Immortal Refiner

In the blink of an eye, a year and a half had passed. Since entering the Tai Academy, Li Qing's accomplishments in the art of formations had become quite significant.

Over the past year and a half, he had been constantly studying the formation inheritance from Instructor Ying, while also frequently attending lectures by other formation instructors. Now, he was initially capable of arranging some fourth-order grand formations.

During this time, Instructor Ying also came to the Tai Academy to personally impart formation knowledge.

On that day, the entire training ground was exceptionally lively. Not to mention the disciples, even instructors like Li Qing had arrived early, fearing they would miss out.

After Instructor Ying's explanation, Li Qing's previous confusion was cleared up.

At the Tai Academy, two years constituted an academic year. Because Li Qing had entered the academy relatively late, it was already approaching the end of the academic year.

At the end of each academic year, all disciples studying at the Tai Academy had to participate in an assessment. Their performance in the assessment would determine the amount of cultivation resources they would receive in the academy the following year.

As a refining instructor, Li Qing, although not required to set up specialized refining questions for these disciples, had to participate in the proctoring and judging process.

Li Qing, who was originally preparing for the upcoming Profound Heaven Divine Palace, had to stop his work.

After all, he also received a salary at the Tai Academy. Although the spirit stone income was not high, he cared greatly about the opportunity to open the Refinement Void inheritances in the Book Mountain Tower.

Throughout the entire academic year, quite a few disciples had come to learn refining techniques from him, and Li Qing had accumulated a considerable amount of contribution points. By participating in the end-of-year assessment once more, he could accumulate enough for an opportunity to open a Refinement Void stage inheritance.

There were still several inheritances inside that he was quite interested in and wanted to exchange for them all.

"Is Instructor Li Qing in his cave dwelling? The academy asked me to inform you that the assessment location in seven days will be Hundred Flowers Valley outside Nanfeng County. This is some relevant information about Hundred Flowers Valley, which I have brought to you."

Outside Li Qing's cave dwelling, an instructor dressed in a black robe stood.

Li Qing quickly exited the cave dwelling and thanked him, "Thank you for making the trip, Instructor Huang Yuan."

Instructor Huang Yuan shook his head and said, "It's no trouble. We will be departing in seven days, Instructor Li Qing, please prepare early."

"In addition, this information related to the assessment is forbidden to be leaked to the disciples in the academy, otherwise, severe punishment will be imposed!"

Li Qing took the information related to Hundred Flowers Valley in his hand and nodded, "Understood."

In the past, when a passage between the two realms opened in the Azure Billow Continent, the valley, which was originally like spring all year round with various spiritual flowers in full bloom, was contaminated by the source demonic energy.

The demons had planted a large number of demonic essence trees in this Hundred Flowers Valley, completely polluting this place that originally represented peace and holiness. Demonic energy still remained to this day.

Although those demonic essence trees had now been completely removed, the spiritual flowers in the Hundred Flowers Valley had also undergone畸变, becoming demonic flowers with considerable harm. Some had become intelligent, becoming half-demon existences.

The good news was that after so many years of sweeping, the remaining harm of the demonic flowers in Hundred Flowers Valley had become controllable. In recent years, it had become a place where the Tai Academy often trained its disciples.

However, this Hundred Flowers Valley was located in the border area between the Great Yu Kingdom and the Three Extremes Alliance. The latter was also a powerful force in the Azure Billow Continent, capable of contending with the Great Yu Kingdom without falling too far behind.

Although the two major forces had not explicitly launched a war, friction was always inevitable.

"This Three Extremes Alliance is actually an alliance of three different forces, formed out of necessity to resist the expansion of the Great Yu Kingdom's Grand Ancestor."

"The Spirit Howler Clan, the Joyous Union Demon Sect, and the Polar Abyss Island formed an alliance. All three forces have experts in the late stage of Body Integration Realm sitting in charge, and the Spirit Howler Clan even enshrines a True Howler Ancestor. They are all Spirit Howler Beasts with True Howler blood flowing through them, and their individual strength is extremely powerful, comparable to ancient remnants."

After Li Qing finished reading all the information related to Hundred Flowers Valley, his brow furrowed even deeper.

Previously, he had felt that the young cultivators in this Great Yu Kingdom lacked experience too much, and even these proud disciples in the Tai Academy were like flowers in a greenhouse.

