Qi Wan’Er held Xia Feng’s wrist and whispered, "My father is a bit too soft-hearted, so the new generation with some talent and ability is unwilling to remain under others for long, and most have gone out to find another path."

Speaking nicely, it’s finding another path; speaking bluntly, it’s betraying the Celestial Sound Orthodoxy that nurtured them and seeking refuge with other sects.

Xia Feng’s eyes narrowed slightly, his impression of these sects worsened a bit.

Breeding such a bunch of faithless creatures, no matter how strong their talent, so what? If they don’t know how to behave, they’re not as good as those with weaker talent but loyalty.

Thinking of this, Xia Feng’s gaze coldly swept across these people around him, then silently withdrew his gaze.

Three hours passed in the blink of an eye, apart from a few lucky fellows who dashed in right at the deadline, the rest of the prodigies all failed at the first stage of the assessment.

The Celestial Sound Saintess appeared from the thunderclouds at some unknown time, instantly appearing amid the crowd like a bewildering interplay of light and shadow.

Her cold gaze landed on the Celestial Sound Ladder, and she said indifferently, "The first stage of the assessment is over; 106 people passed."

"The rest will soon be teleported to random locations outside the Celestial Sound Sea; everyone should cherish their last treasure-hunting opportunity."

Xia Feng was startled; he had never taken the assessment on the Celestial Sound Ladder seriously, but now hearing the number of passers, he was taken aback by how challenging it was for these people. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Originally at least a thousand people stepped onto the Celestial Sound Ladder, yet less than one-tenth passed, no wonder the entire Celestial Sound Orthodoxy was defeated here.

As for the random teleportation mentioned by the Celestial Sound Saintess, Xia Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

He thought those who failed the assessment would be directly teleported out of the Secret Realm, but now with random teleportation to different places, the Celestial Sound Orthodoxy folks might still explore some secret treasures with their Celestial Sound Talismans.

At least there’s still a chance to improve a bit, rather than entering the Secret Realm like a mere formality and gaining nothing before leaving.

By then, other sects would gain a heap of secret treasures, progressing rapidly after exiting the Secret Realm, while the Celestial Sound Orthodoxy gained nothing, posing a huge threat to its orthodox status.

The teleportation on the Celestial Sound Ladder lasted for a quarter of an hour, and the Celestial Sound Saintess soon re-focused her gaze on the prodigies present.

Perhaps it was Xia Feng’s illusion, but he felt the Celestial Sound Saintess’s gaze lingered a bit longer on him than others when she surveyed the surroundings.

Qi Wan’Er stood beside Xia Feng with a wary look, her arm tightly clinging to his, as if she feared the Celestial Sound Saintess might rush over and snatch her husband.

Xia Feng looked a bit helpless, but he let Qi Wan’Er hold on without pushing her away; he even wrapped his arm around Qi Wan’Er’s waist to declare his ownership.

Qi Wan’Er’s cheeks flushed a bit, seemingly a bit embarrassed, yet she still clung to Xia Feng’s clothing tightly.

The Celestial Sound Saintess’s gaze quickly shifted away, landing on the others.

"Congratulations on passing the first stage; the second stage is about to begin."

Like during the first stage of teleportation, the surrounding space seemed to transform, that dizzying feeling of space traversal once again enveloped everyone.

For this time, Xia Feng focused all his attention using Spiritual Power to observe the surroundings, but still couldn’t understand how the Celestial Sound Saintess managed to move everyone to another space.

His understanding of the Great Dao of Space wasn’t as profound as Xia Tianming’s, but it was quite formidable.

Yet he couldn’t grasp the method of the Celestial Sound Saintess; it didn’t seem like space teleportation, but some form of jump?

Qi Wan’Er, uncomfortable, grabbed Xia Feng’s arm, interrupting his thoughts; Xia Feng glanced down at her, gently pressing his hand on her temple, alleviating her discomfort with Spiritual Power as he did during the first teleportation.

After a while, Qi Wan’Er finally relaxed, pulling out a slightly uncomfortable smile: "Don’t worry about me; it’s just a bit uncomfortable during teleportation."

Xia Feng could understand Qi Wan’Er; at the moment of teleportation, a dense Power of Space rushed directly into everyone’s brain, seemingly altering their senses.

That force was extremely formidable; if one’s Spiritual Power wasn’t strong, it was easy to be knocked into stupidity by this Power of Space.

Qi Wan’Er’s Spiritual Power was already considered strong, just experiencing minor headache discomfort, while the prodigies beside her were as pale as paper, with some even vomiting.

Some had their Divine Souls impacted, with nosebleeds that couldn’t be stopped.

Xia Feng roughly scanned everyone’s condition before being drawn in by the surrounding scenery.

This was a waterfall pavilion; the sound of the distant pool’s turbulence constantly resounded, cleansing his Spiritual Power.

Just staying here motionless, his Spiritual Power was stimulated by the sound to continuously strengthen; if he could always stay here, or move this waterfall pavilion into the Dream Realm Pearl...

While Xia Feng was daydreaming, Qi Wan’Er beside him, uncomfortable, clutched his sleeve again.

"Husband, there seems to be a persistent attack of the Great Dao of Music against my Spirit Sea here; the Spiritual Power just stabilized has now fluctuated again."

Xia Feng was taken aback, his Spiritual Power examined again, then discovered the sound of the pool’s turbulence he considered a cleansing for Spiritual Power was the sharpest mental attack for Qi Wan’Er and others.

The pool’s turbulence never stopped; their Spirit Sea constantly churned, preventing them from calming down to sense the surroundings.

Some couldn’t withstand this impact, uncomfortably asking the Celestial Sound Saintess: "Is the second stage of the assessment about enduring this kind of attack for a period?"

"Is the reward better the longer one endures?"

The Celestial Sound Saintess coldly turned, speaking indifferently: "The second stage of the assessment is a music appreciation test."

"In this space, music will sound every now and then, and you will take turns appreciating the sentiment in different pavilions."

Someone asked, puzzled: "Take turns appreciating?"

The Celestial Sound Saintess paused and explained: "You’ve noticed the impact of the waterfall on you; the nearer the pavilion to the waterfall, the more severe the impact."

The crowd grew wary, then heard the Celestial Sound Saintess continue: "However, the nearer the waterfall, the more precedential your turn in the appreciation."

"Choose the suitable pavilion position according to your abilities; act cautiously. The waterfall’s impact might damage your Spirit Sea, so exercise prudence."