Chapter 1315 Puppet Alley

"Sun Qiang, go and find out if there are any pills, spiritual liquids, or spirit stones above the high-grade essence level, and ask about the prices. I want to buy some."

In the courtyard, Zhang Xuan gave the order.

After chatting with Zhao Ya for a while, he returned to his residence.

Sun Qiang, as his steward, had also come along. Since the Holy Son Hall's courtyard was quite spacious, it wasn't crowded even with him staying there.

"Yes!"

Nodding, Sun Qiang withdrew.

Almost everyone admitted into the elite class was a core figure from a major power. For such people, the most important thing was cultivation; daily chores were handled by dedicated staff, just like Zhang Qian had Zhang Yu attending to him.

As the steward, Sun Qiang could register and apply to obtain a badge, allowing him to enter the Holy Son Hall without being attacked by the formations.

"I must speed up my cultivation..."

Watching him leave, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

From his chat with Zhao Ya, he learned that his student, whom he hadn't seen for just over half a year, had already reached the seventh level of the Saint Domain!

Compared to him, she was far stronger.

Even his student surpassed him, and his brother-in-law had sent him flying with a single punch... With such strength, how could he make Luo Ruoxin marry him?

If he didn't improve quickly—his girlfriend was better than him, his student was better than him, his subordinates were no match for him... even a clone could easily torment him—how shameful it all was!

He had always thought his talent was good and his cultivation speed not slow, but now he realized... he was nothing!

Everyone around him was too monstrous!

Thus, as soon as he arrived, he arranged for Sun Qiang to seek treasures containing higher energy.

Right now, that was what he needed most.

"There are two ways to improve quickly!"

After Sun Qiang left, Zhang Xuan rested his chin in thought.

"First, find cultivation techniques for the Out-of-Body and Domain realms, form the Heaven's Path technique, and learn it quickly!"

"Second, find soul cultivation methods, condense the Heaven's Path Witch Soul, and strengthen the primordial spirit. Either of these could skyrocket my strength!"

"Of course, if I have time, I also need to find eye techniques to train my gaze, supplementing the Nine Nether God Eye. Without mastering this, I can't become the hall master legitimately!"

Cultivation essentially involved true energy and the primordial spirit. He only had part of the Out-of-Body realm technique now; he had never even seen a Domain realm method. He had to speed up his search.

He took out his identity jade token and looked at it for a while, then nodded to himself.

"To view cultivation techniques and manuals, one's combat strength must reach a certain level—that is, by passing through the so-called Puppet Alley! The longer one lasts there, the more powerful the techniques one can view..."

The rules of the Holy Son Hall were different from those of the Master Teacher Hall or the Master Teacher Academy he had seen before.

To view techniques and manuals, one first had to see what level one's combat strength had reached.

The stronger one's combat strength at the same level, the more powerful the techniques one obtained, which aligned with Master Kong's philosophy of teaching according to aptitude.

A good technique passed to a mediocre person would not only fail to be mastered but would harm them.

It was like giving the best sports car to a clumsy driver—not kindness, but murder.

Thus, Puppet Alley graded combat strength to test a cultivator's power. Once the level was determined, the corresponding techniques were prepared. Different levels allowed cultivators to better leverage their strengths and learn more effectively.

"Puppet Alley is divided into ten levels: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui. Each level has corresponding techniques, clearly categorized... Because there are so many levels, the types and quantities of techniques are completely separated! And I... need quantity!"

Zhang Xuan frowned.

He didn't have high demands for the grade of techniques.

Thus, when he obtained the so-called Space-Deriving Heaven Scripture and Nine Nether God Eye, he wasn't very excited but rather disdainful... Not that he was pretending to be aloof, but no matter how exquisite a technique, it had flaws that made it hard to swallow, far inferior to finding a thousand ordinary books to form a Heaven's Path technique!

The Holy Son Hall's method of obtaining techniques was to grade the cultivator's ability... but for him, that was somewhat unfavorable.

Previously, all the manuals were piled together, and a single glance could gather them all. Now, they were scattered across different passages, making it much harder to collect.

"I won't think too much about it. Let's go take a look first..."

After pondering for a while without finding a solution, he shook his head, stopped overthinking, and pushed open the door to leave the courtyard.

Puppet Alley was a type of assessment trial, located in the 'Righteousness Hall.'

After asking around, he soon arrived. A huge character 'Yi' (Righteousness) appeared before his eyes, giving a completely different feeling from the 'Zhi' (Wisdom) character he had seen before.

The 'Zhi' character made one's mind radiate light; long-term viewing nurtured wisdom and sharpened the spirit.

This one, after a while, made one's heart feel vast, dispelling all previous worries and suffocation. More importantly... feelings of friendship and brotherhood surged in the heart, lingering and unending.

The character looked simple but gave one a sense of heroic spirit, a desire to gallop across the battlefield.

"Where righteousness lies, though thousands oppose, I go..."

Murmuring to himself, Zhang Xuan recovered from his dazed state.

