Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

Three days flew by in a blink of an eye.

In the small courtyard.

Zhang Jing checked his magical artifact, the Flying Sword and the Water Cloud Shield, over and over again to prevent them from causing problems during their use today.

Afterwards, he glanced at the Spell Fish in the Five Elemental Spirit River.

Only when he was sure that all preparations had been made did he take a deep breath, push the door open, and walk toward the Legacy Pavilion.

More so than usual, the road today was much quieter.

Along the way, Zhang Jing encountered many people, who were all walking forward in silence, their faces full of seriousness.

Not long after.

Step by step--

Zhang Jing slowly walked into the square in front of the Legacy Pavilion.

With a slight sweep of his gaze, he roughly estimated that there were as many as three hundred people who had newly joined the Dao Institute.

These three hundred people were the talents that Dragon Lake Dao Institute had selected from the tens of millions of youths in the thirteen provinces of Nanli Country.

His gaze passed over the surrounding crowd and looked outwards.

He saw that ten square stone platforms, each over ten feet high and ten feet wide, had already risen in the middle of the square.

These platforms were arranged in a circular distribution, flashing with a green glow, giving a sense of unshakeable solidity.

On the outer edges, there were ten or so large stone columns and numerous small stone platforms neatly arranged with cushions on top.

At this moment, many Outer Academy seniors dressed in green robes were already sitting on these cushions, occasionally casting curious or expectant glances at their group.

Zhang Jing guessed that these people should belong to the various mission teams of the Outer Academy.

The sun rose in the sky.

One after another, streaks of light suddenly flew out from the Legacy Pavilion and landed on the giant columns in an instant, causing their terrifying spiritual power fluctuations to permeate the area.

The previously bustling square instantly fell quiet.

"Junior brothers and sisters," said a voice.

Senior Brother Liu, dressed in a purple robe, appeared silently in the unknown center of the square and announced loudly:

"Now I declare that the ranking examination is officially starting. Let me first introduce the rules of the first round of the qualification test."

As soon as his voice fell,

Countless eyes converged on Senior Brother Liu in mid-air.

"The rule for this round is simple. There are ten spellcasting platforms there. There are no restrictions on spells or artifacts. As long as you can persist for thirty breaths against the puppet on the platform, you pass the first round; otherwise, you will be eliminated."

As he spoke,

Senior Brother Liu waved his sleeve, and ten streams of light flew out, landing directly on the spellcasting platforms, transforming into ten humanoid puppets flashing with the color of black iron. Their breath was icy cold.

"In sixty breaths, those who are named by me, go up to the spellcasting platform."

Having said that, Senior Brother Liu closed his eyes.

Down below.

The crowd surged like a tide towards the spellcasting platforms.

In the midst of this movement, Zhang Jing suddenly felt a slight tug at his clothes. When he turned to look, it was Ji Bochang.

"Brother Ji?"

"Brother Zhang, shall we go together?"

"Very well."

When the time was up, Senior Brother Liu in mid-air opened his eyes, and a jade slip appeared in his hand.

"Li Cheng, to the first spellcasting platform."

"Wu Wenxuan, to the second spellcasting platform."

...

Senior Brother Liu's voice kept ringing out, and those who were named by him immediately showed bitterness on their faces, walking heavily onto the spellcasting platform.

Zhang Jing looked up at the platform.

He saw a man slowly walk onto the spellcasting platform.

In front of him, the puppet suddenly raised its head, and the Dao patterns on its body lit up one after another.

Next, the puppet rooted its foot deeply, its body turning into a remnant shadow that evaded the naked eye, appearing in front of the man in an instant, and buried a punch.

The air was torn all of a sudden, emitting a shrill screech.

Thud--

The man was sent flying before he could react, landing heavily on the ground, with a large part of his chest sunk in.

Hiss--

People around Zhang Jing gasped.

Fortunately, a figure in a purple robe suddenly stood up from atop a stone column, and a white light blinked and flew to the fallen man, penetrating his body.

The next moment, his injuries began to heal at a terrifying speed.

The flesh and bones were rebirthed from death, it was nothing more than that.

On the other side,

Zhang Jing's gaze became serious.

This puppet was not simple, and he estimated most people wouldn't make it past the first round this time.

"These puppets are said to be made of Cold Iron, which is unbreakable, and they are inscribed with numerous prohibitive Dao patterns, the worst of which is comparable to the strength of a Qi Refinement third layer cultivator. But they should have had their power limited by the Inner Academy seniors, otherwise that person just now would have been exploded directly."

Ji Bochang explained quietly to Zhang Jing.

"Did your senior sister tell you this?" Zhang Jing asked, turning his head.

"Of course," Ji Bochang nodded, "These things are sold in the Thousand Law Pavilion, with the cheapest costing sixty Tao Merits."

"I see."

Zhang Jing nodded.

Before they knew it, it was already approaching noon.

Thanks to the puppets going all out, the first round of the examination was coming to an end.

But at this moment, the atmosphere on the scene was becoming increasingly heated.

Because several talents with a Grade-B evaluation had taken the stage. As soon as they made their appearance, they displayed performances vastly different from those of most Grade-C and Grade-D evaluators.

Some brandished artifacts, while others conjured formidable spells.

While resisting the terrifying attacks of the puppets, they occasionally managed to counterattack.

This elicited gasps of surprise from the audience.

Down below.

Ji Bochang, looking somewhat bedraggled, walked over to Zhang Jing and said solemnly:

"Brother Zhang, be careful later on. These puppets are really hard to deal with; they're tough to beat and their attack power is outrageous."

"Thank you for the reminder, Brother Ji, I will be careful."