Forced to become a pure and innocent female pharmacist in order to cultivate immortality.

In other words, this so-called assessment will require competing with junior disciples from three other families.

Chapter 62 The Upper Sect's Conspiracy

Inner sects generally don't conduct these assessments because they're unnecessary. Inner sects can advance as long as their cultivation level reaches a certain point, while outer sects require assessments. If you compare disciples to commodities, then this is a quality issue.

While the quality of disciples from the inner sects of Lingxi is incomparable to that of those from the outer sects, it doesn't mean that the sects are intentionally making things difficult for the outer sect disciples. On the contrary, they are using this method to select promising talents from the outer sects.

After all, the quality of a spiritual root can be seen, but the quality of a spiritual root cannot determine everything.

Yuncheng began to explain in detail the preliminary disciple assessment jointly organized by the four sects, which was somewhat similar to the elementary school to middle school entrance examination on Earth.

The first location for the assessment is Yunxia Sect, because Yunxia Sect is the strongest of the four sects in terms of overall strength. This means that the junior outer disciples of the other three sects will arrive at Yunxia Sect one after another in three days.

Some might ask, didn't the Yunxia Sect have such a big conflict with the Zixia Sect just a year ago?

But these are two different things. There are all sorts of conflicts among the four major sects. What the Yun Sect wants to see is for the four lower sects within the Yun Sect to fight each other.

If no one fights, then Yun Zong will never be able to sleep.

The assessment for intermediate outer disciples is currently divided into three parts. The first part is the test of perseverance, which involves climbing a mountain, just like when Ye Liuyun and the others entered the sect four years ago. They have to climb from the bottom of the mountain to the top, but the pressure of this assessment is definitely not comparable to that of four years ago.

To motivate their disciples, the four sects decided that if these junior disciples couldn't even pass the test of perseverance, they would be publicly expelled from the mountain. Therefore, this assessment was no joke.

"What? I finally passed the formal disciple assessment, and now I have to take the intermediate disciple assessment. It's only been a year, and if I fail the assessment, I'll have to leave the sect again. Isn't that inappropriate?" A few junior disciples exclaimed in surprise when they heard about the punishment for failing the assessment.

Those who can exclaim in surprise are basically people who lack confidence in themselves.

This is the first test, titled "The Road to Heaven".

If you fail, you have to leave. You can either go back to the mortal world or become a rogue cultivator. You definitely can't stay in a sect anymore.

The second challenge is titled "Walking and Singing".

This trial was presided over by the Xixia Sect. One of the sect's elders was skilled in musical arts, which could drag disciples into an illusion to undergo trials within that illusion.

The third challenge is the "Four Sects Martial Arts Tournament".

Only disciples who pass the second stage of the test can participate. It mainly involves sparring between disciples of the four sects, followed by a ranking based on points. Those who rank high will not only receive contributions from their own sect, but also receive cultivation techniques and treasures as rewards from the other three sects.

These are the preliminary assessment items.

After hearing this, the disciples immediately stopped making some noise.

"Have you all calmed down? What I want to tell you is that fear of moving forward is a major obstacle for cultivators. As long as you have enough perseverance, passing the first test, the Path to Heaven, will be no problem. Your worries are just a lack of confidence in yourselves. Besides, even if you fail, you can become a rogue cultivator or return to the mortal world to enjoy wealth and honor. It won't be a loss for you," Yun Cheng said.

After careful consideration, everyone realized that if they couldn't even pass the first test, how far could they go on the path of cultivation?

If one's Dao heart is weak, then it's better to go home and enjoy wealth and honor, rather than die in the cultivation world.

"Alright, I've said everything I need to say. All junior disciples must participate in this test; there is no choice. If you don't want to participate, you can go back immediately, pack your bags, and leave the sect," Yun Cheng added.

Fortunately, none of the disciples were so afraid that they dared not participate in the test; they were just too surprised and unprepared.

"Strange, what exactly are these four major sects up to?" Ye Liuyun sensed something was amiss.

Wouldn't this be like showing off all of our new generation of disciples to other sects? Wouldn't that be considered exposing the sect's potential?

However, Ye Liuyun felt that they must have had a purpose in doing this; they couldn't have done something like this for no reason.

After Yuncheng finished making the announcement, he dismissed everyone. Just as Ye Liuyun arrived home and was about to enter, Lin Aoxue rushed over.

