Assessment Match

Yang Yi walked over and helped Zhou Yan up.

The latter was still in disbelief. His arm was hurting and he wore a strange expression.

"How did you become so strong?" He asked the question after a long pause.

He originally thought that Yang Yi had broken through to the Blood Refining stage out of luck and he would definitely be able to catch up. However, this gap seemed to be getting wider and wider.

"I've already broken through to the Bone Refining realm. Yang Yi did not hide anything.

The two of them were close to each other. There was no need to hide it.

"..." Zhou Yan's expression froze.

When the gap between him and the other person was small, he would have thought of catching up.

However, when the gap was too big, he was left with helplessness.

"You bastard!"

He swung his fist at Yang Yi, then sighed and said, "That's a good thing. It's better for you to advance further than for the both of us to be stuck at the Blood Refining stage."

After breaking through to the Blood Refining stage, Zhou Yan understood the importance of aptitude even more.

If Yang Yi had the aptitude for a breakthrough, that was a good thing.

If he could go one step further and break through to the Spiral Force realm and enter the inner sect, then he would also have a chance to bask in the glory.

The two of them continued to spar with each other for a while. It would be more apt to say that Yang Yi was giving Zhou Yan a lesson.

Yang Yi returned to his residence alone.

Up until now, he had never forgotten the pressure that Zhao Heng had given him.

"He's only at the Cauldron Assembling stage! In comparison, isn't Senior Brother Liu Yang from the Dao Yang Court, who won by half a move, stronger?"

Yang Yi pursed his lips. He knew that now was not the time for him to be complacent.

A Bone Refining cultivator could be considered a mainstay in the outer sect or in the towns around the mountains.

However, in the eyes of the higher-ups of the sect, it was still not enough.

Even though they were all inner disciples, the gap between them was still huge. Zhao Heng and Liu Yang were undoubtedly among the outstanding ones. Even Zhuang Chenglu made Yang Yi feel a sense of uncertainty.

The night passed in a trance.

Yang Yi routinely meditated and cultivated, and then set off to the training field.

The training field was particularly lively today. Nearly 1,000 outer disciples were gathered there, and there were even a few patches of purple clothes that could be seen occasionally.

"The pairings for the competition has been posted. Go have a look." Mu Hengshan sat on the chair. He did not seem to care about this matter at all.

A few disciples on duty with armbands maintained the order of the scene.

Yang Yi followed the crowd to check his own pairing.

"Gu He." He saw the name of his opponent.

"Yang Yi? Why are you in the Bone Refining group?" Someone called out to him from behind.

Yang Yi turned around and found that the person was Han Houchun, who had been selling him demonic beast meat.

"Senior Brother Han." He walked out of the crowd and explained with a smile, "I had a lucky breakthrough recently..."

"Breakthrough? If I remember correctly, you've only been in the outer sect for two months."

Han Houchun sucked in a breath of cold air.

Breaking through to the Bone Refining stage in two months, it could be said that he would definitely advance to the inner sect in the future.

He looked at Yang Yi even more fervently.

"I knew it. I felt that your future was limitless when I first saw you."

"I was just lucky," Yang Yi replied modestly and then asked, "Senior Brother Han, do you know much about Senior Brother Gu He?"

"He's your opponent? I'm not familiar with him either. I've heard that his strength is ranked in the middle of the Bone Refining stage. He has some tricks up his sleeve." Han Houchun chuckled, "You've just broken through and you're about to take the test. You're really unlucky. However, the reward for winning is nothing much. With your family background, I don't think you'll fancy it. You should treat this as a sparring session to get to know where you stand."

He did not think that Yang Yi would be able to win this match.

Gu He conformed with the norms, but Yang Yi achieved breakthroughs within a short span of time.

Yang Yi smiled and did not say much.

The test began immediately.

The test area of the training field was split into two sides. One side was the Bone Refining group, and the other side was the Blood Refining group.

There were relatively few people in the Bone Refining group.

However, there were occasionally people at the Blood Refining level who came to join in the fun. Zhou Yan was one of them.

"How does this Senior Brother compare to you?"

"The Wa Leg Technique's attacks have a wider reach. I'm starting to regret cultivating the Grappling Technique."

"The disciples of the Bone Refining group can use weapons. Isn't this too much of a disadvantage for us bare-handed people?" Zhou Yan seemed to have come to watch a show. He kept commenting, and it was starting to bother Yang Yi.

However, in this round of the competition, one of the disciples wielded a saber. This indeed made Yang Yi realize something.

