Medical Station, Sect Selection Trial Grounds
Yu Ming opens his eyes to himself being bandaged by some strangers.
"What did you do with those hands? "
Yu Ming turns around to find Lady Jin sitting beside him, staring at his hands.
".... I fought a beast. "
Lady Jin frowns in disapproval, " You are but a mortal. You should have brought a weapon. However, it is commendable that you fought with your hands to get an average score. Not many would dare to fight a beast even if there was no danger to their life. "
Her frown deepens as Yu Ming stares at her incomprehensibly,
" You didn't think the Sect Members would allow anyone to die, did you? "
Lady Jin sighs as Yu Ming's reaction tells her enough.
"The Heart Test is starting soon. Follow me. "
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Sect Selection Trial Grounds
"The Heart Test will commence shortly. You must undergo a simple test that will allow us to see whether you have a mindset suitable for cultivation. We have set up six chambers for you to sit for as long as you can. "
Li Wei, Zhang Xin, and Zhang Yue listen to the City Lord speak about the Heart Test as they search for more of their companions.
" I could not ask during the test but have you seen any others, Sister Xin? "
"I don't know about Little Brother Ming and Qian Hai but Sister Chen had no Root. "
"Oh... Wang Jiandong? "
"I have no idea. "
"Who are these, Cousin Xin? " Zhang Yue asks with a curious expression.
"Just some friends from my village, Cousin Yue. "
Zhang Xin, Zhang Yue, and Li Wei search for the others for ten more minutes before deciding to stop and just meet them after the test on Zhang Yue's suggestion.
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3rd Chamber Queue
"Is there anything I should know before I take the test? "
Li Wei folds his arms while staring at Zhang Xin.
Zhang Xin smiles, embarrassed, " ... Not really, It should be just
some illusions to test our character.... or so I have heard. "
"Once we pass the Heart Test, I can explain to you all about the Sects and how they select their disciples. "
Zhang Yue placates Li Wei while patting his shoulder reassuringly.
The look of respect Li Wei gives Zhang Yue makes her quickly remove her hand from his shoulder while giving him a wide berth.
" It is just a standard test. As long as you are not a daemon, you should pass. "
"If the test is so easy, then how do some children don't get selected by the Sects and return ?" Li Wei speaks while thinking of Han Xing.
"Hmmm... Those must be the ones who don't suit any Sect. It is rare, as some Sects don't care much about your character at all. " Zhang Yue idly comments while counting how many more to go till she gets her turn.
"Don't suit any Sects? What do you mean? " Li Wei presses on while Zhang Xin also starts to pay attention to their conversation.
"It is exactly what it sounds like. Some Sects only accept women. Some need you to cast away your worldly attachments.
There are some more peculiar ones, but you get the point. "
Li Wei relaxes after hearing no truly outrageous conditions.
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5th Chamber Queue
"The Heart Test doesn't test if you have a good or bad character. It only shows that you have conviction in what you believe, whether your belief is righteous or evil is irrelevant. "
"A good score would be to withstand the illusions for a minute. Three minutes is decent enough to some attention from a few Sects whereas five minutes would be a great feat. "
Yu Ming walked behind Jin Ya, nodding continuously at her words like a chicken pecking rice.
"Younger children like you generally shine in this test as their desires are simple and they hold to their desires quite strongly as compared to someone older. I expect you to withstand three minutes. "
Yu Ming snaps his head toward her, staring at her with wide eyes, "Three minutes? Me? Lady Jin must be joking! I barely passed the Constitution Test! "
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Jin Ya snorts in amusement as Yu Ming grows agitated while trying to explain how he could never score three minutes.
"There are just four people left ahead of you. Calm your mind. "
Yu Ming looks around to notice that he and Jin Ya are close to the chamber.
Pushing down his panic, Yu Ming takes long breaths to calm down from his fit.
Jin Ya enters the chambers and does not return. A few minutes later, he enters and sits down.
