Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Innate Talent and Rewards
"The second assessment is the Innate Talent Test." When Lu Yun and the others stood in line again, Meng Hongfei's loud voice, mixed with True Qi, echoed throughout the whole square.
"Innate Talent Test?" Lu Yun was immediately interested, as he was curious about the things that could test innate talent.
On the way to Cloud Water County, when Lu Cangsheng talked about innate talent, he mentioned that a person's innate talent could only be known by someone with a special treasure or a high enough Martial Arts Realm.
Now, he was finally able to witness the treasure that could test innate talent.
At the same time, he also wanted to know where his five-star innate talent stood among the more than a thousand boys and girls participating in the Martial Academy's assessment.
"Since my Martial Arts Realm is not high enough to detect your innate talents, this assessment will be carried out by the Innate Talent Stone," said Meng Hongfei.
As he finished speaking, Meng Hongfei waved his sleeve, and a round stone suddenly appeared on the table with a flash of light.
Calling it a stone was rather inaccurate; it was more like a special kind of jade, about the size of a human head, semi-transparent, and white in color.
"Innate talent determines a martial artist's potential and cultivation speed. Therefore, the higher the innate talent, the greater the probability of becoming a disciple of the Martial Academy. Conversely, the lower the innate talent, the lower the martial arts potential."
"If the Innate Talent Stone shows that you have less than two stars or no innate talent, you will be eliminated directly!"
"If you test as having an innate talent of five stars or higher, not only can you directly become a disciple of the Martial Academy, but you will also receive extraordinary rewards after joining the sect." Meng Hongfei faintly smiled, without any traces of the coldness from before when he executed a Transforming Origin Realm martial artist with a single stroke.
"Let me reveal some rewards: the higher the innate talent, the more generous rewards will be."
"Five-star innate talent will be awarded three Body Tempering Pills and one Meridian Pill!"
Upon hearing this, many of the young martial artists on the square immediately became excited, their eyes filled with longing.
Body Tempering Pills are the main resources used by martial artists during the Enter Martial Realm, which can temper the body and greatly unlock the potential of martial artists.
Only by tempering the body to its limit during the Enter Martial Realm can a martial artist open more meridians after reaching the Meridian Passage Realm.
Meridian pills are the main resources used by martial artists during the Meridian Passage Realm, which can speed up the process of opening meridians and increase the efficiency, making them extremely precious.
Most of them were like Lu Yun, hailing from various villages and towns in Cloud Water County, and their daily practice relied solely on their own sweat without the ability to purchase pills or heavenly treasures for cultivation.
Now, as long as they tested having a five-star innate talent, they could obtain the cultivation resources they had been dreaming of. It was no wonder they were shocked and yearning.
"Three Body Tempering Pills and one Meridian Pill?" Lu Yun's eyes sparkled and he couldn't help but clench his fists.
Unlike the others, Lu Yun had the attribute panel and already knew that he had a five-star innate talent.
Thus, the rewards for a five-star innate talent were already within his grasp.
Just as the young men were rubbing their fists in excitement, imagining themselves making a name for themselves and testing a five-star innate talent, Meng Hongfei's voice mixed with True Qi sounded once more, suppressing all their murmurs and heartbeats.
"Six-star innate talent can receive five Body Tempering Pills and three Meridian Pills!"
"Seven-star innate talent?" At this point, Meng Hongfei shook his head slightly: "I don't think there will be seven-star or higher innate talents among you."
"Alright, line up and come forward one by one to test!"
Xiao Chen was at the very front of the line, so he was the first to go forward for the test.
When his palm touched the stone, it immediately emitted a green light, which gradually changed over time until it turned deep green.
"Xiao Chen, top of five-star innate talent."
"Gasp!" Many people sucked in a breath of cold air.
Most of them didn't know what it meant to have the top of a five-star innate talent, but the rewards that Meng Hongfei had mentioned earlier were enough to explain everything.
Xiao Chen's face remained unchanged as his innate talent was revealed as the top of five-star.
"Top of five-star innate talent, not bad, not bad." Meng Hongfei was in a good mood, knowing that having a five-star talent in the area under his supervision would earn him some considerable Contribution Points after returning to the sect.
"If Xiao Chen is top of five-star innate talent, then my innate talent must not be weak."
"I must have a five-star innate talent!"
The sixteen young men who had come out of the Soaring Dragon Restaurant were all full of confidence as they stepped forward one by one.
As they were also from Soaring Dragon Restaurant, known as the most powerful group of Heavenly Pride in Cloud Water County, they were the focus of everyone's expectation.
"He Zhijie, top of three-star innate talent."
"How... is this possible? Why am I just top of three-star innate talent? I am one of the most outstanding geniuses in Cloud Water County..." He Zhijie seemed to be speaking incoherently, his eyes losing their luster.
"Mu Qingyun, ordinary three-star innate talent."
A young man in blue clothes stared disbelievingly at the red light emitted from the Innate Talent Stone.
This scene was also seen by Lu Yun and the others.
