Golden Spirit Sect Assessment

The Stone Turtle's belly was dark red, its shell pale blue-green, and the Bagua patterns were a deep ink-black, neat and symmetrical as though precisely measured and calibrated.

More remarkable still, the entire stone was covered in fine cracks, resembling at first glance the crackle patterns of Jun porcelain.

Ji An remembered when he had found this strange stone; he had thought it was a fired porcelain piece.

It had been late autumn then. The stone had lain quietly in a mountain stream, where the flowing water was icy cold, yet the Stone Turtle had felt warm and smooth to the touch.

Ji An suddenly sensed the Stone Turtle, which existed within his conscious mind, appear at the spot between his brows. Then, following the Immortal Meridian he had just opened, it moved into his Qi Sea Acupoint. It was an exceedingly wondrous experience.

Yet as long as he calmed himself and sensed carefully, he could still feel the Stone Turtle's presence, while those few lines of text surfaced in his mind as well.

Letting out a breath, Ji An relaxed. He had truly feared that his golden finger would lose its effect after moving house.

As for the Stone Turtle that had sent his soul into another world, Ji An did not care whether some conspiracy lay behind it, because he was not qualified to care.

What he needed to do now was use this peerless treasure to strengthen himself.

Only by becoming powerful could he weather storms from all directions.

In his excellent mood, Ji An began studying the Stone Turtle's functions.

After a while, he shook his head with a bitter smile.

His golden finger was still a no-brand, no-manual, no-warranty product. After researching it for half the day, he had only gained a few hints.

Dao Rhyme and Spiritual Inspiration were names for special energies, and these energies could be used to swiftly comprehend spells.

At present, he did not possess a single spell for self-defense. Clearly, the Meridian Cultivation Method did not count as a spell in his golden finger's system of judgment.

He could only wait until he had Spiritual Inspiration and spells in the future, then see just how much substance this golden finger truly had.

Ji An slowly closed his eyes. The naturally formed Bagua diagram on the turtle shell appeared before him, and he began recalling its meanings and symbolism.

In the study of the I Ching, the Later Heaven Bagua spoke of cyclical recurrence, like flowing water in motion, expressing the dependence and mutual roots of yin and yang, as well as the mother-child generation among the five elements.

Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui—the eight trigrams—respectively represented eight phenomena: heaven, earth, thunder, wind, water, fire, mountain, and marsh.

But he was merely a keyboard Dao scholar. He could not even recite the Tao Te Ching properly, much less had he deeply studied the Later Heaven Bagua.

At that moment, he deeply understood the saying that one only regrets having read too little when the need arose. Yet it was already of little use, so he could only rack his brains to recall the tiny bit he knew.

The sky gradually brightened, and a rising sun emerged in the east. Golden sunlight pierced through the thin mist and shone upon the peak of Little Cang Mountain.

The sunlight slowly moved toward the mountainside, swiftly dispersing the fog and illuminating Ji An's tightly shut eyes.

He took half a step back and slowly opened them.

After Empty Mountain New Rain, the mountain breeze brushed gently past, carrying the fresh fragrance of grass and trees amid its rustling.

The raindrops lingering upon the tips of leaves resembled pearls, refracting rainbow halos beneath the sunlight. They glittered brilliantly, reflected in his clear, bright eyes.

The next day, the sun had barely risen when the open space before the Dao Academy's main hall was already packed with people.

Today was the day the sect's emissaries would arrive for the assessment. Everyone qualified to take the test had gathered here.

Ji An carried a simple bundle on his back and stood alone in a corner, quietly listening to the earnest instructions the cultivators who had come to observe gave their own juniors.

If he unfortunately failed the selection, the clan members of Zhang Yuanshan's group would surely invite him over to discuss his debts.

If he was fortunate enough to become a sect cultivator, he would return to the sect with the emissaries, and there would still be room to delay matters.

But no matter what, he had to leave the Dao Academy.

With unease in his heart, Ji An's palms grew faintly damp.

The sect assessment tested aptitude first and Dao Heart second. Though he possessed a golden finger, it offered no practical help in passing the sect assessment.

