Filthy Cultivation: I Pierced the Heavens with the Merit System

Just as Zhang Ze was about to step forward to protect his son, his expression changed from worry to joy upon hearing this. Forgetting his banter with the young ladies and gentlemen, he stood on tiptoe to peek inside, and excitedly shouted to Li Fuyao and her companion:

"Look, look! The conference is about to begin!"

Knowing that Li Fuyao and her brother were too short to see, Zhang Ze carried one of them on each arm and let them sit on his shoulders. Then he excitedly told them to look quickly.

Suddenly, their view opened up, and Li Fuyao and Bai Suifeng's interest instantly shifted from Yu Zhenzhen and the others to the distance. The brother and sister pressed Zhang Ze's head and looked up.

In the center of the square, a space had been cleared out, and a huge black-purple stone platform, shimmering with starlight, slowly rose from it. Its walls were engraved with intricate sword patterns and formations, and it shimmered with a faint blue light like shooting stars, making it appear exceptionally ancient and mysterious.

Several elders, along with over a hundred disciples, flew down from the largest of the many flying boats and landed steadily on the stone platform.

Seeing that everyone had stopped, the audience below also quieted down. The elders exchanged glances and then joined hands to form a hand seal, summoning a translucent white jade lotus.

The lotus slowly spun and floated to the center of the stone platform. Then, several beams of white light, like flowing water, poured down from between its nine petals, faintly forming a radiant barrier that enveloped the stone platform.

As everyone was marveling at this, they saw the elders change their hand seals once again.

A flash of white light appeared on the stone platform, and hundreds of stone balls with jade rulers inserted into them instantly appeared.

Li Fuyao had seen this thing before, or rather, he had seen half of it.

Ye Wuxin used that jade ruler to measure her affinity with spiritual power back then.

Looking at the massive stone ball, which was almost half a person's height, Li Fuyao couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement, recalling Ye Wuxin's words about accidentally losing the ball.

Why would he play with something so heavy?

As soon as the stone spheres appeared, the white-robed disciples who jumped off the flying boat lined up and each found a stone sphere to stand beside, holding a jade slip for recording.

After the disciples had taken their places and the elders had all sat down on the several suspended, ornate chairs, the white-robed elder in the center lowered his eyes, glanced at all the cultivators in the square, stroked his beard, and spoke in a loud voice:

"As we all know, with the invasion of filth, resources in the cultivation world are becoming increasingly scarce. In order to better resist the filth and eliminate demonic cultivators, our sect has specially set the talent test as the first test!"

"The testing order will be determined by queuing. Fellow Daoists, please follow the instructions of our sect disciples, be courteous and respectful. Those who cause trouble will be expelled from the venue."

"May all cultivators unleash their potential, leave their mark on the Yanjian Sect, and reap their own glory and honor on the battlefield against filth and demonic cultivators!"

Having said that, he looked with satisfaction at the pairs of eyes below the stage, eyes filled with ambition, and raised his arms, shouting:

"The 53,421st Ascension Ceremony officially begins!"

As the white-robed elder finished speaking, the entire square instantly erupted in excitement. Everyone's eyes were focused on the stone platform shrouded in a glowing barrier, and they desperately squeezed towards the queuing area guarded by black-clad deacons.

Li Fuyao, perched on Zhang Ze's shoulder, looked back and saw that Yu Zhenzhen and her group had long since disappeared, so she felt relieved.

She turned around and stared intently at the stone platform, her heart filled with excitement and anticipation.

Influenced by her, Bai Suifeng, though expressionless, betrayed his inner excitement and longing with the golden beastly eyes that flickered like lightning in his eyes.

"If I join this sect, I can recover from my injuries, avenge my family, learn knowledge, and protect my sister, right?"

Bai Suifeng asked firmly within the soul seed.

Thinking of her future comfortable and carefree life, Li Fuyao nodded affirmatively at him and transmitted her thoughts through her soul seed:

"Brother, the plan is almost complete. This time, let's not hide our talents and show them what we're made of!"

Zhang Ze was completely unaware of the secret conversation between the two little ones on his shoulders. He excitedly carried them forward, squeezing through any gaps he could find, and actually managed to get to the front.

"Please come forward, touch the stone ball in turn, and then, according to your talents, input the spiritual power of all your attributes into the jade ruler."

The white-robed elder's voice rang out again, and following the elder's instructions, the hundreds of cultivators at the front of the line jumped onto the stage with excitement in their eyes.

Li Fuyao looked on curiously and saw that they all carefully reached out and gently touched the stone ball. In less than a breath, one of the cultivators' stone balls changed from pure white to a mixture of red, orange, yellow and green.

Seeing this, the disciple standing nearby recorded the following without expression:

"Four spiritual roots, inferior talent, unqualified. No need to test affinity, you may leave."

Upon hearing this, the cultivator's face, which had been flushed with excitement, instantly turned deathly pale.

Seeing that the disciple showed no leniency whatsoever, he could only dejectedly wipe his tears and disappear into the crowd below the stage.

Following him, several more cultivators who met the requirements for the number of spiritual roots were eliminated due to their low affinity. The others in line couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Fortunately, several cultivators with three spiritual roots and good interpersonal skills emerged one after another. Looking at those smug guys, most people were filled with envy.

Then, the second, the third... more and more cultivators stepped onto the stage. They had different talents. Some cheered excitedly, while others stared blankly as if they had lost their parents. Laughter and weeping rose and fell on the stage.

Each test drew gasps and exclamations from the surrounding crowd.

Perhaps because they had seen many big scenes, the Yanjian Sect was very efficient in handling queues. The queue moved at a relatively fast pace, and Zhang Ze squeezed into a relatively forward position.

Just as he was about to take a step forward, his two bosses, who were about to be served, suddenly saw a large group of people cut in front of him.