The Urban Dao Child.

Yang Dao did not bother about anything and just kept lying under the shed of the tree. The boy had no regard for the exam. It was already noon by the time the True Disciples finished taking their turns. 

Elder Jing said, "The prime disciples, can now start." 

Athena looked at Yang Dao, who was sleeping under the tree with his mouth wide open and even had traces of drool on the corner of his mouth. She walked over and crouched down beside him and gently shook his shoulder as she called out, "Dao. Wake up, it is our turn." 

Yang Dao suddenly sat up and said, "My chicken rolls?" he stared at his palm holding his sword, then he turned his head to Athena and said, "You owe me five chicken rolls." 

Athena realized that the boy was dreaming of food and said, "Okay, Young Master Yang, I owe you five chicken rolls. Now, will you come and take the exam, everyone is waiting." 

Yang Dao stood up from the ground and stretched his body lazily as he walked forward, he said, "Trent, race to the top?" 

Trent said, "You got it." 

Daniel and the rest of the people also nodded at the same time. Daina said, "We should bet." 

Yang Dao said, "The loser treats food. I call dibs on chicken rolls." 

Athena facepalmed behind him, this kid could only think of food and food. The rest thought about it and nodded. Then they all ran up to the staircase. Yang Dao was the first to set foot on the steps. As soon as he placed his foot down, he was overwhelmed by strong pressure. This sort of pressure was two times stronger than what he had felt at the war peak. 

More than physique this pressure acted on his spiritual essence. Supressing it from being circulated, another thing that happened was the illusion array getting activated. The array was triggered quickly, and Yang Dao sensed the scenery change, he saw a lot of blood and mangled corpses as if a war taking place around him. 

Then he heard a hoarse voice, "Those who leave the Sovereign sect will be spared, this is the last chance, leave and save your lives." 

However, the boy snorted and said, "If I only had this puny resolve, I would never have become a cultivator." and he brandished his sword. 

He took up the arms to fight for his sect till the last breath. His consciousness returned to his body and he saw that everyone around him was also standing on the first floor. The boy did not know that what was like a few moments for him was just a blink of an eye outside. Human consciousness was faster to process such things. 

The boy raised his left foot and stepped on the second step. The situations were similar to what he had faced inside the illusion on the first step. However, the result was the same, he was able to move forward within a second again. People who were watching from the side were shocked, they did not expect this child to be so monstrous. 

When Yang Dao took the lead to the third step, the other four took steps on the second step.

...

Elder Chime said, "This young child is a prodigy. What I would like to see is his performance after he steps past the barrier of seventy steps." his eyes were brimming with curiosity and anticipation. 

Elder Jing Shui asked, "What do you mean?" in confusion. 

Elder Chime said, "Step seventy-six to ninety-nine, have real illusion array. It will make a person hallucinate to the point where they cannot tell reality from illusion, it will not harm him but we will be able to see what he is truly made of." as he chuckled, musing at the upcoming events.

Jing Shui said, "If any harm befell him in your real illusion, then you will be answering to the sect master on your own." she berated him coldly. 

Elder Chime said, "It is not a big deal... right?" he was now wary, realizing that in his excitement he must have put himself in danger. Elder Jing did not reply and they continued observing the assessment from the high platform. 

...

The disciples under the staircase were surprised to see the speed of Yang Dao. The Dao Child was moving forward at an unprecedented speed as if he was climbing normal stairs. Someone commented, "This guy is a human right?"

Disciple 2, "Do you think beasts can do this?" 

Disciple 3, "He is the prime disciple of the sect master. This much should be fine, right?" 

...

The discussions kept going, and Yang Dao became famous, the whole sect was able to see this exam being telecasted. Inside the crowd of spectating disciples, nobody noticed a pair of cunning and scornful eyes aimed at Yang Dao. This pair of eyes have been locked on to Yang Dao ever since he has made an entrance on the Luan. 

This gaze belonged to Yue Ming. He was not sure why, but inside his heart, it was like a storm. He hated Yang Dao being so much in the limelight. It was because of his limited potential he was unable to excel, but he was not weak anymore. He had stepped forward to the peak of the spirit gathering realm. 

He had a fateful encounter when he was out for a task in the sect and ate a spirit fruit that unblocked his meridians. His cultivation also climbed three realms because of this and he was now also slowly gaining fame in the circle of the true disciples. He would go and initiate a friendly duel and win as well. 

Yue Ming has become stronger in the past twenty days, but his dedication to visiting his sister, Yue Jing was still unwavering. Athena would exchange some words and then walk away in the name of cultivation. He was not a part of this assessment as he was the older disciple so he was not participating and could not offer his help. 

He was suspicious of things when he saw how Athena was always looking at Yang Dao's visage sneakily. He did not take much of an account of it earlier but now it seems he will have to confront her after he is done with his own upcoming assessments. 

...

Yang Dao had climbed to the obstacle of thirty stairs while the rest were still at twenty steps. Daina said, "Dao, you slow down, I will not buy you chicken roll otherwise." 

The boy turned back to look at her in shock and said, "You cheater. Humph, do not buy them, I will ask Senior sister Alisha to make them and you will get none." 

With that said, he took another step, and this time his speed was increased to another level, if earlier he was taking a few seconds to step over, now it had become literally a blink. Yes, it looked as if the boy was walking in the park. 

The pressure was strong enough to make the others feel a burden on their bodies but Yang Dao was walking on the steps like it was nothing. The people did not know that he was circulating the source essence of the earth element inside his body. His body was sturdier and stronger than the rest of the people. 

This was his strength and not cheating. Well, he was a cheat of nature over other people. So, this was fine. He walked at a calm pace and reached the sixtieth step and was very fast in it. The other people were shocked. 

Trent was on the thirty-first step and asked, "Daina, why did you provoke this guy?" 

Daina sighed and said, "Who knew he would be this monstrous?" 

The four of them were almost on par with each other and would move forward one after the other. The illusions were becoming stronger and that affected their pace. They were already gritting their teeth to walking forward. 

...

Elder Chime said, "The real exam will begin now." 

The rest of the elders nodded around him. Only two of the elder council figureheads were here the rest were not. They were accompanied by low-level elders, the masters of the true disciples. 

...

Yang Dao took a step forward and landed on the seventy-sixth step and sensed the staircase shake, he looked back and found that Athena and the rest lay in blood pools. He was shocked, confused at what was going on. A strong killing intent made him shiver. He grabbed the hilt of his sword and pulled it out of the sheath. 

Everyone in the surroundings could not understand what was Yang Dao doing, but they all sensed one thing, the sharpness radiating from his body, that made them squint their eyes and avoid looking at him. 

Yang Dao did not wait and slashed his sword behind him. He wanted to kill the person who held the intention to kill him. The killing intent vanished the moment he slashed. Yang Dao looked around and found that the people were gazing at him with doubtful gazes. 

Athena and the rest have returned to normal and were looking at him. The boy was confused and came to standstill, without moving forward. After a few minutes, he sat down on the step with his eyes closed.. He was going to meditate and think about what just happened.