Everyone seemed to be dumbfounded.
After all, a moment ago, everyone was still being hunted by the Fiendcelestial Cult.
In the next moment, they arrived at this familiar place.
If not for a bell that calmed everyone down, they would have still been dazed and confused.
The bell rang.
Everyone couldn’t help but walk towards the venue of the mystic realm assessment.
“Senior Brother Ye, what exactly happened here?”
At this moment, Huangfu Tianlong walked towards Ye Ping with a bewildered expression. He was at a loss for what to do.
It wasn’t just him, basically all the cultivators were a bit dumbfounded.
“Mystic realm.”
Looking at Huangfu Tianlong who had arrived, Ye Ping patted his shoulder. Before Ye Ping died in the mystic realm, he had seen what Huangfu Tianlong had done for him.
To be honest, Ye Ping was touched to have such a friend and felt that Huangfu Tianlong was worthy of being a close friend.
“Mystic realm?”
Huangfu Tianlong was stunned.
‘That was an illusory mystic realm?’
“Yes, everything that we experienced was an illusion.”
“Unfortunately, I still failed at a critical moment.”
Nangong Xing walked in. He had died much earlier than Ye Ping and the others, so he came out a long time ago.
“I didn’t expect it, I didn’t expect the Ten Nations Academy’s assessment to be that harsh and strict. I originally thought the first assessment of the tournament would be relatively easy, but I didn’t expect them to come up with such an illusory mystic realm assessment.”
Zhang Ren couldn’t help but sigh, his eyes filled with helplessness.
“In other words, my elder didn’t die?”
Chen Hongfei walked in, looked at the crowd, and couldn’t help but ask that question.
“Of course he isn’t dead. The illusion was too realistic, it does live up to its reputation as the Heavenly Heart Mystic Realm. To be honest, I didn’t expect that it would be an illusion at all.”
Nangong Xing nodded, but he couldn’t help but look at Ye Ping and ask, “Brother Ye, judging from the way you look now, it seems you have already guessed that it was an illusion a long time ago, right?”
Everyone walked towards the venue of the illusory assessment, and at the same time, they looked at Ye Ping curiously.
After Nangong Xing said that, many elites couldn’t help but look at Ye Ping.
Indeed, after everyone appeared in the assessment, they were all dumbfounded. Ye Ping was the only one who looked calm.
That caused them to be filled with curiosity.
“Yes, we’ve guessed something.”
Ye Ping nodded. He had indeed guessed something in advance.
“How did you guess it?”
“Brother Ye, how did you guess it?”
“Yes, Brother Ye, how did you guess it?”
Everyone was curious and asked Ye Ping how he guessed.
Seeing the curiosity of the crowd, Ye Ping pondered for a while before answering them.
“In fact, I also thought that it was true at first, but there were two points that I had been suspecting.”
“Everyone, I don’t know if you all have noticed that that group of Fiendcelestial Cult disciples referred to Wei Nation as the Jiang Nation when they were discussing.”
Ye Ping brought up that point.
“Jiang Nation?”
“I seem to have heard something like that.”
“I do have some recollection about it. However, it was too chaotic at that time so I didn’t pay attention to it.”
Everyone frowned because the situation was very critical at that time.
They did not have time to pay attention to such things. Besides, it was just a casual mention and no one would care about it.
However, Ye Ping could acutely sense it.
“You could sense it just by hearing the term they gave?”
Some people were curious. Although they felt that Ye Ping was extremely meticulous, they didn’t think that he would be so sharp as to be able to detect that it was an illusion just by hearing the term.
“No, it’s just a term and I indeed couldn’t detect anything, it’s just another detail.”
“I wonder if you all have noticed that when everyone was fleeing, those who declare that they want to surrender thrice would immediately be annihilated.”
That was the reason for Ye Ping’s deduction.
After he said that, everyone could not help but be surprised.
They did not observe so carefully, but as Ye Ping said that, everyone couldn’t help but recall it.
“Yes, those who have surrendered were all dead.”
“In the very beginning, everyone exclaimed and no one could survive.”
“That seems to be the case.”
“Brother Ye, I’m really convinced, I’m convinced.”
Everyone exclaimed in astonishment.
To be honest, if it could be concluded that it was an illusion with just a term, they would find it far-fetched.
