As Yin Hui covered the crystal ball in his spiritual sense, he noticed that there was a slight defect. Within the spell formations that allowed the ball to measure a person's talent, he discovered that a few layers seemed to be missing.

Spreading his spiritual sense onto another ball, he discovered that it too had gaps within the spell formations embedded within it.

[This must also be part of the test. Not only are they looking for strong talent, they are also looking for those with foresight and a keen mind.]

While every single crystal ball Yin Hui scanned was defective, the degree of flaw was different for each one.

[I have to tell Yu Zhuwa about this. Even if he has talent, it will be meaningless if he picks the wrong ball.]

Quickly running over to Yu Zhuwa, Yin Hui told him of his discovery. When Yu Zhuwa heard about the flaws within each of the crystal balls he was exasperated.

"No way! So no matter what, some people are going to fail the test!" Yu Zhuwa whispered.

"That's right. That means we got to pick a good ball quickly before they're all taken."

The amount of crystal balls that surrounded the courtyard corresponded with the number of applicants. Seeing the amount of deficiencies within some of the crystal balls, Yin Hui knew that some would not turn blue even if the applicant was a heaven defying genius.

Spreading his spiritual sense around the courtyard once more, Yin Hui found two relatively decent crystal balls. He directed Yu Zhuwa to one of them and took the other for himself. As he waited for the call to begin, he observed the other applicants around him.

Quite a few of the hopefuls near him seemed to be blissfully unaware that some of the crystal balls were rigged. He could tell because the qualities of their crystal balls were abysmal, yet they still smiled as if they were completely confident in passing.

Suddenly, Yin Hui heard an unfamiliar voice enter his ears.

"Judging by the way you are observing all of us, you must have understood the true concept of the test right?"

The message was sent using spiritual sense. Yin Hui could tell because he felt the aura of true qi as the voice spoke to him. He had tried to send messages of his own in this manner to Yu Zhuwa in the past, but always failed. Considering he was at the peak of Spirit Waking in terms of qi mastery, he hypothesized that sending messages through spiritual sense was accessed in the Spirit Manifestation realm. Now that he had received a message himself, he could tell that his assumption was correct.

Yin Hui traced the transmission back to a young man who stood a few stands away. The man was older then Yin Hui, seemingly somewhere around his late-teens. He had an ordinary looking face, but he had eyes that shined as bright as stars.

As the two made eye contact, another voice transmission entered Yin Hui's ear.

"The crystal ball you chose is quite good. From my estimate there are only around two missing layers. The amount of qi contained for the spell to operate is also quite high, around seventy percent."

Yin Hui frowned. It seemed as if the bright-eyed man had already seen his crystal ball long before he took it. If he considered it good, why didn't he choose it?

Curious, Yin Hui decided to see the ball the bright-eyed man chose. His eyes widened when he discovered that the crystal ball the man chose was full of missing layers.

The bright-eyed man smiled as he witnessed Yin Hui's shock.

"That's right. With this many formations missing, you'd be lucky to even get a color. However, while it may be lacking in terms of functionality, this ball is at peak qi capacity!"

Yin Hui's eyes narrowed as he stared at the bright-eyed man. Combined with his dark appearance, he looked like he was threatening him.

He was about to say something when a loud voice shouted from above.

"Alright! Everyone has a station? Then I will now come by an evaluate each of you. When I arrive before you, inject some of your qi into the ball. Once the color appears you will receive a pass or fail score! Those who fail must immediately leave to courtyard. Those who resist, I doubt I need to explain what the consequences will be." Mo Gang announced.

The bright-eyed man chuckled and turned back to his station. However, not before sending Yin Hui one last message.

"When the elder comes to my station, pay close attention. You'll find that there is more than one solution to this kind of problem."

Mo Gang cycled through the courtyard with varying speeds. For some he was very patient, pausing for a moment as the applicant channeled their qi into their crystal ball. However, there were also times where there was almost no break in his movements. It was obvious he knew exactly which crystal balls were rigged and which were not.

In the span of ten minutes, a hundred applicants had already been evaluated. Out of those hundred, only four had managed to pass. Most of the ones who failed left with dejected looks on their faces. However, a small handful decided to test their luck against a listed disciple.

"I want to challenge one of the inner disciples!" The most recently failed candidate said.

Mo Gang let out a snort of contempt.

"Then get in line with the others. Once the remaining applicants have been evaluated, we will begin the alternative test."

The candidate nodded and walked over to a small group of people waiting at the edge of the courtyard.

Yin Hui didn't pay much attention to the other candidates as they were being evaluated. He already had a general idea of who would pass and who would fail given the quality of their crystal balls. Sure enough, as the results were called out, the ones Yin Hui thought would pass passed, while the ones he thought would fail failed.

After ten minutes, Mo Gang was now three rows away from Yin Hui. It was at this moment that Yin Hui finally started to pay attention to the evaluations. This was because the current row had Yu Zhuwa in it.