"Liu Yun, wait a moment, I have something to tell you," Lin Aoxue called out.

When Ye Liuyun saw Lin Aoxue coming over, she was taken aback. She guessed that Lin Aoxue's sudden arrival might be related to the joint action of the four sects.

"Aoxue, do you know why these four sects are working together? I find it a bit strange," Ye Liuyun quickly asked.

Lin Aoxue came to tell Ye Liuyun about this.

"This kind of thing definitely wasn't done by the four major sects, it was done by the upper sect." Lin Aoxue looked around and then whispered in Ye Liuyun's ear.

Upon hearing this, Ye Liuyun quickly pulled Lin Aoxue into the house and then carefully inquired about the cause and effect.

Here's the thing: the Yun Sect, the superior of the four major sects, hasn't been doing well in recent years; to put it bluntly, it's begun to decline. If a mid-level sect becomes weaker, they'll definitely worry about the lower-level sects becoming too strong, but there are some things they can't openly investigate.

The best solution would be to hold a competition that the four lower-level sects would not be able to refuse. If they refuse, it would mean they have ulterior motives, and then the Yun Sect would have to take action to suppress them.

To determine the quality of a sect's disciples, one only needs to look at the most recent batch of disciples who have joined the sect.

In other words, three days later, the Yun Sect will also send an envoy to watch the competition. It is nominally organized by the four major sects, but in reality, it is an order from the Yun Sect.

Lin Aoxue will definitely not participate in this four-sect joint operation; it's all a conspiracy.

"I didn't expect it to be like this. I've been thinking about something. If the Cloud Sect sees an outstanding disciple among us, will they have other ideas?" Ye Liuyun raised an important question.

If she were the leader of the Cloud Sect and learned that a subordinate sect had an outstanding disciple, she would definitely find a reason to bring him into her own sect.

This way, they can improve the quality of their own disciples and suppress subordinate sects.

"Hehe, when you're smart, you're not just smart, you're exceptionally smart. You got it right, and that's exactly what they're after. So, don't be too outstanding, or you'll be chosen and sent to the Cloud Sect," Lin Aoxue laughed.

"Me? Forget it. My spiritual cultivation is only at the early stage of the Spirit Stream Realm. Plus, I have a spiritual root with all five elements. They wouldn't even look at such trashy talent. Don't worry." Ye Liuyun shook his head.

Hearing this, Lin Aoxue covered her mouth and laughed. Indeed, it would be strange if Ye Liuyun could be chosen by the Yun Sect. She was just here to deliver a message.

The news that Yunzong wanted to inspect its subordinate sects came as a surprise, and it was Yunzong that chose Yunxia Sect as the destination for the four-sect joint operation.

Inside the main hall of the Yunxia Sect, Yun Yun and the others looked rather grim. The Yunxia Sect's arrival was clearly ill-intentioned. They had just received news that the Yunxia Sect's four-sect alliance was merely a ploy, and they were certain that the sect had other plans, but they couldn't predict what those plans would be.

"Strange, why did the Upper Sect choose our Yunxia Sect as the destination for the joint operation? Did the three families report our acquisition of a large number of spirit stones to the Yunxia Sect?" Yun Yun said with a furrowed brow.

Yun Hui and the others lowered their heads and remained silent. In any case, it was not a good thing. If it was an open conspiracy, that would be fine, but they were afraid that Yun Zong would launch a surprise attack.

The Yunxia Sect also has connections within the Yun Sect. Every year, they spend a large amount of spirit stones to curry favor with an elder of the Yun Sect, who is their inside man within the Yun Sect.

The elder also relayed the message that the Yun Sect's visit was ill-intentioned, urging them to prepare in advance.

Larger sects are generally not monolithic. In addition, the cultivators with higher cultivation levels are often self-centered. They don't care about the sect's decline. As long as they have gained benefits, they can easily switch to another sect. There is no need to hang themselves on a rotten tree.

"Senior Sister, I suggest that Aoxue leave the sect temporarily to avoid trouble," Yunhui said.

He was worried that Yunzong might come up with some methods they didn't know about.

Chapter 63 The Gathering of Four Sects

Yun Yun was also considering this matter. Lin Aoxue was the biggest secret of their Yunxia Sect. According to the rules, since the superior sect could not forcibly take people away, they could have many reasons to take their disciples away.

