The Dao Sovereign of Shennong

When Lu Bang pressed both his hands down, the cloud summoning test instantly entered its second stage.

Most people had no time to consider fighting others, as dealing with Lu Bang's cloud pressure alone was already extremely difficult.

"Buzz~"

Everyone's clouds quickly descended in height under Lu Bang's suppression.

Cloud layers dropping below 100 meters would mean elimination.

No one dared to be distracted and immediately used their cloud summoning techniques to resist the pressure coming from the sky.

"Charge up to the Nine Heavens of Thunder, rise up for me!"

In a corner of the eastern outskirts, Yu Chunwu's face flushed red. He had just watched the battle between Li Feng and Zhao Xing and had even considered confronting Zhao Xing for his deception.

But now, there was no room for such thoughts—his entire focus was on resisting Lu Bang's overwhelming pressure.

Yu Chunwu wasn't considered weak, but even with his full effort in controlling his thunderclouds, his cloud layer continued to drop bit by bit toward the 100-meter height.

"Zzzt~"

Strands of cloud energy began to disperse from his thundercloud, floating toward Lu Bang's cloud layer, which was situated 1,000 meters above.

Cloud Qi Domain!

Although Lu Bang wasn't using the Cloud Devouring Technique, his cloud qi had already formed a domain, slowly absorbing the cloud qi of the geniuses below.

With one weakening and the other strengthening, the resistance became even more difficult.

"Buzz~" The cloud layer finally couldn't hold up.

Yu Chunwu felt a wind curl around him, and in the next instant, his vision blurred.

In a flash, he found himself outside the boundary stone.

"Test failed. Go report to one of the other academies." A man in armor looked at Yu Chunwu indifferently. "You'll have another chance to advance to one of the four major academies in the future; don't dwell on the current outcome."

"Yes." Yu Chunwu nodded respectfully. Though he was somewhat unwilling, he understood that a test was a test.

As time passed, the number of eliminated participants increased.

After two quarter-hours, the 931 participants gradually dwindled to fewer than 800.

At this point, Lu Bang's cloud layer had also descended from 1,000 meters to 700 meters.

"It's still pushing down. Just how many does this old man intend to eliminate before moving to the next stage?"

Zhao Xing was also feeling the pressure.

His cloud layer was currently stabilized at a height of 600 meters.

After devouring Li Feng's cloud, his cloud layer had risen to 900 meters, where only a few others had managed to reach.

But with Lu Bang's suppression, he had no choice but to descend again.

Still, he maintained a spot within the top tier.

"The number of eliminations keeps increasing, and it's already dropped below 800."

Zhao Xing surveyed his surroundings. Each time someone was eliminated, they were swiftly relocated outside the boundary stone by wind techniques.

Gradually, the number of people around him grew sparse.

"Buzz!"

Lu Bang's cloud layer pressed down further.

It abruptly descended to a height of 500 meters!

Zhao Xing was startled.

"This old man has no integrity, launching sneak attacks."

"To drop 200 meters at once—he's trying to kill us!"

Zhao Xing cursed inwardly.

His cloud layer nearly collapsed under the sudden pressure from Lu Bang.

Although it didn't crumble completely, large portions were shattered, and it felt like a full-scale suppression with no means of resistance.

Once he regained control, Zhao Xing quickly descended his cloud layer to a height of 400 meters.

He split the cloud qi into smaller portions and reabsorbed them to replenish his cloud.

The others fared no better.

Shi Yong, Zhuang Ziqing, Hua Zhilin, Feng Qiu, and Guan Junyang, all ranking in the top positions, saw significant damage to their cloud layers.

As for those at lower ranks, the situation was even worse.

Those barely maintaining their cloud at the 100-meter mark were severely affected by the intense downward pressure.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh~"

In one wave, dozens of people disappeared from inside the boundary stone.

"The test is over! Everyone, withdraw your clouds and rest where you are."

Zuo Zizhi's voice resounded.

The golden cloud qi domain in the sky also dissipated.

"Whew~"

The participants all breathed a sigh of relief, with some even collapsing to the ground.

The pressure had been immense—after all, Lu Bang was at least a fifth-rank powerhouse. Even with so many people resisting together, the pressure on each individual didn't lessen.

"Finally passed. I wonder how many people are left?" Zhao Xing looked up at the sky.

"The second round of the test is over. 720 participants have passed. The rest can report to other academies and compete for rankings within those institutions."

"Those eliminated should not be discouraged. If you perform well in the other academies, you may still have a chance to advance to the four major academies."

Zuo Zizhi's voice carried across the land with the wind.

"Only 720 left?" Zhao Xing clicked his tongue in surprise.

It was mainly due to that last strike.

Lu Bang's sudden assault alone had eliminated at least 60 or 70 participants.