Lu Yun recognized him; he was Mu Qingyun, the one who had a verbal conflict with them in front of the inn.
"It turns out to be him. But his talent isn't anything special!" Lu Liangpeng sneered disdainfully.
As for Lu Liangpeng's disdain, Lu Tianhu was somewhat skeptical, secretly thinking: "Even Mu Qingyun is just a three-star innate talent, wouldn't our talents be even lower?"
"Chen Tianqi, top of four-star innate talent."
"Xin Pengyun, Level 4 Ordinary Innate Talent."
"Lin ZeYuan, Level 3 Top-notch Innate Talent."
...
It didn't take long for the teenagers who came out of the Soaring Dragon Restaurant to complete their Innate Talent Tests. They were all Cloud Water County's geniuses, and their innate talents were not lower than Level 3.
However, there was no Level 5 Innate Talent among them.
With this contrast in mind, everyone finally realized how extraordinary Xiao Chen's Level 5 Top-notch Innate Talent was.
At the same time, it also made most people re-evaluate themselves.
Aside from praising Xiao Chen when his Level 5 Innate Talent was revealed, Meng Hongfei remained expressionless, seemingly already expecting the results of everyone's Innate Talent Tests.
These young people didn't know how rare Level 5 Innate Talents were, but Meng Hongfei, as a Martial Academy disciple, was well aware.
Level 4 Innate Talents were considered good in the Martial Academy, while top-notch ones were barely excellent. Level 5 Innate Talents could be called geniuses.
And the Level 5 Top-notch Innate Talent was among the most top-notch level of all Martial Academy recruits.
Even rarer were Level 6 Innate Talents, of which the entire Martial Academy had only a few.
"Next!"
After the 10-plus genius teenagers finished their tests, other teenagers began to come forward for testing.
"Yang Kai, Level 2 Ordinary innate talent."
"Zhang Fada, One-star Innate Talent, eliminated."
"Wang Liang, Level 2 Top-notch Innate Talent."
"Xu Wenfei, Level 2 Ordinary Innate Talent."
"Li Feng, no Innate Talent, eliminated."
"Zhou Xingxing, One-star Top-notch Innate Talent, eliminated."
...
As expected, these young people did not have very good innate talents. In addition to a small number of people with Level 3 Innate Talents, most people had Level 1 and Level 2 Innate Talents.
Even worse, some people had no Innate Talent at all. These people, even if they tried their hardest throughout their lives, would only reach a certain degree of physical refinement to barely become an Enter Martial Realm Martial Artist.
Their lifetime limits being confined to the Enter Martial Realm was practically no different from cutting off their path in martial arts.
Having come with great expectations, they were not only unable to enter the Martial Academy but also had their dreams of martial arts completely shattered. This was undoubtedly a huge blow.
After the people in front had finished their tests, Lu Liangpeng walked forward, both hopeful and nervous.
As expected, the Innate Talent Stone changed color, emitting a faint yellow glow.
"Lu Liangpeng, Level 2 Ordinary Innate Talent."
Although Level 2 Ordinary Innate Talent was considered very poor compared to the geniuses, for most people, it was something they could only hope for but not achieve.
Lu Liangpeng knew that he was part of the ordinary group of people, and when he learned that he had Level 2 Innate Talent, his face was filled with a happy smile.
"One step closer to the Martial Academy!" he clenched his fist, then turned to Lu Tianhu and Lu Yun behind him and said, "Keep it up, I'm waiting for you two!"
"I can do it too." Lu Tianhu encouraged himself in his heart and walked forward.
Like Lu Liangpeng, the Innate Talent Stone emitted a faint yellow glow when he placed his hand on it. The intensity was slightly deeper than Lu Liangpeng's, proving that he was still within the range of Level 2 Ordinary Innate Talent.
"Hehe!"
Lu Tianhu looked like a happy child, making a fist in Lu Yun's direction to encourage him.
Seeing this, Lu Yun was also happy for them.
With Level 2 Innate Talent, even if they ultimately couldn't enter the Martial Academy, their future achievements would definitely surpass the Old Village Head's, thus raising Spirit Creek Village's overall strength.
Having been born and raised in Spirit Creek Village, Lu Yun naturally hoped for the village to become better and better.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Lu Yun calmly walked to the Innate Talent Stone, gently placed his right hand on it, and a faint green light emerged.
The green light wasn't as brilliant as Xiao Chen's, but compared to the others, it was extremely eye-catching.
"Lu Yun, Level 5 Ordinary Innate Talent."
Meng Hongfei's face beamed with another smile as he looked deeply at Lu Yun and nodded secretly.
"This person actually has Level 5 Innate Talent!"
After Lu Yun stepped away from the Innate Talent Stone, the others finally recovered from their shock, their faces filled with disbelief.
No matter how hard they tried, they would never have imagined that the second Level 5 Innate Talent would be a young man from a small mountain village.
It was almost incredible to think that a young man from a mountain village almost crushed all the young geniuses who had entered the Soaring Dragon Restaurant, claiming to be the most outstanding in Cloud Water County, underfoot.
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