Yu Ming finds himself going through his entire life, reliving it, except, this time, he never goes to work for Convoy fees. He never meets Wang Wei as he never offers to help clean her house. He never goes to Huanxi Town, becoming a failure later on and dying soon after his grandfather dies with no one to provide for him.
Yu Ming powers through the illusion, having been alert the entire time as he starts to go through yet another life.
This time, Yu Ming blames his family for his parent's death. He lives in anger, being shunned by the villages and never getting to meet Wang Wei, Zhang Xin, Li Wei, Qian Hai, and Chen Li, and dies a hollow man consumed by his irrational anger.
Next comes Yu Ming who loves to eat. He spends away his money on food, having none left for his cultivation journey.
He collects only enough money after a few years but spends away even the remaining money needed for the journey for luxurious food. Having been reduced to a beggar in Huanxi Town, yet still not rid of his intense desire for luxurious food, Yu Ming attacks a restaurant only to be killed by guards.
Finally, Yu Ming relives a life where he seems to lust after every beautiful girl he sees, disgusting Chen Li and Zhang Xin with his behavior, being killed by Jian Xinting with his head lopped off when he stares lecherously at her.
Yu Ming wakes up in the middle of the 5th where he was greedy for everything.
Feeling quite scared and having gone through multiple fake deaths, Yu Ming walks out with trembling legs and flinches upon seeing Lady Jin.
"I am impressed. You lasted more than 4 minutes. "
Quickly walking behind Jin Ya, Yu Ming finally replies, " I died four times. "
" A fake death. Nothing but an illusion. "
"Wait. It lasted more than four minutes !? " Yu Ming finally catches on before looking at Jin Ya with a dumbfounded face.
Jin Ya doesn't deign him a reply before walking off as Yu Ming follows her.
Jin Ya and Yu Ming get blinded by a flash of light followed by a burst of immense pressure making them weak in their knees before it vanishes.
"The Sects Selection has begun! Those to be eliminated, have been removed. The remaining Juniors are welcome to try their fate with the Sects. "
Yu Ming gapes in awe as nine courtyards emerge with different names.
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Sect Selection Trial Grounds
As everyone brightens up, Zhang Yue relaxes and takes a much more relaxed stance regarding finding others.
"We have passed all the Tests. I passed. We just have to select a Sect. We are allowed till tonight which is nearly 12 hours. I am sure we can search for your friends before we start looking for suitable Sects."
"There are thousands of people here. We can't find them here. Hell, They might not even be here for all we know. If only we had a scion from a great clan. " Li Wei laments in a faux defeated voice as Zhang Xin giggles.
"I get it. My father is Zhang Clan Head. I know a lot of people here. Once we spread the word, we should receive the news in an hour while we relax. "
Zhang Yue gives Zhang Xin and Li Wei a lesson on the Sects while they wait for news on Yu Ming and others.
"The Zhenwu Continent is ruled by 32 Great Sects with regular Sects and some powerful Clans occupying the gaps between them. Our territory is a neutral one with 9 Great Sects having recruitment rights for this territory. "
Zhang Yue lies down in a more comfortable position before continuing, " In regular years, only 3 or maybe sometimes 4 Great Sects appear for recruitment. As you can see, this year is special. All the Sects have appeared. This is a great opportunity for us as some of these are particularly suited for me- I mean us."
Zhang Xin and Li Wei listen, enraptured as Zhang Yue describes the different Sects.
Azure Tides Sect, having a relatively lax code, the Sect only require their disciples to have a Water Element branch in their Qi Root.
Eternal Blossom Palace, a female-dominated Sect known for its love of war, usually only recruit valiant girls.
Dragon Ascension Sect doesn't care too much about the character or Qi Root and usually recruits the most.
Lastly, Sword Burial Mountain recruits very few and has very strict expectations. They appear every year but recruit the least every time.
"These are the four which usually come. I don't know much about the others. However, I am aiming for Eternal Blossom Palace. I feel that they are the most suitable for me. "
Li Wei and Zhang Xin mull over her words as someone comes over to tell Zhang Yue that someone has been found.
"Cousin Xin, Li Wei, Let us discuss this later. I must meet your friends. "