"Senior Brother knows what I'm like, I..."
"Alright, alright. This senior brother won't urge you to improve yourself anymore." Lu Bogui smiled and shook his head.
Seeing Lu Bogui's rather disappointed expression, Jiang Beiran felt helpless too. It was not that he did not seek progress; the system's options simply gave him no way to make progress.
When Jiang Beiran had first arrived at the Returning Heart Sect, he had passed the aptitude test and become an Outer Disciple, gaining the qualifications to learn the Returning Heart Skill and One Word Swordplay.
According to the Returning Heart Sect's rules, once an Outer Disciple mastered the Returning Heart Skill and learned the first form of One Word Swordplay, they would have passed the first trial, becoming a Formal Disciple and gaining the right to choose a hall.
What did choosing a hall mean? That had to begin with the Twenty-Four Halls established by the Returning Heart Sect. Each of these twenty-four halls had its own unique characteristics, encompassing everything from zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting to sabers, spears, staves, and clubs. Outer Disciples could choose according to their strengths or preferences.
When Jiang Beiran first heard of this, he had been somewhat surprised. He did not know whether every sect in this world taught according to aptitude like this, or whether the Returning Heart Sect's sect master had particularly forward-thinking ideas and understood the importance of diverse talents within a sect.
Once an Outer Disciple passed the first trial and gained the right to choose a hall, they could select one of the Twenty-Four Halls they liked and become its disciple. As long as they succeeded in taking a master, they could learn higher-quality cultivation methods and Martial Arts within that hall. If their aptitude was high enough, they might even be accepted as an Inner Disciple by a Blue Banner, a Black Banner, or even the Hall Master, enjoying absolute one-on-one elite instruction.
The Returning Heart Skill and One Word Swordplay were both the most basic of beginner techniques, so naturally there was no one-on-one elite instruction from any master. More than a hundred Outer Disciples sat in the Lecture Hall, and the one teaching them was not some old master, but a Senior Brother who looked quite young.
During class, Jiang Beiran discovered that besides their batch of "new students," there were also some "veteran students" who seemed to have been here for a long time.
There were four classes a week. After two weeks, all the classes had ended. Before leaving, that Senior Brother told Jiang Beiran and the others that the rest would depend on them practicing and comprehending things themselves.
During self-practice, Jiang Beiran discovered that his aptitude was exceptionally high. He was the first among several hundred Outer Disciples to master the Returning Heart Skill. But just as he was about to report it to Qing Gang, who was responsible for managing them, three options suddenly popped up before his eyes.
[Option One: Immediately tell Qing Gang that you have mastered the Returning Heart Skill. Completion Reward: Calm Meditation Overlord Claw (Mystic Middle Grade)] [Option Two: Silently continue practicing. Completion Reward: Black Dragon Iron Spine Arrow*20 (Yellow Low Grade)] [Option Three: Do nothing. Completion Reward: Random Basic Attribute Point +1]
Good grief... It's this dangerous?
Seeing that the first option actually offered a Mystic Middle Grade reward outright, Jiang Beiran was a little dumbfounded. After all, such a reward was practically synonymous with being sent to his death.
Could it be because the gun shoots the bird that sticks its head out?
Because he had an excellent impression of Lu Bogui, and because Lu Bogui had often talked about how good the Returning Heart Sect was on the way here, Jiang Beiran had always imagined the Returning Heart Sect as a Prestigious Sect upright and righteous from top to bottom.
But now it seemed that merely revealing a little extraordinary talent could bring fatal danger.
Still, Jiang Beiran thought it made sense. Even in the twenty-first century, where the judicial system was mature, surveillance cameras filled the streets, and terrifying weapons like Facial Recognition existed, people still dared to commit murder and crimes. Let alone on the Fantasy Continent, where even Fingerprint Technology had yet to be developed.
If someone truly wanted to kill you, they could slip poison into your food, suddenly kick you from behind while you were climbing a mountain, or even stab you when you went to the toilet in the pitch-black night. It was all a matter of leaving no proof of death. Out of a hundred such cases, catching two or three true culprits would probably already make someone a Peerless Detective.
Jiang Beiran could understand why the first option was dangerous, but he could not make heads or tails of why silently practicing in the second option would also invite disaster. But that was not important, because he had already chosen option three.
After that, Jiang Beiran obediently became a salted fish. Most of the disciples living in the same dormitory district got up at Mao Hour to practice, while he rose one or two hours later than everyone else.
When everyone else had finished practicing swordplay and was preparing to meditate, he followed along and put on a show for a while.
Over time, he became a good-for-nothing in the eyes of most Outer Disciples. Sometimes, while Jiang Beiran was eating, he could even hear their mocking laughter deliberately spoken loudly enough for him to hear.
"I really don't know how someone like that passed the aptitude test."
"Exactly. He sleeps until Si Hour every day before getting up. Even the pigs in my family can't sleep that much."
"Forget it, let's not talk about others like that. You can't blame someone for having poor aptitude."
Faced with such mockery, Jiang Beiran's heart did not ripple in the slightest. He even felt a little like laughing.
Isn't this the classic useless-trash opening? Steady!
This kind of learning continued for two weeks. In the end, a handsome male disciple named Wei Chang seized first place, telling Qing Gang that he had mastered the Returning Heart Skill and the first form of One Word Swordplay.
Amid everyone's envious gazes, Wei Chang waved farewell to the senior brothers he had studied with for a month, preparing to choose a hall.
Another two weeks passed. Most of the Outer Disciples from the same batch had nearly all completed the test. Only thirteen disciples, including Jiang Beiran, remained in the Lecture Hall without passing.
One morning, without receiving any notice at all, Jiang Beiran discovered that a new batch of Outer Disciples had arrived at the Lecture Hall.
The student intake is pretty good...
In just over a month, they had recruited another hundred Outer Disciples. This gave Jiang Beiran a more concrete understanding of the Returning Heart Sect's scale.
But the other Outer Disciples from his batch were not in the mood to admire that. Their expressions turned ugly one after another when they saw the newcomers, because they knew that they had now become the "repeaters" they had once mocked.
After that, Jiang Beiran did not remain a "repeater" for very long. At the end of the first month after the new batch of Outer Disciples arrived, when only a few of the Outer Disciples from his batch who had "repeated" with him remained, two options appeared before him.
[Option One: Continue staying in the Lecture Hall. Completion Reward: Azure Sky Palm (Profound Grade Low Rank)] [Option Two: Pass the test. Completion Reward: Random Basic Attribute Point +1]
Rarely, there were only two options. Jiang Beiran did not bother thinking about why choosing option one would yield such a good reward and directly chose option two.
Finding Qing Gang in the small hut outside the Lecture Hall, Jiang Beiran told him that he had mastered the Returning Heart Skill and the first form of One Word Swordplay.
Without much reaction, Qing Gang nodded at Jiang Beiran and had him demonstrate the first form of One Word Swordplay. Then he pressed his palm against Jiang Beiran's chest and had him circulate the Returning Heart Skill.
The instant he began circulating the Returning Heart Skill, Jiang Beiran suddenly realized that if he had chosen option two back then and continued silently practicing, the Qing Gang before him would definitely have discovered that he had concealed his strength. Who knew what consequences that would have led to?
Sensing Jiang Beiran laboriously circulate the Returning Heart Skill once, Qing Gang nodded and said to him, "Mm, you've passed the test. You are now a Formal Disciple of my Returning Heart Sect and may choose a hall on your own."
Before you continue