A total of 500 people participated in this examination assembly. After the first round, a little over 450 remained.
According to Elder Wang and the others, a pass rate of over ninety percent was already exceptionally high. In most years, if eighty percent passed the first round, it was considered a good year.
"This batch isn't bad," Elder Wang said, deliberately steering the conversation elsewhere. Continuing to discuss talismans with Ye Ling would only make him feel painfully aware of his own shortcomings.
He truly hadn't expected that after living for several hundred years, his understanding of Talisman Dao would still fall short of Ye Ling, a young man who was probably only a few decades old.
That was a real blow.
Fortunately, his age was what it was, and his cultivation had already hit a bottleneck. There was no hope of reaching Nascent Soul in this lifetime. Otherwise, his Dao Heart might have taken serious damage.
"Yes, yes," Elder Zhang chimed in.
Compared to Elder Wang, he felt much better. After all, he had once witnessed Ai Yueli scold the Sect Master and Supreme Elders of the Immortal Talisman Sect. That experience had tempered him somewhat.
Of course, he was still shaken, but among the four of them, he was handling it the best.
Elder Zhao said, "No wonder the Demonic Cultivators chose this moment to attack."
Elder Sun sighed. "When there are too many geniuses, troubles like this are bound to arise."
The remaining two quickly shifted the topic as well. If they kept talking with Ye Ling, they wouldn't even get a chance to speak.
Compared to Elder Wang and Elder Zhang, their attainments in Talisman Dao were limited. To put it bluntly, standing next to those two, they were more like examiners filling out the numbers.
Of course, that was only because Ye Ling had raised the bar so high. Otherwise, by ordinary standards, they were more than qualified. It was just that Ye Ling had pushed the overall ceiling up, making them seem somewhat mediocre.
"Gentlemen, how do you find this question?" Ye Ling asked calmly.
He had already lost interest in extracting Emotion Points from them. There were still more than four hundred young candidates waiting below. There was no need to keep squeezing the old seniors.
"Oh? This is…"
Elder Wang was the first to take the talisman Ye Ling had drawn, his face full of astonishment.
He had never seen this talisman before. After studying it for quite a while, he still couldn't figure out what it did.
What shocked him even more was that every type of talisman pattern appeared on it, and each appeared only once.
That was extraordinary.
Most importantly, this talisman was not something crudely stitched together. It was clearly viable.
The only issue was that even he had no idea what its effect was before seeing it drawn.
"Not bad, not bad. Elder Zhang, take a look."
There was no way he would admit he didn't recognize it. At the very least, he couldn't be the first to say so. He quickly passed it along.
To his relief, after making the rounds, the other three elders all wore similarly puzzled expressions.
Good. So I'm not the only one who's never seen this.
"Young Friend Ye, what is the function of this talisman?" Elder Zhang asked before Elder Wang could open his mouth.
"The function?" Ye Ling blinked as if caught off guard, then smiled lightly. "This talisman has no function."
"No function?" Elder Wang frowned.
"But I see no errors in it," Elder Zhang said.
"It's indeed a correct talisman," Elder Zhao added.
"We ask Young Friend Ye for guidance," Elder Sun said, abandoning any pretense of composure.
It was currently the break between rounds. Soon, the second round would begin.
They had asked Ye Ling to set the questions to avoid further embarrassment, yet somehow even the question he posed had fallen into their blind spot.
If they didn't clarify its purpose now, were they supposed to let Ye Ling handle the next round alone?
"You're too kind," Ye Ling replied with calm composure. "This talisman represents 'All.' That's why every type of talisman pattern appears on it. But in terms of direct function, it doesn't really do anything—at least not by itself."
"All" meant completeness.
This talisman embodied the concept of totality. It could draw out the full power of other talismans.
In other words, it was a talisman meant to amplify other talismans.
"There's such a talisman in this world?" Elder Wang exclaimed.
"I've truly broadened my horizons," Elder Zhang said.
"Young Friend Ye, have you just shared a secret talisman of your sect?" Elder Zhao asked.
"I've been taught much," Elder Sun added sincerely.
In their eyes, the value of this talisman was immense. Yet from Ye Ling's expression, it was clear he didn't think much of it.
In the cultivation world, even the appearance of a single new talisman could cause a huge stir. Most talisman masters believed the Talisman Dao had already reached its limits. Any further progress bordered on a miracle.
So even if this talisman seemed to have no immediate function, its very existence was significant.
Moreover, it contained every talisman pattern. As a teaching tool for younger generations, it was invaluable. And according to Ye Ling, it could be used in conjunction with other talismans.
However, the impact Ye Ling had brought them today was simply too great. They had been in a constant state of shock.
