The more the disciples speculated, the more ridiculous their theories became. Black lines started appearing on the face of Zi Changhe, and he bellowed, "All of you, shut up! If you don't want to keep watching, go back to practicing!"
Hearing his shout, the entire courtyard became completely silent. Who among the disciples did not fear the fiery temper of Zi Changhe?
At this moment, a voice that sounded like a pig being slaughtered pierced the air, "Ouch, my hand hurts so much!"
Turning to look, one could see Xiang Shaoyun constantly waving his hand back and forth while prancing around, an extremely comical sight to behold. Seeing this, many of the disciples at the scene wanted to laugh but didn't dare to do so in front of Zi Changhe, resulting in them forcing themselves to restrain their laughter.
"Tsk, unable to bear this little pain...he really is a piece of trash," said Zi Changhe’s wolf with contempt.
"He's already at this age, yet he's only a third-stage Basic Realm cultivator. He indeed is trash." Zi Changhe echoed the wolf's sentiments. "I will activate the Evaluation Stele to see how talented you are. Stand before the Evaluation Stele and empty your mind."
Hearing this, while still clutching his throbbing hand, Xiang Shaoyun walked over and proudly declared, "The result of my evaluation will definitely produce a natural phenomenon!"
Using both hands, Zi Changhe proceeded to form seal after seal, causing purple rays of light to appear around him. The purple rays condensed into crackling bolts of lightning filled with raw energy.
"Awaken!" Zi Changhe shouted, sending a bout of power towards the Evaluation Stele.
Having been stimulated by this rush of power, the Evaluation Stele lit up, shining like a precious gem, appearing very extraordinary. At this moment, a penetrating wave of power rushed toward Xiang Shaoyun, making him feel extremely relaxed in both body and mind. The Evaluation Stele, however, had no further reaction and left Zi Changhe extremely disappointed.
"There's not even the slightest bit of reaction from the Evaluation Stele. He really is a piece of trash."
"I don't understand. This pathetic bit of ability and he dares to have the Purple Lightning Marquis to preside over his examination? What a disappointment."
"Indeed. One's natal chart can contain up to nine stars. One star is weak, two stars is somewhat bright, three stars is extraordinary, and four stars enters the night sky. This brat doesn't even have any stars in him; he really is too ordinary!"
"Haha, he even said just now that he would cause a phenomenon, what a joke!"
The disciples present started to chatter, their eyes full of disdain towards Xiang Shaoyun. Just as Zi Changhe was about to throw Xiang Shaoyun out of Martial Hall Palace, there was a sudden bout of change. The Evaluation Stele became shrouded in light, and a stream of light pierced through the clouds as if breaking the firmaments of heaven and joining the heavens and the earth.
"There's a reaction from the Evaluation Stele!" Zi Changhe said, his curiosity piqued.
Shing shing!
As the clouds above the nine heavens began to part, one could see a single star light up and pierce through the heavens.
"So he isn't trash after all—he has a one-star physique!" some disciples exclaimed, surprised.
Before they had finished speaking, another star in a different direction began to illuminate. And before they could even react to that, yet another ray of starlight pierced through the nine heavens.
Three stars was extraordinary. A three-star physique could only be found once in every hundred thousand physiques, and its owner would undoubtedly reach the Transformation Realm eventually.
Zi Changhe's eyes were sparkling, one could find traces of astonishment inside them. "This brat really is slightly talented."
Three-star physique was rarely seen Wu Town, and the owner of this physique was more than qualified to be an outer disciple of Martial Hall Palace, with the chance of eventually becoming an inner disciple.
Shing shing!
Amid all the clamor, astral power from yet another star flew over. This time, however, two stars had simultaneously appeared at once. The light resulting from all five stars illuminated all of Martial Hall Palace, and the bright light filled the sky, visible to even people outside Wu Town.
If four stars entering the night sky was regarded as king, then five stars Illuminating the sky was like a dragon transforming into an emperor!
After the appearance of the five stars, Xiang Shaoyun felt as though all five stars were resonating within him, causing waves of heat to rise in him, raising his cultivation directly into the fifth stage of the Basic Realm.
"Five stars illuminating the sky!! It's a five-star physique! Who on earth is this matchless genius?" an old man in Martial Hall Palace dressed in blue said, staring in shock at the power of the five stars in the sky. Hastily, he leapt into flight from his original position, heading toward the outer courtyard.
Somewhere else, another elderly man came out from his house, his hazy eyes becoming clear. "Five stars illuminating the sky! Such an auspicious sign! Could it be that one of our elders has had a fateful encounter?" Upon finishing his monologue, he also began heading for Martial Hall Palace’s outer court.
While all this was happening, numerous similarly mighty figures started coming out of their abodes, rushing toward the direction of the Evaluation Stele.
"Five…five stars illuminating the sky! I'm not going blind, am I?!" Zi Changhe spluttered, his face full of shock. Above the skies, additional astral energy seemed to still be gathering. However, before the energy could fully condense, the Evaluation Stele split cleanly in two.
Peng!
Xiang Shaoyun, who was still immersed in the feeling of relaxation, was startled by this sudden change. He jumped in fright, running away from where he was originally standing.
"My gosh, must a genius going through a test have this hard a time?!" Xiang Shaoyun yelled, feeling wronged.
"The Evaluation Stele has broken in two! Could some problems have occurred?"
"It's possible. Maybe the energy from the five stars was not because of him, but because the Evaluation Stele itself had some issues?"
"That must be the case. If not, how could someone like him gather the energy of five stars? In our Martial Hall Palace, something like this has only been accomplished by Senior Sister Gong Qinyin! And she is the number one genius of Wu Town!"
"But all of us definitely saw the power of the five stars descend upon him, showing that he has a five-star physique, did we not? Could this be incorrect too?"
The thousands of disciples who had just witnessed what had happened had a hard time believing their own eyes. A five-star physique! Such a cultivation monster would be able to surpass them in no time at all!
At this moment, Zi Changhe finally regained his senses and firmly swore to himself, "I must take this brat as my personal disciple!"
Just as he was about to say something, numerous shadows appeared one after another right in front of them.
"The Evaluation Stele is broken! What exactly happened here?!" an age-worn old man asked. This old man was one of Martial Hall Palace’s vice palace masters—Qing Xiuhe, a peak Transformation Realm expert.
The disciples who were present did not dare to hide anything from him, narrating to him what had happened. But the place was too rowdy; no one could make out anything that was being said.
Annoyed, Qing Xiuhe shouted and pointed to one disciple, “Quiet! You, tell me what happened here.”
Stunned, the disciple was unable to immediately form a coherent sentence. Zi Changhe then stood up and said, "Vice palace master, I'll tell you what happened instead."
Thus, Zi Changhe gave Qing Xiuhe a simple and concise recap of everything that had just happened. At first, he was unwilling to speak of what had happened, at least until he had taken Xiang Shaoyun as his personal disciple. However, due to the scale of the commotion caused, he knew that this matter could not be kept under wraps for long.
"You say it's this brat who attracted the power of five stars?" Qing Xiuhe asked excitedly, his eyes shining as he looked at Xiang Shaoyun. Not just him, all the elders present looked at Xiang Shaoyun, their eyes full of fire.