"All right, Du Feng has always been like this; don't scold him anymore." Though Du Yuejiao still felt a flicker of doubt, having witnessed the miracle Lin Tian had wrought, she was quick to accept the situation.
"By the way, what did you want to see me for?" Lin Tian asked, glancing at her with curiosity.
"I came about the registration," Du Yuejiao explained. "Every year, the Xuanwu Sect recruits disciples, and registration begins seven days before the competition. Although it's called registration, it's actually the sect's first round of testing. Those who fail to meet the Xuanwu Sect's entry requirements are immediately rejected during registration."
"The other members of the Du clan had arrived days earlier, so they were already registered. Now it's just you and me left who haven't registered yet."
"All right, then let's go together," Lin Tian said after a moment of thought.
The Du clan's intelligence-gathering was impressive. Along the way, Du Yuejiao gave Lin Tian a detailed briefing on the Xuanwu Sect. Without her guidance, he might have missed even the chance to register.
Before long, they arrived at the registration point. The sight before Lin Tian made him draw in a sharp breath. The crowd was vast beyond description; even though they had arrived early, a long line had already formed.
After two full hours of waiting, their turn finally came.
"Submit ten Spirit Crystals and place your hand on the crystal orb for testing," the disciple in charge of registration said, eyeing Lin Tian with suspicion.
Lin Tian handed over ten Spirit Crystals and placed his palm on the orb. The crystal soon glowed in rippling rings, and four stars appeared within it.
"Qi Refining, Fourth Layer—not qualified. Step aside," the disciple said disdainfully.
"Senior, why am I not qualified?" Lin Tian frowned, annoyed. Before coming, Du Yuejiao had explained that the first-round test required striking the Strength Measuring Stele with over five hundred jin. Yet here he was, dismissed without even a single strike—an outcome he could not accept.
The disciple chuckled. "Do you really think, at Fourth Layer Qi Refining, you can strike five hundred jin on the Measuring Stele?"
Even Fifth Layer cultivators could scarcely achieve this, and a Fourth Layer practitioner was simply impossible. To save time, the sect filtered out all below Fifth Layer during registration.
"Of course I can," Lin Tian said without hesitation. Delivering a punch of five hundred jin was hardly a challenge for him.
"That's audacious," the disciple scoffed. "Even Fifth Layer cultivators aren't always certain they can do it, yet here you are, a Fourth Layer, claiming you can."
"I'm merely following procedure. If my strength doesn't meet the sect's standards, I'll leave on my own. But dismissing me without a chance to test myself is hardly fair," Lin Tian said firmly.
Voices from the waiting crowd rang out in derision. "Just a Fourth Layer waste—does he even know his own limits?"
"This kid's clearly here to cause trouble. Senior, you should kick him out."
The registering disciple laughed. "Kid, do you hear them? The people behind you are growing impatient. Are you just going to stand there?"
"I won't leave without trying," Lin Tian replied, eyes steely with resolve.
"Fine, then. You may try. If your punch exceeds five hundred jin, I will—here and now—let you eat this Measuring Stele. If not, you'll crawl back," the disciple said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Fine," Lin Tian said, a faint smile playing on his lips.
He approached the Stele. Spiritual energy surged through his body, converging in his right arm. With a single punch, the gathered power erupted. Eighteen-layered martial techniques activated, eight waves of hidden force exploding outward. A red light shot up from the Measuring Stele.
In an instant, the pointer soared past five hundred, then six, seven, eight hundred, nine hundred, and finally reached one thousand before gently halting.
"How is this possible?" The disciple's jaw dropped. Normally, a Fourth Layer cultivator could only muster three hundred fifty jin; even gifted Fifth Layers rarely exceeded five hundred. Striking one thousand jin at Fourth Layer was unprecedented in all of Red Leaf City—and even in the Xuanwu Sect itself.
"Senior, now I can have the token, right?" Lin Tian smiled and asked.
The disciple hastily handed over the token.
Lin Tian accepted it with a grin. "By the way, Senior… do you still remember what you said earlier? About this Measuring Stele… how exactly do you want me to eat it?"