[Place:Sistine Continent, Delmora Nation, Morpher City]

The day for the Starlight Imperial Sect desciple selection exam had finally come. After the battle with Lui, Ling didn't train much except for cultivating for six hours each day. The rest of the time was used to recover from the injuries he had gotten.

Ling also learnt a bit more about the Starlight Imperial sect. From what he knew, it was relatively a new sect when compared with other Imperial sects. It had only existed for around two thousand years. So among the Imperial sects, it's power wasn't that high but still it was famous throughout the nation because of the second princess Yuan Meng who was an ‘Aura Observer’ and the first prince Yuan Haotian who was at Fallen Azure Star realm at the mere age of seventy. 

Though, Ling didn't really care about all of this things as he was only entering this sect for useful resources and skills.

As he was on his way towards the Starlight Imperial sect, he suddenly heard a painful scream of a little boy . When he turned his head, he saw two practitioners were ganging up on a little boy. The two practitioners were wearing robes with Imperial sect symbol on it.

The little boy who looked to be around twelve years was also wearing training robes with an Imperial sect symbol on it. The boy had short black hair and large innocent eyes and a cute small face. 

‘Looks they are from Imperial sects! But why are they fighting with each other?’ Ling thought as he knitted his eyebrows together and started walking towards them.

“Heh! So this is all an outer desciples of the shitty Starlight Sect has to offer now! Tsk tsk… to think your sect has declined this far! It really moves me to tears!  ” one of the practitioners said scornfully to that little boy.

The little boy was gravely injured but still there was a fierce fire burning in his eyes as he gritted his teeth and said, “You Inferno Sun Imperial sect are the real scums! This year, we will destroy your sect and show everyone that your loser sect is nothing but talk! ”

“You! Looks like you are tired of living. Very well then! ” one of them said. Then he lifted his right arm and made a fist as grabbed the boy by his collar and was about to punch him at the face.

 But then suddenly someone clasped his right hand tightly, “I think that's enough! ” a cold low voice rang beside his ears which made him to shiver as he let the little kid out of his grasp.

Ling who appeared like a ghost, slowly walked towards the kid as he stretched out a hand to pull him up and said gently, “Boy, are you ok?”.

Seeing that the two guys looked at each other before measuring Ling's Cultivation level.

‘Only at the late stages of Yellow Star realm! Heh! It seems like this brat does not know what's good for him! ’ one of them thought as he said , “You bastard! You dare to interrupt us!  If you kowtow three times right now and give us all you have, we might just let you live!”

But Ling didn't say anything. It looked like he didn't even hear them as he remained indifferent. The little boy looked at Ling with wide teary eyes for a moment. Then he took his hand slowly stood up as he nodded his head.

This pissed the two Cultivators even more as one of them said, “I see! So you choose death, very well then! ”, then he thrusted his left hand forming a claw shape as he aimed for Ling's throat. But Ling didn't turn to look at him. He only extended his right hand backwards and grabbed the wrist of the attacker in an instant. In the blink of an eye, all the Heavenly energy gathered in the hands of that practitioner dissapeared into nothing. Seeing that his pupils shrunk to the size of needles as he tried to get himself free form Ling's grip. But no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to do so.

 Then Ling told the kid with a gentle smile, “Wait just a minute! ”. After that he turned to look at the duo who were bullying them. When they looked at Ling's eyes, their body started slightly trembling all of a sudden. His gaze was dark and cold and devoid of any emotions. He squeezed the hand with which he was grabbing the attacker's wrist.

Crack!

“Ahh!! ” he let out a painful wail as all the bones in his right wrist were crushed.  Then Ling let go of his hands and he fell on the ground groaning in pain.

“I will give you five breaths of time! Scram! ” Ling said coldly.

“You! Do…do you know we are from the Inferno Sun Imperial sect? ” the other practitioner tried to intimidate him but he was also shaking because the one who had attacked Ling was more powerful than him and he was utterly incapable of doing a single thing. He told Ling his sect's name as he thought Ling would be scared. But contrary to his expectation, Ling didn't care about that at all!

“I don't give a damn about that!” as Ling said, he kicked the practitioner who was lying on the ground in pain at his abdomen.

“Pfu! ” jet of blood came out of his mouth as he skidded on the ground for a few meters. Then he said coldly in a gloomy voice, “This is the last time I will say this! Get lost! ”.

The other guy was so scared that he tremblingly fell on his back. Then he hurriedly stood up again and picked up his friend and ran away. Ling looked at them with disdainful eyes. 

“Sheesh! Bullying a kid huh…that's how far people have fallen!” Ling said to himself.

Quite a few people were watching at this scene from a distance. Their eyes were filled with pity and guilt because they were unable to do anything. 

Then the little boy spoke up politely with respect as it looked like there were several stars dazzling in his eyes when he was looking at Ling, “Thank you senior brother for helping me. You are really strong! I am Tiang Shen, may I dare to ask your name? ”

Ling turned to face the boy and the coldness in his face swiftly dissapeared, as he replied, “I am Shin Ling. Tiang Shen right? Here take this pill.”

It was a low grade medicinal pill but still it was a valuable thing. Tiang Shen hesitated to take the pill at first but Ling forced it into his hand. Then Ling said, “You are from the Starlight Imperial sect right. Are you going back to your sect”

“That's right! I am an outer desciple. And yes, I am going back.” Tiang Shen replied obediently.

