As Master Qingyang’s eyes opened, the Celestial Demon, which had been raring to go, seemed to suddenly lose all its vigor. It no longer had the energy to rampage about.

After baring its teeth and snarling at Zhao Rui and Master Qingyang, it vanished with a POP.

Zhao Rui could clearly sense its disappearance. It wasn’t hiding; it had vanished completely from his perception.

"Thank you for being my Guardian, fellow Daoist. I cannot thank you enough."

Master Qingyang bowed deeply and respectfully, offering his thanks to Zhao Rui.

"There’s no need for such formalities. Brother, did you have a breakthrough?"

"Indeed. I was fortunate enough to comprehend a sliver of Domain Power, taking a small step forward on my Daoist path."

"That’s wonderful news! Haha!"

Zhao Rui was quite happy as well. He got along well with Master Qingyang, so an increase in the latter’s strength was nothing but beneficial for him.

"The path of the Great Dao is long, and this is but the first step. There is still a long road ahead. You, on the other hand, fellow Daoist—your fortune is astonishing. To have already comprehended Domain Power... it is both shocking and enviable!"

"I only comprehended it recently myself. Since you’re awake now, Brother, let’s head back to the continent. Being in the void with nothing to stand on always makes me a little uneasy."

Zhao Rui said with a light chuckle.

Hearing this, Master Qingyang chuckled in amusement. He glanced around the desolate, boundless expanse of space and nodded. "Indeed!"

With that, he manifested his Shi Gandang True Dharma Body and shot straight down toward the continent below.

Intense friction formed a layer of scorching plasma across the surface of Shi Gandang, making it look like a brilliant meteor from a distance.

Seeing him return so directly, Zhao Rui was struck by a playful impulse. He deployed the Protective Shield that Academician Zhang had given him, planted his feet on it, and glided down as if riding a surfboard.

After about ten minutes of gliding descent, the ground was clearly visible. Instead of landing right away, the two of them altered their course and headed toward Taishan.

Both were clad in Daoist Robes that billowed in the wind. With their upright postures and leisurely grace, they looked every bit like Immortals at first glance.

With such a celestial bearing, it would not be an exaggeration to call them members of the Immortal Family.

The pair employed stealth techniques and sped toward Taishan.

The majestic Taishan towered into the clouds.

In the Martial Arts Arena of a Daoist Temple on the back of the mountain, a group of new disciples was undergoing the sect’s entrance examination.

They were around seven or eight years old, just a group of young children.

More than ten Daoists of the Taishan Sect, along with several dozen Outer Sect lay disciples, were assessing and evaluating them with a clear division of labor.

Though the children were young, they had clearly received basic training and were no strangers to cultivation.

Under the circumstances, each of them wore a tense and serious expression on their little faces.

On the periphery, the children’s parents watched, craning their necks in hopeful anticipation that their child would be chosen by the Taishan Sect.

"More and more children are joining the sect these days. The selection is getting stricter, and their talent is getting better and better. In a few years, after they’ve grown, they’ll surpass us if we’re not careful."

A lay disciple remarked with a hint of melancholy.

Before joining the sect, he had been the cream of the crop at his local high school, his talent and strength placing him far above his peers.

But after coming to the mountain, he discovered his talent was merely average. There were plenty of others more gifted than him.

Now, seeing these new disciples with ever-increasing talent, he couldn’t help but feel a bit wistful.

"If a practitioner of the Martial Dao hesitates and judges success and failure by talent alone, then they might as well stop training. It’s just a waste of resources."

The moment the lay disciple finished speaking, a deep voice cut in with a cold rebuke.

"S-Senior Brother, that’s not what I meant."

"Go back and copy the Mountain Guardian Treasure Scroll of Emperor Dongyue ten times..."

"Yes, Senior Brother."

The lay disciple didn’t dare to argue. He dejectedly withdrew from the crowd and went back to copy the scripture.

Seeing this, the others around him fell silent, not daring to speak out of turn.

"Senior Brother is doing this for your own good. Without unyielding determination and focus, how can you expect to go far on the path of the Martial Dao?"

As the lay disciple walked away, another voice, somewhat sharp and thin, spoke up beside the Senior Brother, offering a few words of explanation on his behalf.

The one called Senior Brother was a tall, handsome young man with long, jet-black hair that was styled neatly.

Paired with his traditional robes, he had an elegant and free-spirited air about him.

He was Fang Chuanyu, the lead disciple in charge of this entrance test, and also the grandson of the Taishan Sect’s newly ascended True Dharma Master, Fang Rushan.

As for the one with the high-pitched voice beside him, that was Peng Fei, Fang Rushan’s tenth disciple. The two of them had always been close.

"Yes, thank you, Senior Brother Fang." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The other attendant disciples all bowed their heads in thanks.

The Senior Brother gave a noncommittal nod, pleased with their attitude.

"Alright. A new batch of disciples is joining the sect. You’ll all be their senior brothers and sisters soon. If your strength can’t keep up, you’ll become a laughingstock."

The man with the high-pitched voice chuckled softly, shook his head slightly, and turned to look at the selection ceremony taking place in the arena.

The entrance ceremony had been held many times. Ever since the masters of the Taishan Sect returned from Gui Xu, an entrance examination had been organized every six months.

The disciples in charge of the selection were already familiar with the process; they just needed to follow the established rules and carry out the selection step by step.

In the past, the entrance ceremonies were always handled by Elder Qingyang.

The True Master’s discerning eye was like a torch; he would often judge a candidate’s aptitude based on what he observed.

Sometimes, a disciple who didn’t meet the entrance requirements would still be accepted because of a particular talent or strength.