Shared talent: traveling through the heavens and worlds at the same time

Chapter 213 Assessment
Hearing Han Li introduce himself, Lin Bei was delighted, but he did not show it on his face. He just nodded in a friendly manner and said:

"The one who just chased after me, was that your sister?"

Han Li's face darkened when he heard Lin Bei's question. It was obvious that Han Li, who was only ten years old, could not accept the separation from his family.

But he still nodded and answered Lin Bei's question:
"Well, yes, she doesn't want to leave me."

Zhang Tie, who was standing by, heard this and quickly consoled him:

"I have three younger sisters, too. They cried and made a fuss when I left. But it's okay. We can come back to see them when we have made it big."

Lin Bei secretly shook his head in his heart, knowing that this departure would separate him from the mortal world forever and he would never be able to come back.

Zhang Tie naturally didn't know what fate he would face in the future. He smiled and took out a roasted sweet potato from his pocket and handed it to Han Li, saying:
"Baked sweet potato, do you want some? This is the last one."

Lin Bei took advantage of the opportunity and said with a smile:

"I advise you not to be polite. It will probably take us another day or two to get to Qixuanmen, and there won't be a place to eat later."

Han Li hesitated for a moment after hearing this, but finally accepted the roasted sweet potato from Zhang Tie and began to eat it silently.

After this conversation, Han Li's heart was full of goodwill towards these two very friendly peers. After all, they were about to go to a place where they were unfamiliar with the place. No matter who met a friendly person at this time, they would not be able to help but want to get close to each other.

For the next two days, the carriage continued to move, picking up one or two children from time to time.

It was not until the carriage, which was not spacious at all, was crammed with more than thirty children and could no longer accommodate them, that it arrived at their destination - Qixuanmen.

During these two days, Lin Bei chatted and played with Han Li and Zhang Tie all the way. With Lin Bei's deliberate efforts to make friends, the three of them had become good friends who could talk about anything, and Lin Bei was vaguely the leader.

After all, with Lin Bei's knowledge and character, it would be too easy for him to fool Han Li, Han Tianzun, who is only ten years old.

After Lin Bei and the other two arrived at Qixuanmen, they did not take part in the assessment immediately. Instead, they rested for a night in a courtyard of Qixuanmen under the arrangement of a hall master named Yue.

After all, those who took the test were just half-grown children who had travelled a long way. If they took the test at this time, none of them would pass.

It was not until the next morning that Lin Bei and the other three got up early and followed the leader of the sect named Yue to a slope under the gate of Qixuanmen Mountain.

There was a large patch of bamboo growing on the slope, and several disciples of the Seven Profound Sect could be vaguely seen scattered among them along the road.

Just as Lin Bei was looking around, the Yue Hall Master came up to the crowd and said loudly:

"You guys are lucky. This year's entry test is very simple. Do you see the cliff in the distance?
That place is called the Bone Refining Cliff. Walk along the path in the bamboo forest, pass through the bamboo forest to reach the rock wall over there, climb up along the rock wall, and finally reach the Bone Refining Cliff. As long as you finish before noon, you will pass the assessment!

Are you all ready?"

The children gathered together and shouted excitedly:

"Ready!"

The momentum was quite impressive, but it seemed a bit chaotic due to the uneven shouting.

The Yue Hall Master seemed very satisfied, nodded, and then waved his right hand and said:

"Okay, let's go!"

Following Hall Master Yue's order, the thirty or so children in the same group as Lin Bei started to run at full speed at the same time, rushing towards the bamboo forest!

With Lin Bei's current physical fitness and strength, even if he has not yet cultivated immortality, he is sure to have no rivals in the Seven Mysterious Sects.

It would have been easy for him to win the test, but he didn't do so. Instead, he ran behind Han Li and Zhang Tie.

After all, Lin Bei joined the Qixuan Sect just for Han Li. Whether he could become a formal disciple of the Qixuan Sect was not important to Lin Bei at all. What was important was whether he could become a disciple of Master Mo Juren together with Han Li.

In the original plot, Han Li was noticed by Mo Juren because he showed good willpower during the assessment but failed to pass it in the end. He and Zhang Tie were taken away by Mo Juren to practice Changchun Gong.

