Chapter 6 : Chapter 6
Chapter 6: Heart Inquiry and “Young Hero, Save Me!”
The trial participant shown in the third water screen was Ning Ri.
After entering, Ning Ri first waited in a bright, empty void for quite a while, yet the trial still did not begin.
At first, he had thought the first stage of the disciple trial was imprisonment, meant to test his patience.
Sitting there in boredom, he could only start practicing hand-blade strikes. A hand-blade was still a blade, and it could still raise the skill points for his blade arts.
Although practicing with a hand-blade was much slower than using an actual blade, it was still better than nothing.
What should be saved had to be saved, and what should be spent had to be spent. If he did not save anything up, then he would have nothing to spend.
By the time he had nearly finished practicing, he found that he had entered the quiet chamber and saw Xun Cang seated not far away.
Ning Ri immediately bowed respectfully. “Greetings, Elder Xun!”
He could tell that this Elder Xun’s figure was somewhat indistinct. It was clearly an avatar.
Xun Cang smiled and said, “There is no need for courtesy.”
“This disciple trial is very simple.”
“The principles interview that was not conducted during disciple recruitment will now be held.”
“It is called 【Heart Inquiry】.”
Hearing this, Ning Ri understood at once. So they were simply continuing the conversation they had not finished before.
His heart immediately settled—
He remembered that quite a few people at the disciple recruitment office had passed 【Heart Inquiry】 before.
Then this time, he should be fine as well.
Then Ning Ri cupped his hands and said, “Elder Xun, please begin your questions!”
Xun Cang asked, “Young friend Ning, may I ask: from childhood until now, what is the thing that has stayed by your side the longest?”
Ning Ri first pondered. Several modern names flashed through his mind in succession—his phone, his computer, his figurines...
After thinking it over again and again, he finally answered, “It should be a little wooden cat puppet of mine.”
The little wooden cat puppet referred to a cat figurine from his previous life that had stayed with him for a very long time.
Xun Cang gave a slight nod. “Good. Then let me ask you this: would you be willing to become dao companions with your little wooden cat puppet?”
Ning Ri: “?”
His expression immediately turned strange...
Good heavens, Elder Xun... are you trying to make me end up with a kitten?
More importantly, what kind of question was that? What did it have to do with the disciple trial?
Besides, how could I possibly marry a figurine?
Then again, there really had been people in his previous life who married figurines, but he could not accept that...
Ning Ri did not answer rashly. Instead, he tried to guess why the disciple trial was asking such a question.
But after considering it again and again, he still could not figure out what exactly this disciple trial was testing. In the end, he answered, “Elder Xun, I would not.”
Xun Cang did not ask why he would not. Instead, he continued, “Then let me ask you this: if you would not choose the little wooden cat puppet as your dao companion, then what would you choose as your dao companion?”
Ning Ri answered concisely, “A woman who loves me and whom I also love.”
Xun Cang asked again, “Good. Then let me ask you this: if one day this woman who loves you and whom you love were suddenly struck by a terrible illness and turned into a man, would you still choose to stay with her?”
Ning Ri: “?”
After a long silence, he said, “Well... cultivation is so convenient. She should be able to return to her original appearance right away, should she not?”
Xun Cang first nodded in approval, then threw out another question. “Young friend Ning, according to your answer, does that mean that even if your dao companion turned into a man, as long as she looked like a woman, you could still accept it?”
Ning Ri: “???”
You... I... what?!
Ning Ri fell silent. His mind blanked out for an instant.
He swore he had never fallen silent for so long in his life.
Even when that truck had killed him and sent him to another world, he had not felt his mind shut down for this long.
Come to think of it, would that count as same-sex attraction?
Then he hurriedly said, “N-no, that is not what I meant...”
“What I meant is that cultivation is very convenient. She should be able to recover her original form.”
Hearing that, Xun Cang revealed a look of sudden understanding and did not go on to raise some unreasonable question like, “But what if she simply cannot be cured?”
Instead, he changed the subject and asked, “Then if your little wooden cat puppet turned into a woman who loved you and whom you also loved, would you be able to accept that?”
Ning Ri froze. “Huh? A catgirl?”
Xun Cang smiled and asked, “What does catgirl mean?”
Ning Ri briefly explained, “...It means more or less what you said, just a rather cute female cat demon.”
Xun Cang said, “Good, young friend Ning. Then if your dao companion turned into this catgirl you speak of, could you accept it?”
The moment Ning Ri heard that, he felt half dead inside. Could it be that Xun Cang had really mistaken him for someone with unusual tastes?
More importantly, what did this have to do with the disciple trial?
Then he answered, “Elder Xun, I still think the same as before. Cultivation is very convenient, so she ought to be able to change back...”
Xun Cang nodded. “I understand. In that case, young friend Ning, the Heart Inquiry is over. You have failed the trial.”
The moment those words were spoken, Ning Ri’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Elder Xun, how did I fail?”
Then his emotions gradually became more agitated. “The choice I made only represents myself. It does not mean I do not respect your personal preferences, or the sect’s choices and preferences!”
At that moment, Ning Ri had already treated Xun Cang and the Defying Heaven Sect as fellow travelers on the same path.
The reason was simple.
According to the laws of the Heavenly Dao, the union of yin and yang was the natural order.
Therefore, pursuing the union of yin with yin and yang with yang was also a way of defying heaven!
So he believed that Xun Cang and the Defying Heaven Sect might also be seeking like-minded people, and that was why they had eliminated him.
Judging from what had happened to the first two trial participants, Xun Cang should have directly sent Ning Ri away at this point. But upon hearing those words, Xun Cang’s expression stiffened, then he burst into laughter. “Hahaha, young friend, you have misunderstood. Most of the people in the Defying Heaven Sect and I are perfectly normal.”
Ning Ri fell silent. He realized he had said the wrong thing, but he immediately corrected himself. “...Actually, I respect the choices of the minority as well.”
But those words were no longer of any use.
Whoosh—
He found that he had returned to Kite Plaza, and then he was sent down the mountain.
By the time he reached the mountain gate of the Defying Heaven Sect,
Ning Ri still wore a silent expression.
He stood there at the gate in silence for a long time before finally sighing and walking off into the distance. As he walked, he let out a long sigh and said, “Immortal cultivation is truly difficult...”
At the same time, thoughts were turning in his mind—
“I still feel that Elder Xun eliminated me on some trumped-up excuse. Is sexual orientation really that important?”
“He probably still just thought my aptitude was not good enough...”
“I cannot get into the Defying Heaven Sect now, so I can only go somewhere else to look for cultivation methods.”
“Sigh... If I had known, I would have read some records about the secrets of the continent while I was in the Technique Pavilion. I might even have found a place where rogue cultivators gather. Then things would not have come to this... Hmm, wait!”
“Gao Hong commutes. I can go wait in his hometown first. When he goes home to visit family, I can think of a way to get information about where rogue cultivators gather out of him, right?”
The moment he realized this, Ning Ri’s eyes lit up.
Just then,
a cry for help full of panic and helplessness came from the forest:
“Young Hero, save me!”