While the attention of the crowd remained on the platform and the dazzling young talents stepping up one by one, Gui Yiyi, the girl who had unknowingly captured Xuan Yi's attention, stood silently off to the side, her hands balled into small, trembling fists.
She had no idea that a Nascent Soul Realm elder of the Profound Sword Sect—the youngest in history—was watching her with intent eyes.
At this moment, all Gui Yiyi could feel was the pounding of her own heart.
Despite having been tested back at the clan before leaving for the Profound Sword Sect, her nerves refused to settle. The weight of her family's expectations pressed down on her shoulders like a mountain.
"Yiyi, don't be nervous. You've passed it before, you'll pass again,"
The voice of the Second Elder of the Gui clan came from behind her, calm but filled with suppressed tension. He tried to sound reassuring, but there was a tightness in his voice even he couldn't hide.
Gui Yiyi gave a small nod, but she said nothing.
She was still watching the platform, where Gui Lan had just finished his test.
"Gui Lan, bone age 17, Qi Condensation fifth level. Qualified."
The announcement echoed across the square.
Gui Lan stepped down, but the proud glint in his eyes from earlier had vanished. In its place was something more complicated—unease, frustration, and disbelief.
As the testing continued, reality struck him hard.
He wasn't the only one at the fifth level of Qi Condensation. In fact, he wasn't even rare.
From across the massive plaza, dozens of young cultivators stepped up to the crystals, revealing cultivation levels of the fourth, fifth, and even sixth stage of Qi Condensation—all while still under the age of twenty.
And a few of them… even reached the seventh level.
"How… how can this be?"
Gui Lan's face paled. His once-unshakable confidence was being crushed underfoot, bit by bit.
Until today, he had always believed he stood at the peak of talent in Half Moon City. Apart from Wang Fei, no one could match him.
But now…
Now, he realized he had been a frog at the bottom of a well—never once lifting his head to see the vast sky above.
The same could be said for the rest of the Gui family's disciples, who looked on in stunned silence.
Gui Yiyi didn't notice Gui Lan's inner turmoil.
Her thoughts were entirely on her turn, which had now arrived.
She stepped forward slowly and placed her trembling hand upon the glowing Violet Spirit Crystal.
A flash of light pulsed through the crystal as it analyzed her spiritual essence and bone age.
"Gui Yiyi, bone age 17, Qi Condensation fourth level. Qualified."
There was no reaction from the crowd. Her result wasn't outstanding, but it met the standard. Just another name among the masses.
Xuan Yi, watching from the high platform, tilted his head slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"She's a bit timid… and unremarkable at a glance. But she's hiding a storm beneath the surface."
Back on the ground, Gui Yiyi's expression didn't brighten, even though she had passed.
She looked around at the test results being called out one after another.
"Qi Condensation fifth level..."
"Sixth level…"
"Seventh!"
There are so many… all stronger than me.
She clenched her fists tighter.
Previously, she had believed Gui Lan was an unmatched genius—being at the fifth level of Qi Condensation at seventeen was almost monstrous in Half Moon City.
But now? Here?
Geniuses like Gui Lan were everywhere.
This wasn't Half Moon City.
This was the Profound Sword Sect, one of the greatest sects in the Southern Province.
For the first time, Gui Yiyi saw the true scale of the cultivation world—and just how far behind she was.
She wasn't the only one struck by this revelation. The other Gui family disciples began exchanging nervous glances. Even the once-arrogant Gui Lan stood in dazed silence, his fists clenched so tight they trembled.
"Yang Hong, bone age 16, Qi Condensation seventh level!"
A roar of commotion surged across the square.
Even Xuan Yi raised an eyebrow at that one.
Gui Lan felt as if his world was collapsing.
He's younger than me… and two whole stages ahead…
For the first time in his life, Gui Lan understood the pain of being ordinary.
The Second Elder stood quietly, watching his clan's youths being humbled. He let out a long sigh, his aged face lined with regret.
He wanted to encourage Gui Lan… but what could he say?
This was the harsh reality. A lesson every cultivator had to learn: the wider world was boundless, and there was always someone more talented, more powerful, more determined.
"Only after stepping out of Half Moon City did I realize how small it truly is…"
He looked at the nervous faces of the Gui family disciples.
Gui Yiyi. Gui Lan. All of them.
He knew this wasn't just a test of strength—it was a test of spirit.
But even more pressing than disappointment… was fear.
The Gui family's future rested on this recruitment.
They had hoped Gui Lan could enter the Profound Sword Sect and protect their clan.
But now, even that hope was fragile.
Because if none of them succeeded…
The consequences would be devastating.
The threat came from the Duan family, one of the three great clans of Half Moon City—rivals of the Gui clan for generations.
While their strength had once been evenly matched, that fragile balance had shattered recently.
Not long ago, a thunderclap shook Half Moon City: Duan Li, the Duan clan's top genius, had been accepted into the Witherwood Gate Sect—one of the powerful external sects.
Not only that, he had been chosen as the personal disciple of a peak eighth-level Soul Condensation Realm elder!
With this single step, the Duan family surged ahead, and the Gui family was thrown into a desperate situation.
The balance of power was no longer equal.
Now, the Gui clan's only chance of survival lay here… in this very ceremony.
If none of their disciples made it into the Profound Sword Sect…
Then the Witherwood Gate's backing of the Duan family would spell doom for the entire Gui clan.
The Gui family would fall.
And yet, as despair settled across their hearts like a storm cloud, Xuan Yi continued to observe from above—his eyes fixed on Gui Yiyi.
"She doesn't even know it yet… but she is the one who holds the fate of her clan."
"This little girl with trembling hands…"
"She may just change everything."