Now it seemed that this was not entirely the case.

The assessments at the end of each academic year were not simple, and in a careless situation, death was not impossible.

But even so, the Tai Academy was still a sacred place that the younger generation of the entire Great Yu Kingdom flocked to.

Because being able to successfully graduate from the Tai Academy was equivalent to obtaining a ticket to the officialdom of the Great Yu Dynasty. Those with outstanding abilities could easily become officials in the court.

"Phew! It seems that being an examiner is not easy either. I also have to guard against some dangers that exceed the disciples' capabilities."

"Rather than assessing these disciples, it is better to say that even instructors like me are being assessed together."

Li Qing shook his head and put away the information about Hundred Flowers Valley.

He originally planned to improve the Human Seed Pouch into a qualified Profound-grade spiritual treasure, but now it seemed that he had to postpone it.

"Hundred Flowers Valley was once a great holy place in the Azure Billow Continent."

"That's right, the secret technique of《Stealing Heaven Imprints》recorded in the scroll from the Profound Underworld Realm, which I have almost finished cultivating, can be tried to see if it can directly steal the natural Dao patterns of heaven and earth in the Hundred Flowers Valley."

In this way, Li Qing decided to completely refine his Human Seed Pouch in that Hundred Flowers Valley. By then, he would have another handy spiritual treasure.

Seven days passed in a flash. When Dean Chen personally appeared and announced the location of the end-of-year assessment, the jaws of all the disciples of the Tai Academy almost dropped to the ground.

"What? It's actually Hundred Flowers Valley?!"

"It's over, why is this year's assessment location so dangerous? In the past, the assessment location would only be set in Hundred Flowers Valley when an unparalleled genius enrolled."

"I thought it would be the Wandering Soul Sea or the Heavenly Demon Forest, so I prepared a lot of spirit-type elixirs and beast-repelling powder in advance."

"I heard that every time there is an assessment in Hundred Flowers Valley, there is a death rate of nearly 20%. Even with the instructors proctoring and protecting, safety is not guaranteed."

"I want to know, can I drop out now."

"..."

On the high platform of the training ground, Li Qing and many instructors stood behind Dean Chen, silently wiping a handful of sweat for the constantly wailing disciples below.

Dean Chen was not too surprised by these reactions from the disciples. He did not feel annoyed, but instead sighed leisurely:

"Do you know that there are only more than two thousand years left until the next opening of the Two Realms Battlefield?"

"If the next passage between the two realms opens in the Azure Billow Continent, then it will be another catastrophe of devastation. Who will you complain to then?"

"Even for a Fusion Realm cultivator like myself, the odds of surviving on the Two Realm Battlefield are only fifty-fifty."

"The Hundred Flowers Valley has been scoured countless times by numerous powerful figures from the military. The dangers within the valley have already been reduced to the bare minimum. If you can't even pass this test, how will you survive once the Two Realm Battlefield opens?"

Following Dean Chen's successive remarks, the disciples fell silent, no longer complaining about the Hundred Flowers Valley being the location for the assessment.

"The content of this assessment is also very simple. You can form teams of five, with each team required to have one newly admitted disciple and allowed at most one disciple who is about to graduate. There are no restrictions on the remaining three members."

"Each team will receive a bottle of Exorcism Dew concocted by the academy's alchemists. Delivering it to the designated locations within the Hundred Flowers Valley will be considered a successful assessment."

"The Exorcism Dew is precious. Whether it is lost or fails to reach the designated location, the assessment will be considered a failure."

"Of course, in addition to the main task of the assessment, the academy will also issue some tasks to remove demonic flowers. Completing these extra tasks will increase your assessment score."

"As always, the assessment is divided into four grades: A, B, C, and D, with the entire assessment process serving as the grading standard."

After speaking, Dean Chen flicked out a series of waist belts made of special crystal. These waist belts could not only be used to monitor the entire assessment process of the disciples but also contained a bottle of Exorcism Dew.

"You have half an hour to form your teams. If you fail to do so, I will randomly assign teammates for you."

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After saying this, Dean Chen closed his eyes, quietly awaiting the passage of time.

Whoosh!

The disciples of the Taishu Academy below the stage immediately erupted into a clamor, each seeking out those renowned disciples of the past.

