The Sleeping Dragon of the Cultivation World

Phoenix Perch Mountain, Cloud Cliff Sect.

The disciple recruitment ceremony, held once every three years, was underway.

As the Cloud Cliff Sect's youngest and most promising elder, Li Shouyi stood in a corner with a longsword cradled in his arms, his expression rather gloomy.

The recruitment ceremony had already been going for three days and would end tomorrow, yet he had not taken a single disciple.

It was not that none caught his eye. Rather, this generation had far too many promising seedlings, which gave him a terrible headache.

Li Shouyi, who had transmigrated here half a month ago, had learned from his predecessor's memories that three years earlier, his predecessor had agreed to a duel to the death with a Nascent Soul Realm expert.

But three years had now passed, and he was still only in the Core Formation Realm!

Just as he was sinking into despair, however, he unexpectedly awakened a system that let him grow stronger simply by taking disciples.

Li Shouyi had thought he could finally climb to the pinnacle of life, become an unparalleled supreme being, and stand astride the ages.

What he had never expected was that this disciple recruitment system was actually called the "Mediocre Talent System"!

In other words, the worse his disciples' aptitude, the more rewards Li Shouyi would receive.

Geniuses might be hard to find in the cultivation world, but useless trash... couldn't he scoop those up by the handful?

Ordinary trash, however, was not enough to catch Li Shouyi's eye.

The disciples he wanted had to be trash among trash, peerless specimens of uselessness found only once in ten thousand!

So the mediocre talents before him did not make the cut!

Just as Li Shouyi was searching the crowd for a candidate to become his beloved disciple, a commotion suddenly erupted by the testing pillar nearby.

"Lin Shuishui?"

"Is Lin Shuishui here?"

"Lin Shuishui, hurry up and come take your test!"

The examiner called several times, but not a soul appeared.

Everyone hurried to help look for her. After all, failing to find Lin Shuishui would waste their own time.

After searching around, they finally found Lin Shuishui dreaming beneath a tree.

If one overlooked the way she slept, anyone would have considered her an extraordinary beauty.

But the clear strand of drool sliding from the corner of her mouth utterly ruined that image.

"Lin Shuishui, are you taking the test or not?"

"All of us are waiting for you alone!"

"Aren't you ashamed?"

Only after someone shouted at her did Lin Shuishui groggily open her eyes, mumbling indistinctly, "Test? What test?"

"The Cloud Cliff Sect's entrance test!"

Apparently at the end of their patience, everyone roared in perfect unison.

"Oh..."

Lin Shuishui gave a drowsy reply, then went still again.

Everyone waited for ages. Only when they heard her faint breathing did they realize she had actually fallen asleep again.

"Rumor has it that the Lin Household's eldest young lady loves sleep more than life itself."

"We've certainly had our eyes opened today."

"With an attitude like hers, why even bother testing her? Send her home already!"

Everyone voiced their displeasure at once, naturally drawing Li Shouyi's attention.

Good grief, a terminal sleep addict!

Doesn't she fit my standards for a disciple perfectly?

The only thing left to confirm was this girl's aptitude.

"Ahem!"

At that thought, Li Shouyi could not help clearing his throat twice.

When the disciples overseeing the test saw Li Shouyi, they hurriedly cupped their fists, looking flustered. "Greetings, Elder Shouyi!"

"No need to stand on ceremony. What's going on here?"

Li Shouyi assumed a dignified air, pretending to be unfathomably profound.

The disciples hurriedly explained everything. Only then did he chuckle. "Although Lin Shuishui has held things up because of her fondness for sleep..."

"Think about it. She fought such overwhelming drowsiness and persevered all the way to our Phoenix Perch Mountain."

"Doesn't that make her sincerity all the more apparent?"

"Wake her and give her a chance to take the test. We can hardly let someone come all the way to our Cloud Cliff Sect without even giving her that opportunity."

His speech rang with righteousness, and for a moment, the disciples could not help replying in shame.

"Your noble character is admirable, Elder Shouyi. We have learned our lesson!"

Several female disciples hurried to Lin Shuishui's side. Even if they had to carry her, they finally managed to get her beside the testing pillar.

"Lin Shuishui, wake up and take the test. Everyone only gets one chance."