For example, sending Lin Aoxue to the Yun Sect for further studies is a good thing, as it helps you train disciples. However, under normal circumstances, after they take people away, they can use many methods to make these disciples unwilling to return to their original sects.

The Cloud Sect has used this method quite often. In fact, many disciples from the four sects who supposedly went to the Cloud Sect for advanced cultivation never returned; they directly became disciples of the Cloud Sect.

The reason given by Yun Zong was that they did not want to return, not that Yun Zong forbade them to return. This was an open conspiracy.

Becoming a disciple of the Cloud Sect instantly elevates one's status, opens up more prospects, and offers better treatment. Who would want to return?

With this one method, the four sects had no choice but to accept it, because nominally it would not harm them at all, but only if the disciple returned.

But if they don't come back, it will be a huge loss.

“But Yunhui, have you thought about this? How do you know that there are no spies sent by the Yun Sect in our Yunxia Sect? If they already know about Lin Aoxue’s existence, and we deliberately hide her, how will you answer when the envoy from the upper sect asks?” Yun Ling also reminded him.

This sentence left Yun Hui speechless, because Yun Ling's concerns were also an objective fact. They all knew that there were people from the Yun Sect within their own sect, but they didn't know exactly who they were.

In any case, they are now in a dilemma. After all, facing the powerful Yun Sect, they have no choice but to accept it and have no possibility of refusing. Although the Yun Sect has declined compared to many years ago, even a lean camel is bigger than a horse. The Yun Sect is still an unshakable behemoth to the Yunxia Sect.

"Sigh! Oh well, let's just take it one step at a time. There's no point in thinking about it so much. What's coming will come anyway," Yun Yun said with a headache.

Let's take a look at Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue's side.

After delivering the message, Lin Aoxue planned to return home. However, as she was leaving Ye Liuyun's residence, Ye Liuyun suddenly spoke up.

"What if Aoxue, Yunzong discovers you and wants to take you to Yunzong?" Ye Liuyun asked.

This question stunned Lin Aoxue, who was about to go back. She really hadn't thought about it before. She stood at the door, thinking about it from left to right, and then smiled faintly.

"It doesn't seem to matter much. At most, it will be a little troublesome to see you in the future, and I will definitely find a way to bring you to the Cloud Sect as well," Lin Aoxue said with a smile.

But Ye Liuyun shook his head.

"I don't think things are as simple as you think. However, we still need to be mentally prepared. The Yun Sect doesn't seem to have any good intentions," Ye Liuyun said with some melancholy.

"Oh, don't overthink it. You have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. Anyway, we are all cultivators with long lifespans, so there's no need to worry too much about it right now. I'm going back now." Lin Aoxue said and flew away.

After she left, Ye Liuyun immediately went back inside and talked with Lin Qingyou.

"Master, what do you think of this matter?" Ye Liuyun asked with some concern.

"Is there even a question? The Upper Sect suddenly wants to inspect its subordinate sects, which means they're here to take people away. You'd better be prepared. There's a high chance your little girlfriend will be taken away by the Cloud Sect. This might be bad for the Cloud Mist Sect, but it'll definitely be a great thing for your little girlfriend. Once she goes to the Cloud Sect, she'll have a much wider world to explore," Lin Qingyou said.

Ye Liuyun understood this principle. If Yunzong really wanted to take Lin Aoxue away, Ye Liuyun wouldn't be angry. However, Yunzong was far away from Yunxia Sect, so it would be difficult for him to meet Lin Aoxue again.

Moreover, if Lin Aoxue is taken to the Yun Sect, Ye Liuyun certainly won't stay in the Yunxia Sect for long.

Ye Liuyun also needs to make preparations early.

The appearance of those strange animals originally provided the Yunxia Sect with more hilarious and laughable stories to talk about every day, leaving people both amused and exasperated.

However, this sudden coordinated action among the four sects made the atmosphere in the Cloud Mist Sect oppressive and somber once again. It wasn't just the outer disciples; the inner disciples were in a similar state.

Because they had also received a reminder from their master, instructing them to make all necessary preparations to deal with unforeseen troubles.

Ye Liuyun then began frantically refining pills again, especially those that increased cultivation level; she was practically using up all the medicinal herbs she had obtained from the alchemy pavilion.

I haven't been concocting any improper elixirs these past few days.