Therefore, it is certainly impossible for Lin Bei to run forward by himself. He has already made up his mind to advance and retreat with Han Li, and then they will become disciples of Master Mo together.

As the test progressed, gradually more and more children began to lose strength and ran slower and slower.

The children naturally became very anxious when they saw this, and began to find ways to influence the speed at which others moved forward.

And some children who already have advantages also resort to dirty tricks in order to reduce their competitors.

Han Li and Zhang Tie encountered this situation several times, especially Zhang Tie, who was almost pushed off the hillside.

And every time this happened, Lin Bei would always come to their aid at the right time, protecting the two of them as they moved forward.

How could the inexperienced Han Li and Zhang Tie tolerate Lin Bei's behavior?
The two were deeply moved, and Han Li couldn't help but persuade them:

"Lin Bei, why don't you just go first? If you help us like this, don't let it affect you later.

With your ability, you will definitely be able to become a formal disciple of the Qixuan Sect, so don’t let us delay you.”

Lin Bei shook his head and said:
"That's not the way it should be said. We are friends, and since we want to join the Qixuan Sect, it would be best if we could enter together!
Moreover, there is an old saying that goes "A horse will die if it runs to the mountain". The Bone Refining Cliff may not be far away, but it is not easy to actually run to it.

If you run too fast now, you won't have enough energy later, so don't worry, I'll just run with you guys."

Hearing Lin Bei say this, Han Li was even more moved, so he said no more, but his pace became much faster, obviously not wanting to hold Lin Bei back too much.

Zhang Tie, who was already exhausted and almost couldn't hold on, took a deep breath and followed Lin Bei and Han Li closely.

The three of them supported each other all the way, and finally arrived at the last checkpoint - the Bone Refining Cliff - an hour before the stipulated time.

Looking up at the cliff that was at least thirty or forty meters high, Lin Bei couldn't help but frown.

This cliff naturally could not stop Lin Bei, but Lin Bei did not expect that because of his help, Han Li and Zhang Tie almost passed the level!
There is still one hour left, and as long as they work hard, the three of them will most likely complete the assessment before noon.

But this is not what Lin Bei wants, because once they pass the test, it is very likely that Mo Juren will no longer accept them as disciples!

"Tsk, I actually forgot about this. I should have put a little more water in and run slower."

Lin Bei couldn't help but mutter in his heart. Fortunately, things didn't develop to the worst. To climb up the Bone Refining Cliff, one needs to climb two cliffs in succession, each of which is 20 to 30 meters high.

Lin Bei and his two companions were not the first to arrive here. The children who arrived here first, under the organization of a child in gorgeous clothes, stayed in the middle of two cliffs and would not let anyone go up!
As long as someone dared to climb forward, they would throw small stones down from the mountainside to knock the person down.

Although with Lin Bei's skills, it would not be a problem for him to jump up against their momentum, but the current situation is exactly what Lin Bei wants, so he naturally won't make trouble at this time.

Zhang Tie, on the other hand, was terrified when he saw a child who had just climbed seven or eight meters before being smashed into a bloody mess by rocks falling from the cliff.
"What kind of people are these! How can they do this? This can kill people! They, they..."

As he spoke, Zhang Tie took a few steps back in fear.

Lin Bei also pretended to be embarrassed and did not go forward to try, waiting for time to pass.

However, Han Li obviously did not want to give up like this. He looked around, then gritted his teeth, walked to a cliff nearby, and began to try to climb.

The cliffs in this area are all layers of accumulated rocks, which are very rugged. Although there are many places to stand on, some places will break if touched, which is quite dangerous.

There are also a lot of broken stones on the cliff, which are very sharp and can cut your palms if you are not careful.

Han Li chose a place with a lot of rubble. Because it was difficult to climb, even the people blocking the road above didn't pay much attention to that place.

As Han Li climbed, although no one above him threw stones at him, he himself was inevitably cut by the broken stones.

Han Li's hands were already covered in blood when he had only climbed halfway up.

But Han Li didn't say a word and just kept climbing up.

Lin Bei, who was watching this scene below, couldn't help but admire him. After all, Han Li was the protagonist. Apart from the cheats, Han Li's character was really impeccable.

