Chapter 643: The Nine Peak Masters

Bone age of three months? And currently bleeding all over the Heavenly Ladder?

Even though the nine Peak Masters of the Immortal Cloud Sect were all renowned experts in the cultivation world, possessing immense strength and vast experience.

Yet, upon hearing the news reported by Zhou Yan, they were all somewhat stunned.

What Zhou Yan said was all in plain language, so why couldn't they understand it when he put it all together?

"Zhou Yan, what kind of nonsense are you spouting? How can someone with a bone age of three months be allowed on the Heavenly Ladder?" The voice of the Heart Peak Master exploded in Zhou Yan's ears from a great distance.

"This..."

Zhou Yan scratched his head; had he known Ye Lin would cause such a massive stir on the Heavenly Ladder, he never would have been greedy for those three hundred supreme Immortal Source Stones.

"My discernment is limited, and I cannot explain it clearly. Perhaps you Peak Masters should take a look for yourselves."

Zhou Yan waved his hand, projecting the current situation over to them.

A water screen appeared before the nine Peak Masters, displaying the disciple assessment in real-time.

In the very front, Xiao Qingming and the other two were strolling leisurely, displaying the demeanor expected of heaven's pride.

The nine Peak Masters all nodded, clearly extremely satisfied with the performance of the three, and some even couldn't help but want to step forward to snatch them up.

Further back were the figures of many whose talent was more ordinary, yet they climbed upward with determined eyes and great effort.

This group formed the backbone of the Immortal Cloud Sect's disciples, which was quite normal.

But in between these two groups...

"What on earth is that thing?"

"Is this that cultivator with a bone age of three months? Is this mother-f***er three months old?"

"No, the bone age doesn't matter anymore; why don't you look at what he's doing?"

"This kid, could he be some demon in disguise?"

The scene before them undoubtedly brought extreme shock to the nine Peak Masters.

Some of the Peak Masters even couldn't help but curse.

On the Heavenly Ladder, Ye Lin was using both hands and feet, crawling in a dark and twisted manner like some kind of freak, spraying blood as he climbed.

That would be one thing, but the key was that he was climbing extremely fast, and was even getting closer and closer to Xiao Qingming and the other two!

Ye Lin didn't want to be like this, but he truly couldn't stand up anymore; the pressure of the Heavenly Ladder increased the higher one went, so crawling was actually more convenient.

Besides, the assessment was to reach the top; it didn't say one had to walk up.

The nine Peak Masters just stared blankly as Ye Lin twisted his body and crawled another long distance upward.

After coming to their senses, they all activated their Heavenly Eyes to look at Ye Lin, yet they couldn't discern a single thing.

"Situ, among us, your pupil techniques are the strongest. Can you tell what that kid actually is? He wouldn't really be some great demon in disguise, would he?"

The person addressed as Situ was the Peak Master of Spirit Peak, Situ Qi. This man was born blind, yet he had cultivated a pair of terrifying black pupils capable of peering through the cycle of yin and yang.

"I can confirm he is of the human race, but strangely, I cannot see what his spiritual roots or constitution are."

There was confusion on Situ Qi's face. His eyes had no whites, looking like two black holes as he observed Ye Lin from a great distance.

"I can vaguely see that a terrifying power is hidden within him, but it seems this power cannot manifest right now."

Hearing Situ Qi confirm that Ye Lin was human, the other eight Peak Masters all breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as he was human, it was fine.

They were only afraid that Ye Lin was some great monster or demon who had infiltrated them in disguise.

Such things had happened in previous years, causing no small amount of loss to the Immortal Cloud Sect.

After ruling out danger, the Peak Masters began to grow curious about Ye Lin's innate talent.

"Situ, can you really not see clearly? You aren't hiding it from us because you want to secretly snatch him up, are you?" one Peak Master asked across the distance.

There had been a disciple before who, before even having his talent measured, was discovered by Situ Qi's black pupils to possess the Ten Thousand Beast Melting Pot Sacred Body, capable of devouring various great monster bloodlines and fusing their innate divine abilities.