On the third day, the day before the four sects' joint operation, cultivators from the other three sects arrived at Yunxia Sect one after another with their disciples who were participating in the assessment. However, judging from the expressions of these disciples and the three sect leaders, they did not seem to be happy either.

The disciples of the three sects were stationed at the foot of Fuyun Mountain, while the higher-ups came to Yunxia Sect, since this matter was not just a problem for Yunxia Sect alone.

Inside the main hall of the Yunxia Sect, the four sect leaders sat in a row in the center, with their chief elders sitting on either side. The atmosphere was even more serious than the internal meeting of the Yunxia Sect yesterday.

"Hehe, I'm very curious. Why would the Upper Sect choose our Yunxia Sect as the assessment location? What's so special about our Yunxia Sect? Three Sect Masters, don't you three need to explain this to me? Are you perhaps jealous that our Yunxia Sect has acquired a spirit stone mine? Are you just trying to cause us trouble?" Yun Yun said rather rudely.

Within the Yunxia Sect, everyone unanimously believed that this matter was definitely related to their three families.

Sitting next to Yun Yun were Zi Lan from the Zixia Sect, whom I had met before.

Then came the Sect Master of Xixia Sect, the Sect Master of Xiri Sect, and the Sect Master of Yanxia Sect, Yanchen Sect.

The three sect leaders were not immediately angry when they heard Yun Yun's impolite attitude. They knew that if they were in her shoes, they would also assume that the other three families were jealous of the spirit stone mine they had obtained and were deliberately reporting it to Yun Sect to cause them trouble.

This is highly likely; anyone with a modicum of common sense would agree with it.

However, this time Yunyun, Yunhui, and the others' guesses were wrong.

"Sect Master Yun, I understand why you think this way, but I must tell you that this matter has nothing to do with my Yanxia Sect. Whether you believe it or not is not important," Yan Chen said calmly.

“Indeed, your sect’s acquisition of a large number of spirit stones has made our sect envious. However, our Xixia Sect is not so foolish as to jeopardize its own future for a few spirit stones. Therefore, Sect Master Yun should think this matter carefully. Of course, it is possible that someone among us has informed on us, but it is certainly not our Xixia Sect,” Xi Ri also said.

The fact that both of them told Yun Yun so seriously that this matter was not done by their two families implies that it might have been done by the Zixia Sect. After all, the Zixia Sect suffered such a great loss, so it's understandable that they might want to take revenge on the Yunxia Sect in secret.

Upon hearing this, Zi Lan became somewhat displeased and abruptly stood up.

"What do you mean? You old ghost Xi Ri and old ghost Yan Chen, if you want to say that this was done by my Zi Xia Sect, just say so. Don't be so sarcastic. I'll say it once and for all: our Zi Xia Sect did not do this. Believe it or not, I'm too lazy to explain," Zi Lan said angrily.

"Oh dear, Sect Master Zilan, please don't be so angry. We were just saying that your sect is the most likely to be the culprit, not that it was definitely your sect. After all, we four sects all have spies planted by the upper sects. Maybe it was one of the spies who said it, Sect Master Yun, right?" Old Daoist Yanchen said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Yun Yun had to swallow back what she wanted to say. After all, the other party had already mentioned all the possibilities, so what could she say?

Zi Lan also sat down, still sulking. The matter they needed to discuss now was the collaboration for tomorrow.

"Forget it, it's already like this, there's no point in continuing to dwell on it. Are all the disciples from your three families ready? The assessment items shouldn't be necessary, right?" Yun Yun asked.

All three shook their heads. They didn't care about the assessment at all; what they cared about was the true purpose of Yunzong's assessment. They were all pondering this question.

But after thinking it over, their only answer was that Yunzong was looking for an excuse to ask the four major sects for people, and this wasn't the first or second time this had happened.

Chapter 64 Unexpected

The four sect leaders did not continue discussing the Yun Sect's affairs. After all, even if the Yun Sect were to take a hard line, the four lower-level sects would have no way to refuse.

The next day, Ye Liuyun left home early, just as dawn broke.

"Ah! It's time. I hope nothing unexpected happens today." Ye Liuyun was about to go to the assembly point.

However, before leaving, she noticed that the peach tree stump that had been struck by lightning had changed; a blue sapling had sprouted from the center of the stump.

"Oh, saplings have sprouted?" Ye Liuyun walked over in surprise.

These blue peach saplings look very delicate and are crystal clear; you can tell they are not ordinary saplings.