Cultivation: But Not a Game-Chapter 226 - 137: Aptitude Assessment

At this moment, people were gradually teleporting in, spreading out in all directions within this space, and swiftly flying towards the grand gate of the Celestial Palace.

"Let’s go in too!"

The two of them soared into the sky, heading straight for the gate of the Celestial Palace.

Passing between the giant Divine Weapons, they appeared to be unmoving statues, but he could clearly sense the oppressive gazes sweeping over him, making him afraid to breathe too loudly.

Fortunately, nothing abnormal happened. They flew all the way without any issues and easily arrived at the front of the Celestial Palace gate, where a large number of Sword Cultivators were gathered, all eyes fixed on a cluster of starlight suspended in the air before the gate.

As their gazes fell on the starlight, a piece of information appeared out of nowhere in their minds, naturally informing them that the Sword Palace would open in 51 minutes and the rules of the Sword Palace.

The rules were very simple, just two.

Rule one: Do not leave the area in front of the Sword Palace gate.

Rule two: Do not engage in private fights.

That was all.

Under the watchful eyes of twenty-four Level 200+ giant Divine Weapons, everyone stood obediently at the gate waiting.

As time passed, more people arrived, and soon there were over a thousand. With so many gathered here, even those he had seen acting arrogantly before were now speaking in hushed whispers.

With more people, naturally they formed into groups, and Su Yu also gathered with the dozen or so he had met before.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and as time ran out, a clear bell sounded throughout the land, resonating in layers like tangible sound waves.

Then, one after another, figures suddenly appeared amidst the clouds and mist in this Grotto Heaven, gathering on the square in front of the Celestial Palace gate.

Once their forms became solid, it was revealed that they were high-level Human Race cultivators, likely the many cultivators residing in the Sword Palace, almost all of them players like them.

Su Yu scanned the area, his eyes falling only on Level 100+ Loose Immortals, occasionally seeing Earth Immortals over Level 200.

But after a complete scan, he saw no sign of the legendary Celestial Immortals, unsure if they were hiding or had yet to arrive.

These Sword Palace cultivators observed them with great interest, pointing and commenting silently, making no verbal contact with them.

Su Yu guessed this was another restriction by the Sword Palace, prohibiting casual interactions.

At this point, Chen Qi, who had been looking around, curiously asked:

"I heard there are two hidden Celestial Immortals in the Sword Palace, have any of you seen them?"

"I haven’t seen them." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Neither have I."

"They’ve probably hidden themselves. Such beings won’t be seen even if they’re standing right in front of you if they don’t wish to be revealed."

"Indeed."

Then someone said:

"I heard that it’s difficult for the sword cultivators residing in the Sword Palace to leave. Many are trapped there for life and cannot leave, so some may choose a successor from the newcomers tested in the Sword Palace each year, passing down their Sword Dao and legacy."

"If you’re fortunate enough to gain the favor of a sword cultivator, you’d gain a lot."

"It’s not easy, though. As far as I know, there are only two to three thousand cultivators trapped in the Sword Palace, and only a few are nearing the end of their lifespan each year, while over a thousand people enter the Sword Palace every year. Standing out among thousands is as difficult as passing the Sword Palace assessment."

Someone laughed and said:

"That’s true, but these are extra benefits. If no one favors you, so be it, but if you have that luck, wouldn’t it be a huge gain?"

"Haha, true enough!"

Everyone laughed, including Su Yu.

But the smile on his face lasted only ten seconds, as everyone saw that the cluster of starlight in front of the Sword Palace gate suddenly brightened, quickly forming into a light figure surrounded by starlight, with a loud voice echoing through the Grotto Heaven.

"The Sword Palace opens!"

Immediately, the disordered starlight within the starlight vortex inside the Sword Palace gate gradually became orderly, forming a rippling light gate.

"Enter the Sword Palace!"

A countdown of five minutes appeared in everyone’s mind out of nowhere, no need to communicate, everyone knew that those not entering the Sword Palace before the countdown ended would no longer be able to enter.

Players near the Sword Palace immediately soared into the sky, shooting into the light gate, with others following suit. Over a thousand people entered in under two minutes.

At this moment, a rustling sound began to rise slowly in the air, like a restriction being lifted, and a hubbub arose as the many cultivators still in the Sword Palace gathered together, with someone casting a giant light screen that displayed the figures of the many players who had entered the Sword Palace.

The many cultivators gathered together, pointing and commenting on the young figures displayed on the light screen.

"Let’s start placing bets. There are over a thousand people this year, let’s gamble on how many can achieve an Earth level evaluation."

An elderly voice laughed and said:

"Yu, why don’t you include the Celestial-level evaluation!"

"Include it, the Celestial-level evaluation is its own category. If there’s even one Celestial-level evaluation, I’ll wash my hair standing on my head for a month. If there are two, I’ll do it for two months, and so on."

"Whoa, that’s a big bet? Count me in."

"Count me in too."

Many sword cultivators gathered together, eagerly placing bets.

Within the Sword Palace, Su Yu felt a whirlwind, and then in a flash from darkness to light, he found himself transported from the plaza to the inner hall of a vast celestial palace.

The hall was vast and without beams or pillars for support, with only a vast starry river hanging from the dome, nine grand suns as lamps, the Milky Way as a curtain, with cold jade bricks underfoot and a subtle mist swirling around like an immortal realm.

