Although the sky above the plaza appeared somewhat dim, it was adorned with countless stars.

Soft starlight cascaded across the plaza, illuminating the entire space quite brightly.

Even more striking, a hundred large arenas floated in the sky.

These arenas were forged from special materials.

Their surfaces were intricately carved with complex formation patterns, emitting a faint pressure.

They were clearly prepared specifically to handle high-intensity competitions.

At this moment, many Cultivators participating in the assessment had already arrived. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

They hovered at the edges of the arenas, patiently awaiting the official start of the assessment.

Fang Hong rose into the air, finding a relatively quiet arena edge to stop at, his gaze sweeping around.

Roughly estimating, the Cultivators who had come to participate in the assessment had already reached over a thousand.

And Cultivators were still continuously arriving from outside, transforming into streaks of light that descended upon the plaza, joining the waiting ranks.

These thousands of Cultivators were, without exception, powerful individuals in the Immortal King Realm.

The lowest cultivation among them was Early Stage Immortal King.

While the highest cultivation had even reached Peak Immortal King, only a step away from the Immortal Emperor realm, their Qi was powerful.

Among these Cultivators, the composition of the personnel was also extremely diverse.

There were men and women, those with youthful appearances, and white-haired Elders.

The Qingyun Dao Lineage’s Elder assessment did not have too many cumbersome restrictions.

The Dao Lineage had no requirements for the Cultivator’s age or gender.

As long as their cultivation could reach the Immortal King Realm, they were qualified to register and participate.

However, whether they could successfully pass the assessment and truly become an Elder of the Dao Lineage ultimately depended on their true abilities.

Without sufficient strength, even participating in the assessment many times would only be in vain.

Fang Hong retracted his gaze, silently adjusting his state, patiently waiting for the assessment to begin... Time passed little by little, and the number of Cultivators in the plaza grew.

The Qi of the Cultivators intertwined and collided, and an invisible tense atmosphere permeated the air.

Approximately an hour later, no more Cultivators entered the Qing Yun Pavilion.

At this point, the total number of participants in the assessment had increased to over five thousand.

Five thousand powerful Immortal Kings gathered in the same plaza, a truly spectacular sight.

Waves of majestic Immortal Qi converged, forming an invisible Qi field.

These Cultivators came from all over the world, potentially Old Ancestors of certain kingdoms, all for the sake of joining the Qingyun Dao Lineage for cultivation.

As a top force in a state, the Qingyun Dao Lineage had a long inheritance and profound heritage.

Within the Dao Lineage, many precious resources unimaginable to the outside world were treasured, such as top-tier Daoist Magic, secret Daoist Magic, rare medicinal pill formulas, and so on.

These valuable resources were often considered the core inheritance of the Dao Lineage, shared only internally, with no external channels for acquisition.

It was precisely for this reason that the position of Elder in the Qingyun Dao Lineage held such immense attraction for these Immortal King powerhouses, making them flock to it.

According to the information Fang Hong had currently obtained, the Qingyun Dao Lineage only recruited a very limited number of Elders each time, only ten in total.

To stand out among these five thousand Immortal King powerhouses and successfully secure one of those spots, without genuine hard skills, no matter how many times one participated in the assessment, they would be unable to pass.

Boom.

Just as all the Cultivators were silently waiting and the atmosphere in the plaza grew increasingly solemn.

Suddenly, a loud bang came from high in the sky!

Immediately after, a huge spatial rift appeared out of thin air.

Light flashed within the rift, and two blurry figures slowly emerged from it, walking step by step towards the plaza.

The Elders of the Qingyun Dao Lineage responsible for presiding over this assessment had finally arrived!

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, only to see the two figures gradually become clear.

One was tall and thin, dressed in a black Daoist robe, with a stern face.

The other was short, dressed in a simple gray Daoist robe, with a kind face and a faint smile.

As soon as the two Elders arrived, two extremely powerful pressures poured down from high in the sky.

Like two invisible mountains, they descended upon all the Cultivators present.

The faces of the five thousand Immortal King Cultivators present changed in unison; these two pressures far exceeded the Immortal King Realm, vast and majestic.

They inspired a sense of awe from the bottom of their hearts.

The Immortal Kings dared not show any disrespect, bowing respectfully to the two Elders high in the sky and shouting in unison: "Greetings, Elders!"

The sound was uniform, echoing throughout the entire plaza.

Even Fang Hong felt an unprecedented sense of oppression under these two pressures.

Fang Hong was secretly shocked; the cultivation of these two Elders had definitely surpassed the Immortal King Realm.

It was highly likely they were Immortal Emperors, but unlikely to be in the Immortal Emperor realm.

After all, looking across the entire Immortal Realm, Immortal Emperors were top-tier powerhouses.

No matter how strong the Qingyun Dao Lineage was, it was unlikely to send two Immortal Emperors to preside over an ordinary Elder assessment.

That would be far too much of a fuss.

High in the sky, the two Elders saw all the Cultivators below bowing respectfully, and a satisfied expression appeared on their faces.

They slowly raised their hands, and the two powerful pressures gradually receded.

The Immortal Kings in the plaza immediately felt a lightness on their bodies, all sighing in relief, their complexions gradually returning to normal.

At this moment, the tall and thin Elder in the black Daoist robe stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the five thousand Immortal Kings below, and he slowly began to speak:

"Welcome, Everyone, to the Elder assessment of my Qingyun Dao Lineage."

"My name is Sun Cheng, and this is Elder Huang Da next to me. This assessment will be jointly presided over by the two of us."

"The rules for this assessment are the same as before, divided into two rounds."

"In the first round, you need to each ascend your assigned arena and defeat the Ancient Outer-Heaven Demon puppet specially arranged by the Dao Lineage."

"Remember, only by successfully defeating this puppet can you qualify for the second round of the assessment. Those who fail will be directly eliminated."

"As for the second round, the rules are very simple: it’s a one-on-one arena challenge. Whether you can stay then will depend entirely on your own true abilities."

"The Dao Lineage will still only recruit the ten strongest Elders this time, not one more. Without further ado, the assessment officially begins now."

Elder Sun Cheng floated high in the sky, his voice clearly spreading throughout the entire assessment ground.

Every Cultivator participating in the assessment could hear it clearly.

Elder Sun Cheng concisely introduced the assessment process without any delay, immediately raising his hand to begin casting his Daoist Magic.

With a gentle flick of his sleeve, the hundred arenas originally floating in the sky instantly erupted with a dazzling red light simultaneously.

The red light enveloped the entire surface of the arenas, clearly imbued with a special restriction.