Reach for the Stars, Lin Xiaoyu

The elders of the other branches also spoke in praise of the youth below in succession, but Fang Wuxiu's aged face didn't have any expression. Instead, he glanced at Li Mingru, who was sneakily drinking beside him, and said with a smile that was not quite a smile: "Nian Yun is indeed not bad, but I feel that he certainly can't compare to Li Mingru's disciples. After all, after 20 years, Li Mingru has only taken on two disciples. They must be exceptionally talented individuals blessed by the heavens. Even if my insignificant disciple has the Indestructible Sword Body, I fear he is still far from comparing to them."

Li Mingru, who was sneakily drinking, didn't speak and continued to pour alcohol into his mouth with his head tilted back. The elders of the other branches laughed in succession, mocking Li Mingru's disciples overtly and covertly.

After finishing the tangerines and starting to gnaw on the sugar cane, Ye Qingluan laughed and looked at her junior martial brother who was intent on drinking. She asked, "Li Mingru, your eldest disciple, Li Yaoxi, just came out of closed-door cultivation, right? What level of cultivation is he at now?"

Li Mingru drank his wine and casually replied, "I'm not clear. I haven't asked yet."

"Pfft~" Ye Qingluan immediately laughed out loud, pointing at Li Mingru with the stick of her sugar cane, "How can you be like this as their master? Not even asking when your disciple comes out of closed-door cultivation! Hahaha~"

The other elders also laughed coldly in succession: "Li really is aloof. He doesn't even ask his disciple a question when he comes out of seclusion. He really lives up to being Pluck Stars!"

"Hahaha, as expected of Li, who was once called: Raise your hand to pluck the stars, disturbing the celestials above! Truly outstanding and extraordinary!"

For a time, the elders continuously mocked Li Mingru, while Li Mingru didn't speak, only drinking his own alcohol with an appearance of being too lazy to bother with them. However, Elder Qi Guan from the Demon Peak looked at these elders and impatiently said:

"I've seen Li Yaoxi. Compared to Tang Xin, my Demon Peak's eldest disciple, Li Yaoxi is superior even though they are both the top disciples of their sects. May I ask, elders, among your disciples, how many can rival Li Yaoxi?"

When Elder Qi Guan said this, the elders' laughter stopped abruptly. The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.

Even Zhang Mobai, the elder from the Sun Deity Branch, continued coldly snorting:

"In terms of cultivation level, we are all at the Core Formation stage. Can you defeat Mingru? In terms of disciples, the top disciples of each branch are all at the Foundation Establishment stage. Among the top disciples, Li Yaoxi's strength is in the top three. Where do you old men get the nerve to mock Mingru like this?"

When she said this, the elders' expressions became even uglier, glaring at Zhang Mobai, Qi Guan, and Li Mingru with rage.

But Zhang Mobai was known in Emei as the "Iron Lady". She had an extremely unyielding personality. Although her strength was only average among the elders, her reckless fighting style made people quite apprehensive. At this moment, she bluntly said:

"This old lady just doesn't like you people. You can only wag your tongues all day. If Mingru still had his violent temper from back then, would you dare speak to him like this?

In all of Emei, other than the Sect Leader, who dares say they could withstand the might of a single star plucked down by Mingru? You're clearly asking for death!"

The elders instantly turned green with anger, their chests heaving as they clenched their fists tightly, yet they were unable to retort. Even Spirit Sword Elder Fang Wuxiu merely opened his eyes with a trembling gaze before closing them again, not daring to chime in.

"Alright, stop arguing," said Ye Qingluan as she sat on the Sect Leader's throne, speaking indistinctly with sugar cane in her mouth. "You've been squabbling for nearly 100 years. Don't you get tired? Look, Chen Nianyun is starting to emit spiritual energy."

Hearing this, the elders reluctantly stopped arguing and looked down at the youths below.

At this time, in the center of the White Jade Platform, the 11-year-old Chen Nianyun stood with an imposing manner. He bowed deeply to the elders and Sect Leader above before concentrating his gaze. His aura immediately began to boil, and in the next second, a crimson golden spiritual energy emanated from his body.

Compared to the spiritual energy of the other children and Yu Chuchu, Chen Nianyun's spiritual energy was purer and fuller. What's more, the crimson golden spiritual energy surprisingly condensed into the shape of a sword three inches above his head, mystifying and profound.

The elders above were so amazed that they cried out in wonder. They spoke to Fang Wuxiu in succession:

"Fang, you've really accepted an outstanding disciple! This boy looks only 11 or 12 but can already condense his life spirit sword from spiritual energy. He really is a heaven-gifted genius!"

"With an elder like Fang who can nurture such a powerful sword cultivator for Emei, it is truly our sect's blessing."

Fang Wuxiu also humbly responded to the elders' compliments, smiling leisurely:

"Please don't praise me too highly, brothers. We should take a look at Mingru's disciples later. Mingru didn't accept new disciples for 20 years. I sincerely feel they are extraordinary. If they are much stronger than Nian Yun, this poor brother won't have the face to stay here!"

The elders all laughed loudly, continuously praising Elder Fang for his humor.

Zhang Mobai looked at them slyly wagging their tongues with disdain, giving a contemptuous snort.

At this time below, Lin Xiaolu also looked at Chen Nianyun condensing a sword from spiritual energy three inches above his head, shocked beyond belief. So this was the Indestructible Sword Body? It looked amazing!

He silently took out the Virtue Brick from his robes, weighed it in his hands a couple times, and looked up at the youth on the platform, a mischievous idea growing.

If he threw the Virtue Brick now and smashed his head bloody, that would definitely be fun, right?

...

...

"Spirit Condensation Layer 3, test passed!"

The proctor loudly announced Chen Nianyun's results.

"Tsk, tsk, Spirit Condensation Layer 3 at 11 years old." Elder Zhao Xuan stroked his beard and sighed, "It seems among this batch of disciples, this child is the undisputed number one."

"Of course," another elder beside him laughed, "After all, he is Fang's beloved disciple."

The elder continued, "Brothers, should we just stop watching the remaining tests? This old man dares to wager that no disciple with higher cultivation than Chen Nianyun will appear!"

Hearing this, Fang Wuxiu smiled and scolded in jest: "Elder Liao, how can you say that? Mingru's two disciples haven't tested yet. Perhaps Mingru's disciples will reveal earth-shaking talent in this test. This poor brother has great faith in Mingru."

"Hahaha~"

The elders all laughed loudly. Squinting their eyes, they said, "Very well, very well, us old fellows will witness it today.

After 20 years, let's see what prodigies Mingru's Pluck Stars sect has found!"

The elders all looked forward in anticipation, an attitude of watching a good show. Below, the inner sect disciple serving as proctor looked at the last two names on the registry and announced loudly:

"Pluck Stars Sect - Lin Xiaoyu!"

As the voice fell, everyone looked towards the White Jade Platform, even Ye Qingluan watched with great interest.

She was also very curious what Li Mingru's two disciples were like. She still remembered forcing her lazy junior brother out of the cave a year ago, urging him to leave Emei and find disciples. But this guy came back in less than half a day.

At the time, she felt Li Mingru was deceiving her. However, he swore up and down that he had gone through untold dangers and hardships, barely escaping with his life before finding these two peerless geniuses.

Today she would take a look at what kind of prodigies her junior brother had found in half a day.