Enlightenment Examination

Two months later.

Days passed one after another.

For a long time after Shi Yazhou's death, the students in Ding Wei's class truly had far fewer things to talk about.

Some of the male students who had once secretly admired Zhao Huaxue began to back down, but a few stubborn ones kept at it. Zhou Zheng and Yang Zhiman led the pack; the two had even gotten into several arguments over it and confronted students from other classes.

And Lu Tianyou, the heartbreaker, had never dreamed that after Shi Yazhou, he would become the new center of attention in class.

Guo Hongjuan had discovered that he was playing both sides!

Guo Hongjuan had actually come right to their classroom and slapped him down in front of everyone.

After learning the whole story, Hu Tian'er had also left him. He was now firmly on the blacklist of every female student in the class.

On top of that, several other things had happened.

Every month, a few students at the Enlightenment Hall were reckless enough to secretly circulate the Greater Celestial Circuit as they cultivated. They would eventually suffer mishaps, die from the backlash of their magical power, and join the ranks of the dead. Shi Yazhou had only been the first, not the last.

Ma Ling had beaten up the guy who had given her the nickname "Tiger Girl," leaving the whole class stunned.

After seeing that, Li Mo secretly resolved to kick his bad habit of giving people nicknames. It was better to be an honest, decent person.

Zhang Guoyin had chipped one of his teeth during breakfast...

Afternoon meal.

Lu Tianyou came over to Li Mo and couldn't help pouring out his troubles.

"Ugh, that Liu Yaoyao is such an idiot. She still hasn't found her sense of qi, and look how long it's been! The Enlightenment Examination is coming up any day now. I went to help her, but she actually dodged me."

Li Mo looked helpless.

"Your reputation in class is completely ruined. They all treat you like a plague."

"Tch."

Lu Tianyou rolled his eyes. He seemed not to care, but in truth, he felt a little guilty.

"They haven't even become formal disciples of the Lingmu Sect yet, and they're already putting on airs like fairies. The examination's in a few days. I bet there'll be a whole bunch who haven't opened their Spirit Eyes. Just wait till they start crying. Once they're out there as Rogue Cultivators, they'll be begging to get close to me, and they won't even be qualified."

Li Mo was surprised that so many people still hadn't developed a sense of qi. He looked at Lu Tianyou.

"What about you? Have you opened your Spirit Eye?"

"Yeah. I finished condensing my magical power the day before yesterday and reached the first level of Qi Refining. I opened my Spirit Eye that same day."

Condensing magical power was what marked the first level of Qi Refining.

Before that, even if a cultivator used a sense of qi to condense magical power, it would gradually dissipate over time. Only by following the Lingmu Sect's primary cultivation method and condensing the magical power in their Dantian into a vortex of mist could they keep it from fading away.

With a stable supply of magical power, cultivators could then perform all sorts of extraordinary feats.

Of course, low-level cultivators had only a meager amount of magical power. They could perform only basic spells, and they couldn't keep fighting for long.

Lu Tianyou didn't ask about Li Mo's cultivation progress.

As roommates, the two spent plenty of time together. Li Mo never flaunted himself, but Lu Tianyou could still sense that he cultivated remarkably fast and always seemed to have everything under control. He knew Li Mo was far ahead of him.

Just then.

After afternoon meal, Hu Tian'er, the sickly one, came over to Li Mo and Lu Tianyou.

Lu Tianyou thought she had changed her mind. He immediately got up to greet her with a smile, only for Hu Tian'er to glare at him before turning to Li Mo. "Li Mo, why are you still hanging around with someone like him?"

Li Mo felt helpless.

He knew Hu Tian'er had come to hate Lu Tianyou completely, so he casually replied, "I'm his distant cousin."

Hu Tian'er puffed up with anger.

"If you keep hanging around with him, you'll end up just like him!"

Then Hu Tian'er shot Lu Tianyou another fierce glare.

Seeing that, Lu Tianyou wilted like a deflated ball. With a look of resignation, he sat back down and sighed.

"One careless move, and the whole game is lost."

Li Mo curled his lip. "Maybe you run your mouth too much and offended someone."

"Huh?"

Lu Tianyou stared blankly, then suddenly understood. "So that's why it happened at just that moment! Someone must've snitched. If I find out which bastard it was, I'll make him pay!"

