Star Sect and a Hundred "Geniuses"

"You little alchemist are truly blind to everyone else. How our grand sect accepts disciples is not for an outsider like you to criticize at will."

Li Tianhai crossed several steps and arrived in the blink of an eye.

"Anything under heaven may be discussed by anyone under heaven. Are we not even allowed to speak the truth?"

Bai Jingliang wanted to pull him back, but Hanyu shoved him aside and stepped forward, raising his voice.

Such an old scoundrel reneged on bets, abused his power for personal gain, and was narrow-minded to boot. Hanyu could not stomach it.

Li Tianhai's gaze turned faintly cold, his voice dripping with mockery. "Do not think that a few of those sneaky little tricks yesterday mean you can truly look down on everyone."

"In the cultivation world, the strong are honored. You are but a tiny Medicine Master with not a shred of cultivation. Those pills of yours likely came from some unknown stroke of fortune. In the end, they cannot grace the stage."

Li Tianhai sneered. "Your so-called righteous words are nothing more than resentful grumbling because this old man would not let you take part in the examination."

Hanyu's face shifted from green to red, not from shame but from rage.

Most of the people present knew nothing of the matter, and the looks they gave Hanyu now became somewhat strange.

Amid their whispers, the image of Hanyu as someone shut out everywhere, indignant at the world and cynical toward it, was vividly painted.

Hanyu was terrifyingly quiet. After a long silence, he finally looked up and smiled brightly.

"You call them sneaky tricks. You say they cannot grace the stage. Then how about we gamble again?"

Hanyu had never found a suitable place to use the Night-Blooming Epiphyllum Pill. More importantly, its side effects were too terrifying—an extreme at the opposite end.

If he could really use it here, so what if he dragged down the entire sect with him!

Li Tianhai's hand, which had been stroking his long beard, suddenly twitched and plucked out several hairs. What had happened yesterday was still fresh in his mind.

That little alchemist had dragged him into a wager in exactly this way.

He immediately hesitated and frowned as he asked.

"What trick are you trying to pull this time?"

Hanyu looked at him with a scornful smile and pointed at all the examinees in the field. "I bet I can make every one of the hundred people in there possess Supreme Spirit Roots. Do you dare?"

"How is that possible?"

"Has this little alchemist gotten drunk? He dares spout such nonsense?"

"This is simply a fantasy!"

Hanyu merely watched Li Tianhai, waiting to see whether he dared accept.

Li Tianhai, on the other hand, saw Hanyu's confident expression and hesitated at once.

Could he have some strange and exotic medicine up his sleeve?

Impossible. Something that could improve the aptitude of a hundred people, and turn it into supreme aptitude at that, could be called a divine medicine without exaggeration.

While Li Tianhai was still wavering, Hanyu laughed beside him and threw Li Tianhai's earlier words right back at him.

"What? A little alchemist with sneaky tricks that cannot grace the stage—are you afraid?"

Li Tianhai was caught by his own words. Accepting was awkward, and refusing was no better.

The spectators who had come to watch the excitement caught a few hints of what was going on and began chattering again.

"Could it be that he truly has such ability?"

"I was there yesterday. I saw with my own eyes how this little alchemist used one pill to turn a full-grown man into a dainty young lady. That figure, that face—tsk, tsk."

"I actually missed such an unprecedented spectacle."

Li Tianhai truly was hesitating, so Hanyu decided to add more fuel to the fire.

"If you are really afraid, then if I lose, I will crawl back down from the foot of the mountain. But if you lose, let me inscribe three words on the cliff wall at the mountain's foot. How about it?"

It was only writing a few words. What was there to fear? After thinking it over, Li Tianhai felt somewhat reassured. He glared and said, "Then let us gamble. Do you think this old man fears you?"

When Hanyu saw him agree, he secretly rejoiced. He looked around and asked, "Does anyone have a container for water? Enough for a hundred people to each take a sip."

A fat man laboriously squeezed out from the crowd, raised the waterskin in his hand, and called out, "Will this do?"

Hanyu glanced at it. It seemed about right, so he stepped forward and took it. He shook it and found it was still full of water. Excellent.

He took out a pill from his robes and tossed it inside under everyone's watchful eyes. Then, holding the waterskin, he turned to the examinees—especially those who had been unwilling to accept things earlier—and spoke clearly.

"Your character is clearly excellent, yet you have been barred by your Spiritual Roots. If heaven will not give you an opportunity, I can. Did you not say that you only lacked one chance? This is your chance."

The examinees instantly erupted into chaos. Every gaze fixed fiercely on the waterskin in Hanyu's hand, their eyes burning.

"However!"

Hanyu paused, then continued.

"Those whose minds are not firm should not come to drink my medicine. This medicine can seize fortune from creation, but it also has tremendous side effects. Ask yourselves whether you can truly stake everything on it."

Those words instantly dumped a bucket of cold water over them. The crowd quieted somewhat, and they could not help looking at one another.

The Top-Ranked Examinee who had complained first stepped out, his face conflicted. "Will the side effects kill us?"

Hanyu shook his head with a smile. "Rest assured. You will neither die nor be crippled."

The examinee pondered for a moment, and resolve appeared on his face. He gritted his teeth. "Can it truly improve Spiritual Roots?"