“Okay then. Let's go! I am also going to the Starlight Imperial sect for the selection trial! ” Ling said with a smile.

“You will be joining our sect? Woah!..I mean thank you senior brother ! ” Shen Tiang said while trying to hide his excitement. Ling chuckled a little then they both started to move.

“Why didn't you finish those guys off? ” Vanisha asked Ling.

“I just can't kill someone in the public! And they don't have any enmity with me…so why should I kill them? I have already taught them a good lesson.” Ling replied .

“Well that maybe true in this case…but I must tell you this, in the future no matter what, if there is an enemy whom you can kill at that moment, don't hesitate to do so! ” Vanish adviced him like an elder.

“I will remember this! ” Ling replied feeling a little weird. After all, he only  heard Vanish talking like an actual master for twice or thrice since he had started training.

Then he looked at Tiang Shen and asked, “Say, why were they bullying you? Aren't you both from Imperial sects? As far as I know, all of the Imperial sects are like brothers and sisters. ”

Tiang Shen replied unhesitantly, “Looks like senior brother is new here! You see our Starlight Imperial sect is a new found sect so it's overall power is not much compared to the other imperial sects. It's only a second grade sect. In this city there's already Inferno Sun Imperial sect which is also a fourth grade sect and they won't tolerate another Imperial sect to spread their influence here. So there is a conflict going on between us and them. Brothers and sisters?Heh! That's a big fat lie! In reality there are always fights and conflicts happening among Imperial sects for their ranking and power. ”

Ling understood what Shen meant, ‘So these so called benevolent and united imperial sects are actually like this! Looks like I will be making a lot of enemies if I join this sect. ’ Ling thought.

“Don't worry! Right now you need competitors and enemies to get stronger! Only under maximum pressure will you be able to grow strong faster! ” Vanisha said to Ling in his mind.

“Hmm…You are right!…wait how the fuck are you able to read my thoughts? ” Ling asked while being scared.

“Hmph! I can't and I don't want to either! You men always think of lewd and dirty things...even if I have the ability to read people's thought, I would never use it unnecessarily! It's just that I know that's what you will be thinking after hearing that! ” Vanisha rebuked coldly.

Ling made a helpless face as if he was being wrongly accused. Then he asked Shen, “What is a sect grade? ”

Tiang Shen looked dumbfounded this time. He stopped walking and stared at Ling for a moment before saying, “Senior brother, were you in secluded Cultivation till today? ”.

Ling gave a awkward smile as he scratched the back of his head with his right hand as he said ,“You can say that.”

“I see. Grades are used to specify the power of an Imperial Sect. As you know there are a total of thirty six Imperial sects in our continent and they are ranked based on these grades. There are six grades and the higher grade means the power of an Imperial sect is higher as well. ”

“I see! ” Ling said as he thought, ‘Looks like there are ranking even among the imperial sects. ’

After thirty minutes he arrived at the Starlight Imperial sect. Tiang Shen bade goodbye and wished him luck for his exams as he entered the sect. Ling also entered its outer grounds where the exams were to be held. The whole place was filled with people. A total of one thousand and fifty one Cultivator were gathered here for the selection test.

As Ling looked around , he only saw one elevated platform which was kind of similar to a battle ring.

After a while, the sect gate opened and three people came out and stood at the center of the stage. Two of them were boys and one of them was a girl. When the participants saw them, most of them went silent for a movement before bursting out in astonishment and cheering.

“They actually sent inner desciples to test us. And it's none other than the invincible trio of Starlight Imperial sect, Ni Suo, Xu Yan, Wei Xi. ”

“It's said that to become an inner desciple, either you must have an extremely high innate talent or you must be at the Crimson Star Realm. ”

“Holy shit!, I can't even read their auras! They really are at the Crimson Star realm! ”, Many practitioners said many things whereas some of them were totally unfazed like Ling. Although the reason for Ling being so unmoved was different from others who were trying to act arrogant. He was born in one of the top sects of his continent, so for him it was nothing much!

The man called Ni Suo came forward and said, “Today, we will be conducting the selection process for the outer desciples. I am Ni Suo who is an inner desciple of our Starlight Imperial sect. I hope the practitioners who have gathered here are the ones who registered their names. If anyone who hasn't done so is present, please get out immediately!  ”.

When he declared that, a few people hesitated at first but then  they turned around and left the sect with heart broken expressions.

Ling was slightly stunned by this as he thought, ‘ Wait they didn't limit the number of registries..did they?’.

After they left, the woman called Xu Yan said, “I am Xu Yan, an inner desciple as well. Now I will tell you the rules for the exams. The selection process will be taken in three stages. First, we will check your age and Cultivation level. If that is on per with the requirements you will pass the first stage. Then in the second stage, you will have to exchange three blows with Ni Suo. Don't worry! He will hold back enough not to injure you! And....” but before she could finish, Wei Xi suddenly interrupted her as he shouted loudly enough to burst people's ears ,“And in the third stage, we will check your soul strength. With that said, let the tests begin. All of you be ready and come forward to the ring when your name is called. ”

SoulBlaze

Next chapter will be on 09/07/2020(dd/mm/yyyy). Hopefully you liked it.