Chapter 1364: Heavenly Might

"Hey, looks like you only know one side of the story!" Xie Jingyi deliberately held back.

"I'd be glad to hear the details," said Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan knew that the three stages of the assessment were Heavenly Might, Earthly Fiend, and Penetrating Clarity, and that each stage would eliminate many people, but he didn't know the specifics.

Both Xiao Feng and Yang Rui had intentionally avoided discussing it.

Ye Yuan understood their motives, so he didn't press.

"Every entrance assessment involves hundreds of thousands or even millions of people—how do they test them? The first stage, Heavenly Might, is for elimination! This stage will weed out the vast majority, and those who survive are none but geniuses among geniuses!"

In fact, those qualified to participate in this entrance assessment could already be called geniuses.

But the purpose of the Heavenly Might stage was precisely to eliminate most of those geniuses!

Ye Yuan's heart stirred, and he asked, "About how many are eliminated?"

The chubby young man smiled bitterly. "Over ninety percent! Basically, after this stage, only the cream of the Dongxuan Great Perfection and late Dongxuan realm remain. The rest have almost no hope of passing!"

Ye Yuan was astonished; he hadn't expected the first stage to be so brutal.

No wonder the chubby young man said that he and Ye Yuan were just here to greet everyone.

"I see... So, you've already given up on yourself?"

Despite his surprise, Ye Yuan wasn't particularly moved.

He was fairly confident he could pass this first stage!

This stage, called Heavenly Might, was essentially a willpower wash, somewhat similar to realm pressure, yet different.

But this kind of test was child's play for him.

No matter how intense the willpower wash in Wumeng Royal City, it couldn't surpass the Divine Lord realm.

Having refined the Lesser Tongtian Mountain, Ye Yuan wouldn't be shaken even by a True God's will, let alone a mere Divine Lord realm.

That was his confidence!

However, Ye Yuan didn't plan to use the will of the Lesser Tongtian Mountain; he would resist with his own will.

Only if he truly couldn't hold on would he cheat.

But he knew that if he gave up at this stage, he would have no hope at all.

Ye Yuan found this friendly chubby young man quite interesting, which was why he asked the extra question.

"Of course I don't want to give up, but my strength is only a bit better than yours—there's no hope," the chubby young man said dejectedly.

Ye Yuan smiled. "The Heavenly Might stage is related to realm, but not absolutely. A martial artist without the resolve to face death can hardly achieve great things! I think that's the original intention of Wumeng Academy in setting this stage? Most people fear death and dare not contend with heaven, so they are eliminated. In fact, this stage is called Heavenly Might, but it's not truly heavenly might."

Xie Jingyi looked at Ye Yuan in surprise, his cynical expression gradually fading. He hadn't expected such words to come from him.

This young man, whose realm was even lower than his own, actually had such insight!

"You're right, I can't give up! I want my Xiu'er to know that her man is a man of indomitable spirit!" Xie Jingyi said with rare seriousness.

But this declaration left Ye Yuan speechless.

At that moment, an old man stepped onto the high platform at the front of the square and announced in a loud voice, "Silence!"

His voice was like rolling thunder, heard clearly by the million people in the square.

"The first stage, Heavenly Might, is about to begin. This stage tests your martial will! If anyone cannot withstand the Heavenly Might, just crush the wooden token in your hand, and you will be teleported out. Of course, that means your assessment fails, and you are eliminated! The Heavenly Might will continue uninterrupted for thirty days, and it will grow stronger each day! I'll say this upfront: if anyone senses trouble, crush the token quickly, or else... people will die!"

The old man's words struck like a heavy hammer, pressing down on everyone until they could hardly breathe.

Especially the last few words, which sent a chill through everyone.

In the later days, the willpower wash would become increasingly terrifying, and if anyone couldn't bear the pressure, they would be crushed by the powerful will and die.

Thus, the old man's words were not an exaggeration.

Even a Divine Lord realm expert could easily kill lower-level martial artists with just their martial will.

"Now, Heavenly Might begins!"

As soon as the old man finished speaking, a tidal wave of will pressed down on all the martial artists in the square.

It felt like facing the rush of a waterfall.

However, this initial waterfall wasn't very strong; except for those with too low a realm who struggled, everyone else found it quite easy.

But this wash was continuous, not just a single burst.

It was like carrying a bag—at first it might not feel heavy, but as time passes, it gets heavier and heavier.

After only half an hour, some people couldn't hold on.

The only threshold for the entrance assessment was a bone age of two hundred, so a large portion of the square consisted of Dongxuan Initial Realm martial artists.

Some were only a few decades old, just here to try their luck or to experience it.

These people would have a second chance to participate in the entrance assessment.

In a hundred years, their strength would naturally advance further.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

...

In the square, people kept spitting blood and were then teleported out of this space.

Ye Yuan sat cross-legged on his lotus seat, unmoving.

This level of willpower wash was nothing to him.

Even without relying on the Lesser Tongtian Mountain, Ye Yuan was very confident in himself.

Along the way, Ye Yuan had experienced far too much, facing life-and-death trials countless times.

Not to mention the heaven-defying path in the Immortal Forest World, even his encounter in the spatial storm was beyond ordinary imagination.

His martial will had long been as firm as a rock.

This so-called Heavenly Might was only aimed at Dongxuan realm martial artists; it couldn't really be that powerful.

It was just relatively powerful for Dongxuan realm martial artists.

Ye Yuan asked himself, in this regard, he was no worse than those so-called geniuses!

One day passed in an instant. When the second day's time came, a will stronger than the previous day suddenly descended.

Under the impact of this will, a large number fell immediately, and figures in the square vanished one after another.

But this was just child's play.

The real large-scale elimination occurred on the fifth and sixth days!

On the fifth day alone, two hundred thousand people were teleported out!

The faces of those remaining no longer showed any trace of the earlier ease.

By the sixth day, the chubby young man Xie Jingyi had fine beads of sweat on his forehead.

As he had expected, he could at most hold out for five or six days.

"Think about your Xiu'er, think about why you want to become strong! Since you have a reason to become strong, why give up halfway?"

Just then, a voice reached Xie Jingyi's ears.

He recognized it—it was Ye Yuan's voice.

Ye Yuan's voice was like a thunderclap, deafening and enlightening, instantly tightening Xie Jingyi's spirit.

Xiu'er's image kept appearing in his mind.