Opportunity

"Brother Lu, have your Spiritual Apertures Opened?" Yu Xiaodie asked.

"Why do you ask?" Lu Ye countered instead of answering.

Yu Xiaodie pointed at the Storage Bag hanging from Lu Ye's waist.

Lu Ye understood and nodded. "They have." Then he asked, "What about you?"

Yu Xiaodie raised one hand, and a faint Radiant Light bloomed from her palm.

She had clearly opened her Spiritual Apertures as well. Lu Ye simply did not know how many apertures she had opened. It was not something appropriate to ask, since they were not particularly familiar with each other.

As cultivators who had both opened their apertures, they had quite a few shared topics to discuss. Though nearly a thousand people had gathered here, probably only a handful had opened apertures, and all of them possessed extremely low cultivation.

Those with any real cultivation had long since been taken in by Evil Moon Valley and become its disciples. Their fate now was easy enough to imagine.

Yu Xiaodie lowered her voice. "Tomorrow's Opportunity is extraordinarily important. You absolutely must not miss it. Brother Lu, if you have any special talent, show it without reservation. This concerns your future."

She seemed to know something.

Lu Ye replied, "Understood."

That said, he did not possess any special talent. He only had a Talent Tree that no one else could see, but there was no way he could possibly reveal that thing.

It was not ideal to remain planted amid a group of women. After exchanging a few more words with Yu Xiaodie, Lu Ye took his leave.

There were many enslaved people gathered here, and the area where they could move was limited. Lu Ye looked around, then headed straight toward a corner.

The Liu Brothers were hiding behind the crowd there, trembling like leaves. When they saw Lu Ye approaching, both their faces turned deathly pale.

By the time Lu Ye stopped before them, their expressions had grown even more fearful and uneasy.

"Y-you... what do you want?" Oldest Liu shouted fiercely despite his inner weakness. As he spoke, he kept glancing toward the fat cultivator, seemingly hoping for rescue.

His answer was a fist that rapidly filled his vision. With a single punch, Oldest Liu's nose bridge snapped, and he fell to the ground. Lu Ye then kicked Second Liu in the stomach. Before the man could fall, Lu Ye grabbed him by the hair. "You two seem to have forgotten who I am?"

Second Liu's face was twisted with pain, stars bursting before his eyes. How could he possibly answer?

Lu Ye gave a cold snort and flung Second Liu behind him with a hard pull, sending him face-first into the dirt and knocking out two teeth.

Lu Ye took the spot originally occupied by the Liu Brothers, sat down cross-legged, and closed his eyes to rest.

His first aperture was full now, but he could not find the location of the second aperture. It was not suitable to continue cultivating, lest he waste the Qi and Blood Pills.

Toward evening, people from the Vast Sky Alliance came to distribute food and bedding. Everyone received some. Lu Ye did not eat his fill, but Zhou Cheng's Storage Bag contained food as well, so he took it out and began eating in great mouthfuls.

The others nearby watched, swallowing their saliva, yet no one dared step forward and cause trouble.

Ever since Lu Ye had taught the Liu Brothers a lesson, he had occupied a large area all by himself, which spared him a great deal of trouble.

After Refining Essence into Qi, his appetite grew larger by the day. Even the dried beast meat tasted delicious to him.

The night passed without incident. By the next day, Lu Ye was full of vigor as he waited for the so-called Opportunity.

Only after breakfast did more than ten cultivators in varied attire arrive before the crowd. The leader was a middle-aged figure. Standing at the front with his hands behind his back, he swept his gaze over them and smiled faintly. "You young people come from different sects and clans. You were abducted and enslaved here, enduring no small amount of hardship, but those days have come to an end. The various sects of the Vast Sky Alliance are widely recruiting worthy talents. Any among you who have opened apertures or possess cultivation talent will have the chance to enter one of these sects. I hope you make good use of this opportunity. Perhaps one day, you will fight shoulder to shoulder, slaying demons and purging evil."

After saying this, he lightly waved his hand.

The dozen or so cultivators behind him stepped forward. The first one swept out a hand. "All of you, come with me."

With that sweep, a surge of Spiritual Power spilled forth and enveloped roughly a hundred people.

Once they stepped out, that cultivator led them to one side.

The second person did the same...

There were around a thousand enslaved people, just enough for these ten cultivators to divide among themselves.

Because Lu Ye was positioned furthest inside, he ended up with the last cultivator.

After following him for a short distance, they arrived at a certain spot. Cultivators dressed like him came over to maintain order and had everyone line up in a single queue.

Lu Ye stood in the middle of the line and looked around. The enslaved people who had been led away before him were all in the same situation.

He understood at once. They were probably going to conduct some tests to see whether any of these enslaved people had opened apertures and were suitable for cultivation.

Judging from what that middle-aged cultivator had said earlier, those who had opened Spiritual Apertures likely held a greater advantage.

As for those who had not opened apertures and possessed no cultivation talent, they likely would not receive much attention.

Once the line had formed, the cultivator who had brought them here took a table from his Storage Bag. He sat behind it and looked up. "Begin."

At his signal, the first enslaved person stepped before him.

The cultivator asked, "Have you opened apertures?"

The enslaved person shook his head. "No!"

"Mm." The questioning cultivator pushed the Crystal Ball he had taken out earlier toward him and instructed, "Place both hands over it."

The enslaved person did as told, but the Crystal Ball showed no reaction at all.

The cultivator behind the table shook his head. "No cultivation aptitude. Next!"

The enslaved person immediately looked dazed and distressed. He hurriedly said, "I wasn't ready. Let me try again."

"Next!" The cultivator swept his sleeve, sending the babbling enslaved person rolling to one side, where he landed seated on the ground.

This scene made every enslaved person still in line feel anxious. They understood that whether their fate could change depended on that Crystal Ball, and all of them tensed up at once.

One enslaved person after another stepped forward, all without cultivation aptitude.

That was until Thirteenth placed both hands over the Crystal Ball. The Crystal Ball, which had shown no reaction until then, suddenly lit up with a pale cyan glow.

"Finally, one!" The cultivator behind the table smiled and looked up at the enslaved person. "Name."

The enslaved person's face flushed crimson with excitement as he answered truthfully.

The cultivator behind the table took out something resembling a Jade Token. With Spiritual Power flowing from his hand, the person's name soon appeared on one side of the token.

He handed the Jade Token over and instructed, "Keep it safe. You'll need it later. Now go to that tent over there and have my Third Senior Brother examine your talent."

"Yes, yes, thank you, sir." The enslaved person held the Jade Token as though it were the most precious treasure in the world, then jogged toward the back, where a crude tent stood.