He didn't regret being a womanizer. He regretted not being careful enough.

"Li Mo!"

Ma Ling waved to him when she saw him. Niu Li and Yang Guang waved too.

"Want to practice martial arts together tonight?"

Li Mo waved back. "The examination's in a few days, so I need to do some more preparation. I won't be coming for the next few days. Good luck."

"Okay."

The three didn't take offense.

There was no other reason: in their eyes, Li Mo's martial arts skill was simply astonishing. They were thoroughly impressed by him.

Lu Tianyou seemed to think of something and looked at Li Mo.

"I think I heard that practicing martial arts can improve your Root Bone and help with cultivation. You're one thing, but those three are still as calm as can be. Maybe there really is something to that whole improving your Root Bone business."

Li Mo rolled his eyes. "You think martial arts are easy to practice?"

Still, if Li Mo hadn't traveled through the Eighteen Mountains and seen how difficult it was for other people to practice martial arts, he wouldn't have been in any position to say that.

"Fair enough."

Lu Tianyou obviously knew how difficult martial arts training was too. He gave a sheepish grin and said no more.

Night fell.

Li Mo returned to the area near the artificial hill and found a secluded spot to cultivate.

He had gained a great deal from the Mystic Dream during this time. He had completed the condensation of his magical power a month and a half ago, reached the first level of Qi Refining, and opened his Spirit Eye. But he hadn't let that make him slack off in his regular cultivation.

With each passing day, his magical power grew deeper. Now, he seemed to be on the verge of breaking through to the second level of Qi Refining.

As far as Li Mo knew, most people couldn't begin cultivating until they turned fifteen and reached adulthood, when their Root Bone had gradually matured.

Cultivating too early could damage one's spiritual root.

Over the next forty or fifty years, if a cultivator failed to complete Foundation Establishment, their physical vitality and potential would steadily decline, and their vital essence would continue to drain away. After turning fifty, they would almost completely lose the possibility of establishing their foundation. Some said that high-level Qi Refining cultivators could even live to a ripe old age, nourished by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. But quite a few high-level Qi Refining cultivators also died of old age in their sixties.

Cultivators who completed Foundation Establishment before the age of thirty-five were almost always the most elite forces in their sects.

They had a chance of reaching the Golden Core Stage in the future.

So the number of elite cultivators a sect possessed not only determined its future potential, but also affected the fortunes of a nation for the next hundred years.

As for the rare disciples who received a sect's or Aristocratic Clan's full support, plenty of them completed Foundation Establishment within just seven or eight years of reaching adulthood.

After an unknown amount of time had passed.

Li Mo, sitting on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes. A glimmer of delight shone in them.

"Done."

He hadn't expected breaking through to the second level of Qi Refining to be so easy.

"To reach the second level of Qi Refining in such a short time... at this rate, by the graduation examination in three years, I'll probably be at least at the ninth level of Qi Refining, right?"

Li Mo couldn't help thinking optimistically.

The first, fourth, seventh, and tenth levels of Qi Refining each had what was known as a major bottleneck.

But he also knew that his cultivation had been so astonishingly fast because he had frequently entered the Mystic Dream during the summer thunderstorms. Once the summer storms ended, his chances of entering the Mystic Dream would decrease, and his cultivation speed would naturally slow down.

As his cultivation level rose, the time and effort required would also increase. With all those factors at play, he couldn't make an accurate estimate.

Besides, a cultivator's own opportunities were an extremely important factor in cultivation.

Still excited, Li Mo immediately opened his Spirit Eye again.

It was the only spell he knew so far. He focused his magical power in his eyes and looked in every direction. He could faintly see thin wisps of spiritual energy taking human form.

It seemed other people were cultivating nearby too.

Next, Li Mo noticed a faint spiritual glow on the courtyard wall, radiating an aura of unbreakable strength.

He guessed it was probably the Lingmu Sect's protective formation. It not only enveloped the entire Qingming Mountain, but also divided the mountain gate into dozens of separate courtyards.

Since Li Mo was currently inside the Enlightenment Hall, he naturally couldn't use his Spirit Eye to see what was outside.

"Sometimes, having the Spirit Eye open is worse than not having it open."

After satisfying his curiosity for a while, Li Mo dispelled the Spirit Eye and looked outside the courtyard with his own eyes. He could actually see more clearly, which prompted him to grumble inwardly.

