Chapter 552

When he began practicing the Great Heavenly Eye Art, Ding Huan finally understood what a Heavenly Eye was.

The term "Heavenly Eye" was merely a general name for many special eyes.

Such as the Spirit Eye, Dao Pupil, Illusory Eye, Divine Eye, and others—all belonged to the category of Heavenly Eyes.

Though their names and formation methods differed, all could ultimately reach a high level.

This level began with the Spirit Eye, from Level One to Level Nine.

Once the Spirit Eye reached Level Nine, it would ascend to the Heavenly Eye, which also ranged from Level One to Level Nine.

At the peak of the Heavenly Eye, it would evolve into the Sacred Eye, which too spanned Level One to Level Nine.

His Great Desert Eye fell under the Illusory Eye category; since he had previously passively accepted its advancement, his Great Desert Eye was currently only at Heavenly Eye Level One.

The advancement from Spirit Eye to Heavenly Eye was the most difficult, requiring top-tier Dao-rhythm treasures and special methods.

Similarly, advancing from Heavenly Eye to Sacred Eye was also extremely difficult, demanding even rarer and harder-to-find treasures.

Logically, after his Great Desert Eye reached Level Nine Spirit Eye, further advancement would be nearly impossible.

Even if it advanced to Heavenly Eye Level One with his cultivation breakthrough, it might only happen when he truly became an Immortal Emperor.

Now, at only Immortal King Level Three, he already had Heavenly Eye Level One—indicating some anomaly had triggered his Great Desert Eye's advancement.

Ding Huan thought for a moment: it was likely due to his burning his physical body in the Ash Sea, then slowly scorching his soul inch by inch.

This was the principle of destruction preceding creation, rebirth through nirvana.

Indeed, the balance between loss and gain was hard to clarify.

Now that he had reached Heavenly Eye Level One, further advancement would proceed normally through steady practice of the Great Heavenly Eye Art; he would only need to seek treasures to advance to Sacred Eye once he reached Heavenly Eye Level Nine.

But that was a matter for the future.

Since Ding Huan was already at the Immortal King level, relying on the Great Heavenly Eye Art, his Great Desert Eye advanced to Heavenly Eye Level Four in just a few days.

At this moment, Ding Huan's Heavenly Eye could effortlessly pierce through Level Four to Level Five concealment Immortal arrays.

Yes, its greatest use was not piercing arrays, but discerning things even divine sense could not penetrate.

Ten days passed; Ding Huan tidied up his room, disheveled from practicing the Great Heavenly Eye Art, and headed for the Yonghuang Divine Art Academy.

His first-round examination had arrived.

Arriving at the Yonghuang Divine Art Academy, Ding Huan looked at the sea of people and sighed inwardly—this academy was truly profitable.

The number of candidates here numbered at least eighty thousand, if not a hundred thousand.

Such examinations were surely held frequently by the Yonghuang Divine Art Academy.

Just one examination yielded piles upon piles of Immortal Crystals.

With so many participants, no other location could accommodate them—hence the exam grounds were set here.

From the candidates present, Ding Huan sensed their cultivation was mostly at the Luotian Immortal level.

There were some Great Immortals too, but those like Ding Huan, at Great Immortal Level One, were exceedingly rare.

Ding Huan now felt regret: had he known, he should have concealed his cultivation at Great Immortal Peak—then he could have entered the exam as a Luotian Immortal.

Here, if his cultivation suddenly jumped from Great Yi Immortal Peak to Luotian Immortal level, it would surely draw the attention of those with ulterior motives.

He held up his competition array tablet; it bore only "Exam Chamber Six," with no other information, no seat number.

Ding Huan followed the crowd into the Yonghuang Divine Art Academy, extending his divine sense.

Outside, he had not been able to gauge its scale; only after entering did he realize how vast it was.

Not counting the various trial-art arenas, there were already seven or eight mountain peaks within.

The heavenly and earthly Immortal qi inside was not only dense, but far purer than outside.

All the trial-art arenas were sealed by barriers; only faint sounds of divine arts exploding could be heard from within.

Students occasionally glimpsed by his divine sense possessed far stronger vitality and spirit than ordinary cultivators, proving their foundational training here was superior.

After entering the academy, they reached a vast square.

All examination candidates were gathered here, awaiting instructions.

Ding Huan knew no one here, but from the surrounding chatter, he could glean some insights.

Most people came to take the academy's exam to become Dao Masters, primarily because a Dao Master who helped their students achieve results could earn promotion slots.

This differed from joining a sect.

Joining a sect was simple, but promotion slots within sects were fixed.

Most of these slots went to senior members, with little relevance to newcomers.

It was like a lifetime job versus competitive hiring.

"What's your name, brother?" A rugged-looking fellow walked up to Ding Huan and slapped his arm loudly.

Honestly, if not for seeing his chest, Ding Huan would have assumed this was a man.

Not only was his appearance rugged, his voice was androgynous, slightly hoarse, and his movements utterly unrestrained.

Though cultivators were generally unbound by petty formalities, it was rare for a female cultivator to casually approach a strange male cultivator like a close friend.

"Ding Huan." Ding Huan answered honestly.

