Everyone was excited, discussing Sun Tian. During this time, families large and small from Cloud Sea City had all arrived.
Suddenly, someone shouted, "Young Master Sun is here!"
In an instant, countless eyes turned toward the distance, only to see the members of the Sun Family arriving. Leading the way was none other than Sun Tian. At this moment, Sun Tian was in high spirits and immensely proud.
"Judging by his expression, could Young Master Sun have truly broken through to the eighth level?"
"To break through in just one month… that cultivation speed is too fast. It's really hard to believe."
"Indeed. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it for the life of me."
The crowd was abuzz with conversation. As Sun Tian heard this, he paused. In the next moment, the Spiritual Power within him erupted. With a roar, a powerful storm of Spiritual Qi swept out, forcing many people to step back.
"What a strong aura!" someone exclaimed.
This power was indeed much stronger than it had been a month ago. It seemed Young Master Sun had most likely broken through.
Seeing the shocked expressions on everyone's faces, Sun Tian gave a satisfied nod, retracted his Spiritual Power, and continued forward. Soon, the Sun Family arrived near the arena and secured an advantageous position.
Subsequently, more families arrived. Liu Ruyan was among them. When Liu Ruyue arrived, she also drew the attention of countless people. Liu Ruyue was exceptionally beautiful, and having reached the sixth level in the last test, she was also considered a remarkable genius.
As the center of attention, Liu Ruyue's lips curled into a faint smile. She lifted her chin like a proud peacock and approached Sun Tian, beginning to chat with him affectionately. Seeing this, the onlookers were filled with envy.
Before long, Lin Xuan also arrived. His appearance naturally attracted everyone's attention as well.
Lin Xuan was a legendary figure indeed. He was originally the foremost genius of Cloud Sea City, but his cultivation later regressed, turning him into the city's biggest joke. Now, however, his talent had returned, and he was once again the top genius.
"I wonder if his cultivation has broken through this time?"
"In your dreams. Even if his talent returned, it's impossible for him to break through in a single month."
"Unless he consumed a massive amount of elixirs."
"If he hasn't broken through, then he probably can't compare to Sun Tian, can he?"
The crowd chattered amongst themselves.
Sun Tian obviously noticed Lin Xuan. He snorted coldly, a sharp gleam appearing in his eyes. Beside him, a furious Liu Ruyue stormed over.
She stood before Lin Xuan and demanded coldly, "Why did you attack my brother?"
Lin Xuan shook his head. "I didn't lay a hand on your brother. I'm not the one who injured Liu Ruhu."
"What? Not you?" Liu Ruyue was stunned. "If it wasn't you, then who was it? Lin Xuan, are you going to deny what you did?"
"The Ten Thousand Treasures Tower did it," Lin Xuan stated. "If you want revenge, you can go find them. I'm just afraid you don't have the guts."
"The Ten Thousand Treasures Tower?" Hearing this explanation, Liu Ruyue became extremely angry. She shot back, "Nonsense! My brother holds a VIP card from the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower; he's one of their distinguished guests. Why would they move against him?"
Lin Xuan laughed. "That's because your brother offended an even more distinguished guest of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower, so he was injured by them."
An even more distinguished guest? Liu Ruyue was taken aback. The VIP card her brother had was Sun Tian's. Given Sun Tian's status, he was already a top-tier guest at the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower. Who could possibly have a status higher than his?
"Who is it?" Liu Ruyue asked nervously.
Lin Xuan pointed to himself. "Me. He offended me, so the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower taught him a lesson."
"You?" Liu Ruyue was stunned at first, then her expression turned completely cold. She seethed, "Do you think I'm a fool? Do you think I'm so easily deceived? Even if you've regained your former talent, you couldn't possibly be a distinguished guest of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower! I won't be fooled by you!"
Liu Ruyue was truly furious. She simply didn't believe a word Lin Xuan said. In her eyes, Lin Xuan was just bragging. His claim of being a distinguished guest of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower was nothing but sheer nonsense.
Liu Ruyue glared at Lin Xuan. "I'm no weaker than you now. Just you wait. I will get my revenge!"
Now at the seventh level herself, Liu Ruyue was confident she could defeat Lin Xuan.
She turned and left, returning to Sun Tian's side with an aggrieved look on her face. "Young Master Sun, could you arrange something for me? During the assessment later, I want to personally deal with Lin Xuan."
"Leave it to me," Sun Tian said confidently.
A short while later, an elder from the Heavenly Dao Academy arrived. This time he did not come alone; he brought three young men with him. These three were disciples of the Heavenly Dao Academy.
Seeing this, Sun Tian approached one of the disciples, a young man with a square face named Fang Yun. Sun Tian whispered a few words to him and then walked back.
"I've spoken to Brother Fang. He'll help with the arrangements."
A moment later, Fang Yun opened a scroll and wrote down the names of Lin Xuan, Liu Ruyue, and a few others before handing it to the elder. The other two young men also opened their scrolls, each writing down some names, and submitted them to the elder as well.
After taking the three scrolls, the middle-aged elder stood up and announced loudly, "Next is the second round of the assessment."
"The second round is combat. You will ascend the arena to fight. This second round is divided into three groups of ten people. Only those who place in the top three of their group will pass the assessment."
The youths participating in the assessment listened intently to the rules. The spectators, however, were buzzing with conversation.
"Only the top three? That means only nine people will pass in total."
"That's really strict."
A total of thirty youths had passed the first round, but ultimately only nine would be accepted. The elimination rate was high. Sure enough, upon hearing that only nine would pass, all the young geniuses grew tense. None of them wanted to be eliminated.
The middle-aged elder shook the scrolls in his hand. "The groups have been finalized. Now, I will announce them."
"Lin Xuan, Liu Ruyue, Li Fei… you are in the first group."
"Wang Tian, Zhang Hao… you are in the second group."
"Sun Tian, Li Yu… you are in the third group."
Hearing that she was indeed in the same group as Lin Xuan, Liu Ruyue's lips curled into a cold smile. She could finally take her revenge personally.
Lin Xuan's expression remained calm. He didn't care who was in his group. No one here was his match. With his strength, he could overwhelm all the other geniuses.
After the groups were announced, the middle-aged elder spoke again. "Before you step into the arena to fight, there will be one more re-evaluation. Let's see how your cultivation has changed over the past month."
With that, the elder waved his hand, and the testing monument reappeared before everyone.