"The child of Jin Kuo you say?" the elder asked with a bright smile.
"Y-yes..." stammered Li Jun, unsure of what was going on.
After a few moments, the purple-robed elder regained his bearings and looked at Li Jun. He let out a long sigh before beginning to speak.
"Jin Kuo was a womanizer. He was a mere inner disciple and has long since been dead. That night he died, women came from all across the city to kill him," the purple-robed elder said coldly.
"Ever since then, we've had numerous people like you, saying that they're the son of Jin Kuo, hoping that they would be able to get some benefits from the Dao Sect, only to walk away dejected," he continued.
"But then-"
"I'm sorry child. There's nothing I can do for you." the purple-robed elder waved his hand and a gust of wind suddenly appeared, carrying the shocked Li Jun away.
"Brother what happened?" asked Li Xiu and Li Jing.
Li Jun looked at the ground with dark eyes. The hope that he had pinned for was merely a womanizer that played with his mother. The thought of it infuriated him.
The sisters looked at LI Jun with worried eyes, and a few moments later, Li Jun came to his senses.
"It's nothing," he sighed, preparing to leave the building with his siblings.
However, before he could do so, the same purple-robed elder's voice resounded.
"Child, try your luck with your siblings. Should you three have the talent, our Dao Sect will accept you and your siblings with open arms," said the elder from afar.
Li Jun looked back and contemplated.
If he does succeed, he would have to deal with unruly people like Zhang Wang, and the Dao Sect could be darker than the image they put up. However, if he doesn't succeed, wouldn't he be publicly shaming himself after bringing up Jin Kuo?
He looked at his sisters who started back at him with expectant gazes. Li Jun mustered up his courage and went forward. He stood in a batch of 40 people, all of them waiting for their group to be called up.
A few minutes later, it was time.
'Rise above the masses, and soar above the clouds. Or fall deeper. Xiu and Jing may not realize it right now, but we have no place to fall back on after this...' Li Jun thought silently as he went up onto the stage.
There were 50 pillars laid out across from him. A voice resounded in his mind, as well as the others, instructing them on what to do.
"It's simple. Hit the pillars with all your might, don't worry, you won't hurt yourself. It won't matter if you don't know any technique, the pillars will balance it out."
Li Jun nodded and walked up to one of the pillars, while Li Xiu and Li Jing took the pillars beside him. The pillar in front of him gave him a weird feeling that he couldn't grasp.
Li Jun suddenly felt the familiar power enter his bones once more. His body shivered in excitement as if it was anticipating the moment it could fight.
He took a deep breath and made a fist, and after a second, he sent out his fist. A surprising gust of wind was created as his fist shot towards the pillar with lightning speed. His fist hit the pillar, but there was no noise or pain that one would expect.
Looking at Li Jun, right after he sent out his fist, his sisters did the same thing, breathing in and sending out their fist, trying to emulate him.
A few seconds later, the pillar in front of Li Jun emitted a vibrant black. The purple-robed elders overseeing the assessment were shocked. Their eyes jolted at the pillar as they tried to take in the information in front of them.
Not many people know, but there are typically 7 grades that the pillar would give in this assessment.
From weakest to strongest it would be: yellow, orange, green, blue, indigo, violet, red.
However, there were actually grades above red, which were: golden and black. Black was the highest, but since the beginning of the Dao Sect, there have been only a handful of golden talents and one black talent.
However, this is counting the entirety of the Dao Sect, which had a main headquarters and an uncountable number of branches spreading throughout the world! In a branch like the Golden Lion City branch, the best they've gotten was at violet!
The purple-robed elders crept their eyes towards Li Xiu and Li Jing, but were disappointed to find that their talent was only at a mere green. Though it was average, compared to black, it was like comparing a firefly to the sun.
The elders secretly sent each other mental transmissions, discussing what to do with Li Jun.
"Should we report this to the golden-robed elders?"
"We'll do it after assessing his soul talent. However, with his body talent alone, he would be able to reign supreme for countless years!"
"Our Dao Sect has truly reaped a big harvest!"
"Elder Kuang, how did you know that he was a grand talent?"
"Oh? Hahahahahaha...."
The purple-robed elders quickly got rid of the shock on their face and put on poker faces. It was best to hook in talent without feeding their ego too much, or else they would simply turn out to be a dud.
After completing the pillar assessment, the trio moved forward to the orb assessment.
"Put your hands on the orb and immerse yourself," the instructions were vague, but Li Jun put his hands on the orb.
Instantly, he felt as if he was doused in cold water. His mind became clearer and his thoughts became sharper. He felt as if his soul was about to leave his body and ascend to heaven.
His vision warped and Li Jun lost all sense of reality. He tried to look at his hands, only to see nothing! The orb assessment would see how far Li Jun would reach by cleansing his soul and bringing out his potential.
A transformation of soul and mind was about to occur! Li Jun felt as if he was savoring in eternal bliss at this moment. He could no longer feel his body, but his mind felt as if it was all-encompassing.
