Chapter 574: Integrity Assessment Begins With Me

Beneath Spirit Peak.

Near the venue for the second trial of the 'Xian Sect Special Recruitment'.

Rows of semicircular white chambers were neatly arranged, their surfaces traced with meandering pale-blue lines, flickering between light and dark.

The patterns on the surface of each chamber differed, yet a strange connection existed between them.

As light and shadow flickered, those lines seemed to resonate, producing a wondrous link.

This was the finest cultivation zone of the Feather Spirit Star System, laid out with a large-scale spirit-gathering array, and every cultivation chamber was equipped with an independent spirit energy sorting system.

It could adjust the concentration of spirit energy according to the user's needs, and blend spirit energy with the corresponding elemental affinity.

Of course, the price of good results was no small sum.

But then again…

Because anyone who passed the open audition and truly began the 'Xian Sect Special Recruitment' selection could have their expenses reimbursed by the Xian Sect afterward, quite a few people came to use it.

At this moment, inside cultivation chamber number ninety-seven.

Gentle spirit energy flowed slowly, faintly forming the shape of a vortex.

And at the very center of that vortex, a young girl sat quietly. Her looks were unremarkable—the sort that would draw no attention at all if tossed into a crowd.

Deng Xuan.

Her realm was likewise at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, and she had already completed the first stage of the Star-Gathering Method—'Refining Starlight'.

In the previous first trial of the 'Xian Sect Special Recruitment' on Yuyao Star, she had ranked second.

She was also one of the lucky ones who had received a small gift from Xu Xing back then.

'Should I really begin the second stage…' Deng Xuan was deeply conflicted.

Just one year ago, during a bio-weapon attack, she had unexpectedly obtained a fortuitous encounter—

The *Compendium of the Fa Yan's Bewildering Tribulation*.

It was an extremely formidable art, and the divine abilities it carried were exceedingly wondrous.

After mastering the first layer, not only did the quality of her spiritual power surpass that of ordinary cultivators, allowing her to seize the initiative in magical combat, she also gained an ability with truly miraculous effects.

Fa Yan Future—divining the fortune or misfortune of deeds yet to be done!

It was precisely by virtue of this ability that she had earned a great pile of resources during the period of upheaval on Yuyao Star.

Her realm had also successfully reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining, and she had completed the first stage of the Star-Gathering Method.

Now she could begin the second stage of the Star-Gathering Method at any time, but…

It really hurt too much!

The feeling of being sliced back and forth by little knives all over, every part of her body cut to pieces, had left her with no small psychological shadow.

Hiss~

Perhaps recalling the agony of that Star-Gathering Method cultivation, Deng Xuan couldn't help but shiver.

Forget it!

She'd rest for a day first, then begin the second stage of Star-Gathering Method cultivation after that.

As for now…

She'd better divine the fortune or misfortune of her second-round selection first.

During the first-round selection, she'd been a bit full of herself, relying on her fortuitous encounter, thinking no one on Yuyao Star could progress faster than her.

On the other hand, she'd also been somewhat self-righteous, feeling it would be unfair to the other participating cultivators if she used the ability attached to her art to predict things in advance.

As a result, in the 'Fa Three Trials' magical combat assessment, she'd been one-shotted by the first-place finisher…

One-shotted!

(ーー゛)

And that third-place finisher was no pushover either; if his results in the 'Dao Three Trials' foundation assessment hadn't been rather poor, he might well have ranked ahead of her.

All in all, she'd better honestly set a scope and divine the fortune or misfortune, then make arrangements.

"Huff~"

With a soft exhale, Deng Xuan slowly closed her eyes.

The *Compendium of the Fa Yan's Bewildering Tribulation* began to operate on its own, and the radiant spiritual power within her spirit sea roared and surged.

Hum~

A buzzing rang in her ears.

Though her eyes were closed, Deng Xuan saw with perfect clarity the curling clouds of vapor rising and weaving themselves into a strange cloud tome.

After all, this *Compendium of the Fa Yan's Bewildering Tribulation* had drawn its inspiration from Dao Yan Da Qian's *Record of the Dao's Myriad Derivations* in the Taiping Realm, so it had simply copied the 'entrance animation' along with it.

Deng Xuan stayed perfectly calm, silently reciting in her heart the date and specific event she wished to divine.

Her mind tense with focus, she watched the slowly unfolding cloud tome.

Based on her prior experience using it, the result of this divination would soon appear on it, and she could make preparations according to the hints she received…

Soon the cloud tome fully unfolded, and golden characters emerged one by one upon its pristine white pages.

However, the moment she saw clearly what was written on the cloud tome, she was utterly taken aback.

The golden characters that appeared on the cloud tome were not the content she had expected, but rather—

【Integrity Assessment Begins With Me】

Huh?!!!!!

No!

What is this situation?!

……

……

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Gu Wangjun had already gone out and bought some talisman paper, and was now standing in front of a table.

One hand held a purple jade vermillion-brush, its tip soaked full of spirit ink the color of fresh blood, tracing line after line of talisman script across the talisman paper laid flat before him.

His spiritual power flowed calm and gentle, running down with the ink from the brush tip onto the talisman paper.

Clearly, he already possessed a certain level of attainment in the Way of Talismans.

In less than five seconds, Gu Wangjun lifted his brush.

Yet on the talisman paper, spiritual light flickered, and the still-damp ink traces dried in an instant.