However, after hearing Ye Ping’s explanation, everyone came to a sudden realization.
“Let’s stop talking about it, we’d better go over and take a look and see what exactly is going on. I believe the Ten Nations Academy will give us an answer.”
Faced with the compliments of the crowd, Ye Ping remained extremely calm without acting arrogantly.
“Yes, yes, yes, let’s go and take a look.”
“Let’s see what the elders have to say.”
“To be honest, even though I’ve returned to reality now, I still feel that this is an illusion, do you guys think so too?”
“Hey, cut it out, even I’m a little confused about whether it’s true or not.”
“It shouldn’t be fake, why don’t you guys try saying that you want to give up on the competition?”
Everyone was discussing and cracking some jokes to make the atmosphere less somber.
Soon, everyone arrived at the combat arena.
The Heavenly Heart Illusory Array was gone.
However, there were dozens of elders standing in the combat arena who were all the elders of the Ten Nations Academy and other academies.
All the elders stood in the combat arena with their eyes fixed on Ye Ping.
The eyes of the elders were filled with awe, shock, and an indescribable emotion.
In fact, when the array formation was activated, most of them were watching from outside. Hence, they witnessed very clearly, every scene that appeared in the illusory array.
Among them, Ye Ping was the one who performed the best.
In fact, Ye Ping’s performance exceeded everyone’s imagination.
In particular, the elders of the Ten Nations Academy were all dumbfounded, and before that, they had even gotten into a huge fight when vying for Ye Ping to be their disciple.
Now that the illusory array assessment was over, they returned to normal. They couldn’t possibly argue about it in front of the disciples.
However, even so, the crowd still couldn’t help but look at Ye Ping.
Five minutes later, the disciples of the various academies had arrived one after another.
Their eyes were still full of confusion, and they couldn’t quite figure it out.
Clang!
At this time, the bell rang again.
It made the crowd fall silent while the confusion in their eyes also completely disappeared. Instead, there was tranquility in their eyes.
“All students.”
“The first round of the Ten Nations Grand Tournament, the mystic realm assessment has ended.”
“In other words, everything you experienced just now was just an illusion.”
At this moment, an elder in the combat arena said and slowly walked over with a calm gaze.
His words led to an uproar.
“Is it really an illusion?”
“Why was it so realistic?”
“It’s too real. I’m now a little confused about what’s real and what’s not.”
“Senior, why did we enter the illusory array too? Is there something wrong?”
“Yes, it’s fine for the participating students to enter the illusory array, but we’re just spectators, why were we also involved in the examination?”
There was an uproar, especially among the cultivators who had come to watch the event.
They were somewhat enraged because they felt that there was nothing wrong with the students from various academies entering the illusion, but it had nothing to do with them no matter how powerful the array formation was.
As spectators, there was no reason for them to be dragged into the illusory array too.
Everyone couldn’t help but say so.
Besides, many of the participating students were also a bit surprised, because they did not expect the spectators to have also been pulled into the illusory array.
It was indeed a bit inappropriate.
However, at this moment, another person spoke up.
He was the elder and also an extremely famous cultivator of Wei Nation.
He slowly walked out, and immediately afterwards, he said,
“This time, there are two purposes of the first round of the Ten Nations Academy, which is a mystic realm assessment. The first one is a test.”
“The second one is meant for you guys to remember the suffering, which is a decision that the national academies and the Ten Nations Academy have reached after some discussion.”
“Not only you cultivators, but also the citizens of the entire Wei Nation have all been pulled into the illusory array.”
“Do you think that this illusion is fictitious?”
He said with a calm expression and seemed somewhat mysterious.
Everyone was surprised to hear his words.
“Senior, what do you mean by that?”
“It’s not fictitious?”
“Could it be that it’s based on a true event?”
Everyone was surprised and filled with curiosity.
However, at this moment, someone suddenly spoke up.
“I know, I finally understand. I was just wondering why I had déjà vu. It’s the calamity that struck the Jiang Nation, right? Elder, was the illusion a reenactment of the calamity that the Jiang Nation faced?”
Everyone mentioned the so-called Jiang Nation, and all of a sudden, everyone was curious.
They didn’t know what it meant.
“Yes.”