Hanyu nodded with complete certainty. "I keep my word. If you dare stake everything, I dare make your wish come true."

"Fine. I'll drink it now."

The examinee clenched his fist with a resolute expression, then reached out.

Hanyu hurriedly slapped his hand away. After looking up at the sky, he said, "No rush. I will give you another hour to think it over."

The setting sun had dyed half the sky red, but there was still an hour before nightfall. If they drank it now, would that not give everything away?

"Why wait another hour? Why are you dragging this out?"

Li Tianhai looked impatient as he spoke furiously.

"There has never been such a thing as a blessing too great in this world. Gain always comes with loss. I will give you another hour to think it through. Remember! Once you begin, there is no turning back. After taking the medicine, there will be no chance for regret."

Hanyu could not be bothered to pay him any attention and simply continued warning the examinees.

Time crawled by. Li Tianhai sat off to one side, fuming, while Hanyu calmly held the waterskin. The examinees continued debating among themselves.

Most of those who had not yet tested their Spiritual Roots did not wish to take the risk. What if they themselves had excellent Spiritual Roots? Would drinking the medicine not be a tremendous loss?

The examinees with poor Spiritual Root aptitude were deep in thought. Among them, those trapped by their aptitude wore the most complicated expressions, wavering constantly between determination and hesitation.

"Say, we're acquaintances, right? How about letting me take the first sip?"

Suddenly, someone tugged at Hanyu's sleeve. When he turned, he found Bai Jingliang looking at him hopefully.

"Your Spiritual Root is not bad, is it?" Hanyu asked curiously.

"Of course. I have a Single-Element Wood Spirit Root."

Bai Jingliang said this with great pride.

Hanyu did not know whether to laugh or cry. He already had outstanding talent, yet still wanted to drink the medicine. Was he striving for greater heights, or simply greedy for a taste?

He definitely could not let him drink. If he did not send Star Sect a neat and tidy hundred "geniuses," how could he vent the anger in his heart?

The sky gradually darkened, and a pale bright moon slowly rose.

"Time is up."

Hanyu spoke slowly. The examinee who had remained without leaving immediately took the waterskin without another word.

"I, Ma Zhou, shall Leap the Dragon Gate today."

He raised the waterskin and shouted, then gulped down a mouthful. Everyone watched him intently.

A moment passed, yet there was not the slightest change in Ma Zhou.

Some people began muttering that it might have failed. Li Tianhai beamed with delight. Just as he had said, a little alchemist could not possibly be so heaven-defying.

Just as everyone was growing disappointed, Ma Zhou suddenly let out a strange cry. They turned toward the sound and saw him abruptly hunch over, teeth clenched tight, his entire body resembling a boiled red shrimp.

"He's smoking!" someone cried out.

Ma Zhou desperately endured the pain wracking his body. It was as though he had been thrown into a steamer. Smoke began to rise from all over him, followed by sweat pouring down like rain. His whole body was drenched, and the dark sludge expelled from his pores turned him into a mud man.

As the pain faded, Ma Zhou's mind suddenly cleared. He turned to look at the Spirit Testing Pillar, then strode toward it.

Everyone held their breath as they watched him slowly place his hand upon it. A dazzling golden light shot straight into the heavens.

"Gold... High-grade Single Element Gold Spiritual Root!" The recorder beside him fell to the ground, as if he had seen a ghost.

Li Tianhai shot to his feet and stared in disbelief, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"I, Xu You, shall Leap the Dragon Gate today."

Perhaps Ma Zhou's words had been too stirring, for they ignited the fire in the hearts of many examinees. Another examinee gritted his teeth, rushed out, grabbed the waterskin, shouted, and gulped down a mouthful.

Before he could return it to Hanyu, another examinee took it. After that, one after another rushed forward to seize it, and the waterskin passed ceaselessly among them.

Roars rang through Qingyun Mountain Ravine.

"I... shall leap the dragon today!"

"Leap the Dragon Gate!"

Most interesting of all, one examinee ran up to that young master and said with a complicated expression, "I truly cannot accept losing to someone like you."

After saying that, he too joined the passing of the waterskin. Some examinees with slightly poorer Spiritual Roots also began to stir. When one examinee with above-average Dual Spiritual Roots stepped out from the crowd, a small group of people whose aptitude had originally been decent began joining in as well.

The light on the Spirit Testing Pillar never stopped. One examinee after another stepped forward, and dazzling lights of every single element bloomed in the night sky like fireworks.

The hundred spots were filled in no time at all. Those who had failed to make a firm decision promptly were consumed by regret.

Those who had missed the opportunity wanted to ask Hanyu for another pill, but when they turned to look, the place where Hanyu had been standing was already empty.

Ever since the waterskin had been frantically snatched away, Hanyu had slipped off.

Li Tianhai watched the entire scene from beginning to end. He had even watched Hanyu use broken stones to scribble on the cliff wall before leaving, yet he had not stopped him.

That crooked, unsightly handwriting formed only three words.

Cultivate or Not.

Li Tianhai's chest began to ache faintly again...

The emergence of a hundred Superior Spirit Roots among the examinees was far too significant. A disciple scrambled onto a flying sword and tore through the air toward the mountaintop as if his life depended on it.

In only a moment, dozens of rainbow streaks rose from Qingyun's summit at once. The Sect Master of Star Sect personally descended with all the elders...