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Chapter 1109: The Assessment Under Criticism

“Oh? I don’t feel so.” Han Yang turned around to face the stern-looking young sword cultivator when he heard her comments, and replied nonchalantly, “Look at yourself, Junior Tian Xuan. Aren’t you doing just fine?”

When Tian Xuan heard his reply, her expression turned even more serious than before. Tinges of vexation appeared in her eyes.

She inevitably recalled the time back when she entered the Qingwu Pavilion herself. Back then, Han Yang had not formed his Nascent Soul, and it was his first time hosting the assessment which also had a similar content structure.

During her assessment, she was captured alive by her opponents after falling into their traps in a moment of folly, as the light illusions projected by the Dharma Hall were actually intentionally trying to harm her! Luckily, her calm personality allowed her to stabilize her emotions, while her strong innate mastery allowed her to unleash her remaining tricks hidden in her sleeves, providing her with an escape route to turn her imminent defeat into a victory.

Even though she knew that those opponents were merely virtual illusions, that experience still sends chills down her spine every time she recalls it.

Watching as Tian Xuan sank deep into thought, Han Yang remained calm and said, “Junior Tian Xuan, you are a woman. Even though you show a stern face most of the time, your beauty is elegant and exceptional. You’re a rare gem in the eyes of many, and you’d surely attract many thirsty men. Even if the men are not sexually charged, your outstanding innate abilities and sturdy foundation grant you superb mastery levels. You are also an ideal cauldron in the hands of enemies who wish to exploit your beauty. When you do fall in the hands of these enemies, do you think that what I showed you in the Dharma Hall would actually happen?

Tian Xuan glared at Han Yang. “You went overboard back then. If I hadn’t broken free from the trap myself, would you have wanted me to go through that a second time?”

Han Yang shrugged his shoulders. “Definitely not. The light illusions I projected do not have actual abilities, and would stop their assault before they actually harm you. But if their actions are predicted to be successful, you would have been eliminated.”

“There are some things that you would remember deeply only if you’ve experienced it yourself. That would serve as a constant reminder and a culmination of your experience, teaching you how to prevent such tragedies and how to react when these actually happen, so you won’t be left stunned and petrified, a perfect victim for your opponent to manipulate freely. There are many times when your heart knows what to do, but you cannot deal with the situation calmly and methodically when the time calls for it, and if the chance slips away due to a slight delay, the result could be disastrous.”

Han Yang watched the projections of the Dharma Hall’s interior carefreely. “Take this disciple for example. After being betrayed by his companions, he’s just standing there like a wooden pole, shocked and enraged, yet wasting three chances to turn his loss into a victory. And there’s this disciple, who was led by the nose by his opponents, sold off by his companions and now even helping his enemies count their money.”

Han Yang hid his smile. “I’ve already taught these to them when they were still Foundational Disciples at Yun Peak, but by the looks of it now, how many of them actually applied what they learnt, or even remembered what I taught? Most of them treated my words as the breeze brushing across their ears.”

“Most lessons cannot be remembered if you just impart them verbally. People will just assume you’re just being an alarmist, exaggerating things and making a big deal out of nothing. However, they will remember it for the rest of their lives if they experience it once. As for those who forget their lesson once their wounds heal, I’ll be pounding them constantly with these reminders until they engrave them in their minds.”

Tian Xuan replied in a low voice, “Harbor no ill intentions against others, but never lower your guard against others too – this saying may be true, but if you continue doing so frequently, you might harm their spirit and lead them astray. We would waste our efforts on nurturing evildoers. If this continues in the long-term, it may even tarnish the reputation of the Qingwu Pavilion as a whole, or even affect the atmosphere of the entire sect. I’m not exaggerating.”

Han Yang nodded, “You’re right. So we’ll have to provide careful and proper guidance as their seniors to ensure that they don’t diverge from the right path. We won’t rear all of our disciples as obedient little babies, sheltered from the elements while focusing solely on learning mantras and abhijina. Even if you have a good master, you’ll still to face the outside world sooner and after, unless you wish to hide under your master’s wings forever, secluded from the outside world.”

Han Yang pointed at the projections in front of him. “The Dharma Hall has a protective mechanism that protects their lives, but they don’t have anything protecting them once they enter the outside world. If these disciples met similar situations outside Mount Kunlun, they would be dead already. Of course, I don’t deny that the situations I create are more extreme, and are situations that won’t be encountered easily in real life. But this does not mean that these possibilities may not occur.”

Tian Xuan fell silent and observed the lighted projections silently, watching as a few disciples activated the Dharma Hall’s protective mechanism, shielding them from the fatal blows and delivering them from the Dharma Hall. When these disciples noticed that they were already outside the Dharma Hall, they instantly realized that they failed the assessment and had been eliminated.

Some were ashamed and left while covering their faces. Some sighed in resignation. Some felt unjust and returned to the foot of the Qingwu Pavilion’s mountain. One disciple bowed towards Han Yang, Tian Xuan and the others. Han Yang nodded back without saying a word.

Tian Xuan glanced at him and said, “If you wish to observe the rest of the assessment, you can do so. We’ll gather all the eliminated disciples after the assessment and allocate them to the other abodes.”

