23. Assessment ceremony

On returning, Xiao Feng saw that Qian Renxue has finished her cultivation so, he introduced Xiao Lan to her. Surprisingly, Xue'er and Xiao Lan got along very well. Xiao Lan started calling Xue'er 'Elder Sister' and both of them started chatting and laughing, completely ignoring Xiao Feng. Seeing this, Xiao Feng just shook his head wryly and sat down to cultivate.

Time flies and a month passed quickly. Today is the Annual assessment ceremony of the Xiao family. This ceremony is held in the training field where numerous disciples of the Xiao family gathers to test their cultivation and exchange ideas. Xiao Feng got up early and informed Xue'er about today and then set off for the training field. It took him about half an hour to reach the training field. Reaching there, a huge area with many disciples came into view. At the center there was a tall and magnificent black stele which helps to measure the cultivation of an individual. On one side of the field is an elevated platform with 3 seats for the patriarch in the middle, great elder on the right and second elder on the left. Both of the elders were Da Dou Shi 4 star and 3 star respectively. There was also an elder with an expressionless face standing beside the black stele who is responsible for testing the disciples. Xiao Feng found a tall tree in a somewhat less crowded area and sat under it. Disciples were still gathering in the field and the area became quite noisy. Xiao Feng suddenly noticed two figures coming. One was a handsome man with a determined face but today his face was a bit gloomy while the other was a graceful and elegant girl walking beside him. They were Xiao yan and Xiao Xun'er. Both of them chose an area not far from Xiao Feng and stood there. Xiao Feng glanced at Xiao Xun'er for a while and then closed his eyes again to rest.

Xiao Xun'er on the other hand was looking around the field and her eyes fell on Xiao Feng who was resting under a tree at a distance. She wanted to go and say hello but seeing Xiao yan beside her, she didn't.

"What will Brother Xiao yan think if I talk to him on my own initiative? Haah....Forget it", Xun'er thought.

After some time, the assessment began. The expressionless elder started calling the names of the disciples one by one.

"Xiao Han"

A burly looking boy walked over in front of the black stele and placed his hand on it. A few moments later, golden words lit up on the stele,

"Dou zhi qi 6th stage"

The elder announced the result and the test continued.

More than a dozen disciples tested but all of their results were average. At this moment, the elder called out.

"Xiao Ning"

A quite handsome looking boy appeared out of the crowd and made his way to the stele with a proud expression. He was the grandson of the 2nd elder. He placed his hand on the black stele and the expressionless elder finally became excited.

"Dou zhi qi 9th stage", he shouted. After a moment, cheers and praises came from the audience. Xiao Ning seemed to enjoy this treatment a lot.

After a long praise, Xiao Ning finally went back and the assessment continued.