Ye Xuan believed that even many of the Soul Master Tower presidents present couldn’t have done much better.

’It doesn’t matter where this kid came from. As long as he doesn’t cross me, I can let him live. But if he doesn’t know what’s good for him, then I’ll be forced to turn this genius into an idiot.’

Unlike Ye Xuan’s indifference, Luan Hong was utterly shocked after learning of Ye Xuan’s results.

This Ye Xuan had actually activated all forty-nine Soul Crystals.

Luan Hong’s first reaction was that it was impossible. But after he saw the dazzlingly brilliant Soul Crystals on Ye Xuan’s table and heard the accounts of those around him, his eyes suddenly narrowed. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

’Could this kid’s technique be the legendary "Hand of God"?’

Luan Hong had heard of a technique that could instantly activate Soul Crystals with a single touch, requiring no analysis or discernment.

However, Luan Hong had only ever heard of this technique. He couldn’t believe that someone in the Thirteen Nations Alliance could possibly master it. After all, even in the faction he belonged to, no one had mastered this legendary method.

’I must be mistaken. But how on earth did this kid activate all the Soul Crystals? His skill is completely beyond the scope of the Thirteen Nations Alliance. Even on the Celestial Profound Continent, he would definitely be considered a top-tier genius.’

In his heart, Luan Hong was still brooding over his own results in the second round.

He had come to the Thirteen Nations Alliance thinking he could easily crush all the geniuses here. He never expected to be thoroughly suppressed by Ye Xuan in two consecutive rounds. For him, this was undoubtedly unacceptable.

’Where did this freak come from? Even in the outside world, he’d definitely be considered a genius.’

There was something too strange about this Ye Xuan.

Beyond his shock, Luan Hong also grew suspicious of Ye Xuan.

He wasn’t an idiot. The first time Ye Xuan beat him could have been a fluke. But now that he’d been beaten a second time, he’d be a complete idiot to still consider it a fluke.

Luan Hong had a premonition. He suspected that Ye Xuan, just like him, was definitely not from the Thirteen Nations Alliance. And in this Floating Light Assembly, this person would become his greatest obstacle.

At this thought, the killing intent in Luan Hong’s heart surged.

But the expression on his face returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

After a short break, the third round of the assessment soon began.

"All contestants, stand at your designated positions according to your number."

Following the order, the two hundred contestants who remained after the second round all stood in their respective places.

"Alright, after the first two rounds of assessment, we have selected two hundred contestants. We are now about to begin the third round of the Floating Light Assembly. The first two rounds tested the individual abilities of a Soul Refiner in various aspects. For the third round, we will be testing the most fundamental and most important skill of every Soul Refiner: condensing a Martial Soul."

As the host’s voice fell, the entire arena was silent. It was clear they had some prior knowledge and were not surprised.

According to precedent, the first two rounds of the Floating Light Assembly’s assessment often changed, but the third round was always, without fail, about condensing a Martial Soul.

The reason Soul Refiners possessed such a great reputation on the Celestial Profound Continent, hailed as the number one profession above Alchemists, Array Masters, and Artifact Refiners, was primarily their ability to condense Martial Souls.

Martial Souls were simply too important to a Martial Artist’s strength.

A strong Martial Soul could allow a Martial Artist’s strength to leap forward astonishingly, while a weak Martial Soul could cause even a powerful expert to struggle constantly against an opponent, unable to resist.

Therefore, Soul Refiners became figures that many Martial Artists had to curry favor with.

A powerful Soul Refiner could not only raise the level of a Martial Artist’s Martial Soul but could even implant new Martial Souls into Martial Artists who didn’t have one, defying the heavens to change their fate.

The prerequisite for this was that the Soul Refiner had to possess the ability to condense a Martial Soul.

The stronger the Martial Soul they could condense, the more popular they were with Martial Artists.

Thus, this third round’s test on condensing a Martial Soul was a mandatory event, just like testing Alchemy for Alchemists.

For an Alchemist, no matter how solid their foundational knowledge, how terrifying their Profound Fire, how good their materials, or how high their rank, if they couldn’t successfully refine a Pill, it was all for nothing.

It was the same for a Soul Refiner. No matter how high the grade of your own Martial Soul, or how skilled your techniques for Awakening Soul and activation were, if you couldn’t condense a Martial Soul, you were just a fraud masquerading as a Soul Refiner.

"Because this third round is especially important, it is divided into three parts, with a total of six hundred points. Each part is worth two hundred points."

When this rule was announced, many of the contestants who were previously lagging in the rankings were overcome with pleasant surprise.

The first two rounds were only worth two hundred points each. Even Ye Xuan, who had performed exceptionally in the second round and earned bonus points, currently only had four hundred and fifty points. But this final round was worth a staggering six hundred points! What did this mean? It meant that as long as they performed well in this third round, it didn’t matter if they had made mistakes in the first two rounds. They could still achieve a good ranking, entering the top fifty or even the top ten.

