Chapter 11: The Three Trials

The instant he stepped out of the hall, Li Ji'an caught sight of a sect deacon seated cross-legged in the center of the plaza from afar.

A smile surfaced on his face, and a flicker of delight rose almost instinctively in his heart. He had probably guessed right.

Yet just as his trailing foot was about to leave the hall, a sudden flash of insight struck him, and he froze in place.

In a heartbeat, he turned and went back inside. “Everyone, wake up. The trial is about to begin.”

At his shout, the other eighty-five people began to stir one after another.

The two men and one woman Li Ji'an had paid special attention to all woke with a trace of chagrin, reproaching themselves for oversleeping. Then, recovering at once, they hurriedly called to the people beside them.

Seeing this, Li Ji'an let out a slow breath. He had nearly been outwitted by his own cleverness.

Because the sect was not bound by blood ties, and because it needed to foster cohesion, it relied not only on shared interests but also on rules and common values. At the very least, on the surface, it would never welcome the selfish and self-serving into its ranks.

“That was close.”

“Snore... snore...”

Just as he had relaxed, a snoring sound drew Li Ji'an’s attention.

Most had been awakened, but a portion still slept deeply. In particular, Xiao Changfeng, who had been the most exhausted the day before, was snoring like thunder.

“Brother Xiao, wake up. It’s time for the trial.” Li Ji'an stepped forward and pushed him.

“Snore... snore...” Xiao Changfeng was clearly worn out beyond measure. He turned over and kept sleeping.

Li Ji'an smiled and shook his head, then gave him a direct kick.

“Hiss...” Xiao Changfeng gasped in pain and flipped over at once.

Once he understood what was happening, he hurriedly came forward and clasped Li Ji'an’s arm. “Brother Li, I, Xiao, will remember this kindness and grace forever.”

After that, he followed the crowd that was gradually making its way outside to the plaza.

What surprised Li Ji'an, however, was that although those three earlier had apparently woken the people around them, several others were still sleeping like the dead. They had never truly been roused and had not yet come out.

“Good enough: first grade, six people. Those who have not arrived, depart the mountain immediately.” With a sweep of his hand, the sect cultivator roused the eight who were still sleeping in the hall. They then left with bitter expressions.

By then, only seventy-six people remained on the plaza to continue the trial.

Watching the backs of those eight depart in disappointment, Xiao Changfeng looked at Li Ji'an with even greater gratitude.

“Congratulations, all of you, for passing the preliminary test. I am Zhao Qi, the chief disciple of the Hall of the Transmission of the Dharma, eighth generation. You may call me Brother Zhao. What comes next is the formal trial. Whether you can enter our Azure Cloud Sect will depend on your own fortune.” Only then did the man introduce himself, effectively acknowledging the trial qualifications of the seventy-six present.

“Greetings, Brother Zhao.” Everyone bowed together.

The first formal trial begins: spiritual roots. Though you have all been tested outside already, a recheck is still necessary.”

Zhao Qi was no longer as casual as he had been the day before. This time, he spoke with a hint of seriousness.

Soon, the seventy-six were brought before a jade wall. Compared with the spirit-measuring stones Li Ji'an had seen in the market town and at the Yan family estate, this jade wall was fully thirty zhang long. According to Zhao Qi, it could not only measure the spiritual resonance of fully matured spiritual roots, but also test roots that had already undergone a transformation into dantian-born mana. Its sensing precision was also far superior to ordinary spirit-measuring stones.

After speaking, whether to impress these people or simply to demonstrate the process, Zhao Qi casually placed his hand on the jade wall.

“Hm? More than thirty threads... Hiss, earth-grade spiritual root!”

The moment his hand touched the wall, the five elements’ spiritual resonances appeared almost at once. Among them, the water affinity began to rise in thread after thread. Once it surpassed thirty, it gradually converged into one, transforming into a stretch of clear blue current that fused with the earth.

“So this is an earth-grade spiritual root.”

Li Ji'an had only ever read such descriptions in ancient texts before; today, he was finally seeing it with his own eyes.

Among the crowd, several youths who had previously seemed quite confident all lowered their heads in silence, their sense of superiority quietly withdrawn.

Soon the results were out: among the seventy-six people, twenty-nine possessed high-grade spiritual roots, and the rest were all mid-grade.

