「An hour later.」

Almost all of the participants for the assessment had arrived. There were tens of thousands of them!

WHOOSH!!

At this moment, two figures came crashing through the sky, one in front and one behind, landing on the steps in front of the Elixir Tower. One of them was the Commander of the Guards. The other was a middle-aged man. He wore a fitted white robe, his temples speckled with white hair, giving him a venerable and weathered appearance. Standing there with his hands behind his back, his gaze was calm and steady, exuding a strong, intangible oppressive aura.

Mu Qing whispered, "Brother Xui, this is the City Lord of Sky Thunder City."

Qin Feiyang's eyes sparkled.

As soon as the City Lord and the Commander arrived, the square became deathly quiet, as silent as a grave.

The City Lord glanced at the crowd and said nonchalantly, "You all know the rules, so I won't repeat them. Commander, begin!"

"Let's begin with the first phase of the assessment—the Willpower Test," the Commander announced. "Under my pressure, if you can withstand it for ten breaths without falling, you pass the first phase. As for those who have not yet arrived, they are immediately disqualified."

Just as the Commander finished his sentence, an astonishing pressure roared out from within him. In an instant, the entire field was enveloped. The people in the square instantly felt as if a mountain was pressing down on them from above; their legs trembled, their faces paled, and large beads of sweat emerged.

"Such powerful pressure. He must be an Eight-star War Emperor," Qin Feiyang muttered to himself.

The pressure of an Eight-star War Emperor posed no danger to him. Back in Yan City, when he had only opened the First Layer of the Door of Potential, he had been able to withstand Yan Nanshan's pressure. This was even more true now that he had already opened the Third Layer of the Door of Potential. But just because he could withstand it didn't mean that everyone else could. The pressure from a War Emperor was enough to intimidate everyone present.

THUD!!

One by one, the young people kept falling to the ground. Their faces were filled with helplessness, their hearts with bitter unwillingness. Because once they fell, it meant they lost their eligibility to continue the assessment. Those who fell saw the pressure on them disappear, and they left the field in dejection.

The ten breaths passed quickly. The number of people remaining in the square was now only about a thousand. In other words, the first phase of the assessment had eliminated ninety percent of the candidates. It was utterly ruthless!

"The first phase of the assessment is over! Those who were eliminated, leave the field immediately!" the Commander shouted, simultaneously retracting his pressure.

The moment the pressure was retracted, everyone aside from Qin Feiyang went limp, slumping to the ground and panting heavily. Sweat poured down like rain, pooling on the ground. Mu Qing and Mu Xue'er were no different.

"Hm?" The City Lord and the Commander scanned the entire field. When their eyes fell on Qin Feiyang, a hint of surprise flickered within them.

Seems like I've attracted some attention. When Qin Feiyang noticed their expressions, his eyes flickered slightly. He then pretended to double over, his hands on his knees, panting like an ox.

The City Lord's face twitched. Isn't this too obvious? Couldn't he act a little more convincingly? What an interesting young man.

He asked quietly, "What's his name?"

The Commander replied in a low voice, "He's the young man who hurt Luo Yi. I believe his name is Xui Ping."

"Xu Ping…" the City Lord murmured, his gaze flickering.

Within a short while, all those who had been eliminated had left the square.

"Next, we will test spiritual power!" the Commander shouted.

The thousand-odd people remaining in the square had also regained their strength; they stood up and looked expectantly at the Commander.

"Only those who reach the fifth level of spiritual power can move on to the next phase of the assessment." The Commander swung his hand, and twenty wooden tables appeared, neatly arranged below the steps. Then, he pulled out twenty Spiritual Stones and placed them on the twenty wooden tables.

"Get in line, one by one. No jostling. Begin!"

With the Commander's words, the twenty people at the front of the line immediately stepped forward and placed their hands on the Spiritual Stones. As a result, only two people's spiritual power reached the fifth level; the rest did not qualify.

The Commander shouted, "Those who passed, stand to the right. Those who failed, leave promptly!"

"That's strange," Qin Feiyang murmured, furrowing his brows.

"Brother Xui, what's wrong?" Mu Xue'er looked at him in confusion.

Qin Feiyang said, "Why not just ask those with less than fifth-level spiritual power to leave directly? Why go through all this hassle?"

Mu Xue'er paused, then chuckled. "Brother Xui, you're mistaken there."

"Where am I wrong?" Qin Feiyang asked, baffled.

"If they don't take the test, even those who aren't at the fifth level of spiritual power will pretend to be," Mu Xue'er laughed. "Besides, not everyone knows their own spiritual power level. Many of these people have never been tested before. And there are probably some youngsters here who haven't even managed to condense their spiritual power yet."

"True," Qin Feiyang nodded.

Suddenly, he noticed Luo Yi and his two companions walking towards him. Immediately, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Feigning ignorance, he looked up at the Spiritual Stones in front of him.

The three came to Qin Feiyang's side. Seeing this, a glint of light flashed across the eyes of the Mu siblings.

Glancing at the City Lord and the Commander, Luo Yi whispered, "Dare you compete with us?"

Qin Feiyang pretended not to hear.

Seeing himself ignored, a trace of fierceness crept onto Luo Yi's face as he smirked, "What? Are you scared?"

