"This is truly difficult!"
Xu Chuan's challenge to the seventeenth floor failed, and he could only give up, being teleported outside the Trial Tower.
"I didn't expect the seventeenth floor to be a fox demon at the Divine Ability realm, leading a group of fox demons at the Mortal Transformation realm. It's not something I can handle right now!"
He shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
Reaching the seventeenth floor already guaranteed him first place in the assessment.
"Greetings, Elder!"
Xu Chuan bowed respectfully as he approached Li Hong and Jin Lai.
"You are very good!"
Jin Lai praised him without reservation.
He didn't notice that Xu Chen, standing beside him, had a face so grim it looked like it could drip water.
"Thank you for your praise, Elder!"
Xu Chuan, unfazed by the elder's commendation, replied calmly.
Seeing this, the two elders were even more pleased with Xu Chuan!
"Alright, since you are all out, the assessment is concluded!"
"Let's go!"
With that, the two elders led Xu Chuan and Xu Chen back to the Taiyi Plaza.
The disciples who had participated in the assessment earlier, as well as the onlookers, had already been waiting there for a long time.
As the four appeared, the plaza immediately erupted in chatter.
Everyone was discussing who among the two had reached a higher level in the Trial Tower!
This was because on the tenth floor, although Xu Chuan had defeated Xu Chen, Xu Chen had not sustained any significant injuries.
As for Xu Chuan, he had been subjected to a surprise explosion from the white ape at the last moment.
In an explosion of that magnitude, it was hard for Xu Chuan to escape unscathed!
Therefore, they were extremely eager to know the final results of the two.
At this moment, Elder Jin Lai and Elder Li Hong approached the elder who had left earlier and whispered to him.
After a while, the elder nodded with a grave expression and then stepped forward.
His name was Zhou Heng, the Grand Elder of the Inner Sect, at the peak of the ninth level of the Reincarnation realm.
He was the foremost figure below the peak lords.
"I now announce that this outer sect assessment is hereby concluded!"
He spoke sternly from the high platform.
As his voice rang out,
The disciples who had been chattering noisily moments before fell instantly silent.
Elder Zhou Heng on the stage saw this and his expression softened.
He then announced loudly, "Congratulations to you all for successfully completing this assessment!"
"All those who have passed the tenth floor of the Trial Tower may be promoted to Inner Sect disciples."
"In this assessment, a total of three hundred people successfully passed the tenth floor in the second stage of the assessment!"
"Twenty people passed the eleventh floor!"
"And among these twenty people, two passed the fourteenth floor!"
"One person even reached the seventeenth floor of the Trial Tower!"
"This breaks the Qi Gathering realm trial record from a thousand years ago and sets a new record!"
"Whoosh!"
This statement immediately caused an uproar.
With the strength of the Qi Gathering realm, reaching the seventeenth floor of the Trial Tower – what kind of monstrous talent was this?
The disciples below who had not participated in the assessment showed expressions of horror.
And those who had participated found it even more unbelievable!
They were well aware of the difficulty of the Trial Tower.
The tenth floor alone had eliminated most of them, let alone reaching the seventeenth floor.
At the same time, they began to speculate whether it was Xu Chuan or Xu Chen who had reached the seventeenth floor.
Frankly speaking, they hoped it was Xu Chuan.
This was because Xu Chen's previous act of opportunistic scavenging had already incurred the wrath of many. If they had been able to defeat him, some disciples would have wanted to tear him to pieces on the spot.
Originally, everyone had a chance to obtain a True Spirit Fruit, but Xu Chen appeared and intended to snatch all of them.
Although all the True Spirit Fruits were eventually obtained by Xu Chuan, he had snatched them from Xu Chen through his own strength.
They did not resent Xu Chuan.
In fact, they felt a sense of gratitude towards Xu Chuan.
It was Xu Chuan's appearance that had left Xu Chen with nothing!
"I believe you are all eager to know who it was that reached the seventeenth floor, so I will not keep you in suspense any longer."
"The one who passed the seventeenth floor is... Xu Chuan!"
"He is the first place in this assessment!"
"Boom!"
As his words fell, the plaza erupted in a frenzy.
There were exclamations of shock, joy, and grim expressions.
Luo Tong was also among the crowd in the plaza.
He knew that Xu Chuan was participating in the outer sect assessment and had specifically come to witness Xu Chuan's true strength with the intention of eliminating him.
However, he had not expected Xu Chuan to reach the seventeenth floor.
This immediately made him abandon his original revenge plan.
He himself was only at the second level of the Mortal Transformation realm.
He had also attempted the Trial Tower, reaching only the eleventh floor before being unable to advance further.
Yet Xu Chuan had managed to reach the seventeenth floor, clearly indicating that Xu Chuan's strength was far beyond what he, Luo Tong, could contend with!
Facing these disciples, Xu Chuan's expression was calm.
The outer sect assessment, and claiming first place, had been his long-held goal.
Now that his goal was achieved, he would strive for even higher aspirations!
"Alright!"
Elder Zhou Heng waved his hand, and the plaza quieted down again as everyone listened to Elder Zhou Heng's subsequent speech.
"Xu Chuan has broken the Qi Gathering realm trial record, and according to our Holy Land's rules, Xu Chuan will be directly promoted to a Holy Land True Disciple!"
Boom!
If the previous news was merely a small landslide, then this news was like a major earthquake, shaking all the disciples present!
A True Disciple!
Xu Chuan had directly bypassed the Inner Sect disciple and the Chief disciple, ascending directly to the position of True Disciple!
This was like soaring to the heavens in a single step!
A disciple reacted and spoke, "Greetings, True Disciple Xu!"
As this voice rang out, more and more disciples reacted and shouted in succession.
At this moment, even Xu Chuan was somewhat stunned.
He had never expected that reaching the seventeenth floor of the Trial Tower would bring him such an astonishing reward!
He had been longing for the position of a True Disciple, and today, it had become a reality!
Xu Chuan was overjoyed and bowed to Zhou Heng, saying, "Thank you, Elder Zhou!"
"It is nothing; this is all you deserve!"
He was also very satisfied with Xu Chuan's performance.
He then continued, "All those who are promoted to the Inner Sect will be rewarded with a Solid Yuan Pill. Please collect it from the Alchemy Hall with your Inner Sect identification token!"
"This outer sect assessment has come to a perfect conclusion!"
"We hope that those disciples who were unable to pass this assessment will cultivate diligently upon their return and strive to shine in the next assessment!"
Amidst a wave of cheers, Zhou Heng announced the end of the assessment.
The disciples promoted to the Inner Sect happily headed towards the Inner Sect area of the Holy Land, while those who had not succeeded returned to their respective caves to prepare for secluded cultivation.
This grand competition had brought them great rewards, and they were confident that they would successfully advance to the Inner Sect in the next competition.
Meanwhile, Xu Chen, standing nearby, was utterly devastated.
His face was filled with disbelief, that passing the sixteenth floor would qualify one to become a True Disciple!
"Why, why couldn't I have persisted just a little longer?"
"If I had persisted, I would surely have been able to pass the sixteenth floor and proceed to the seventeenth!"
"That True Disciple position should have been mine!"
"Xu Chuan, it was Xu Chuan who stole my True Disciple position!"
"It's all his fault, all his fault!"
At this moment, Xu Chen sat on the ground like a stray dog, ignored by everyone.
Under Xu Chuan's brilliant first-place triumph, his second-place achievement paled into insignificance.
Elder Li Hong, who had previously favored Xu Chen, looked at Xu Chen's state and shook her head in disappointment!