After obtaining one of the three special jade slips, Yuan proceeded to walk towards the gate.
However, the middle-aged man overseeing that examination suddenly approached Yuan and blocked his path.
"Congratulations on finding the first special jade slip, young man. I am Elder Long, an Outer Court Sect Elder for the Dragon Essence Temple. May I have your name?" The middle-aged man spoke to Yuan in a polite voice.
"Yuan," he responded.
"Daoist Yuan, huh? Anyway, since you have the special jade slip, allow me to explain a few more things to you. You can obtain a special jade slip in every test, and the more you gather, the better your reward will be towards the end. Furthermore, if you manage to obtain a special jade slip for every test, you’ll get to enter the Dragon Temple for 24 hours."
"Dragon Temple? What is that?" Yuan asked.
"The Dragon Temple is a very special place that can only be accessed by the Sect Master of the Dragon Essence Temple, and once inside, you will have a limited time to search for and obtain as many treasures as you can in the given time. As for what kinds of treasures you can find inside... You will learn more about it if you actually manage to obtain access to that place."
Yuan nodded and said, "Okay, I will try my best."
"Good luck, Daoist Yuan."
Elder Long said to him before leaving him alone and returning to overseeing the other participants.
After Elder Long left, Yuan continued moving forward and entered the gate a few moments later, disappearing from the grassland.
Once Yuan left, Elder Long turned to look at the sky and said, "His name is Yuan! A prodigy who can use Divine Sense as a Spirit Warrior can’t be a nobody!"
Meanwhile, a few of the sect elders watching the exam left the spectators’ room and began trying to uncover Yuan’s real background.
"This is the second examination?" Yuan looked around the area that resembled the wilderness.
"Congratulations on passing the first test. In order to pass the second exam, you must hunt magical beasts."
A young woman suddenly approached Yuan and said to him.
"Hunting magical beasts? Perfect!" Yuan said.
The young woman raised her eyebrows after seeing Yuan’s enthusiasm. Normally, one would not react with excitement when they’re told to hunt magical beasts but nervousness instead.
The young woman then said with a frown on her face, "Although there are Sect Elders scattered around this place to make sure there are as few incidents as possible, we cannot guarantee your safety, and there have been plenty of participants who died here."
"I see..." Yuan nodded, yet his voice did not sound worried at all.
The young woman was speechless. However, when she used her spiritual sense to look at Yuan’s cultivation base, her eyes widened with shock.
"Fifth level Spirit Warrior?!" she exclaimed in a loud voice.
"Eh? Yes, I am at the fifth level Spirit Warrior. Is there something wrong with that?" Yuan asked her in an innocent voice.
"Yes... I mean... No...?"
The young woman did not know how to respond to Yuan’s question. Although the examination did not forbid Spirit Warriors from participating in the examination, they have also never had a participant as powerful as Yuan before, as most people above the Spirit Apprentice realm would automatically be accepted into the Dragon Essence Temple without needing to pass the examination.
Furthermore, most of the magical beasts in this examination were only at the Spirit Apprentice level with only a few at the Spirit Warrior level. There was simply no way someone at the fifth level Spirit Warrior level would have trouble in this place!
After a moment of silence, the young woman cleared her throat before speaking, "Ahem! A-Anyway, in order to pass this test, you must hunt magical beasts to obtain points— 100 points to be exact. Depending on the level of the magical beast you defeat, you will gain a certain amount of points. For example, magical beasts at the first level Spirit Apprentice level will give you 1 point and a third level Spirit Apprentice magical beast will give you 3 points. As for the magical beasts above the Spirit Apprentice level, they will all give you 25 points. There will be a time limit of three days for this exam."
"Do you have any questions?"
Yuan nodded before asking, "What about the special jade slip? How do I obtain that here?"
"The special jade slip...?"
Yuan then showed her the red jade slip he obtained from the first test.
"Oh, that. It’s been so long since someone tried to obtain it that I’d nearly forgotten about it."
"1,000 points. If you can obtain 1,000 points, you’ll get the special jade slip," said the young woman.
"1,000 points... This might take longer than the previous test." Yuan mumbled.
After a moment of silence, Yuan asked the Sect Elder, "Senior, where can I find the most magical beasts at the Spirit Warrior level?"
"Uh... Over there..." The Sect Elder pointed towards the west.
"Thank you!" Yuan said to her before running towards the west.
"...Where on earth did such an oddball come from? Fifth level Spirit Warrior... He’s already almost at my cultivation level, yet he’s taking the examination?" The Sect Elder shook her head after Yuan left.
A notification appeared after Yuan killed a magical beast at the fourth level Spirit Apprentice realm in a single hit with the Empyrean Overlord.
"Heavens, this is such a powerful sword! The Spirit Sword is nothing compared to this!" Yuan looked at the massive sword in his grasp that felt no heavier than a wooden stick with a mesmerizing gaze.
Even though the monster was only at the Spirit Apprentice level, he’d managed to kill it with a casual swing that barely had any force behind it, almost like slicing tofu with a sharp knife! There was simply no resistance from the magical beasts!