Unrestricted Dao Lord

Zhang Su’s gaze was fixed on the three puppets in the distance.

He had already watched three fights, so he knew full well that each puppet was comparable in strength to a Martial Artist at the Early Stage of Outer Force!

When the three puppets worked together, they were far stronger than an ordinary Martial Artist at the Early Stage of Outer Force.

Even he could not underestimate these three puppets.

Inside the Inner Sect Grand Hall, the once-noisy crowd gradually fell silent.

Just look at the three disciples who had cultivated Inner Strength before him.

Not a single one was able to successfully pass the Combat Power Assessment.

That alone was a testament to how strong the three puppets were.

’Although Zhang Su is the "Outer Sect First," can he pass the Combat Power Assessment?’

Zhang Su’s hand gripped the hilt of his sword.

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH.

The three puppets moved.

They were swift as the wind, crossing the distance of over thirty yards in the blink of an eye.

Furthermore, the three puppets moved in a coordinated pincer formation, cooperating seamlessly and giving Zhang Su no opening to exploit.

Only by facing the three puppets directly could one feel just how difficult they were to defeat.

The very instant the three puppets were about to encircle Zhang Su...

CLANG.

Zhang Su drew his sword.

His mind was perfectly calm.

In that moment, it was as if all surrounding sounds had vanished.

His eyes saw only the three puppets.

The Qi Blood in his body erupted.

It wasn’t that cultivating Inner Strength made one’s Qi Blood disappear.

Even after becoming an Inner Strength Martial Artist, Qi Blood still existed.

It simply stopped increasing, that was all.

Zhang Su still only had a Thousand Threads of Qi and Blood.

These Thousand Threads of Qi and Blood could be continuously converted into Inner Strength.

However, against three puppets with the combat power of the Early Stage of Outer Force, an eruption of Qi Blood alone was not enough.

The Inner Strength in Zhang Su’s body erupted along with it.

After all, Zhang Su had forged a Supreme Foundation.

His Inner Strength, despite being at the Early Stage, was already comparable to that of the Middle Stage.

Moreover, it possessed an Extreme Yang characteristic.

As a result, when Zhang Su unleashed his power, his reflexes, strength, and speed instantly skyrocketed to an unbelievable level.

The crowd only saw a blur before their eyes.

It was as if Zhang Su’s body left behind afterimages.

As for Zhang Su’s sword...

No one could see Zhang Su’s sword clearly at this moment.

Not even the Inner Sect Disciples could see it.

By the time they could see clearly, Zhang Su had already stopped.

The three puppets were motionless.

CRUMBLE...

Then, the three puppets shattered completely, collapsing into a pile of rubble on the floor.

Silence!

The entire hall fell silent.

Many people’s eyes went wide as they stared, dumbfounded, at the puppet fragments scattered across the floor.

Those were three puppets comparable to the Early Stage of Outer Force!

How had they been shattered to pieces just like that?

Perhaps some people had thought that Zhang Su could defeat the three puppets and successfully pass the Combat Power Assessment.

But surely that should have been after a bitter struggle, right?

And now?

One strike!

With just a single strike, the three puppets had fallen to pieces.

If those had been three Martial Artists at the Early Stage of Outer Force, that single strike would have killed them all.

Instant kill!

That was a complete instant kill!

"How is this possible? Weren’t all three of the previous disciples who’d cultivated Inner Strength beaten miserably by the puppets? How did Zhang Su make it look so easy?"

"One strike! If I hadn’t seen what happened to the previous three disciples with Inner Strength, I’d have thought this Combat Power Assessment was a piece of cake. But now I see it’s not that the assessment is easy—Senior Brother Zhang is just too powerful!"

"In that last strike, I think I vaguely saw traces of the Light and Shadow Killing Sword, Triple Wave, and Nine Shadows Sword Technique. It’s incredible that Zhang Su can integrate so many different Swordsmanship styles into one."

"So this is the true caliber of the ’Outer Sect First’? He really... lives up to his reputation!"

"Who dared to say that Zhang Su’s title of ’Outer Sect First’ was just for show?"

After the silence, the disciples broke into fervent discussion.

That single strike had been a massive shock to them.

Many people had only heard rumors about Zhang Su.

The rumors were wild and varied, making all sorts of claims.

But now, having witnessed Zhang Su’s terrifying sword strike with their own eyes, they knew the rumors couldn’t be trusted!

How could anyone say his title of "Outer Sect First" was unearned?

He was the real deal, the one and only Outer Sect First!

In the crowd, Lu Tianqing smiled knowingly.

Perhaps he was the only one who truly knew just how strong Zhang Su was.

