After this small interlude, the test continued.
About half an hour later, a timid little girl stepped onto the spirit-measuring platform.
She looked only five or six, dressed in patched old clothes, her small face thin and sallow, yet her eyes were exceptionally clear and bright.
She seemed terrified, tiny hands clutching the hem of her garment.
'Little girl, don't be afraid—put your hand on it.'
The steward encouraged her gently.
The child hesitated, then stretched out a dirty little hand and lightly touched the heaven-observing stone.
Buzz—
This time the stone reacted completely differently.
No violent hum, no blazing light; instead, a gentle yet supremely pure radiance flowed from its surface.
Within that glow, specks of starlight were naturally drawn together.
In the blink of an eye, seven stable and brilliant stellar phantoms appeared, arranging themselves into a sword-like pattern.
At the center of the seven stars, an extremely faint halo seemed to be brewing—almost an eighth star in embryo!
'Peak Seven-Star, verging on Eight-Star—and a special Physique as well?'
Liu Ruyan's voice carried a trace of surprise.
An uproar erupted below the platform again.
A ragged little girl with potential close to Eight-Star?
And a special Physique?
Yun Yun's gaze lingered on the child for a moment; she gave a slight nod.
'Remarkable bones, a Heart-Nature pure and simple—she can be shaped into something excellent.'
She did not mention it might be the signs of an Innate Sword Bone, but her praise was already the highest.
Liu Ruyan recorded the girl's name and address and told her to wait at the side.
The testing continued briskly as the sun climbed higher.
Just before noon, when the crowd was growing tired and restless—
'Hmph! Mere theatrics!'
'What Yaochi Immortal Palace? What heaven-observing stone?'
'In this old man's eyes, nothing but parlor tricks!'
A cold, sharp sneer exploded like thunder above the square!
Before the echo faded, two mighty Auras descended.
A streak of light flashed across the sky as two Elders appeared in the air above the platform, standing aloft and releasing vast pressure.
The man on the left wore gray Daoist robes, gaunt of face, eyes sinister; surging spiritual power marked him unmistakably as Late Stage Nascent Soul.
A flowing cloud emblem was embroidered on his chest.
The man on the right wore a blue-green long-gown, broad of face and mouth, expression arrogant; he too was Late Stage Nascent Soul, his lapel bearing pine-covered mountain patterns.
'It's Feiyun Sect's Grand Elder, Immortal Master Yunhe, and Qingshan Sect's Third Elder, Immortal Master Tiesong!'
Someone cried out in recognition.
Feiyun Sect and Qingshan Sect were both first-rate Sects within the Great Yan Dynasty, with Soul Transformation experts presiding!
Usually high above, the three great Families of Qingyang City had to defer to them.
Their joint arrival now clearly boded ill!
The two Late Stage Nascent Soul experts released their pressure without restraint.
Like mountains pressing upon the square, it left many low-level Cultivators and Mortals pale; chaos swept the scene.
Liu Beihai, Liu Beichuan and the others sprang to their feet, faces grim, confronting a Mortal foe.
Liu Ruyan's heart clenched; instinctively she looked toward Yun Yun.
Yun Yun remained seated, not even lifting an eyelid, merely lifting the spirit-tea from the side table.
As though she had long expected such a disturbance.
'Liu Beihai!'
Feiyun Sect's Immortal Master Yunhe's voice was shrill, his gaze knife-sharp as it swept the high platform.
'You have gall! Without permission from our Sects you dare set up a branch here and recruit Disciples?'
'And send the promising Cultivators of our Great Yan Dynasty to that so-called "Yaochi Immortal Palace"?'
'Do our Sects even exist in your eyes?'
Immortal Master Tiesong was even more direct; his eyes raked over the heaven-observing stone and he sneered.
'A mere broken rock and you claim it can measure talent and potential?'
'The Liu Family must have stumbled upon some so-called Opportunity and now dares look down on our Qingshan Sect?'
With that, he waved his hand; cyan spiritual power formed a huge palm that grabbed straight for the heaven-observing stone upon the platform!
This was not only an insult to the Liu Family but also a naked provocation against the Yaochi Immortal Palace!
'Stop!'
Liu Beihai's eyes nearly split; Early Stage Nascent Soul Aura erupted as he prepared to block it, though he knew he was no match.
