Chapter 149 - Gradings   Lin Yun pressed on while there were still meteors in the sky and began absorbing as much as he could. The meteors were reflected in his eyes throughout the process. They would grow bigger and transform into worlds. Ultimately, they turned into ancient memory fragments that poured into his mind.

One, two, three…twenty!

This time, Lin Yun had absorbed twenty meteors, which was 50% faster than the first time.

My soul grew stronger? Lin Yun pondered. It looked like this Sky Piercer Altar was truly incredible.

Not wasting another thought, Lin Yun closed his eyes and began to absorb the insights from the memory fragments. The content of some insights might be boring for others, but it was interesting for Lin Yun. Deep in his heart, Lin Yun was filled with excitement. He was like a sponge absorbing the insights.

Lin Yun repeated this process three times. When he opened his eyes for the fourth time, the sky was completely dark without a single meteor. Instead, the flame that seemed close yet distant reappeared once more.

Whoosh!

When Lin Yun was having doubts and didn’t know what to do next, blank jade strips appeared and hovered before him.

“Test candidates, please write down what you’ve comprehended on the jade strip, the more, the better. They will also be graded.” A voice sounded out in Lin Yun’s mind.

Lin Yun was shocked and looked around. It felt strange having someone’s voice in your mind. Could it be that there was someone else around here?

“Don’t bother to look for me. I am the Sky Piercer Altar’s spirit. I am responsible for this space. I am everywhere, but at the same time I am nowhere. Please hurry up and complete the test given to you by me.” Another voice sounded out in his mind, answering Lin Yun’s doubts.

So it’s the artifact’s spirit… This ancient sect had been destroyed for so many years, but the artifact’s spirit still existed.

Lin Yun pondered briefly before he placed the jade strip against his forehead. Words were being transmitted from his mind into the jade strip, containing all of his dao comprehensions.

It was neither a difficult process nor a long process for Lin Yun to copy his comprehensions into the jade strips that he was given. Lin Yun had quickly filled them all.

Whoosh!

The jade strips turned into a streak of light and flew towards the flame.

“Examination?” A smile appeared on Lin Yun’s face. He felt like he was taking an exam, with the jade strip as paper. That was good because no one could cheat in this manner.

In another space, the jade strip exploded when it flew into the flame.

“What’s going on?” Mei Zihua’s face froze with a dazed and puzzled look.

“That’s an incorrect comprehension. The test candidate must not practice based on what you’ve comprehended. Otherwise, you will run amok and the consequences will be disastrous.”

“I’m wrong…” Mei Zihua knitted his brows. The confident look he had a moment ago disappeared.

A moment later, Mei Zihua spoke in a low voice, “It looks like aside from testing the comprehension, this is also the Sky Piercer Altar’s detection, preventing disciples from walking on the wrong path. But my first jade strip exploded, so how much of it was correct?”

Obviously, the Sky Piercer Altar wouldn’t give him any martial techniques if the results weren’t good enough. If you didn’t have sufficient comprehension, the martial techniques would be a waste even if they were given.

Mei Zihua frowned. Most people who entered the Sky Piercer Altar had experienced the same situation and their faces didn’t look good. All of them thought that they would be able to obtain an opportunity by entering the altar with their strength. They were confident in themselves.

But when they came in, they realized that it wasn’t that simple. The Sky Piercer Altar had a dao preaching duty and the test would naturally be strict, preventing any flukes. Without sufficient comprehension and talent, it was impossible to gain anything.

“Interesting… Since ancient times, it has been difficult to measure comprehension. But I never expect that this ancient sect would have such an accurate test.” Bai Lixuan wrote a total of thirty jade strips and only two exploded. It meant that the rest were correct.

Unlike aptitude and martial soul that could be tested, comprehension was somewhat vague. Photographic memory could be considered a form of high comprehension, but measuring it had always been difficult for most sects.

So as far as the sect was concerned, a disciple’s aptitude and martial soul were more important. You could glance at how much potential a disciple had with just a glance.

“Lord Spirit, how is my result?” Bai Lixuan stood pridefully with confidence, looking at the jade strips flying to the flame.

“Three and a half stars,” replied the artifact’s spirit.

“What’s the full marks?” asked Bai Lixuan.

The artifact’s spirit answered, “Five stars.”

Bai Lixuan knitted his brows. If the max was five stars, three and a half stars was considered a good result.

“How is my result?” he asked.

“Great. Half of the test candidates here only have one star and there aren’t many with two stars.” The Sky Piercer Altar’s emotionless voice sounded out.

Bai Lixuan smiled when he heard those words.

“Lord Spirit, how’s my result?” Lin Yun did not count, but he had written roughly sixty jade strips. Furthermore, all of them were correct.

But the artifact’s spirit did not answer his question. After a while later, Lin Yun couldn’t help asking again, “Lord Spirit, how’s my result?”

“Six stars!” The artifact’s spirit replied with an emotionless voice.

