Ning Ri stood in a small courtyard, with a sign hanging above its gate: [Heaven Defying Sect Disciple Recruitment Office].
He had come to apply to join the Heaven Defying Sect.
More than a dozen others stood beside him, waiting alongside him.
Not far away stood a stele, as well as an elderly man with the bearing of an immortal, his hair and beard both white.
The Heaven Defying Sect's disciple recruitment process went as follows:
First, spiritual roots would be tested; second, applicants would interview with Elder Xun Zang, who was responsible for recruiting disciples.
They would first test their spiritual roots on the Trial Stele, which would provide a rating for their spiritual roots.
Afterward, this group would interview with Elder Xun Zang beside the stele, who would decide whether they were accepted.
The others could not hear their conversations with Elder Xun Zang.
Thus, Ning Ri had no way of guessing what Elder Xun Zang would ask, much less predicting the questions.
But he felt that he should be able to join the Heaven Defying Sect.
The reason was simple.
Ning Ri was different from the others.
The dozen or so people ahead of him had no cultivation.
But Ning Ri was already a cultivator at the Third Stage Qi Refining!
Ning Ri silently thought to himself, After transmigrating here and fighting alone for so long, I can finally find a sect to settle into.
Having investigated so many sects, the Heaven Defying Sect seems like a good choice now!
For one, though it is not well-known and is not among the ten great righteous sects, everyone in the lands under its rule lives in peace and prosperity. From time to time, people even come down from the mountain to help mortals build cities. It should be a good sect. For another, the other righteous sects would not take me...
Only...
Everyone who finished speaking with an elder of the Heaven Defying Sect wore a deeply contemplative expression. Some even seemed shaken to their core...
The sight left Ning Ri completely baffled.
Just what was this Heaven Defying Sect elder talking to them about?
After waiting in line for a while, only half of the dozen people ahead were admitted into the sect and left with guiding disciples. The rest departed the recruitment courtyard looking as though life had lost all meaning.
Seeing this, Ning Ri became even more confused...
Was the Heaven Defying Sect really this difficult to enter? He had clearly seen several people with decent spiritual roots get eliminated as well.
Then, it was finally Ning Ri's turn.
He stepped forward first and, copying the others, saluted Xun Zang. "This junior, Ning Ri, greets Elder Xun Zang."
Xun Zang smiled gently. "Young Friend Ning, no need for such courtesy. Let me first see your aptitude."
"Yes!"
Ning Ri placed his hand against the Trial Stele...
Whenever the others placed a hand on the Trial Stele, the answer came out within two breaths.
But Ning Ri was different.
Most of the day had passed, yet the Trial Stele still refused to give a result...
Then.
Before Ning Ri could ask Xun Zang, the stele suddenly stood up, transforming into a dark-faced burly man who stared at Ning Ri in utter horror. "Your spiritual roots are incomplete???"
"How could your spiritual roots possibly be incomplete?!"
"Then where did this cultivation of yours come from?"
The stele suddenly turning into a man gave Ning Ri such a fright that his eyes widened, and he hurriedly backed away—
Holy shit?! Wasn't it a stele? How is it a person? You were pretending to be a stele?!
When the dark-faced burly man pretending to be a stele spoke, Xun Zang's expression changed as well. He had never expected Ning Ri to have incomplete spiritual roots.
He immediately grabbed Ning Ri's hand.
Ning Ri instantly felt an irresistible stream of spiritual power enter his meridians. After circling through them once, Xun Zang was equally shocked, staring dumbfoundedly at Ning Ri.
"Eh, Young Friend Ning, you-you-you... this should not be possible."
"You are clearly an ordinary person with incomplete spiritual roots and acupoints full of gray filth and impurities, yet why are you able to enter the Qi Refining stage?"
"This makes no sense!"
Xun Zang had been too embarrassed to put it too bluntly.
He had never seen someone so utterly useless who could still refine qi.
Ning Ri's spiritual roots were incomplete, and on top of that, his acupoints were filled with impurities...
They could no longer even be called impurities. They should be called stones.
