The look Jiang Jinyue gave Qi Yan now grew serious too.
She had always thought Qi Yan's assessment had actually been completed on the journey, and this was merely a formality. Her master had put her in charge precisely to give her the authority to let him in through the back door.
She had thought she could just go through the motions. That "big sister" alone was enough to declare him a pass; she had merely picked a question that would not affect the selection to tease him with.
Of course, it was impossible that no one had answered such a question correctly in thousands of years. But generally, those with the purity to expose the emperor's new clothes were children. Very few adults answered correctly... She had never expected Qi Yan to give her another surprise.
Jiang Jinyue suddenly wondered whether there was any need to open the back door. Otherwise, Elder Wan and the others might hold it against Qi Yan in the future... Could she let him pass the proper assessment fair and square?
But he was only at the Qi Refining Third Layer. Passing the assessment intended for independent cultivators with cultivation would probably not be easy. She had better not outsmart herself...
Jiang Jinyue was hesitating when her master's voice suddenly sounded beside her ear. "Give him some genuine comprehension tests."
"I'm done for..." Jiang Jinyue groaned inwardly. Why would her master personally pay attention to such a minor assessment...?
With her master watching, did that mean she could no longer go easy on him? Comprehension tests were one thing, but if they really got serious as they went on, Qi Yan's cultivation would not measure up. What test could someone at the Qi Refining Third Layer handle? Even the lowest test here required the Middle Qi Refining Stage. The standards she had told Qi Yan before were all genuine.
But now she could only steel herself and toss out a real cultivation manual. "Interpret this."
Qi Yan took it and looked. It was a book of Dao Arts. Apparently, the Heavenly Evolution Sect would not openly show people Witchcraft either.
Yet he had never lost to anyone in his comprehension of Dao Arts either. Back when the younger members of his family could not cultivate so much as a hair, he alone had reached the Qi Refining First Layer under suppression, without any resources. "This is a basic manual on inner alchemy. It describes a breathing method for illuminating the dantian's sea of qi and bringing the body's qi into resonance with external spiritual energy. Its emphasis is on regulating breathing and the circulation of qi. The first level is..."
Jiang Jinyue watched with her chin propped on her hand, smiling.
"Stop, stop, stop..." Seeing that Qi Yan had finished explaining the first level and looked ready to turn the page and explain the second, Elder Wan interrupted in astonishment. "Have you studied this book before?"
Qi Yan shook his head. "No."
Everyone exchanged looks, their eyes holding both admiration and regret.
They could all see that Qi Yan's Spiritual Root was poor. What a waste of that comprehension.
Even another white-haired old woman's expression grew much kinder. She turned to Jiang Jinyue. "Jinyue, in my opinion, there is no need for any other tests. Just have him walk the Ancient Divine Power Path and see whether he can retrieve the Exquisite Pearl within the time limit."
Quite a few people nodded. They had all developed some appreciation for his talent, and this suggestion was essentially going easy on him.
Because of some unknown upheavals the sect master had experienced, her single strictest requirement in building the sect was a prohibition against fellow disciples bullying one another. The punishments for this were practically on the level of touching a dragon's reverse scale.
Thus, the entrance assessment always included this "Ancient Divine Power Path." The nominal requirement was to obtain the Exquisite Pearl at the path's end. In reality, it tested whether the newcomers participating in the assessment would help one another in various situations or guard against and backstab one another to obtain the mission item first. Whether they actually obtained the mission item did not matter at all.
For the Heavenly Evolution Sect, this was the true screening question. Anyone who showed even the slightest thing wrong during the test would be rejected without exception.
This time, however, only one person was participating in the assessment, so there were no competitors at all. This portion amounted to free points. At most, since they could not make it too free, they would activate some illusions to test him. That difficulty could not be mentioned in the same breath as competing against real people.
Jiang Jinyue also thought this was a good approach and soon smiled. "All right... You there, come with us."
Qi Yan knew nothing of what lay behind this. He obediently followed Jiang Jinyue around the rear hall and arrived before a long, narrow passage.
Jiang Jinyue opened the passage door and smiled. "There's a pearl at the end of the passage. Let's see whether you can overcome the difficulties and retrieve it. You only have one incense stick's worth of time. Off you go, young man."
Qi Yan rolled his eyes at her discreetly. Jiang Jinyue looked up at the sky, then kicked him inside.
With a rumble, the entrance closed, leaving everything inside pitch-black.
"Fuck..." Qi Yan laboriously climbed to his feet and made to give the door the middle finger.
Then he remembered that this entire journey would probably be watched live. He could only withdraw his hand in chagrin, turning the motion into a scratch of his head.
"Hahahaha..." Seeing that adorable look of his, Jiang Jinyue laughed so hard she could hardly straighten up.
The others beside her could no longer hold back. "Jinyue, do you know this person?"
"Yep." Jiang Jinyue offered part of the truth too. "Yan, you know. I've investigated a hundred generations of his ancestors. Now we're just testing other things."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he had been investigated. They really did not want to run out and investigate someone's ancestors over this.
Did anyone know how they had spent all these years...?
Inside, Qi Yan had already raised his guard and was moving cautiously forward. Before long, he emerged from the passage. Ahead lay a stretch of barren Gobi wilderness beneath the sunlight. Reptiles and venomous snakes lurked around him, and white bones lay exposed among the sand and stones. It looked rather chilling.
Qi Yan carefully advanced across the Gobi. The farther he went, the more faint rustling sounds came from either side.
He turned to scan his surroundings. All sorts of venomous scorpions and snakes were approaching him.