The elder of Wei Nation, who was in the arena, nodded.
“Yes, it was the calamity of the Jiang Nation.”
“I think some of you should know about that calamity but most of you are still unaware.”
“The so-called calamity of the Jiang Nation was a huge disaster that happened seven hundred years ago.”
“Seven hundred years ago, Jiang Nation was ranked seventh place among those in the Great Xia Dynasty, and the assessment of the Ten Nations Academy was held in Jiang Nation.”
“Seven hundred years ago, the Fiendcelestial Cult plotted a shocking conspiracy to raid the Jiang Nation and even tried to threaten the Great Xia Dynasty with the geniuses of the Ten Nations by releasing three Devil Sons.”
“However, the Great Xia Dynasty did not agree, and in the end, none of the entire Jiang Nation was spared, and this matter had also become a huge disgrace to the Great Xia Dynasty as well as the orthodox cultivators of the world.”
“There were 30,000,000 people and cultivators in the entire Jiang Nation, as well as countless elites who died in this calamity.”
The Wei Nation elder sounded extremely benevolent, but at this point, he sounded furious.
“So, 500 years ago, the Great Xia Dynasty united with the other four dynasties and all forces in the world went all out to attack the Fiendcelestial Cult.”
“They destroyed the Fiendcelestial Cult in one fell swoop.”
“However, over the years, the Fiendcelestial Cult has returned and revived. Some time ago, they even raided the 33 states of Jin Nation, but fortunately, it didn’t result in major casualties.”
“However, the re-emergence of the Fiendcelestial Cult means that similar events might occur again in the future. In this case, we worked with the Ten Nations Academy and set up the Heavenly Heart Illusory Array as the first assessment.”
“Our purpose is to let all of you remember this shame and also let you really feel the terror of the Fiendcelestial Cult. How can you grow without experiencing a thunderstorm?”
He said with a serious expression.
He also stated the reason that the Heavenly Heart Illusory Array was set as the first round of the examination.
It was because the main purpose of the illusory array this time was to teach the cultivators a lesson and not to really put them through an assessment.
They wanted them to have a firsthand experience of the power of the Fiendcelestial Cult and the feeling of almost dying. Only with a firsthand experience could they truly understand the meaning of cultivation.
They would also be able to understand the viciousness of the Fiendcelestial Cult.
After hearing his words, everyone fell silent.
However, they were very emotional too.
The assessment was not just an assessment for the students of the Ten Nations, but also the 300 million cultivators and citizens.
Although the revival of the Fiendcelestial Cult had spread in the Ten Nations, many cultivators indeed didn’t take it seriously.
After all, after 700 years, the new generation of cultivators had no idea how terrifying the Fiendcelestial Cult was and what kind of trouble the Fiendcelestial Cult would bring.
Hence, the new cultivators didn’t care about the Fiendcelestial Cult at all.
However, this assessment was extremely meaningful as it allowed the 300 million cultivators and citizens to witness and experience the annihilation of the Jiang Nation themselves.
The Ten Nations Academy really lived up to its reputation.
They could create such a big hoo-ha from just an illusory assessment.
“Elder, this illusion is just too realistic. Is the Heavenly Heart Illusory Array really that terrifying? To be honest, I still feel that it’s real.”
“Also, when did we get caught in the illusion? Why did it feel so bizarre?”
After everyone snapped back to their senses, someone couldn’t help but ask with a bitter smile.
Hearing his voice, many cultivators also nodded. After all, the previous scene was too real.
Most importantly, they did not know when they slipped into the illusory array.
The elder of the Wei Nation shook his head.
“The Heavenly Heart Illusory Array is the best illusory array in the Ten Nations. It will make one slip into a triple illusion, but this is just a test so we couldn’t have really set up a complete Heavenly Heart Illusory Array. Otherwise, even a Tribulation Transcendence powerhouse would have probably been unable to break through the array, not to mention you guys.”
“Besides, we had already activated the illusory array yesterday, did you all feel somewhat sleepy yesterday?”
An elder explained to everyone.
Everyone came to a sudden realization after hearing that.
“Oh, I was wondering why I was a little sleepy.”
“Yeah, I thought it was because I was a little tired.”
