Pretend You Didn't Hear It

Third Senior Brother, his expression stern, launched into a lengthy explanation of the Azure Jade Sect. Only after quite a while did he change the subject. "Your Five Elements lean toward fire. I recall the sect has a Great Flame Burning Desolation Art that should suit you well. Of course, if you wish to develop in the metal direction, that is also fine; the sect has many metal cultivation arts as well. And if you join our Azure Jade Sect, even as a trial disciple, you will receive an allotment of two Spirit Nurturing Pills each month. If you pass the assessment and become an Official Disciple, your allotment will double. Have you remembered that?"

Lu Ye hurriedly nodded. "I've remembered."

He was puzzled. What did this mean? Why did it sound as though Third Senior Brother was recruiting him? If so, then a cultivator like him, whose Apertures had Opened, truly did have a considerable advantage.

He secretly felt rather pleased with himself.

Third Senior Brother continued, "Good if you remember. Sit properly and calm your mind. There may be some pain shortly, but do not worry. This is merely the process of testing your aptitude. Do not circulate your Spiritual Power to resist it."

"Yes!" Lu Ye answered, placing his hands on his knees with his palms facing upward before closing his eyes.

The next moment, he sensed Spiritual Power beginning to surge. Though he was curious about what Third Senior Brother was doing, he could not open his eyes to look. As the Spiritual Power stirred, a faint tremor came from beneath him. Lu Ye guessed that the Formation on the disk had been activated.

Just as he had thought, Third Senior Brother had placed eight crystals, each the size of a silkworm cocoon, into the eight hollows around the disk's edge. These were Spirit Stones commonly used by cultivators to set Formations, something Lu Ye had never seen before.

When Third Senior Brother activated the Formation on the disk, a faint mist drifted out from the Spirit Stones embedded in the eight hollows. The mist was the Spiritual Power stored within the Spirit Stones, transformed through the Formation into pure Spiritual Energy.

The dense Spiritual Energy quickly filled the space encompassed by the disk, yet an invisible barrier seemed to surround it, confining the Spiritual Energy within the disk.

Lu Ye, seated there, felt his heart stir. Though his eyes were closed, he sensed many wondrous things appearing around him. They burrowed into his body, bringing him an immensely comfortable sensation.

This is Spiritual Energy?

Lu Ye immediately understood. Absorbing and exhaling Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy was one of cultivators' primary means of cultivation. Back in the Mine Cave, Lu Ye had tried it before, but perhaps due to the terrain, he had not sensed any Spiritual Energy there and could only choose the method of Refining Essence into Qi.

After Old Man Tang had brought him out of the Mine Cave, he had forgotten to sense the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy around him.

Only now did he directly sense the existence of Spiritual Energy.

However, recalling Third Senior Brother's earlier instructions, he forcibly resisted the temptation and did not absorb it at will.

Across from him, Third Senior Brother formed a hand seal and continuously urged the Formation's power, his gaze fixed without blinking on the Saplings around the edge of the disk.

The Formation on the disk was specifically used to test the level of one's aptitude. When Third Senior Brother activated its might, the eight Spirit Stones embedded in the disk released their stored Spiritual Power, turning it into dense Spiritual Energy.

Through his manipulation, this Spiritual Energy would be guided into the test subject's body, then flow into the Formation on the disk. In this way, the Saplings at the Formation's edge would undergo certain changes.

Put simply, Lu Ye's body, seated on the disk, was now a relay station. Spiritual Energy would pass through his body into the Formation, causing the eight Saplings to undergo their proper changes.

The more Saplings that changed, the higher the tested person's aptitude; conversely, the fewer that changed, the lower it was.

At its root, this test examined whether the Spiritual Energy guided into one's body could flow smoothly. The smoother the flow, the more suited one was to cultivation and the greater one's aptitude.

After all, the foundation of a cultivator's practice was to strengthen their own Spiritual Energy. If even Spiritual Energy could not flow smoothly through one's body, what cultivation was there to speak of?

Beside the Formation disk, Third Senior Brother continued his efforts. The eight Saplings remained still, and he frowned slightly before increasing the Formation's power.

