The mountain gate of Xuantian Sect is located halfway up the mountain, with the town situated at the foot of the mountain.

Qin Yu, familiar with the path, climbed up the artificial stone steps with ease.

Along the way, he encountered many young men and women of similar age. Some were dressed in luxurious clothes, accompanied by bodyguards, while others wore plain clothes, similar to Qin Yu.

Qin Yu’s gaze swept over these people one by one, and various talents appeared before him.

[Low-grade Spirit Root (D-level)]: Barely possesses the talent for immortal cultivation, but not much; destined to be a servant disciple for life. (Can be copied)

[Refined Appearance (C-level)]: Attractive and graceful; it must be admitted that being good-looking can also be a form of capital! (Cannot be copied)

[Tough Skin, Strong Body (D-level)]: Thick and tough skin, with slightly better recovery ability than ordinary people! (Can be copied!)

[Mid-grade Spirit Root (C-level)]: Barely reaches the threshold for cultivation, but hard to achieve any significant accomplishments; ultimately destined to be a supporting character. (Cannot be copied!)

[Clever Mind (B-level)]: Quick-witted, agile thinking, excels at devising strategies and plans, often winning by surprise. (Cannot be copied!)

...

The Xuantian Sect’s selection gathered the young talents of Liang Kingdom, and rare talents that Qin Yu would normally never encounter kept popping up before his eyes.

“What a pity!” Qin Yu shook his head lightly, sighing, “You’re all too weak. With talents like yours, you’ll never be my opponent!”

As he spoke, Qin Yu casually pointed his finger into the air.

[Would you like to copy the talent "Low-grade Spirit Root (D-level)”?]

‘Yes!’

[Copy Successful!]

[Congratulations, host has obtained their first talent and unlocked the character template!]

[Name: Qin Yu]

[Talent: Low-grade Spirit Root (D-level)]

[Progress: 0% (Note: Once progress reaches 100%, you will have the chance to copy another talent!)]

[System function transformation in progress: The system’s talent detection feature is now switched from passive to active! ]

The first test in Xuantian Sect’s selection was the spirit root test. Those without a spirit root would be eliminated immediately, so Qin Yu wasted no time copying the Low-grade Spirit Root.

After reading the system message that popped up, Qin Yu thought for a moment.

‘So, the talent detection function has changed to an active skill. This is better, especially when there are a lot of people around, I won’t be bombarded with talent windows everywhere.’

‘Once the progress bar fills up, I can copy another talent. I wonder what grade of talent I’ll get next?’

After thinking for a while, Qin Yu pushed this matter aside.

Now that he had obtained a spirit root, he needed to fully experience what it felt like to have one.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

‘It feels warm and a little moist on my back. Heh heh heh, is this the feeling of having a spirit root?’

‘The moment I, Qin Yu, become Emperor Qin is just around the corner!’

[Low-grade Spirit Root (D-level)]: Barely possesses the talent for immortal cultivation, but not much; destined to be a servant disciple for life!

The system inconveniently popped up the detailed description of the Low-grade Spirit Root again.

Qin Yu ignored this message, walking confidently toward the halfway point of the mountain.

‘Sure enough, with a spirit root, my back feels warm and full of energy. It’s like I have more strength climbing the mountain!’

Suddenly, someone behind him called out, “Hey, brother, your bag seems to be leaking water!”

“Huh?”

Qin Yu quickly took off his bag and discovered that his water bottle was leaking, spilling hot water everywhere.

No wonder his back felt warm.

Qin Yu turned to the person and sincerely said, “Thank you for the reminder, if you’d waited a little longer, my pants would’ve been soaked!”

“No problem, just a small thing!” the person replied.

“To thank you, I’ll give you a suggestion about today’s recruitment test. It’ll save you a lot of energy.”

Hearing this, the person’s eyes immediately lit up.

‘I didn’t expect that just a casual reminder would earn me some inside information about the test. Mom was right—good deeds really do get rewarded!’

The person immediately leaned closer to Qin Yu, adopting a serious listening posture, and respectfully asked, “Brother, do you have insider information about the selection test?”

“No, not exactly!” Qin Yu answered politely.

“Actually, you don’t have a spirit root at all, so you won’t pass the first test. Continuing up the mountain is a waste of energy.”

“My advice to you is: turn around and go down the mountain. Do whatever you need to do. Don’t waste time here.”

Qin Yu had just checked this person, but unfortunately, no talent appeared.

The person froze for a moment before suddenly bursting with anger.

“I kindly remind you, and you curse me? What a cold-hearted jerk, this is such bad luck.”

The person muttered angrily and walked away.

“Brother, brother, don’t keep going up! You really don’t have a spirit root!”

“Is it really that hard to admit you’re ordinary?”

Seeing the person walk away with increasing speed and hearing his curses, Qin Yu sighed helplessly.

“Why is this person so hard to advise? I thought he was a kind-hearted person, and I even wanted to tell him that if he went to Fat Aunt’s place, he’d get a discount, but now, he’s just waiting to be fleeced.”

Qin Yu took his wet bag and squeezed it dry.

As soon as he finished wringing it out, he suddenly remembered that in addition to clothes, there were also several pieces of stinky tofu in his bag.

In a hurry, he opened the bag and carefully took out the oily paper wrapped with the stinky tofu.

The paper had soaked through and torn in several places, and the stinky tofu had been squished together.

Looking at the large, black, unidentifiable mass, Qin Yu could only think it resembled cow dung.

Especially after soaking in hot water, it was still steaming, looking fresh.

‘It looks like it… but I wonder how it smells...’

Qin Yu leaned in and took a deep sniff. He nearly threw up.

‘It looks like it, and it smells even more like it.’

‘This is disgusting, I should just throw it away!’

With an unaffected expression, Qin Yu stood up, preparing to dispose of it when no one was looking.

But to his surprise, everyone on the street was staring at him in shock.

‘Damn, so many people are watching. Throwing trash on the street seems a bit immoral.’

Qin Yu wrapped the tofu back in the oil paper and stuffed it into his bag, planning to throw it away when he found a trash can.

As he adjusted his bag, Qin Yu noticed that the people around him were still staring at him in disbelief.

“Of course, my natural charisma is just that outstanding. Every move I make attracts attention. Ah, being handsome really is a burden!”

Qin Yu puffed out his chest, walking steadily under the watchful gazes of the crowd.

Once Qin Yu walked away, the crowd burst into wails.

“Ah, my eyes, what did I just see!”

“It’s so disgusting, I’m going to puke.”

“I... I’m switching sects, I’m not participating in the selection anymore!” a girl wailed as she turned and left.

This girl, named Li Xiangxiang, was the young lady of Liang Kingdom’s largest cultivation family, the Li family.

She had come to Xuantian Sect to participate in the selection, but never expected to witness something that would shatter her worldview and haunt her for life.

She had seen Qin Yu take out a lump wrapped in paper from his bag.

Though she couldn’t tell exactly what it was, based on its shape, color, and the faint smell in the air, Li Xiangxiang could roughly guess what it was.

She had thought that pulling out the object from the bag was already shocking enough, but the worst part was yet to come.

She watched as Qin Yu first examined it carefully in his hands, then leaned in and took a deep sniff.

Finally, in front of everyone, he simply rewrapped it in the paper and placed it back into his bag.

And the most unbelievable part—he seemed proud and confident as he walked away.

Oh my God!

He played with feces, and he was proud of it?