The second round of the test had three phases: first, cloud control and competing for control; second, cloud ascension, where cloud height determined the range of one's technique; and third, testing the stability of the cloud layer.

Even though these 900-plus participants were the best of the best, more than 200 people were still eliminated by the end of the second round.

"The Shennong Corps' selection process is truly rigorous."

From Zhao Xing's perspective, the Ten Suns Cave-Heaven's selection process for the Shennong Corps was extremely strict.

"I wonder what the next test will be. There are eight trials in total, and this is only the second."

Many others were quietly discussing as well.

"The first round tested wind, the second tested cloud."

"The third round should be thunder or rain, right?"

As he rested, Zhao Xing pondered silently.

"The Four Heavenly Laws—wind and cloud have been tested, so there's no reason why thunder and rain won't be tested."

"The question is, how will they be tested?"

"It will likely be another comprehensive assessment."

The first round had tested perception and alertness through the Wind Signal test, while the second round had focused on cloud suppression under pressure.

Both rounds had incorporated practical elements.

The third test likely wouldn't be as simple as just comparing the number of transformations of one's thunder technique.

"I'm almost ready," Lu Bang said from the flying ship. "Let the tower ships come."

"Not going to let them rest a bit more?" Zuo Zizhi asked. "It's only been a quarter-hour break."

"A quarter-hour is already a luxury," Lu Bang replied coldly. "In real battles, even a quarter-hour break is a rarity."

"Fine, you're the chief commander, your call," Zuo Zizhi sighed and pulled out his Earth Mirror to send a message.

"All participants, board the Cloud Rain Tower Ship."

"You will be heading to the Beast Garden area."

"The Beast Garden is a confined plain and hilly region filled with numerous beasts. The weakest among them are of the entry-level, or at least comparable to entry-level beasts. The strongest beasts, however, are no higher than ninth-rank."

"Participants will be randomly dropped into different areas of the Beast Garden. The test will focus on the number of beasts you kill."

"The test will last four hours, and your ranking will be based on the number of beasts you kill."

On the tower ship, Zuo Zizhi announced the rules to everyone.

Everyone listened quietly.

"You may use standard Shennong Corps equipment, but you are only allowed to use cloud summoning and thunder techniques. There will be no replenishments."

"Using any other techniques will result in disqualification."

"If you encounter life-threatening danger and need to be rescued, you will be disqualified from the test, with your ranking based on the number of beasts you had slain at the time of rescue."

"After four hours, the rankings will be announced. The top 500 will advance to the next round."

After Zuo Zizhi finished explaining, the participants couldn't help but shake their heads.

Another 200 or so were going to be eliminated!

"Four hours, and all the beasts are at least entry-level or comparable to it. Plus, we can only use cloud and thunder techniques."

"Thunder techniques are powerful, but without replenishment, how many times can we use them?"

"If we need to be rescued in a life-or-death situation… it means there's a real risk of serious injury."

"This round is dangerous…"

Even though most of these participants were not "newbies" in the true sense, many of them still grew pale at the thought.

Facing nothing but entry-level beasts or those comparable to them, in a place called the Beast Garden, with no shortage of creatures…

However, none of them intended to back down after coming this far.

They all quietly took the opportunity to rest on the Dragon Head Tower Ship.

Before long, the Dragon Head Tower Ship reached the Beast Garden.

The participants could choose to jump from any point.

But within one quarter-hour, they had to make a decision.

Before landing, participants were allowed to use any techniques, but once they touched the ground, only thunder and cloud summoning techniques were permitted.

Using any other technique would result in immediate disqualification.

"Whoosh~"

Zhao Xing leaped from the Dragon Head Tower Ship.

He activated Minor Nine Heavenly Gale Technique, drawing fierce winds from the sky to encircle himself.

Compared to when he had jumped into the Great Lake's entrance, this time, Zhao Xing was much calmer.

He quickly landed in a patch of wilderness dotted with bushes.

At this point, the sky was already dimming, and the two suns were setting in the east and west.

"Awoo~"

As soon as Zhao Xing landed, he heard the roars of wild beasts nearby.

"Cloud Devouring!"

Without hesitation, Zhao Xing used the Cloud Devouring Technique, summoning a cloud layer.

He didn't expand the cloud layer too much, only covering a range of about 100 meters.

"Use cloud summoning to sense the presence of the beasts, then use thunder techniques to kill them."

After summoning the cloud layer, Zhao Xing quickly sensed the presence of 18 beasts nearby.

Clearly, there was a pack of beasts in the vicinity.

"Boom!"

With a pointed finger, a bolt of lightning struck down from the cloud layer, aiming at the beasts hidden in the darkness.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~"

The beasts moved extremely quickly, making it difficult to lock onto them.

