Chapter 38 Two extremes

The farce caused by Hou Ming subsided temporarily, and time passed slowly with the test in the square.
“Next!” Elder Yi’s signature voice echoed again on the high platform in the square; however, the person who came on the stage this time was a girl. Upon closer inspection, the girl was none other than Xiang Ling’er, who had been rescued by Bu Gong from the Liu family in Xuanhuo City.
As Xiang Ling’er came on stage, the crowd in the square quieted down a little; because although Xiang Ling’er was only fifteen years old, she looked like a little beauty.
There was a slight coldness on her pretty and youthful face; her seductive red lips were slightly pursed, and her eyes were fixed on the front. She gave people a cool and noble temperament, and her steps gave people a feeling of being inviolable.
This is undoubtedly a focus.
And she truly became the focus. No matter whether it was the children who took the test or the veteran disciples of Xianyang Sect who were watching around, the moment she appeared, all eyes were focused on her.
Xiang Ling’er was seen wearing an emerald green dress with two ponytails hanging behind her head. She was walking towards the platform with light steps. Although there was a hint of coldness on her pretty face, if you looked closely, there was also a hint of imperceptible nervousness.
At this time, Bu Gong’s eyes moved slightly and he looked up at the platform. He was a little curious in his heart and wanted to know what the talent of this girl was.
At this time, Xiang Ling’er came to the two-meter-high stone tablet on the platform. She raised her pretty face slightly. She was only about 1.6 meters tall, so compared to the stone tablet, she could only look up.
She raised her right arm, and a white jade-like wrist stretched out from her emerald green sleeve. It seemed as if the little hand was not from the human world, but a sculpture from heaven. Then she stood on tiptoe, and her snow-white little hand pressed into the palm print groove of the stone tablet, and then her beautiful eyes closed slightly.
What Xiang Ling’er didn’t know was that just as she closed her eyes, an extremely dazzling and piercing light suddenly burst out from the stone tablet; even the stone tablet made a slight buzzing sound, making everyone present dare not look directly at it.
“Talent, seven, seventh level, excellent talent.” Then a voice that sounded slightly trembling, even ecstatic, was heard from the high platform; as this voice sounded, the entire square became extremely quiet in an instant, and only the slight breathing of the people present could be heard.
You should know that since ancient times, those with the seventh-level talent in the immortal cultivation sects are called “the body with all orifices open”, commonly known as the “spiritual body”; this physique is very rare, and the bottleneck of the Yuan realm and the Tongyuan realm, which are extremely difficult in the eyes of others, are as easy as eating and drinking water in the eyes of this kind of people.
Because all the acupoints in their bodies are originally open and do not need to be slowly opened up; all they need is time to settle and accumulate. Such people are undoubtedly the chosen ones in the eyes of countless people.
At this moment, Bu Gong was also stunned by the voice, “Seventh-level talent? Looking at the scale on the stone tablet, it seems that the highest level is only seventh level and one-fifth more, and this little girl’s talent is seventh level? Isn’t that almost the ceiling?” Bu Gong’s heart was secretly shocked, and the look he gave Xiang Ling’er was a little strange.
“I didn’t expect that a little girl I just rescued would have such talent?” Of course, Bu Gong did not feel envious or jealous about this, but only a sigh.
Because for Bu Gong, if he has better talent, that would be even better; but if not, he would not be disappointed or discouraged at all, because he has a firm and unyielding heart.
In Bu Gong’s view, success depends on man, while planning depends on God; the so-called talent of the cultivators is just a gap between people’s innate qualities, but no matter how big the gap is, human power will always make up for it one day; that is, the so-called acquired efforts of people are still the top priority.
If you have exceptional talent but don’t capitalize on it, without even the slightest effort, you’ll ultimately be mediocre. While Bu Gong was contemplating this, the square erupted in uproar, with eyes filled with a variety of emotions cast towards the young girl in emerald green clothes on the platform.
“Wow, that girl is so talented. Why didn’t I notice it before?” A sigh of envy sounded quietly among the crowd.
“Hey, do you think you are that stone tablet? You can discover it in advance,” another teasing voice responded.
“Hey! Look at other people’s talents, and then look at myself. My third-rate talent is nothing compared to them.” Such whispers continued to ring out in the square.
…
There were expressions of envy, jealousy, infatuation, madness, and so on. The expressions were so different that they varied greatly. Elder Yi, who was standing next to the stone tablet on the high platform, also had his old face trembling slightly, and even a hint of red appeared on his face, which was obviously due to excitement.
“Little girl, you will be directly promoted to an inner disciple,” Elder Yi said hastily as he looked at Xiang Ling’er, who was standing gracefully in front of the stone tablet. Just as Elder Yi was about to call the next person, he seemed to remember something and turned to Xiang Ling’er and said, “By the way, you stand by the stone tablet for a while. I’ll take you to see Master Zheng after this.”
Elder Yi paused for a moment when he spoke, and continued, “That is the old man who came to the platform earlier and brought out this stone tablet.” Xiang Ling’er was also a little excited at this time. She had not expected that her talent was so high.
Before the test, she was actually a little nervous, not knowing whether her talent could reach the fourth level or above; because some little girls before her had taken the test, and almost all of them had talents between the third and fourth levels, but none of them had talents above the fourth level.
Even if there is one, it will be a boy, because there are several times more boys than girls among the children in the square; but she herself did not expect that the test results would be completely beyond her expectations. When Elder Yi announced the test results of the talent, she felt that she had heard it wrongly.
But then she forced herself to suppress her inner excitement, and when she heard Elder Yi say this, she realized that this was true, and her talent was really seventh-level; however, although she was also ecstatic and excited in her heart, the hardships of life over the years had made her heart calm and still.
