The halo on the jade pillar finally stopped at a height of two meters.
No matter how much Li Aojian urged his spiritual power, the halo would not rise even a little bit, but instead gradually slid down.
He retracted his hand helplessly, almost collapsed on the ground, breathing slightly.
That burst of his maximum spiritual power, his body could not bear it.
He looked at Zhou Shu with anticipation, thinking to himself, "How is it, this, this should be the special class, right?"
Yun Li showed a rare expression of satisfaction, "Not bad, reaching the level of A, which is quite rare. Go to the side and rest."
"Only A..."
Li Aojian muttered to himself, but soon turned his face to smile, with the corners of his mouth raised high, and walked off the stage proudly.
The cultivators took turns to go on stage for testing, and the best one reached the level of B, which was fifteen meters.
Yun Li looked at Zhou Shu, "Zhou Shu, it's your turn."
Zhou Shu nodded and slowly walked onto the platform.
"Isn't he still in the A rank?"
"He's only at the fourth level of the Qi Refining Realm. How could he possibly be in the A rank? Even a B rank would be incredible."
"That's not necessarily true. He's frail and scholarly, yet he managed to climb Lingyun Cliff. Can you do it?"
"Then go for it!"
The cultivators began to discuss, curious about Zhou Shu. After all, he was the only cultivator with two A rank grades.
Listening to the discussion, Zhou Shu couldn't help but shake his head. A rank? Just getting that grade would satisfy him.
Now, with just a powerful incantation, the membrane formed on his meridians would instantly rupture, sending him back to a year ago.
The membrane was hard-earned, so where could he find a third-rank Golden Ring Kui Python Demon Pill? It's not always easy to find something cheap.
And even if he mobilized his spiritual energy and used the incantation, he'd probably only be in the D rank.
It's not worth the effort.
But having no grades wouldn't work either. Although Yun Li hadn't announced the entry criteria, it was obvious that two A rank grades didn't seem like a guarantee. It was
a dilemma.
Let's give it a try.
Looking at the jade pillar before him, Zhou Shu raised his right hand and placed it on it.
As he channeled a trace of spiritual energy into it, he immediately felt something strange. How could the jade pillar resemble the Qi channels? It felt like the Qi channels extending from the human body.
He had been studying Qi channels day and night, and was extremely familiar with them. He
'd experienced similar sensations when using magical tools, but this jade pillar was clearly something special. It was even more in tune with the cultivator, as if crafted from the human Qi channels.
Surprised, he turned around and glanced at Yun Li.
Yun Li, seeing his expression, seemed to sense something, smiled slightly and nodded, but said nothing.
Zhou Shu turned around, pondered for a moment, and immediately formed an idea.
He didn't use any incantations, but instead circulated his mind.
Spiritual energy circulated through his Qi channels, flowing smoothly into the jade pillar, then circulated through it and returned to the Qi channels.
"It works,"
Zhou Shu nodded secretly.
The delay had displeased the casual cultivators below.
"What's wrong? You're so slow at using a spell. Are you
trying to give birth?" "Hurry up! If you can't, get down."
"I can tell from his expression that he can't. I guess he can't even get results. He's afraid of embarrassing himself and dares not use the spell."
Yun Li's face darkened slightly, and he scolded in a low voice, "Stop making noise."
The wandering cultivator immediately fell silent.
"From that surprised expression just now, it seems you've discovered the special feature of the Jade Pillar. This level may seem simple and ordinary, but it also has hidden tricks. Using spells with pure brute force is enough, but if you lack spiritual power, you can also use techniques. I'm curious, with your limited spiritual power, how far can you go?"
Yun Li looked at Zhou Shu with a barely perceptible smile.
The halo gradually brightened.
But it only rose a mere half a foot before stopping.
Ding!
Zhou Shu nodded slightly, put down his hand with some regret, and slowly walked down the platform.
The audience erupted in a commotion.
"What? Only half a meter? Isn't that the worst result among us?"
"A Qi Refining Realm third level person can achieve this level. He's so useless! I thought he was a genius."
"How could we casual cultivators even reach the top three? You're overthinking it."
"I told you, it's just physical training. Spiritual power is nothing. There's no future
for him." Envy, jealousy, and hatred immediately turned to ridicule, as if something lost had been found in that instant.
Li Aojian slowly approached and patted Zhou Shu on the shoulder. "Little brother, don't be discouraged. Keep working hard!"
He felt a surge of satisfaction. He had been outperformed by Zhou Shu twice before, but this time, he finally got the better of him.
Zhu Dashan also approached, saying with regret, "Don't worry, Brother Zhou. You're only at the fourth level of Qi Refining Realm. You can practice slowly. I'm at the fifth level, and my result was about the same as yours."
He had gone in before, sweating profusely, his face flushed, but he only got a C-grade.
Zhou Shu smiled and nodded, saying nothing.
Yun Li on the side had a serious expression and seemed very surprised, "Zhou Shu, come here."
"Yes, Senior Brother Yun."
Yun Li frowned, "You were surprised just now, did you notice the difference in the jade pillar?"
"I have some feeling, but it's hard to describe it."
Zhou Shu was cautious and didn't want to say too much to outsiders.
"It feels like the Qi meridians, right?" Yun Li nodded gently. "This Spirit-Testing Pillar is a third-tier magical weapon meticulously crafted by the sect. If the testee understands this and uses it as a part of their body, the test results will be significantly improved. I see you felt it, so why are the results so poor?" "I
see. Thank you, Senior Brother, for clarifying this."
Zhou Shu bowed. "I did feel the Qi meridians and used them to cast spells, but my spiritual power is too low, so I can only do this."
Yun Li sighed regretfully. "Even if I've found the technique and it's still the same, then... forget it. You can leave." Even
before he finished speaking, disappointment was evident.
Zhou Shu had achieved A-levels in the previous two tests, and this time, he had discovered the difference in the Spirit-Testing Pillar. Unlike the others, he didn't just go in and attack without a care in the world. He immediately had high hopes for Zhou Shu, but the result was this.
Zhou Shu nodded and turned to leave.
This D-level was the result of mistaking the jade pillar for a Qi meridian, triggering a surge of spiritual power that hadn't been used in a long time.
If he didn't care about the membrane and gave it his all, he might be able to reach Grade B.
But he felt it wasn't worth it.
It was enough to get in, and he didn't need to care about other people's eyes.
He naturally didn't take the ridicule of those casual cultivators to heart.
But he also felt a little regretful for failing to live up to Yun Li's expectations. He knew that if Yun Li hadn't been there today, his test would have been very difficult, or he might not have passed it at all.
This regret will be made up for later.
Yang Mei ran over quickly, clapping her hands and said, "Senior brother, you are so awesome!"
Zhou Shu couldn't help but chuckle, "How am I awesome? Others are laughing at me."
"I don't care about them. Senior brother is awesome. If you want to do it, you can definitely do better than them, right?" Yang Mei blinked her eyes, making no secret of her support for Zhou Shu.
The little regret in Zhou Shu's heart suddenly disappeared, "Junior sister is right. When you pass the test later, I will treat you to some spiritual food."
"Hehe, it's a deal!"