Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 237 The Heavenly Guardian Assessment Begins

Zhou Ling returned to his guesthouse, which had two rooms.

Considering Zhou Ling's assessment the next day, Wang Xin did not share a room with him.

Inside the room, Zhou Ling took out the jade slip containing the information about the Triple Sword Seal that Qin Zhizheng had given him.

I feel warm in my heart.

Qin Zhizheng and Lu Yunxi were a great help to him in preparing for the Heavenly Guard assessment.

It was my luck to meet them.

He knew in his heart that a department like the Heavenly Crafts Bureau wielded considerable power, far exceeding that of the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy.

There must have been a lot of backstabbing and intrigue among the various factions.

But with the help of the two, he didn't have to worry about these things at all.

Of course, there will be competition for resources and students within the Taoist academy, but it won't be as fierce as in the Heavenly Crafts Bureau.

After all, a higher-ranking official can easily crush someone.

Therefore, everyone in the Tiangong Division will do their best to climb up the ranks and strive to obtain the most resources.

His ability to cultivate and improve so steadily is inseparable from the help of Qin Zhizheng and the others.

Therefore, he was extremely grateful.

Sitting on the futon, Zhou Ling channeled his divine sense into the jade slip and carefully read through the description of the Triple Sword Seal.

To forge these three sword seals, it's best if the cultivator possesses all three attributes. This will make the resulting sword seals more powerful and unpredictable.

Of course, you can also refine it using only one attribute, but there will be no change effect and the power will be reduced.

Similarly, the refining process will be less difficult.

The method for forging the three-layered sword seal mentioned in Qin Zhizheng's jade slip is a layered and gradual method.

The so-called layered and gradual approach.

It requires one sword seal at a time to forge.

It starts with one sword imprint, then two, and then three together, creating the Triple Sword Imprint.

However, there is only a method for forging two stacks of sword seals, not a method for forging three stacks of sword seals.

In other words, Qin Zhizheng has not yet truly refined the three-layered sword seal.

According to him, the sword seal took too much time, so he eventually gave up on doing it.

Moreover, sword cultivators generally have limited energy and will focus on cultivating one type of sword intent.

Sword cultivators who can simultaneously cultivate three sword intents are extremely rare.

Therefore, even if this triple-layered sword is forged, it is estimated that no one will want it.

It can be said that this triple sword seal is relatively uncommon and quite difficult to produce.

Perhaps it was because the higher-ups at the Heavenly Crafts Bureau wanted to make it more distinctive that they chose this triple-layered sword seal.

After all, although the Triple Sword Seal is a third-tier low-grade item, its actual difficulty has reached the third-tier mid-grade level.

Once refined, its power will reach the mid-grade of the third rank.

I imagine many weapon refiners wouldn't choose that.

Moreover, the highest cultivation level among the disciples participating in this assessment is the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Given the limited time, it would generally be considered unnecessary to choose this triple sword seal.

As for other pills, runes, and magic arrays, Zhou Ling didn't know much about them, but their difficulty was not much less than that of the Three-Layer Sword.

Feeling he had grasped the concept, Zhou Ling took out a third-tier spirit paper and prepared to try drawing.

As for spirit ink, once you reach the second tier, you basically have to make your own spirit ink, which will take a lot of time.

However, Zhou Ling possessed spiritual flames, and in order to save time, he planned to use the spiritual flames to directly inscribe the design.

Of course, ordinary spiritual flames cannot reach such a level of precise control.

But now, the Spirit Flame is Zhou Ling's natal Spirit Flame, and it's further enhanced by his talent.

That's why Zhou Ling was able to do it.

"True Yang Fire, Azure Lotus Spiritual Flame, Earth Spirit Fire..."

Which three attributes are better to choose?

Zhou Ling pondered in his heart.

Now, after the Five Spirit Flames merged with the Golden Soul Burning Heaven Flame Spirit Soul, the Qianyang True Fire has surpassed it and taken the lead in entering the fourth rank.

Moreover, it was formed from his own spiritual flame, so it not only has the best control over it, but can also assist in refining weapons, making it the obvious choice.

"The rest will be Beast Flame and Azure Lotus Spirit Flame!"

After a brief consideration, Zhou Ling made her decision.

Although the Beast Flame possesses both metal and fire attributes, its metal attribute becomes increasingly advantageous as the Haoyang Bird Demon Core continues to be activated.

As for the Azure Lotus Spirit Flame, it is currently the highest-ranking element in Zhou Ling's cultivation among the five elements, second only to the fire element and the wood element.

With a thought, three spiritual flames appeared in Zhou Ling's palm.

It instantly burst forth with dazzling flames and spiritual light, like three flame halos intertwining and rotating, changing into different forms as it leaped.

The temperature in the entire room also rose accordingly.

Three different colors illuminate the room.

It made the whole room look exceptionally ostentatious.

Bathed in the aura of the three-colored flames, Zhou Ling appeared extraordinary and otherworldly.