However, a few moments later, his mind returned to normal and his consciousness was back in his body. In front of him were bloodshot purple-robed elders, looking at his orb and him as if he was a cake from the sky.
"A-astonishing!"
"Li Jun, you must come with us right this moment!"
The elders surrounded him, and Li Xiu and Li Jing ran at Li Jun, worried that the elders were up to something. After all, they had just seem him be laughed at by all the elders, and now he was completely surrounded by a group of intimidating old folk.
"Xiu! Jing!" Li Jun reached for his sisters. The elders simply let them pass by, uncaring. Their entire attention was on what Li Jun would do from here.
The rating for the orb assessment was the same, but Li Jun got black again! Was he the reincarnation of the heavenly dao?! The idea of a being with peerless talent in both fields was horrifying!
Those with red talent could fight from across half a realm, those with golden talent could fight across an entire realm, but those with black talent could challenge opponents beyond their current realm!
Furthermore, their cultivation speed would leave everyone in the dust!
"Li Jun, join the Dao Sect! We will guarantee that you will receive the finest treatment! Even emperors will have to kneel to your presence!" exclaimed Elder Kuang.
"I've already notified the golden-robed elders, they'll be here soon from headquarters," said one of the purple-robed elders.
This was their opportunity to rise and rule the world! There were three great sects: Beyond Heaven Sect, Dao Sect, and Extinction Sect. Each of these sects ruled their own respective region, and had an unimaginable amount of influence!
However, the highest talent that the each of the three sects had at the moment were golden talents in both body and soul! However, compared to Li Jun, the three Heavenly Sons of the great sects were trash!
With Li Jun at the forefront, who could stop them?
"Elders, I'm not sure what's going on," exclaimed Li Jun. He had no conception of the talent system, and thus had no clue why the elders were in a frenzy.
Suddenly, a warp in space and time appeared behind the purple-robed elders. The purple-robed elders' eyes were filled with shock as they kneeled.
"Greetings to the golden-robed elders!" they said in unison. They were surprised at how fast that the golden-robed elders had arrived, it should be noted that purple-robed elders were only capable of teleporting 100,000 km, but the golden-robed elders had teleported 10,000,000 km!
Fear and respect rose up inside Li Jun's heart as he saw the proud, strong purple-robed elders kneel to the golden-robed elders. Likewise, he did the same, gesturing for Li Xiu and Li Jing to do the same, lest they get offended.
"You are Li Jun?" the grand ethereal voice of one of the golden-robed elder resounded in the building. By this time, though the rest of the people in the building had no idea who the golden-robed elders were, they still kneeled as a sign of fear and respect.
"Elder, yes this lowly one is Li Jun," replied Li Jun, cupping his hands.
"We'll be bringing him back then," said one of the other golden-robed elders. The elder waved his hand, encasing Li Jun in a transparent sphere and bringing him over.
"Wait! Elders, please bring my siblings as well!" shouted Li Jun.
The golden-robed elders were cold, but Li Xiu and Li Jing were brought over as well. Though they didn't do good as him, they still achieved green talent in both body and soul, which would be acceptable as maids.
In a flash, Li Jun, Li Xiu, and Li Jing were in a golden palace. The contrast with the golden spiritual stone walls and their shabby clothing was enormous.
In the palace were 11 chairs. The chairs were made out of the finest top-grade spiritual stones, and had numerous inscriptions carved onto them. It wouldn't be an overestimation to say that just one of the chairs would cost more than a low-ranked country!
Out of the 11 chairs, 6 were filled. The middle-aged man in the middle had no aura, but his presence put a subtle invisible pressure on everyone in the room. The middle chair was particularly embodied, if one looked closer, they could see Heavenly Thunder Crystals, Blood Gemstones, and even reverse dragon scales!
It was obvious that this man was one of the top three greatest experts in the world, Long Tian! The famed proud sect master of the Dao Sect that had slaughtered thousands of evil sects in his heyday. Though Long Tian had been less public, his presence still could be felt throughout the world.
The 5 golden-robed elders that had accompanied Li Jun, Li Xiu, and Li Jing walked up and took their place, filling in all 11 seats. They looked at Li Jun and Long Tian stared at Li Jun.
After a moment, Long Tian spoke.
"Are you willing to become the new Heavenly Son of Dao Sect and my disciple?"
---
Back in Golden Lion City, the purple-robed elders were talking with one another about Li Jun. A peerless genius, rarely seen in eons had appeared in their sect! They had a fervent gaze as they talked, but one of the purple-robed elders gestured for everyone to be quiet.
"What is this?" the purple-robed elder floated over to the pillar and orb that Li Jun had used. He touched the pillar, but the moment his finger came into contact, the pillar exploded out into billions of particles.
All of the purple-robed elders' eyes widened. The elder touched the orb and a deep crack suddenly appeared on the glossy surface.
"This Li Jun... is a complete monster!"