But what no one noticed was that Xiang Ling’er, who had become the focus of everyone’s attention at this time, quietly glanced at the Bu Gongs standing at the edge of the square; even the Bu Gongs did not notice this, “Finally, I am one step closer to you,” Xiang Ling’er said silently in her heart.
Because Bu Gong was already a cultivator before he came to Xianyang Gate, Xiang Linger also knew the gap between herself and Bu Gong; so on the way to Xianyang Gate, she didn’t talk much with Bu Gong along the way, because she always believed that she and Bu Gong were not on the same level and her status was not as good as Bu Gong.
At this moment, Xiang Ling’er on the high platform forced herself to control her emotions, and her appearance did not fluctuate at all; but her attitude towards things and her calm state of mind also made Elder Yi and another old man beside the stone tablet admire her even more, “I didn’t expect this little girl to be so talented, and her state of mind is so calm, her future achievements will be limitless.”
The commotion in the square caused by Xiang Ling’er just now has calmed down a little, but the atmosphere in the crowd is difficult to suppress; obviously, Xiang Ling’er’s talent above the seventh level has caused a huge sensation.
Even Xuan Yue, who was always conceited beside Bu Gong, opened her mouth slightly and looked at Xiang Ling’er as if she was a monster; she really didn’t expect that this little girl who looked a little immature but had a beautiful and cold appearance, was so talented.
You know, the genius witch Han Qing in the sect is said to have a talent of only level seven; and the little girl among the new disciples in front of him actually has a talent of level seven. Isn’t this on par with Han Qing?
In the square, the test was in full swing, but at the same time, on a steep cliff of medium size a few thousand meters away from the test square, an old man with a slightly hunched back stood on the edge of a cliff.
Just when Xiang Ling’er’s palm had just pressed into the palm print groove of the stone tablet, the old man seemed to notice something and turned to look at the mountain where the test square was located.
There was a slight fluctuation in the old man’s cloudy eyes. “Seventh-level talent? Huh… Among the newly recruited disciples this time, there is finally a newcomer with the potential to be a core disciple. This has not appeared for many years.” The old man muttered to himself.
If someone were here, they would find that this old man was the same old man who had taken Elder Yi and another elder to the square to test the platform.
About an hour later, Elder Yi’s voice of “next” rang out again in the square; and from the gazes of the girl who occasionally floated towards the platform, the people around the square could tell that although the impact caused by Xiang Ling’er had subsided, the aftermath was still there.
At this time, a little boy standing in front of Bu Gong walked towards the high platform in the square. After a moment, Elder Yi’s voice was heard again: “He has a fourth-level talent, which is medium. He is an outer disciple.”
When the little boy heard this, he was not too disappointed. Instead, a look of joy appeared on his face. “I finally became an outer disciple of Xianyang Sect.” The child waved his fist as he walked down the platform.
No one laughed at this, because not everyone has the talent that Xiang Ling’er had before; “Next” As Elder Yi’s voice sounded again, Bu Gong took a step forward and walked towards the platform; “Junior Brother Bu Gong, come on,” Xuan Yue said from behind.
In response, Bu Gong simply nodded slightly and walked out slowly. The children in front, seeing that it was Bu Gong coming, all made way for him with awe-inspiring eyes. Because before that, they had all spread the word that Bu Gong was already a cultivator of the third level of Body Shaping.
That’s why he was so in awe of Bu Gong. After Bu Gong went up to the high platform, he came to the stone tablet. At this time, Elder Yi’s eyes moved slightly and he looked at Bu Gong.
He also wanted to know what kind of talent Bu Gong had. He hadn’t joined a sect yet and had no resources for cultivation, but he could reach the third level of body shaping at the age of seventeen. In this regard, Elder Yi looked at Bu Gong with some hope in his eyes.
At the same time, Xiang Ling’er, who was standing on the side of the platform, looked at Bu Gong with a puzzled look in his eyes; it was obvious that he also wanted to know what the talent of this man was.
Bu Gong took a deep breath, walked forward slowly, and pressed his right palm into the groove; at the same time, the two old men beside the stone tablet also looked at the scale lines on the stone tablet, but the result was beyond their expectations. Even the two old men were surprised by the result displayed in front of them.
Because the scale line on the stone tablet did not rise as rapidly as people imagined and go straight to the sixth level the moment Bu Gong pressed his palm on it; instead, it flickered slightly a few times at the scale line of first-level talent, then returned to its original state, and there was no movement anymore.
This… the implication is obvious. His talent is very low, not even first-class talent. Not even first-class talent? Who would believe this? How could someone with less than first-class talent reach the third level of body shaping at the age of seventeen, and even be close to the peak?
Not only Elder Yi was surprised by this result, but even the people in the square were stunned; they never expected that the talent tested by Bu Gong would be so poor.
So, “How did he cultivate to the third level of body shaping at such an age?” This question popped up in everyone’s mind at the same time.
When Bu Gong saw the result, he was stunned for a moment; in fact, he himself did not expect that his test result would be so funny. This was a problem he had never thought about before the test.
“You don’t have first-class talent. Is your test stele broken?” This was the first thought in Bu Gong’s mind. He looked at the green test stele in front of him with a strange look, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
“Although I don’t value talent that much, you can’t play tricks on me like this, right?” Bu Gong murmured in his heart; “This test stele is broken, yes, it is broken,” Bu Gong said secretly in his heart.
If Elder Yi knew what Bu Gong was thinking at the moment, he would probably come out and slap him, “Why doesn’t this talent test stone tablet break at other times, but it breaks on yours?”
The people in the square looked at the results of Bu Gong’s test and fell silent again; this was somewhat similar to the scene after Xiang Ling’er’s previous test, but one had extraordinary talent, and the test stele was almost capped; while the other had extremely low talent, almost no talent. These were two extremes?