Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 187 The Battle for Materials: A Soul-Swept Assault
"I was the one who first set my sights on this meteorite!"

"I want this Spirit Cloud Grass!"

"You brat, are you tired of living? How dare you attack me!"

······.

In the Spiritual Object Zone, countless divine senses roared.

Those with fast and powerful spiritual senses can find the materials they want more quickly.

Undoubtedly, the selection of materials is also part of the assessment.

After selecting the assessment platform, the disciples began choosing the materials.

One after another, divine senses entered the materials area.

Various materials are displayed in the materials area.

They are mostly second-order materials.

Of course, there are also lower, middle and upper grades within the second tier.

However, medium and high-quality materials are the most sought after.

But for each type, there are only a few pieces, one or two plants, so the quantity is not large.

So the struggle began very quickly.

"Senior brother, I obtained this purple wood first, please withdraw your divine sense."

"The Taoist academy doesn't have a rule that whoever gets it first gets it!"

Another voice rang out.

"You, fine, do you think I'm afraid of you?!"

Boom!

"Zhou Ling, I've got my eye on this Taiyi Refined Gold!"

Just as Zhou Ling's divine sense was sweeping away a piece of material, he heard a voice in his ear.

His gaze swept across the area, and not far away on the assessment platform, Liu Yu was staring at him.

He shook his head and ignored it.

Although all the disciples participating in this assessment were at the ninth level of Qi Refining, they were all Technique Masters with considerable spiritual cultivation.

In particular, many of these people are former prodigies of the Taoist Academy.

After all, only three people can win each time.

Other disciples who did not receive a spot will gradually accumulate.

Therefore, this competition is undoubtedly a competition for the strongest disciple of the outer academy.

This time, Zhou Ling plans to forge a spirit sword, so materials such as Taiyi refined gold are naturally indispensable.

Seeing that Zhou Ling showed no sign of giving up.

Liu Yu's expression shifted between light and shadow. He had initially wanted to make a move, but then decided against it and went to look for other materials.

The assessment had only been going on for less than fifteen minutes when a commotion broke out in the materials area, with shouts and curses rising and falling.

Various divine powers clashed repeatedly, creating utter chaos!
Many disciples have already begun to clash with each other's spiritual senses in order to obtain the materials they desire.

Having already cultivated the Divine Soul Secret Technique and with the added blessing of "Divine Soul Like a Blade," Zhou Ling naturally had no fear of such confrontation.

If you can't find suitable materials of a high enough grade, the assessment is essentially half a failure.

boom!
Zhou Ling's divine sense directly shattered the divine sense of one of his senior brothers, and he snatched a piece of Fire Essence Gold from his hand.

He has now collected more than a dozen second-tier ores, including five pieces of Jinyuan Iron, three pieces of Taiyi Refined Gold, and two pieces of Lihuo Refined Gold.

That's enough to forge two spirit swords.

But he was not satisfied and continued to collect ore.

His goal is to forge at least four spirit swords. If he can forge five, then the title of champion will most likely be his.

Of course, there's no harm in collecting more materials.

If you can't use it, just absorb it directly; it's a rare opportunity.

At this moment, his divine sense was like a sword of the soul, whistling and flowing, incomparably sharp.

It seemed to be accompanied by flashes of flame, incredibly mystical.

Even his senior brothers didn't dare to easily clash with him.

They had no choice but to avoid Zhou Ling's divine sense.

Some even had their best materials snatched away by Zhou Ling.

"His soul has become a blade. Zhou Ling's soul cultivation must have already entered the Foundation Establishment stage. Otherwise, how could he be so free to do whatever he wants?"

"It seems that he has been in the Foundation Establishment stage for some time, otherwise he would not have been able to condense such a soul blade."

"I never expected this little guy's spirit to be so strong!"

"This kid has already collected more than a dozen pieces of ore, and he still won't stop. Does he think he can forge three spiritual artifacts in three days?"

“Even Foundation Establishment cultivators would find it difficult to refine three spiritual artifacts within three days, let alone Qi Refining cultivators.”

"Being able to refine one or two spiritual artifacts is already quite impressive!"

On the judging panel, several judges were also quite surprised by Zhou Ling's performance.

Apart from Liu Yu and a few others, the others had all been cultivating at the academy for more than three years.

In all aspects, their strength is definitely superior to Zhou Ling's.

But now they are all being suppressed by Zhou Ling.

This surprised them as to the strength of Zhou Ling's divine sense.

Moreover, Zhou Ling has already collected a considerable amount of materials.

It's already two or three times more than others, but it doesn't seem to be stopping yet.

"Does this guy really think he can take these materials with him after the assessment?"

Supervisor Zhang shook his head and said, somewhat annoyed.

"But such consumption may not be a good thing. He is a weapon refiner. Whether he is refining tools or inscribing marks, it will consume a lot of his divine sense."

