Jian Dan looked across at the Zhēnjūn facing them. The stance clearly signaled a willingness to keep fighting, but her team of five had exhausted their spiritual power. They were in no condition to mount another effective assault—of course, it would be a different matter if they were prepared to throw their lives away.
Jian Dan promptly chose to yield, leading her group in conceding:
"Zhēnjūn, please show mercy. None of us have the strength to continue. We admit defeat."
"Oh?"
Jiàn Shèng Zhēnjūn withdrew his spiritual sword and studied the five pale-faced cultivators across from him. Then he addressed Jian Dan:
"Take out your mission token."
Jian Dan obediently retrieved the token from her storage pouch. In the blink of an eye, it was in Jiàn Shèng Zhēnjūn's hand.
"Your group still had strength left. Why give up?"
Jian Dan turned to glance at her teammates, who were standing only with each other's support.
Zhang Xuefeng had clearly depleted all his spiritual energy and couldn't fight again. Cao Chenfeng, a pure sword cultivator, had unleashed his full power in a single strike—he was visibly spent. Jin Liuli, skilled in alchemy, lacked combat prowess and looked utterly drained. Wei Zhengrong seemed in better shape, and the spiritual fluctuations around him were mild, suggesting his protective robe had absorbed most of the damage. Still, his shifting gaze made Jian Dan shake her head.
After a moment of thought, she turned back to Jiàn Shèng Zhēnjūn and answered calmly:
"Our group fights as one. The team's limits are defined by its weakest member, much like a barrel's capacity depends on its shortest plank. I will not lead them into a desperate battle knowing we are outmatched."
"A flimsy excuse. You could have had the weaker members withdraw and let the others continue."
"Zhēnjūn speaks with reason, but this is a trial, not a real battle. As team leader, I am responsible for the safety of the whole group. Planning and preservation come first. Only by ensuring everyone returns safely can I be worthy of their trust."
"What if it were a real enemy?"
"Then I would fight with all my strength to complete the sect's mission."
"Even knowing you were no match?"
"Then I would do my utmost to survive while still tearing a piece from the enemy. I would never let them walk away unscathed."
"Remember what you've said."
With a sweep of divine sense, Jiàn Shèng Zhēnjūn inscribed something onto the mission token, then handed it back to Jian Dan and allowed them to descend the mountain.
At the time, Jiàn Shèng Zhēnjūn did not know that a hundred years later, Jian Dan and a few others from her team would stand as defenders of a border city. During a bitter battle, they wore down one-third of the invading force through sheer willpower and grit. Covered in wounds and with cultivation levels diminished, they held the line until sect reinforcements arrived. Their triumph would mark the beginning of their renown in the cultivation world.
For now, the group dared not linger. They hurried down the mountain, Jian Dan dragging Zhang Xuefeng along as she used her Shadowstep technique to reach the entrance of the Medicine Peak.
There, a Nascent Soul cultivator retrieved their mission tokens and the storage pouch containing the harvested Yan Fruit, then instructed them to wait aboard the flying vessel.
Upon boarding, they found seventy or eighty cultivators already aboard, resting. Tao Chengfeng's group was among them. Jian Dan gave him a small nod, then found a corner to sit. She gestured for the others to meditate and recover, while she began an idle conversation with Yue Liang, who was perched on her shoulder.
Just before dawn, Qi Hua also arrived with her team, though Jiang Shangxian—the one who had thrown a mid-grade talisman at them earlier—was conspicuously absent. Qi Hua's eyes lit up when she spotted Jian Dan and she stepped forward to greet her, but Yue Liang, still resting on Jian Dan's shoulder, let out a small sound that halted her in her tracks.
Three days passed in this way. When the time was up, the flying vessel rose into the air and returned to the plaza of the Tianjian Sect. After the final selection round, only 156 cultivators remained, and most of them were high-stage cultivators. Zhang Xuefeng was now the only remaining Qi Refining stage cultivator.
Realizing this, Zhang Xuefeng felt immensely relieved. Had he not joined Shan Zhēnrén's group, he doubted he would have made it this far. His heart surged with emotion, though he forced himself to remain composed.
"Silence."
Jian Wu Zhēnjūn appeared at the right moment to announce the results.
"First, congratulations to all of you gathered here. You have passed the selection and are now on the path to joining the Law Enforcement Hall. However..."
Hearing this, Jian Dan immediately understood. Jian Wu Zhēnjūn's words meant that becoming a member of the Law Enforcement Hall wasn't guaranteed just yet. Here came the twist.
"You must still undergo comprehensive training to better fulfill the responsibilities of the Law Enforcement Hall. The following names will now step forward and leave with Xiè Zhēnrén: Zhang Xuefeng, Zhao Hongsheng, Qian Sanliang, Sun Miaomiao."
Zhang Xuefeng hadn't expected to be called first. He stepped out at once, bowed to Jian Dan, then walked over to stand behind Xiè Zhēnrén and awaited his next chapter.
Next, Jin Liuli, Wei Zhengrong, Cao Chenfeng, and Qi Hua—who had fought Jian Dan's group earlier—were all called in the second batch. A few among them had also brought back spirit beast cubs from Medicine Peak: spirit monkeys, winged tigers, snow rabbits, and more.
Most of those left were cultivators at the late-stage Golden Core or Nascent Soul realm.
Jian Dan and Tao Chengfeng, both only mid-stage Golden Core, stood out clearly among the crowd. Yue Liang was curled around Jian Dan's neck like a fluffy scarf, completely still.
In truth, Jian Dan had already given Yue Liang spiritual spring water during their return trip. Yue Liang had sniffed it once and immediately recognized its value, drinking it all in one gulp. Then she had transformed into a neck wrap and entered meditation, using the spring water to heal her hidden injuries from nearly self-destructing. As she refined her meridians, her physical strength also grew.
Jian Wu Zhēnjūn now stood upon the high platform. With a sweep of his sleeve, white light drifted toward the remaining dozen cultivators.
"These are your individual trial missions. You must complete them."