“Hmm?”

Outside the hall, Trueman Teng Qiu suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the Founder’s statue in astonishment. An elderly Daoist working in the hall—he was holding a book with one hand and writing something on it with the other—in particular grew bug-eyed, afraid to lose focus for even an instant. As the one responsible for recording the Founder’s boons, the only other time he witnessed such an extraordinary phenomenon was twenty years ago when Zhang Sheng joined the Palace of Absolute Beginning.

Light suddenly entered the eyes of the Founder’s statue. Then, as if it had come alive, it looked down at the kneeling disciples.

Trueman Teng Qiu looked outwardly calm, but one of his hands was grabbing a sleeve tightly.

As light circulated throughout the Founder’s statue, a brilliant mote of light suddenly flew out of its waist and entered Yan Ming of Eastern Sea’s body.

This outcome caught everyone—even the Yan Clan members attending the ceremony—off guard. Most people thought that Yan Ming was a disciple of the Palace of Absolute Beginning just like everyone else present, but the Yan Clan knew very well that Yan Ming was actually the disciple of a subordinate grotto-heaven. He was simply attending his classes in the Palace of Absolute Beginning. They were supposed to try and make Yan Ming an official disciple a couple years later.

But the situation was different now. The boy had just received a boon from the Founder, and that was akin to being chosen by him!

The head of the Yan Clan was a tall, muscular, and imposing-looking man. He was also Yan Ming’s father. When he realized what just happened, he was so ecstatic that he nearly lost his wits. He had stuck his hand into his waist purse and pulled out a handful of pearls. He was going to toss them over the crowd in celebration.

Luckily for him, he realized at the last second that this was the Palace of Absolute Beginning and stopped himself. Almost everyone present was a member of an aristocratic family. Forget the top three, the Yan Clan couldn’t even count themselves among the top ten compared to the aristocratic families attending this ceremony. If he actually tossed out the pearls, he would be offending all of them. Thus, he quietly shoved the pearls back into his waist purse.

Meanwhile, the elderly Daoist recording the boon saw clearly that the mote of light had come from the jade pendant hanging on the Founder’s waist. Unlike his hat, the jade pendant was a fairly famous mystic treasure and carried a different boon. Thus, he put a notation next to Yan Ming’s name and muttered to himself, “This one’s a boy who is blessed with wealth.”

The younger Daoists helping with the work had been straining to capture any useful information from a long time ago. When they heard this, they all made an effort to memorize Yan Ming’s name.

Another two motes of light flew out of the statue and entered another two boys. They came from a jasper thumb ring and a book in the Founder’s hand. These two items were even more famous than the jade pendant. The book especially could increase one’s insight, which was incredibly important for overcoming tribulations and achieving breakthroughs during the latter stages of one’s cultivation. This alone marked the boy as an up and coming talent. Naturally, the elderly Daoist made sure to record every detail and wrote an entire page about it.

This wasn’t the end, however. The crowd was still cheering when an immortal sword suddenly shone brightly and shot a sword intent into Xiao Yu’s body!

The Founder possessed many treasures, but in terms of killing power, of course the four immortal swords were the greatest of them all. Thus, this sword intent was clearly more valuable than the previous boon.

The brawny man standing next to Zhang Sheng grinned wider and wider until finally, he let out a long, boisterous laugh. Then, he looked at the scholar and asked, “What do you think? My grandson is pretty good, isn’t he?”

Zhang Sheng nodded seriously. “He definitely deserves to be called the grandson of Xiao Nian. He’s only one immortal sword short compared to me back then.”

Xiao Nian’s grin froze on his face. In just one sentence, the scholar had shoved everything he wanted to say back down his throat.

The brawny man looked Zhang Sheng up and down several times before finally clicking his tongue. “No wonder they say that all disciples of the Skyblue Hall are exceptional in combat! There is no way they could’ve survived more than a couple months in the outside world otherwise.”

Four people had received a boon at this point, and still the unusual phenomenon affecting the Founder’s statue hadn’t ended. The crowd was really starting to get loud at this point.