"The first part is to identify materials. In front of you are many materials. Some of them are scrap, some are in perfect condition, and some have not yet been activated."

"Your task is to sort these materials, identifying the usable ones and discarding the scrap. For each correct selection, you will earn ten points. If you can correctly identify twenty, you will receive two hundred points. Of course, if you make an incorrect selection, points will be deducted. In other words, if you choose one correctly and one incorrectly, you will effectively score zero points."

There were thirty to forty types of materials in front of each person. Selecting twenty correct ones wasn’t actually that difficult. However, the fact that points were deducted for incorrect choices placed a higher demand on the Soul Refiners’ skills.

Fortunately, these deductions only applied to this part of the round and did not affect their previous scores. Even if they chose everything incorrectly in this part, the worst that could happen was scoring zero points.

"The second part: in front of each of you is a type of Martial Soul. You need to write down methods to upgrade this Martial Soul to Two-Stars, based on its specific characteristics. This part is also worth two hundred points. Each method is worth forty points. As long as you write down five methods, you can get the full two hundred points. An incorrect method will result in a forty-point deduction, and not writing anything scores no points."

Hearing the rules, everyone felt a chill. Just like the first part, incorrect answers would lead to deductions. For example, if someone wrote down two methods, one correct and one incorrect, their final score would still be zero.

Therefore, the most important thing in this round was certainty. One couldn’t write down a method they weren’t completely sure of; otherwise, if it was wrong, the loss would outweigh the gain.

Many people secretly reminded themselves not to get careless for the sake of scoring points. This part was all about being steady.

"The third part is to condense a Martial Soul. This part tests not only your ability to condense a Martial Soul, but also your organizational skills. Each of you will be given the same batch of materials and various Soul Crystals. You need to use these materials and Soul Crystals to create a new Martial Soul. Finally, your score will be determined by the strength of the Martial Soul. A grade of ’Special’ will earn two hundred points, ’Superior’ will earn one hundred and fifty, ’Medium’ will earn one hundred, ’Inferior’ will earn fifty, and ’Unranked’ or a failure will score no points."

"This assessment will be determined by the verdict of the Soul-Testing Instrument."

The Soul-Testing Instrument was a device on the Celestial Profound Continent specifically designed to test the grade of Martial Souls.

Normally, it was difficult to say whether a Martial Soul was strong or weak. For instance, the same Martial Soul would have completely different effects and drastically different power when wielded by a strong person versus a weak one.

But despite that, in the world of Soul Refiners, there were still important indicators of a Martial Soul’s strength. For example, a True Fire Martial Soul was stronger than an ordinary flame Martial Soul.

So, the Soul Refiner world developed the Soul-Testing Instrument. It could perform a systematic analysis based on multiple aspects such as Soul Power strength, Martial Soul structure, flexibility, and growth potential, and finally determine the Martial Soul’s grade.

After hearing the competition rules, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but reflect, ’Although the Thirteen Nations Alliance is a remote place, they aren’t completely clueless when it comes to assessing Soul Refiners. At least the first, second, and now the third rounds all test the most fundamental and core aspects of being a Soul Refiner. While many things have been omitted, they’ve at least covered most of the bases.’

Once the rules were announced, the third round of the competition officially began.

Part one: Identifying materials.

Thirty to forty types of materials were laid out before Ye Xuan. Since every contestant had the same materials, an invisible Soul Power barrier materialized around each contestant’s station after the competition began in order to prevent cheating.

This barrier isolated each contestant’s senses and line of sight from the others, while the judges and audience outside could clearly see every contestant’s actions. The competition was very fair.

Identifying materials was child’s play for Ye Xuan.

The selection of materials was determined by the top Soul Refiners from the five major kingdoms, who set the questions. The final selection was made randomly just before the competition started, so there was no chance of the test questions being leaked.

In other words, the test questions were set by Soul Refining masters like Dongfang Yanyu and Zhu Tianlan.

As such, the questions they set were definitely within the scope of their own abilities.

Therefore, when these materials came into Ye Xuan’s sight, they immediately seemed extremely childish.

After just one glance at the nearly forty types of materials, Ye Xuan already knew what to do and began to sort them one by one.

He sorted them at a steady, unhurried pace. After about ten minutes, he had placed every material in its specific spot.

Without even double-checking, Ye Xuan quickly moved on to the second part of the assessment.

The second part of the assessment was to write down methods to help a Martial Soul break through to Two-Stars, based on its characteristics.

The Martial Soul given in the test question was not difficult; it was a relatively common Beast Martial Soul—the White Tiger Martial Soul!

The moment he saw the question, more than a dozen methods for upgrading it instantly surfaced in Ye Xuan’s mind.

Compared to the mere five methods required for the test, this was completely stress-free.

And yet, at this very moment, Ye Xuan’s brows furrowed as if he had encountered a difficult problem.