The Complete Transformation Lightning Summoning was powerful, but the bolt had only hit half the beasts—the others were already rapidly closing in on Zhao Xing.

"Relying on Lightning Summoning alone consumes too much energy and is inefficient."

"Luckily, I know more than one thunder technique."

"I need to slow these beasts down, then use Lightning Summoning to finish them off."

Zhao Xing remained composed under pressure.

This test also measured a participant's mindset under real battle conditions. Dropped into an unfamiliar and unknown environment with strict constraints, those who panicked might only be able to exert two or three tenths of their actual power.

Some might even resort to using other techniques in desperation, leading to disqualification.

"Rolling Thunder!"

Zhao Xing pointed again, and golden light sank into the ground.

Soon, he tapped into the lightning energy from the earth's veins.

Several semi-transparent blue spheres hovered around Zhao Xing, numbering over 20.

"Scatter!"

With a wave of his hand, the Rolling Thunder orbs spread out at a height of half a meter to one meter above the ground, rolling outward.

"Awoo!"

"Roar!"

Whenever a beast came into contact with a Rolling Thunder orb, the orb exploded, causing a significant area of effect. As long as the explosion touched a beast, it would immediately experience paralysis throughout its body.

With the beasts slowed by the effects of Rolling Thunder, Zhao Xing's Lightning Summoning became far more efficient.

Any beast that got too close was trapped by Lightning Chains and then finished off with Thunder Palm.

"Let's move to the next area."

After clearing the beasts in this area, Zhao Xing quickly left.

While Zhao Xing was engaged in combat with the beasts, on the tower ship above, a figure was observing the participants through the Earth Mirror Instrument.

"The first four trials of the eight-part entrance exam are designed by our Heaven School."

"Once they pass these four trials, they will officially enter our academy, and we'll have the first pick of recruits."

"Have you all made your selections?"

Four figures, all holding prominent positions within Heaven School, were discussing the participants. These four would be responsible for training the new recruits after the exam.

"Shi Yong's wind, cloud, and thunder techniques are all excellent. He should definitely be accepted into our Heaven School."

"Indeed, his mastery of all three techniques is top-notch, and he's quite young. It's been a long time since we've seen such a promising candidate."

"We should offer him top-tier resources—Class A, Upper Level."

"I agree."

"I agree."

"Approved."

The four unanimously agreed on selecting Shi Yong.

"Feng Qiu specializes in wind techniques, but he hasn't had much opportunity to showcase his abilities in this exam. His cloud summoning is excellent, but his thunder technique is only average, and he's already starting to lag behind. We should offer him Class A, Lower Level resources."

"At most, give him Class A, Mid-Level resources. If he accepts, fine. If not, we won't force him."

"Agreed."

After discussing Feng Qiu, the four turned to the next candidate.

"Zhuang Ziqing is more skilled in Earth School techniques, so he's likely to join Earth School. However, his wind, cloud, and thunder techniques are also impressive, all at an elite level. Should we try to recruit him?"

"We won't be able to compete with Earth School for him. Besides, Zhuang Ziqing is the grandson of Marquis Meng, and the Earth School's Marquis Tian has already spoken with him. He's not likely to choose Heaven School."

"Let's move on. What about Hua Zhilin and Guan Junyang from the Xuanjia Corps?"

"So far, they're performing at Class A, Lower Level. There's nothing particularly outstanding about them yet. We'll see if they show any special potential in the next round."

The four Heaven School evaluators continued to discuss the promising candidates. In reality, Heaven School would only consider performance in the first four trials when selecting recruits.

Earth School would focus on the middle two trials, while Pinghuai Academy and Taicang Academy would concentrate on the final two rounds of the exam.

Once participants passed the fourth trial, there would be no more eliminations. Everyone would have the opportunity to take part in the remaining trials and compete for resources and training depending on their performance!

Soon, the evaluators turned their attention to Zhao Xing.

"He's got excellent cloud summoning skills, and his thunder techniques are solid. We've already seen him use three thunder techniques, all above seven transformations."

"But his wind technique is lacking—he only knows the Minor Nine Heavenly Gale Technique, which is just at four transformations. Based on his current performance, I'd suggest Class B, Upper Level treatment."

"That doesn't seem quite right. Lu Bang mentioned that Zhao Xing knows a nine-transformation Yin Wind Technique, which might even be perfected. That's how he trapped Li Feng. So his wind technique potential isn't weak."

"Oh? I didn't know that. In that case, should we offer him Class A, Mid-Level treatment?"

"He's a converted Clerk, practically a blank slate, so his potential for growth is significant. I think we should offer him Class A, Upper Level resources."

"That's not appropriate. Precisely because he lacks practical experience, Class A, Mid-Level should be sufficient."

