Southern Continent, Harmony Blossom Sect, Elder Zhong's Cave Adobe
Looking at the boy in front of him, Elder Zhong thought to himself, 'This kid should take about two to three days given his mother.' As he mused, he sat down in front of Xi Shen and began to cultivate.
After a day, he noticed a subtle change in spiritual energy, so he snapped out of his cultivation and saw a small vortex of spiritual energy around Xi Shen.
He keenly looked at Xi Shen, who slowly opened his emerald-green eyes, 'The tiger's son is still a tiger.' He nodded approvingly, "Good. You passed the temperament test in record time. The Sect Master will be thrilled, if you pass the other two tests, that is."
Xi Shen was confused, "I passed?"
Seeing his confusion, Elder Zhong clarified, "Yes, and in record time. Your mother was the same back then, but that boy Xi Li charmed her." He finished with a sigh.
Seeing his complicated expression, Xi Shen felt a pang of sadness, but he quickly suppressed it, 'I can deal with sadness later.' He asked, "Elder, how long has it been since my arrival?"
Elder Zhong snapped out of his reminiscing and smiled warmly, "It's only been a day, the record was day and a half, and you beat it. Congratulations, but don't let this get in your head."
Xi Shen nodded earnestly, but inside he was confused, 'I definitely have been there a whole seven days, so how?' Until an idea popped into his head, 'Time ratio. One day in real life is seven in the illusion, that only explains it.'
Elder Zhong got up slowly and started to walk out of the cave, "Come on, the tests aren't over yet." Xi Shen also got up quickly and followed him outside.
On their way out, they saw an middle-aged man cultivating in front of the entrance, he was dressed in silver robes. His short hair only had a few grays.
Elder Zhong, seeing him, said slowly, "Junior Brother Qinxiu, you sure are impatient, that mentality isn't good for cultivation." The other man, frowned slightly and opened his eyes, which were red in color.
He laughed dryly, "Senior Brother Zhong, who wouldn't be tempted to observe the youngster with a recommendation jade, there are only ten after all."
Xi Shen just stood there, seeing the two of them fight with nice words, 'Who is this? He's wearing the same robes as Elder Zhong, that means…' He quickly clasped his hands, "Greetings to the Elder Qinxiu."
Both of them stopped talking, and after a moment, Elder Qinxiu burst into laughter, "Good. Kid, you should become my disciple. I can directly make you an Inner Sect Disciple, even though your cultivation is low."
Seeing this, Xi Shen was a bit speechless, but Elder Zhong wouldn't allow Elder Qinxiu's way, "He has qualifications to be a Core Disciple, do you have the qualifications to compete with Great Elders?"
Elder Qinxiu was stunned by Elder Zhong's evaluation, he mumbled to himself, "No wonder he had a recommendation jade…" Snapping out of his daze, he reluctantly said, "Fine. Kid follow me, I'm the second test examiner."
Xi Shen looked at Elder Zhong, and seeing his nod, he followed closely behind. Elder Zhong looked at their departing figure, as he again began to reminisce.
As Xi Shen and Elder Qinxiu walked on a narrow path, they came across some disciples, however, all of them were wearing dark pink robes. As soon as they saw Elder Qinxiu, they bowed in respect.
And when they left, the disciples wondered who this kid was to be personally led by an Inner Elder. One of them couldn't help but say through sound transmission, {Could it be the one with recommendation jade? He arrived yesterday.}
The disciple next to him was astonished and confused, {If he is, then why is he so weak?} The others also nodded, {When I was his age, I was already in the 2nd level of Qi Refinement.}
After arriving at the foot of the Main Peak, the Eternal Harmony Heights, Xi Shen finally grasped how large the sect was, as it took them an hour to just walk from Eastern Post to the Main Peak.
The foot of the mountain was covered by various spiritual flowers, and the peach and plum blossoms were in full bloom. As they are in all of the seasons, because of the array around the sect.
