Born as an ant, I was summoned to ascend to immortality.

Chapter 29 Demon Suppression Realm

The wind in the Demon Suppression Realm carried a musty, stale smell.

Elder Tan stood on a high platform, his gaze sweeping over the seekers of the Dao. Some frowned in deep thought, while others closed their eyes to sense the Dao, all appearing extremely focused.

Chu Chengyun was beside him; the two stood side by side, but neither uttered a word.

"The third test has been going on for an hour," Chu Chengyun suddenly said. "I wanted to use this big test to build momentum for Jiang Xing, so I naturally didn't want any unexpected changes. I really didn't mean to make things difficult for you, senior brother."

Seeing that Elder Tan remained unmoved, Chu Chengyun continued, "The most outstanding disciple in each major examination can go to the Valley of Absolute Contention. If you want to make your move, you must plan ahead; how can you take shortcuts?"

Elder Tan said calmly, "I don't care who gets the opportunity in the Valley of Absolute Conquest. It's just that cultivators believe in cause and effect. Since I've accepted this fate, I should take responsibility for this child."

"Heh." Chu Chengyun chuckled lightly. "I just feel sorry for Senior Brother Tan. Is it worth it to give up the reputation of an elder for some so-called cause and effect?"

These words were hurtful, but Elder Tan remained calm and said, "It's just following one's heart. How can it be considered worthwhile or not? Besides, two hours haven't passed yet, so why is Junior Brother Chu in such a hurry to draw a conclusion?"

As the two were talking, ripples suddenly appeared at the entrance to the Demon Suppression Realm, and Elder Tan's Flying Cloud Shuttle broke through the air and entered.

A smug glint flashed in Chu Chengyun's eyes, and he raised his voice: "Senior Brother Tan, it seems your fate technique is no match for you. You couldn't even last an hour before slinking back in disgrace."

Elder Tan's expression darkened slightly, but he did not respond, only gazing towards the entrance.

Before long, two figures ascended the platform one after the other.

Wang Jian preemptively bowed to Elder Tan and Chu Chengyun, and announced loudly, "I hereby report to Elder Tan and Uncle Chu that Zhou Li crossed the Immortal-Asking Bridge after half an incense stick's worth of ritual, and after being personally appraised by Elder Zhijian, has been rated as first-class!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Demon Suppression Realm fell into a brief silence, which was then followed by a burst of surprised discussion.

Jiang Xing suddenly looked at Zhou Li on the high platform, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Xia Mingduo stared intently at Zhou Li, a hint of something special flashing in her beautiful eyes.

Fan Ru stood frozen in place, her face drained of color, a profound sense of awe rising within her. A top-tier rating, the pride of heaven—she and this person were like mayflies in the vast sky, and yet she had just been mocking and pushing them so hard? A chill ran down her spine and to the top of her head.

The one who suffered the most was Chu Chengyun.

He stood on the high platform, feeling the amused gazes coming from all directions, and his face turned ashen.

As he predicted, Zhou Li would either fail to cross the bridge and descend the mountain in disgrace, or he would barely pass but take too long and miss the third test. Either way, it would confirm Elder Tan's favoritism.

But now, not only has his plan backfired, but his personal efforts to promote Jiang Xing have only elevated Zhou Li to a position of immense prestige. Furious, he didn't mention the bet again and stormed off.

Elder Tan was stunned for a while before he came to his senses. He went to Zhou Li, looked him up and down, and became more and more satisfied. He clapped his hands and laughed, "We'll talk about the details later. The third test has only been going on for an hour. You still have an hour to comprehend the Dao. Quickly enter the Stele Forest to meditate!"

Zhou Li bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, Elder Tan."

Upon entering the Stele Forest, the Xia siblings stepped forward to offer their congratulations. After a brief exchange, the three dispersed.

Zhou Li's gaze slowly swept over the remains of ancient demons, which varied in size and shape.

According to the rules of the third test, the seeker must sense the spiritual energy of the remains. If they can successfully trigger a resonance of true meaning, they can go to awaken the Enlightenment Stele and gain the qualification to comprehend the cultivation technique. The grade of the awakened cultivation technique is the basis for judging comprehension.

Among the hundreds of enlightenment steles in the stele forest, many have lit up inscriptions, indicating that they have been awakened by seekers of the Way and are trying to understand their true meaning.