Not knowing how much longer until the sect emissaries arrived, Ji An simply closed his eyes to rest.

He sensed the Stone Turtle, and a line of text appeared in his mind.

Host: Ji An

Dao Rhyme: 0

Spiritual Inspiration: Kan Spirit 0.2, Kun Spirit 0.2, Xun Spirit 0.1

Spells: None

When he woke this morning, he had checked the Stone Turtle's changes as usual and discovered that the numbers had actually changed. He had been wild with joy.

This showed that the Stone Turtle could absorb energy on its own, allowing him to finally put his mind completely at ease.

He had originally worried that he would need to consume spiritual treasures to increase his Spiritual Inspiration and Dao Rhyme. Only five Spirit Crystals remained in his pocket—where would he find the capital to purchase spiritual treasures?

Ji An began recalling the meanings of the various attributes in the Bagua. Kan belonged to water, Kun to earth, and Xun to wood. Did they each correspond to the five-element attribute they represented?

This meant Spiritual Inspiration was everywhere. Then Spiritual Inspiration within the sect's territory ought to be even denser.

The foundation of cultivation was absorbing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. Spiritual qi existed everywhere, but its density varied.

The residences of sects and cultivation lineages, as well as immortal cities and marketplaces, were all built atop Spirit Veins, places where spiritual qi was abundant.

These powers established Mountain Protecting Arrays to bind the spiritual qi, preventing it from circulating through heaven and earth, causing spiritual qi in other regions to grow increasingly impoverished.

Just as he was pondering this, a commotion rose from the crowd.

"They're here! The Golden Spirit Sect's flying boat is here!"

Ji An opened his eyes and saw a black flying boat speeding toward them from afar.

He swept his gaze around and saw several headmasters of the Dao Academy emerge from the main hall, straighten their robes, and stand at the entrance.

Before long, like a yacht flying through the sky, the black flying boat—over a hundred meters long—hovered above the main hall, and everyone felt the world suddenly darken.

Two men and one woman, three cultivators in total, paced down from the void, their sleeves fluttering gracefully.

Ji An unconsciously swallowed. To fly through the air without relying on a magical artifact, they were at least Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Only after reaching the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation and attaining perfection could one build the foundation of the Great Dao.

In the eyes of high-level cultivators, the Qi Condensation Stage did not yet count as truly stepping onto the immortal path.

Several headmasters strode forward and bowed together.

"Greetings, Martial Uncles. All Dao Academy disciples of Green Pine Dao Academy on Little Cang Mountain who meet the requirements are here, ninety-six in total."

The leading cultivator had a head of white hair held by a green jade hairpin. His long beard reached his chest, giving him the bearing of an immortal sage.

He nodded faintly and said indifferently,

"Rise, Martial Nephews. Begin the assessment at once."

Little Cang Mountain was their final stop. It would be best to finish early and return to the sect to report.

The spiritual qi outside was far thinner than that within the sect's cave residences.

"We obey Martial Uncle's decree."

The headmasters answered loudly. One remained outside to maintain order, while the others invited the Martial Uncles into the main hall.

Quite a few young men and women poked their heads out from the flying boat, pointing at the crowd below and whispering among themselves.

A headmaster shouted, "Silence! Form lines at once and enter the main hall in order to test your aptitude."

The crowd quickly separated. The family members stepped back, while those participating in the assessment formed a single line and entered the main hall one after another.

It was soon Ji An's turn. He calmly stepped into the main hall.

This world had no concept of spiritual roots. The human body possessed all five elements, and any five-element cultivation technique or spell could be practiced, including mutated spells such as wind, lightning, and ice.

As long as one had opened an Immortal Meridian, one possessed aptitude. The only difference was the level of that aptitude.

The sect imposed age restrictions because it sought to pick the best of the best.

Based on the strength of one's sensitivity to spiritual qi, aptitude was divided into five grades: low, mid-grade, high, earth-grade, and heaven-grade.

The stronger one's sensitivity to spiritual qi, the more efficiently one could absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and refine spiritual power.