As Mo Gang approached Yu Zhuwa's station, Yu Zhuwa began to sweat.

"I don't have all day! Infuse your qi into the crystal ball and be quick about it!"

"Yes sir!" Yu Zhuwa responded with a startled voice.

He closed his eyes and put his hand on the crystal ball. As he injected his qi into the ball, a faint yellow began to appear. The color deepened and then turned orange, then red!

Mo Gang raised an eyebrow, but his expression remained stern.

"The faster the color change the greater the talent. Your speed is above average, but it still means nothing unless you produce the color blue!"

Drops of sweat fell from Yu Zhuwa's forehead as he stared at the ball with anticipation.

[I can do this! I have to! Brother Yin Hui is counting on me!]

All of a sudden a twinge of blue appeared in the sea of red that filled Yu Zhuwa's crystal ball. Yu Zhuwa let out a sigh of relief.

"Mm. Only a glimpse of blue, not even a full faded shade. I am hesitant, but given your age I'll be generous. Pass. Hold out your hand."

As soon as Yu Zhuwa held out his hand, Mo Gang grabbed it and a yellow thunderbolt tattoo was imprinted onto his palm.

After Mo Gang moved on to the next applicant, Yu Zhuwa cast a joyful smile in Yin Hui's direction.

A slight smile appeared on Yin Hui's face.

[Looks like this little kid has got some talent. He's even considered a genius in a place like the Striking Thunder Sect.]

The crystal ball Yin Hui chose for him was of a quality similar to his and not perfect. If it was perfect, there was no doubt Yu Zhuwa would have produced a full faded shade of blue, perhaps even a deep shade!

However, this smile did not last long. As Mo Gang approached the row directly behind Yin Hui, Yin Hui's eyes narrowed.

That was because the next one to be evaluated was the bright-eyed man.

Mo Gang did not pay much attention to the bright-eyed man as he approached his station, in fact he didn't even say a word.

"Greetings elder. My name is Zhang Shi. I believe that it will be a name you will remember." The bright-eyed man said while clasping his hands.

"If you don't hurry up, I'll fail you right now without even giving you the chance to measure your talent." Mo Hang scowled. It was obvious he felt that there was no chance for Zhang Shi to pass with the crystal ball he chose.

"My apologies Elder Mo. I assure you this will be well worth the wait."

Zhang Shi began to perform a series of quick hand movements. As he did, strands of qi entered the crystal ball like a flurry of precisely aimed arrows.

Mo Gang's pupils shrank as Zhang Shi's crystal ball began to glow. It emitted a faint aura that even Yin Hui could feel from where he stood.

After the light settled, Zhang Shi put his hand on top of the ball and began imbuing it with his qi. During Yu Zhuwa's examination, the crystal ball started at the lowest color and slowly passed through each level sequentially. However, as soon as Zhang Shi channeled his qi into his ball, it shockingly started off already at the red level. A few breaths of time passed and the deep shade of red began to transition into a faint blue. The color spread until it filled the entire sphere with a cloudy blue which then darkened into a deep azure shade.

It didn't end there. Suddenly, a tiny shred of purple formed in the center of Zhang Shi's crystal ball. Yin Hui's eyes widened when he saw this.

"A sliver of purple..." Mo Gang said with a serious expression.

This was Zhang Shi's limit. After the speck of purple appeared he removed his hand and gave a short bow to the stone-faced elder.

The surrounding applicants who had yet to be evaluated turned towards Zhang Shi with looks of jealousy and admiration.

"Purple! That guy produced a sliver of purple within the crystal ball!"

"Talent surpassing even that of geniuses! He has the potential to become a personal disciple of one of the four distinguished masters of the sect!"

Mo Gang looked at Zhang Shi with an emotionless expression.

"Not only do you have a good eye for crystal balls, it also seems like you have some skill in formations. Furthermore, your talent is nothing short of exceptional. Zhang Shi... I will indeed remember that name."

This time, Mo Gang did not ask Zhang Shi to stick out his hand. Instead, Mo Gang was the one who offered his, holding it out as if he were requesting a handshake. Zhang Shi accepted and a tiny thunderbolt was imprinted into the palm of his hand.

Once Mo Gang left, Zhang Shi turned towards Yin Hui who still had a look of disbelief all over his face. He gave him a faint smile before sitting down and entering a deep meditative state.

[Zhang Shi... He is skilled in formations, such as the one Su Jia used back at the border. He used his expertise to repair the spell formation inside the crystal ball. I'm unsure if he considers me an enemy or ally. Regardless, I'll need to keep an eye on him!]

While Yin Hui was busy thinking about Zhang Shi and what he had just witnessed, he didn't notice that Mo Gang had already cleared through the other applicants and was standing right in front of him.

"It's your turn. Activate the crystal ball."