This character emphasized 'righteousness' to unite humanity without discord.

Without guessing, he knew it was the ink left by Master Kong.

Otherwise, it couldn't have made him so lost in thought, achieving such an effect.

"Master, if I swallow this character, my cultivation will greatly improve..."

The ruthless one's voice sounded again, along with the sound of drooling.

"Go play somewhere else..."

Too lazy to bother with this guy who only thought about eating every day, he stepped inside.

The Puppet Alley, in a corner of the Righteous Hall, consisted of several connected halls. Zhang Xuan looked around, found the spot corresponding to the Out-of-Body stage, and pushed the door open.

It was slightly different from the desolation of the assessment array, but the number of people wasn't too large either.

"According to the jade token's records, the Puppet Alley assessment allows several people to enter at once. They're probably all taking the assessment..."

Without overthinking, Zhang Xuan walked to the front desk.

"I want to challenge the Puppet Alley to learn the cultivation technique for the Out-of-Body stage. What should I do?"

Although the identity jade token mentioned some things about the Puppet Alley, the details weren't thorough.

"Pay a hundred high-grade essence spirit stones as a registration fee. You can choose any of the ten alleys, but... let me warn you in advance: act according to your ability, don't be arrogant, or you'll easily get hurt by the puppets inside!"

The attendant was a girl in her twenties, quite delicate-looking. Seeing him ask, she looked up and explained with a smile.

"Mm!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

The difficulty of the assessment varied, so the puppets' strength naturally differed. The higher the level, the greater the difficulty.

"I choose..."

Taking out a hundred high-grade essence spirit stones and handing them over, hesitating for a moment, Zhang Xuan was about to choose when a faint voice sounded not far away.

"I choose the Bing Alley! Sorry to trouble you, Qingyu."

The voice was crisp and very pleasant to the ear. Turning his head, he saw a woman in a light purple long dress standing not far away, around twenty years old, with a cool aura.

This woman not only had excellent temperament but also good figure and appearance, no less than Chen Leyao.

"Senior Sister Shui, you're here again. You're so diligent..."

The attendant named Qingyu's eyes lit up, smiled, and took out a card to hand over: "This is your challenge card."

"Mm!"

Nodding, Senior Sister Shui turned her delicate body and slowly walked out.

"Alright, this senior brother, which one do you choose?"

Seeing her leave, Qingyu looked over.

"I... I'll also choose the Bing Alley!"

Pausing, Zhang Xuan nodded.

Since it was divided into ten alleys, the Jia Alley was definitely the hardest, and the Gui Alley the easiest. Although he was only at the early Out-of-Body stage, his actual combat strength was comparable to the early Domain stage. Too hard would be difficult to pass, too easy would have many technique flaws. Since the girl earlier chose 'Bing,' he could observe the puppets' strength and make a judgment.

"Bing Alley... are you sure?"

Frowning, Qingyu was full of surprise.

"Sure."

Zhang Xuan nodded and smiled: "What's wrong? Is there something off?"

"No, it's nothing."

The girl shook her head and said: "Senior Sister Shui is an elite class student recruited a few years ago, her cultivation already reached the peak of the Out-of-Body stage... Even so, she's been challenging the Bing Alley for nearly a month and still hasn't passed. Are you sure... you want to challenge it? If I'm not mistaken, you're only... at the early Out-of-Body stage, right?"

"Peak Out-of-Body stage, challenging for a month?" Zhang Xuan was astonished.

He thought the assessment for the Out-of-Body stage was very simple, but from her tone, it wasn't that easy.

"Yes, the Jia Alley is the hardest, assessing the top geniuses. In the tens of thousands of years since the Saint Son Hall was established, only a few have passed, countable on one hand! The Yi Alley, though more numerous, has no more than a hundred people. Since the first two are so difficult, you can imagine the difficulty of the Bing Alley. It's possible that no one passes in a year... The last one to pass was the little princess of the Luo family... You directly challenge this one, I... don't really recommend it."

Qingyu shook her head.

The Jia, Yi, and Bing alleys, belonging to the first tier, had reached a terrifying level. Not to mention the early Out-of-Body stage, even the peak would find it hard to pass... You come here, haven't challenged even once, and want to challenge this one... Truly a newborn calf not afraid of tigers.

"The little princess of the Luo family passed?"

Zhang Xuan was startled, his eyes lighting up.

"Yes." Not noticing his expression change, Qingyu kindly advised: "My opinion is, with your strength, it's best to first challenge the Gui Alley, which is the easiest. Although you're at the early Out-of-Body stage, if your combat strength is strong and your talent not weak, you still have a chance to pass... Forget about the Bing Alley!"

"Thank you for your kindness... I want to try. If I can't, I'll come back."

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Since Ruoxi had passed, he definitely wanted to challenge it too.

"Come back if you can't? Once the device is activated, the puppets will attack, and it's easy to get hurt..." Seeing him ignore her advice, Qingyu frowned.

"I know, but I still want to try." Knowing she meant well, Zhang Xuan smiled.