The cultivation seedlings whom heaven practically chased after to spoon-feed had aptitude starting at least from earth-grade.

"Place your hand on it and circulate your Meridian Cultivation Method."

The female Foundation Establishment Cultivator pointed at the foot-high white jade pillar on the table and spoke calmly.

Aptitude testing was also called the Spirit Sensing Pillar. Following her instructions, Ji An placed his hand atop the white jade pillar, closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and began circulating the Flowing Water Meridian Opening Art.

Upon the white jade pillar, Five-Colored Radiance of green, red, yellow, white, and black flashed in sequence.

The five colors reached different heights, though the differences were not great. Black was the highest among them.

"Enough. Step down."

Hearing this, Ji An stopped circulating his meridians, bowed, and withdrew.

This was merely routine recordkeeping. He had never heard of anyone being rejected by the sect because of aptitude. If there were, it would certainly be because they had exceeded the age limit.

After everyone had tested their aptitude and waited for a while, the headmasters led them to a side hall.

An Illusory Heart Formation had already been arranged here to test cultivators' states of mind and willpower.

The three Foundation Establishment Cultivators sat nearby. The leading senior cultivator nodded.

"Begin."

A headmaster lit an incense stick. Everyone entered the formation, sat cross-legged at intervals, and closed their eyes.

Hazy white spiritual light enveloped them, and they all fell into illusions.

Ji An suddenly awoke and instinctively licked his lips.

The illusion had been extraordinarily real; its touch and scent were no different from reality. Yet to him, it had not felt real enough.

Within the illusion, he had passed the Golden Spirit Sect's assessment and successfully established his foundation through his own efforts.

Later, while descending the mountain to gain experience, he encountered a fox demon. As a cultivator of the Human Race, he naturally had to slay demons and eliminate evil without yielding the duty to another, but he fell into the fox demon's illusion instead.

The fox demon transformed into a young beauty draped in white gauze, with a fiery figure and seductive charm in her very bones, attempting to tempt him. He instinctively pulled out his phone to take a photo as a memento.

The moment the "click" sounded, he immediately woke up.

"Not bad. The first to awaken from the Illusory Heart Formation—your willpower is excellent."

The female Foundation Establishment Cultivator was rather surprised. Those who woke so quickly were exceedingly rare.

The headmaster muttered softly, "Ji An, seventeen years old, First Layer of Qi Condensation, Mid-Grade aptitude, first place in the Illusory Heart Formation. Assessment passed."

Ji An lightly clenched his fist and walked out of the formation.

He saw the others still trapped in their illusions. Some looked excited, some terrified, and some wore lewd grins. His mouth twitched, and he turned his face away.

After one incense stick's time had passed, the white-haired cultivator rose.

"The assessment is over. Hand me the register of those who have awakened."

The headmaster agreed, then said,

"Martial Uncles have come from afar. The cultivators of the immortal city below admire the grace of our superior sect and wish to seek guidance from you.

A modest banquet has been prepared in the side hall. Might the Martial Uncles have the time?"

The white-haired cultivator stroked his beard and smiled. "It is only right to lend a hand to juniors with the heart to advance."

After the banquet ended, Ji An boarded the flying boat with his small bundle on his back.

He glanced behind him. Originally, nine people had passed the assessment, but now there were sixteen.

The bad news was that all three of his creditors had passed.

Aboard the flying boat.

"Senior Brother Zhang, Senior Sister Zhao, Senior Brother Chu, from now on we are fellow sect cultivators. If there is ever anything you need, just say the word."

Ji An patted his chest and continued boldly,

"This junior brother will not shirk his duty."

As for creditors, it was still best to keep them happy.

Forgiving the debt was impossible, but delaying it for a few more days was always good.

If he had been lost about the future when he first opened his eyes, then now, something called ambition had taken root in his heart.

He had comprehended the divine intent of a Meridian Cultivation Method and opened his meridians on his own, and he had the golden finger to help him. If he still remained mediocre with such a start, he truly ought to find a block of tofu and bash himself to death against it.

To him now, a debt of nine Spirit Stones was a great deal. But what if he became a Late Qi Condensation cultivator? Then it would not count as much of a problem.

