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Translator: Asuka
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
The grim-looking Third Senior Brother went on to talk all about Green Jade Sect. Moments later, he changed the topic by saying, “Your main attribute is Fire. I remember that we do have a Fire Desolation Technique, which should suit you. Certainly, you can work on your Metal Attribute if you want. We do have some Metal Attribute Techniques. Furthermore, if you join our Sect, you’ll get two Spirit Restoring Pills every month even if you’re just an apprentice. If you pass the test and become a formal disciple, you’ll get even more.”
Lu Ye hurriedly bowed his head. “Got it.”
In his heart, he was feeling doubtful as it seemed that Third Senior Brother was trying to recruit him. It appeared that as a cultivator who had been enlightened, he was in an advantageous position. With this thought in mind, he was secretly elated.
Third Senior Brother went on to say, “Alright. Stay seated and focus your mind. You might feel a slight pain later, but you don’t have to worry. It’s just a process to examine your talent, so don’t resist it with your Spiritual Power.”
“Got it,” Lu Ye replied and placed his hands on his knees with his palms facing up. Then, he closed his eyes.
The next moment, he could feel the fluctuation of Spiritual Power. Although he was curious about what Third Senior Brother was doing, he didn’t think he should open his eyes. As the Spiritual Energy undulated, he felt a vibration on his backside. He reckoned that the array on the disc was beginning to take effect.
Just like what he thought, Third Senior Brother had stuffed eight silkworm-sized crystals into the eight pits around the edge of the disc. They were the Spirit Stones that cultivators used to set up an array. Lu Ye had never seen these stones before.
When Third Senior Brother activated the array, smoke started billowing from the Spirit Stones inside the pits. The smoke was the Spiritual Power stored inside the stones, and with the help of the array, it turned into very pure Spiritual Qi.
The thick Spiritual Qi soon spread around the disc. However, there seemed to be an invisible barrier around the disc as the Spiritual Qi was restricted in it.
The seated Lu Ye felt his chest tightening. Although he had closed his eyes, he could sense that he was surrounded by some mystical stuff as they penetrated his body, which made him feel refreshed.
[Is this Spiritual Qi?] Lu Ye understood that absorbing the Spiritual Qi in the world was one of the main ways a cultivator could cultivate. When he was inside the mine, he had tried it before. Perhaps it was because of the terrain, he did not feel any Spiritual Qi inside the mine, so he had no choice but to refine vitality into Qi instead.
After he was brought out of the mine by the old man surnamed Tang, he forgot to sense the Spiritual Qi in the world. It wasn’t until this moment that he could directly sense the existence of Spiritual Qi. However, recalling Third Senior Brother’s advice, he suppressed his urge to absorb the Spiritual Qi.
Facing across from him, Third Senior Brother was performing a hand seal as he continuously activated the array’s power. At the same time, he was staring fixedly at the saplings around the edge of the disc.
The array on the disc was to examine a person’s talent. When Third Senior Brother activated the array’s power, the eight Spirit Stones stuck around the disc would release their Spiritual Power, which then turned into thick Spiritual Qi.
Under his control, the Spiritual Qi would be led into the body of the person being tested and then swirl around the array, which caused the saplings around the disc to go through some changes.
In a nutshell, Lu Ye, who was seated on the disc, was actually a terminal that the Spiritual Qi passed through and spread around the array, which then caused the saplings to change. The more saplings that had gone through transformation, the more talented the person was, and vice versa.
Fundamentally, the test was to find out whether the Spiritual Qi could easily pass through the person’s body. If the process was smooth, the cultivator would be deemed as highly talented. Basically, a cultivator had to strengthen the Spiritual Qi in his body. If the Spiritual Qi couldn’t even move around his body smoothly, it was pointless for him to cultivate.
Beside the disc, Third Senior Brother continued working on the array. Seeing that the eight saplings did not change one bit, he frowned and expended more power on the array.
At that instant, Lu Ye scowled as he could faintly feel that his entire body was in pain, as if a lot of external Spiritual Qi was madly penetrating his body, which made him feel that countless needles had been jabbed into him. As time passed, the pain became increasingly unbearable.
