Yue Ling quickly realized he had no time to worry about anything else; only one question echoed in his mind: what would he do if he was discovered?

This was a truly vexing problem.

He had figured someone might make it here through the assessment, just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. Since when did Alchemist prodigies from the other Domains become so freakishly talented?

If someone from Heaven-Burning Valley arrived ahead of him, fine—after all, they were from Heaven-Burning Valley. It made sense they’d be a bit stronger. But other than that, the strongest was Fuyun Mountain.

Fuyun Mountain was strong, sure, but not to the point they could dominate all these Immortal Sects.

For a fleeting moment, Yue Ling even began to suspect his own Alchemy Dao talent was lacking.

Then the only solution that flashed through his mind was to silence them for good. In the Inheritance Spirit Array, starting a fight would be nearly impossible, but with his family’s Golden Core secret treasure, it was just barely doable.

Except—just as he was about to pull out the secret treasure, he was struck by utter despair.

Two consecutive figures appeared before the bronze gate.

Now there were three in total. Unless he didn’t want the Profound Turtle Alchemist’s inheritance, he might as well use the Golden Core secret treasure and kill them all.

"Wait—you’re not the Alchemist from sopposed to be from Heaven-Burning Valley?"

Yue Ling got his act together and looked at the trio. Two he didn’t really know, though their faces seemed vaguely familiar. But the third was entirely different.

That was Zuo Lin from Heaven-Burning Valley—no one dared underestimate him.

"So you’re the one marked by Cai!"

If Yue Ling was shocked, the other three were even more stunned. They hadn’t expected the one who stood out among so many gifted Alchemists, the one who’d triggered the Inheritance Spirit Array’s fireworks, turned out to be someone from Hundredfold Mountain.

"Not me," Yue Ling quickly denied it. "I just got here a step ahead of you all and didn’t see anyone. I figured it had to be a fellow from Heaven-Burning Valley."

Too bad Yue Ling’s excuse fell flat, because his story had a massive loophole—the person marked by Cai had only gotten here less than fifteen minutes ahead of them. How could they suddenly vanish?

"Unless the Profound Turtle Alchemist possessed him!"

The first one to arrive wasn’t anyone else—it was Fairy Yunxia from Fuyun Mountain. She was already at mid-stage Foundation Establishment, a true powerhouse among all the Small Domains. Her Alchemy Dao skills, so people said, nearly persuaded Heaven-Burning Valley’s recruiter to bring her in back in the day.

Not like Lu Chang’sheng, who got in through connections. Without Master Baiyun’s relationship, neither Lu Chang’sheng nor Zhou Lin could’ve just called Heaven-Burning Valley recruiters over.

Fairy Yunxia’s Alchemy Dao talent spoke for itself.

Even in terms of overall ability, Zuo Lin had to temporarily admit defeat. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Friends, when I arrived, I saw this Hundredfold Mountain cultivator doing something strange—probably part of the bronze gate’s assessment," Fairy Yunxia recounted what she had just seen.

"He doesn’t look like he was here ahead of us, if you ask me."

The three all eyed Yue Ling with suspicion, which made him furious inside. But he knew he couldn’t act rashly right now.

His Golden Core secret treasure had limited uses—he’d have to save it for the very last moment, or else the real "first one" might just walk off with the prize.

Besides, with both Fuyun Mountain and Heaven-Burning Valley people present, he couldn’t be sure if his secret treasure could even kill them.

After all, as the top talents in their respective Domain Immortal Sects, they probably had some Golden Core-level treasures of their own.

Yue Ling was at a loss for words, especially after the three learned the clearing requirements for the bronze gate—now he could hardly defend himself.

Of course, he was denying everything so forcefully that it didn’t seem fake. Fairy Yunxia and Zuo Lin and the others still had their doubts.

"Let’s just focus on getting through the assessment for now!"

None of them were ready for a face-off—they all turned to the image in the mirror, their expressions dark as they looked at that lithe figure within.

An exotic dance?

Yeah... this was a real headache!

······

"These bronze gates were set by the master himself—in his old days, he loved music, chess, poetry, painting, and other mundane arts, so he tossed them in"

Patrol Master escorted Lu Chang’sheng through one bronze gate after another.

According to Patrol Master, the first gate was for exotic dancing, the second for playing the zither—not that Lu Chang’sheng had a clue what the tune was, but it probably wasn’t anything proper.

The third one was a chess puzzle.

······

Lu Chang’sheng listened along the way, speechless. These tests would be enough to grind any Immortal Sect cultivator’s dignity into a fine powder beneath your feet, wouldn’t they?

Luckily, he didn’t have to do any of this.

As someone praised by the Inheritance Spirit Array’s fireworks, Lu Chang’sheng obviously didn’t need to go through what those others did.

Thinking of this, Lu Chang’sheng silently mourned for them. Here he was, taking the "back door" straight to the finish, while the others had to go through everything this Profound Turtle Alchemist, the ultimate Le Ziren, had cooked up.

Just picturing each round’s requirements made even a well-traveled man like him feel his scalp go numb. He thought to himself: "If I had to, I’d probably rather forfeit the Profound Turtle Alchemist’s inheritance than do any of this."

Soon enough, Lu Chang’sheng passed through the final bronze gate, climbed a stairway leading ever upwards, set foot upon the Immortal Mountain, and came before the master.

The master still looked at him with that same appreciative gaze as always.

However, this time, he was nothing like before in the study hall. No longer robed as a scholar, he wore a Dao robe instead—and even his appearance had changed a great deal.

He now stood beside a pool, with a pile of scattered turtle shells laid out before him.