Chapter Forty: This Talent Might Just Be a Little Too Powerful

The Blood Inheritance Stone trembled violently, causing the entire central hall to shake in resonance. Cultivators practicing their mystical arts within the hall felt the tremors and one after another, they ceased their movements to look toward Chu Tianchen.

Li Haizhu stood before the Blood Inheritance Stone, staring at the sudden turn of events, a trace of bewilderment rising in his eyes. "What is going on here?" he asked, baffled.

Chu Tianchen had never witnessed a talent test using the Blood Inheritance Stone and knew little about it. However, he could tell from Li Haizhu’s expression that this was no simple matter.

"Let’s go?" Chu Tianchen whispered, glancing at the people around them as they began to slowly approach.

Li Haizhu shared the same sentiment. They turned and walked away, as if having reached a silent consensus. After all, Chu Tianchen was an outer-sect disciple; if he were discovered in the inner sect, having broken into these underground training chambers, they might truly be expelled from the academy.

"What's happening? What's wrong with the Blood Inheritance Stone?"
"I don't know. It seems like those two people were testing their talents just now, right?"
"Is there anyone left in the inner sect who hasn't tested their talent? Even if they were, it wouldn't cause a scene like this. The stone looks like it’s about to shatter."
"Damn it, let's get out of here too."

The crowd watched the spectacle with growing panic. Wang Teng and the other inner-sect members from the Wang Sect were the most rattled, as they faced the same predicament. Although Wang Teng had some family background, it was insignificant compared to the Yunhai Academy. If caught, they would be expelled just the same.

Just as they prepared to flee, the tremors of the Blood Inheritance Stone suddenly ceased. A faint, blood-colored glow began to swirl around the stone. Seeing this, the crowd froze. By this time, Chu Tianchen and Li Haizhu had already reached the first floor and were speeding out of the training tower. No sooner had they exited than they saw numerous martial artists of the Tongshen Realm rushing toward them, evidently alerted by the commotion. The tremors had shaken the entire training tower; it was impossible for it to go unnoticed.

"Brother Tianchen, what did you do to the Blood Inheritance Stone?" Li Haizhu asked in a low voice. "This stone has stood in the Yunhai Academy for a thousand years, and nothing like this has ever happened before."

"Don't ask. Just go," Chu Tianchen replied sharply.

He already had an inkling of the cause. He had merely performed a standard talent test. The reason it had triggered such a reaction was likely that the stone had sensed—or perhaps rejected—his bloodline. But the priority now was to escape.

"You aren't an inner-sect disciple; you should head back first. Be careful on the way," Li Haizhu said after a moment’s thought. "I’m going back in to see what's happening."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Tianchen vanished into the night. Li Haizhu immediately returned to the training chambers. By now, many people were arriving in the first-floor hall, some from outside and others descending from the upper levels. Their goal was unanimous: the seventh underground floor. Li Haizhu mingled with the crowd, feeling somewhat guilty.

Wang Teng had intended to escape, but seeing the growing number of people descending, his path was blocked. He had no choice but to hide among the crowd, holding his breath, terrified of being discovered. Yet, everyone’s attention was fixed on the Blood Inheritance Stone; no one noticed a single Tongmai Realm practitioner in the throng.

Over a hundred people gathered, their gazes drawn to the Blood Inheritance Stone, which now emitted a weak, bloody light. A middle-aged man with the cultivation of a seventh-level Heavenly King Realm stepped out from the crowd. Standing before the stone and seeing the fresh, undried drop of blood remaining on its surface, he immediately understood.

"Who tested their talent just now?" the teacher asked.

"Elder Qingfeng, two people were indeed testing their talent here, but we didn't get a clear look at who they were," a Tongyuan Realm martial artist replied. "When they saw the stone shaking, they ran off very quickly."

"One of them seemed to be wearing a mask," another added. "Wearing a mask in the middle of the night—they must be someone with something to hide."

"Elder Qingfeng, look at the stone!" a young martial artist beside Lin Qingfeng suddenly shouted.

He looked back to see that the stone, which had only been emitting a thin wisp of blood-colored light, was suddenly glowing with increasing intensity.

Testing talent with the Blood Inheritance Stone required a martial artist to drip their blood onto it; within half an hour, the stone would provide feedback. The color of the light indicated the tester's talent. Over the years, the academy had established a pattern: the weaker the talent, the weaker the glow. The light shifted through red, orange, yellow, green, and cyan, with cyan being the strongest and red the weakest. Of course, if the stone showed no reaction, it meant the person was a complete waste, doomed to have no future in cultivation.

For the past two hundred years, the academy had only tested inner-sect disciples; outer-sect disciples were not even eligible. A red glow meant, at best, reaching the Tongyuan Realm. With a prominent family background and medicinal support, one might reach the peak of the Tongyuan Realm or barely scrape into the Tongshen Realm. Orange talent could reach the Tongshen Realm, which was the minimum requirement for inner-sect disciples. Yellow talent allowed one to enter the core inner-sect ranks and, barring accidents, easily reach the Heavenly King Realm.

Next was the green talent, which meant the potential to reach the Tiangang Realm and even become a Martial Arts Grandmaster. For instance, the head of the Li family, the father of Li Zifeng, who was about to be named a National General, had tested with a deep green light and had since become a Grandmaster. As for cyan, that was the mark of a future legendary martial artist.

At that moment, the dim Blood Inheritance Stone suddenly erupted with brilliance, illuminating the entire seventh underground hall in a deep red. After only a few minutes, the light deepened to a vivid crimson, then suddenly shifted to orange. Ten minutes later, it turned yellow, then green.

The green light soared into the sky, erupting in a boundless pillar of radiance that pierced the heavens. In mere seconds, the entire training tower was bathed in a layer of green.

Seeing this, everyone present widened their eyes in shock. It meant that the person who had tested their talent possessed the potential of at least the Tiangang Realm. The Tiangang Realm was the pinnacle of power below a Martial Arts Grandmaster; such a person would be a top-tier figure in the Yunhai Academy or any faction within the Great Qian Empire.

Hiding in the crowd, Li Haizhu gulped. "Brother Tianchen... this talent is a bit too strong, isn't it?" he muttered to himself.

Before the words had even left his lips, the green light abruptly retracted, and a burst of brilliant cyan light exploded outward. In an instant, every person present stood wide-eyed, and the entire central hall fell into a deathly, absolute silence.