At this point, even this revelation barely stirred their emotions any further.
"No problem. I just hope the candidates can pass."
Ye Ling wore a faint smile, looking utterly unconcerned.
A simplified character talisman like this was nothing to him. He could draw as many as he liked, with no hesitation at all.
As for ancient character-level talismans, it wasn't that he treasured them. The real issue was that they were genuinely too hard to draw. If he actually put one out, even these senior masters wouldn't be able to clear the round.
He only wanted the candidates to feel a little resentment toward him. He wasn't trying to make them fail on purpose.
They had come from far away, after all. Deliberately blocking them just for Emotion Points would be unreasonable no matter how you looked at it.
Elder Wang said, "Young Friend Ye, these talisman patterns are the most basic fundamentals for a talisman master. If someone can't even pass this, it only means their understanding of Talisman Dao isn't complete."
Elder Zhang added, "Exactly. If they can't handle even the basics and only pass by relying on predicted questions, then even if they scrape through, they're nothing but empty show."
Elder Zhao said, "It's a pity the previous talisman examinations never had a question like yours, Young Friend Ye. Otherwise, those who muddled through wouldn't have gotten away with it."
Elder Sun said, "Young Friend Ye, I suggest you exchange this talisman with the Righteous Path Alliance. You should be able to obtain a substantial amount of contribution points. Of course, if you don't care about that, you can ignore the suggestion."
"Contribution points?" Ye Ling asked, clearly interested.
"You don't know?" Elder Sun looked surprised, but he quickly recovered. He knew some disciples from secluded sects didn't pay attention to the Righteous Path Alliance's contribution system at all.
He explained, "Contribution points affect a cultivator's standing within the Righteous Path Alliance, and they can also be used to exchange for magic treasures and cultivation methods."
All orthodox sects in the cultivation world fell under the jurisdiction of the Righteous Path Alliance. In principle, orthodox cultivators were all considered part of it.
That said, aside from the Alliance's internal personnel, sects only answered its call when something involved the lives of all under heaven.
"So that's how it works. I understand," Ye Ling said, nodding.
He genuinely hadn't realized the Righteous Path Alliance ran on a system like this. Otherwise, he would have used Leng Qingqiu long ago to trade for a hefty amount of points.
A talisman like "All" could be produced endlessly anyway. It was just arranging patterns in different combinations.
The only question was what the Righteous Path Alliance actually offered in exchange. Were there truly good items? Was it worth the trouble?
"Examiner, is the question ready?" one of the staff members asked as they came over.
Naturally, with all four examiners in agreement, Ye Ling's question was taken away and set as the second-round test.
Just as Ye Ling had expected, the examination hall immediately turned into a chorus of misery.
Every discipline had specialists and weak students. Talisman Dao was no exception.
Anyone who had the fundamentals down was a genuine genius. As for those with mediocre talent, most of them had come counting on predicted questions.
But Ye Ling had thrown them a newly created talisman, one that contained every talisman pattern. Of course the candidates felt like they'd been stabbed in the gut.
"Which cursed examiner came up with this?!"
"No way, no way. Who can even draw that thing?"
"I'm done! I'm done! Is this even a question a person would set?"
"Screw this exam!"
"Whoever wrote this, come out! You dare use a fake talisman to fool me?!"
If these were ordinary students, they wouldn't cause much trouble. But everyone here was a cultivator.
Even a Qi Cultivation cultivator might not look like much, but in the eyes of mortals, they were still like immortals.
With more than a hundred candidates erupting at once, the entire hall plunged into chaos.
"Hmph…"
Elder Wang was about to speak and suppress the commotion when Ye Ling cut in.
"Elder Wang, let me handle it."
A chance like this to take the spotlight—how could he let Elder Wang steal it?
Besides, this was exactly the scene he wanted.
So—
"Silence!"
Ye Ling's voice rang out across the hall as he stepped down from the examiners' seats.
With a thought, a silencing talisman flew out from his robes and suppressed the entire examination hall. With Demonic Cultivators lurking around, he had no intention of exposing his trump cards.
"Ah-ba, ah-ba, ah-ba…"
In an instant, the whole hall was left with only one kind of sound.
"I know you're all unhappy."
Ye Ling smiled warmly at the candidates below. "I'll be straightforward. I set this question."
Just as he expected, the Emotion Points that had been climbing in small batches suddenly surged.
Perfect.
Ye Ling's expression cooled as he continued, "Anyone who thinks they can't pass can leave right now. Don't disturb everyone else."
Another flood of Emotion Points arrived.
"Finally, one last thing. Anyone who thinks this talisman is useless—"
Ye Ling raised a hand, and another talisman shot upward.
The next moment, the entire examination hall fell completely silent.