The Annual Servant Assessment was less an examination and more a spectacle of humiliation. It was held in the Outer Court training yard—a vast, open circle of polished stone carved with ancient protective runes. Thousands of disciples and several Elders, including the unnervingly watchful Elder Xuan, stood by to observe.
The assessment was a three-stage test of strength, stamina, and basic Qi manipulation. The goal was not to succeed, but to confirm the servants' "worth" as perpetual labor. Only one in a hundred might exhibit enough natural talent to be promoted to the lowest rank of the Outer Court.
Jiang Yi stood in the ranks, his body bowed, the Dust Cloak Method pulled so tight that he genuinely felt the phantom aches of exhaustion. His core, however, was roaring with Peak Third Stage power, ready to be unleashed.
Stage One: The Stone Lift.
The objective was simple: lift a granite boulder weighing five hundred catties (about 550 lbs) and hold it for twenty breaths. A Body Tempering cultivator could do this easily; a servant was expected to fail spectacularly.
Luo Feng, Chen Tao, and Meng Li all stood near the Elder's platform, watching the servants with undisguised contempt. Meng Li, in particular, kept his eyes locked on Jiang Yi, convinced the servant was performing some form of trickery.
Servants approached the stone, groaning and straining. Many failed to budge it.
When Jiang Yi's turn came, he deliberately approached the stone with a hesitant, clumsy shuffle.
He bent, gripping the stone with hands that appeared frail. He let out a loud, pained grunt, mimicking the agony of exertion, and with an agonizingly slow struggle, he lifted the stone only six inches off the ground. He held it for ten breaths, his face contorted in a mask of genuine effort, and then collapsed it, retreating immediately as if defeated.
"F-five hundred catties," he gasped, spitting on the ground as if from extreme nausea. "I... I tried my best."
The crowd chuckled. Luo Feng smirked. Meng Li, however, frowned, his suspicion growing. The spiritual signature was weak, yet the strength of the lift was just barely respectable—too strong for the level of exhaustion the aura suggested.
Stage Two: The Endurance Run.
The task was to run five laps around the training yard while maintaining a basic circulation of Qi. This tested the health of the meridians.
For the servants, who possessed weak or blocked meridians, the run was brutal. After two laps, most were hyperventilating, and their bodies were wracked with cramps.
Jiang Yi, with his perfectly cleansed meridians and immense stamina, could have run a hundred laps. Instead, he forced himself to adopt a labored, shuffling gait. He let his face redden, his breathing become ragged, and he intentionally broke his Qi circulation every few steps, creating the spiritual ripple of meridian fatigue.
He completed four and a half laps, then stumbled and collapsed dramatically a few feet short of the finish line, clutching his side.
"He's clearly too weak," Luo Feng declared, satisfied. "His meridians are shot."
Elder Xuan, however, shifted slightly on his platform, his brow furrowed. His powerful gaze cut through the illusion created by the Dust Cloak Method just long enough to see the inner reality. The servant was intentionally breaking his perfect Qi flow.
Two tests, and two near-perfect acts of weakness, the Elder thought. He is hiding, but why? And why stop just shy of the goal?
Stage Three: The Strike.
This was the final, defining test. Each servant had to strike a wooden pillar wrapped in a formation seal. The seal measured the raw impact force, revealing the servant's natural physical talent.
The average score for a servant was less than 50 points (the force of a hard punch). An Outer Disciple in the First Stage hit around 100 points.
Jiang Yi knew this was the moment to reveal a tiny crack of talent—enough to be promoted, but not enough to draw lethal attention.
He stepped up to the pillar. He focused his mind, channeling his Peak Third Stage strength, but held back ninety percent of it. He was aiming for a perfect 98 points. Just below the threshold of a true Outer Disciple, but clearly superior to every other servant.
He raised his fist, his stance clumsy, and struck the pillar with a focused, controlled blast of internal power.
CRACK.
The pillar shuddered. The rune seal flashed green.
The number appeared: 98.
The crowd murmured. 98 points was the highest score of the day, suggesting he was a waste with an inexplicably dense body, but still only a First Stage talent.
Luo Feng scowled. "A fluke! He must have hit the structural weak point."
But Meng Li, watching Jiang Yi's withdrawn, trembling stance, finally saw the pattern. The servant always performed just below the minimum expectation of talent, yet was always the highest performer among the true waste.
As Jiang Yi shuffled away, triumphant but outwardly frail, Meng Li stepped toward the Elder's platform, bowing deeply.
"Elder Xuan," Meng Li stated loudly, his voice echoing across the yard. "This servant, Jiang Yi, is hiding something. He scored 98 points, yet his aura reads total depletion. I believe he is using a foul trick—perhaps a hidden artifact."
Elder Xuan remained motionless for a long moment, his eyes scanning the kneeling Jiang Yi.
Then, the Elder slowly raised a finger. A minuscule, needle-thin sliver of Foundation Establishment Qi shot silently across the yard, bypassing the Dust Cloak entirely, and striking the azure mark concealed in Jiang Yi's palm.
Jiang Yi's entire world shattered. The powerful Qi felt like a blade slicing into his core. The azure sphere reacted violently, not breaking the Qi, but absorbing it into the refinement process.
The Elder's Qi vanished.
Jiang Yi gasped, a sudden tremor running through his body—not of pain, but of a brief, agonizing rush of immensely high-grade Qi being integrated into his core.
Elder Xuan watched the servant intently. He saw the aura of weakness vanish for a microsecond, revealing the brilliant, pure Third Stage core. And then, he saw the core eat his test Qi, before the Dust Cloak instantly snapped back into place, thicker and more convincing than before.
It consumed my Qi! Elder Xuan thought, shocked. This is not a trick. This is a true, terrifyingly unique cultivation method.
He finally lowered his finger, a chilling smile touching his lips.
"Meng Li," Elder Xuan announced, his voice carrying supreme authority. "Your suspicion is groundless. The servant is weak, but his final score is acceptable. He is officially promoted to Outer Disciple Probationary Rank. His name will be added to the roster."
The crowd gasped. Jiang Yi had done it.
"However," Elder Xuan added, his gaze flicking to the bewildered Meng Li. "He will be assigned a Senior Brother to watch over his recovery and guide his practice. Meng Li, you seem most concerned with his discipline. Jiang Yi is now your responsibility."
Meng Li's eyes widened in horror. This wasn't a reward; it was a punishment disguised as a promotion. He now had to babysit the waste who had ruined his plans—a waste he was certain was a hidden monster.
Jiang Yi bowed deeply, his mind reeling. He was safe, but now he was shackled to his most dangerous enemy. The servant was gone; the disciple had arrived.