12: Disciple Promotion Exam [2]!

"We will now begin the outer-disciple promotion exams, those who pass the exam will become inner disciples of our soaring cloud sect, before we start, everyone should meet up with their fellow disciples they came together with, there should be a group of 10" an elder said as he waved a horsetail whisk in his hands, his voice reaching the huge crowd of outer disciple.

Hearing the voice, the outer disciples quickly quieted down and started forming groups, in total there were 10 groups, which meant 10 outer-disciple mountain peaks.

Li fan was grouped up with Hong Tai and the other outer-disciples he had came with..

...

"This is how we will do this, the first test will be a test of will power, I want all 10 groups to spread out on the stage, we will then begin the soul suppressing formation, those who are able to last on the stage for 10 minutes shall be moved onto the next round, but.... for those who can't stay in the formation for 10 minutes, you will immediately fail the outer-disciple promotion exam" the elders words once again broke out, three elders appeared behind him as they spread out across the stage.

They simultaneously created hand seals with their hands, a soft light lifted off from the stage as it surrounded it.

Slowly but surely all the 10 groups of outer disciples entered the formation, spreading themselves apart..

...

Li Fan calmly sat on the stage, he was waiting for the first stage of the promotion to start..

Boom!

A strange explosion rang out as the light surrounding the stage grew stronger as the elders continuously made hand seals.

"The first stage of the promotion exam begins now" the man elder said as his voice pierced the ears of all the outer disciples.

Li Fan who was seated in the lotus position felt a strange force enter his body, it wasn't painful at all, it slowly made its way towards its head.

The strange energy felt extremely cool and slightly bone-chilling.

If it affected Li Fan's body then this exam would have been easy, but this formation affected the soul..

[due to hosts, transmigration, you have a soul stronger than normal mortals] the system said mechanically.

Li Fan felt a faint suppressing aura inside his body, it was affecting his mind, mostly his soul, it was hard to explain the pain he felt since it wasn't physical.

...

3 minutes went by, only a few disciples had constantly changing expressions, it seems like they were really having a tough time..

"I- I'm done" a skinny outer disciple said as he clenched his chest, his face pale as a sheet of paper.

Hua!

He instantly disappeared and was shot out of the formation, landing outside of the stage.

Seeing that he as the first person out, he shook his head in disappointment before leaving.

"I failed again?" Another disciple appeared outside the formation.

....

This sort of test was strange, since these lowly outer-disciples had no soul purification pills, or any soul strengthening techniques.

The only way to slowly strengthen the soul was to face life-death trials and tribulations, it was the only other way apart from pills or techniques..

....

As the formation became stronger, more and more disciples were being pulled out of the formation as they gave up.

There were at least over 100 outer-disciples, but now it had already dropped past 50 left, and it had only been 6 minutes.

The number of disciples being disqualified was still increasing.

Li Fan was probably in the best condition out of all the disciples, the suppressing light of the formation wasn't affecting him one bit, he could only feel the slight aura of the formation inside him.

Through the whole time he kept a straight and calm face as he sat down, while more and more disciples began turning red from the suppressing aura on their souls.

This suppression was mysterious, it was like inside the body, but it was extremely hard to notice its exact position, almost as if it enshrouded the whole body in and out.

"This is probably why disciples need a high cultivation to even take these tests" Li Fan suddenly realized, without a high enough Qi cultivation, it would be extremely hard to fight the suppressing aura and lower the damage on the soul.

....

"Ok that's it" the main elder signaled to the three elders before they dropped their hand-seals and the formation light slowly faded.

On the stage there were currently only around 25 outer disciples left, yes that's right, nearly 75 outer disciples had been kicked out and disqualified on the first round.

"For those who are still on the stage, you have passed, but there is still one last round left" the main elder said after waiting for the 25 or so disciples to stand up and regain their composure.

"The last round is physical strength round" the main elder said as he pointed towards the huge golden pillar in the middle of the stage.

"This golden pillar is a magical treasure used to test physical strength, as long as you can make the golden lift reach half way, you are officially an inner-disciple" the main elder said once again.

"Go back into your groups, if there are no disciples left in your group then stand their by yourself"

The disciples quickly found their fellow disciple brothers/sisters and made groups.

...

"The three elders will oversee this round and hand out inner-disciple spatial rings" the elder said as he waved the whisk in his hand.

"This was the round I failed last time, physical strength training is harder than it looks, but I have been training a whole year for this" Hong Tai said as he clenched his fist, he was extremely confident.

"Haha I'm sure you can pass, good luck brother Hong" Li fan patted Hong Tai on the shoulders and encouraged him.

"You too brother Fan" Hong Tai smiled, he knew Li Fan was far stronger than him, he was just shocked at how Li Fan could hide his strength so easily.

"Let the second round begin" another elder said as he raised his arm, the huge golden pillar split into three smaller pillars as they landed on the stage, causing it to shake slightly.