"To compete for materials, we consume too much, which obviously carries considerable risk."

Chen Shi, an instructor in the inner court, echoed this sentiment.

Instructor Hu was observing Zhou Ling, also worried about Zhou Ling's energy expenditure.

Hearing the others' discussion, he also spoke up, "Although Zhou Ling's spiritual root aptitude is a bit lacking, he's no worse than anyone else in other aspects."

"Oh!" Chen Shi glanced at Instructor Hu, smiled, and said, "Fellow Daoist Hu seems to be very confident. Then I really need to watch his performance closely."

Within the assessment area, some of the other disciples were also disciples of the judges, so it's normal that they each had their own favorites.

As the instructors were discussing, they heard Zhong Yuanzi stare at the materials area and laugh, "Zhou Ling is in trouble now, actually competing with Zhao Zezheng and the others for materials."

"Zhao Zezheng!"

Upon hearing what Zhong Yuanzi said, Instructor Hu's gaze sharpened.

Zhao Zezheng is quite famous in the outer courtyard; he has been in the Taoist academy for three years.

His talent and cultivation are quite astonishing in all aspects.

Upon entering the Taoist academy, one is already at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

He had only said that he wanted to pursue the highest level of Foundation Establishment; otherwise, he would not have easily achieved Foundation Establishment.

That's why we haven't reached the foundation stage yet.

But whether it's magical power or spiritual cultivation, both are exceptionally powerful.

Hearing that Zhou Ling was going up against him, he couldn't help but feel a little worried for Zhou Ling.

His gaze immediately turned to the assessment platform.

······.

At this moment, Zhou Ling's divine sense was collecting a piece of ironwood.

However, several other disciples also had their eyes on this piece of ironwood.

However, judging from Zhou Ling's divine sense, it's clear that he's not someone to be trifled with. His divine sense has condensed into a form, which definitely means he has reached the level of Foundation Establishment divine sense.

Clearly, he is quite outstanding among these disciples.

Although many people were interested in Tiemu, only three divine senses began to gather around.

"Junior brother, I am Zhao Zezheng. This ironwood is of great use to me. Would you be willing to give it to me?"

A fair-skinned young man spoke to Zhou Ling.

Zhao Zezheng was a seasoned veteran, and upon seeing Zhou Ling's Soul Blade, he had to make a statement first.

Zhou Ling sneered, "Senior brother, you'd better look elsewhere!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zezheng's expression darkened, his gaze turning hostile. "I clearly saw you collect a piece of ironwood just now, yet you still refuse to budge. Since that's the case, then don't blame me for being impolite!"

"Brother Zhao, why be so polite with him? A freshman really thinks he's something special."

Beside him, another boy spoke in a rather impatient tone.

As soon as he finished speaking, he activated his divine sense and condensed a divine soul fist, which rushed towards Zhou Ling's divine soul blade.

At the same time, another youth also condensed a dark cloud of divine soul and bombarded Zhou Ling.

"There are still people who want to deal with my Soul Blade."

Zhou Ling snorted coldly, licked his lips, and stared at the Divine Soul Fist without the slightest fear.

He knew that his extensive collection of materials would inevitably attract resistance. However, he was not afraid; with his current spiritual cultivation, he feared no one in the outer courtyard.

Moreover, it boasts meticulous detail and complete restoration. It consumes little energy and recovers quickly.

So if you need to grab something, you should still grab it.

"【Soul Like a Blade】!"

Zhou Ling uttered a low shout, his divine soul coiling around the ironwood and condensing into a blade.

Then, the Soul Blade suddenly dispersed, instantly splitting into two Soul Blades.

"call!"

"call!"

Two soul blades struck the divine souls of the two youths respectively.

A counterattack.

With a series of soft popping sounds, the soul attacks of the other two were pierced through by Zhou Ling's soul blade as if they were cotton balls.

"Huh? How is this possible? My soul attack was breached so easily!"

"Mine too, how did he do that?"

The two boys vying for the ironwood looked surprised.

They hadn't expected that their junior brother, Zhou Ling, would be able to block both of their attacks simultaneously.

"Congee!"

The two shouted fiercely, seemingly refusing to believe in their fate, and once again gathered their divine souls to launch an attack.

However, the effect was exactly the same: the two soul attacks were instantly crushed and shattered in front of the soul blade.

"How could his soul attack be so powerful!"

"Could this be an attack condensed from a divine soul technique?"

Both of them had a drastic change in expression.

One of them even suffered a significant backlash due to excessive concentration of their divine soul.

His face turned pale.

Obviously the consumption is not small.

Unbeknownst to them, Zhou Ling was merely using the [Divine Soul Like a Blade] technique to launch his attack.

