Chapter 36: Welcome...
’Snap out of it!’
Shaking his head, he refocused on the woman’s beautiful face. His lips parted, starting a conversation immediately.
"The Soul Peak, right? What’s up about you guys?"
Elder Song blinked, her lips parting in surprise.
"My~ my~ you’re quite the inquisitive one." She giggled softly, "Don’t worry, we’ll be heading over to the Soul Peak after this selection. Then... I can explain to you clearly."
Seraph nodded, then returned to meet Ariana. The woman also smiled and backed away, returning to the line of elders.
The Inner Court disciple announced. "Seraph Skye now belongs to the Soul Peak."
Standing beside Seraph, Ariana tugged on his sleeve.
"We’re going to be separated from here, right?"
Seraph looked at her, noticing the watery state of her eyes. It seemed she still didn’t want to be separated from him.
’Sigh... after all, she’s still a ten year old child.’
Grabbing her hand, he quietly reassured her. "It’s okay. We’re both disciples of the same sect. There’s no way we wouldn’t meet, okay?"
The girl’s eyes cleared in realization, and she nodded with a cute smile.
From there on, the selection continued speedily. The other disciples were sorted out by their affinities, with each Peak claiming the disciples affiliated to them.
In the end, Marcus Cang was taken into the Summer Peak because of his affinity for fire.
The selection ended there, and the new disciples were led to their respective Peaks by their respective elders.
Seraph waved at Ariana and Tamar who were on the glass-boat treasure brought out by Elder Tian. Soon, they disappeared into the distance, just like the others.
"Well, are you done bidding farewell?"
Elder Song appeared behind him, her voice lacking its usual energy.
’Hm?’
Seraph’s expression also turned serious. "Aren’t we heading to the Soul Peak?"
The woman nodded calmly. "Of course. However, not for you to join. But to... reassess you. I don’t believe Elder Wang’s readings at all."
Seraph was surprised, realizing that she probably thought he cheated. He did indeed cheat, but not in the way she thought.
["Heh~ I can’t wait to see her expression when she tries measuring your aptitude."]
Halo snickered from within, a light smugness in its tone.
"Uh... alright."
Nodding stiffly, Seraph turned to her. "Where’s our transport?"
Elder Song blinked. "Transport? Who needs that?"
The next moment, Seraph felt something wrap around him and lift him into the sky.
Elder Song also flew up, flying beside him and heading straight towards the peak at the center of the other four Peaks.
Seraph’s eyes widened in surprise. ’She has surpassed the Master Stage? Wait. Could she already be at the King Stage?’
He was stunned, feeling amazed as he was carried through the air and brought closer to the Soul Peak.
The Soul Peak was quite smaller than the other Peaks, but it was surrounded by a profound and mysterious air.
Seraph spotted a few buildings scattered on it, then a beautiful city-like structure at the top.
’Amazing.’
Elder Song didn’t bring him to the beautiful city. Instead, she brought him to one of the regular white buildings near the city. When they reached the place, Seraph was surprised to see several Inner Court disciples and a few Core disciples.
The instant they saw Elder Song, they all bowed respectfully.
"Greetings to Elder Song!"
The woman smiled gently and waved. "Hello there."
The disciples raised their heads, taking a glance at Seraph. One of them stepped forward and asked politely.
"Elder Song, could it be you came here to interrogate this disrespectful junior?"
Seraph blinked and frowned, then looked at the name plate hung on the building.
’DISCIPLE INTERROGATION AND PUNISHMENT HALL’
He deadpanned, glaring at Elder Song. ’Seriously?’
Sensing his gaze, the woman turned to him. "Are you anxious? Don’t worry, as long as you can defend your aptitude and affinity, you’re good to go. In fact, you’ll be a disciple—of the Soul Peak."
Seraph rolled his eyes and turned away from her, folding his hands in a rebellious manner.
Inwardly though, he was communicating with Halo.
’Is this the right time to release the restrictions?’
Halo was silent for a moment, then answered. ["Hmm, yes. Although I haven’t seen much of this elder to completely understand her character, I can tell that she is a woman of integrity."]
Seraph smacked his lips. ’Meaning she wouldn’t grow envious and try to kill me or use me for experiments.’
["Basically that, yeah."]
’Sigh... whatever. If she decides to turn me into a lab rat, then I’ll just endure till I can find a means to escape.’
