Chapter 60: Test of Skill Mastery
After hearing the words that came out of Shi Xingtai's mouth, those who were able to clear 80 laps and above had their eyes shining like their stars that were gradually showing up on the slightly darkening sky, while those who were only able to clear 70 laps and below had looks of regret on their faces as they set a goal for themselves to enhance their stamina and strength.
For those who were close to clearing 80 laps but didn't have the extra stamina to do so, like those who were at around 76 to 79 laps, they didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the current situation. In the end, they let out a soft sigh as they would aim to enhance their stamina and speed after this tournament.
...
A few minutes later after announcing these small incentives to the participants, Shi Xingtai ordered some of the clan members at the Martial Adept stage to give out the specific pills for those who were able to meet the requirements for the rewards. Since they were ordered directly by one of the Elders of the Shi clan, these clan members didn't dare to dilly-dally any further and gave the three types of pills out to each and every person.
For those who were able to finish 80 to 89 laps, they received a Calming Mind Pill from the clan members. This pill was sky blue in color and was half the size of a fingernail. The sky blue color was quite murky, but once a person that has attained inner energy tries to scan this pill, the energy within this murky sky blue pill is actually plenty for a pill of that quality.
As for those who finished 90 to 95 laps, they were able to get a Marrow Tempering Pill from the clan members, which was a clear red pill that exuded a faint tyrannical aura around it. From this tyrannical aura alone, one could easily deduce that this pill would help boost the chances of the cultivators on breaking through to a higher realm, albeit by a small amount.
And then, for those who cleared 96 to 100 laps, they received a Spirit Gathering Pill from the clan members, which was the same quality of cultivation pills that Shi Li received from his father after he completed the challenge his father gave him in the Forest of Ruin.
Shi Li looked at the Spirit Gathering Pill that was given to him and lightly smiled before hiding it inside one of the inner pockets in his robes.
Shi Bazhong, who was one of the youngest clan members out of the 10 chosen clan members of the first test, accidentally saw Shi Li's motions and couldn't help but come closer to him as he shouted, "Big Brother Shi Li!"
"Hm?" Shi Li turned his head around to face Shi Bazhong and continued to smile as he said, "Oh, Shi Bazhong. What do you need?"
"Big Brother..." Shi Bazhong stood in front of Shi Li and pointed towards Shi Li's robe as he asked, "Why didn't you eat the pill once you got it? Wouldn't pills increase your strength in a short amount of time?"
Shi Li listened to Bazhong's question and instantly understood what he was trying to convey. With the memories of the novels he has read in the past, he replied with a smile, "Bazhong, you shouldn't pursue getting strong extremely fast. Sure, you might become strong within minutes or so, but have you considered your foundation before getting even stronger?"
Hearing this answer, Shi Bazhong felt enlightened as he nodded. "I see! So that's why Big Brother didn't eat it just now. That's because he's setting his sights even farther!"
Shi Li couldn't help but let his eyes widen as he hastily concealed it. Lightly coughing afterwards, he replied, "Yeah, you could think of it that way." Since Bazhong was only 13 years old, it was understandable that some sentences that came out of his mouth might sound wrong, but all of them would be from an innocent perspective.
...
After distributing all of the pills to those who deserved the rewards for their efforts, Shi Xingtai clapped to gain the attention of all the participants, whether they received a pill or not. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Shi Xingtai now divulged the rules of the third test.
"Just like the first test that tested strength and the second test that tested endurance, this third test will not disqualify anyone at all. As this test will also let the clan members see how much you've improved from the last tournament."
"The third test shall focus on one thing and one thing only. Skill mastery! As we all know, the mastery of a skill is split into five levels: Novice, Adept, Elite, Master, and Perfect level from lowest to highest respectively. In the world of cultivation, not only does your cultivation realm count as strength, but the mastery of your skills as well!"
"Sure, you might be a cultivator of the Martial Master realm, but you only have skills that are mastered to the Novice level. Compared to a cultivator of the Martial Elite stage that has skills mastered to the Master level, who would win?"
Clapping his hands twice to signal some clan members of the Martial Adept stage, these clan members brought a pillar that looked similar to the strength measuring pillar, but was instead made out of a glasslike material, letting anyone see through the pillar.
Piquing the interest of the participants, Shi Xingtai smiled. "We didn't have this test last tournament so I shall explain to you what this pillar is. This is the mastery pillar, the relative of the strength measuring pillar that measures mastery of skills."
"To be honest, we don't know how it works, but any skill you throw at it will be gauged according to their mastery level. To the others, to know what mastery level the participant up the raised platform is at, you just have to remember five colors.
"Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue."
"These colors are basically the levels of mastery, with Red pertaining to the Novice level, Orange pertaining to the Adept level, and so on and so forth."
After explaining the rules of the third test, Shi Xingtai released 153 strands of qi once more. But what was different this time when compared to the time when he released qi on the first test was that...
Ten of these qi strands were separated from the rest.
Of course, the participants, being cultivators, had keen eyes that wouldn't let this sight escape. Murmurs and conversations started popping up all of a sudden, making Shi Xingrai chuckle as he explained.
"I see that you guys have quick minds to think what's going to happen in this test."
"That's right! I'm going to pick from the 10 chosen clan members of the first test. Showing off powerful strength on the first test, that meant they would have a great mastery of their skill right?"
Whoosh!
As he explained, Shi Xingtai tapped on one of the 10 separated qi strands, before it darted towards one of the 10 chosen clan members.
Revealing a small smile, Shi Xingtai shouted, "Oh? Shi Qilian? You're the first one! Come on up!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TrueDawn
TrueDawn I apologize for not uploading a chapter for two consecutive days. Don't worry, I'll definitely pay back my chapter debt.
In the meantime, please do enjoy this chapter.