object." thought Ling Xu.
The elder didn't even ask for the aspiring disciples to board the flying boat, he just moved his hand and a light energy enveloped them.
They all floated until they were standing in the small flying boat, then the elder jumped and once he was also there it flew all the way to the big flying boat that was in the sky.
After a minute passed, he came back with the empty boat and continued testing the bone age in the left line.
The elder looked at the eyes of the person that was next.
Facing the deep stare of the elder, Ling Xu felt in complete awe as he was unable to feel any kind of energy from him.
It was different from the people in the Qi Refining Realm he had met until now while walking on the street, as they all gave a feeling of pressure coming from the lack of aura.
Not able to perceive a single trace of anything, Ling Xu stopped thinking trying to brush it off. But his eyes, which were normal until now, suddenly had a subtle light and he felt something.
"Mountain…" he whispered to himself.
"What?!"
For a brief moment, Ling Xu saw a massive mountain incarnated in the elder, it was as if the world could go at him but he would be unmoved.
Coming out of this feeling, he saw the face of the elder in utter disbelief.
"Am I imagining things? Could this young man have guessed what my cultivation technique is about?"
He couldn't even perceive the depth of how far his cultivation was, but for some reason the elder believed that at that moment, Ling Xu felt the essence of the path he had built until now.
"Can you give me your hand?"
Ling Xu barely moved his hand towards the elder when he felt a hand suddenly touch his wrist. It was so fast he was unable to see the movement.
Feeling Ling Xu's body, elder Zhao Liu's face showed surprise once again.
"Young one, can you give me your name?"
"My name is Ling Xu."
Looking at Ling Xu's eyes, the elder had the feeling of seeing a subtle golden ray moving through them, giving him a strange sensation.
"You are quite something, Ling Xu. Although you are in the seventh stage of Blood Qi, which isn't something very impressive for you age, you have actually undergone two blood exchanges."
Facing the eyes of the elder which suddenly looked as if they could scan his whole body, Ling Xu felt as if all his secrets were revealed.
"I don't know what kind of opportunity you got, but your blood qi is extremely pure for someone who isn't even in the ninth stage of Blood Qi. Maybe, you could be one of the few who are able to complete that last step before entering the Qi Refining Realm."
"Last step? Is he referring to the third blood exchange?"
Seeing Ling Xu's face of questioning, the elder continued.
"Don't worry, even if you are not able your future is guaranteed at Formless Sword Sect."
After the elder told him that he passed the requirement he moved through the platform and went to the space where the previous group was before being sent to the flying boat up in the sky.
Another minute passed and Ling Xu saw another person that passed the test moving towards him.
"Greetings senior brother, my name is Xiao Lao, how may I call you?"
Ling Xu was surprised as this was the first time that someone had started a conversation with him since he arrived at Skyless Realm and entered Lesser Crimson Town.
"Greetings brother Xiao, my name is Ling Xu."
"Brother Ling, you don't need to be so respectful, you have passed the test first so you should be my senior brother."
"It was only a short time difference, I would prefer if you didn't."
"Then how old are you, I'm nineteen years old."
"I'm twenty right now."
"Then, from now on you are senior brother Ling."
Not knowing how to reject the offer, Ling Xu only nodded and continued observing the rest of the lines being tested.
After several more minutes passed, the group reached the dozen mark again and elder Zhao took them to the small flying boat and flew them up.
Before Ling Xu disappeared from the view of the people, who were still about to be tested, someone was looking at him.
It was the second young master of the Xie family with whom he had previously had a small conflict.
Having forgotten about the past, Xie Lan only felt curious about this man that was capable of resisting his aura. After all, he saw when the inner elder had a face of surprise after testing him.
You could say he looked even more so than when he found out about that young man who was in the fifth stage of Blood without even being fifteen years old.
Although this young cultivator seemed to be more talented than him, Xie Lan felt that with his alchemy talent he would be able to breach the gap.
But it was different with Ling Xu, who remained unchanged even after he used his pressure on him, even though their cultivation levels were two stages apart.
…
Ling Xu was standing, in the flying boat up in the sky, as he observed the deep carvings around the whole deck. It showed how complex this object was, as it required an extreme amount of resources to craft.
Seeing the elder descending again, he waited five minutes before he saw the next group of aspiring disciples boarding.
This process continued a few more times until an hour passed and elder Zhao boarded the flying boat, followed by the two disciples of the sect.
Ling Xu looked at Yu Wenqian for a second, showing interest in the young lady he had heard about while heading to the inner area.
Feeling a gaze, she turned around and faced Ling Xu's gaze directly. Feeling that his gaze was that of lust or greed, she showed hostility.
After that reaction, Ling Xu moved his head and stopped paying attention to her.
Apart from the young lady of the Yu family, Ma Dongpil had also boarded the flying boat, accompanied by Xie Lan who had already qualified to become an outer disciple.
"It's great to be young!"
Zhao Liu said with nostalgia as he was looking at the young cultivators who were throwing curious glances everywhere, full of youth and vitality. He remembered the first time he had boarded a similar flying boat and then entered Formless Sword Sect as a menial disciple.
"Elder, should we start?"
"What?"
Interrupting him from his sentimental moment, the disciple who tested the bone age with Xiao Jinguo and Zhao Liu asked hurriedly, in hopes of going back to the sect as soon as possible and resume his cultivation.
"Yes, you are right. This selection of disciples has already taken long enough, it's time we go back."
All of a sudden, several marks on the floor activated and a transparent light covered the whole flying boat.
Everyone looked in amazement as they looked at the inner elder who was doing several hand movements at a speed which wasn't perceivable to their eyes.
Then, the flying boat made half a turn and started flying incredibly fast, making the disciples unable to see more than several scenes passing by one followed by the next.
Below, the young cultivators who aspired to become disciples of Formless Sword Sect but didn't reach the requirements, were left in the square.
The majority of them looked at the disappearing boat with hopes of entering the following year.
There were also those who had lost all hopes, because of the new cultivation requirement of entering the fifth stage of Blood Qi or that their age would surpass the age limit at which the sect accepted disciples.