He has not yet used the Divine Soul Secret Technique.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Zezheng's expression changed, and he felt a sense of foreboding. "How can this kid's spiritual cultivation be so powerful?"

But this ironwood was crucial to the magical artifacts he crafted.

Moreover, both of his junior brothers lent a helping hand.

He certainly cannot back down now.

Taking advantage of Zhou Ling's use of his divine soul to deal with the other two, he manipulated his divine sense to condense a soul sword and fiercely slashed at the soul blade.

"flutter!"

Another crisp popping sound.

Zhou Ling manipulated the Soul Blade, and suddenly with a whoosh, it clashed with the Soul Sword with unstoppable force.

"this?"

Zhao Zezheng couldn't help but scream in agony. His soul had been shattered, which had taken a heavy toll on him.

"What? This... such a powerful divine soul! I'll give up this ironwood!"

Zhao Zezheng felt that his soul was completely at a disadvantage in front of Zhou Ling.

They had no choice but to give up on the ironwood.

Since the other party had given up, Zhou Ling was too lazy to waste his time.

Continue searching for other materials.

"Brother Zhao, are you alright?"

A teenager asked.

"I-I'm fine!"

Zhao Zezheng took a deep breath. "Let's not provoke him. Let's find other materials."

"This kid's soul is too powerful," another youth said, his face filled with trepidation.

Fortunately, this was just a matter of seizing materials; if it had been a direct fight, they would likely have suffered serious injuries.

"Let's look elsewhere." Zhao Zezheng's tone was full of apprehension as he watched Zhou Ling's divine sense still searching for materials.

Then, his divine sense swept in the opposite direction from Zhou Ling's.

The other disciples were even more shocked to see that Zhao Zezheng and his two companions, even when working together, couldn't outmaneuver Zhou Ling.

Zhao Zezheng was a well-known figure in high school.

But they actually slunk away like that!

Now, no one dared to provoke Zhou Ling anymore.

"This kid's soul is incredibly strong!"

On the judges' panel, Dean Zhong couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

He knew that Zhou Ling's spiritual sense was not weak, but he did not expect it to be so powerful.

"To withstand the soul attacks of three people by himself and still occupy the top position, this test is indeed something to look forward to."

The beautiful female teacher, Lin Xiu, said with a smile.

The other instructors also looked surprised; it seems that to be able to win the title of Foundation Establishment Seed Champion, one must have some strength.

Not far from Zhou Lingyu, Liu Yu watched the scene unfold and felt a pang of relief.

Fortunately, I didn't provoke Zhou Ling.

I've been keeping an eye on Zhou Ling's situation.

Therefore, he understood the power of Zhou Ling's Soul Blade better than anyone else.

"How did he manage to launch such a powerful soul attack?"

Zhou Ling's Soul Blade is swift, accurate, and ruthless.

Its attack on the souls of the other three was significantly superior.

However, with the competition for materials so fierce, Liu Yu didn't think too much about it and focused on searching for other materials he needed as quickly as possible.

······.

"We've collected most of the materials with the metal, fire, and wood attributes. Next, let's look at the water and earth attributes."

"Water-patterned crystal, second-grade, mid-level. It is tough and easy to refine, making it an excellent material for crafting water-attribute treasures."

Zhou Ling's gaze swept over a crystal, and as the [Intermediate Observation] skill appeared, he quickly determined the material's properties.

They immediately collected it.

Zhou Ling selected a number of materials, focusing on those that were easy to refine.

After all, there are only three days left, so it's unnecessary to spend too much time refining materials.

There's a lot to know about selecting these materials.

It tests not only one's knowledge but also one's character.

If that disciple is too ambitious and chooses materials that he cannot control, then he will suffer a loss.

After all, with so many materials, some of them might be traps deliberately set by the Taoist temple.

After all, the most important thing for a mage is to have a clear understanding of their own abilities.

Aiming too high can harm both yourself and others.

“Earth element crystal, Vajra bamboo, and Xuanwen crystal.”

Zhou Ling quickly identified three other materials.

He also selected some of the materials used to develop the spirit ink.

"Hasn't this kid chosen enough yet?"

"Aren't you afraid of biting off more than you can chew?"

Seeing that Zhou Ling had already selected more than twenty materials and showed no sign of stopping.

Zhang Daojian also shook his head and said.

"Could it be that he intends to forge three more spiritual artifacts?"

Zhong Yuanzi asked, also puzzled.

"If the quality doesn't meet the standards, quantity alone won't win you the championship!"

"A teacher spoke up."

Instructor Hu also looked puzzled. Based on his understanding of Zhou Ling, he knew that since he had made the choice, Zhou Ling must be useful.

But the amount of these materials is simply too much.

With so many materials, just refining them will take quite a while.

This is extremely disadvantageous.

However, he still believed in Zhou Ling and hoped that Zhou Ling could bring him surprises as before.

(End of this chapter)