Sharpening the knife does not delay the woodcutter

He slept dreamlessly through the night and rested exceptionally well.

Early the next morning, Yue Shuo woke naturally. He glanced at the changes on his panel and found that his Divine Sense had fully recovered.

[Divine Sense: 15/15]

After giving it some thought, he did not immediately practice Tai Chi Fist again to expend his full Divine Sense.

First, he knew that Divine Sense recovered much faster in an environment with spiritual energy.

Second, the proportion of Divine Sense was closely tied to a person's mental state.

Sharpening the knife did not delay the woodcutter!

If his poor mental state affected the Spiritual Root test and prevented him from staying on Hemu Island, where spiritual energy might be more abundant,

that would be putting the cart before the horse.

After that, he did not make himself stand out.

He obediently blended in with the children, following instructions step by step. When told to eat, he ate; when told to line up, he lined up.

All morning, he merely seemed quiet, though he still interacted with children his own age.

Yue Shuo was quite good at talking and knew how to praise people.

He spoke little, but his words were sincere.

Before long, none of the children excluded or isolated him. Of course, there were also sympathetic gazes and careless words from the children.

Yue Shuo simply pretended not to notice that.

He just did not want to draw too much attention to himself.

Or rather,

he did not want to seem different from everyone else.

Once his Divine Sense had fully recovered, he could sense the two burly guards occasionally sweeping their gazes over the children.

They were not hostile looks.

They were looks of observation and record-keeping.

It seemed that some kind of observation had begun once they came ashore.

Or perhaps it had begun aboard the ship.

They remained in the courtyard until noon before being arranged into lines and led out through the gates to undergo testing in another large courtyard right beside it.

It was not the elevated platform Spiritual Root test Yue Shuo had imagined,

with countless people watching below.

When his turn came, he entered the large courtyard beyond an arched gate with five others before and after him, each of them going into a separate room.

A middle-aged man sat inside the room.

Not a beautiful older sister.

"Kid, come over and press this crystal against your forehead. Keep staring at it the entire time. You only have half an incense stick's time..."

Yue Shuo did not quite understand how he was supposed to stare at his own forehead.

But once he began, he understood what the other man intended.

It was to make him concentrate.

Yue Shuo did not let his mind wander. At a time like this, he just had to follow the instructions.

The crystal was not small. Both sides were flat, while its edges had irregular facets.

It felt icy cold against his forehead.

Yue Shuo began to focus with all his might.

He poured all his attention into the crystal. Gradually, he seemed to see five-colored light.

Where he could not see it,

the crystal gave off a faint five-colored glow.

The Spiritual Root activated rather quickly, but unfortunately, it was a five-element Spiritual Root...

"All right! You have a Spiritual Root! State your name and island of birth... Take this wooden plaque and follow the person outside!"

Regret flashed through the middle-aged man's eyes.

He asked the questions and quickly wrote the answers down.

Then he handed Yue Shuo a wooden plaque and indicated that he could leave.

A servant in blue was already waiting outside. The servant politely led Yue Shuo away through a passage on the other side.

They did not return to the large courtyard where he had spent the night.

Yue Shuo touched the 'Basic Talisman Crafting Notes' inside his padded coat, feeling somewhat fortunate that he had not put it in his bundle.

"Uncle, my bundle..."

"You may call me Gu Jiu, Young Master. Someone will deliver your bundle. From now on, if you have any requests, you may tell Gu Jiu!"

Yue Shuo said, "...I passed?"

"That is correct! As long as there are no problems with your identification, you will be a member of the Qin Clan from now on!"

"What should I do now?"

As Yue Shuo spoke, he tried his best to act like a relatively clever child.

There were not no children who seemed mature beyond their years.

But if he went too far, he would seem monstrous.

His actions in town still had a reasonable explanation.

After all, with his parents gone and his elder brother injured, he had panicked upon realizing they needed a great deal of money. So he mortgaged their fertile fields to obtain medicine money for his brother.

No one would think that he had deliberately reduced the chance of others coveting the Yue family.

When registering, he had sought out several people familiar with Father Yue to go with him.

It could also be explained as him being young and ignorant. He had only heard that registration was complicated, so he asked many uncles about it.

"You may rest, or go look around the city..."

Yue Shuo actually wanted to choose the latter, but before receiving a cultivation technique and officially beginning cultivation, he did not want to stir up unnecessary trouble.

"I would like to rest for a while first. Oh, could you find me some books to read?"

After thinking it over, Yue Shuo still did not mention talisman paper, talisman ink, or other such requests.

He only asked for the Four Treasures of the Study.

"Young Master can read? That is simply incredible! This way, you can begin cultivating ahead of the others!"

Gu Jiu truly was useful. He knew how to speak and handled matters efficiently.

He first settled Yue Shuo in.

It was an elegant little courtyard, self-contained and private. There were clearly many similar courtyards nearby, though few seemed occupied.

The place was located beside a small cliff.

It was a short distance from the bustling city below, making it rather quiet.

Though Little Hemmu Island had the word "little" in its name, it was the largest trade transit island within several hundred nautical miles.

Of course, that was only within the mortal realm.

Yue Shuo had not waited long in the courtyard before someone delivered what he had requested.

Among the items was a travelogue written by a cultivator.

The study in the courtyard already had some of the Four Treasures of the Study, and their quality was far better than those Yue Shuo had seen his biological father use.

Gu Jiu withdrew very attentively to stand guard outside the courtyard gate.

Yue Shuo returned to the study and saw a more exquisitely arranged brazier inside. He moved it beside the desk.

He first spent some time reading the travelogue.

It described the travels of a Rogue Cultivator who had accidentally stepped onto the path of cultivation, recounting some of his journeys around the Eastern Sea and Sea Prefecture.

Its contents gave Yue Shuo a certain understanding of the surrounding region.

This was far richer than anything he had learned from asking around while growing up.

After reading for a while, he ground some ink and began practicing calligraphy. He abandoned his initial idea of practicing how to write talisman inscriptions.

There was no need to rush this brief moment.

When he had learned that he lived on a small island,

he had given up on seriously studying for the imperial examinations. He had only studied and learned to read with his elder brother whenever he was awake.

Before activating the character panel,

he had planned to become a carpenter or a carver. But the latter offered little money-making potential in villages and towns, so he had seriously considered carpentry instead.

Now, of course, his goal was to cultivate and live forever!

As Yue Shuo practiced calligraphy and pondered, his heart grew calmer and calmer. He could also sense that some sort of faint five-colored light seemed to exist between heaven and earth.

Was this sensing spiritual energy?

The moment Yue Shuo was distracted, the faint light vanished.

He was not disappointed.

He patiently wrote, read, rested, and ate.

Only after sounds arose in the neighboring courtyard, and gradually several more disturbances appeared around them, did Gu Jiu gently knock on the door.

"Young Master, the time has come. We must set off."

Yue Shuo calmly packed his bundle and came out, pondering as he walked.

We?

He glanced at Gu Jiu and asked directly,

"Will you be going to Hemu Island with me?"

"Yes, Young Master. Gu Jiu will be responsible for attending to your daily needs. Of course, if you have other servants, you may replace this one."

Yue Shuo nodded. "You will do."

No wonder Gu Jiu had been so attentive toward him.

The Qin Clan of Hemu Island treated the guest disciples they recruited fairly well. It was not the worst possibility Yue Shuo had imagined.