Naked Sword Art

vator. ”

The crowd was explosive, even the elders were in shock.
It was extremely rare for both the 1st and 2nd placed disciples to be in their first year.

Li Xiang walked over to Bai Fan.

”Looks like you ’re quite popular.
They cheered twice as loud for you than they did for me. ”

”Ah, too embarrassing, ” Li Xiang smiled as she scratched the back of her head.

Bai Fan looked back at the cave exit.
She was surprised to hear that she was the first to finish the first test. 

’Was I really just imagining the girl with the red pendant? ’ she thought.
She tried to think of reasons why the mysterious girl would hide her talents from the public, but was unable to think of anything.

”What are you looking at? ” Li Xiang interrupted Bai Fan ’s train of thought.

”It ’s nothing, ” Bai Fan said as she turned around to continue the exam. 

”Oh, keeping secrets with me now.
I promise I won ’t tell anyone. ”

”I told you it was nothing. ”

”Please? ”

”Get lost. ”

…

While the disciples were waiting for the next person to arrive, they talked amongst themselves.

Within that crowd were a few core court disciples, one of which was named Li Qin.

Li Qin wore a thin white robe that swayed in the air with just the slightest breeze.
Her black hair flowed down her back resembling a beautiful ink painting of a waterfall on a white canvas.

Her aura was so profound her presence felt almost illusionary, and her gaze was so deep it always seemed as if she was contemplating the world.

Li Qui was none other than the number one genius from the Li family clan, but amongst her peers in the core court, her talent was only slightly above average.

…

”Congratulations, Li Qin.
Li Xiang seems to be even more remarkable than you, ” a fellow core court disciple said.

Li Qin didn ’t even bother looking at her when she replied, ”Mn, she ’s talented. ”

”Is that all you can say? I thought you ’d be happy to see someone from the Li clan do well on the exam. ”

”Many geniuses fail due to being over-praised.
It ’s better to wait and see than to be disappointed by the failure you contributed to create. ”

”The failure I contributed to create? ” The other core court disciple didn ’t understand what Li Qin was saying.

In the time that they were talking, Zhao Pan had already introduced herself and was on her way to the next test.

When Zhao Pan said that she was a body cultivator the body cultivators in the crowd got up off their seats and started cheering louder than ever.

There weren ’t many body cultivators in the inner and core courts, so to see one in the top 3 was a big deal to them.

…

Xiao Hei understood the gist of things so after a bit of time passed she finally walked out of the cave then walked up to the stage.

”My name is Fei Lin, and I ’m a first year body cultivator. ”

The elders and body cultivators in the crowd started going crazy with joy.
It really seemed like this year was the beginning of a golden era for the sect.

”I ’ve never seen the inner court disciples so excited before, ” one elder said.

”Can you blame them? Something like this isn ’t an usual occurrence, ” another elder replied.

.

.

.

As time went by, the crowd slowly became smaller and smaller.
Many of the spectators started heading over to the next waiting area because they didn ’t want to miss seeing Bai Fan or Li Xiang finish the next test.

Several minutes later, the crowd had all moved to the next waiting area, but it was around that time that Xiao Fang walked out of the darkness of the cave. 

After stepping out into the light, he was immediately stopped by two elders.
One elder took his shining red pendant while the other elder curiously waved her hand in front of his face.

Xiao Fang then pretended to dodge her hand.

”So you can see even with blindfolds on, very interesting, ” the elder said.

Xiao Fang nodded once.

”Interesting boy. ” The elder said as she watched him walk away.

The elder assumed Xiao Fang wasn ’t really blind and was able to see though his blindfold.
In the cultivation world, there were many interesting things like that, so she didn ’t think much of it.
The other elder on the other hand seemed totally flabbergasted.

”What are you so shocked about? You don ’t actually think he ’s blind, do you? ”

”His robes… ”

”Hm? What about his robes? ”

”Didn ’t you see it? ”

”Stop beating around the bush.
What the hell are you talking about? ”

”Didn ’t he just come out of the 2nd level of the Ancestral Training Ground? How are his robes still so clean? There isn ’t even a scratch on him. ”

The other elder finally understood what she was talking about, but she couldn ’t believe it.
She looked back at Xiao Fang on the stage with wide eyes.
His robes really were clean. 

”How did he… ”

Xiao Fang didn ’t seem as if he had just came out of a life threatening forest, he looked like he just finished taking a stroll through a harmless garden.
If that wasn ’t amazing enough, Xiao Fang was also alone. 

Facing the remaining disciples in the stands, Xiao Fang introduced himself.

”My name is Long Wang, and I ’m a first-year disciple. ”

Since he was a man, no one cared to ask whether he was a spirit or body cultivator.

”First-year? Is he really a first year? ” The elders couldn ’t believe what they were hearing.

If he was a 9th or 10th-year disciple, then it would ’ve been more believable that he could come out the first test unharmed, but 1st-year? It was simply too unbelievable.