"Senior Brother Liao Hai, I am also a cultivator from Green Bull City. I wonder if I could join you for this assessment "

"Junior Sister Yun Rou, would you like to team up with me? I have been in the academy for six years and have extremely rich experience in various assessments."

"I heard that there is a newly admitted disciple this year with Wind and Thunder dual异灵根 aptitude. Where is that person? I wish to obtain an A grade in this year's assessment. I wonder if he is interested."

"Qiu Ya, are you here? Qiu Ya "

"."

For a time, the entire dojo was as noisy as a market, especially for some disciples with weaker abilities who were anxious and sweating profusely.

Looking at this scene from the sidelines on the stage, Li Qing couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

As an outsider, he could already see that the assessment had, in fact, already begun.

Those disciples who were usually outstanding in strength and diligent in cultivation would now become highly sought-after recruitment targets.

As for those ordinary disciples who were unknown and unremarkable, they would be ignored and eventually have their teams randomly assigned by Dean Chen.

Besides this, some disciples with excellent social skills could also exert a considerable advantage at this moment, quickly assembling their own teams.

"Alas, I wonder how many disciples will perish in this assessment." Beside Li Qing, a teacher of alchemy sighed softly.

Li Qing frowned and asked, "Didn't Dean Chen say that the Hundred Flowers Valley has been scoured many times? Could the mortality rate still be as high as twenty percent?"

A teacher replied:

"The danger of the demonic flowers in the valley is secondary. The military often sends experts deep into the valley to remove those exceptionally dangerous demonic flowers. However, the Hundred Flowers Valley's location is special. The Joyous Union Demon Sect of the Three Extremes Alliance often roams within it, planting Chaos God Grass and Heavenly Desire Flowers."

"If one accidentally stumbles into the Joyous Union Demon Sect's medicinal fields, accidents may occur."

Hearing this, Li Qing fell silent. If that were the case, then the mortality rate would indeed be high.

Soon, half an hour passed in a flash. The remaining disciples who had not completed their teams were assigned teams randomly by Dean Chen with a wave of his hand.

"Take good care of your spiritual crystal waist belts. Losing them will also be considered a failed assessment!"

"Now, depart!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Dean Chen conjured a scroll that was large enough to cover the entire world.

Boom!

Along with the extremely strong spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from this vast scroll, everyone, including the many teachers, was drawn into the world within the painting.

After putting away the scroll again, Dean Chen directly took a step forward, and the entire world around him suddenly transformed.

The next moment, his figure appeared on a desolate mountain peak in Jade Capital City.

"Old scoundrel Ying, quickly teleport me to the Hundred Flowers Valley." Dean Chen unceremoniously barged into the thatched cottage on the summit of the desolate mountain.

The interior of the thatched cottage actually held a different world. With one step, Dean Chen entered it, as if he had entered another world. The space inside was extremely vast. The thatched cottage from before was actually the entrance to a secret realm.

In this world, a one-eyed man with a look of dejection and frustration was sweeping the fallen leaves on the ground with a broom.

When he saw an old man with a powerful aura barge into the courtyard, tears welled up in the one-eyed man's eyes, and he pitifully said, "Senior, senior, save me, please save me and get me out of here. I'm going to be that old scoundrel ."

Before Xia Wushuang could finish speaking, his mouth seemed to have been sealed by an invisible cloth strip, and he could no longer make any sound.

Seeing this scene, Dean Chen shook his head and said, "Old scoundrel Ying, you're imprisoning people randomly again. What did this kid do to offend you this time?"

An old voice came from the sky: "This kid said that my formation techniques were rustic and crude, so I threw him in here to find the formation core hidden in this realm within a year. Unfortunately, he couldn't do it, so I'm punishing him to stay here as a sweeping boy."

"呜 呜 呜 呜 呜 呜 ! ! !" Xia Wushuang widened his only eye, as if he had unspeakable grievances, but he couldn't make a sound.

He dropped the broom and pointed to the sky, but he couldn't say a word.

Seeing this, Dean Chen could only shake his head helplessly and then said, "Teleport me to the Hundred Flowers Valley. I hope this assessment goes smoothly."

"I heard that the Joyous Union Demon Sect has had a lot of unusual activity in the Hundred Flowers Valley recently. You should be careful on this trip."

As Master Ying's old and hoarse voice faded, a circle of extremely complex formation light surged out.

Buzz!

Along with a spatial distortion, Dean Chen's figure directly disappeared.