The young man didn’t hide anything. Besides, everyone present who could make it here already knew the rules. Still, they all listened intently as he spoke.
This concerned their future prospects, so even though they already knew the rules, they wanted to hear them one more time, just to be sure.
"Brother Zhou, are there any tricks to it?"
"If there were any tricks, the Celestial Sword Sect and the Taiyi Sword Sect wouldn’t recognize the Sword Dao aptitude measured by the Sword Inquiry Stone."
The young man shook his head, and the few people around him gave wry smiles. It was true. If there were any loopholes to exploit, the Sword Inquiry Stone wouldn’t have stood on Tai Mountain for over a thousand years. A powerhouse from the Celestial Sword Sect would have patched them, or the two sects would simply no longer recognize the results.
The fact that the Celestial Sword Sect hadn’t sent anyone to patch any vulnerabilities, and that both sects—indeed, all the Sword Sects of the North Sea Lineage—recognized the aptitude results from the Sword Inquiry Stone, proved that its test was foolproof.
"Senior, do you think Jian Sheng can reach Rank A?" Lin Yan asked curiously.
"Rank A? Jian Sheng isn’t quite there yet. However, Lower Rank B should be no problem. Besides, his current Realm is still a bit low. This trip is just a trial run. I’ll bring him back in three years, and we’ll aim for Upper Rank B then."
He Qiaosheng stroked his beard and smiled, not bothering to lower his voice so that everyone around could hear. Many faces showed doubt, and a few young women in particular couldn’t help but purse their lips. ’Someone that ugly can get a Rank B?’
The young man who had just received a Rank C instantly lost his smile. He couldn’t help but glance at He Qiaosheng. If the man didn’t look like someone he couldn’t afford to provoke, he would have really let a few taunts fly.
’Does he really think I didn’t hear what that ugly guy said earlier? I only pretended not to because I could tell his companion was bad news.’
’I’d like to see just what kind of aptitude this ugly guy has when he comes out.’
Many who had been about to leave, including several middle-aged men who struck Lin Yan as unfathomably profound, paused when they heard He Qiaosheng. They all turned their gazes to the entrance of the Sword Inquiry Stone.
A dozen breaths later, Jian Sheng emerged from the Sword Inquiry Stone.
All eyes focused on him.
To be precise, they were focused on his right hand.
It was empty.
Jian Sheng wasn’t holding anything.
"That fast?"
"Could it be that he found he couldn’t leave a mark on the Sword Stele and just gave up?"
Although many were wary of He Qiaosheng and didn’t dare to voice their scorn, a few of the youths who had come with their own elders were not so restrained.
"So what if that man is in the True Gang Realm? Our elders are True Gang Realm powerhouses too."
The tense expression on the young man named Zhou relaxed, and a smirk returned to his lips. He took the waterskin his companion offered and took a long, slow sip.
’He mocked me earlier, and now he’s been humiliated this quickly.’
’At least I got a Rank C. What did you get?’
Feeling everyone’s eyes on him, Jian Sheng gave a sly chuckle. He loved this—proving people wrong while all eyes were on him.
"Master, you were right. I got a Rank B."
Jian Sheng reached into his sleeve. When he pulled his hand out, it held a silver Sword Token.
Many of the youths’ eyes went wide at the sight of the silver Sword Token in Jian Sheng’s hand.
"R-Rank B?"
"Impossible, right? This guy looks... he looks..."
The speaker swallowed the rest of his sentence, but his eyes made his meaning perfectly clear. ’How on earth could someone so ugly achieve a Rank B?’
The young women nearby exchanged glances, the earlier smirks on their faces replaced by complex expressions.
One of them, a woman in a pale yellow dress, couldn’t help but mutter, "With a face like that... what good is high aptitude?"
"Silence!"
The elder beside the woman immediately snapped at her, then turned and cupped his fist toward He Qiaosheng. "My friend, please forgive her. She is young and ignorant. Please don’t hold it against her."
The middle-aged man had lost his earlier composure. Although he was a True Gang Realm powerhouse himself, he knew there were different levels of strength within the realm. Anyone capable of recruiting a disciple with Rank B aptitude was certainly no ordinary True Gang Realm powerhouse.
The Martial Arts Realm was just that pragmatic. Without enough strength, one couldn’t even hope to recruit a genius disciple.
He Qiaosheng, however, wasn’t angry. He couldn’t blame others for their reaction to his disciple’s appearance. After all, even he had hesitated for a long time before deciding to take him on.
"Alright, come on over. It’s Lower Rank B, but you just had to say ’Rank B,’ didn’t you."
Seeing Jian Sheng standing there, struck speechless by the young women’s comments, He Qiaosheng shot his disciple an exasperated glare. ’Useless kid. So what if you’re a little ugly? Once you reach the True Gang Realm, or an even higher Realm, you won’t have to worry about finding beautiful women.’
"Lin Yan, you go ahead."
He Qiaosheng looked at Lin Yan with high expectations. In his opinion, Lin Yan’s talent was no less than Shen Guyun’s. It was just that his own good friend—Lin Yan’s master—was overly cautious and didn’t want the two to compete.
’As long as Lin Yan achieves a Rank A, or at least an Upper Rank B, in the Sword Inquiry Stone this time, it will prove my judgment was correct.’
"Okay."
Lin Yan didn’t hesitate. He was also eager to find out what his current Sword Dao aptitude was. ’Jian Sheng is just shy of three Perfect Sword Intents, while I already have Nine Paths. Once I go in, I’ll also bring my *Fireflies Illuminating the Night* swordsmanship to Perfection, which will make it ten. I wonder if that will be comparable to an Innate Sword Heart, enough to earn a Middle Rank A or even an Upper Rank A.’
The moment Jian Sheng produced the silver Sword Token, the other youths who had been about to enter all stopped in their tracks.
Anyone could see that Lin Yan and Jian Sheng had come for the Sword Inquiry Stone test together. Since one had achieved a Rank B, the other was surely not going to be far behind. They were willing to wait a little longer.
’Otherwise, if they went in now and came out with a Rank C, they’d have to pretend to be dissatisfied—even if they were secretly pleased—with that ugly Rank B guy standing right there. Why would they want to put themselves through that?’

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