First Step of the Entrance Examination: Aptitude Screening

Caught off guard by the intense light, Kong Jiao's vision went white, plunging him into brief blindness.

When his sight returned,

he found himself surrounded by darkness—but not complete darkness.

Only then did he realize that he seemed to have left the Frostmoon Altar and entered an utterly unfamiliar space.

"So that's how the formation just now was used."

Kong Jiao came to a realization.

Rubbing his still-sore eyes, he could vaguely make out patches of pale blue scattered around the space, barely illuminating it.

The place was deathly silent, so quiet that Kong Jiao could hear his own heartbeat.

Kong Jiao swept his gaze across the surroundings, a realization dawning on him. No wonder those seniors searched the Frostmoon Altar over and over without finding what the ancients had left behind. So the Frostmoon Altar has a place like this.

After a short while, Kong Jiao's eyes gradually adapted to the dark environment.

With the dim light around him, he examined the space once more.

Straight ahead was where the pale blue glow shone most brightly.

A huge unknown plant, roughly as tall as an adult, was the source of that light.

Round cushions lay scattered across the floor of the space, arranged with extreme regularity—one every three paces.

Tap, tap! Kong Jiao cautiously stepped forward, walking slowly among the cushions toward the brightest end of the space.

Only when he drew closer did he see the plant's true appearance.

It was a lingzhi.

Its stalk was nearly as thick as Kong Jiao's waist, and its cap spanned nearly five feet—large enough to require two people to encircle it with their arms.

Both its stalk and cap were crystal-clear, suffused with wondrous radiance.

That radiance was the source of light within this space.

The closer Kong Jiao came, the more familiar the lingzhi appeared.

At last, the confusion on his face turned to blank astonishment.

"Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi!" The four words echoed in his mind. Kong Jiao's pupils slowly widened, unable to conceal the shock in his eyes.

A Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi this outrageously large—there was probably not another one like it in the entire cultivation world!

With spiritual medicines, the older they were, the stronger their medicinal effects became.

Kong Jiao stared blankly at the Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi. With his shallow experience, he found it difficult to judge just how valuable it had become.

How laughable. Not long ago, he had risked his life fighting someone at the sixth realm of Wheel Nourishment over a single Twin-Stem Ice Lingzhi.

Just as Kong Jiao was wavering in uncertainty,

something unexpected happened.

Bang! Two frost-white pillars of light, bright as the full moon, suddenly burst forth from beneath the enormous Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi.

In the darkness, light of that intensity nearly illuminated the entire space.

For a moment, the place was bright as day.

Kong Jiao bore the brunt of it, his entire body exposed beneath the glow.

The sudden turn of events made him jolt in fright.

He immediately withdrew and retreated rapidly.

Under the blazing light, Kong Jiao's expression was incomparably grave as he stared at its source.

Yet beneath that intense glare, he could not make out the object emitting it.

Just then, the light receded, as though it had never appeared at all.

The space once more sank into darkness.

Gulp! Kong Jiao swallowed, every inch of him tightening at this inexplicable situation.

His heart pounded violently from excessive tension, so loudly that he could hear its every beat.

The darkness did not last long.

A gentle radiance spilled down from the top of the space, lighting it once more. The source was an unknown azure crystal the size of a human head.

By its light, Kong Jiao finally saw the source of the two beams from before, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

It was a figure covered from head to toe in dust, seated cross-legged beneath the enormous Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi.

Judging from his appearance alone, he was a middle-aged man of around forty. His features were sharply defined, and he possessed a heroic air.

His expression was wooden. A crescent-shaped mark lay between his brows, and he wore a loose white robe with wide sleeves, already nearly rotted away by the passage of time.

As Kong Jiao studied him,

the man's dark golden eyes, seemingly devoid of emotion, fixed directly upon Kong Jiao's body as well. A faintly withdrawing radiance could still be seen within his pupils.

Kong Jiao suddenly understood where those two beams of light had come from.

"His eyes!" Kong Jiao slowly let out a breath, his expression solemn.

Though the man gave off no aura whatsoever,

the more this was the case, the less Kong Jiao dared underestimate him.

An ancient cultivator who had lived through untold years.

That identity alone made Kong Jiao's palms sweat, his unease clouding his thoughts.

Still, he braced himself and cupped his hands in salute, saying in a voice hoarse with tension, "Senior, this junior entered your territory by accident and had no intention of disturbing you."

Kong Jiao's voice echoed through the space for a long while.

But the man did not respond.

He merely rose slowly from his cross-legged position.

That simple movement caused his utterly decayed robe to slip straight off his body, crumbling into fragments that scattered across the ground.

The body revealed beneath the clothes made Kong Jiao's pupils shrink.

It was not a normal human body.

Mechanical components were embedded throughout his body. With his movements, every part turned.

As they rubbed together, they produced soft clicking sounds.

Clearly, this "senior" before Kong Jiao was no ancient cultivator, but a mechanical puppet that had existed for who knew how many years.

Even so, Kong Jiao did not dare take him lightly.

After so many years, even a Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi the size of a palm has grown as tall as a person, and clothes have decayed into ashes. Yet this puppet can still function as before.

Living people would actually be easier to deal with. At least they can communicate. Who knows whether this mechanical puppet even has consciousness? What if it suddenly attacks?

Damn it, how am I supposed to get out of this place? There isn't even anywhere to run.

Just as Kong Jiao was secretly considering what to do next,

the puppet took two steps beneath his watchful gaze and arrived at the front of the space where the cushions were scattered.

Kong Jiao saw its dark golden eyes turn toward him again. A stiff voice emerged from the puppet's mouth.

"The examination begins. Entrance disciples, take your seats."

"It can actually speak!" Kong Jiao's brows rose in surprise when the puppet suddenly spoke.

Then the two key phrases in its words caught his attention, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

"Examination? Entrance disciples?"

After pondering briefly, Kong Jiao swept his gaze around the cushion-covered space.

It was as though he understood something.

"So this was the place where that sect selected its entrance disciples. These cushions were all prepared for those disciples."

Clearly, the puppet had mistaken Kong Jiao for a disciple who had come to participate in the entrance examination of the sect it belonged to.

And it was carrying out its duty.

The reason it had mistaken Kong Jiao for an entrance disciple had to be related to the Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture he cultivated.

Kong Jiao had been able to enter this space precisely because he possessed Frostfall Spiritual Power.

Earlier, he had feared that this puppet, whose strength he could not fathom, might suddenly attack him.

Now that he had understood the crux of the matter, Kong Jiao was no longer nervous.

He first cast a faint glance at the puppet's emotionless eyes.

Then, unhurriedly, he sat down on the cushion closest to the puppet among the countless cushions.

Though he did not know what the examination entailed, the Cloud-Pattern Stele had guided him here. Its purpose surely had everything to do with his opportunity.

The puppet seemed to possess some intelligence, though it differed from that of a normal person.

It appeared to understand that Kong Jiao was the only one present.

Thus, its eyes remained fixed on him.

Only after Kong Jiao had formally taken his seat did it withdraw its gaze and continue in its uniquely hollow voice, "The first step of the entrance examination begins: aptitude screening."

As soon as it finished speaking, the puppet slowly extended its palm. Its ten fingers interlaced, forming an ancient hand seal.

The hand seal formed.

Bang! A bright white moon wheel appeared between its hands.

The mirror-smooth face of the moon wheel was aimed directly at Kong Jiao.

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