Then he sensed his Dantian.

Compared with when he had been at the first level of Qi Refining, the magical-power vortex at the second level was clearly more solid and somewhat larger, but that was all. There had been no fundamental change.

"So what Wang Feng said was true: only at the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth levels of Qi Refining does the magical power in the Dantian undergo special changes, greatly boosting a cultivator's strength. It wasn't just talk."

With the magical power he had now at the second level of Qi Refining, Li Mo could already open his Spirit Eye easily and skillfully. He would have no trouble with the Enlightenment Examination in a few days.

Only then did he realize that, without noticing, it was already Hai Time.

"It's so late, and so many people are still working hard."

Li Mo had always thought he was one of the most diligent students at the Enlightenment Hall, but there were plenty who worked even harder. It was already this late, and so many people were still quietly cultivating.

He climbed down from the artificial hill. At the same time, someone nearby happened to finish cultivating and climb down too.

The two saw each other and couldn't help freezing for a moment.

She was a fair-skinned girl with wide eyes fixed on him. After taking a closer look, Li Mo realized she was Zhao Xiaonan, Zhu Yidan's friend.

"Li Mo?"

Zhao Xiaonan asked in surprise, "You cultivate here too?"

"Yeah. I've been cultivating here since school started."

Zhao Xiaonan looked astonished.

"So have I. I can't believe we've been this close for so long and never knew it. A few days ago, a student named Chen Chen suffered a backlash from his magical power here. I spent several days wondering whether I should find somewhere else."

"I heard about that too. Chen Chen wasn't found until noon the next day..."

The two walked together toward their dormitory, chatting as they went.

Because of Zhu Yidan, they were already somewhat familiar with each other, but they had never gotten to know each other well. This chance encounter brought them a little closer.

A few days later.

The three-month introductory course came to an end, and the Lingmu Sect began the Enlightenment Examination.

Twelve Foundation Establishment Realm martial uncles, including Ding Wei, stood in a row and looked out at the more than five hundred students arranged in neat lines in the courtyard. People from the Law Enforcement Hall were administering the public examination.

Li Mo and Lu Tianyou stood together, constantly craning their necks to look ahead.

They knew the examination was moving quickly, but they couldn't see exactly what it involved.

A hawk-eyed cultivator with an unusually pale face stood on a raised platform, repeatedly calling out names. Like a judge of the underworld, he announced pass or fail without the slightest emotion.

"Liu Yaoyao, failed!"

Quite a few students from Ding Wei's class had already been declared failures, including Hu Tian'er and Liu Yaoyao.

Li Mo sighed softly.

"Looks like about half are being eliminated."

Lu Tianyou laughed without a care in the world. "My sweet little Tian'er! Last time she saw me, she was so smug, saying I was useless. And now she's the one who got eliminated... Heh. Seeing you cry like a flower in the rain, I almost feel sad too. Too bad we were never meant for each other."

Just then.

A name was called from the front. It was Li Mo's turn.

"Here!"

Li Mo hurried forward and climbed onto the raised platform.

Five cultivators, each with a different expression, sat in a row. Behind them stood the twelve martial uncles and martial aunts responsible for teaching at the Enlightenment Hall. They were expressionless, like a crowd of wooden puppets.

A chubby cultivator looked at Li Mo with a kind smile.

"Don't be nervous. We're the chief examiners this time. Here are ten copper coins. All you need to do is open your Spirit Eye and pick out the three most unusual ones within ten breaths. The examination begins!"

A moment earlier, the man had kindly told Li Mo not to be nervous. The next moment, he coldly announced the start of the examination, making Li Mo jolt.

He hurriedly opened his Spirit Eye and looked at the ten copper coins on the table.

With just a quick glance, Li Mo noticed that three of the coins were different.

The other coins looked lifeless to him, their color a dull blackish gray. But those three seemed almost alive, with spiritual power faintly flowing through them.

So he picked out the three coins.

The five examiners nodded one after another.

The chubby cultivator took back the three coins Li Mo had selected. After receiving a signal, the pale, hawk-eyed man loudly announced the result to everyone.

"Li Mo, passed!"

Li Mo smiled faintly, cupped his hands toward the martial uncles and martial aunts overseeing the examination, and left.