With a long sigh of relief, Lu Ping slowly withdrew his energy and brought the Bloodline Spiritual Strength that he had just gained into his Bloodline. Throwing away the discarded spiritual stone in his hand, and feeling the strong and powerful beating of his heart, he seemed to hear the "clattering" sound of his blood in his blood vessels.
In the darkness, he suddenly opened his eyes which were shining brightly like two stars in the pitch-black night sky. Lu Ping smiled and looked at everything in the house. After he reached the seventh level of Blood Refining, he gained the ability to see things at night. However, he could only see everything clearly in the hut.
Fetching a bucket of water to wash away the dark red impurities squeezed from his Bloodline and body, Lu Ping lay on the wooden bed. He finally could get a good night's sleep.
Having been in this world for 16 years, Lu Ping had not had any discomforts. Instead, after knowing how mysterious this world was, Lu Ping was badly curious about it.
Lu Ping had a very ordinary aptitude, but his True Spirit Bloodline was motivated when he was six years old. The Leading Immortal Senior on the island was amazed by that, so Lu Ping was admitted as a disciple by True Spirit Academy.
In the past ten years, Lu Ping had worked hard to learn everything about this world, and despite his ordinary aptitude, he had strived to cultivate and finally succeeded in reaching the seventh level of Blood Refining.
Those Immortal Seniors didn't know about his Bloodline, nor did himself.
The next morning, after the bell rang three times, True Spirit Academy was immediately filled with a hubbub of people's voices. The fifty people of the seventh team, second level quickly came out from their courtyard and ran towards the seventh platform of Morning Sun Peak. They were as swift as wild horses off the reins. If martial arts experts saw this, they would probably be dumbfounded.
The speed of these people might not be as fast as those top Qinggong experts, but they were thousands here, each with such superb Qinggong. Those top Qinggong experts might be stunned by this. If these people went out, the world of Wushu would be in chaos!
Lu Ping was at an appropriate speed and looked easy among these people. When he arrived at the seventh platform, he saw two figures on it from afar. They were probably the first and second senior disciples. Both of them had reached the ninth level of Blood Refining, and only the final Blood Dissolving was needed to build the foundation before they could become inner disciples of True Spirit Sect.
When the others were about to reach the platform, three more figures surpassed them and leaped onto the stage. They were the third, fourth and fifth senior disciples who had reached the eighth level of Blood Refining.
Seeing that all the people had reached the platform, the first senior disciple Yao Yong shouted, "Line up!" The crowd ran to their positions and lined up neatly in a moment. Lu Ping ranked second from left in the second row, which meant that he was the twelfth disciple.
Yao Yong shouted again, "Blood Bone Dissolving Fist, begin!"
The crowd made the Start Move, threw a punch out and shouted in unison, "Ha!"
Blood Bone Dissolving Fist had 72 moves. The first 36 moves helped them smelt themselves and motivate the true spiritual strength of their Bloodline. The second 36 moves were life-saving kung fu which enabled them to protect themselves and kill enemies.
After finishing practicing Blood Bone Dissolving Fist, Lu Ping felt hot all over. In the past, he would be panting and sweating after practicing it, but it had become a warm-up for him at this time.
Lu Ping looked at Yao Yong, who once again shouted, "Greetings to our Immortal Senior!"
Outside Xianyang Peak, a red light flashed, and three figures had already landed on the stone stage in front of the platform.
The disciples saluted in unison, saying, “Greetings, Immortal Senior Liu!"
The middle-aged cultivator among the three people who had an air of quiet authority waved his hand and said in a flat tone, "Forego it. Guys, I know you are cultivating very hard, but the assessment for the second level disciples of True Spirit Academy is about to begin. If you do not want to become outer disciples, you need to work harder!"
After Immortal Senior Liu finished his speech, the expressions of the people in the team were different. The first three rows of people had calm expressions, while the last two rows of people began to whisper with anxious, lost and desperate expressions.
Immortal Senior Liu looked at the last two rows of people blankly, and they fell silent at once. He made a faint "hum" and looked at the first three rows. When he saw Lu Ping, he looked overjoyed and said, "Lu Ping, you have already reached the seventh level?"
Immortal Senior Liu's words immediately caused a commotion among the quiet people, and even the senior disciples in the first row turned their heads to look at Lu Ping.
Lu Ping looked calm. Without the slightest bit of nervousness and excitement, he bowed politely and said, "Immortal Senior Liu, thank you for your guidance and training. I indeed made a lucky breakthrough last night."
"Good, good! After March, when the second level disciple assessment is over, you can participate in the second level Disciple Promotion Grand Competition."
The disciple assessment of True Spirit Academy was to eliminate disciples who did not meet the progress, while the Grand Competition was held for outstanding disciples at all levels, of which the winners would be rewarded and their cultivation would be greatly improved. Both were to motivate the disciples to cultivate hard.
In True Spirit Academy, disciples' status was determined by the strength and the competitions were fierce. The number of cultivation resources each team could get depended on the annual winning and elimination rates of their respective teams, and the leader of the team would also be rewarded by the sect. Therefore, when Immortal Senior Liu knew Lu Ping made a breakthrough, he was quite happy.
The second level disciple reached the seventh level, which meant he already had the strength of the top ten of the team, so the seventh team was more likely to win in the Grand Competition.
"In our True Spirit Academy, disciples' status is determined by strength. Lu Ping made a breakthrough and became the tenth one of our seventh team who reached the seventh level. According to the rules, Lu Ping will become the tenth disciple."
Lu Ping had experienced such things several times. At the moment, he was just walking silently to the far right side of the first row. He could clearly feel the gazes of the people behind him. They were angry, envious, jealous...
The previous tenth disciple Li Cheng cast a stern glance at Lu Ping, and walked to the far left of the second row, while the eleventh disciple Zhang Zicheng gave a wry smile and took two steps to the right to take the previous position from Lu Ping.
Lu Ping ignored all these expressions and just stood in his new position silently.
Immortal Senior Liu glanced at Lu Ping and smiled, "According to the custom, a disciple whose cultivation level has risen can challenge his peers to occupy a higher position and get better cultivation resources."
The four disciples who were at the seventh level of Blood Refining on the left looked at Lu Ping in unison. Lu Ping bowed to Immortal Senior Liu and said, "It hasn't been long since I've made the cultivation breakthrough. I still need to consolidate it. I am not a match for them, so I give up the right to challenge."
The others secretly thought, "As expected!"
Every time Lu Ping made a progress, he never challenged his peers. If not for the annual team ranking competition, Lu Ping would have ranked the last among his peers.
Lu Ping didn't want to cause trouble, but it didn't mean that troubles didn't come to him. After a few new disciples failed to beat him, everyone knew that Lu Ping was not a pushover like they thought. Therefore, there were fewer people who challenged him.
The reason why Lu Ping was able to rank twelfth among the peers who were on the sixth level of Blood Refining was that he passively took the position after the others failed to challenge each other.
"So, Lu Ping is the tenth senior disciple of our seventh team!" Immortal Senior Liu announced the result.
"Congratulations, Lu Ping!"
"Congratulations, Lu Ping!"
After Lu Ping returned a salute, Immortal Senior Liu said with a solemn look, "Good! Miscellaneous matters are finished. Guys, begin to meditate and do your exercises!"