“Understood.” The disciple replied promptly and began observing the projections with utmost concentration. After a while, the disciple raised his eyebrows and glanced over at Han Yang, wanting to say something but the words refuse to come out.

“If you have something to say, just say it.” Han Yang did not turn back and continued focusing on the projections.

The disciple enquired, “I’d like to ask, why do the situations that we encounter vary from person to person? If I encountered some of the situations that the others encountered, I wouldn’t be eliminated!”

Han Yang finally turned to face him. “Did I ever mention that the situations that every participant encounters would be the same?”

The disciple was taken aback. “But that’s not fair!”

“Fair?” Han Yang grunted, “When you’re on a lone cultivation expedition out in the world, and you’re cornered by an enemy, what would happen if you told your enemy that their methods were unscrupulous and lowly, and that they should take you on fair and square? Do you think your opponent would agree to that? Would you then rebutt your opponent and argue that it’s not fair? Do you think that someone who wants you dead would care about acting fair?”

Tian Xuan frowned. “Senior Tian Shu!”

Han Yang smiled and turned over without saying anything else. Tian Xuan gazed at the disciple and sighed, “Take a closer look. Even though the assessment methods are cruel, the system is still very fair.”

The junior disciple was a little lost for words. After carefully observing the projections, it gradually dawned on him after a while as his face turned slightly pale.

All the participating disciples were Foundational Disciples who interacted with each other from dawn to dusk before this assessment. Even though they did not know each other very well, they still had a rough understanding of each other’s personalities. And even though the ordeals posed to every disciple in the Dharma Hall are different, all of them target certain personality flaws that each disciple exposes in their daily lives, specifically designed for each individual.

Different people have different personalities, different perspectives towards various issues, and different thought processes when doing something. Hence, they would naturally produce different results when posed with the same situation – some would bypass the obstacles with ease, while others would not react in time and perish on the spot.

The disciple shuddered and apologised to Han Yang by joining his hands. “I was impetuous. Please forgive me.”

Han Yang chuckled, “Remember today’s lesson well. Don’t forget it as time passes.”

Then, a young man as proper as jade, with dashing eyebrows, crossed over the rainbow-colored bridge and arrived at the foot of the Qingwu Pavilion. His gaze was stern, and everyone could immediately tell that he was someone who prioritized dignity and order.

When Tian Xuan saw him, she twitched her eyebrows. “Senior Tian Fang.” He was the River Abode’s first second-generation Immediate Disciple under Li Yuanfang – Tan Yunqing.

Tan Yunqing nodded at the rest. “You juniors are too courteous. The assessment at the River Abode has concluded, so I came over to take a look. Please pardon my intrusion.”

He looked towards the light projections in front of Han Yang. He frowned slightly after a fleeting glance, “You’re still using this method of assessment.”

Han Yang, who had not turned around ever since Tan Yunqing appeared, merely replied monotonously, “What about it, is there a problem?”

Tan Yunqing asked, “Do you know that you’re harming the spirits and minds of these disciples, and you may very likely lead them astray down a path of evil?”

Han Yang turned over and muttered, “Ignorant recklessness cannot be considered courage, and untainted innocence cannot be considered kindness. Courage is when one overcomes the fears in his heart while clearing understanding the dangers, and kindness is when one understands the possible extent of evil yet chooses to act otherwise.”

“This world is not a pure and innocent place. Shielding them from the truth would harm them instead, but inculcating these values and subsequently guiding them towards the right path is what we as masters should do.”

Tan Yunqing replied in a low voice, “Have you forgotten what happened previously? You conjured an illusory projection of a disciple from the same sect to deceive the participants, which resulted in a tragedy of friends turning against each other.”

Han Yang glanced at him. “Many demon tribes specialize in illusions, like the Heavenly Fox Tribe and Ancient Mirage Tribe. Even we need considerable effort to discern the actual beings from the illusions conjured from a great demon with the Undying Demon Soul. Once the opponent attains the Original True Spirit, we won’t be able to distinguish them without any special techniques.”

“My disciple had the necessary knowledge to differentiate truth from falsities, but she just blindly believed that fake without even taking the usual precautionary checks. Causing infighting was certainly tragic, but an actual enemy using these illusory tricks to deceive our disciples and harm the sect would result in a greater catastrophe.”

Tan Yunqing replied, “You said it yourself – it’s not enough to educate them about these values, but you must ensure to guide them on the right path. But the incident last time ultimately almost devastated her mind and spirit, and she only recovered recently. Worse still, she has become very suspicious of others, looking at her own comrades with eyes of distrust. There’s nothing wrong with teaching them about the ways to handle people and situations, or to fend against enemy ploys, but there’s a limit to everything! If you propagate your previous methods, you may damage the harmony and cohesiveness of our sect!”

Tian Xuan could not help but chime in. “Senior Tian Shu has always been counselling that disciple, which allowed her to recover recently. Even after that, Senior Tian Shu checks on her regularly. Senior Tian Fang, if you take a closer look, you can see that the disciple’s mental state has been continuously improving.”