Naked Sword Art

Xiao Fang, Xiao Hei, and Li Xiang didn't move. They wanted to know what it was before stepping inside. Just from the outer appearance alone, it looked anything but harmless.

Seeing the hesitation from the three disciples, the Supreme Elder realized that it was probably their first time seeing something like this, so she explained.

"This is what we call a Spirit Cauldron. Inside you'll have to do 3 different tests. How you do on those tests will determine what class you will be put in. So if you pass the 1st test you will be put into the Insect class, if you pass 2 you will be put into the Snake-class, and, of course, if you can pass all three tests you will be put into the prestigious Tiger-class."

There were over 25,000 inner court disciples in the sect, but they were divided into 5 different classes: From worse to best they were:

No-class: >13,000

Insect class: ~8,000 disciples 

Snake class: ~3,000 disciples 

Tiger class: ~1,000 disciples

Phoenix class: ~100 disciples

Dragon class: Top 20 disciples

The supreme elder briefly explained about the benefit of being in each class, then explained a bit about what to expect inside the cauldron.

Li Xiang was the first person to enter the cauldron. Upon entering, the door immediately sealed her inside, but she didn't panic. She followed the elder's explanation and transferred her spirit body into the cauldron core.

After a few seconds the cauldron was activated. Watching from the outside, Xiao Fang and Xiao Hei could only guess what was happening inside.

Suddenly a narrow band of light began to circle the base of the cauldron.

"What does that light mean?" Xiao Hei asked the supreme elder.

"It means she successfully passed the first stage."

Xiao Hei gasped.

An hour later, a 2nd band of light suddenly lit up.

"Now there are 2. Does that mean she beat the 2nd level?" Xiao Hei asked excitedly.

The elder simply nodded her head with a smile. She was very old now, so it made her happy to see someone with so much energy like Xiao Hei getting excited about something like this.

Xiao Hei could hardly sit still. Truth was, it wasn't the first time she was hearing about these kinds of cauldrons, but she just never got to try it before. She was too excited and she couldn't wait for it to be her turn.

After another hour, the 3rd band of light began to encircle the cauldron.

"She did it!" Xiao Hei said in surprise.

Suddenly the door to the cauldron opened and Li Xiang stepped out.

Her clothes were fine and there wasn't a single scratch or bruise on her body, but she looked extremely fatigued. Her complexion was ashy pale and she was panting heavily. She seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. Luckily, the supreme elder was there to catch her before she fell.

"Did I do it?" Li Xiang asked weakly.

"Mn, you did. Rest now, child," the supreme elder replied before laying her down on the ground.

There weren't many people willing to push themselves this far. To see someone with so much talent push themselves this far said a lot about her character.

The elder helped her lie down so that she could recover her strength.

Next up was Xiao Hei.

Before stepping in, Xiao Hei looked back at Xiao Fang. She had a look in her eye which made her seem like she wanted to ask his permission to go all out.

Xiao Fang gave her a simple nod then she quickly jumped in.

'It seems she still wants to ask for my permission for everything. Perhaps the more she hangs around Li Xiang the more independent thinking she'll become,' Xiao Fang thought.

Xiao Fang noticed the Supreme elder looking at him. He knew that she was probably curious about him, but he decided to remain silent.

Before Xiao Hei looked at Xiao Fang, the supreme elder had actually forgotten about Xiao Fang. He didn't have an aura at all, it was almost as if he wasn't even there.

Every cultivator is capable of suppressing their aura, but it gets increasingly difficult to hide it from cultivators with a higher cultivation realm.

The supreme elder was in a bit of a daze. She was at the 3rd stage of the Divine Spirit realm. It should've been extremely difficult for anyone under the Profound Spirit realm to hide their cultivation from her, but not only was she unable to detect it, she couldn't even feel a hint of his spirit cultivation at all. There was only one explanation she could think of.

'Hmm, but how could he make it past the maze without any spirit comprehension?' she thought.

She then remembered the amiable look Xiao Hei gave him.

'I see. So that little girl must've helped him.'

After that thought crossed her mind, she remembered his perfect clone. His clone was so perfect, not even she was able to distinguish the clone from the real body. Putting two and two together, she eventually came to the conclusion that it was impossible for a disciple to make a clone as good as that, so she started to suspect him of cheating.

Since she believed he cheated his way here, she wanted to see how he was going to cheat his way out of the spirit cauldron space. If Xiao Fang really had no spirit cultivation as she suspected, then he would suffer miserably inside of the spirit cauldron space.

Even though the supreme elder wasn't showing any emotion on her face, Xiao Fang could still hear her heart change paces a few times. He didn't understand what she was thinking, but whatever it was it didn't worry him.

The elder finally looked back at the cauldron and was shocked by what she saw. The first light was already shining around the cauldron.

'It seems she's already passed the first stage. She's quite the talent one," the supreme elder thought out loud.

Just as those words escaped her lips, the 2nd light appeared.

"This..."

Although the supreme elder was amazed, it wasn't something she hadn't seen before. In fact, this kind of speed was only a bit faster than the average tiger class disciples. The reason she was amazed at all was because this was only her first time doing it.

"Good, hahaha, very good! A talent like her might even be able to reach the Dragon class in just a few years," the supreme elder once again said her thoughts out loud.

Although they were all inner court disciples, there was a huge disparity between each class of disciples. The disciples in the Insect class were as insignificant as ants, while those in the Tiger, Phoenix, and Dragon classes were held in high esteem. Especially those in the Dragon class, they were idols in the eyes of many and they would rarely be seen out in public. They were only a step away from the core court after all, so no one treated them disrespectfully.

The supreme elder spoke out loud because she wanted Xiao Fang to realize just how talented Xiao Hei was and how worthless he was in comparison. She didn't want Xiao Fang to hinder Xiao Hei's path, so after today she hoped to see their relationship come to an end.

After a few more minutes, the final light began to shine around the cauldron, indicating that she had successfully passed all 3 tests.

Xiao Fang sighed inwardly. He couldn't help thinking that Xiao Hei got too excited again.

The door to the cauldron opened up, and Xiao Hei stepped out of it with large strides. She wore a smug expression on her face as if she was trying to show Li Xiang how awesome she was. Unfortunately, Li Xiang was in no condition to see what was going on, so Xiao Hei felt as if her achievements landed on deaf ears.

Suddenly the supreme elder approached Xiao Hei.

"Little girl, I don't think I've seen someone as talented as you in nearly a decade. What's your name?"

"My name? Ah, my name is Fei Lin." Xiao Hei replied.

"Fei Lin. Who is your master?" The elder asked.

The reason she asked for her master's name was because for there to be such a talented disciple in the sect, it was likely that her master was equally as extraordinary.

"My master's name is Su Yun." Xiao Hei replied again.

"Su Yun?"

The supreme elder recognized the name, but since she was a mere outer court elder, she hardly knew anything about her.

As they spoke, Xiao Fang was making his way towards the cauldron. The supreme elder watched as Xiao Fang entered the cauldron, then a subtle upward curve emerged on the corner of her lips.