With a slight thought, he circulated his magic power, fused with the spiritual flame, and began to infuse it into the spiritual paper, starting to inscribe the three-layered sword seal.

Instantly, the three-colored flames flickered, and the spiritual flames condensed into a beam, like a sharp sword, falling onto the spiritual paper.

These three spiritual flames possessed different auras: the Qianyang True Fire was extremely blazing, the Beast Flame was sharp and fierce, and the Azure Lotus Spiritual Flame was elegant and lingering.

Under Zhou Ling's control, inscriptions began to be carved on the spirit paper.

However, since it is a third-tier inscription, the speed is not that fast.

Just like a person writing with three pens at the same time, one needs to be able to do three things at once in order to make rapid progress.

Zhou Ling also focused his divine sense and exerted all his control.

Despite the assistance of the [Meticulous] talent, the speed is still very slow.

Now, Zhou Ling also realized the difficulty Qin Zhizheng had mentioned.

However, this is normal, since refining such a third-tier inscription for the first time is definitely not easy.

[You are attempting to condense the Triple Sword Seal. Sixth Transformation +1, Triple Sword Seal Shrinkage +2]

At this moment, a prompt appeared on the panel, and Zhou Ling suddenly felt a slight tremor in the triple sword imprint that had been condensed in his sea of ​​consciousness.

It seemed to shrink instantly.

At the same time, he felt the spiritual flame in his hand become lighter.

The speed became extremely fast.

Zhou Ling was overjoyed. With the help of the second-tier [Six Transformations] talent, the difficulty of the triple sword seal seemed to have suddenly dropped by two levels.

It seems that only the second-tier top-quality items are difficult to obtain.

It made him feel much more relaxed when he was depicting the character.

He then sped up and drew the triple sword seal.

After a stick of incense.

[You are attempting to condense the Triple Sword Seal. Sixth Transformation +1, Triple Sword Seal Expansion +2]

"It's done! The Triple Sword Seal is complete!"

Looking at the three-layered sword seals shining with three colors, Zhou Ling was filled with joy and could hardly believe it himself.

"With this [Six Transformations] Triple Sword Seal, the difficulty drops by two minor levels, making it much easier to draw."

"It's roughly equivalent to the difficulty of a second-tier top-grade sword seal. I'm almost 100% sure I can handle this level of difficulty."

Collecting the three spiritual flames in his hand and observing the situation of the three stacked sword seals, Zhou Ling thought to himself.

With the help of the [Six Transformations] talent, the difficulty of inscription is greatly reduced by shrinking and expanding. Moreover, after the inscription is completed, the quality of the inscription not only does not decrease, but also increases slightly.

"We should be safe from the Sky Guardian assessment this time!"

Zhou Ling said with a delighted expression.

The fact that he succeeded in creating the triple sword seal on the first try was something he hadn't expected.

However, this time it was only drawn on spirit paper.

Forging a true sword is even more difficult.

Of course, Zhou Ling was already very satisfied with this result.

With this in mind, he was completely unafraid to face any other prodigies.

After that, Zhou Ling stopped worrying about the assessment.

After taking a shower, I took the spirit wine and went to find Xin'er for a few drinks.

"This is the main campus of the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy in Qingyang Immortal City."

This Heavenly Guardian assessment was also conducted at the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, specifically at the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy headquarters.

This was also Zhou Ling and Wang Xin's first time visiting the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy headquarters.

Both of them looked on with surprise.

Xuan Yuan Dao Academy is located on Xuan Yuan Mountain, south of Qingyang Immortal City, where spiritual energy is extremely abundant.

Ancient trees reach for the sky, lush greenery provides ample shade, carved railings and jade steps lead to magnificent palaces, creating an extremely grand and imposing scene, resembling a celestial realm.

A straight road runs along the mountain gate, leading directly to a huge square.

Huge jade statues stand around the square.

These statues depict famous figures from the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, who not only possessed Daoist skills at the seventh level but also made outstanding contributions to the Dao Alliance.

When Zhou Ling and his group of four arrived at the plaza, a considerable number of cultivators had already gathered there.

Most of them were dressed in black robes by the Heavenly Craftsmen.

The specific rank can be determined from the color of the black robe.

First and second-rank officials of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau wear gray robes, while third-rank officials wear white robes.

Looking around, Zhou Ling saw about two or three hundred Heavenly Craftsmen.

Of course, in addition to the Tiangongwei personnel who participated in the assessment, there were also some who came to observe and learn, as well as some relatives and friends who came to cheer them on.

Besides the Heavenly Craft Guards, the majority of people in the square were disciples of the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy.

Zhou Ling could sense that these disciples were all quite powerful.

There are Qi Refining cultivators and Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Most of them are Foundation Establishment cultivators.

What Zhou Ling was most concerned about were undoubtedly those powerful opponents.

Almost all of those who entered the Heavenly Guardian Finals this time were late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, with only a few mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

In the early stages of Foundation Establishment, Zhou Ling was the only one who stood out from the crowd.

Moreover, people like He Yunshan and Bai Jing are not only in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, but also in the Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment stage.

