Bai Zihan had been watching it all.
As he thought, this event was just for Lin Xuan to show off his new profound strength.
Though he also got to see Lin Xuan’s strength, which was honestly shocking.
No wonder he was Heaven Chosen!
If he got enough resources—especially Martial Techniques—there was no limit to his growth with his cheat-like learning ability.
Although Bai Zihan knew that he was stronger than Lin Xuan now, he wasn’t sure for how long.
The rate at which Lin Xuan had been growing was truly shocking to Bai Zihan, and all he did was give him a somewhat good cultivation technique and some pills.
Compared to him, Bai Zihan had better Cultivation Techniques, better pills, and even a System—but still, his progress felt slower than Lin Xuan’s.
“If a Three Star Fate grade Heaven Chosen is this strong, then what about Bai Xinyue?”
Does her growth rate exceed that of Lin Xuan?
If that was the case, wouldn’t that mean no matter what he did, he couldn’t escape his doomed fate?
Well, even if she did have that ability, Bai Zihan knew that she nearly didn’t have enough resources to showcase all of it.
Lin Xuan was the same. If not for him, he wouldn’t have progressed so much.
These protagonists had all the broken abilities—the only thing blocking their progress was resources.
Bai Zihan, on the other hand, with his villain status, had all the resources he needed, but his ability just wasn’t good enough to progress as much as those protagonists.
“I need to think of a way to get those System Points! Otherwise, surpassing Bai Xinyue will only remain a dream!”
Bai Zihan thought he needed to tread cautiously, being new to the Heaven Sword Sect—but fate clearly had other plans.
If he stayed passive and played it safe, he feared he’d never escape his doomed fate.
So even if it meant taking a risk, Bai Zihan felt it in his bones—he had to act.
****
Meanwhile, Lin Xuan went back to the waiting area, calm as ever.
The other disciples gave him space, staring at him. But this time, instead of condescending looks, it was admiration.
Some even looked away—ashamed, or perhaps afraid after making those mean comments earlier.
One of them, a stocky genius who had jeered at him earlier, forced an awkward smile.
“H-Hey, uh… Brother Lin, right? That sword technique was… amazing! You sure showed that snake who’s boss!”
He had also passed the second test—but not in a way like Lin Xuan.
There was a high chance that Lin Xuan could pass the third test, looking at his performance, and more than that, he’d likely be regarded highly by the elders.
So, he wanted to befriend him before all that happened.
Even if he wasn’t regarded that highly by the Sect’s elders, Lin Xuan still had Bai Zihan as his backing.
Lin Xuan glanced at him and said nothing.
He just kept walking.
Because he didn’t need their fake praise.
The stocky genius looked awkward at being ignored, but he didn’t get angry or anything.
After all, he understood his place and didn’t want to get on Lin Xuan’s bad side, who could possibly have the support of Bai Zihan.
Lin Xuan, just like in the first test, went to meditate and wait for the start of the third and final test.
This time, Lin Xuan attracted even more attention than in the first test.
Of course, no one dared to disturb him while he was meditating.
Meanwhile, the second test continued, with many attempting it—only to fail miserably.
The blazing noon sun bathed the arena in golden light as the second trial finally concluded.
Out of the thousands who entered, only a small fraction remained, perhaps around one hundred or two hundred.
The successful candidates now stood quietly before the Dao Resonance Mirror, a towering ancient monolith embedded with swirling runes and a mysterious, translucent glow.
Unlike the earlier stages which tested strength or endurance, this trial judged the most critical things for cultivators:
Fate! Talent! Potential!
The Mirror would assess it all and shine a single light—color-coded to represent the outcome.
White – No resonance. Complete failure. Trash tier.
Gray – Weak resonance. Not even worth training.
Blue – Low resonance. Barely acceptable and Minimum to get into the Heaven Sword Sect.
Green – Mid-tier resonance. Guarantee to get into the Heaven Sword Sect.
Yellow – High-tier resonance. Considered promising.
Red – Peak-tier resonance. True genius.
Gold – Heaven-grade resonance. Highest talent, guaranteed to reach the peak of cultivation.
