Chapter 114: Weary Beyond Measure-The Young Taoist of Pure Yang(Tiny snowflakes drift along the celestial avenue.)

People are like that. They always assume that if others can do something, then they can do it too.

It was no secret that the Heaven’s Chosen Ranking had evolved from the Heaven’s Selection Ranking, nor that the rankings on the former had been drawn from the top one hundred of the latter. The participants had spread word of the Heaven’s Selection throughout the cultivation world from the very beginning.

Because of this, many young cultivators who believed themselves to possess some ability felt that they ought to have made the list as well. The only reason they had not, they thought, was that they had never participated in the Heaven’s Selection.

Look at the people on the Heaven’s Chosen Ranking, especially those prodigies in the Golden Core and Nascent Soul realms. They had merely taken advantage of being the first to participate in the Heaven’s Selection. Had they participated, they too would certainly have made the list.

Many people thought this way, never realizing that their assumptions ran entirely contrary to the purpose of the Heaven’s Selection.

Did they never stop to consider what that purpose was?

To find a master for the Severing Cause Sword.

Thus, everyone brought into the ruins by the Heaven’s Selection had met its requirements. Regardless of cultivation level, their innate talent was first-rate.

Do not imagine that Pure Yang Temple had merely struck it lucky when more than ten thousand of its disciples entered the Heaven’s Selection at once.

They had simply overlooked one fact: every disciple admitted to Pure Yang Temple for study and cultivation was a rare talent, chosen from thousands—or even tens of thousands.

What sort of quality did the disciples of the Eight Great Orthodox Sects and the Seven Great Demon Sects possess? And what of the disciples from the other sects and cultivation clans?

It could be said that most of the cultivation world’s finest and most promising immortal seedlings were concentrated within those fifteen super-sects. The remaining promising talents had been hidden away and secretly nurtured by smaller sects and cultivation families. There were truly very few overlooked talents left. Even if the Heaven’s Selection had not chosen Pure Yang Temple, it would have chosen another super-sect. There was practically no other possibility.

The Heaven’s Selection chose Pure Yang Temple for two reasons. First, it was convenient; there was no need to scour the entire world for young cultivators of exceptional talent just to make up the numbers. Second, Ling Xiao, the Child of Fortune, and Zhou Qian, the backup candidate, were both in Pure Yang Temple. In addition, the Heaven’s Selection needed to choose a master who was not particularly clever. Weighing all these factors together, it settled on Pure Yang Temple.

“Of course, apart from Wang Li… there are more than a hundred people waiting behind you.”

This fellow from the East Sea Sect was already the thirty-eighth challenger Zhou Qian had faced.

Dealing with challengers was nothing. He could treat it as a bit of exercise. What left Zhou Qian utterly uninterested was how ridiculously weak these challengers were. Not one of them could withstand even a single blow from his “door slab.” Nearly all of them were defeated in one move, leaving him without the slightest thrill of battle.

The endless instant victories made him deeply nostalgic for his days on the battlefield in the ruins. Although he had been in danger of elimination at any moment, every opponent he encountered had been formidable. When he met someone evenly matched, the fight had been exhilarating.

Against these pathetic weaklings, he truly could not summon any interest.

Hai Zheng felt that he had suffered a tremendous humiliation.

I am the East Sea Sect’s second-greatest prodigy, standing before you with a cultivation level equal to yours. Can you not show me even a little respect?

How arrogant! Did ranking second really give him the right to look down on everyone?

He let out a furious shout. “Cease your insolence! How could a disciple of the mighty East Sea Sect be humiliated by the likes of you?”

“Ha… If you want to fight, then fight. If not, get off the stage. You’re wasting my time!”

Yawning, Zhou Qian waved a hand. “Down you go!”

He could not even be bothered to strike people with his “door slab.” Activating the Great Void-Soaring Technique, he shaved away Hai Zheng’s crown before driving a palm straight into his chest and sending him flying. Hai Zheng crashed heavily against what seemed to be an invisible formation.

Fed up with the endless stream of challengers, Zhou Qian addressed those outside the arena before Hai Kuan had even slid to the ground.

“Coming one at a time is too much trouble. All of you come at once. Once I’m done, Senior Brother Zhang Zai can take the stage.”

He turned and gestured toward the elder serving as referee.

The elder’s cheek twitched.

That was far too arrogant!

One man challenging more than a hundred people—was he certain he was not volunteering to be slaughtered?

“Are you sure about this?” the elder asked.

Although he believed the young man was being reckless and overconfident, Zhou Qian was still a disciple of his own sect, so he kindly offered a warning.

Zhou Qian glanced at Zhang Zai, who was yawning beneath the arena, then said to the elder, “I’m afraid I have no choice. The fellows in the outer sect have been slacking off lately. If no one keeps an eye on them, something is bound to go wrong.”

He spread his hands, showing that he was helpless as well.

Zhang Zai removed the hand covering his mouth and gave the referee elder an unenergetic salute.

“Junior Brother Zhou Qian is right. There is also a mountain of work waiting for me in the inner sect. I am currently undergoing an assessment, and once I pass, I will be transferred to the Scripture Repository. I would also like to grow closer to Steward Wang. When I take the stage later, I might as well resolve all the challengers in a single bout too. Please do not activate the protective formation afterward.”

The great expert who had once resided within Zhang Zai had been driven away by Master Sheng, but Zhang Zai’s own strength and talent were genuine. He truly possessed the ability to challenge Soul Formation experts across realms, and his confidence was even greater than Zhou Qian’s.

The referee elder’s cheek twitched even more violently.

He sighed inwardly.

These little brats are becoming more formidable by the day. Will I even be able to keep my position as an elder?

After the Heaven’s Selection ended, Pure Yang Temple had suddenly produced a vast number of Soul Formation and Nascent Soul experts. The number of Golden Core cultivators had increased by several thousand. In the past, even a Golden Core disciple could become a steward, while a Nascent Soul cultivator had a chance of becoming an elder. But now…

In a few more years, Soul Formation would probably become the threshold for becoming an elder.