His spiritual root was a Heaven-grade single spiritual root, but after that old fox Situ Qi figured it out, he secretly ordered people to drive him out of the Immortal Cloud Sect, then went and changed his name to intercept and take the disciple for himself.

That disciple had practiced for nearly a hundred years before realizing his master was actually the Spirit Peak Master of the Immortal Cloud Sect.

"Not this time; this time I truly cannot see clearly." Situ Qi's tone was flat; if he could see clearly, why would he still be sitting here?

"The talent stele can't measure it, and even Situ can't see it clearly. Could this kid have the legendary forbidden-level talent?" a Peak Master couldn't help but speculate.

"Unlikely. If he truly had forbidden-level talent and no top-tier expert to protect him, he would have been struck dead by tribulation lightning the moment he was born; he wouldn't have lived this long."

"His bone age is only three months; could that be related to his talent?"

"That guess is indeed very likely. Have someone go and investigate this Ye Lin."

"Let's look further ahead. After climbing the Heavenly Ladder, the next stages are the Heart-Questioning Pool and the Crossing of Mountains and Seas. This kid is only at the Great Perfection of the Spirit-Gathering Realm; if he wants to pass the next two stages, it will be no easy task. By then, we will surely see the truth."

At this very moment, the attention of the nine Peak Masters of the Immortal Cloud Sect was almost entirely focused on the disciple assessment.

In the past, the disciple assessment was basically handled by sending one elder to preside over it.

Ye Lin crawled and tumbled; he didn't know how far he had climbed, but he still couldn't see the top of the Heavenly Ladder.

"Why is this damn staircase so high?"

Ye Lin only wanted to reach the top quickly and then get far away from this ladder.

Otherwise, if he kept crawling like this, only one outcome awaited Ye Lin: his physical body would collapse, and he would explode and die.

Although he wouldn't die even if he exploded, how would he explain it to the people of the Immortal Cloud Sect after he resurrected as a mass of blood mist in front of everyone?

"Forbidden Art: Burning Reincarnation!"

To increase his climbing speed, Ye Lin used the forbidden art without hesitation.

Accompanied by red blood flames burning on his body, his already fast speed soared once more, and he rushed upward using all four limbs like a giant baboon chasing prey.

Soon, among the three, Ye Chen, who was the slowest, was overtaken by Ye Lin.

Seeing a mass of blood-colored unknown creature roll past him, Ye Chen was startled and nearly unleashed a divine ability.

"Is this an illusion created by the Heavenly Ladder?"

Ye Chen looked at Ye Lin's figure with a blank expression; because he was climbing fast, he hadn't noticed such a bizarre life form behind him earlier.

Soon, Gu Qianxue, who was in second place, was also overtaken by Ye Lin. She gasped, covering her small, rosy lips, her delicate face full of surprise.

At this time, Xiao Qingming, who had been walking at the very front of everyone, also noticed the movement behind him and turned his head in confusion.

Xiao Qingming's pupils shrank violently because he saw a large, blood-colored baboon rushing toward him!

Just as Xiao Qingming thought he was hallucinating and stood stunned, the blood-colored baboon actually spoke in human language.

"Buddy, I'm in a rush, open your mouth... oh wait, no, move aside!"

As soon as the words fell, Ye Lin swooshed past Xiao Qingming.

The smell of blood assaulted his nostrils.

Only then did Xiao Qingming react that a bloody person had just overtaken him.

Seeing the bloody marks left on the steps along the way after Ye Lin passed, Xiao Qingming looked at Zhou Yan with a confused expression and asked.

"Elder Zhou, if I may be so bold, is there any reward for being the first to climb the Heavenly Ladder?"

"Uh... no." Zhou Yan answered truthfully.

"No?"

Xiao Qingming was even more confused. If there was no reward, why was that guy risking his life and spraying blood just to run so fast?

"Then what is the situation with that fellow Daoist just now?" Xiao Qingming couldn't help but ask.

"He might... be in a bit of a hurry to join the Immortal Cloud Sect."