One sentence was enough to shatter the defenses of the three senior brothers.
The three talisman masters turned deathly pale, then flew away cursing under their breath.
The world was peaceful again.
"Weren't we supposed to be kind to others? How did my tongue become so poisonous?"
Li Xiuchang came to this realization belatedly and reflected on himself. Perhaps the overly harmonious environment within the Immortal Dust Sect had made him somewhat lax.
When Li Xiuchang arrived at the foot of Wangping Mountain, trudging through the snow with one foot deep and the other shallow, he could see more than twenty people gathered around the mountaintop.
The Immortal Dust Sect did not have many mountains to begin with. Calling Wangping Mountain a mountain was somewhat flattering—it was merely a slightly plumper little mound of earth.
Wangping Mountain was named as such because, as the name suggested, it looked basically flat from a distance.
Thus, Li Xiuchang could see the people on the mountaintop from the foot of the mountain.
It was only because the Immortal Dust Sect had few mountains and therefore treated them as rarities that Wangping Mountain had earned a name. The sect had even decorated it carefully, planting many pine and cypress trees on its slopes.
Li Xiuchang climbed through the snow to the summit. Looking around, he saw that there were only his own footprints in the snow surrounding Wangping Mountain.
Thinking about it, that made sense. Those who had come to participate in the disciple-recruitment trial had all obtained their places through recommendations from Elder Zhao's acquaintances. They all had some background, so naturally none of them would walk there.
Li Xiuchang secretly observed the people around him and determined that there were roughly seven or eight others there to take part in the trial like him. Everyone else was either accompanying someone or merely there to watch the excitement.
After a while, the Elder Zhao Yuansi whom Li Xiuchang had met once before finally flew over and landed on the mountaintop.
His gaze swept over the few disciple candidates, including Li Xiuchang. When it fell on Li Xiuchang's trouser legs, covered in snow, it paused slightly. He then looked at the long string of footprints in the snow behind him.
Elder Zhao nodded almost imperceptibly, approval showing in his eyes.
He walked through the snow to get here. His determination to pursue the Dao is firm, Elder Zhao judged inwardly.
Li Xiuchang had no idea that his poverty had actually left a favorable impression on Elder Zhao.
Elder Zhao thought he was following the old tale of "standing in the snow outside Cheng Yi's gate," but Li Xiuchang had merely wanted to save half a spirit stone.
"Elder Zhao!"
Everyone hurriedly saluted Elder Zhao.
Elder Zhao gave a light cough and got straight to the point. "I won't waste words. I don't know any of you, so there's no need to introduce yourselves. It won't be too late to do so after you become my disciples."
"When I take disciples, I only look at fate. Everything else, such as aptitude and talent, is unimportant. Even if someone is a piece of rotten wood, I can still carve flowers from it!"
Though Elder Zhao's words were arrogant, no one questioned him. An alchemy grandmaster had the qualifications to say such things.
Elder Zhao continued, "It's very simple to become my disciple. I will give you one question as a test, then choose one disciple from among those who pass."
"Please give us the question, Elder Zhao," everyone replied.
Elder Zhao pondered slightly and swept his gaze around. Seeing the pure white snowy landscape before him, he immediately came up with an idea.
"It is rare to see such fine snow scenery. Today's topic shall be 'snow.' Compose one poem, but you may not use the character 'snow.' You have the time it takes for one incense stick to burn."
What's so rare about this snow scenery? Doesn't the Immortal Dust Sect get several snowfalls every year? Everyone grumbled inwardly, but no one dared say it aloud.
For a time, some lowered their heads in deep thought, while others looked left and right in search of inspiration.
Senior Brother Song Yu really did guess the topic.
Even so, Li Xiuchang was practically unprepared.
When it came to poems about snow that could not contain the character "snow," the first line that surfaced in his mind was, "It seems a spring breeze came overnight, scattering pear blossoms across a thousand trees."