Just then, a woman suddenly emitted a beam of emerald light that reached the sky, and a Dao Enlightenment Stele not far away slowly lit up, accompanied by the faint sound of jade chanting, echoing the woman in the distance.

The Enlightenment Stele will be accompanied by different sounds depending on the level of the cultivation technique comprehended: Yellow level stone whistle, Profound level jade chant, Earth level thunderous sound, and Heaven level immortal sound.

The woman's enlightenment stele was accompanied by the sound of jade chanting, indicating that she had comprehended a Xuan-level cultivation technique. Everyone present was filled with envy, for someone who could comprehend a Xuan-level cultivation technique must be an inner disciple.

"Uncle-Master Xuanhong, this person has comprehended the Azure Lotus Heart Sutra and is destined to join my Cuiwei Peak. I am willing to take him under my wing."

On a low slope in the Demon Suppression Realm, Yang Liuqing, a second-generation disciple of Cuiwei Peak, spoke softly. She was a rare cultivator in the cultivation world who combined water and wood elements, and her Azure Lotus Sword Technique was exquisite.

Master Xuanhong smiled and nodded: "Indeed, judging from the abundance of wood spirit around this girl, she must have a top-grade wood spirit root. Congratulations to Junior Nephew Liu Qing on gaining such a fine disciple."

"Thank you, Uncle-Master. This is a blessing for Cuiwei Peak."

As Zhou Li strolled through the Stele Forest, he could faintly detect a few wisps of spiritual energy fluctuations, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be Yellow-rank cultivation techniques.

Yellow-rank cultivation techniques are among the lowest in the cultivation world, with very low potential. If the goal is simply to pass the assessment, randomly choosing a yellow-rank technique to comprehend is sufficient.

However, Zhou Li was calm and composed, and having entered the immortal sect, he naturally wanted to achieve even greater things.

However, after looking around, he found that the true meaning of most cultivation techniques above the Xuan level were scattered and extremely fragmented, requiring a lot of mental effort to piece them together.

This round may seem to test one's comprehension, but it is actually testing one's humanity!

If you are confident in your comprehension, you can carefully distinguish and select the most satisfactory technique before piecing it together.

However, if one is too greedy and only chooses high-level techniques that exceed one's comprehension ability, one will be eliminated if one cannot gather the true meaning by the end of the third test.

Even worse, some people are indecisive and spend too much time choosing, leaving insufficient time to piece things together, and can only sigh in despair.

Most seekers of the Dao will spend an hour selecting and finding a suitable cultivation method, and then another hour piecing together its true meaning to awaken the Enlightenment Stele.

Zhou Li's heart sank slightly; the three tests over those two hours were so perfectly executed.

He was already an hour later than the others. If he continued to choose one by one, even if he found a suitable technique, an hour would be up, and there would be no time left to piece together the true meaning.

At that time, he would either return empty-handed and fail the assessment, or he would have to hastily choose a Yellow-rank technique to make up the numbers, which was not what he wanted.

The comprehensiveness and profound intention of the entrance examination of Changtian Sect were so great that Zhou Li couldn't help but admire it.

"If only the Heavenly Thunder Eye were still here..."

Such a thought unconsciously crossed Zhou Li's mind.

His ant-like body was previously trapped in a mustard seed space, where his eyes were tempered by heavenly lightning every day, thus developing the divine power of the Heavenly Lightning Eyes, which allows him to see the flow of spiritual energy and perceive the true nature of things.

The reason why the Heavenly Thunder Eye has this effect is that the single eye on the ant's body can lock in a small amount of lightning power and turn it into its own.

Since Yuwen Zhao's death, the mustard seed bowl has fallen into Yupoluo's hands. His ant-like body has never been struck by lightning again, and the heavenly lightning power accumulated in his eyes has long since dissipated and can no longer be replenished.

The ant's eyes are now only slightly better than those of an ordinary cultivator; the profound ability to see the true nature of things has completely vanished.

If one possessed the Heavenly Thunder Eye, perhaps one could see through the appearance of these remains and directly glimpse the true meaning of the techniques hidden within.

Zhou Li let out a soft breath, suppressing the regret in his heart.

Since things have come to this, there's no point in dwelling on it. A wise person does their best and doesn't concern themselves with fate.

He calmed his mind, no longer rushing to achieve results, but slowed down his pace, and more carefully sensed each skeleton.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into my head.