Chapter 66: The Tenth Rank of the Fixed Stages

  The day after the memorial service, Yue Yu slept in for the first time since his rebirth and didn't get up until the sun was high in the sky. By then, Yue Zhangshi had already grown impatient and left ahead of him with Ruan Li and Yue Bingqian to head to the ancestral temple.

  Yue Yu was still in no hurry, first practicing sword in his own courtyard, then slowly having breakfast, before setting off in another carriage left by Yue Zhangshi.

  When he arrived, the originally empty Qingtiao stone square had almost two hundred wooden stages built overnight. However, at this moment, there was not a single person on the stage. All the young men who were qualified to participate in the Grand Comparison were lining up in front of some white jade stone steles that resembled square pyramids. There were approximately one hundred and fifty of them, and the young men from the Yue family's city also formed a long queue of about one hundred and fifty people.

  Yue Yu thought that this should be the so-called "Ding Jie Shi", but looking at the crowded scene, it's likely that it will take more than an afternoon to finish the assessment. It is said that this is already a clan gathering, and they have borrowed Ding Jie Shi from dozens of surrounding towns to gather such a large scale.

  "Hmph! In my lifetime, I've seen countless children with exceptional innate talents, but one as lazy as you is a rare sight!"

  At the entrance of the ancestral hall square, Yue You registered the information for Yue Yu. It was none other than the old martial artist Yue Youfeng who was in charge of teaching Rong Li. Seeing Yue Yu arrive late again, his face suddenly turned green with rage.

  "I know you're the most outstanding among your peers in the Yue family, with talent and intelligence that can stand on its own. But there are countless geniuses in this world, if you continue to slack off like this, you'll regret it sooner or later! Can't you see that you're willing to be on the same level as those mediocre people?"

  Yue Yu's face suddenly turned pale, knowing that the old man in front of him was likely to have already known his business. It was even possible that he was one of the people responsible for observing him over the past few days.

  Thinking of this, Yue Yu felt a wave of discomfort in his heart. Since that day, he and Ruan Li didn't go to the back mountain anymore. Once they went, it was being monitored by people from dawn till night.

  Although it's come to this point, apart from his expertise in pharmaceuticals, there's nothing else that needs to be hidden. But these days without even a shred of private space still feel somewhat uncomfortable at heart.

  But to the old man, his diligent and measured practice method was equivalent to laziness. In this world, people are always facing a crisis of death, so except for those who have confirmed that they can no longer make progress, almost everyone will spend all their free time practicing martial arts. Even tenants were no exception. Under such an atmosphere, someone like Yue Yu was indeed an outlier.

  He secretly sighed and Yu Yu made a bow: "Uncle Feng is right, I'll take your advice!"

  Although he was somewhat skeptical of the old master's words, he had always respected him. Moreover, the tone of his voice conveyed a clear and concerned intention that went beyond words, and Yue Yu felt grateful despite not intending to follow his advice.

  Yue had decades of experience, his gaze was extremely sharp, and with just one glance, he saw through Yue Yu's insincerity. However, he also knew that he might not be able to persuade him, nor did he have the qualifications. He silently sighed and shook his head, standing up from his seat: "The Clan Leader has already given orders, you don't need to participate in the Grand Competition this time. However, your internal energy level still needs to be tested. In any case, follow me for now——"

  Yue Youfeng finished speaking and directly walked towards the direction of the grand hall in the center of the square. Yue Yu smiled slightly, he already knew that this time's competition would probably have nothing to do with him.

  But fortunately this time there are two chess players, and whether it's Ruan Li or Lin Zuo, they both have a great chance of success, and can basically rest easy.

  Following closely behind Yue Youfeng, until they entered the hall, Yue Yu only then realized that people like them, who were direct descendants of the Four Houses and disciples of Lianxue Bu Yun's two halls, actually received special treatment.

  In the center of that hall, three huge stones were also placed at some point. They appear to be even whiter and more rounded, and their grade should be above the fixed-grade stone outside. And in front of them, there is also a long queue, only much smaller than the swarming situation outside.

  In addition, there was the entrance of the left biased hall, where a small team of people were waiting, among whom were some of the most famous elites under the age of 24 in the Yue family castle. Rong Li was also among them, and his ranking was quite front.

  After arriving here, Yue Youfeng turned around again and took Yue Yu directly into the right wing of the palace, under the curious gaze of all his peers in the main hall. Here, a smaller Dingji stone was also placed, which looked exactly like ordinary white jade in both color and texture. Yue Yu noticed at first glance that except for the two of them and some decorative objects, there was nothing else in this spacious place.

  "You young man are good fortune, this is the only ten-product fixed stage stone in the clan! This time it was specially brought out from the treasure house for you!"

  Yue Youfeng gently stroked the stone surface with his hand, making a sound of admiration, before looking over with an envious gaze, his face carrying a hint of warning.

  "This is the heart treasure of those few old ancestors in our family, when using it later, be careful not to damage it!"

  Listening to this tone of jealousy and worry, Yue Yu also felt a little strange. He knew that the Ten Product Ranking Stone was indeed a rare treasure. After all, in the Eastern Victory Continent, not everyone could possess an auxiliary intelligent system and analytical ability like his. They could only roughly use the "inner vision" method to sense the state of their own true energy within their body.

  In such a situation, the high-level detection stone that can detect the detailed properties and intensity of true energy is naturally crucial in the eyes of those high-level martial artists. Just for the sake of detecting whether the user's kung fu has gone astray, it is enough to greatly increase its value.

  However, the higher the level of this thing, the more delicate it is. After one use, it usually takes a month or two to wait until the scattered spiritual energy and true energy inside the stone completely disappear before it can produce extremely accurate detection results again. Moreover, another drawback is that it cannot withstand high-intensity internal breath impact and attribute-different spiritual power conflicts.

  "What's the ranking of the Ten Products? Haha, little nephew is really favored! Never mind, since someone must want to know my true temperament, I don't care! It's just that I don't know what kind of kung fu the clan wants me to learn now, and what level of true energy?"

  Yue You heard the words and was taken aback for a moment, unable to understand. Yue Yu asked what these few sentences meant. But in the next instant, Yue Yu had already smiled lightly and pressed her hand onto the stone surface.

  Just as he had seen in the book, before he could even urge his inner energy, he felt that the true yuan spiritual power inside his body was stirring, crazily surging towards his palms.

  Inside that Ding Shi stone, there seemed to be a strange and extremely strong suction force, which was stirring up the Qi mechanism in his body.

  Yue Yu's heart skipped a beat, but fortunately, he was well-prepared. He slightly adjusted his breathing method and gathered his true yuan in the dantian to form a yin-yang fish ball shape, which quickly countered the suction force. Only after he had basically controlled the leakage of internal energy did he carefully release a thread of water-attribute true yuan spiritual power, simulating the true qi properties of the Step Cloud True Method, and input it into the tenth-grade fixed-stage stone in front of him.