Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Chapter 5: A Young Man Came to Undergo the Heart Inquiry
Li Cheng replied, “Practicing the blade!”
Zhou Heng was somewhat surprised. “He did not use Spirit Absorption Art to cultivate?”
Li Cheng said, “I did not sense any fluctuations of spiritual energy.”
Zhou Heng pondered for a moment. “What blade technique?”
Li Cheng replied, “An ordinary mortal blade art.”
Zhou Heng was even more surprised.
The other elders also all turned to look.
After thinking it over for a while, Zhou Heng could only shake his head and say, “Perhaps he has his own reasons. We can ask him after he officially enters the sect...”
Li Cheng agreed. “That is what I think as well.”
For two days, Li Cheng had served as a testing stele in the Probationary Disciples’ residential area in Jingui Garden.
The other disciples either cultivated or wandered around, but Ning Ri had spent all his time practicing the blade.
At first, Li Cheng had thought Ning Ri was cultivating some extraordinary spell, but after looking more closely, he discovered that Ning Ri was practicing a mortal blade art, something unrelated to immortal cultivation.
He did not understand the meaning behind this action, but he understood Ning Ri.
The disciples of the Defying Heaven Sect all had their own way of understanding cultivation. The things they did were always beyond the understanding of outsiders, but they themselves knew exactly what they were doing.
Ning Ri had clearly already begun adapting to his identity as a disciple of the Defying Heaven Sect.
...
The roll call at Kite Plaza ended very quickly.
After the gray-robed elder finished calling names, he had the first disciple enter in order.
This was a finely dressed young man with an aloof air in his expression.
Over the past two days, while Ning Ri had been practicing the blade to accumulate skill points, he had not forgotten to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations and gather information.
After all, Li Cheng had said that the disciple trial was different every year, which meant Ning Ri had no idea whether the Defying Heaven Sect’s disciple trial was a qualifying exam or a ranking exam.
A qualifying exam was like a driving test. You only had to pass.
A ranking exam was like the college entrance examination. There had to be standings.
He was worried that the disciple trial might also involve competing for rank. If that was the case, then naturally he needed to first see what level his competitors were at.
Ning Ri knew that this person was named Liang Chengdao. He came from an extraordinary background and was a prince of a mortal dynasty. By nature, he did not like talking and was rather cold. Ning Ri had also failed to sense his cultivation, so he concluded that either the other party was stronger than he was, or he possessed some kind of treasure.
After Liang Chengdao entered the swirling vortex of bright light, the second Probationary Disciple stepped forward.
This was a burly young man dressed in coarse linen, named Gao Hong.
Gao Hong was seventeen this year.
He was 1.93 meters tall, like a small mountain, and his talent was quite good.
Ning Ri had arm-wrestled with him once and lost badly. Gao Hong was very loyal, stronger than Ning Ri, a good person, and extremely warm-hearted.
After asking around, Ning Ri learned that Gao Hong had mainly come to the Defying Heaven Sect because it was close to home, so he could commute.
As for the others, Ning Ri had only gained a shallow understanding of them. After all, they had only just met, and none of them had displayed any especially heaven-defying traits.
Besides, over the past two days, he had been focused on earning his skill points back first.
After Gao Hong entered, Ning Ri followed right behind him...
Once everyone had entered the portal of light, the disciples watching below began discussing it among themselves:
“I wonder what the disciple trial will be this year.”
“The one last year was outrageous. I still cannot forget it...”
“I think it is outrageous every single year. I have no idea how the people above come up with those disciple trials...”
That said, outrageous as they called it, every one of them was excited—
Watching other people go through the same miserable experience they once had was always a happy thing!
At that moment,
the gray-robed elder in the center of Kite Plaza said in a deep voice,
“Watch your words!”
A wave of invisible force swept through the area, and a yellow talisman marked 【Watch Your Words】 appeared in every person’s hand.
When the disciples saw the yellow-talisman warning, they all fell silent.
If they still dared to speak, Elder Guan would directly slap a red talisman marked 【Silence】 onto their mouths in the next moment.
Then everyone’s gaze focused on Kite Plaza as the first water screen slowly condensed into being. The one undergoing the trial within it was none other than Liang Chengdao.
...
At this very moment, Liang Chengdao, the first to enter the disciple trial, found that after a blur passed before his eyes, he had already arrived in a quiet chamber. Inside the chamber were two meditation cushions.
One of the cushions was occupied by a person—
【Xun Cang】!
When the disciples at Kite Plaza saw Xun Cang appear, they were very surprised. “It is actually Elder Xun from the Joyous Union Courtyard?”
“Then it looks like this trial will not be difficult...”
In the water screen,
Xun Cang was smiling as he looked at Liang Chengdao.
However, Liang Chengdao could tell with one glance that this was only Xun Cang’s avatar.
Liang Chengdao bowed and said in a calm tone, “Greetings, Elder Xun!”
“Mm, there is no need for ceremony.”
Xun Cang made a slight lifting gesture with his hand, then said, “This disciple trial is very simple in content. May I ask, young friend Liang, from childhood until now, what is the thing that has stayed by your side the longest?”
Liang Chengdao answered, “The jade pendant my mother gave me.”
Xun Cang said, “If in the future you were to have a dao companion, would you choose your jade pendant as your dao companion?”
“I would not...” At that point, Liang Chengdao fell silent for a moment before continuing, “Did you not already ask this question before?”
When Xun Cang had been recruiting disciples, the so-called “discussion of principles” had been about matters concerning dao companions.
He had already answered it once.
Xun Cang smiled faintly. “Repeated questioning can temper your true heart and help you attain clarity. That is today’s trial, 【Heart Inquiry】.”
Liang Chengdao said, “Yes, this disciple understands. Elder Xun, please continue.”
Xun Cang said, “Good. Second question: if you would not choose the jade pendant as your dao companion, then what would you choose as your dao companion?”
Liang Chengdao said, “Can I not simply have no dao companion?”
Xun Cang replied, “Very well. It seems you like yourself. Then are you willing to become dao companions with yourself?”
Liang Chengdao: “...”
While Liang Chengdao was still silent, Xun Cang suddenly said, “All right, the Heart Inquiry is over. You have failed the trial.”
Liang Chengdao: “?”
Then an invisible force sent him out of the quiet chamber and back to Kite Plaza.
The gray-robed elder appeared before him once more and said, “Very well, young friend Liang. It is most regrettable, but you did not pass the trial. Please go down the mountain.”
Hearing that, Liang Chengdao frowned tightly. Then he gave a cold snort, said something inexplicable, and turned to leave...
At the same time,
over at Kite Plaza,
everyone watched as Liang Chengdao in the water screen quickly went down the mountain and left the Defying Heaven Sect. They all let out an understanding “Oh”—
So Elder Xun’s trial had been a fake-out after all!
And as Liang Chengdao descended the mountain, the second water screen appeared. The person within was the burly young man from before, Gao Hong.
Gao Hong’s answer in the Heart Inquiry was very simple. He said he had a childhood betrothal, and so Xun Cang said he had failed.
Gao Hong immediately panicked. “Elder Xun, you cannot do this! Did you not say two days ago that having a childhood betrothal would not affect immortal cultivation?! Are you saying that once I enter the immortal sect, I have to go break off the engagement? Then what kind of person would that make me?”
But Xun Cang ignored him and directly sent him out. After “returning” to Kite Plaza, he could only helplessly bid farewell to the elders and, like Liang Chengdao, head down the mountain...
Then,
the third water screen rose.
Inside the quiet chamber,
there was a young man who had come to undergo the Heart Inquiry.