Zhao Mengyao covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Junior Brother, you must keep your word. If we come to ask something of you and you refuse, would that not disgrace us?"

"How could that be? Senior Sister, you overstate it."

Chu He snorted coldly and said irritably,

"Once we enter the sect, we will need even more Spirit Stones to support our cultivation. How about you repay my Spirit Stones now, Junior Brother?"

When they saw Ji An enter the First Layer of Qi Condensation, the three of them had nearly had their jaws fall to the ground.

Their originally planned strategy—to use pressure over repaying Spirit Stones as a reason to obtain the beast-taming secret art—had also been temporarily postponed by Senior Brother Zhang. His reason was that he wanted to see whether Ji An had truly achieved enlightenment.

If he had truly attained enlightenment, he would surely display extraordinary talent after cultivating spells. At the very least, this should hold true for Water Element Spells.

Zhao Mengyao agreed with this decision as well. Two against one, so he could only agree.

Ji An gave a deep bow. "It is not that this junior brother is a petty man. If I had Spirit Stones on me, or anything at all that could repay the debt, I would certainly bring it out and return it to Senior Brother and Senior Sister.

But my father..."

His words were earnest, his eyes reddening as tears glimmered within them.

This was not an act. It was genuine emotion.

The soul of the original owner and his own soul had already fused perfectly.

He was both a visitor from Blue Star and the present Ji An.

His father had gone deep into the mountains to gather herbs and had not returned for three months. He understood that his father was most likely truly gone.

Zhang Yuanshan stepped forward and helped him up.

"We understand Junior Brother's difficulties, but our Spirit Stones were not blown in by the wind either.

How about this? Let us each take a step back. We will give you another half year, and then discuss the matter of repaying the Spirit Stones. What do you say?"

He had already obtained the result he wanted. Wouldn't a beast-taming secret art be something that could repay the debt?

If he could delay one day, he would delay one day. Ji An cupped his hands.

"Thank you for your leniency, Senior Brother and Senior Sister."

Zhang Yuanshan waved a hand. "Please remember today's promise, Junior Brother. We will discuss this matter again in half a year."

Zhao Mengyao spoke.

"How much do you know about the sect, Junior Brother?"

Ji An frowned slightly and smiled bitterly.

"I only know that the sect has a Golden Core Old Ancestor overseeing it and excels at artifact refinement and beast taming. I know nothing else."

The most important reason he had been sent to the Golden Spirit Sect's Dao Academy was that it was closest to the immortal city where he had originally lived.

On Western Mist Continent, immortal cities lay far apart, separated by vast mountain ranges.

For cultivators without the ability to fly, attempting to cross those wild mountains was little different from suicide. Low-level cultivators and mortals could only scrape out a living near immortal cities.

It was said that sects like the Golden Spirit Sect had migrated here from other continents.

The strongest force here was not the Human Race, but the Demon Race in the mountains.

The Human Race and the Demon Race had never been on good terms. The Demon Race ate people, and cultivators in particular were a great tonic in their eyes.

Meanwhile, the Human Race spared no effort in slaughtering the Demon Race, skinning them and pulling out their tendons, using their flesh and blood to aid their own cultivation.

There were also fierce conflicts between outside cultivators and local cultivators, with bloody battles breaking out from time to time.

So she knew nothing at all.

Zhao Mengyao shook her head almost imperceptibly and said softly:

"Once we enter the sect, we can only begin as outer sect disciples.

If new disciples fail to advance to Qi Condensation Layer 4 within three years, they will be expelled from the sect.

If they fail to advance to Late Qi Condensation before turning thirty, they will likewise be driven out.

Only by becoming a Foundation Establishment Cultivator can one gain the sect's recognition. Those who fail to achieve Foundation Establishment before sixty will likewise be expelled.

After entering the sect, we will be assigned at random to various places. It would be best if we could enter the Beast Taming Hall or the Artifact Refining Hall."

From now on, updates would be scheduled for six in the evening. Everyone should be off work by then, making it the perfect way to pass the time on the way home.