Yun Sword Sect.
Outer Sect Trial Peak, Refining Spirit Platform.
Su Yu woke up with a pale face and a cold sweat, still disoriented, when a voice reached his ears: "Su Yu, tenth place in the third trial, Divine Will."
On a high platform, several Yun Sword Sect deacons looked at Su Yu's information and shook their heads lightly.
"His performance in this trial is quite good, considered above average."
"However, his spiritual root is only of low grade, and his comprehension ability is also low. Plus, he's already at the threshold age of sixteen."
"Let's eliminate him."
"Eliminate, seconded."
This year's Yun Sword Sect disciple recruitment test had over three hundred participants, but only thirty spots were available.
Even though Su Yu's performance in the third trial was decent, his low-grade spiritual root and poor comprehension were significant drawbacks. His results in the third trial were not enough for the Yun Sword Sect to make an exception and accept him.
As the young men and women on the Refining Spirit Platform gradually regained consciousness, the results of the third trial, the Divine Will trial, were announced.
This trial tested the stability of the spiritual platform foundation and the strength of one's willpower.
Hence, it was called the Divine Will trial.
"Brother Yu, your performance in the third trial is so good. You might have a chance to enter the Yun Sword Sect, right?" A fellow clansman, Su Qingyi, said with a mix of envy and reluctance.
His results in the first two trials were decent, with a mid-grade spiritual root and below-average comprehension ability. However, his ranking in the Divine Will trial dropped to over sixtieth.
With such a result, it was almost impossible for him to enter the Yun Sword Sect.
Su Yu didn't respond. This clansman had a somewhat arrogant personality, and his words weren't genuinely believing that Su Yu had a chance to enter the Yun Sword Sect. Instead, he was merely using Su Yu's results to make a point.
If Su Yu had ranked in the top three in the third trial, perhaps the Yun Sword Sect would have made an exception and accepted him as a disciple.
But tenth place...
With his low-grade spiritual root and poor comprehension, it was nearly impossible.
A woman nearby frowned slightly and chided, "Qingyi, stop talking."
"Elder Sister, I really think Brother Yu has a chance. After all, his performance in the third trial is even better than yours," Su Qingyi glanced at Su Yu and whispered.
The woman remained silent.
The three of them were from the same clan. The woman was Su Zhi, the eldest daughter of the Su family, a cultivation family in Jiang City. She was also the most talented among the three.
With a mid-to-high-grade spiritual root, above-average comprehension ability, and a twenty-first place in the Divine Will trial, which was also considered above average.
Entering the Yun Sword Sect shouldn't be a problem.
Sure enough.
A deacon on the nearby high platform exuded an imposing aura and shouted, "Silence! Next, we will announce the list of selected disciples for the Yun Sword Sect."
"Gongsun Yi, Chen Bailai, He Xiu, Su Zhi, Lin Danlang..."
"Those whose names are called, stay. The rest, leave the Yun Sword Sect."
Su Qingyi didn't hear his name and, filled with reluctance, followed the crowd out of the Yun Sword Sect's outer sect, looking utterly dejected. He didn't even notice that Su Yu beside him seemed somewhat dazed, which didn't look like the reaction of someone who had been eliminated.
Several elders from the Su family were waiting outside, including Su Peng, the head of the Su family and Su Zhi's father.
When they learned that Su Zhi had successfully entered the Yun Sword Sect as an outer sect disciple, Su Peng and the other Su family elders were overjoyed.
Su Peng, a robust and sturdy middle-aged man in a green robe, looked excitedly at the Yun Sword Sect's mountain gate and repeatedly said, "Good, good, good. With Xiao Zhi entering the Yun Sword Sect, our Su family has hope."
After the excitement, Su Peng looked at the dazed Su Yu and the downcast Su Qingyi, comforting them, "You two don't need to be disheartened. Although not being able to enter the Yun Sword Sect is indeed a great regret, staying in the family and cultivating peacefully, your future achievements might not necessarily be worse."
"You should know that when Bai Yue Zhenren (Reverent Moon-Worshipper) of Bai Yue Immortal City in Great Moon Prefecture was young, he also wanted to join the Great Moon Palace. However, he was rejected because his spiritual root was only of the lowest grade, and he could only become a wandering cultivator."
"But now, the Bai Yue Immortal City founded by Bai Yue Zhenren has become one of the top immortal cities in Great Moon Prefecture."
"You two should stay in the family and cultivate diligently. Your starting point is even higher than that of Bai Yue Zhenren."
Hearing about Bai Yue Zhenren's story, Su Qingyi visibly perked up. Under the family head's motivational words, a gleam of hope appeared in his eyes.