He wasn’t the least bit surprised that Zhang Su could defeat three puppets at the Early Stage of Outer Force with a single strike.

Zhang Su had that kind of power!

’A Supreme Foundation forged through Second Limit Breaking... what are a mere three puppets at the Early Stage of Outer Force in the face of that?’

Lu Tianqing muttered in a low voice.

If it didn’t result in at least this much strength, then why would he have languished in the Outer Sect for six years, all for the sake of Second Limit Breaking and condensing a Thousand Threads of Qi and Blood?

Lu Tianqing knew very well that the potential of a Supreme Foundation forged from Second Limit Breaking was limitless.

Zhang Su hadn’t even cultivated any Inner Strength Level Martial Arts yet.

Once he started, his advantage would only continue to grow.

This was the Supreme Foundation!

Unfortunately, Lu Tianqing had languished in the Outer Sect for six years, and even after pushing himself to his absolute peak in his final battle with Zhang Su, he had still failed to achieve Second Limit Breaking and forge a Supreme Foundation.

This was the greatest regret of his life.

CLICK.

Zhang Su sheathed his sword.

His gaze turned toward the Inner Sect Elder.

The Inner Sect Elder immediately announced, "Outer Disciple Zhang Su, you have passed the Combat Power Assessment! Effective immediately, you are promoted to the Inner Sect!"

Upon hearing the Inner Sect Elder’s announcement, many of the Outer Disciples looked on with undisguised envy.

The Inner Sect!

They dreamed of being promoted to the Inner Sect and becoming Inner Sect Disciples.

Unfortunately, out of the tens of thousands of Outer Disciples, only a small minority would ever be promoted to the Inner Sect.

"Congratulations on your promotion to the Inner Sect, Senior Brother Zhang!"

The Outer Disciples all bowed to Zhang Su.

For a moment, the entire Inner Sect Grand Hall echoed with sounds of congratulations.

Zhang Su had just walked off the Martial Arts Arena and was about to leave when the Inner Sect Elder spoke up. "Zhang Su, there are actually distinctions among Inner Sect Disciples. By passing this Combat Power Assessment, you only qualify as an Ordinary Disciple of the Inner Sect."

"However, if you choose to face ten puppets and defeat them, you can be designated a ’One-star Disciple.’ In terms of status, standing, and benefits, you would be far above ordinary Inner Sect Disciples."

"Do you wish to challenge ten puppets now?"

Zhang Su stopped in his tracks.

Many of the Outer Disciples looked bewildered.

’One-star Disciple?’

They had never even heard of such a thing.

This was actually quite normal.

In the Guiyuan Sect, Outer Disciples were considered expendable, not worthy of the Sect’s focused resources and training.

The Sect only invested heavily in training its Inner Sect Disciples.

Thus, the Inner Sect Disciples understood the significance of the ’One-star Disciple’ title.

The expressions of these Inner Sect Disciples all grew solemn.

"A One-star Disciple... The Elder is right, a One-star Disciple truly stands above Ordinary Disciples."

"If you can be called a genius for being promoted to an Inner Sect Disciple, then a ’One-star Disciple’ is a genius among geniuses. The Sect will value them more, and their benefits will be better."

"But defeating ten Same Realm Puppets is no easy feat..."

Zhang Su’s brow furrowed.

"Excuse me, Elder. Regarding this ’One-star Disciple’ designation, if I were to challenge ten Same Realm Puppets in the future and succeed, could I become a One-star Disciple then?"

"Yes! As long as you defeat ten Same Realm Puppets, achieving a feat of one against ten, then you can become a ’One-star Disciple.’ There are even higher-level designations above One-star Disciple, but of course, the difficulty is also greater."

Zhang Su understood.

Although he had just defeated three Same Realm Puppets with a single strike, he hadn’t yet cultivated any Inner Strength Level Martial Arts, which put him at a significant disadvantage.

The difficulty of defeating three puppets was in no way comparable to the difficulty of defeating ten.

Challenging ten puppets now, even if he got lucky and succeeded, was not worth it. On the contrary, it carried a high risk of failure.

’Why rush?’

’Just to show off and earn the title of "One-star right at entry-level"?’

’It sounds nice, but it would just be an empty title.’

’Completely unnecessary!’

"Elder, may I leave now?"

Zhang Su suddenly asked.

"Uh... of course you can."

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhang Su walked past the crowd and disappeared from everyone’s sight.

It was as if Zhang Su had completely ignored the Inner Sect Elder’s "suggestion," not having considered it for a moment.

The crowd exchanged glances, and the entire Inner Sect Grand Hall fell into a deathly silence.