The three great Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, with the most powerful Palace Master Yuan Li having always closely followed Jiang Yao, secretly protecting her.
And now, because the "Sacred Shock Drum" had been activated, and its sound had spread throughout the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace, the other two great Palace Masters, Skyscraper Palace Master and Mu Yao Palace Master, also turned their attention to Ye Chen's group of newly admitted disciples, rushing towards the Hidden Dragon Hall.
While countless disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and the Heavenly Saints on Heavenly Saint Mountain were heading to the "Holy Temple Tower" of the Hidden Dragon Hall, in the deepest part of the vast territory of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, within a blue-ice lake spanning ten thousand meters in a valley, the Ice Blue Phoenix, which even Palace Master Yuan Li had once respectfully addressed as a predecessor, once again rose from within the lake.
"Princess Yao!"
At this moment, the divine eyes of the Ice Blue Phoenix, traversing the void, directly gazed upon Jiang Yao in the Hidden Dragon Hall.
From its eyes, tears began to fall one after another.
Seventeen years ago, it was this very phoenix that had carried Jiang Yao, evading the pursuit of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, and had fled to this Lower Realm.
True Gods of the Minor Spirit Realm could not easily descend to lower planes like the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, for they would be repelled by the combined forces of the entire continent.
For seventeen years, due to the rebounding injuries from forcefully shuttling through the void, and even more so due to the fear of exposing her identity and putting Jiang Yao in danger, the Ice Blue Phoenix had sent Jiang Yao to Fairy Gala, sending her far away to the south.
Throughout these years, it had quietly watched over Jiang Yao, protecting her.
However, it had been seventeen years, and it had never been so close to Jiang Yao, never like this!
Now, at last, its powerful Princess Yao, relying on her own strength, had come to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and upon arrival, she was able to trigger an upheaval throughout the Palace.
Finally, she had come back to its side once again!
This of course made the Ice Blue Phoenix's tears flow down.
These were tears of excitement.
These were even more so, tears of pride!
Its Princess Yao, coming from the divine clans of the Upper Realm, wherever she went, was always that strong!
"Princess," the Ice Blue Phoenix looked at Jiang Yao, "this time, you have once again returned to my side."
"I will definitely protect you well, support you well!"
"When you're powerful enough to protect yourself, we will together, return to the Minor Spirit Realm, return to our clan!"
Amid tears, the Ice Blue Phoenix spoke with determination.
As countless gazes converged on the Hidden Dragon Hall, and even as many Heavenly Saints' divine senses probed into the War Beast Hall, the first stage of the assessment within the War Beast Hall still continued.
Although no one directly entered the War Beast Hall to observe the assessment, powerful and immense pressures kept probing within the War Beast Hall. From the outside, one could see densely packed figures surrounding the War Beast Hall.
All the new disciples inside the War Beast Hall knew that because of the ringing of the "Sacred Shock Drum," the War Beast Hall had caught the attention of the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace!
They were undergoing the assessment under the watchful eye of the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace!
At this thought, many new disciples, even became so excited and nervous that their bodies started to tremble uncontrollably!
Among the twelve who passed the first part of the assessment, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao's performances were the most outstanding. Besides them, a young man at the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill also showed exceptional performance, though not as great as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.
The rest, like Liu Qingmei, were fairly good, while the others achieved miserable victories against the Bloodstripe War Beasts.
However, even a miserable victory was significant, as among the new disciples selected by the Eight Great Envoys this time, having twelve advance to the second part was an excellent result in recent years.
Furthermore, among them, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had even triggered the Sacred Shock Drum, a phenomenon that hadn't occurred in nearly a thousand years!
As the first part of the assessment ended, everyone outside the Hidden Dragon Hall turned their eyes to the "Holy Temple Tower" standing in the courtyard behind the hall.
This was where the second part of the new disciples' entry assessment would take place!
Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the other ten disciples who had passed the first part, as well as the new disciples who failed, were led by the Envoys out of the Hidden Dragon Hall and to the side of the Holy Temple Tower.
"Who is it that triggered the Sacred Shock Drum?"
As Ye Chen and the other twelve new disciples who had passed the first part arrived outside the Hidden Dragon Hall, all gazes were focused on them.
The Heavenly Saints who had investigated the following assessments were also concentrating on Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and a few others who had taken the assessments earlier.
Since they had witnessed the subsequent assessments, the one who triggered the "Sacred Shock Drum" was certainly among these early assessors.
The majority of gazes fell on Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.
Not only because of Jiang Yao's stunning figure and Ye Chen's refined and tall demeanor but also because they were profoundly distinct from all other new disciples!
The discerning eyes of the multitude of Heavenly Saints, as well as the senior disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, could immediately tell that these two young disciples were likely the strongest amongst the newcomers, and they were the ones who had triggered the Sacred Shock Drum!
Among the countless gazes directed at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, Yin Qianjie from the Western Wilderness's Ten Great Demon Sects narrowed his eyes when he looked at the pair, hiding profound and inscrutable intentions within.
It wasn't just these countless people sizing up Ye Chen and the others. The twelve new disciples who had passed the first part also raised their heads to look at the dense crowd suspended in the void.
In this crowd were senior disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace from the True Qi Realm, the Spirit Sea Realm, the Rotating Pill Realm, and even Heavenly Saints cultivating on Heavenly Saint Mountain. Among these saints were over thirty auras belonging to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!
Ye Chen and the others speculated that perhaps even the three late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace might be watching them from an unseen location.
With this thought, all twelve disciples who had advanced to the second part were filled with surging emotions, even Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt a wave of excitement.
After all, what they faced now were countless senior disciples and Heavenly Saints of the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace!
There were as many as seven to eight thousand senior disciples, and the Heavenly Saints numbered over a thousand!
This was the central region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the power of the mighty second-tier sect, the Heavenly Sacred Palace, such an overwhelming number of strong individuals was truly awe-inspiring!
Thankfully, the Heavenly Sacred Palace did not meddle in the affairs of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, for if all these Heavenly Saints were mobilized, it would be difficult for anyone on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to withstand this incredible force!
Amidst so many watchful eyes, the twelve new disciples who had passed the first part couldn't help but feel excited, unable to stop their breath from unconsciously tightening.
In the end, their gazes all fixed on the place of their next assessment, the Holy Temple Tower, the nine-tiered pagoda towering in the courtyard behind the Hidden Dragon Hall!
It was within this Holy Temple Tower that they would launch their challenge under the watchful eyes of countless onlookers, to earn their place in the First Holy Temple, to gain the attention of powerful Heavenly Saints, and to establish their footing in the Heavenly Sacred Palace by showing their true strength!