As they entered a vast open space, Xi Shen felt like he had passed through something. And as he felt weird, the surrounding field changed into a big bustling city, full of vendors and cultivators chatting and bargaining.
Seeing his confused look, Elder Qinxiu laughed, "Kid, that was a simple illusion array. This is Lianhua City, our founders' hometown. We need to pass through it so we arrive there." He said as he pointed at the platform at the end of the city.
As they walked, many of the people paid their respects to Elder Qinxiu, while he just nodded, not giving them a second glance. When they passed, many murmurs could be heard throughout the city, especially the topic was who was the mysterious kid on the Elder's side.
They swiftly arrived at the platform, which was about a thousand square meters, and at the center was a small pavilion made of peach wood. Xi Shen was mesmerized, like something inside called for him.
Elder Qinxiu turned around and took out a plain-looking mirror, "We'll take the test here, no one comes here as this is my platform. Are you ready for the test of courage?"
Xi Shen snapped out of the feeling, bowed, "Yes, Elder." Elder Qinxiu didn't stand on ceremony, immediately shining the light of the mirror. As the light touched him, Xi Shen sat down in a lotus position and fell into the illusion.
#In the illusion#
Southern Continent, Harmony Blossom Sect, the Outer Sect
In one of the caves of the Outer Sect, an average-looking man sat in a lotus position. His brown hair was flowing freely, reaching the floor. Slowly, the man opened his eyes.
Opening his eyes, Xi Shen looked around. The cave adobe only had a simple cushion in the middle, and a bed, 'Truly poor.' He again had memories of the real world, which was weird but not unwelcome, "Status."
{Status}
[Name: Tao Yi]
[Age: 34/230]
[Inheritance: None]
[Cultivation: 4th level of Qi Refinement]
[Root: Three Element Root - Earth Grade]
[Spells: Sword Qi - Drifting Clouds, Fireball, Ice Prison…]
[Arts: Basic Swordsmanship - 9%]
[Looks: Average]
Looking at his current status, he nodded his head, 'Quite impressive for a Three Element Root to achieve almost Small Success in swordsmanship. But more impressive is the Sword Qi spell, as only someone with 30% mastery can learn it.'
As he felt his current strength, he was shocked by how big a gap there is between his real-life cultivation and the illusion one, 'So this is the Qi Refinement, instead of spiritual energy being in my whole body, it's concentrated in dantien.'
A strong, demanding voice entered his mind, snapping him out of his thoughts, {All disciples gather in the main hall.} As the voice said, all of the memories finally settled in, Tao Yi is an Outer Disciple of the Harmony Blossom Sect.
Xi Shen quickly left my cave, and according to the memories headed to the main hall. On his way, he met many disciples, some of whom nodded in his direction, and he returned the nod. All of them ran toward the main hall, as the Sect Master rarely gathered the disciples on this scale.
He quickly arrived, and the sight that awaited him was magnificent. Thousands of people quietly looked at the platform, on which a single man stood, 'So that is this illusion's Sect Master.'
He had long loose black hair, his golden robes glittered, and the single sword was at his waist. He didn't emit any aura, like a mortal, but the presence was imposing.
Scanning all of them with his Spiritual Sense, he nodded and began, "As you all know, our Sect has been at war with Sky Demon Pavilion. But after much consideration, we decided to lead one swift full-scale attack. So everyone, go back and prepare, we depart in 3 hours."
With that, he vanished, leaving the crowd and Xi Shen in shock. After the initial shock passed, everyone burst into a heated conversation. Some proclaimed their wish for war, some were afraid, some saw it as a test by Heavenly Dao…
Xi Shen, on the other hand, had a different thought, 'I need to die as fast as possible to a demon cultivator.' As he made up my mind, he quickly went back to practice his newfound strength, as he didn't have anything to prepare.
As soon as the three hours passed, everyone was gathered in the main hall. Several Elders and the Sect Master stood around them, channeling spiritual energy.
