Chapter 937: True Breath Stone

"Is the dean's lecture really that powerful?"

Not only Zhuo Qingfeng and Wu Tianqiong were exasperated, even Elder Mi and Zhao Bingxu were dumbfounded.

They knew their students' strength well; logically, the first-year assessment should have ended in total failure... but now four had gone up and taken down four war masters...

And the key was that the weakest ones had been sent up—if the strong ones went, wouldn't they all pass?

If that really happened... there would be no point for the other academies.

One Hongyuan Academy would sweep up all one hundred recruits the War Master Hall intended to take.

Though they had known in advance that the dean's lectures were formidable, they never dreamed they could be this formidable.

Making ordinary cultivators, within half an hour, combat-capable comparable to war masters... this was beyond description even with the word "defying heaven."

"Once the assessment is over, we must find them and copy the dean's lecture content word for word..."

Xu Changqing and others silently resolved.

If a single lecture could make such weak students so powerful, how strong must the lecture content be?

The mere thought was thrilling.

Though copied text, lacking the master's oral transmission and mental resonance, would be far less effective than attending the lecture, it would still provide great inspiration to them.

...

"Bai Quan, Huang Tao, you two suppress your cultivation and continue the assessment!"

After his frustration, Zhuo Qingfeng gritted his teeth and continued to command.

If Qiaotian realm cultivators couldn't suppress their cultivation, then Guiyi realm ones could, right!

"Yes!"

Two war masters stepped out of the line.

After suppressing their cultivation, Bai Quan was the first to jump onto the platform. Before he could even shout, the Hongyuan Academy area below was in chaos.

"Let me!"

"Better let me—you're stronger than me, you'll have another chance. Let me try!"

"Try my ass! I'll go first; if I can't beat him, you can go!"

"Do you think I'm stupid? By the time you're done, this guy will probably be lying down..."

"You're older than me, can't you show some courtesy? Where have all those years of studying master etiquette gone? I'm younger and weaker, let me go..."

...

The Hongyuan Academy crowd was all flushed with excitement.

Students from other academies would avoid a Guiyi realm expert suppressing his cultivation for assessment like the plague, but these guys... were scrambling for it as if seeing a treasure, afraid someone else would snatch it...

Was this necessary? So ruthless?

On the platform, Bai Quan's face twitched, and he was so angry he could cry.

He was a war master, a revered war master!

Fighting him, they weren't afraid but were arguing to come up, like shopping at a market... utterly unbearable!

"Fine, let you be arrogant. See if I don't beat you to death..."

He roared, grinding his teeth.

Whoosh!

As he swore in his heart, he saw a young man jump up.

Again, it was one of the last among the twenty.

He looked somewhat frail.

Seeing this guy jump up, the others behind were full of regret.

They should have stopped talking and charged straight up.

And he got away with it...

"Damn it!"

Seeing the crowd's disappointed faces, Bai Quan was furious and roared: "Come on, use your ultimate move..."

Swish!

Amid his shout, he spread his five fingers and swooped down. From the start, he used all the power he could muster at the Heling realm, at least ten percent stronger than Chen Zhu earlier.

His strength was great, his reaction fast, his moves flashy... but the opponent seemed to see through his flaws. After two moves, he found a weakness and kicked him.

And then, there was no then.

Bai Quan lay on the ground!

Before fainting, tears streamed down.

He really was a war master... really here for the assessment...

But every time one went up, he got knocked out. How did it feel like they were being assessed and the opponent was the examiner?

The key was, they couldn't even withstand three moves...

"Captain, if this continues, I'm afraid we'll all be down before we finish assessing even the first-year freshmen... It doesn't matter if we don't finish the assessment, but the war masters' dignity..."

Seeing Bai Quan also defeated, Zhuo Qingfeng was about to send another man up when Lu Cheng came to his side.

Others might not know the weirdness of Dean Zhang, but he had personally experienced it.

At the Taxu realm, he could easily defeat a half-sage like him; how could his students be simple?

Zhuo Qingfeng rubbed his brow.

What the other said was right; if they continued, this situation was very likely.

They came for the assessment; if all the war masters in charge were knocked out... how could they continue?

And they couldn't explain it when they returned!

Besides, coming to assess and getting knocked out by the assessed... it was too embarrassing to spread.

"How about... we assess the students from the other three academies first and leave Hongyuan Academy for last..."

Lu Cheng said.

"We'll have to do that..."

After a moment's hesitation, Zhuo Qingfeng nodded.

If they continued assessing Hongyuan, more of their war masters would fall. Better to finish the other three academies first.

Having decided, Zhuo Qingfeng wasted no time and made arrangements.