["Taaa, such a weak mindset."] Halo scowled, though Seraph didn’t care.
Meanwhile, Elder Song turned to one of the Core disciples. "Can you call for Elder Lan for me? I’ll be needing her here."
The disciple nodded, immediately straightening and dashing away to find the woman.
"And who’s this so-called Elder Lan?"
Seraph asked with a light frown.
Pulling his hand, Elder Song led him into the white building. Smiling, she explained.
"Elder Lan is the Sect Elder managing this hall. She is well-versed in the art of torture."
"Oh, not bad." Seraph blinked, looking around curiously.
Seeing his carefree demeanor, Elder Song began doubting her suspicion.
Was he really a six-ci-aptitude kid with several affinities?
However, this kind of talent should never appear in the Orchid Province where spiritual energy wasn’t that pure.
’Anyway, I’ll test him. If he’s legit, then he will join the Soul Peak. If he’s not, he’ll be punished alongside Elder Wang.’
She absolutely wouldn’t tolerate an Elder cheating at the entrance examinations.
"Hoh~ look what you brought here, Junior Sister Song."
A beautiful voice made them both turn. Seraph was ready to witness another city-toppling beauty.
To his disappointment, the woman had her face covered by a veil, rendering him unable to see any of her facial features.
Still, he could sense the woman’s gaze on him.
"Ah, Senior Sister. It’s good as you’re here. I just wanted to hand him over immediately after I’m done with a little test. It’ll be a hassle taking him around the Soul Peak."
Elder Song replied, her face lit up with a beautiful smile.
Seraph stared at her in displeasure, then clicked his tongue. "Just do what you want to do."
The two women were surprised, but didn’t mind his behavior. Elder Song casually produced a longer aptitude rod from thin air.
She cleaned it with a rag, making the calibration clearer.
To Seraph’s surprise, it reached the nineteen ci. This was the longest aptitude rod he had ever seen.
"Go on." She said, her expression solemn.
Seraph also became serious, biting his finger hard enough for blood to come out. Using the drop of blood, he touched the affinity rod.
At the same time, he spoke inwardly. ’Halo, release all restrictions.’
The instant he touched the rod, it trembled faintly. Elder Song’s brows creased, watching it intensely.
Slowly, the transparent rod gained light—red, blue, green, yellow, pink, white, black, brown, gold, silver, grey, and several others. The colors interwined, becoming impossible to distinguish how many were within.
The two elders were only able to count eleven from everything. While they were shocked, the colors rose sharply, crossing the four-ci, five-ci, then slowed at the six-ci.
Just as Elder Song was about to stop the test, the rising continued. The rainbow color crossed the six-ci, the ninth-ci, twelfth-ci, the seventeenth-ci, and finally stopped when it reached the peak—the nineteenth-ci.
The aptitude rod trembled intensely, like it was struggling to contain something. Sensing this, Seraph removed his hand, causing the trembling to stop and the colors to disappear.
Silence.
The hall was filled with an unsettling silence. The two elders couldn’t say anything, tongue-tied beyond measure. Elder Song calmly dismissed the aptitude rod, then summoned a new one.
They repeated the test, achieving the same result. Then, they repeated the test ten times, achieving the same result ten times.
When Elder Song was about to try again, Elder Lan stopped her.
"Junior Sister, what you have seen is true. There is no error."
Elder Song froze, her fists curling beneath her sleeves.
Seraph stared at them both with a bored expression. "What now? Kill me?"
Elder Song blinked, snapping back to reality. She appeared flustered.
"N-no. I’m just... shocked. I’ve... never seen anything like this. In fact, I still don’t believe it."
"Same here. I don’t believe it." Elder Lan added. Thankfully, there was no one else present in the building.
Seraph shrugged. "If you can’t cope with it, let’s just continue pretending I have a six-ci-aptitude."
"A six-ci-aptitude?" Elder Lan cast a questioning gaze at her junior sister.
Sighing, Elder Song explained. "During the examination, Elder Wang reported that he had a six-ci-aptitude."
"You controlled your aptitude?" Elder Lan turned to him, surprised.
Seraph shrugged helplessly. "I can’t let others see this, lest I be killed on the spot, right?"
"Huh... you’re right." Elder Song nodded. Sighing, she retrieved a set of outer court disciple robes and handed them to him.
"Welcome to the Soul Peak."