Even so, the so-called mid-grade roots were, for the most part, already above fifteen threads of spiritual resonance.

After all, if they were only barely mid-grade, they would not have had the confidence to come here for the trial.

Li Ji'an’s own spiritual root was confirmed as well: nineteen threads of fire spiritual resonance. Not only was it not the worst, it was actually considered rather average.

This group could already be counted as the young talents of the entire Azure Cloud Prefecture, within a radius of tens of thousands of li.

Even if one added the nearly three hundred who had been eliminated in the first round, as well as those of the same age who had remained with their families, the proportion of above-average spiritual roots was still extremely low compared with Azure Cloud Prefecture’s annual birth rate of at least several hundred thousand. Most children never reached even this level.

After recording the results on a recording stone, Zhao Qi brought everyone back to the plaza.

“The second trial is temperament! If a cultivator lacks the perseverance to pursue the great Dao, the courage to forge ahead and clear thorns from the path, and the single-minded focus to keep the road before them and nothing else, then they will achieve little. Please step onto the Heart-Testing Platform.”

With Zhao Qi’s call, circular stone platforms the size of prayer mats slowly rose from the center of the plaza.

“Another illusion...” Even with Li Ji'an’s soul strength, he remained clear-headed for only three breaths before falling into illusion.

...

...

...

“Is there any way to have it all, and not fail either the Dao Sovereign or you? I cannot forget, nor let go...”

“Kill them, kill them all! So long as those beasts are slain, what if I cannot become an immortal?”

“Brother Liu, I promise you, I won’t go. I will never leave you again. If I am unhappy, then what meaning is there in immortality?”

...

No one knew how much time had passed before Li Ji'an regained consciousness. Aside from a few disordered images flashing through his mind, all he could hear was the clamor of the others around him.

“Father, mother? Master, senior brother... the dragon throne... and Ning Sujin!”

Li Ji'an ignored the others and calmed his thoughts, carefully piecing together the fragments of what had just happened.

“This illusion wasn’t conjured from nothing. It should have drawn out some subconscious thoughts from the sea of consciousness...”

After a moment, he had a rough understanding of the so-called Heart-Testing Platform.

“But... why was there Yan Qingwan? And in that way...”

One of the fragments left Li Ji'an mildly unsettled.

He shook his head and forced himself not to dwell on it. After reviewing the whole thing, he understood that once he had fallen into the illusion, it must have induced certain subconscious tendencies, making him experience obstacles specifically meant to hinder the path of cultivation.

These involved fame and fortune, love and hatred, danger and temptation.

Moreover, those subconscious impressions probably were not entirely his true nature. They seemed to have been influenced by something external.

“Maybe if I were to hypnotize myself in advance, in a targeted way, it might help.”

“I wonder how I did in this round?”

Li Ji'an looked around. A small number of people, like him, had clearly awakened already, but they still seemed somewhat dazed.

Most were still trapped in illusion. Some were crying their hearts out, some wore expressions of lewd delight, and some looked savage and frenzied...

“Hahaha, I made it. Daoist me has made it!”

Suddenly, Xiao Changfeng, who had earlier insisted on standing next to Li Ji'an when they ascended the platform, burst into three loud peals of laughter, his face alight with triumphant spirit.

“...”

When he opened his eyes, he looked utterly bewildered, staring at his own raised hands as if he had no memory at all of what had happened in the illusion.

“Brother, just now I...?” he asked Li Ji'an with some concern.

Li Ji'an feigned confusion and shook his head.

Another stick of incense later, many still had not woken from the illusion.

Zhao Qi, who had been half-dozing at the side, suddenly opened his eyes. With a single sweep of his hand, Li Ji'an and the others who had already awakened were wrapped in a surge of mana and carried down from the Heart-Testing Platform.

“Temperament trial: first grade, three people; second grade, thirty-four people.”

Then he addressed those who still had not awakened on the platform. “Those who did not pass may report to the outer sect, or leave the mountain.”

“The third trial is comprehension! In ancient times, cultivation followed the Dao of nature, perceiving heaven and earth. Though the world has changed greatly in the present day and cultivation has become difficult, whether one studies techniques or the hundred arts of immortality, all require the perception of spiritual opportunity. As your cultivation advances step by step, you will understand the importance of comprehension. Everyone, please enter the pavilion to comprehend!”