Bai Yue Zhenren only had a low-grade spiritual root, yet he managed to establish Bai Yue Immortal City.
And Su Qingyi had a mid-grade spiritual root, so he might not necessarily be worse than Bai Yue Zhenren in the future.
Su Yu, on the other hand, didn't feel much about it. But looking at everything before him, he still felt a bit surreal. How could the world change so drastically just after staying up all night playing a game and then waking up?
The name Bai Yue Zhenren sounded familiar, as if he was a minor demonic boss in the early stages of the game he played?
In a dazed and confused state, Su Yu followed Su Peng and several other family elders back to Jiang City.
On the way.
They also encountered members of the Lin family, another cultivation family from Jiang City.
This time, the Lin family also had a member who entered the Cloud Sword Sect, but they barely made it in, far inferior to the Su family's eldest daughter, Su Zhi.
Therefore, the Lin family members didn't look too pleased when they saw the Su family.
"Hmph, let's go!" Lin Kui, the grand elder leading the Lin family, snorted coldly and urged his spirit horse to speed up, not wanting to see the Su family.
Jiang City was a small town near the Cloud Sword Sect, with a population of just over a hundred thousand. It was divided between the Su and Lin families, two small cultivation families.
Three days later.
Su Yu returned to the Su family. Originally, he was a collateral member of the Su family, only able to live in a small house on the outskirts. He had lost both parents at a young age and was raised by the family, a standard orphan protagonist start.
However, after his return, the family cleaned out a courtyard in the main residence for him and assigned a young and beautiful maid to serve him. Since he possessed a spiritual root and could embark on the path of cultivation, he was now a cultivator.
Every cultivator was a core figure in a cultivation family, key to the family's prosperity.
Naturally, Su Yu's treatment in the Su family wouldn't be poor.
After receiving this month's allowance from the grand elder—a low-grade spirit stone and thirty catties of low-grade spirit rice—Su Yu returned to his courtyard.
"Low-grade Five Elemental Spiritual Roots." Su Yu sat cross-legged in contemplation. He had a balanced Five Elemental spiritual root constitution.
Such a balanced constitution wasn't common, but having low-grade Five Elemental spiritual roots wasn't particularly useful.
His previous self practiced the Su family's cultivation technique, the Wutong Green Wood Art, a wood attribute technique that could be cultivated up to the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm.
He had just started practicing it not long ago and was at the first level of the Qi Refining Realm.
To be honest, this technique wasn't bad.
Ordinary wandering cultivators would find it difficult to obtain a technique that could be cultivated up to the third or sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm.
He wasn't being picky about what technique to cultivate, nor did he have any other techniques to choose from.
But when he focused his mind, lines of text appeared before his eyes, leaving him both startled and doubtful.
[Name: Su Yu.]
[Cultivation: First level of the Qi Refining Realm.]
[Lifespan: 16/98.]
[Technique: Wutong Green Wood Art (First level, proficiency 1.6%).]
[Spells: Wood Vine Technique (proficiency 3.4%), Spirit Nurturing Technique (proficiency 6.5%).]
A very simple panel.
Just looking at this panel gave Su Yu a sense of unreality, his expression blank: "Did I really travel through time, or did I enter a game?"
After some thought, Su Yu called out to the maid in the courtyard who was cleaning while secretly glancing at him: "Lin Dong, come here for a moment."
Bei Lin Dong's pretty face immediately flushed red, and she quickly ran over, lowering her head as she said, "Young Master Yu, it hurts."
The next moment, Bei Lin Dong let out a pained cry, her eyes wide as she covered her cheeks with both hands, tears welling up as she looked at Su Yu with a mix of confusion and grievance, not understanding why he had pinched her cheeks—and with both hands at that.
Su Yu remained calm and composed, retracting his hands after giving the maid's cheeks a quick pinch, and said, "If you want to look, just look openly. No need to sneak glances."
Bei Lin Dong's face turned even redder, and she lowered her head, not daring to look at Su Yu, feeling as though her secret had been exposed, her embarrassment overwhelming.
But she didn't notice the thoughtful expression on Su Yu's face.
Pain?
Do NPCs even feel pain? Testing it out, they do, Su Yu mused to himself: "The Moon Worshiping Immortal City is indeed a minor boss in the game, but what the hell is the Cloud Sword Sect? That game doesn't have a Cloud Sword Sect, and the place where the Moon Worshiping Immortal City is located isn't called the Great Moon Prefecture."
So, is it a coincidence?
Is this not the game world?