The jade walls around glowed with a subtle brightness, with protective restrictions set upon them, adorned with relief sculptures mostly depicting immortals vanquishing demons and monsters.

Though he couldn’t recognize the immortals, he guessed they were experiences of the palace master vanquishing demons and monsters.

Su Yu’s gaze quickly scanned the surroundings and soon focused on a high platform encircled by spiritual light restrictions in the center of the hall, where the previously silent luminous figure stood atop.

"Clang!"

A clear bell sound rang out once more, followed immediately by the sonorous voice of the luminous figure:

"First trial of the Sword Palace: Talent Evaluation!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the starlit sky brightened, with countless stars illuminating, shooting down thousands of beams of starlight to encompass everyone within.

Su Yu was no exception, enveloped in a pillar of starlight, which penetrated through his magical robe directly into his body.

"The talent evaluation has begun."

Outside the Sword Palace, numerous sword cultivators turned their attention to the light screen, their voices much quieter.

"Tier Four Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow, each divided into top, middle, and low grades; I wonder how many people this time will reach an Earth-tier evaluation, or if anyone will attain a Celestial-tier evaluation."

"I remember in my batch, there were over 1,700 people, and eventually, only 27 achieved an Earth-tier evaluation, with none receiving a Celestial-tier evaluation."

"My batch was far worse, with a total of just over 1,300 people, and ultimately only eight reached an Earth-tier evaluation, with none receiving a Celestial-tier evaluation."

"This batch has just over a thousand people; I estimate not many will achieve an Earth-tier evaluation."

At this moment, a middle-aged sword cultivator looked toward an elderly sword cultivator with white hair, wrinkles, and a weary appearance, and softly asked:

"Xu, your lifespan is nearing its end, do you intend to find a disciple to pass on your teachings from this batch?"

In a hoarse voice, the old man said:

"A disciple to pass on my teachings is unnecessary; my lifespan is nearing its end, and I’ve only cultivated to a Tier Four Loose Immortal. My talent is only mediocre among our peers. In the Sword Palace assessment, anyone who achieves a Profound-level evaluation will surpass my accomplishments, and if they reach an Earth-tier evaluation, they’ll have the potential of an Earth Immortal. How could they possibly take an interest in an old man like me?"

"Then what will you do?"

The old Sword Immortal chuckled:

"Even if I did take a disciple, with my lifespan nearing its end, I wouldn’t be able to help them. I won’t hold back their future; I plan to use my remaining resources to make a deal with a genius."

"Hmm....."

In the Sword Palace, as the starlight enveloped him, a faint light screen unfolded before Su Yu, with data appearing on it:

"Talent Evaluation in Progress....."

"Innate Attributes: Innate Root and Bone 39, Innate Comprehension 21, Innate Six Senses 20, Innate Fortune 26, Score: 28.9, Profound Level, Low Grade."

"Spirit Root: Supreme Dragon Transformation Immortal Bone (Top-grade Immortal Bone), Merit Golden Wheel Prototype, Celestial Heart +2, Unknown Constitution (???), Score: 74.5, Earth Level, Top Grade ???."

"Sword Dao Realm: Sword Qi Thunder Sound [Mastery], Condensed into Silk [Proficient], Sword Light Division [Slight Achievement], Score: 53.2, Earth Level, Low Grade."

"Overall Score: ???."

The evaluation kept fluctuating, sometimes Profound Level, sometimes Earth Level, with specific scores constantly changing, appearing extremely unstable.

Su Yu understood in his heart that it was likely due to his unknown constitution affecting his talent. This talent evaluation couldn’t identify what his talent was, so the score couldn’t be determined.

Simultaneously, as the scores appeared, a new light screen popped up beside the panel, showing constantly changing names and rankings.

It was the scoring leaderboard, but with everyone just having finished their evaluations, the rankings were still quite chaotic.

After nearly thirty seconds, the ranking changes slowed, gradually becoming stable.

Looking again at his scoring panel, Su Yu noticed that the change in his overall score had also slowed, oscillating between Profound Level Top Grade and Earth Level Low Grade.

Seconds later, the changes gradually stabilized, ultimately fixing at Earth Level, Low Grade, with a confirmed score of 51.6.

He then looked at the leaderboard again, spotting his name at the eighth position.

Upon closer inspection of the ranks above, he found that only thirteen had over 50 points, and the mere 1.6 points allowed him to surpass five places, which was quite unexpected for him.

Ranked first was an anonymous name, but it was clear that the score was Celestial Level, Low Grade, with a score of 82.6 points.

This was also the only Celestial-level score, as the second-place score was only 72 points, Earth Level Top Grade, a significant gap from the first place, 31 points higher than Su Yu.

"Ridiculous!"

One could only remark that sometimes the disparities between people are indeed boundlessly vast.

However, Su Yu didn’t feel any jealousy; he knew his situation well. From being considered cannon fodder, with innate attributes in the teens barely enough to join a sect, to now ranking among the top ten out of a thousand geniuses, was a tremendous improvement, and he was already quite satisfied.

Moreover, he was continually progressing; now he was rated as Earth Level Top Grade. If given a few more years to grow, he would surely surpass more top-tier geniuses, achieving a Celestial-tier rating without any doubt.