Everyone was surprised when the Youxiwang Sect and the Xinfaxian Sect suddenly appeared before them. Everyone except Cheng Sheng had a blank look on their face. "Ah! We've come early!" Cheng Sheng said as he stretched his limbs. The test will start at eight in the morning.

Chen Han opened his mouth to speak, but found it hard for the words to come out. "Ah Sheng…" he called when he finally found his voice.

"What?"

"… can't you not pull people's aggro?" Chen Han asked. "Especially theirs… you'll find it hard later if they'll gang up on you and you'll be eliminated." He told him.

"Ah?" Cheng Sheng turned as he stretched his left arm. "But, I'll be only eliminated if I can't defend myself enough, right?" he said. "Actually, it'll be too humiliating for them if they're the ones who'll be eliminated later." He grinned and looked at the sky. The Zunjingde Sect, Qianxu Sect and the Shanliangde Sect have finally arrived.

"Pretty big words you've got there, second young master Cheng." Jing Cheng said as they descended.

"Wanna try?" Cheng Sheng asked, a blade of grass in between his teeth.

Where did he get that? They thought as they looked at Cheng Sheng and Jing Cheng faced off. "It'd be very humiliating if both of you will be eliminated later after being kicked off the arena by some cannon fodder later for being too absorbed on your fight you didn't notice them." Qian Lin told them as he glanced at the other cultivators grinning at them. Their evil intentions are very obvious. They immediately kept their smile and walked away from them when they saw they were found out. "So? Why don't you save it for the second stage?" Qian Lin suggested.

"Sure." Cheng Sheng answered and walked back to his group.

"Cheng-shidi." Feng Mo called. "Why did you provoke them?" he asked, looking worried.

"Well…" Cheng Sheng said as he did push-ups. "Unfortunately, I was riled up." He said.

"'riled up'? By whom?" Lei Qing asked.

"By myself." Cheng Sheng answered as he patted off the dust on his clothes.

Their face was covered in black lines. They looked at the three sects on the side who were also looking at them. "Cheng-shidi." Fei Yin calmly called.

"Don't worry." Cheng Sheng said. "I trust that they will save the fun for later." He told him. "I suddenly felt a strange presence." He said in a low voice.

Their expression suddenly changed. "Where?" Sun Yi asked and was about to turn when Cheng Sheng stopped him.

"It's too far. Continue the farce. Don't get noticed by them." Cheng Sheng said as he stood upright.

"Okay." They said as they immediately assumed a circle position with him in the middle.

Now it's Cheng Sheng's turn for his face to darken. "… what are you doing?" he asked. "Really. I can take care of myself. I already put up a barrier around myself in case of a sneak attack." He told them.

"Really?" Chen Han asked.

"Yeah. So – " Cheng Sheng said as he kicked him. " – stop dawdling! Go and warm up or you'll strain your muscles later!" he told him.

"'warm up'?" Lei Qing asked.

"It's what I did earlier." Cheng Sheng explained.

"Everyone! The test is about to start!" someone yelled.

"Oh." Cheng Sheng felt the ground suddenly shook. He turned and saw the ground in the middle of the canyons is rising until a very wide plateau appeared.

"Now, the participants, please leave your swords and other weapons before proceeding to the plateau." The cultivator from the Righteous Alliance said. "Don't try to cheat. Everything can be seen by the five elders and the sect leaders." He said and pointed to the sky.

They all raised their head. It was almost invisible, but they saw a barrier surrounding the area. They didn't notice when it was erected.

"Excuse me!" somebody spoke and raised their hand. "But, if we leave our sword, how do we get to the plateau?" he asked.

The cultivator from the Righteous Alliance turned to him. "Aren't we testing your martial arts skill?" he said. "Of course, you run and then climb to get to the top." He told him.

"What?!" the cultivators exclaimed and looked at the steep plateau.

The cultivator from the Righteous Alliance ignored their complaint. "Everyone, before eight, you should have reached the plateau." He said. "If nobody did, then everyone is eliminated. If, when the time arrived, only fifty people managed to reach the top, then the test commenced." He explained.

"What if there are only forty-nine?" someone asked.

"Then, forty-nine people can only advance to the second stage."

"What about if there are fifty-one?"

"Are you an idiot?" the cultivator from the Righteous Alliance said. "Of course, the battle royale starts!" he answered. "You only have thirty minutes to reach the plateau. Everyone, I bid you good luck!" he said and flew on his sword. "Now, get moving!" he told them before he left.

The cultivators immediately threw their sword on the ground and started to run. "Shall we get going, too?" Qian Lin asked. Nobody knows when he appeared beside them.

"Ah Lin. If you get tired, you can ride on my back!" Jing Hei told him.

"Are you an idiot?" Qian Lin asked. "We're both competitors." He told him and started to run.

"Second young master, wait!" the Qianxu Sect disciples called and ran after Qian Lin. "We'll carry you ourselves!" they added.

"Look how pampered he is." Xi Shi said as he threw his sword to the mountain of swords behind them. No one would try to steal someone's sword, nor mistake them as theirs. Everyone who is competing here have their sword spirit already awakened.

"Xiao Ling." Cheng Sheng called to his sword spirit. "Go find a clean place. I'll immediately go back." He told it.

"*yawn."

Cheng Sheng grimaced and threw his sword in the air, then started to run. Fei Yin looked at his sword with complicated eyes. Feng Mo and Lei Qing who already saw Fei Yin's sword spirit – Xiao Bao, waited for him to call it out. Let's see if da shixiong will call Xiao Bao. Let's see if a battle royale will start here between da shixiong and Chen-shixiong. Feng Mo and Lei Qing evilly thought.

Of course, Fei Yin didn't call Xiao Bao. His reason: he doesn't want outsiders to see his cute Xiao Bao. Like Cheng Sheng, he threw his sword and ran after Cheng Sheng. "We should also get going." Lei Qing told Feng Mo.

"Yeah." Feng Mo answered as he and Lei Qing threw their sword.

"… we're just waiting for the author to mention us so that we could start to run." Sun Yi said and smiled as he and Chen Han, along with Jing Cheng, Jing Bai, Xi Ming and Xi Xing left their sword and ran. Gong Xian has already left without them noticing.

Meanwhile, in the alchemy test, something interesting has happened.