But such an immortal verse, famed through the ages, absolutely could not be used.
He had to meet the requirements without writing anything too good. That truly stumped Li Xiuchang.
After thinking it over and over, he still had not come up with anything suitable. As he racked his brains to recall the ancient poems he had read in his previous life, he also made a backup plan.
If all else failed, he would make up a couple of lines himself. Whether they passed or not would be left to fate.
The time for one incense stick to burn passed quickly, and it was time for Li Xiuchang and the others to "submit their papers."
Following the order in which they stood, Elder Zhao began from the left and called on the first candidate.
The man was long-faced and appeared to be in his twenties. He was probably not a new disciple like Li Xiuchang. Being chosen to answer first, he wore a trace of helplessness on his face.
"Then this disciple shall make a fool of himself."
The long-faced man paused for several breaths before reciting:
"Fluttering down from the heavens, countless flakes descend, Like cotton scattered, settling upon the dust."
"Dressed as pear blossoms, dancing across the sky, Leaving the mortal realm a spotless white."
You really did make a fool of yourself!
For a moment, Li Xiuchang could not tell whether this long-faced senior brother was simply lacking in talent or had done it deliberately.
The quality of his poem was stuck at a very delicate level.
Li Xiuchang had been watching Elder Zhao's expression the entire time and clearly saw a flicker of envy cross his face when the long-faced senior brother recited the poem.
Li Xiuchang had already assumed Elder Zhao's skill in poetry was rather poor, but now it seemed he had still been too conservative. He might actually have overestimated Elder Zhao's poetic ability.
Elder Zhao made no comment on the long-faced man's poem and continued looking toward the second person.
The second disciple candidate was a Red-Skirts Senior Sister. She took a deep breath, her cheeks flushed slightly, and recited:
"The ground is covered in goose feathers, Children compete in joyous laughter."
"Only the children running can be seen; Not a single child's foot is seen."
After reciting the poem, Red-Skirts Senior Sister's face grew even redder, and she was mortified.
She wished she could burrow straight into the snow beneath her feet.
The others, however, reacted in all sorts of ways.
First was Elder Zhao. This time, he did not show any envy. Instead, he nodded approvingly.
The third candidate standing beside Red-Skirts Senior Sister suddenly snorted with laughter. After finally forcing the laughter back down, he looked at the first two candidates with ridicule in his eyes.
The other candidates, including Li Xiuchang, all wore solemn expressions and regarded Red-Skirts Senior Sister as a formidable rival.
In a twenty-character poem, the two characters "children" had alone been repeated three times. It would truly be difficult to surpass.
The first trial disciple in particular had gone deathly pale, realizing that he no longer had any chance.
Li Xiuchang saw through it. Red-Skirts Senior Sister had done it deliberately. Clearly, he was not the only one who knew that the essence of this disciple-recruitment trial was to "compete over who could be worse."
Next came the third candidate. He had delicate features and was dressed like a scholar, gently waving a folding fan in his hand, with quite the air of a refined man of letters.
He had clearly put thought into this as well. Knowing Elder Zhao's preferences, he had deliberately dressed in this scholarly outfit.
This "Scholar Senior Brother" lifted his head slightly, confidence written all over his face, and recited with measured rises and falls:
"Coiling through the empty sky like mist, Gathering on the steps like piled flowers."
"Spring's willows cannot be seen; Only white osmanthus branches remain."
After reciting the poem, "Scholar Senior Brother" looked around. The smugness on his face was almost impossible to conceal.
Li Xiuchang had to admit that although "Scholar Senior Brother's" poem was nowhere near the immortal verses in his mind, it was indeed leagues above the first two.
But had this man misunderstood something?
Everyone knew they were competing to see who could be worse. Was he the only one who did not?
For a moment, everyone looked at "Scholar Senior Brother" with a trace of sympathy in their eyes, knowing that he had already been eliminated ahead of time.
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