The evaluators were divided in their opinions, but the fourth person spoke up, "Let's wait and see how he performs in the fourth trial—it's coming up soon."

"Agreed."

Time flew by, and soon, the four hours were up.

By dawn of the next day, the Beast Garden trial was over, and all participants returned to the ship.

Zuo Zizhi used the Earth Mirror Instrument to send the beast-hunting rankings to every participant.

[First Place: Shi Yong]

[Second Place: Zhuang Ziqing]

[Third Place: Guan Junyang]

[Fourth Place: Lei Meng]

…

[Ninth Place: Zhao Xing]

[Tenth Place: Jiang Tianming]

…

[188th Place: He Zheng]

There were significant shifts in the rankings.

Many participants gasped in surprise upon seeing their results.

"I killed so many beasts, but I'm only ranked 385th? Damn, the top scorers are crazy!"

"Shi Yong is still in first place. How is he so strong?"

"Zhuang Ziqing is also incredible—he's solidly holding second place again. It looks like the top two from the entrance exam are leagues ahead of the others."

"Guan Junyang has climbed up to third."

"They've stabilized their positions, but the rest of the top ten has changed completely."

"Sigh, I'm ranked 700th, so I won't make it into the four major academies."

"It's frustrating! I know two thunder techniques, both at seven transformations, and I'm still ranked over 200!"

"There are too many geniuses. We're all ninth-rank, but some are just so much stronger…"

Zhao Xing quietly reviewed the rankings as well.

"Ranked ninth—better than I expected."

He had four thunder techniques: Lightning Summoning, Lightning Chains, Thunder Palm, and Rolling Thunder.

Rolling Thunder was at four transformations, Lightning Summoning was perfected, Lightning Chains was at nine transformations, and Thunder Palm was at eight transformations!

Knowing multiple thunder techniques allowed for varied attack methods, which significantly improved his efficiency in killing beasts.

After all, there were many types of beasts in the Beast Garden, and a single technique might not be enough to handle all situations.

With multiple thunder techniques, Zhao Xing could use Yang Thunder and Yin Thunder, combining long-range, single-target, and area-of-effect attacks. This versatility meant he didn't waste too much time on any specific type of beast.

As a result, Zhao Xing's efficiency in killing beasts was very high, propelling him to ninth place!

"My gap with the top eight is small—only the first and second places are significantly ahead."

The Earth Mirror displayed that Shi Yong had killed 1,534 beasts!

Zhuang Ziqing had slain 1,325 beasts!

Both had exceeded 1,000 kills. Starting from the third place, Guan Junyang, the number dropped to 921.

Then, as the rankings continued, Zhao Xing appeared.

His total was 825 kills.

"The landing points, the types of beasts encountered—all these factors come down to luck. Just a bit of luck can create a significant ranking difference."

"My luck wasn't bad, so the remaining difference between me and the top participants likely stems from my lack of three classic techniques and my Essence Gathering stage, which is only at the 15th transformation." Zhao Xing reflected.

At the 15th transformation of Essence Gathering, he was relatively low in cultivation. Many others were already at the 19th transformation, just one step away from eighth-rank. In the ancient cultivation system, that would be the equivalent of a ninth-rank perfected stage, while in the Great Zhou system, it was classified as upper ninth-rank.

Additionally, the three classic techniques of the main cultivation schools made a big difference. Those who had learned these techniques had clear advantages over those who hadn't.

For example, the Yin-Yang Self Technique cultivated the inner five elements, greatly increasing both the speed of essence recovery and the overall amount of essence available. In high-intensity combat, this distinction became very noticeable.

Zhao Xing believed his ninth-place ranking was due, in part, to luck—he had encountered relatively easy-to-kill beasts.

"He ranked ninth?"

Jiang Hai and Jiang He were both surprised to see Zhao Xing's ranking. They had fallen outside the top 20. "He's a formidable opponent!"

"Zhao Xing from the Shenwei Army—I didn't expect his thunder techniques to be this strong in actual combat," Zhuo Li thought to himself as he reviewed the rankings. "I only ranked 59th. I thought I could surpass him, but he's actually ninth."

"Interesting. No wonder he could defeat Li Feng," Hua Zhilin remarked, casting a curious glance at Zhao Xing, her eyes sparkling with intrigue.

At that moment, Zuo Zizhi emerged from the pavilion, interrupting the discussions.

"The top 500 participants have been determined. Those eliminated may now proceed to other academies."

"The remaining 500 will proceed to the fourth trial."

"The fourth trial will reduce the number of participants to 200."

"However, once you pass the fourth trial, there will be no further eliminations. You'll participate in the remaining trials, and based on your performance, you'll be allocated different levels of training resources..."