Just when he almost couldn’t take it anymore, the pain all over his body vanished all of a sudden. Following that, Third Senior Brother uttered, “It’s done.”
Lu Ye quickly opened his eyes and let out a long breath. As their eyes met, he realised that Third Senior Brother’s gaze appeared conflicted. His chest tightened as he had a terrible feeling.
“Senior Brother, how is my talent?” Lu Ye asked.
Without uttering a word, Third Senior Brother took a look at the disc before he whisked across the jade tablet with his hand and returned it to Lu Ye.
Lu Ye took it and realised that on the side where his attribute was engraved, one more word had appeared.
[What does it mean?] He wanted to ask what had happened, but Third Senior Brother apparently had no intention of speaking further, so he reckoned that he shouldn’t be relentless. Getting to his feet on the disc, he saluted him. “Thanks, Senior Brother.”
When he turned to leave, he saw that a tree leaf had grown on one of the eight bare saplings around the disc.
[Could the word on the jade tablet represent a sapling?] He speculated.
“Wait a minute!” Third Senior Brother suddenly uttered.
Lu Ye, who was already at the door, turned around and asked, “What’s wrong, Senior Brother?”
Third Senior Brother replied, “Just take it as that I did not tell you anything just now.”
Upon hearing that, Lu Ye was rendered speechless. After leaving the tent, he took a deep breath repeatedly as he had a premonition.
He wasn’t certain whether his talent was good or terrible, but judging from the change in Third Senior Brother’s attitude, he felt that something was off. He reckoned that his talent was a little unusual, so he decided to look for someone to ask about it.
When he looked around and saw someone standing silently in the corner, he directly walked up to her. Before he even reached her, the woman saw him and beckoned to him with a smile.
Standing in front of the woman, Lu Ye called out to her. “Miss Yu.”
Yu Xiao Tiea elegantly saluted him. “Brother Lu.”
It was apparent that she was in a better mood than the previous day, as she had passed the test, and her result was alright.
Lu Ye passed her his jade tablet and asked, “Can you explain to me what’s wrong with my talent?”
As Yu Xiao Tiea was taking the tablet, she replied with a smile, “Brother Lu, since you’ve been enlightened, your talent is definitely… not terrible.”
She saw the word on the back of the jade tablet when she uttered the last two words, which was why her eyelids twitched and her tone sounded hesitant.
Upon seeing her reaction, Lu Ye realised that his talent left much to be desired.
“Miss Yu, how is your talent?” Lu Ye asked.
Yu Xiao Tiea replied, “It’s similar to yours.”
Lu Ye waved his hand. “You don’t have to console me. I understand what’s going on. The smaller the number, the lower the talent, right?”
With her lips pressed together, Yu Xiao Tiea had the intention of consoling him, but she wasn’t sure what to say. Eventually, she could only bow her head. “Yes.”
“No wonder.” Lu Ye recalled the last words Third Senior Brother said to him and thought that these cultivators were pretty snobbish.
Yu Xiao Tiea went on to say, “Brother Lu, you don’t have to feel dejected. The test isn’t very accurate, and the array used isn’t a high rank one, so mistakes do happen sometimes.”
Lu Ye replied with a smile, “I don’t know what array that is. However, since the result is there, I can only accept it.”
Yu Xiao Tiea looked curiously at him. “Do you really think it’s alright?” Lu Ye didn’t seem to be pretending to be nonchalant. Most people would be utterly disappointed if they got this kind of result.
Lu Ye looked away and replied with a smile, “Compared to those people, I’m considered lucky since I’ve been enlightened.”
Following his gaze, Yu Xiao Tiea could see a lot of crestfallen people over there. Those people had all been eliminated as they were unable to pass the aptitude test.
The Liu Brothers were among them.
I’m going on a limb and guessing his tree was greedy and ate most of the qi and left only a little for the test.
Now I wonder if the burning tree will solve that problem for him, whether he’ll stay at one spiritual point or if he will find smth else like the black book or will he experience smth like the Dragon Transformation Pond?
I suspect it might actually be a failure of a test, since he was told to resist and he managed to do it too well, like that testing wand fiasco from El Goonish Shive