"I'm Qu Qu Shanshan, from the Qu family of Yongzhou Xiancheng." Qu Qu Shanshan casually revealed her background.

Qu family? Ding Huan involuntarily thought of Seeing Qu Yi.

Qu Qu Shanshan paid no mind to Ding Huan's silence and continued: "Your cultivation level makes it hard to qualify as a Dao Master."

"I'm just trying my luck—maybe someone will take a shine to me," Ding Huan smiled.

Hearing this, Qu Qu Shanshan burst into laughter, pointing at him: "But you have to pass the interview first—do you know there are three trials before the interview?"

Qu Qu Shanshan laughed unrestrainedly; everyone nearby turned to look.

But upon seeing it was Qu Qu Shanshan, they all returned to their business—clearly, this woman's behavior was considered normal to them.

"I know."

"You know you're coming?"

"Just trying my luck."

Qu Qu Shanshan was silenced by Ding Huan's words:

"You look too honest. Here's what I'll do—if you fail the assessment, come find me.

I'll hook you up with something that'll guarantee you reach Luotian Xian."

"Then thank you."

Ding Huan said "thank you" with his lips but didn't pull out his communication bead to exchange contact info.

"Come on, exchange communication info," Qu Qu Shanshan said, actively pulling out her communication bead and offering it to Ding Huan.

Ding Huan stared at Qu Qu Shanshan in surprise—did this woman actually mean what she said? Was she not just joking?

After exchanging info with Qu Qu Shanshan, she became even warmer:

"The Yonghuang Divine Arts Academy holds recruitment for instructors two to four times a year, and let me tell you—I come every time.

I improve a little each time, and I've made many friends here…"

Ding Huan fell even more silent—so this woman came here just to make friends?

Besides, could she even call those people friends?

Why did he feel they weren't friends at all?

Ding Huan helplessly rubbed his hair—he really wanted to move away, but it seemed impolite.

Fortunately, at that moment, a voice rang out across the square: "All Dao Masters taking the Yonghuang Divine Arts Academy assessment, enter the examination hall now.

You have half an incense stick to find and sit in your seat. If you haven't seated yourself within half an incense stick, you're eliminated."

Ding Huan hadn't expected a small test of finding a seat before the written exam.

But the lowest cultivation here was Da Luo Xian, and everyone knew their exam hall number—how could finding a seat possibly take half an incense stick?

Ding Huan didn't even speed up—he stood outside Exam Hall Six in just two minutes.

He entered the hall and swept his spiritual sense through it.

He assumed that in a hall with thousands of people, a single sweep of his spiritual sense would reveal his seat.

But as soon as he extended his spiritual sense, he realized: the space was sealed by a spiritual-sense-blocking array.

His spiritual sense sank into it like mud—each inch of movement was difficult.

People behind him pressed forward, so Ding Huan simply walked into the hall.

His spiritual sense instantly surged; within moments, he shattered the barriers and located his seat, then swiftly walked over and sat down.

The seat bore not only his name but also a Dao resonance matching his examination array token.

It was essentially a test—testing the strength of one's spiritual sense.

Too weak a spiritual sense, and you couldn't break through the spiritual-sense-blocking array.

Ding Huan wasn't the first to sit, but he was among the earliest.

Many Dao Masters with weaker spiritual senses were going frantic.

No one had said the written exam would test spiritual sense too.

Half an incense stick passed quickly; those still searching for seats were directly escorted out.

The spiritual-sense-blocking heavenly array in the hall was removed. Ding Huan swept his spiritual sense—only half the hall remained; the other half had paid ten thousand superior-grade immortal crystals, yet still hadn't earned the right to take the exam.

The Yonghuang Divine Arts Academy was being excessive—ten thousand superior-grade immortal crystals, plus lodging and other fees totaling at least hundreds of thousands, just for a written exam?

Ding Huan silently mourned for the Dao Masters who hadn't found seats—for half a second.

A middle-aged woman stepped onto the podium before the hall:

"Fellow Daoists, the Yonghuang Divine Arts Academy written assessment is about to begin. The assessment lasts one hour.

When time is up, leave your exam paper on your desk and exit. No unjustified delays—any delay means failure. The assessment begins now."

Ding Huan looked at the table before him—it was an array pattern for teleportation.

Almost the instant the woman finished speaking, a written exam paper appeared before him.

Simultaneously, a shielding array rose around his seat—no one was permitted to spy on another's paper.

Ding Huan casually picked up the pen already on the table and turned his gaze to the exam paper.

Question One: A fire-element disciple is in a wood-element space—how should he cultivate?

Question Two: You have only Golden Blood Vine, Mist Flame Crystal, Void-Flight Silver, and Hundred-Crack Stone. How do you arrange the array flags to upgrade a Level-Two Spirit Gathering Immortal Array to a Level-Three Spirit Gathering Immortal Array with defensive properties?

…

Ding Huan swiftly scanned all the written exam questions—he assumed this was merely testing basic Daoist knowledge.

He hadn't expected it to test only practical techniques, covering not just Dao methods but also array crafting, talisman crafting, and pill refining.

Indeed—the Dao Master assessment was not something an ordinary cultivator could join.