Stubbornness

The other elders saw the grand elder standing up and staring at the magnetic mountain. Curiously they also looked in the direction of Zhu Shen.

When they saw runes appearing on Zhu Shen's leg all of them stood up. Sect Leader also saw the scene and took a cold breath.

"Another monstrous talent...We must groom him well...."

All elders agreed to the grand elder's remark. It took time to learn any martial arts technique. Especially high-level ones like the dragon steps.

But Zhu Shen not only learned dragon steps in just a few hours but also reached minor accomplishments of dragon steps. This kind of comprehension ability was rare even in the inner sect.

"When this kind of talent appeared in the outer sect?"

Asked the sect leader, looking at the grand elder. The grand elder was the one in charge of the outer sect entrance examinations.

Grand elders eyes flashed as he said

"This one only received a letter from inner sect elder Luo… I didn't think that this young man was this talented..."

Grand elder was a bit thrilled. He did receive a letter from inner sect elder Luo stating that he had to just care of Zhu Shen.

All the elders kept silent after hearing that Zhu Shen knew someone from the inner sect.

The dragon palace was divided into 5 regions. Outer sect region, inner sect region, pro disciple region, dragon hall and ancestral land.

To advance from one region to another, disciples needed to reach a certain cultivation level.

If Zhe Shen really was someone who had a deep background, they wouldn't be able to touch him.

---

Magnetic mountain,

The first batch of people who just crossed 350 steps and they saw a golden blur surpassing them.

Lin Fan clench his teeth and start climbing faster. Su XinQian was also surprised as she looked up and saw Zhu Shen surpassing her.

'It's him again...'

Thought Su XinQian as she also increased her speed.

The three people left the rest of the competitors behind easily. The competitors face turned bitter as they saw the gap between them kept increasing.

'They were not using their full strength earlier...'

Thought crowd below. The elders saw the competition for the first spot and felt really happy.

Competition between sect disciples was a really good thing. It kept the sect more interesting and allow disciples to grow quickly.

"How's that guy moving so fast..."

That was the question both Lin Fan and Su XinQian had when they watched Zhu Shen's speed increase again and again.

The trio soon reached 500 steps threshold. After 500 steps only disciples with body tempering cultivation level were able to survive the pressure.

As soon as ZHu Shen crossed the 501st step..

"Boom…."

His whole foot sunk into the ground and blood flowed out… that pressure was so huge that Zhu Shen's concentration lost and all the golden steps disappeared.

"Nooo…."

Zhu Shen's face turned pale as he looked at his injured foot. Both Lin Fan and Su XinQian saw this seen and stopped at 500 steps. They didn't dare to go forward.

"The selection competition ends here..."

The grand elder announced the end of the entrance exam as he flew towards magnetic mountain along with the sect master and other elders. He quickly came to Zhu Shen and feed him a healing pill.

This time it was the sect leader who announced the results. He was quite satisfied with the result. Among the 600 students who managed to pass the first exam, only 25 were selected.

Though this number seemed low, for the outer dragon palace addition of 25 new talents was a satisfactory result.

At last, the Sect Leader looked at the top 3 students and said,

"You 3 participants will receive special privileges in addition to your ranking rewards."

This was quite joyous event for both Lin Fan and Su XinQian. Special privileges mean that their cultivation journey will be less painful.

Zhu Shen looked at the stairs on magnetic mountain feeling a little lost. He didn't care about the results he only wanted the crystal heart fruit. The grand elder saw his dejected look and rubbed his head,

"Once you started cultivating you will get higher in magnetic mountain ranking..."

Zhu Shen took a deep breath and looked in the direction of grand elder and spoke resolutely,

"I Want to get strong… stronger than anyone else... "

Like a kid, he was shouting resolutely in front of the elders. The grand elder looked at the stubborn kid in front of him and released his aura.

The aura of the golden core expert was immense… Zhu Shen felt like he was being crushed under a huge mountain. His knees started cracking as he greeted his teeth and tried to endure the pressure.

"You think anyone can get stronger by just saying they want to get stronger..."

Grand elder's angry voice came to his ears as the pressure weighing him down intensified.

This time blood was seeping out of Zhu Shens mouth, nose and ears… his eyes were bloodshot as he said loudly

"I will get stronger….!"

An intense will came from Zhu Shen's body that gave him energy as he stood up straight while looking at the sky he shouted on top of his lounge.

"I will be the strongest…!"

BOOM…

An intense dragon might erupt out of Zhu Shen's body.

All the people present felt as tiny as ants in front of the dragon might. Their blood froze as innate fear emerged in their hearts as everyone knelt on the ground.

Dragons were hierarchical creatures. They especially paid attention to bloodline purity. The pure the bloodline the higher your rank will be in society.

As the bloodline pressure faded away Zhu Shen felt weak all over as he collapsed onto the ground.

Nobody dared to move a muscle as all the dragon clan members knelt onto the ground. They felt horrified all over. Suddenly the sky turned golden and might similar to zhu shen erupted into the surroundings.

As Zhu Shen's consciousness was fading away he saw a huge illusionary hand descend from the sky. The huge hand was so huge that it covered the whole sky.

The giant hand took Zhu Shen bringing him away from the magnetic mountain as an ancient voice thundered.

"Everyone present here will be accepted into the outer dragon palace… Nobody will speak today's matter"

"Yes ancestor…!"

All the elders including the grand elder bowed in the direction of the dragon palace.

All the people who didn't manage to pass the second round of selection got elated…

To keep today's matter into the dragon palace, a mysterious expert allowed everyone to enter the dragon palace…

Everyone was really happy except for Lin Fan… He clutched his fist as he looked in the direction of the dragon palace.