Mu Jinyu retracted his Divine Sense and subconsciously started to circulate the "Green Emperor's Wood Emperor Art".
To his surprise, not only the living flowers and trees succumbed to the "Green Emperor's Wood Emperor Art", allowing the cultivator to examine them at will, but he could also clearly sense the wooden dummies that had been chopped down and crafted, in the same way.
"How miraculous is this?"
In Mu Jinyu's "vision", these wooden dummies became utterly transparent, allowing him to see all the intricate mechanisms and precision parts inside.
And inside one of the unchallenged wooden dummies, he saw a small and exquisite token hidden in a secret compartment in its chest, with the word "pass" written on it.
"Looking at it this way, it's not difficult at all."
Mu Jinyu smiled effortlessly and then leisurely stepped forward, walking towards the wooden dummy standing still in its place.
As soon as he was within three feet of the wooden dummy.
Seemingly triggering a response, the wooden dummy's eyes lit up with a red glow, and it began to throw punches at Mu Jinyu!
"Stand down."
Mu Jinyu did not lift a hand, he merely spoke softly, and his not-so-powerful Green Emperor True Yuan surged out, covering the wooden dummy, which immediately ceased operation.
"Click."
The secret compartment was activated, and the wooden dummy's chest automatically split open, revealing a delicate wooden token inside.
Mu Jinyu reached out and took it, then thought for a moment. Since it was so easy, he decided to collect several more pass tokens, in case Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan were unlucky and failed to get any, he could still help them.
With this in mind, Mu Jinyu pocketed the pass token and, ignoring the rigid wooden dummy, stepped forward again toward the depths of the passage.
"My God, what just happened?"
When Mu Jinyu departed, the more than ten Outer Sect Disciples resting in the passageway, not engaged with the wooden dummies, witnessed the scene where Mu Jinyu had just taken the pass token. They exclaimed in astonishment.
"What was that about? Did he seem to know that the pass token was inside that dummy, so he just broke it open to take it and move on to the next target?"
"That shouldn't be possible, all these wooden dummies are shielded from Divine Sense probing by a formation, he couldn't possibly have seen it!"
"So that means... he was just lucky? The first time he fought a wooden dummy, he encountered one with a pass token?"
"Gosh, I'm feeling so sour again, I'm so envious!"
"Damn it, I should have chosen that wooden dummy just now. Then I would have passed the selection! Aaaaah!!!"
"Hey, that's weird, if he's already got the pass token, why keep going deeper? Why not just leave?"
"Who knows, maybe he wants to get a few more for friends? Ugh, I'm feeling envious again..."
These people were crazed with envy and no longer rested, immediately abandoning the wooden dummies in that passage to quickly follow Mu Jinyu!
...
Outer Gate Square.
On the high platform.
Lin Feng and Elder Cheng didn't converse, focusing their gaze on the screening passages, quietly waiting for disciples to emerge.
It had already been ten minutes since the screening passage opened.
But so far, not a single person has successfully obtained a pass token and come out.
However, neither Lin Feng nor Elder Cheng showed any signs of anxiety.
Because this was normal.
Under normal circumstances, it would take at least half an hour for the first person to come out with a pass token.
After all, among the hundreds of wooden dummies in the first level with only Body Refining Realm strength, there was only one pass token placed.
The chances of encountering it were incredibly slim.
Those Outer Gate experts who chose the wrong channel would continue moving forward; after all, the time spent challenging countless first-tier wooden dummies was better used persisting down one path. In doing so, they were more likely to obtain the Pass Token ahead of time by challenging wooden dummies at the first or second level of Divinity Transformation Realm.
However, now that ten minutes had passed, those who had failed would likely be giving up and walking out soon.
And so it was.
Just as this thought occurred to them, dozens of people came out of the selection channel, supporting each other.
Their appearance was rather wretched!
"Ouch, it hurts so badly..."
"Alas, I've failed again. When will I be able to defeat a wooden dummy?"
"I've already failed the wooden dummy challenge three times. If I can't pass the Outer Gate's grand examination next year, I'll be expelled from the sect, wuuu..."
"I'm in the same boat. Most of us joined the Heavenly Sword Faction during the same period, and we're the ones doing the worst. I guess next year we'll likely be expelled from the sect!"
These individuals lamented in low voices, an atmosphere of melancholy and desolation enveloping them.
Their strength, mostly ranging from Early to Completion Stage of Energy Transformation, indeed made challenging the first-tier wooden dummies, which possessed strength from Peak Energy Transformation to Half-Step Divine Realm, quite difficult.
Yet, according to their conversation, they had challenged the selection channel three or four times, having stayed in the Heavenly Sword Faction's Outer Gate for about a year and a half to two years. However, their strength still hadn't broken through from the Body Refining Realm to the Divinity Transformation Realm, indicating their poor aptitude!
Ultimately, being expelled from the sect was only to be expected!
Lin Feng and Elder Cheng listened to their conversation, remaining expressionless and standing in place, not bothering to comfort them.
These individuals not only had poor aptitude but also lacked perseverance. They feared sustaining severe injuries in battles against the wooden dummies, so they chose to exit early, truly a defeated mindset!
The use of wooden dummies as a selection tool for the Outer Gate's grand examination was not meant to be merely an obstacle; it held deeper significance.
After all, even the weakest wooden dummy possessed the strength of Peak Energy Transformation. If these disciples were willing to contemplate the combat experience gained while engaging with them, they would become more resilient with each setback instead of repeatedly facing defeat!
Even if they couldn't defeat the wooden dummies at first, retreating three feet would make the dummies cease their attack. If they rested for a while and then continued the fight, persisting slowly until the end of the Outer Gate's grand examination, wouldn't their gains be dozens of times greater than if they had exited the selection channel prematurely?!
Regrettably, there were far too few Outer Sect Disciples who understood this principle.
Before long, another group of people exited the selection channel.
Upon seeing this, Lin Feng and Elder Cheng's expressions turned sour, and they turned their heads away, choosing not to pay attention to this scene for now.
At this moment.
The crowd suddenly became noisy.
"What's going on? Why has he come out too?"
"Could it be that he was lucky and found the Pass Token on the first level?"
"Doesn't seem like it. I feel it's more like he gave up voluntarily, just like us!"
"Ha, could it be that this genius, participating in the Outer Gate's grand examination for the first time, got a bit flustered by the selection channel and decided to give up, planning to try again next time?"
As these disciples kept talking, their tone grew increasingly mocking.
Upon hearing their words, Lin Feng and Elder Cheng were stirred and immediately turned their heads to look towards the entrance of the selection channel!
Indeed, it was Mu Jinyu who had come out!
Lin Feng and Elder Cheng's eyes widened in surprise, calculating in their minds. It had been only about ten minutes since Mu Jinyu and hundreds of others had entered the selection channel until now.
Coming out so quickly, had he actually obtained the Pass Token before exiting?
Or, as these people speculated, did he feel that the channel was too complicated and chose to exit for now?
Thinking of how Mu Jinyu had declined the Sect Leader's offer to take him as a direct disciple, insisting on joining the Outer Gate, Lin Feng felt it might indeed be possible.
Lin Feng's brows became deeply furrowed.
Elder Cheng, however, had a slightly different idea from Lin Feng. Seeing Mu Jinyu coming out, his eyes showed some astonishment, but his expression didn't reveal much surprise.