Only those who reached Green or above were allowed to pass.
But Yellow and up? They were the kind of talents even Peak Master would scramble to take in.
The trial began.
One by one, the hundred or so qualified candidates stepped up to the Mirror.
A girl from the Bao Clan stepped forward. The Mirror flickered, then glowed blue.
“Mid-tier Dao Resonance!”
She let out a breath of relief and stepped down quickly, clearly knowing she barely scraped through.
Another followed. A boy with fiery eyes and twin sabers. The mirror shone green.
“High-tier. Good!”
The elder said.
“Someone mark him down.”
Excitement built as a few more green and blue lights emerged, especially the elders.
Although the first two tests had disappointed them, the final test was promising, with many passing.
But then came the first gray.
There was no consideration for anyone with gray color and it was a direct failure for them.
“Wait, what?!”
The disciple panicked.
“I—I passed the other two trials!”
He was clearly not convinced. He had fought tooth and nail in the two earlier tests, but now he was denied just because some stupid artifact said he wasn’t worth it?
How could someone who risked his life be convinced by that?
But of course, there was no way for him to enter the Heaven Sword Sect after the Dao Resonance Mirror had shown its result.
“You lack Dao Resonance,” the elder said flatly.
“Your path in cultivation is too dim.”
“No! Let me try again!”
“There are no retries,” came the cold response.
“Do you think this Mirror runs on air? Every use costs thousands of spirit stones.”
And so, the failures were dragged out one by one—begging, shouting, even crying.
But the elders didn’t flinch.
They didn’t have to.
You were either blessed by fate—or you weren’t.
Moreover, there were no retries, even if one were to beg.
The Dao Resonance Mirror, after all, drained tens of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones just to operate.
This was the reason it came last, only after filtering out the weaker candidates.
If they could afford it, they would’ve done just this trial and called it a day.
No one was going to burn another fortune just so a few failures could try again.
Soon, the mirror’s light began to dim slightly from overuse.
Only a handful of disciples remained.
And among them, the one drawing the most attention hadn’t even moved.
Lin Xuan!
He stood silently at the very back, arms crossed, expression calm, waiting for his turn.
Ninety-eight. Ninety-nine, and so on.
A flash of light—green.
“Passed!”
Then all heads turned to the last one.
“Next,” the elder said.
It was finally the last candidate—and that last person was Lin Xuan.
“It’s finally Lin Xuan’s turn! What color will he get?”
“He should be able to get at least yellow, looking at his talent. Red is also possible.”
“Gold should be impossible. I heard that in a century, Heaven Sword Sect only had one person with that… and that person only joined recently. What was she called?”
“Bai Xinyue, right? I think one of the Grand Elders brought her in and she showed that her Dao Resonance was Gold.”
“It would be a big blow if Lin Xuan got green or lower—though I hope he does.”
…
Many watched, some speculating he would score high as he was the strongest among them, while others hoped he would fail.
Lin Xuan finally moved.
His steps were slow, unhurried, but he didn’t hesitate.
He walked up to the Dao Resonance Mirror, stood tall, and placed a single palm on its surface.
The Mirror shuddered.
A moment of silence.
Then—
BOOM!
A blinding light burst out from its surface, shooting into the sky.
Not blue. Not green. Not even red.
It was gold.
Heaven-grade.
The entire platform trembled as golden rays exploded outward, casting everything in a radiant glow.
Even the clouds overhead stirred, the air vibrating with spiritual pressure.
A silence deeper than death blanketed the crowd.
And then—chaos.
“G-G-Gold! GOLD?!”
“No way! That’s on par with Bai Xinyue!”
“Wait, wait, wasn’t he just a handyman disciple a few months ago?!”
“How lucky! We got two Gold-graded talents in our sect at the same time. This must be heaven’s sign of our rise!”
…
The elders on the high platform stood up at once—even the usually expressionless ones.
Only one person in recent decades had reached this level—Bai Xinyue, the genius they had recently recruited just a few months back.
Now Lin Xuan stood on the same level.