Acupoints were used to draw spiritual energy into the body. Only by drawing qi into the body could one refine it for one's own use.
But...
Ning Ri's acupoints were nearly clogged full. How could he possibly refine qi?!
Seeing that Xun Zang had discovered his problem, Ning Ri immediately acted as though it were perfectly natural. He rubbed his nose awkwardly and said, "Elder Xun, this junior does not know what happened either. This junior only knows that one night, I happened to obtain a copy of the [Qi Refining Art]. I cultivated for an entire night without any effect, but after sleeping, I somehow succeeded in refining qi."
"This junior was puzzled, so I asked around everywhere and found the Heaven Defying Sect. I learned that the Heaven Defying Sect is filled with kindhearted, mighty senior experts, and I hoped to seek an answer here."
He knew his own [Acupoint Stones] all too well. The other sects had refused him precisely because of them.
That was why his lie flowed so smoothly.
Xun Zang fell silent...
Ning Ri actually knew what was going on with him.
He had a cheat.
And it was still switched on.
At that moment, a panel appeared before Ning Ri.
It read:
[Host]: Ning Ri [Skills]: 1. [Mortal Blade Technique]: 10 (maxed out) (points can be reset) 2. [Qi Refining Art]: 3 (maxed out) (points can be reset) 3. [Gale Step]: 3 (maxed out) (points can be reset) 4. [Cooking Skill]: 2 (points can be reset) 5... Free Skill Points: 0.
In his previous life, Ning Ri had been struck and sent flying by a truck. He had then been reborn into this world in an infant's body. His parents died early, and he became an orphan, growing up on the meals of a hundred households. When he reached eighteen, he awakened this golden finger.
Though he could not cultivate immortality, every skill he came into contact with could help him obtain skill points, including cooking, running, chopping firewood, boiling water...
For example, he could gain one skill point for every month he spent running.
Among them, he discovered that he was quite talented with the blade. Practicing for half an hour earned him one skill point, so he became the best blade wielder in his village and made a living from it.
Later, he happened to obtain an incomplete version of the [Qi Refining Art].
He began cultivating it, only to discover that there was a problem with his spiritual roots.
Before he even had time to despair over his miserable aptitude, he discovered that his cheat was useful!
He transferred all the skill points from his blade technique into the Qi Refining Art, thereby becoming a cultivator.
But because the Qi Refining Art was incomplete, he could only reach the Third Stage Qi Refining and could not advance any further.
In search of new cultivation arts and techniques, he traveled everywhere. Unfortunately, he had neither connections nor channels, and while Third Stage Qi Refining was stronger than an ordinary mortal, in the Cultivation World, he was at the very bottom of the heap—just another stray dog by the roadside.
Thus, in the end, he had only managed to obtain an incomplete movement technique.
Even with a cheat, he had no way to spread his wings and soar, so after much consideration, he decided to join a sect. As long as he could obtain techniques, there would still be hope for him.
The sects he initially visited all rejected him. In the end, he came to the Heaven Defying Sect.
According to outside rumors—
The Heaven Defying Sect!
It was a sect that defied Heaven itself!
The sect was filled with extraordinary people, and all manner of wondrous individuals could be found here.
Ning Ri believed that since this sect was so heaven-defying, adding one more person like him should not be a problem, right?
If you cannot even take in trash like me, what gives you the right to call yourselves heaven-defying?
If you can nurture someone with aptitude like mine into a success, then that proves your sect is truly heaven-defying!
Moreover, to be cautious, Ning Ri had lived for a time in a city under the Heaven Defying Sect's rule. He found stable prices, good public security, and the sect even occasionally provided daily-paid work to the cities under its rule. It possessed both human concern and formidable strength...
Only then did he finally choose to come here.
However, seeing Xun Zang remain silent now, he still felt somewhat uneasy. Could he truly join the Heaven Defying Sect...
If he could not join, he would have to fend for himself outside, build connections and channels, and search for cultivation arts.
By then, who knew how many years would have passed...
Before you continue