Lu Ye immediately knitted his brows. He felt a faint stabbing pain in his body, as though countless strands of foreign Spiritual Energy were forcing their way into him, making him feel as if he were being pricked by innumerable needles. As time passed, the pain became increasingly pronounced.

Only when he was nearly unable to endure it did the stabbing pain throughout his body abruptly vanish. At the same time, Third Senior Brother's voice sounded by his ear. "That will do."

Lu Ye hurriedly opened his eyes and let out a long breath. When his gaze met Third Senior Brother's, he found the man looking at him with an exceedingly complicated expression.

Lu Ye's heart sank. He had a bad feeling about this.

"May I ask, Senior Brother, how is my aptitude?" Lu Ye asked.

Third Senior Brother said nothing. He merely glanced at the disk, brushed a hand over Lu Ye's Jade Token, and returned it to him.

Lu Ye took it and found that on the side of the Jade Token engraved with his Cultivation Attribute, an additional one had appeared.

What did this mean?

Lu Ye wanted to ask for clarification, but Third Senior Brother clearly did not wish to speak anymore. He could not press the matter, so he stood from the disk and bowed to Third Senior Brother. "Thank you, Senior Brother!"

As he turned and walked outside, he saw that among the eight bare Saplings on the disk, one had grown a fresh, tender leaf...

Does that one on the back represent a single Sapling? he secretly guessed.

"Young friend!" Third Senior Brother suddenly called out.

Lu Ye, who had reached the entrance, turned around. "What are your instructions, Senior Brother?"

Third Senior Brother said, "Treat everything I told you earlier as though you never heard it."

Lu Ye: ...

After leaving the tent, Lu Ye took several deep breaths as an intense sense of crisis welled up in his heart.

Though he was not sure whether his aptitude was high or low, merely judging from Third Senior Brother's words and attitude before and after the test, Lu Ye sensed that things were greatly amiss.

His aptitude was likely somewhat... extraordinary.

He still needed to find someone to confirm it.

Lu Ye looked around and suddenly spotted a figure standing quietly in a corner. He walked straight over.

Before he had gone halfway, that figure noticed Lu Ye as well and smiled as she waved to him.

Once he approached, Lu Ye greeted her. "Miss Yu."

Yu Xiaodie gave a graceful bow. "Big Brother Lu."

It was clear that Yu Xiaodie was in much better spirits than yesterday.

She had already completed her test, and her result was fairly good.

Lu Ye raised the Jade Token in his hand and offered it to her. "Help me take a look. What is going on with my aptitude?"

As Yu Xiaodie accepted it, she said with a smile, "Since Big Brother Lu was able to open a Spiritual Aperture, your aptitude certainly isn't... bad!"

When she spoke those last words, she saw the one on the back of the Jade Token. Her eyelids could not help twitching, and hesitation entered her voice.

Seeing her reaction, Lu Ye understood at once.

His aptitude really did seem rather unsatisfactory?

"How is your aptitude, Miss Yu?" Lu Ye asked.

Yu Xiaodie said, "About the same as Big Brother Lu's."

Lu Ye waved a hand. "There is no need to comfort me. I roughly understand now. The smaller the number, the lower the aptitude, isn't it?"

Yu Xiaodie pressed her lips together. She wanted to comfort Lu Ye but did not know how to begin. In the end, she could only nod. "Yes."

"No wonder." Lu Ye recalled Third Senior Brother's final words and thought to himself that cultivators were practical people too.

Yu Xiaodie said, "Big Brother Lu need not be discouraged. The current test is not necessarily accurate, and the Formation used is not advanced. It occasionally makes mistakes."

Lu Ye smiled. "I do not know exactly how that Formation works, but since it has given a result, I can only face it calmly."

Yu Xiaodie looked at him curiously. "Big Brother Lu truly does not mind?" Lu Ye's easygoing manner did not seem feigned. If an ordinary person received such a result, they would surely be somewhat disheartened.

Lu Ye looked into the distance and smiled faintly. "Compared to those people, I am already fortunate enough to have opened a Spiritual Aperture."

Following his gaze, she saw a large group of dejected people gathered over there. They were all people without cultivation aptitude who had been eliminated.

The Liu Brothers were among them.

This chapter was an extra update for Chi Chi's C-tier Alliance Leader reward. Good morning, everyone.