Hearing that their three academies would be assessed first, Wu Tianqiong and Shen Pingchao were displeased but finally agreed.

There was no choice; with Hongyuan students like this, continuing the assessment was impossible.

The assessment of the three academies' students went much faster than Hongyuan's.

Four hours later, grades one through five were all assessed.

Though the three academies had deep foundations, the war masters from the War Master Hall were truly powerful. Yunxu Academy had only twelve pass from grades one to five, an all-time low.

Luoqing Academy had only ten, and Qingzhu Academy even fewer, with eight.

The three academies had come with high hopes but ended up in this situation, something they had never anticipated.

"Now assess the many masters of Hongyuan Academy..."

After finishing the three academies, Zhuo Qingfeng turned his gaze to the Hongyuan Academy students.

The war masters in charge, Xu Tai, Chen Zhu, and others, had now recovered and participated in the assessment again.

As before, as soon as they went up, they were knocked out again by the first-year Hongyuan students.

With their previous experience of being knocked out, they were even more adept, defeating the so-called war masters in at most one move.

"This..."

Seeing his subordinates lying on the ground one after another, Zhuo Qingfeng's face turned ashen, at a loss.

Now they hadn't even finished assessing Hongyuan's first-year students, and there were still eighty students from the remaining four grades... If they continued, when would it ever end?

They weren't here to be abused.

Being knocked out repeatedly was also very embarrassing...

"Dean Zhang, if we continue like this, we definitely won't be able to complete the assessment. I have a proposal: if you can accomplish it, all your academy's students can be recruited as war masters, regardless of the hundred-person limit. If not, you'll have to fight among yourselves to select the remaining spots!"

After a moment's hesitation, Zhuo Qingfeng said.

Now the three academies combined had thirty students who passed, leaving seventy spots.

If the other side couldn't accomplish it, they would have to internally select only seventy; but if they could, even taking all one hundred would be fine.

The hundred-person quota was just what the War Master Hall gave; encountering true geniuses, taking a few more was also the War Master Hall's fortune.

"Please speak, War Master Zhuo!"

Zhang Xuan looked over.

"A war master requires not only combat skills but also inner qi and strength far surpassing ordinary cultivators. Only then can they cooperate in group battles without becoming a burden to others!"

Zhuo Qingfeng said.

Wu Tianqiong and Shen Pingchao nodded.

War masters are essentially the army of the Master Teacher Hall, existing to fight against the alien race and eliminate threats to humanity. Normally, they fight in groups. No matter how high one's martial technique comprehension, if one's qi is not abundant and strength not great, it's easy to hold the team back in group battles, turning a winning situation unpredictable.

"I have here a True Breath Stone, specially applied for from the War Master Hall headquarters. It must be returned after use. By striking it with your palm, it can clearly measure the level of your qi and strength!"

Zhuo Qingfeng said: "The Hongyuan Academy students have reached a terrifying level of martial technique comprehension, grasping the essence and returning to simplicity! However, their qi and physical strength are slightly weaker. Normally, a score of four on the True Breath Stone qualifies one to become a war master! If you can reach two, half of that, you pass!"

Normally, war masters have high requirements for qi and physical strength, but these Hongyuan people are too strange—clearly weak in qi, yet able to defeat the strong. Such geniuses, even if reported to the War Master headquarters, would have conditions relaxed.

There had been similar cases before.

"Reach two?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

He had never heard of the so-called True Breath Stone and had no concept of what reaching two or four meant.

"May I see your True Breath Stone?"

After a moment's hesitation, Zhang Xuan asked.

"Alright!" Zhuo Qingfeng nodded, and with a flick of his wrist, a stone tablet over one meter tall appeared before them.

The tablet was bluish-gray, emitting a faint blue glow that made one feel intoxicated at a glance.

"True Breath Stone... so it's this thing. Impressive!"

Wu Tianqiong's eyes lit up.

"Dean Wu, have you seen this before?"

Shen Pingchao couldn't help asking.

"I haven't seen it, but I've read about it in a book. It's said to measure a person's qi and strength. By placing your palm on it and exerting all your qi, a number appears. Above two indicates some talent, above four indicates astonishing combat power far beyond ordinary geniuses!"

Dean Wu nodded.

"Can it be used by people of different levels?"

Shen Pingchao continued asking.

Could it measure people of different levels and cultivations?

"It can be used by anyone. This thing only tests the purity of qi and physical strength, unrelated to cultivation level." Dean Wu said.

As the two chatted, Zhang Xuan had already approached the True Breath Stone. After looking around, he couldn't help turning to Zhuo Qingfeng nearby, his eyes shining: "War Master Zhuo, may I... give it a try?"