"The testing pillar gives off four colors: red, orange, yellow, and green. Green indicates a false spiritual root, the lowest grade, while red indicates a heavenly spiritual root, the highest. You need at least a yellow true spiritual root to enter our Cloud Cliff Sect."

Seemingly unhappy at being disturbed, Lin Shuishui stretched out both hands and waved them haphazardly through the air, happening to slap the testing pillar.

Li Shouyi stared fixedly at the pillar. Please don't let it be some high-grade spiritual root. Ideally, just a false spiritual root will do.

Yet after the testing pillar's light flickered through a dazzling array of colors, it finally revealed a wash of white.

"Ah... what?"

"The legendary Void Spiritual Root, seen only once in a thousand years?"

"They say this Void Spiritual Root is an exceptionally useless spiritual root. The person is like a funnel—however much spiritual energy they absorb leaks straight out. There's absolutely no possibility of cultivating!"

"That's worse than having no spiritual root at all. Tsk, tsk, how pitiful!"

Everyone began talking at once, their gazes toward Lin Shuishui inevitably tinged with sympathy.

Yet in Li Shouyi's eyes, this girl was an absolute treasure!

A constitution naturally prone to sleep!

A useless spiritual root seen only once in a thousand years!

Wasn't she the perfect choice to become his disciple?

"Sorry, Miss Lin. You may go home."

"Your aptitude is unsuitable for cultivation in our Cloud Cliff Sect."

The disciples conducting the test looked at Lin Shuishui sympathetically as they spoke.

"Oh..."

Lin Shuishui nodded. She had already taken the tests at several sects, and the results had been more or less the same. She was used to it.

Even as she spoke, her eyelids began battling each other again, and she was about to fall asleep.

"Wait!"

Just then, a hand suddenly reached out from nowhere and supported Lin Shuishui's chin. It belonged to Li Shouyi.

"Just because others won't accept you doesn't mean you're truly worthless."

"There are no mediocre talents in this world, only fools unwilling to work hard!"

"If you don't mind, you can cultivate under me from now on."

No one had expected Li Shouyi to make such a move. For a moment, everyone was stunned.

"Elder Shouyi, she has a Void Spiritual Root! From ancient times to the present, no one with a Void Spiritual Root has ever successfully cultivated!"

Everyone hurried to dissuade him. As the Cloud Cliff Sect's youngest elder, Li Shouyi had cultivated for less than a hundred years, and his prospects were naturally limitless.

Moreover, he had never taken a disciple before. If he truly accepted Lin Shuishui, disciples who joined the Cloud Cliff Sect in the future would have to address her as Senior Sister Lin.

Her seniority would demand it, after all. But making them acknowledge a utterly useless sleepyhead as their senior sister—what kind of nonsense was that?

"What do you know? What's wrong with a Void Spiritual Root?"

"Does having a Void Spiritual Root mean she doesn't deserve to cultivate or become a peerless expert?"

Li Shouyi swept his hand through the air and declared righteously, "And you call yourselves disciples of our Cloud Cliff Sect! Don't you know that the path of cultivation has never depended on talent, but on your own hard work?"

"Although Lin Shuishui has a Void Spiritual Root, she is utterly devoted to sleeping."

"Tell me, which of you can manage what she does?"

"Well..."

His speech instantly left the surrounding disciples red-faced.

Although they vaguely sensed that Li Shouyi was simply twisting logic, they could not come up with a single rebuttal.

"You... really want to take me as your disciple?"

As though she had heard the exchange between Li Shouyi and the others, Lin Shuishui forced herself to rally. The eyes she strained with all her might to open truly shimmered with beauty.

Li Shouyi nodded. Spoken words were like spilled water. As a dignified elder, how could he go back on his word?

"M-Master, please accept your humble disciple's bow..."

Having never expected Li Shouyi to be serious, Lin Shuishui hurriedly knelt and bowed to him as her master before everyone.

Yet she was only halfway through her bow when her eyes grew dazed, her gaze lost focus, and her head tilted sideways. She had actually fallen asleep again.

Li Shouyi hurriedly stepped forward to catch her, calling out, "Someone, take Lin Shuishui to my cave abode first. I still have more disciples to recruit."

Watching several female disciples support Lin Shuishui as they headed toward the sect gates, Li Shouyi's eyes gleamed.

He had already found the Sleeping Dragon of the cultivation world. Could the Fledgling Phoenix be far behind?