"Then, the assessment begins."
The lead disciple in white spoke in a cool voice that carried across the entire grounds. With a wave of his hand, a piece of rotten wood appeared before every examinee.
"This is Revival Wood. After a hundred years of deathly stillness, it returns to life in a single day. The pieces before you are all twenty years away from their next awakening. Whoever can make theirs revive now will pass the first trial."
"May I ask, Senior Brother, how do we make this Revival Wood return to life?" one of the Outer Mountain disciples participating in the selection asked. The other party was not impatient, merely answering evenly:
"Feed it spiritual energy, flesh and blood, or anything containing vitality, and it can be awakened ahead of time."
After answering, he sat down cross-legged. The two disciples beside him also closed their eyes, seemingly entering cultivation.
Seeing this, the Outer Mountain disciples knew they could ask no more. They could only begin trying to channel spiritual energy into the Revival Wood.
It truly worked. As spiritual energy flowed in, the Revival Wood in everyone's hands began to emit a faint glow. Its deep black color slowly faded away, revealing specks of jade-like radiance.
On the other side, Xu Yuan was also observing the field. He noticed that Huang Ying was not channeling spiritual energy into her Revival Wood. Instead, she took a vial of green-glowing medicine from her storage pouch. As she poured its contents over the wood, more than half of the Revival Wood in her hand began to turn jade-colored.
Doesn't that fucking count as cheating?
Xu Yuan raised his head in astonishment and looked toward the three Inner Mountain disciples seated before them, only to find that they showed no reaction at all.