“Six stars?” Lin Yun was stunned before he smiled bitterly. The test of an ancient sect was truly strict. Out of ten stars, he had only obtained six stars.

“The first round has ended and the second round will soon begin. Please be prepared for it,” said the artifact’s spirit.

“There’s another round?” Lin Yun listened to the explanation given by the artifact’s spirit with a grave expression.

“Based on the difficulty of all your martial techniques, the Ferocious Tiger Fist is worth half a star; the Flowing Sword Art is worth one star, the Thunderclap Sword Art is worth two and a half stars, the Divine Flickering Sword is worth five stars, while the Dragon-Tiger Fist is worth six stars. Please pick one martial technique to comprehend and practice.” Lin Yun’s face appeared in a daze when he heard the artifact’s spirit. He now knew the purpose of the Sky Piercer Altar. The first round tested his comprehension and the second round tested how you convert those comprehensions into strength.

So the comprehensive score was the final result. In a nutshell, you were tested on applying what you’ve learned.

After briefly pondering, Lin Yun asked, “What do you mean by the difficulty?”

“The lower the difficulty, the higher the requirements. You will only get half a star if you practice your Flowering Wind Sword to complete mastery, two stars for the Thunderclap Sword Art to greater mastery. As for the Divine Flicking Sword, you’re required to reach the initial mastery for three stars and five stars for lesser mastery.” The artifact’s spirit explained.

Lin Yun thought about it and found it reasonable. After all, it would be too unfair if he could obtain the same result with the Flowing Wind Sword and Thunderclap Sword,

“Then why is the Dragon-Tiger Fist’s difficulty so high?” Lin Yun curiously asked. Based on his understanding, the Divine Flicking Sword should be more terrifying than the Dragon-Tiger Fist.

“The Dragon-Tiger Fist should be four and a half stars, but it’s an incomplete martial technique that requires you to complete it with your comprehension. This is the reason why the difficulty is raised. You can make a choice, but you won’t be able to change once decided.” The voice of the artifact's spirit sounded out calmly.

So that was the case. Completing an incomplete martial technique was truly more difficult. But it was difficult making a choice.

He obviously couldn’t choose the Thunderclap Sword Art since it was only two and a half stars. So he was only left with the Dragon-Tiger Fist and Divine Finger Sword.

The Divine Finger Sword had a total of five stages. The First Stage—Flashing Aura, Flicking Fingers; Second Stage—Graceful Moment, Absolute Hit; Third Stage—Heart Connection, Spiritual Sword; Fourth Stage—Pinnacle Finger, Great Disaster; Fifth Stage—Fingers Flick, Descending Stars.

It meant that he had to reach the second stage for initial mastery. But Lin Yun was only barely able to condense his aura to hurt others. As for lesser mastery, it meant that he had to reach the third stage.

It wasn’t an easy task. After all, the artifact’s spirit wouldn’t have graded five stars for lesser mastery. The Dragon-Tiger Fist was also difficult. If he were stuck, then he wouldn’t be able to grab a single star.

Lin Yun was in a dilemma, should he pick five stars or six stars? While he was experiencing a dilemma, there was someone else cursing.

“What the hell? My Breaking Army Fist is only one and a half stars? Doesn’t that mean that even if it reaches complete mastery, I will only get one star?” Mei Zihua was boiling in anger. He never imagined that his Breaking Army Fist would be a garbage martial technique.

However, the artifact’s spirit did not care about his complaint.

“What should I do…my strongest martial technique is only two stars and I’ll have to reach complete mastery to get the two stars.”

“How the hell is the difficulty graded?” complained Mei Zihua.

In each individual world, most of the cultivators were vexed. Several Quasi-Profound Martial Realm cultivators wore a bitter face. The artifact’s spirit only graded their martial techniques as half a star.

When they asked the artifact’s spirit, they were informed that they were too old and did not value nurturing. If those in the outside world knew about this, they would surely be gloating. With half a star, they would definitely get nowhere.

“The Star Pointing Sword is only three stars? This is an Intermediate Xiantian Martial Technique from the Sword Firmament Pavilion and no one managed to reach greater mastery with it for the past few hundred years…” Bai Lixuan muttered to himself. He wasn’t furious because an ancient sect’s horizon would definitely be higher than the current era.

If the maximum was five stars, getting three stars was already a high evaluation.

“Let’s take this opportunity to get the Star Pointing Sword to greater perfection. Getting three stars isn’t bad!” Bai Lixuan had absorbed many dao insights, so he was confident about reaching greater mastery with his Star Pointing Sword. If it was successful, then it could be considered a great harvest in the Azure Sun Realm.

“The time is up. Please tell me about your choice.” The voice of the artifact's spirit rang out in Lin Yun’s mind, giving him the final notice.

“I chose to complete the Dragon-Tiger Fist!” Lin Yun’s eyes flickered. He made his choice.