The ground of the main hall lit up, 'Some kind of formation? Wait, teleportation?' As soon as it lit up, Sect Master shouted, "Immediately attack the demon cultivators when you arrive, don't give them a chance to resist."
'This strategy is… stupid. I mean, sure, you have a surprise effect, but no formation, no strategy… I guess this test is pretty easy, as we'll all die.' And the light enveloped Xi Shen's vision.
Immediately, he found himself on a high mountain. Tens of thousands of black-robed people surrounded their group. Everyone began to cast various spells and arts.
Xi Shen used swordplay, a basic Sword Art of the Harmony Blossom Sect, Yin-Yang Sword. It focuses on offense and defense, but it lacks speed.
He approached the demon cultivator. He was at the 3rd level of Qi Refinement, seeing Xi Shen coming at him he brought his hands forward and used the Wind Blades spell. And as Xi Shen was about to take them on, a water current intercepted the wind.
He turned around to see a woman, she looked in her 20s, as she saw me staring she gave him a thumbs up, and cast another spell on another demon cultivator.
She was Qi Wen, a Senior Sister of Tao Yi, and an Inner Sect disciple. She had a crush on Tao Yi, as they grew up together, 'Wow, this illusion is really realistic. I can't tell the difference between reality and this, the VR would pale in comparison.'
However, as he was thinking about that, he felt a horrible presence. When he turned around, it was too late. He felt a tingling sensation on my neck and then saw my headless body falling.
#Reality#
As he opened his eyes, he gasped for air, as the fear of death he felt was real. Elder Qinxiu just stood there, already accustomed to this, looking at the mirror.
Then he looked at Xi Shen with a slight smile and said, "Good job, kid. You exceeded my expectations. To die for your sect is truly admirable." This caused him to doubt this test, as death was guaranteed.
But before I could even say anything, he turned around and said, "Follow me. This will be the third and last test." As we entered the pavilion, the room wasn't large. In the center was a white guzheng, made from white jade, with strange petal patterns.
Xi Shen felt a slight familiarity, or nostalgia, with guzheng, but also fear, 'What is going on?' The guzheng let out a serene white light, and as if challenged, the symbol on Xi Shen's soul responded.
The golden light burst forth from Xi Shen's soul, accepting the challenge. The golden light was domineering, while the white light was like a calm river.
When they clashed, Xi Shen felt like he saw Yin-Yang balance each other and dissipate. All of this happened in an instant, but it was engraved in Xi Shen's memory.
Xi Shen looked at Elder Qinxiu, and seeing him just walk towards the quzheng, he wondered, 'So even a Golden Core cultivator didn't sense anything. So, what was that?'
Xi Shen pretended like nothing happened, and when they arrived in front of the guzheng, Elder Qinxiu turned to him, "Now just place your hand on the guzheng and that's it."
Xi Shen's hand slowly reached toward the instrument, and he felt some kind of feeling, something between weirdness and awe. When his hand touched the guzheng, its white surface quickly changed color.
It shone rainbow light, then took on single colors, red to orange, then to yellow, then to green, then to blue, and it finally stopped at indigo. Seeing the color, Elder Qinxiu's eyes went wide, and he exclaimed, "Heavenly Talent!"
'Well, that is to be expected.' Xi Shen thought smugly, before remembering his death in the illusion, 'Focus, Shen! Caution is the mother of success! You don't want to die like that in real life.' He looked at Elder Qinxiu, playing ignorant, "What does that mean, Elder?"
He woke up from shock, losing his composure, "What does that mean? It means Senior Brother was right, you can become a disciple of the Great Elders, and even choose between four of them."
Looking at his disheveled appearance, 'What kind of elder are you?' Shaking my head, 'Never mind that, I'll be able to choose a master?' Anticipation filled him, as although he had a lot of knowledge, I didn't have the resources.
Elder Qinxiu quickly took out communication jade, sending multiple messages. He then looked like he received a reply, and nodded, "Let's go, Great Elders will look at you and judge if you have it in you to be their disciple."