Three thousand five hundred mundane martial artists who passed the initial assessment, led by the examiners, arrived at the foot of a majestic, towering mountain.
That mountain stretched for tens of thousands of miles, shrouded in clouds and mist, giving off a feeling of sanctity.
Among the mists, occasionally some pavilions and palace-like structures appeared and disappeared within the mountain.
"See that? This is the Immortal Spirit Mountain. It's also the location for the second round. This Immortal Spirit Mountain has existed in this ancient remnant since time immemorial. Countless eons have passed, yet only this Immortal Spirit Mountain remains, eternal and undying."
The chief examiner's tone was filled with reverence, as if he held this Immortal Spirit Mountain in the highest awe.
"I have to say, you are all lucky. This time the ancient remnant has opened, and you who passed the initial assessment get to cultivate here at the Immortal Spirit Mountain for three years. This three-year period is equivalent to thirty years in the outside world."
Three years equivalent to thirty outside?
Does that mean the density of spiritual energy here is ten times that of the outside world? Hearing this, the mundane martial artists' faces all lit up with pleasant surprise.
Their resolve strengthened further—they had to endure and not get eliminated. Even if not for the status of being a sect disciple, it was for this three-year cultivation period equivalent to thirty years!
"This Immortal Spirit Mountain is divided into four major zones. They are the Heavenly Spirit Zone, Earth Spirit Zone, Mysterious Spirit Zone, and Yellow Spirit Zone. They are classified according to the four grades of Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow. Without a doubt, the Heavenly Spirit Zone is the most superior area. However, for now, it is not something you can even think about. That belongs to the top geniuses of the Four Great Sects. For this second round, only one hundred disciples have been assigned to the Heavenly Spirit Zone. They are all meticulously selected within the Four Great Sects. Any one of them could crush everyone here!"
The chief examiner spoke lightly, yet carried the unique pride of a sect member.
Crush all of us? Jiang Chen sneered inwardly. He truly didn't care for this remark, but he was also too disdainful to refute it.
Whether one is a dragon or an insect, it has to be proven in the final contest. Two lips flapping can't decide anything.
"You are mundane martial artists. Although you distinguished yourselves in the initial assessment, up to this point, you are still merely the best among the mundane martial artists. To gain the recognition of the sects, you need to undergo further testing. Before you receive true recognition from the sects, you must start from the very bottom. Therefore, most of you mundane martial artists have been assigned to the Yellow Spirit Zone."
Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, Yellow—four grades.
The Yellow grade was undoubtedly the lowest.
And no matter how monstrous these mundane martial artists were, they indeed hadn't passed the sects' true evaluation. So, being assigned to the Yellow Spirit Zone wasn't entirely unreasonable.
The martial artists below stirred a bit, but there were no excessive reactions. Even if they were unwilling deep down, they knew this was the cruel reality of the martial world.
You're a mundane martial artist wanting to gain sect recognition? It's never that easy.
"Of course, not everyone is in the Yellow Spirit Zone. To commend those who performed outstandingly in the initial assessment, the top ten among you will be assigned to the Mysterious Spirit Zone."
"This Mysterious Spirit Zone has about twice the spiritual energy density of the Yellow Spirit Zone. The Mysterious Spirit Zone is undoubtedly much more superior than the Yellow Spirit Zone."
Hearing this, Jiang Chen gave a self-deprecating laugh in his heart. So, he should be assigned to the Mysterious Spirit Zone. His starting point wasn't the lowest after all!
The examiner continued, "Of course, the zoning isn't fixed. This assessment will give every one of you a chance to change your fate. Whether you can change your fate depends entirely on yourselves. You are currently assigned to the Yellow Spirit Zone, but through your own efforts, you can absolutely strive to reach the Mysterious Spirit Zone. Similarly, those currently assigned to the Mysterious Spirit Zone are not guaranteed to stay there in peace forever. If you don't work hard or don't improve fast enough, you could just as easily be relegated to the Yellow Spirit Zone."
"You must be curious right now whether there's a standard rule for promotion and demotion within this system. I can tell you clearly: there is a promotion and demotion rule, and it is very fair and very clear."
"The promotion and demotion rule changes every three months. And what is the standard for change? It's your talent, your strength. To be more specific, it's reflected in your combat effectiveness. In each zone, every three months, every individual must complete a hundred challenges. The win rate in these hundred challenges will determine your rankings within that zone. In each zone, the top ten individuals will be promoted to the zone above. And the ten individuals with the worst records in each zone will automatically be demoted to the zone below. You might say, 'The Yellow Spirit Zone is already the lowest, how can you be demoted?' I can tell you right now: in the Yellow Spirit Zone, every three months, the bottom forty are eliminated. That's one hundred and sixty eliminated per year. Over the three-year period, exactly five hundred will be eliminated. So, those of you in the Yellow Spirit Zone should be the most anxious. Because people in other zones can at most be demoted. But in the Yellow Spirit Zone, the forty with the lowest rankings every three months will be eliminated."
Three months was one cycle. Within each cycle, every second-round martial artist had to complete one hundred challenges. The win rate in these hundred challenges determined their ranking.
This was fair, but the number of promotion and demotion spots was actually quite small.
Every three months, each zone only had ten spots for promotion or demotion.
Of course, ten spots seemed few, but it really wasn't. If you couldn't even secure a top-ten position within your own zone, then even if you were a genius, your ability was limited.
Moreover, with three months per cycle, there were four cycles in a year. Over the three-year period, there would be a total of twelve cycles.
Those twelve cycles meant twelve chances.
If someone couldn't seize the opportunity even after twelve chances, they couldn't claim fate was unfair; they could only look for reasons within themselves.
However, what exactly did this hundred-challenge entail? Who were you challenging?
Jiang Chen had this question in his heart, and the other martial artists likely had similar doubts. A three-month cycle was about ninety days.