In addition, he was born into a wealthy family with abundant resources. At the late stage of Foundation Establishment, his strength was no less than that of the peak Foundation Establishment stage.

Many of them are even special spiritual beings or have other unique talents.

Under these circumstances, it will indeed be quite difficult for Zhou Ling to win.

But with this [Six Transformations] talent, it's a completely different story.

Zhou Ling wasn't exactly bursting with confidence, but he was certainly sitting on his laurels.

"Zhou Ling, no need to be nervous, just perform as usual!"

Qin Zhizheng said to Zhou Ling with a smile.

Facing opponents whose cultivation levels were two minor levels higher than his own, not to mention Zhou Ling, even he would feel nervous.

"Rest assured, Zhizheng!"

Zhou Ling replied with a smile.

He's not nervous now; his opponents are the ones who should be nervous.

"They've arrived! Chief Ye and Dean Shen of Xuan Yuan Dao Academy have come!"

At this moment, Lu Yunxi said in a somewhat excited tone.

Zhou Ling looked up and saw five judges on the judging panel.

Surprisingly, some of them were people he knew.

Wang Sixian, the head of the Wang family.

He was on the left, with a refined appearance and a faint smile on his face.

“Zhou Ling, Wang Xin, and the one in the middle is Dean Shen of Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, a seventh-grade high-level alchemist.”

"To his right are Ye Zhishou of the Qingyang Immortal Domain of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau and the head of the He family."

"On the left are the Taoist priest Qiao and the head of the Wang family."

Lu Yunxi introduced the five judges to Zhou Ling and Wang Xin.

Zhou Ling's gaze swept over them.

The elderly man in the middle had a ruddy complexion, a dignified appearance, bright and piercing eyes, and a smiling face, giving people a sense of approachability.

The one on the right, holding the leaf, was rather thin and had a goatee, but he also had piercing eyes and gave off an inexplicable sense of pressure.

The head of the He family had a round face, was slightly overweight, and had his eyes slightly narrowed.

On the left is Qiao Daojian, a burly middle-aged man with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, giving him an air of arrogance.

“These five are all top figures in the Qingyang Immortal Realm right now.”

"If you can reach their level in life, then it's all worthwhile!"

Qin Zhizheng spoke with a respectful expression.

"Zhizheng, you are a fourth-rank Zhizheng, so the gap between you and them isn't that big!"

Zhou Ling smiled.

Qin Zhizheng had always given him an extremely confident feeling, so why did he seem so insecure now?

"Hehe, I don't have such high expectations. As long as I can take another step forward and become a fifth-tier weapon refiner, that would be worth it."

Qin Zhizheng chuckled.

Seeing Zhou Ling's disbelieving expression, he spoke again,

"You're still young, you don't understand."

"At our level of cultivation, it is extremely difficult to advance any further."

Zhou Ling nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Qin Zhizheng is now at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

He doesn't look very old; he'll have plenty of opportunities in the future.

"All Heavenly Craftsmen participating in the Heavenly Guardian Assessment, please prepare yourselves. The assessment will begin in one incense stick's time!"

At this moment, Ye Zhishou from the Tiangong Division stood up from the judges' panel and spoke loudly.

Although the voice wasn't loud, Zhou Ling heard every word and sentence extremely clearly, which invigorated him.

"Zhou Ling, go over there!"

"Just give it your all!"

As Ye Zhishou finished speaking, Qin Zhizheng spoke to Zhou Ling.

Zhou Ling nodded and smiled at the three of them, "Wait for my good news!"

He then strode toward the competition platform.

"Why does this kid seem more and more confident lately?"

Qin Zhizheng smiled.

I originally thought Zhou Ling was rather calm and low-key.

But lately, he has appeared somewhat confident, even arrogant.

Of course, this isn't necessarily a bad thing; if you have the ability, you should show it.

Lu Yunxi nodded in agreement, it seemed she wasn't the only one who felt this way.

Wang Xin remained calm; in her eyes, Zhou Ling had never disappointed her.

After checking his identity jade token outside the arena, Zhou Ling entered the arena.

The entire competition area covers several acres.

As with previous assessments, it was divided into individual assessment tables.

However, this assessment platform is much larger than before.

Moreover, the surrounding spiritual energy was extremely abundant; Zhou Ling estimated that the concentration of spiritual energy was equivalent to that of a fifth-order spiritual vein.

This is also extremely beneficial for recovery.

Zhou Ling's assessment platform was the fifth row, position A.

Upon arriving at the assessment platform and sitting down on the futon, he began to examine the various items prepared by the Heavenly Crafts Bureau.

Fourth-order Earth Fire.

Many materials for developing spiritual ink, spiritual brushes, and so on.

Each one is of Tier 3 quality.

As for the two materials he chose to refine the magical artifact, they are currently sealed.

The system will only be unblocked once the assessment begins.

After confirming that there were no problems, Zhou Ling closed her eyes slightly and waited patiently.

(End of this chapter)