"Oh? Shi Qilian? You're the first one! Come on up!" Shi Xingtai shouted this statement out, attracting the other participants' attention to look towards the direction where Shi Qilian was.
"Eh? Me?" Shi Qilian was dumbfounded at first glance after knowing that the first person Shi Xingtai picked was him. Although he knew that the placement of the qi strands were completely random, he kind of felt bitter at the fact that he was the ice breaker.
Slowly trudging towards the raised platform, Shi Qilian bowed respectfully in front of Shi Xingtai before looking at the glass-looking mastery pillar as he stretched all of his fingers and cracked the joints, preparing for his strongest attack.
At these moments, Shi Shisi came closer to Shi Li, whom Shi Li noticed and waved with a smile.
"So far, I only know the weapons of four people. You having an extremely thin sword, Shi Daoliang having a dominating blade, Shi Dengtie having a spear, and Shi Huaqiang using her palms. Can you tell me what Shi Qilian uses?" Looking at Shi Shisi, Shi Li sparked a conversation with him as they were looking at Shi Qilian on the raised platform, wondering the level of his skill mastery.
"He uses claw techniques," Shi Shisi replied in a monotonous manner. "Ever since I've started joining the Novice tournament, Shi Qilian appeared on the second consecutive year of me entering the tournament, me being only 13 years old at the time."
"So we better expect a mastery level of Adept or higher."
Sha!
Raising his right hand towards the air as his hand turned into the shape of an eagle's claw, Shi Qilian slashed downwards with all of his fingers, colliding with the mastery pillar as the faint sound of an eagle's cry resounded.
"[Grand Eagle Claw]!"
At the instant Shi Qilian was finished attacking, the mastery pillar went to work and easily calculated Shi Qilian's mastery level of the [Grand Eagle Claw].
Within the glasslike pillar, a murky haze of orange within hints of yellow wisps could be seen, making Shi Xingtai look at Shi Qilian with a smile.
"Oh? Halfway to Elite level? Not bad! I hope you can reach the Elite level in the next tournament!"
After saying a few words of respect, Shi Qilian bowed once more in front of Shi Xingtai before going down the raised platform. At this time, Shi Xingtai tapped on one of the 9 remaining qi strands that pertained to the 10 chosen clan members.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the qi strand darted towards a participant that looked handsome as he radiated a feeling that he was a sword and the sword was him. This person was none other than Shi Daoliang.
"Shi Daoliang! Come on up!"
Without minding the gazes of the other participants, Shi Daoliang hastily went up the raised platform and unsheathed his blade as he faced the mastery pillar from the side. Knowing what he was going to do, he slashed down at a diagonal line, as he shouted, "Ha!"
"[One Fleeting Slash]!"
Bang!
A loud explosion sound reverberated throughout the center stage, which made most of the participants cover their ears at the loudness of the explosion. Not long after, the glasslike pillar revealed Shi Daoliang's skill mastery to everyone.
The insides of the glasslike pillar were filled with a murky haze of yellow within hints of green that covered the edges of the yellow haze, making Shi Xingtai look at Shi Daoliang with respect and slight awe.
"Heh...to think that you're near to reaching the Master level, how far have you hidden your strength?" Shi Xingtai joked.
"I didn't hide at all, I just used all I had." Shi Daoliang didn't get the hint that Shi Xingtai's statement was a joke, hence he responded in a serious manner. Taking a few seconds for him to realize the emotions behind Shi Xingtai's statement, Shi Daoliang's eyes slightly widened as he hastily bowed towards Shi Xingtai before going down the raised platform.
Nodding inwardly at the performance of the first two clan members that he picked, Shi Xingtai then tapped out on one of the 8 remaining strands as it darted towards the person beside Shi Li not long after. With a slight hint of shock, Shi Xingtai shouted, "Shi Shisi! Come on up!"
Shi Shisi's eyes slightly widened with surprise before returning to normal. He then looked at Shi Li and said, "I guess I'll be going first."
"Good luck," Shi Li replied without missing a beat. Getting a faint smile from Shi Shisi afterwards, Shi Shisi went up the raised platform and did the usual routine before standing in front of the mastery pillar by the side, unsheathing his extremely thin sword. To be honest, if it went any thinner and became circular in shape, it would be considered a rapier.
"Hah! [Void Pierce]!"
Bang!
A loud explosion sound that didn't lose out to the loudness of the previous explosion resounded throughout the center stage, making the other participants cover their ears once more, before looking at Shi Shisi's skill mastery with shock.
The insides of the glasslike pillar was actually the same as before. A yellow haze covered with a green haze around the edges. Looking at Shi Shisi with surprise, Shi Xingtai couldn't help but say, "Another person nearing the Master level? You also hid yourself well!"
Letting out a forced smile out of amicability, Shi Shisi replied, "Not at all! This skill mastery is the product of 7 years of effort." After that, he went down the raised platform and went back to Shi Li's side.
"So? What did you think?" Shi Shisi couldn't help but ask Shi Li.
"What do you mean?" Of course, Shi Li didn't know what Shi Shisi was implying, so he was at a loss for words on what to reply.
Before Shi Shisi could follow up with another question, a qi strand darted towards Shi Li's direction, prompting Shi Li to look at Shi Shisi with an apologetic smile and said, "We'll continue later."
Letting out a soft sigh before faintly smiling, Shi Shisi nodded. "Alright. Good luck."
"Thanks." The smile on Shi Li's face turned cheerful as he walked his way towards the raised platform and did the usual routine just like the previous people who went up the raised platform.
Grabbing his sword Sundering Flame from his back, Shi Li slashed downwards directly at the mastery pillar before shouting, "[Flame Slash]!"
Fwoosh!
An orange sword light with wisps of condensed golden sword light shot out of the sword and collided with the mastery pillar. Since the mastery pillar was quick in calculating, Shi Li's mastery was shown not long after.
Inside the glasslike pillar, unlike the others before him, in the middle was a condensed red crystal that glistened under the rays of the dozen spotlights that lit up the center stage.
The other participants saw the color inside the glasslike pillar and couldn't help but say, "Eh? Shi Li only has a Novice level of skill mastery? Did the strength he show in the first test was just pure strength?"
At this moment, Shi Xingtai looked at the pillar and couldn't help but gasp out of shock. Hastily walking towards the pillar and blinking a few times to see if he was hallucinating, he then shouted, "Shi Li doesn't have a skill mastery of the Novice level!"
"Rather, he's refining the Novice level, having a skill mastery of Supreme Novice level!"