Liu Ruyan clenched her fists, the Samsara Dao Scripture circulating at full speed within her.
The crowd below cried out in shock!
No one had imagined the Yaochi Immortal Palace's test would draw two top-Sect Nascent Soul Elders to intervene in person!
Just as the cyan giant hand was about to touch the heaven-observing stone—
'Insolence!'
A calm, clear woman's voice rang out softly.
It wasn't loud, yet it carried a strange cadence that instantly drowned out every exclamation, pressure, and chaos.
It was Yun Yun.
She set down the teacup in her hand.
She made no visible movement, didn't even lift her head.
She simply raised her right hand, extended a slender jade finger, and casually traced a line across the sky.
The motion was gentle, almost offhand, like brushing away nonexistent dust from her sleeve.
Yet, the instant her fingertip swept past—
a formless, near-invisible sliver of light, sharp enough to slice space, flashed and vanished.
Time seemed to stretch and freeze.
The cyan spiritual-energy giant hand that had been surging toward the heaven-observing stone
melted away like snow under sunlight, erasing itself without a ripple.
Iron Pine Immortal Master and Cloud Crane Immortal Master, still hovering midair, hadn't had time for their arrogance and coldness to shift.
In the next instant, both of their pupils contracted violently, filled with utter horror and bewilderment!
They sensed an intent they could neither grasp nor resist—an intent above their comprehension—locking onto them.
It wasn't a blast of spiritual energy or a Divine Ability crushing them, but a more fundamental, higher-order force of 'rule.'
Pop! Pop!
Two faint, almost inaudible thuds.
Before everyone's stunned eyes, Cloud Crane Immortal Master, Grand Elder of Feiyun Sect, and Iron Pine Immortal Master, Third Elder of Qingshan Sect—
these two Late Stage Nascent Soul great Cultivators who dominated the region and whom Qingyang City looked up to—crumbled like sand sculptures scattered by the wind, turning from their feet upward into the finest ash, dispersing soundlessly in the air.
No screams, no struggle, no eruption of spiritual energy, no splash of blood.
Even the Magic Treasures on their bodies and their Storage Pouches dissolved into nothingness.
It was as if they had never existed.
Only a faint Dao ripple unique to a Nascent Soul Cultivator's fall lingered in the air, proving it had not been an illusion.
The plaza sank into deathly silence.
One could have heard a pin drop.
Thousands stared wide-eyed, mouths agape, yet no one uttered a sound.
Whether it was Liu Beihai, a Nascent Soul Cultivator, or a Qi Refining Loose Cultivator, or even Mortals without the slightest cultivation, all froze, minds blank.
What… had just happened?
Two great Late Stage Nascent Soul Cultivators… gone, just like that?
Erased—by the woman on the high platform who, from start to finish, had spoken only two words and moved a single finger?
Liu Beihai felt ice in his veins, cold sweat instantly drenching his back.
He had guessed Senior Yun's depth was unfathomable, but never imagined it could be this terrifying!
Those were two Late Stage Nascent Souls!
Not two ants!
Even a Fusion mighty figure could never have wiped out two Nascent Soul Cultivators so silently.
What Realm was Vice Palace Master Yun in?
Peak Fusion? Mahayana? Or… he dared not think further…
Liu Ruyan, standing nearby, was likewise shaken beyond words; she knew the Vice Palace Master might be strong,
but seeing her act firsthand, the visual and mental impact still surpassed imagination.
Lin Fan, lost in the crowd, felt the shame and resentment from his test results drowned by boundless terror and lingering dread.
His grandfather had actually questioned her just now?
If that Vice Palace Master had cared the slightest… he shuddered, unwilling to imagine further.
The Zhao Family head and every other Family head and Cultivator held their breath in silence.
Their gaze toward Yun Yun brimmed with awe, as though looking up at a deity above the clouds.
Yun Yun slowly withdrew her finger, as though she had merely done something trivial.
She lifted her teacup again and took a light sip.
Her calm gaze swept over the still-petrified crowd below, and her gentle voice once more broke the suffocating silence:
"The test continues."
Four words, flat and unremarkable.
Yet they exploded like thunder in every Soul present!
"Y-yes! The test continues! Quickly! Next!"
Liu Beichuan was first to react, voice trembling as he forced himself to call out.
The stewards snapped awake and hurried to keep order.
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