Lin Bei asked himself, if he were in Han Li's shoes, he might not be able to be as cruel to himself as Han Li did.

In the end, with Han Li's perseverance, he actually managed to climb up. Although it took a lot more time than the normal route, at least he succeeded.

The kids who were blocking the road halfway up the mountain may have seen that others had climbed up and there was no need to continue blocking the road, or they may have felt that time was almost up, so they all headed to the last level of the test and started the final sprint.

Lin Bei and Zhang Tie also took this opportunity to climb up from the cliff and meet up with Han Li.

But when Lin Bei saw Han Li himself, he realized that what he had just seen below was just the tip of the iceberg.

Han Li was in a very miserable state at this moment. In addition to his hands, many parts of his body were scratched by the shattered stones, and his face was distorted by the pain.

When Lin Bei and the others came up, Han Li was lying on the ground writhing in pain.

Moreover, Lin Bei noticed that there were a lot of gravel and debris seeping into Han Li's mountain pass. Lin Bei felt pain just by looking at the scene.

Seeing this, Lin Bei hurriedly took two steps forward, came to Han Li's side, tore off a few pieces of rags from his clothes, and helped Han Li bandage his hands simply.

Afterwards, Lin Bei tore off a few pieces of clothes from Han Li's body and simply treated the wounds on other parts of his body, which allowed Han Li to barely stand up.

After standing up, Han Li looked at Lin Bei gratefully and said solemnly:
"Lin Bei, thank you."

Lin Bei shook his head and said:

"Don't thank me. I just helped you deal with it a little bit. I didn't help much. I mean, you really tried your best."

Seeing Han Li's miserable state, Zhang Tie couldn't help but speak:

"Han Li, why don't we just forget it? At worst, we won't join the Qixuan Sect. It's too scary."

Han Li heard this and shook his head with a firm look in his eyes:
"No, now that I'm here, no matter if I can join the Qixuan Sect or not, I must stick to it to the end!"

Seeing Han Li's firm attitude, Zhang Tie looked at Lin Bei again and found that Lin Bei didn't seem to want to give up either, so he sighed and said:
"Oh, well, let's go to the next level. We don't have much time left."

Afterwards, Lin Bei and Zhang Tie each took one of Han Li's hands and came to the last stage of the Qixuanmen assessment.

It was also a cliff, but it was much steeper than the previous one. It was more than thirty feet high and could not be climbed directly by human power.

There are more than a dozen hemp ropes hanging straight down from the top of the cliff. This is the only way to get up to the cliff.

At this time, the children who had been blocking the road before were already climbing up the hemp rope. Although the speed was slow, they were already halfway through the process.

And there are only about twenty minutes left.

There were not many children who could hold on until here, and the dozen or so hemp ropes were more than enough for each person to climb up. Therefore, Lin Bei and the other two each chose a hemp rope and started to climb up.

However, Han Li had an injury on his hand, and Zhang Tie was not strong enough. Both of them were not climbing very fast, so it was basically impossible for them to finish the climb within the specified time.

As for Lin Bei, he naturally pretended to be working hard and climbed up slowly at a speed similar to Han Li and Zhang Tie.

And the fact was just as Lin Bei had expected. When Lin Bei and the other two climbed to the top of the cliff, they exceeded the time limit by exactly one cup of tea, or five minutes.

Han Li and Zhang Tie were completely exhausted at this moment. They lay on the ground gasping for breath, with a hint of frustration on their faces.

Obviously, they felt a little uncomfortable after knowing that they were just one step away from meeting the requirements.

Although Lin Bei also sat slumped beside them, he had no expression on his face and was just waiting silently.

Lin Bei's wait was not in vain. Just after the leader of the Qixuan Sect announced the results to the children who passed the test, a tall and thin old man with a sallow face and shoulder-length white hair came to the top of the mountain.

The old man coughed as he walked. When he reached the top of the mountain, he glanced around, then pointed at Lin Bei and the other two and said:

"You three have performed well. Come with me."

Then, the old man turned around and looked at the leader of the Qixuan Sect who was giving a lecture to the children, and greeted him:

"Master, although these three children failed the test, they were not far behind. I want to give them a chance. I happen to be short of manpower. How about handing them over to me?"

(End of this chapter)