Qin Feiyang still ignored him.

Almost driven mad with anger, Luo Yi said, "Xui Ping, don't go too far!"

The burly man, Yan Shi, also had a fierce glint in his eyes.

"Ah!" Qin Feiyang feigned surprise, turned his head towards Luo Yi, and asked, "Were you talking to me?"

The Mu siblings looked at each other, slight smiles on their faces. This guy, he's a really good actor.

"If I'm not talking to you, am I talking to a ghost?" Luo Yi growled, fuming, his eyes blood-red as if smoke were about to pour from his head.

"Don't get agitated, don't get agitated. It's my fault." Qin Feiyang patted his shoulder and asked again, "What were you just saying?"

"Bastard!" Luo Yi roared, on the verge of going insane. Had he wasted all that breath for nothing? If it weren't for the ongoing assessment and the City Lord and Commander watching from above, he would have undoubtedly flown into a thunderous rage.

"I said, if you have the guts, compete with us!" he ground out, word by word.

"Compete?" Qin Feiyang paused for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm not interested."

"Not interested, or scared?" the burly Yan Shi looked at him contemptuously.

"Huh?" Qin Feiyang raised his brows, feigning confusion. "Did I offend you?"

Yan Shi replied, "You didn't offend me, but I just don't like the look of you. Is that a problem?"

"No," Qin Feiyang nodded, saying indifferently, "Who's forcing you to look? If you don't like it, then don't look, idiot."

"Who are you calling an idiot? Say that again, if you dare!" Yan Shi's face darkened, and the fierce glint in his eyes intensified.

"I don't have time to waste on you. Get lost." Qin Feiyang just glanced at him before turning away.

Yan Shi's large, fan-like hand clenched tightly, knuckles cracking.

A glint flickered in Luo Yi's eyes, and he laughed. "Yan Shi, calm down. It's not worth getting angry over such a wastrel."

"Wastrel?" The Mu siblings stared at him, stunned. They simply couldn't understand how he had the nerve to say such a thing. Who was it that Qin Feiyang had scared witless, sending him fleeing like a beaten dog? Wasn't he just slapping his own face?

Feeling the siblings' gaze, Luo Yi scoffed, "The competition now is about alchemy. He doesn't even dare to compete. If he's not a wastrel, what is he?"

"Right, you two are his friends, aren't you?" Luo Yi challenged. "Why don't you compete with us? Do you have the guts?"

"Arrogant!" Mu Xue'er's eyes turned cold.

However, Mu Qing shot her a warning glance and smiled at Luo Yi. "Although your martial strength isn't much, I've heard your alchemy talent is quite impressive. How would we dare to compete with you?"

Initially, upon hearing the first half of the sentence, Luo Yi was furious and even thought about finding a chance to teach the siblings a lesson. But upon hearing the latter half, a smug smile crept onto his face.

"Good on you for knowing your place," Luo Yi sneered, glancing at Qin Feiyang. "Unlike some people, clearly a wastrel but still putting on airs, pretending to be calm and composed. It's sickening."

The look of disgust on Mu Xue'er's face grew even more pronounced as she whispered, "Brother Xui, you should just compete with him. At least it will stop him from bothering you."

Mu Qing added, "Yes, you might even attract the attention of the Tower Master."

"Tower Master?" Qin Feiyang was slightly taken aback, asking, "What do you mean?"

"There's a rumor that the Tower Master resides on the top floor of the Elixir Tower," Mu Qing explained. "If someone's alchemy talents please him, he will reveal himself and accept them as a Closed-door disciple, personally teaching them alchemy. But throughout history, no one has ever managed to impress him enough to do so."

Qin Feiyang looked towards the top of the Elixir Tower, his eyes flickering indecisively.

"Stop dreaming," Luo Yi sneered. "With your alchemy talent, you dream of becoming the Tower Master's Closed-door disciple? That's utterly delusional."

Qin Feiyang turned a deaf ear.

Initially, I wanted to keep a low profile, he thought. Because if no one noticed me, my chances of acquiring the Sky Thunder Flame would be greater. If I drew too much attention, every move I made, everything I said, would be under scrutiny. Then, I would undoubtedly encounter a lot of unnecessary trouble. But if the Tower Master took notice of me and accepted me as a Closed-door disciple, that would be a completely different story! The Sky Thunder Flame belongs to the Tower Master. If I became his Closed-door disciple, I'd have more opportunities, and stealing it would be easier! It seems I have to change my strategy.

SWISH!

His eyes flashed as he turned to look at Luo Yi and his two companions. These three might be useful. He smiled faintly and asked, "How do you want to compete?"

"You agree?" The three of them were stunned.

Qin Feiyang said, "Wasn't it you who wanted to compete? Now that I've agreed, why do you look like you don't want to? If you don't, then let's just forget it."

The refined young man, Shi Yun, chuckled, "Brother Xui, I think you misunderstood. It's these two who want to compete with you, not me. I'm just here to watch the fun."

Qin Feiyang turned his attention to the refined young man. With his extensive experience in reading people, he instantly knew that this man would be far more troublesome than Luo Yi and Yan Shi combined.

"You only have that much courage," Yan Shi glanced at Shi Yun disdainfully before looking at Qin Feiyang. "Let's compete in spiritual power!"

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