Talent

Shi Hou smiled as he looked around the room.

"Well, it's time to move on to the next trial."

"It's the easiest one of them all. After all, all you have to do is just stand there. Follow me out please." He said as he started walking toward the exit.

Everyone quickly followed behind him and the whole crowd exited the pavilion.

As he passed through the door, Li Feng could see the old man still holding the door, leaning against it.

The old man looked completely different than before, though.

He no longer had a drowsy look on his face, and his eyes were wide open. His wrinkles were more prominent than before, and his skin was as pale as the moon.

The moment everyone had left the Pavilion, the old man let go of the door and stepped back.

As he did, the doors slammed shut in front of him almost instantly, with the loud thud signifying just how heavy the doors were.

Li Feng bowed down slightly at the old man.

"Thank you, elder. I am sure we would be in trouble if it weren't for you." He said.

The old man glanced at Li Feng before turning away, dragging himself to the desk on the side.

"It's just my job. Get going now." He said, the laziness still present.

Li Feng sighed as he quickly started catching up to the crowd that had walked past him.

The old man looked up once again at the departing group.

"Interesting crowd. Do their parents know they're here?" He muttered as he shook his head.

"The sect is going to get lively. I hate this." He sighed as he slumped back onto the desk.

Li Feng quickly stood at the back of the crowd as everyone ground to a halt a few minutes later.

They were in a giant field, close to the staircase that led to the main sect.

As the crowd was sparse now, Li Feng could see Shi Hou in the front.

Standing in front of everyone else, he snapped his fingers and a giant podium appeared in front of him.

"This, right here, is where we are going to test your talents." Shi Hou said.

"As you may already know, talents are of the constitution, spirit, and soul. Body, Spirit, Soul. Whatever you may call it. And the grade of your talent is split into the seven realms. Mortal, Lord, King, Saint, Emperor, Immortal, Heavenly.

Of course, I am not expecting any of you to have anything better than Lord or King. And some of you might not even have a Mortal rank, and will be classified as Trash." Shi Hou said.

"But do not worry. Talent is only half the equation. You can only become truly strong if you learn to rely on something else. Your will. But talent, regardless, is important." He sighed.

"All of you will come forward and spill a drop of blood on the machine. It will classify your Physique, and your Spirit."

"What about the soul? Why are we not testing the soul?" Someone in the back asked.

Almost instantly, a haughty looking young woman glanced at him and shook her head.

"Commoners. Having a mortal soul in itself is a talent that one in ten thousand have. Testing your soul when it is guaranteed to be some trash soul is useless and everyone knows that." She said.

Shi Hou shook his head.

"We do not test the soul, for in its essence, we are the Seven Sword Sect. And our sect does not delve in the soul. Testing the soul might be expensive, but if we are a sect that uses soul arts, then we would test you in the soul." He said.

Immediately, the girl's face soured as she looked at the person who just spoke.

Li Feng could predict what was going to happen between the two of them after the trials.

"Well, we will start testing your talents now. Form a line and we will start." He said.

Li Feng was at the very back of the crowd, so when everyone started pushing and shoving each other to stand in a single file, he was pushed all the way to the back.

As he leaned to the right to look forward, he could see who was at the very front.

It was the woman who had spoken arrogantly just now.

She stepped up and looked at Shi Hou.

"One drop of blood. No more. We don't want some puddle forming." He said as he handed her a needle.

The woman nodded as she pricked her finger and put it over the giant ball on top of the machine.

A red drop started accumulating before it fell on the ball, splattering all over it.

The machine started to light up, and all of a sudden, a small screen appeared holographically above it.

"Constitution: Lord.

Spirit: Trash"

The woman turned around with a haughty smile on her face.

"I already tested my talents a long time ago. You mere commoners should know your place. Your lineage will give you at best a mortal physique and some trash talent." She said as she walked to the side.

Shi Hou shook his head.

He stepped up to the machine and waved his hand over it.

The little blood that was on top of the machine disappeared, and the screen on top also vanished. He then touched the smooth ball, and Li Feng could make out a small, white spark between Shi Hou's hand and the machine.

"Next."

The next comer was none other than the veiled lady that no one wanted to near.

She stepped up in front of the machine and pinched her fingers.

Without the help of any needle, a single drop of blood, no little and no less, fell on the machine.

Ding!

All of a sudden, the machine shook vigorously as a bright screen appeared above it.

"Constitution: Saint

Spirit: King"

Immediately, everyone glared at the veiled woman with shock and awe.

"A saint constitution? Didn't he say that he expected nothing better than king? That means that she is one of the most talented ever, doesn't it?" Li Feng put two and two together.

The woman looked away as a napkin appeared in her hands. She wiped off the blood on her hand, and walked to the side.

She Hou shook his head with disbelief.

"Nothing else can be expected, can it. When I saw those two, what else should I have expected?" He sighed.

"Next"

Gentle Sword called out this time as he waved his hand, and the blood on the machine disappeared.

This time, it was another young man that Li Feng had met before.

It was the mysterious boy that was clad in yellow robes.

The boy went up and looked at Shi Hou.

"Can I get the needle please?" He asked.

Shi Hou nodded, and the boy used the needle to drop the blood onto the machine.

Ding!

Once again, the machine rattled around and everyone knew what to expect.

"Constitution: Lord

Spirit: Saint."

Everyone gasped again.

"Another saint talent. His overall talent may be lower, but this time, it's the spirit that is of the saint level." Li Feng looked at them.

"Are saint level talents that common? For two of them to appear in the same breath?" Someone said on the side.

Shi Hou sighed and shook his head.

"Next."

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