Walking with Chen Er into the crowd of people who were still waiting to be tested, Shi Yu saw defeat and disappointment on the faces atop the stone platform. Tens of thousands of young people had come from neighboring prefectures specifically for the Immortal Destiny Gathering. Now that the testing was nearing its end, only three to five people had produced even the slightest reaction from the spirit-testing stone, showing just how rare it was to possess a spiritual meridian.
Unsurprised by this outcome, the few sect disciples responsible for the testing maintained indifferent expressions, beckoning the next batch of people onto the stone platform.
The Mortal Realm lacked the abundant spiritual energy of the Origin Realm to begin with. Even in the Origin Realm, those with cultivation talent were a minority, let alone in the mortal world.
Chen Er shielded Shi Yu's side to keep the surrounding crowd from jostling her. After about the time it took for an incense stick to burn, it was almost their turn to ascend the stone platform. Swallowing hard, Chen Er said nervously to Shi Yu, “Young Master, it's almost our turn. Please watch your step on the stairs when we go up.”
Shi Yu gave a slight nod. Once the previous batch descended from the stone platform, the maiden in the goose-yellow dress, who held the spirit-testing stone, waved to them. “Next group, step forward.”
Following the crowd onto the stone platform, everyone took their spots. The maiden formed a hand seal, driving spiritual energy into the spirit-testing stone.
A hundred hazy, misty strands of spiritual energy extended from the spirit-testing stone, connecting to each person on the platform.
Shi Yu looked down at the silk-like strand of spiritual energy wrapping around her like a light veil, swirling with faint, water-like ripples.
The spiritual meridian inside her body seemed to react, trembling ever so slightly twice.
But her spiritual meridian was far too thin and dim. This trembling was like brushing a feather against a zither string, unable to produce any real reaction in the strand of spiritual energy connected to the spirit-testing stone.
Just then, she heard exclamations from beside her. Turning her head, she saw Chen Er staring wide-eyed at the strand of spiritual energy connected to him.
Green veins had begun to streak through his misty grey strand of spiritual energy.
“It... it lit up! Green! It's—it's glowing!” Chen Er babbled incoherently, his mind racing as he turned to Shi Yu in bewilderment.
Shi Yu offered a subtle smile. “Congratulations.”
The others on the stone platform looked at him with a mix of envy and jealousy.
Among them were a few young gentlemen who had stayed at the same inn over the past few days. Recognizing Chen Er as a mere waiter, they felt bitter and resentful that such a grand path to heaven had fallen upon a lowborn nobody instead of themselves.
Chen Er scratched the back of his head and offered Shi Yu an earnest, silly grin.
Having grown up listening to legends of the Immortal Destiny Gathering, he had naturally dreamed of cultivating immortality and looked forward to this day. Yet he had never truly imagined he would have the chance to realize such a dream, leaving him completely lightheaded.
Seeing that someone had finally triggered a reaction from the spirit-testing stone again, the maiden perked up. She walked over and smiled. “A Wood-attribute Spiritual Meridian. Come with me. The rest of you may head down.”
With that, she turned and was about to call the next batch up for testing when a glimpse from the corner of her eye made her pause. “Huh?”
She stopped in front of Shi Yu and closely examined the strand of spiritual energy connected to her.
On the misty grey strand, extremely faint and weak, one or two dim streaks of red had emerged at some unknown moment.
Though faint enough to be easily missed if one weren't paying close attention, they were indisputably there.
The maiden withdrew her gaze and said to Shi Yu, “You come with me as well.”
Beside her, Chen Er was pleasantly surprised. “Young Master, yours lit up too!”
Only then did Shi Yu realize that the spirit-testing stone, which had shown no reaction moments ago, had finally given her enough face to show a slight response.
After half a month of nourishment from the Life Spring water, her gouged-out, completely empty spiritual meridian had indeed begun to regenerate.
Chen Er grinned foolishly. “This way, Young Master and I can keep each other company and look out for one another in the future.”
Shi Yu nodded to Chen Er and walked with him behind the maiden, remaining on the stone platform.
Another half-hour passed as the sun set in the west, painting the sky like splashed ink. The testing finally came to an end.
After Chen Er and Shi Yu, no one else managed to light up the spirit-testing stone. In the end, a total of six people remained on the stone platform.
The Immortal Destiny Gathering had officially concluded.
Politely declining the village chief and officials' invitation to a banquet, the Yuxu Sect disciples wasted no time and began instructing the six remaining candidates on what was to come.
The leading young cultivator spoke: “My name is Song Zifan. You may all address me as Senior Brother Song.”
The candidates bowed one after another, calling out, “Senior Brother Song.”
Song Zifan nodded, cutting straight to the point. “For us practitioners, how far we can travel on this road to longevity depends on diligent training, resources, and opportunities, of course. But beyond those, the most crucial factor is natural talent.”
The candidates focused their attention, listening intently.
“This natural talent refers to one's spiritual meridian. Only by possessing a spiritual meridian can one's body act as a spring to gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Since you all produced a reaction from the spirit-testing stone just now, it means you possess spiritual meridians.” Song Zifan paused, seeing the uncontrollable joy on their faces, and shook his head slightly before continuing, “However, spiritual meridians are divided into different grades and ranks.”
