Li Tan was somewhat speechless, and he slightly pursed his lips, saying, “Wait a moment.”
“Do you still have anything to say?”
A disciple from Tianlang Sect who was in charge of the examination questioned him.
What a rigid guy.
Li Tan mentally complained, then retorted, “You keep accusing me of fraud, but where’s your evidence? Is it just based on the reaction of this broken stone?”
“The testing stone didn’t light up at all. There’s no other possible reason except that you have no cultivation.”
The Tianlang disciple in charge was unmoved.
“Hehe.”
Li Tan looked at him disdainfully, “You keep talking about the rules, yet have you considered that what you’re doing right now is actually violating the rules themselves?
How ironic.”
The Tianlang disciple was momentarily stunned and asked with slight confusion, “What do you mean?
Where have I violated the rules?”
Li Tan replied sharply, “You want to attack me just because this stone didn’t light up. Isn’t that already breaking the rules?”
The Tianlang disciple was about to repeat his previous words, but upon thinking carefully, he realized Li Tan’s words were valid. After a moment of silence, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, and he coldly said, “Fine then. I’ll give you a chance to prove yourself. I’ll suppress my cultivation and throw a punch at you. If you can withstand it, I’ll apologize to you on the spot.”
“Fine.”
Li Tan had no objections; this was exactly what he wanted.
At this moment, the commotion here attracted many people’s attention, especially those still waiting in line behind them, who looked at Li Tan with great displeasure, making sarcastic remarks like “show-off” and “time-waster.”
Naturally, Li Tan didn’t bother arguing with them, just waiting for the Tianlang disciple in charge to throw his punch.
“Even though I’m suppressing my cultivation, the power of an early-stage Xiantian cultivator is beyond what an ordinary person can endure. If you regret now, you’ll only lose one hand. But if you stubbornly persist, you might even lose your life.”
The Tianlang disciple coldly said these words without hiding his mockery, though they were genuinely meant as a warning.
However, he was clearly overstepping, as Li Tan had no intention of appreciating his concern.
Seeing Li Tan ignore him, he muttered “stubborn fool” and swung his fist forward.
At that moment, a crisp and pleasant female voice suddenly sounded.
“Master Li! So this is where you are. Honestly, why didn’t you come find me directly?”
Zhang Chenghuan happily ran over.
Li Tan chuckled, “Personal reasons.”
“Personal reasons? What personal reasons?”
“Sorry, I can’t tell you.”
The real reason was quite simple—it was just that he disliked going through backstage channels.
But he hadn’t expected to encounter such a situation. Before even officially joining, he had probably already gained some notoriety among the new recruits, which completely contradicted his original intention of staying low-key. Had he known this would happen, he would have probably gone straight to find Zhang Chenghuan.
At this moment, the Tianlang disciple in charge was somewhat confused and at a loss.
Why did Miss Zhang come over here?
And it seemed she even knew this person accused of cheating?
He was puzzled beyond comprehension.
Thus, he stammered, “Shi, shi-jie, who is this person?” before being interrupted.
Zhang Chenghuan had also noticed the unusual scene here and asked, clearly somewhat angry, “What exactly were you doing just now?”
The Tianlang disciple truthfully explained everything that had happened.
After understanding the whole story, Zhang Chenghuan also felt a bit strange, though only for a moment. Then she firmly pointed at the black large stone and declared decisively, “This thing might have developed some hidden problem from being used for too long. We should consider replacing it when we go back.”
Come on, Li Tan had easily passed the Two-star Alchemist exam. To pass the Two-star Alchemist test, one’s cultivation must be at least at the peak of the Xiantian stage; otherwise, one wouldn’t have enough Qi to use.
Therefore, the only possibility was that the testing stone was broken.
She could think of this, but the disciple in charge was left dumbfounded.
What did that even mean?
The testing stone was broken?
That was too absurd!
Li Tan shrugged helplessly, as more and more people had gathered around, and then said to Zhang Chenghuan, “Let’s go first.”
Since Zhang Chenghuan also disliked being stared at by crowds, she understood Li Tan’s thoughts and obediently nodded, taking Li Tan away.
The testing disciple wanted to say something, but it was as if a large iron block was stuck in his throat, preventing him from uttering a single word. Only after Li Tan and the others had left did he angrily say, “To have such favoritism! What exactly is this bastard’s relationship with my senior sister?”
He attributed Zhang Chenghuan’s reaction to “favoritism.”
Because of this small incident, a heated discussion unfolded around them, but at times like these, everyone was more concerned about themselves, and their attention soon returned to their own matters.
Inside a tent on the square.
“Haha, young friend, I’ve been waiting for you for quite some time.”
Zhang Zhixiao, the sect leader of the Tianlang Sect, warmly stood up to greet his guest.
Li Tan stood a short distance in front of him, calmly saying, “I was delayed by some matters. Please forgive me.”
“No problem at all. The fact that you came to see me has already satisfied me. I’ll go and make arrangements immediately. Would you mind joining Tianlang Sect as my personal disciple?”
Zhang Zhi suggested.
Directly becoming the sect leader’s personal disciple was even higher in status than a core disciple. It basically meant that Tianlang Sect would focus on cultivating him, and the resources he could enjoy would be quite substantial.
Zhang Zhi had already shown great sincerity, and even Zhang Chenghuan was somewhat surprised.
But Li Tan declined.
“I appreciate your kindness, but I don’t need to become your personal disciple.”
“Why is that?”
Zhang Zhi asked in confusion.
Li Tan countered, “After what happened just now, I’m sure the news about me failing to make that stone light up has already spread among the new recruits. At this point, taking me in as your personal disciple, how can you convince everyone else?”
“Hmm…” Thinking carefully, Zhang Zhi also felt a bit conflicted.
Li Tan continued, “So there’s no need for me to become your personal disciple.”
Zhang Zhi sighed, somewhat apologetically saying, “Then I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to join the outer sect for now. Once you demonstrate some ability, I’ll find an opportunity to promote you to a core disciple.”
Li Tan was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, “There’s no need for the outer sect either. Just make me a servant disciple.”
“A servant disciple?”
Zhang Chenghuan and Zhang Zhi spoke in unison, both extremely surprised.
Li Tan calmly explained, “If I joined the outer sect, many people would deliberately come looking for trouble. It would be too noisy, and I don’t like that.”
If it weren’t for the incident just now, joining the outer sect or even directly entering the inner sect would have been fine. However, doing so now would likely lead many to think I received special treatment, and they would come to challenge me, resulting in endless disturbances and affecting my plans.
Therefore, becoming a servant disciple was the most suitable choice.
Zhang Zhi hesitated for quite a while. He really wanted to persuade Li Tan to join the outer sect, as that would make it easier for him to help, but in the end, he respected Li Tan’s choice.
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