“Hey, why didn’t I think of that? As a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator, it’s impossible to feel sleepy unless you are consuming a lot of mental energy.”
“I noticed it but I didn’t expect this to be the illusory array. I’m too inexperienced.”
Everyone was in an uproar. Most of them were a little surprised, while a small number of cultivators had in fact also noticed that something was wrong.
However, at that time, they didn’t think that there was anything amiss with it. After all, they were just a little sleepy, and most importantly, who would have thought that the Ten Nations Academy would test them in advance?
“Silence!”
The Wei Nation elder ordered.
He continued, “Since everything has been explained, Elder Ouyang of the Ten Nations Academy will announce the top 100 candidates in this assessment.”
“Also, at about midnight today, the Wei Nation State Soul Suppressing Bell will strike three times every two hours to calm your souls, so as to prevent you from developing mental demons from the Heavenly Heart Illusory Array.
The Wei Nation elder took a step back after saying that.
Immediately after that, another elder walked out with a jade book in his hand and he soon glanced at everyone.
The students appeared a little nervous at this moment, but now that they understood the reason for everything, they naturally had nothing more to say.
Getting a good place in the ranking of the assessment was more important.
The old man held a jade book in his hand.
He then said slowly, “This illusionary realm assessment has been invigilated personally by 33 elders of the Ten Nations Academy, who have also evaluated each candidate based on their performance.”
“Coming in the first place of the first round of the Ten Nations Grand Tournament is Ye Ping. His evaluation is as follows. Ye Ping is a supreme elite of the Ten Nations who is one in a million. He is of superior class and has been selected to join the Ten Nations Academy without having to go through other assessments. He has been set, in advance, to be the best candidate of the Ten Nations Grand Tournament.”
The elder’s voice sounded.
He declared the person in the first place.
Besides, as soon as he finished speaking, there was countless clamor in an instant.
“Superior-class?”
“Supreme elite of the Ten Nations?”
“Rare to come by once in ten thousand years?”
“That’s the highest evaluation of the Ten Nations Academy.”
“He’s been given the chance of direct admission to the Ten Nations, without having to take any other tests?”
At this moment, all the cultivators of the Ten Nations were completely in an uproar as they were overwhelmed with astonishment, just like the onlooking cultivators.
They knew that Ye Ping would definitely come in first place and it would be well-deserved.
However, they didn’t expect him to receive such an evaluation.
Huangfu Tianlong also couldn’t help but gulp his saliva and look at Ye Ping.
There would be an evaluation at the end of every assessment of the Ten Nations Grand Tournament.
The best and worst comments would be read first, followed by a neutral one. Basically, they were all comments about them having fairly good characters, aptitude, and talent.
Supreme elites of the Ten Nations were rare.
That evaluation had never appeared in the Ten Nations Academy before.
Ye Ping was the first in history.
Next, there was a classification.
They would be classified into superior-class, medial-class, and average.
Basically, for each Ten Nations Grand Tournament, there would only be one or two superior-class candidates, and in some tournaments, there would be none.
However, Ye Ping was not only superior-class.
He was even more superior than that.
How glorious must that be?
That also showed how highly the elders of the Ten Nations Academy thought of Ye Ping.
The chance for early admission was a great honor.
It was because there had never been a case of early admission in the Ten Nations Academy.
No matter how talented and strong one might be, they would basically have to go through all the tests and assessments.
An early admission was unprecedented.
However, this time, the Ten Nations Academy made an exception and allowed Ye Ping to be admitted in advance.
He was really… unbeatable.
Everyone was shocked.
They were also green with envy.
Many were feeling sour.
Even Huangfu Tianlong was somehow a little sour.
However, at this moment, Ye Ping’s voice suddenly sounded.
“Early admission? Elder, I don’t want to join the Ten Nations Academy.”
On the main path, Ye Ping spoke up. He was surprised too.
‘Why is there an early admission?’
He didn’t come here to join the Ten Nations Academy.
He didn’t want to create any misunderstanding.
After all, this illusionary realm assessment had a great impact on Ye Ping.
Hence, he decided that he had to go back to the clan no matter what.
He would study hard and work hard.
Ye Ping didn’t want to go to the Ten Nations Academy at this juncture.
However, his voice made everyone in the assessment venue fall silent.