Spiritual meridians were divided into different grades and ranks too.
The candidates exchanged looks, their relaxed and joyful mood suddenly turning anxious once more, wondering which grade they fell into.
Song Zifan turned to the maiden beside him. “Junior Sister Huang.”
The maiden, named Huang Xiu, nodded and picked up where he left off. “Just now was merely a rough test to see if you possessed spiritual meridians. Now we must measure the exact grade of your spiritual meridians. To enter our Yuxu Sect, outer disciples must have a Low-grade 6-point Spiritual Meridian, while handyman disciples must have a Low-grade 3-point Spiritual Meridian. If you fail to reach Low-grade 3 points, you cannot enter our sect.”
Spiritual meridians were categorized into Low-grade, Medium-grade, High-grade, and Supreme-grade, with each grade further divided into nine points.
Having no expectations of finding spiritual meridians above Low-grade in the Mortal Realm, Huang Xiu only mentioned Low-grade meridians without elaborating on the rest.
In any case, once they reached the Origin Realm, they would learn all of this in due time.
Seeing how nervous everyone looked, she gave a light smile. “Those who fall short of Low-grade 3 points need not be overly disheartened. Although you cannot join our Yuxu Sect, you may still travel with us to the area outside our sect.”
“There is a market outside the sect where you can settle down and look for future opportunities to embark on the path of cultivation. The choice is yours.”
Having explained everything necessary, Huang Xiu glanced at Song Zifan. “Senior Brother, if you please.”
With a turn of his palm, Song Zifan produced a ruler-like object from his sleeve. Markings were carved onto it, labeled with one point, two points, three points, and so on.
Holding the ruler in his palm, he said, “This object is called a spirit-measuring ruler. It can measure the grade and point value of your spiritual roots. Step forward one by one.”
Following their order, the first person nervously stepped forward. Song Zifan instructed him to grip the ruler. Instantly, a thin yellow line emerged, slowly climbing from the bottom of the ruler past one point and two points, finally coming to a stop between the three-point and four-point marks.
“Low-grade 3 points. You may enter our sect as a handyman disciple.”
The test subject let out a sigh of relief, making way for the next person to step up.
“Low-grade 4 points.”
“Low-grade 2 points.”
“Low-grade 2 points.”
When it was Chen Er's turn, his aptitude turned out to be the best among them. The thin green line climbed all the way to Low-grade 7 points before stopping, meaning he could enter the outer sect directly as an outer disciple of the Yuxu Sect.
After Chen Er came Shi Yu, who turned out to be the worst of the group. As Shi Yu held the spirit-measuring ruler, a good moment passed before a thin red line floated up ever so slightly, barely reaching the mark for Low-grade 1 point.
Song Zifan cleared his throat lightly. “Low-grade 1 point.”
Shi Yu was not at all surprised by this result.
After all, her spiritual meridian had been ripped out and had only just begun regenerating in recent days; it was practically nonexistent.
Shi Yu was the last to be tested. Among the six of them, besides her, two others were at Low-grade 2 points.
According to what Huang Xiu had said earlier, the three of them fell short of the threshold to enter the Yuxu Sect, but the disciples could give them a ride to the Origin Realm, where they could stay at the market outside the sect and seek their own opportunities in the future.
Sure enough, seeing that testing was over, Huang Xiu spoke, addressing the three who met the requirement, including Chen Er: “You three may enter our Yuxu Sect.”
Then she looked at Shi Yu and the other two. “What about you three? Are you willing to come with us and find your own path outside the sect?”
The other two looked at each other, feeling quite hesitant.
Coming from well-to-do family backgrounds, they had traveled far to reach Guangle Village for the Immortal Destiny Gathering, naturally harboring lofty ambitions.
Now, possessing the talent for cultivation but unable to join a sect, forced to make their own way in a completely unfamiliar place—how were they supposed to handle that?
Stories always said the path of cultivation was fraught with extreme danger. Without the protection of a sect, how could mortals like them find any so-called path forward? They would likely lose their lives halfway there.
The expressions on their faces shifted repeatedly until finally, one let out a sigh and shook his head. “I shall remain here.”
The other struggled for a moment before saying dejectedly, “I shall remain here as well.”
Unsurprised by this outcome, Huang Xiu nodded and looked at Shi Yu, who had not yet answered. “What about you?”
Chen Er was also torn, looking at Shi Yu with worry.
This young master was in frail health. If she went alone with no one to protect her, then...
But Shi Yu did not hesitate. Lifting her lashes, she said, “I am willing to go with you. Thank you for your trouble.”
Joining a sect was never her primary goal. Although joining offered convenience, it also brought many restrictions. With her unique identity and a supreme treasure like the Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Bell in her possession, staying inside a sect would ultimately be inconvenient.
As long as she had a chance to return to the Origin Realm, that was enough.
The current situation actually suited her intentions perfectly, so there was naturally no need to second-guess it.
Seeing that everyone had made their decisions, Song Zifan smiled. “In that case, bid farewell to your families and friends. Once you embark on the path of cultivation, it may be difficult to ever return, so you should say a proper goodbye.”
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