In fact, Ye Liuyun was a little puzzled at this moment why the physical strength of the Yunxia Sect disciples was, on average, much stronger than that of the other Four Great Sects.
"Master, do you know why this is? It feels like their physical strength is quite good," Ye Liuyun asked in her mind, looking at her fellow disciples around her.
Lin Qingyou naturally knew the reason.
"Nonsense. You didn't think the celestial phenomena you've caused over the years had no effect on them, did you? First, the Ice-Fire Rain you created the first time strengthened their bones and tendons. The second time, the Heavenly Lightning Body Tempering reinforced their physical bodies. Then, the long-term lightning interference improved their willpower. Naturally, the other three sects can't compare," Lin Qingyou explained, sounding somewhat amused.
Hearing this, Ye Liuyun thought, "So I accidentally helped my fellow disciples after all?"
"Is that so? Then I should refine more Lightning-Attracting Pills in the future. If they ever find out that I improved their physical strength while refining pills, they'd be eternally grateful." Ye Liuyun grinned mischievously.
"Forget it. This kind of lightning body tempering shouldn't be too frequent; doing it too often won't be beneficial," Lin Qingyou said with a chuckle.
As for the Yunxia Sect Main Hall, the everyone no longer suspected that the Yunxia Sect was secretly tampering with things, as the situation was clearly caused by the Yunxia Sect disciples having a significantly higher average physique than the disciples of the other three sects.
"Interesting. I didn't expect your Yunxia Sect disciples would still have time to cultivate their physique. It seems this stage won't stop them," the Sunset Sect Master said, stroking his beard.
They had indeed been too hasty just now, but now they understood what was happening at a glance.
Yun Yun and the others exchanged glances. They certainly hadn't taught their disciples to cultivate their physiques, but the strange phenomena in the sect over the past few years seemed to have intentionally or unintentionally increased the physical strength of the disciples, especially that instance of Heavenly Lightning Body Tempering.
Of course, Yun Yun would definitely not mention such a thing publicly, as the incidents the Yunxia Sect had encountered were too strange and inconvenient to share with the other three sects.
The Yunxia Sect disciples quickly left the disciples of the other three sects far behind. This filled them with a sense of accomplishment, and their previous worries gradually vanished.
At approximately four o'clock in the afternoon, the Yunxia Sect disciples were less than five hundred meters from the sect gate. However, these final five hundred meters were like an insurmountable distance, making it difficult for anyone to approach.
Many disciples were already struggling to hold on, as the intensity of these final five hundred meters was several times the pressure they had faced over the previous seven thousand meters.
Even the Yunxia Sect disciples had to start consuming medicinal pills to resist, because their physical exhaustion was too great, and their own spiritual energy was no longer enough to give them more momentum.
"I can't do it. I can't hold on. I'm so tired." Someone collapsed onto the steps, drenched in sweat.
Just covering these last two thousand meters, they had nearly finished all the pills they had for recovering spiritual energy.
The reason why consuming pills was not prohibited in this assessment was that pills could only replenish spiritual energy, which then stimulated potential. If the pills were consumed and they still hadn't reached the end, they would have to rely solely on willpower.
In fact, the disciples of the other three sects were almost all too exhausted to move, meaning a batch of disciples was destined to fail the assessment.
They felt helpless. It was already extremely rare for the Yunxia Sect disciples to maintain this speed and persist until now.
"Esteemed Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, hold on a little longer! Don't sit down; once you sit, you won't want to get back up. Keep moving forward," Ye Liuyun said, trying to dissuade the fellow disciples who had sat down ahead of her.
"Junior Sister Ye, we truly have no strength left," the disciples said miserably.
Ye Liuyun pondered for a moment, and as she walked past them, she suddenly slipped a pill into their hands.
This stunned the exhausted disciples. They quickly looked at the pill in their hands: it was a Revitalizing Pill.
The disciples watched Ye Liuyun's slender figure walk away. After a moment of thought, they swallowed the pill. As soon as the pill entered their bodies, their spiritual energy was rapidly replenished, and their energy was full in no time.