Suddenly, a beam of light shot out of the Founder’s statue and entered Bao Yun’s body!

Trueman Teng Qiu’s eyebrows shot up, and a look of pure shock crossed his face. The elderly record keeper nearly dropped his brush as well.

The forehead was where the sea of consciousness resided, and the sea of consciousness was where a cultivator became a World Ruler. It was also one of the most important parts of a Dao body. Thus, the boon could only be extraordinary.

But no matter how hard the elderly Daoist scoured his memory, he couldn’t recall a single person who ever received such a boon. This could very well be the first time a boon from the forehead had ever appeared.

Everyone in the Bao Clan possessed extraordinary insight, so they were ecstatic as a matter of course. Even the stoic old man was stroking his beard and wearing a rare smile on his face. This boon was probably more valuable than Xiao Yu’s immortal sword, but compared to Zhang Sheng’s two immortal swords... it was difficult to say.

To everyone’s surprise, the unusual phenomenon affecting the Founder’s statue still hadn’t disappeared after Bao Yun had received her boon! Thus, everyone’s eyes were set on Wei Yuan.

A good number of the people present boasted incredible insight and abilities. They were more or less aware that the unified exam that took place in Fengyuan this year was special. Despite unprecedented competition, the boy had managed to crush all opposition and emerged up top. Naturally, he had to be immeasurably talented.

On top of that, everyone knew that Wei Yuan’s sole backer was the Skyblue Hall, and that was the same as having no background at all. Thus, his caliber was even greater than expected.

Everyone was curious what kind of boon the boy would receive and whether it would surpass the record Zhang Sheng set two decades ago. If he did, then it would be a wonderful tale of the ages.

Meanwhile, high, high up in the sky, the two terrible presences were still standing off against each other with Wei Yuan’s consciousness stuck in the middle and completely paralyzed. The gaze from the higher place was no longer examining him. It was now set on the ancient, bleak giant creature that seemed to hail from another world. Right now, it was approaching carefully as if searching for a way to cross over into this world.

Wei Yuan heard what sounded like a faint sigh from the higher place, and suddenly, his consciousness was no longer restricted. It flew right back into his physical body like a bird returning to its nest, and the illusions disappeared just like that.

Everyone had finished reciting their memorial text long ago, but the Founder’s statue was still shining. Thus, they could only keep waiting. When Wei Yuan opened his eyes, a gray mist flew out from the massive rock the statue was standing on and entered his body.

Trueman Teng Qiu looked puzzled. The elderly record keeper was startled as well. He wasn’t sure about Bao Yun’s boon, but he knew with absolute certainty that no boon had ever come from the giant rock underneath the Founder’s feet.

A young Daoist asked his companion in a small voice, “Isn’t that rock just a part of the ground? Or am I wrong?”

His companion was just as confused. “The statue and the foundation should be two separate things... right?”

They weren’t the only ones who were puzzled. The elderly record keeper was struggling to decide whether this counted as a boon himself. Unlike his colleagues, he knew full well that the giant rock underneath the statue was actually a part of the mountain itself. Like the tip of an iceberg, the rest of it was buried under the floor tiles of the hall. In fact, the giant rock was a part of the Green Cliffs That Hang Over An Empty Valley, not the statue.

Suddenly, Trueman Teng Qiu recalled something and declared in a loud voice, “All six disciples from Fengyuan had received a boon from the Founder! Next!”

A Trueman had made his declaration, so the matter was settled. The elderly record keeper wrote like the wind and counted Wei Yuan as having received the Founder’s boon.

It wasn’t until he wrote the last word that he suddenly recalled something. His brush shook.

Three thousand and eight hundred years ago, when the Founder returned from the west and founded the Palace of Absolute Beginning, the realm stone he had placed on the ground... seemed to be directly under the statue. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

All six disciples from Fengyuan had received the Founder’s boon. Not even four provinces combined boasted as many blessed disciples. Thus, no one dared to question their quota any longer. Instead, they praised the masterful planning and immense influence of the aristocratic families.