The Blood Refining group's matches did not allow the use of weapons. Even if one's main martial arts were saber techniques or sword techniques, they were all treated equally. Only when it came to the Bone Refining stage was this restriction lifted.

"After Bone Refining, a warrior's skin, Qi, blood, and even bones are tempered. The advantage of a weapon isn't so great. Moreover, everyone shows restraint in this match. Fighting with a weapon can help disciples accumulate some experience for when they venture out in the future, so there are no restrictions," Yang Yi explained.

After the Bone Refining realm, many who could not break through to the Spiral Force realm for a long time chose to leave the sect.

It was always good to accumulate more experience in fighting the enemy.

However, in this competition, the one with the Saber won in the end.

"Next, Yang Yi will fight Gu He," the disciple on duty shouted.

"It's your turn." Zhou Yan patted Yang Yi's shoulder. "Good luck. It's not shameful even if you lose."

A wicked smile appeared on his face, as if he could not wait to see Yang Yi make a fool of himself.

"I might not lose." Yang Yi was quite confident. He pushed the crowd aside and walked up to the stage.

Gu He followed closely behind. He had brass knuckles.

"Hey, isn't this too despicable? It's one thing to use a sword, but using a weapon with your fists?" Zhou Yan could not help but commented from below the stage.

"Which rule says that those who use fists can't bring weapons?" Gu He glanced at Zhou Yan.

After all, there was a gap between their ranks. Even though Zhou Yan was indignant, he gave up.

"You're called Yang Yi, right? It's you're first time participating in the test, so it's inevitable that you're not well-prepared. This is also my first lesson for you juniors."

Gu He took off his shirt and tied it around his waist, revealing his bulky muscles.

"I heard that you cultivate the Mountain-hugging Fist as well. Come, let's see whose fist is harder." He clenched his fist with the brass knuckles. He was clearly harboring evil intentions.

"The test begins."

The disciple on duty below the stage shouted coldly.

"Ha!" Gu He charged first.

His fists kept at his waist, and when he got close to Yang Yi, he shot out.

Yang Yi easily dodged a punch. Another punch was aimed at Yang Yi's abdomen.

Yang Yi's gaze slightly focused.

His opponent's movements were swift and decisive.

Each punch was extremely heavy. Even without the brass knuckles, the lethality could not be underestimated.

He bent his body like a cooked shrimp and dodged the punch. Then, he exerted strength on the tip of his feet and jumped backward.

"Is dodging all you can do?"

Gu He pressed forward again. He did not hold back just because Yang Yi was a rookie.

His expression was resolute and his gaze was like a falcon as he locked onto Yang Yi.

The moment Yang Yi made a move, he followed closely behind. His fist unceremoniously struck at Yang Yi's blind spot.

Yang Yi stretched out his hand to push it away. He did not meet it head-on, but retreated as he fought.

Gu He's brows were heavy.

His punches became more and more chaotic and fierce. It was Mountain Shaker move.

Yang Yi did not dodge. His arm was hit by a punch, and the pain was explosive!

He retreated repeatedly. Unexpectedly, Gu He had already taken precautions and quickly closed in on him.

His fists were like a mountain as they smashed towards Yang Yi.

This punch followed closely behind Yang Yi's retreating steps. When he got closer, he could not react in time to dodge.

Yang Yi did not expect that his opponent would be so fierce in an ordinary test. Every move wanted to kill him.

He was a little angry.

Since he could not dodge, he might as well face it.

He relaxed his body and let his body sense his opponent's punches.

Whoosh!

Gu He's fist whizzed over.

The expected sound of bones cracking did not appear.

Yang Yi's figure was like a fallen leaf, drifting away leisurely!

The movements he made to dodge were very slight. He merely twisted his waist, but he actually dodged this fatal punch.

Gu He used too much strength, and his footsteps staggered. When he came back to his senses, he realized that a chill was coming from his back.

He had just turned his head when Yang Yi's fist came at him. A few extremely fast punches landed on Gu He's face, and it immediately split open.

The more Yang Yi punched, the fiercer he became. He turned Gu He's head 90 degrees with a backhand punch.

Then, he threw another punch at his abdomen, knocking him back a few steps.

Gu He was in unbearable pain, and his eyes were bleeding. Even so, he still refused to give up. He roared and rushed forward, gathering all his strength into his punch.

Yang Yi made up his mind and did not retreat. He clenched his fist and charged forward, colliding with the other party's fist.

Their fists collided. Yang Yi's fist was bleeding profusely, but the other party's fist seemed to have smashed into a wall and shattered.