Qi Yan used the Divine Movement Instruction and shot forward.
Whoosh! Several venomous snakes sprang up, lunging to bite Qi Yan's calves.
Electricity swept across them with a crackle. Qi Yan's already-prepared Lightning Attraction Technique had shocked them stiff.
An old man praised him quietly. "Independent cultivators really are more decisive and capable in combat than muddleheaded new disciples."
Elder Wan nodded. "His reactions are even a little faster than the average independent Qi Refinement cultivator's... That Lightning Attraction Technique was used just right."
Jiang Jinyue was still smiling.
Naturally, this assessment was also intended to test combat ability and reactions. Though the setting was low-level, it could reveal quite a lot. In any case, Jiang Jinyue was not worried about this. Qi Yan was more than just quick to react-he had even shaken her off back then. No! He had not shaken her off!
Qi Yan cut through thorns and brambles along the way, though he was actually under some pressure too.
Normally, a group of newcomers would travel this stretch together. However low-level the map was, handling it alone was not easy. Mostly, there were too many monsters. A snake would suddenly emerge here, a scorpion there, their attacks all nasty and underhanded.
With a team, things would be much easier if each person watched one side...
Just as he was thinking this, a voice suddenly came from nearby. "Junior brother... Give me a hand..."
Qi Yan looked over in surprise. A young man was leaning against a mound of earth, blood pouring from his calf, his expression listless.
This was an assessment site inside the Heavenly Evolution Sect, so naturally, meeting someone would not put him on his guard. Qi Yan was merely a little puzzled. "Are you here for the assessment too?"
Wasn't I the only one today...?
"Assessment?" The young man shook his head, looking very weak. "We're outer disciples ordered to undergo training. I got separated from my fellow disciples and accidentally got bitten by a venomous snake here... I didn't bring any antidote pills..."
Qi Yan immediately took out the pills Luo Chaoge had given him, which included antidotes. "I don't know whether this is the right remedy, but I reckon it shouldn't have much trouble handling low-level venomous creatures like these."
The man took the medicine bottle, an odd look in his eyes. "The mission item required for our trial might be the same as yours. If you really help me like this, what if I get to it first?"
"If I pass the assessment, we'll all be fellow disciples. Of course we should lend a hand when someone's in trouble. Competition is a separate matter." Qi Yan waved and dashed away.
Outside, Jiang Jinyue smiled faintly, while the elders all nodded.
Naturally, this sort of test made the choice much easier than outright competition between newcomers. After all, the other party had already entered the sect and was not a direct competitor. Anyone whose thinking ran in a positive direction would choose to lend a hand; it was no trouble. Moreover, Jiang Jinyue had known since their time aboard the boat that Qi Yan had antidotes on him. Going easy on him this way followed perfectly naturally.
But the next moment, Jiang Jinyue froze.
This was only an illusion. Once he passed it, that should have been that, without any continuation. Yet she watched in astonishment as the young man cured his poisoning and swiftly caught up with Qi Yan.
Creating an illusion so detailed that even observers who knew it was an illusion seemed to be watching real events unfold was not something an ordinary person could do.
Mu Xunzhen was intervening!
What did the sect master want to see? Everyone drew in a sharp breath and quietly watched events develop.
The young man swiftly caught up with Qi Yan and smiled. "Thanks, brother."
Qi Yan paused. "You're pretty fast."
"You cleared out all the monsters along the way. All I had to do was run." The young man was quite modest.
Qi Yan nodded. "Then we can work together from here. I take the left, you take the right?"
"Sure." The young man was decisive too.
Working together on either side did indeed make the journey much easier. Before long, they saw a pearl emitting a gentle glow, floating above a rock not far away.
Qi Yan asked, "Is that your mission objective too?"
The young man smiled and shook his head. "No."
"Good. Then I'm done. Be careful from here on." Qi Yan accelerated, darting forward to take the pearl.
A cold gleam abruptly flashed behind him. The man suddenly drew his sword and launched a sneak attack at Qi Yan's back.
Jiang Jinyue's heart lurched. Master, what exactly are you doing? This sort of probing goes against the purpose of the sect's test. The sect wants to select disciples who can help one another, not make new disciples question whether people in the sect will slaughter each other!
As she broke into a nervous sweat, she saw Qi Yan dodge to the side as though he had been prepared all along. The man's sword struck empty air, carrying him past Qi Yan.
Qi Yan drove an elbow straight beneath his ribs, making the man's face contort as he doubled over.
Following through, Qi Yan seized the sword and laid it against his neck, saying coldly, "If an examiner is watching, come take this man away. If no one comes by the count of three, I'll kill him."
A voice came from somewhere unknown. "Since you saved him, why were you on guard against him?"
"He said he'd been separated from his fellow disciples... This area isn't large, yet we haven't seen a trace of anyone else all this way. His story wasn't entirely truthful." Qi Yan said evenly, "One must not harbor the heart to harm others, but one must never lack the heart to guard against them. That's all."
As he spoke, the young man in his grasp dissipated like mist.
Qi Yan stared in surprise. Only then did he realize it had been an illusion test.
Strange. Why test this? It doesn't make sense...
The distant voice offered no comment. "Within the range of the Exquisite Pearl's light, every step forward will increase the mental pressure. If you cannot withstand it, please turn back."
This time, even Jiang Jinyue, watching outside, could no longer hold back. She shouted up at the sky, "Master, none of this belongs in an entrance assessment! It's unfair!"
The vast sky remained silent. No answer came.