Dim sky, a desolate village, the cry of winter crows. Waking up in a daze, Xu Xian was met by the sight of a whistling, chilly wind.
The air carried a faint, lingering scent of decay.
Xu Xian looked around, bewildered. "Uh... where have I been sent to this time?"
Wait... why did I say "this time"?
"Help!"
"Help me!"
Hearing the cries for help becoming increasingly urgent, Xu Xian gathered his thoughts. Like the others, he found the small courtyard and saw the old well.
The courtyard walls were mottled, the doors and windows were broken and old, and the yard was filled with dead branches and fallen leaves.
At a glance, it was clear this place had been abandoned for a very long time.
Xu Xian walked to the edge of the well and poked his head over to look down. He saw a woman soaked in the well water.
She wore light gauze, her hair was long, and her lips were red against white teeth. Although he couldn't see her very clearly, she still possessed a certain charm, looking quite pitiable.
"Child, can you help me up?"
"You can't get out?"
"My leg is stuck on something. I can't reach. Can you come down and help me?"
"You really can't move?"
"Yes, I'm begging you."
Xu Xian knitted his brows. "Wait there."
"That's wonderful, thank you."
Xu Xian scanned the small courtyard, his gaze finally landing on the collapsed wall next to the well's opening.
He jogged over, picked up a rock, returned to the well, and gave a cold glance downward.
He adjusted his position with the rock in his arms, and then he let go, allowing the rock to go into a free fall.
Thud!
"Ah!"
"What are you doing?"
Xu Xian glanced down again, frowning. "Still not dead?"
Then he began to run back and forth between the corner of the wall and the well's opening. Rocks fell into the well one after another. Piercing screams echoed through the desolate village, accompanied by the cries of winter crows...
By the Heart Inquiry Pool.
The elders of Wendao Sword Sect watched Xu Xian in the illusion, all of them frowning and remaining silent for a long time.
Given the choice between saving or not saving, he chose to fill the well.
Is this something a twelve-year-old child could do?
"Whew—"
Inside the illusion, Xu Xian wiped the sweat from his forehead. He panted as he glanced into the well. Seeing that there was no more movement inside, he finally stopped, looking somewhat unsatisfied.
"Beast, still trying to trick me. I'll just bury you directly and see how you can harm people in the future."
Withered vines, old trees, winter crows.
Desolate village, abandoned courtyard, dry well.
Separately, none of these were a problem. But if there was a person in that well—especially a beautiful woman—then there was a massive problem.
Xu Xian wasn't a child, after all; how could he be fooled by her?
This kind of water ghost just wanted to drag people down with her.
He still had some common sense.
After a short rest, Xu Xian left the desolate village and hurried away. A place of trouble was no place to linger.
Meanwhile.
The elders who had witnessed the entire process didn't know what to say.
They looked at each other in silence, but their gazes occasionally drifted toward the Sect Master.
Li Qingshan clenched his fists, the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it.
Sect Master Ye Xianyu gently tapped the armrest with her fingertip and said with great interest:
"Between saving and not saving, he chose to kill the person. He must be the first in the history of our Wendao Sword Sect to do this."
Li Qingshan lowered his brows, his cheek continuing to twitch.
The others were secretly enjoying his misfortune.
"However..." Ye Xianyu looked at Li Qingshan, her tone shifting as she said slowly, "This isn't necessarily a bad thing. At least this child is meticulous and different from the average person. He saw the flaws in the illusion and mistook that person for a malevolent ghost, which is why he struck to kill. It aligns with the path of our Wendao Sword Sect—brave, resolute, and attentive. Rare, truly rare."
The elders felt a bit strange, as if she were forcing the praise...
However.
What she said was indeed logical, so they quickly chimed in.
"The Sect Master is right."
"This boy is decisive in killing; he will surely become a great talent in the future."
"At such a young age, he dares to suppress evil spirits. He even feared that those who came after would fall into the same trap, so he chose to kill and bury it. He is very thorough..."