Setting down the brush in his hand, he picked up the finished talisman before him, held it up and examined it for a while, and after confirming there were no problems, placed it beside him.

Beside him, a transparent box specially used for holding talismans already contained a small stack—looking to be about forty or fifty sheets.

"The cultivation of the *String Sword Feather Talisman Scripture* most importantly lies in grasping a certain balance between 'talisman' and 'sword'…"

The voice came from behind the talisman paper.

It was a projection light-screen; the picture showed someone explaining the key points of cultivating the 'Talisman-Sword' lineage. Gu Wangjun had just finished making several dozen talismans and was preparing to rest a while to recover a bit of spiritual power.

So he pulled over a chair, tidied up the various talisman-making tools and talisman paper on the table, and continued watching the content on the light-screen.

"Talisman-Sword…"

Wasn't this what Leng Rou said—that he was suited for the 'Talisman-Sword' lineage of the Grand Supreme Dao Sect?

So he had gone to search up some courses to watch, thinking he'd get a bit of understanding first.

A little over two minutes later…

【Your trial viewing time has ended. Purchase to watch the remaining content.】

Those free courses were all just concepts, theory and the like—no real substantive content.

So he could only find these paid courses to watch.

Of course!

Only watching the first three minutes of the trial.

After all, he could still consult Leng Rou about these matters later—why spend that kind of wasted money?

Moreover, Gu Wangjun didn't feel that these instructors were on Leng Rou's level.

Leng Rou was a great cultivator at the peak of Return to Void!

Thinking this, he raised his hand and waved, flipping to the next course.

"Today let's talk about cultivating the *Scripture-Tally Sword Scripture*. Actually, this cultivation method is just used by the 'Talisman-Sword' lineage to lay a foundation—it's not hard to learn. If you have a certain foundation in the Way of the Sword, generally speaking, you only need about two days to master it…"

The voice had been specially processed, sounding nothing particularly remarkable, but…

"Isn't the *Scripture-Tally Sword Scripture* one of the hardest basic arts to master in the 'Talisman-Sword' lineage?"

Two days?

"That's right, it really is the hardest."

A ghostly voice suddenly rang out from behind him, a cold wind whooshed, and Gu Wangjun got a fright.

"Holy shit!"

He whipped his head around, and saw Leng Rou had appeared behind him at some unknown point, her eyes fixed intently on the light-screen ahead.

"Weren't you planning to rest today, not coming out?"

"I heard someone lying and bragging—of course I had to come out and see."

"Huh?"

Gu Wangjun was stunned for a moment.

Someone lying and bragging?

He recalled his own words from today, confirmed there was no problem, and looked toward the *Scripture-Tally Sword Scripture* cultivation insights playing on the light-screen before the table.

"You mean the one giving the lecture?"

"Mm." Leng Rou kept staring at the light-screen.

Master the *Scripture-Tally Sword Scripture* in two days?

You're here bragging, aren't you!

How much have you drunk to dare brag like that!

Back then she had used over half a month, and only barely managed to enter the door!

Even so, in the history of the 'Talisman-Sword' lineage, that counted as extremely top-tier.

"Buy it and let's listen—I'll see exactly how he brags!" Leng Rou said with a cold laugh.

She had decided!

After listening to all the content of this course, she'd go to the private message section to ask questions.

If the person who made this course couldn't answer, she'd report that person for false advertising!

Buy it…

Gu Wangjun looked at the price, a little hesitant.

The *Scripture-Tally Sword Scripture* was available for sale on the Spirit Net—it's used by the 'Talisman-Sword' lineage to screen disciples—but he had never bought it…

The hesitation lasted only a moment, and Gu Wangjun began to pay.

From the time they met until now, Leng Rou had never asked him for anything; now that she'd finally spoken up.

If he couldn't even agree to this much, that would be a bit ungrateful.

After a line reading 【Purchase Successful】 appeared on the light-screen, the voice continued.

But the light-screen was still pitch-black, with nothing more than subtitles at the bottom—not even an extra image…

This course was made way too sloppily.

Gu Wangjun's eye twitched, but he still listened seriously.

After all, he'd paid for this, so he couldn't let it go to waste.

However, as he listened, the blankness in his eyes grew thicker and thicker.

He clearly understood every single word, but why did they sound like a heavenly book when strung together?

It felt like one second he was being taught one plus one, and the next he was being asked to build a starship…

After only a third of the lesson, Gu Wangjun could no longer understand a thing, and could only stare blankly at the wall behind the translucent screen of light.

Finally, when the course had reached about halfway, he couldn't help but turn his head to glance at Leng Rou.

He discovered that Leng Rou's expression was solemn, the earlier disdain already gone from her eyes, replaced even by a hint of surprise…

"Just how skilled is this person, really?"

"…" Leng Rou paused, then, coming back to herself, said, "He can be considered to have some skill."

While speaking, her gaze never left the screen of light.

"Although the video itself has some 'false advertising' to it, this person's insight is indeed extraordinary—he should be a very formidable cultivator."

Some skill, extraordinary insight, very formidable…?

Is it really that mystical?

"Later, buy a copy of the *Jinglu Sword Scripture* and practice it yourself. When you have nothing to do, listen more—it'll help you."

Gu Wangjun: "…"

Didn't you just say the author was lying and bragging?

How did you change your tune so fast! (End of chapter)