"In the First Inquiry of the Heart, he created a third answer. This child is truly unprecedented."
"Haha, exactly."
Hearing everyone talking and laughing while heaping praise, Li Qingshan felt much better. He cleared his throat and said in a heavy voice:
"When encountering ghosts and beasts, one must eliminate them. If not me, then who? We cultivators should act exactly like this!"
Ye Xianyu smiled but said nothing.
The elders were utterly disdainful.
However, as a new illusion evolved in the Heart Inquiry Pool and the Second Inquiry of the Heart began, the discussion regarding Xu Xian came to a brief end.
The First Inquiry of the Heart was essentially a test and did not involve elimination.
Even if Xu Xian's actions were baffling and shocking, it remained the same.
The focus of the assessment was still on the Second and Third Inquiries of the Heart.
Just like before.
When the second inquiry began, all the examinees once again forgot everything and appeared in a strange environment.
Except this time.
They encountered an Old Immortal. With a flip of his hand, the Old Immortal turned clouds into rain, manifesting another illusion within the dream.
In the illusion, an out-of-control carriage was speeding forward. On the road ahead, the path split. On the main road lay five people; on the side path lay one person. No matter who the carriage hit, they would surely die.
The Old Immortal asked, "As a bystander, you can control the carriage's direction once. Do you choose to run over five people, or run over that one person?"
Zhang Yang asked, "Who are the good people?"
The Old Immortal said he didn't know.
Zhang Yang asked again, "Can I make the carriage stop?"
The Old Immortal said no.
In the end...
Zhang Yang didn't choose.
Lin Qianqian didn't choose either.
The speeding carriage moved forward and finally vanished into thin air as it reached the intersection...
This signaled that the test was passed.
As for those who chose to run over one person or five people, they fell into a dream within the dream and drifted into a deep sleep, signifying their failure.
By the Heart Inquiry Pool, sighs were heard from time to time.
"Sigh, out of over a thousand people, only a few hundred are left. What a pity."
"It has always been thus..."
"It's just a shame that the boy with the single fire spirit root was also eliminated. He'll just end up benefiting some other sect."
In the Second Inquiry of the Heart, not choosing meant passing, while choosing meant failure.
Those on the path of cultivation.
Naturally possessed means far beyond ordinary people.
Especially after reaching the Nascent Soul realm.
Summoning wind and rain came easily. If one could not restrain oneself and meddled easily in mortal affairs,
It would be devastating for mortals.
Strict self-discipline, and not meddling in the affairs of the mortal world based on personal gain or a momentary whim of like or dislike, was the first lesson for cultivators of Wendao Sword Sect.
In the second inquiry.
Whether it was the five people or the one person, deciding who should die without knowing right from wrong or good from evil was a mistake.
This was a trap question.
Not choosing.
Was actually a choice in itself.
Li Qingshan lectured, "Better to have nothing than something of poor quality. If you flip through the books of the great sages, they all tell the younger generation one truth: at all times, one must have a heart of compassion and a heart of reverence for life. Causing others to die because of one's own likes or dislikes isn't necessarily a 'wrong' in the mundane sense, but a cultivator should not be like that."
Everyone remained silent.
It was indeed so.
Although the second inquiry was perverse, there was a time limit. As long as no answer was given within the specified time, it was considered a forfeit and thus a pass.
As long as one possessed reverence and compassion for life, they would hesitate. And during that time of hesitation, they would happen to pass.
Those who were eliminated.
Were those who chose too quickly.
In their eyes, the lives of others were merely a joke, not worth mentioning.
Though.
Compared to immortals, mortals were like ants, but Wendao Sword Sect was definitely not like that.
Just as Li Qingshan said, they preferred quality over quantity.
"Xiaoshan, how do you think Xu Xian will choose?"
Li Qingshan pondered for a moment and shook his head.
"I don't know."
"I wonder if he'll give us another surprise?"
Unlike her expectation, Li Qingshan's heart was full of anxiety. He only hoped this brat wouldn't stir up any more trouble.
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