Chapter 2: The Aptitude Test

"Immortal Master Grandfather, when I was in the mortal world, I heard everyone say that seeking the Dao and inquiring about the tripod is the Great Dao of the world. The legends of the Immortal Masters of the Qingyun Sect are even more widely spread, and I wish to be received into the Qingyun Sect to become a small disciple seeking the Dao."

Su Changqing looked at Daoxuan Zhenren with a solemn expression, nodded slightly, and said earnestly.

"Good!"

Upon hearing this, Daoxuan Zhenren felt joy in his heart. This child, at such a young age, had a steady temperament. Having endured such hardships and still surviving, and now facing these True Persons who were famous throughout the world, he still spoke in an orderly and clear manner. It could be said he possessed the prerequisites for achieving the Great Dao.

Furthermore, when faced with a lifetime of glory and wealth, he chose the path of seeking the Dao, which showed that Su Changqing already had the mindset to leave the mortal world behind and renounce fame and fortune.

If he also possessed good innate talent and aptitude, he would not be a bad disciple to add.

Just at this moment, a voice sounded from outside the hall.

"Sect Leader, the two children in the side hall have also woken up. Should they be brought in?"

"Bring them both in."

Daoxuan Zhenren thought to himself that he could not favor one over the other. Since all three had woken up, he might as well test their aptitudes together and see how the three compared.

Before long, a disciple brought Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Jingyu over. Upon entering the great hall and seeing these True Persons and Peak Masters, the two were momentarily stunned.

Perhaps they had never encountered such a scene in the mortal world.

"Changqing, you are here too!"

Lin Jingyu and Zhang Xiaofan said in surprise after seeing Su Changqing. They had not expected that besides the two of them and Wang Ershu, anyone else from Caomiao Village had survived.

"At the time of the disaster, I was in the mountains looking for herbs, which is how I escaped this calamity."

Su Changqing gave the two an explanation.

Su Changqing knew the identities of these two well: one was the protagonist of the novel, and the other was the protagonist's childhood friend. Although the original owner was of a similar age to them, he had been busy gathering herbs to survive, so he had not had much contact with them and was not very familiar with them.

After the two calmed down, Daoxuan Zhenren asked them the same question he had asked before.

As expected, the two made the same choice as Su Changqing, both willing to stay in the Qingyun Sect to cultivate.

"Since that is the case, all three of you are willing to stay in my sect to cultivate, then I shall first test your innate talent and aptitude, and then the Peak Masters of each peak will take you as disciples."

Having said this, Daoxuan Zhenren flicked his left hand lightly, and a small red bead flew out from his sleeve, flying in turn to the front of the three and rolling over the center of their brows.

In an instant, lights of various colors rose from the three of them, with the dimness of the light representing the difference in their innate talent and aptitude.

Among them, the light from Lin Jingyu was brilliant, instantly illuminating the great hall, while Zhang Xiaofan's light was slightly weaker, though he could still emit light.

Contrary to the two, Su Changqing's light was as faint as light through a chink in a wall, appearing quite inconspicuous in this vast hall.

"This child has the spirit to achieve the Great Dao in his temperament, but how is his innate talent and aptitude so poor? What a pity, what a pity!"

Daoxuan Zhenren looked at Su Changqing and sighed softly.

The others held the same thought. The result made them somewhat disappointed; Su Changqing, in whom they had the highest expectations, was actually the one with the worst innate talent and aptitude among the three, even inferior to the aptitude of those Outer Disciples.

Su Changqing's performance since entering the hall had already been very pleasing to their eyes.

However, on the path of cultivation, aptitude is quite important. It is said that those with supreme natural talent can understand the Dao in a single day, surpassing a hundred years of cultivation, and the people of the Qingyun Sect understand this deeply. When the Qingyun Sect was in decline years ago, it was the brilliant and talented Qingye Zushi who, from the tattered ancient scrolls of his predecessors, comprehended the Great Dao of cultivation, which far surpassed his predecessors. He directly turned the tide, bringing the nearly destroyed Qingyun Sect to its peak, and to this day, it has become the leader of the righteous sects.

To have the temperament but lack the innate talent and aptitude, it is ultimately difficult to achieve the Great Dao.

Su Changqing looked at the faint light he emitted and felt slightly disappointed. However, he was not so dejected as to grieve.

The innate talent and aptitude were the original owner's own; he had arrived through transmigration like this, and he could not change it.

But he had a system!

As long as he could be admitted into the Qingyun Sect, even if only as an Outer Disciple, when the system officially descended, any innate talent or aptitude would be nothing.

"I didn't expect that this small Caomiao Village would have a Daoist child with such excellent spiritual root aptitude!"

Looking at Lin Jingyu, the light emitted was brilliant, clearly a rare sight of extraordinary natural talent and excellent innate talent, which immediately attracted the attention of the Peak Masters of the various branches of the Qingyun Sect.

"Senior Brother."

Cangsong Zhenren was the first to stand up. He first bowed to Daoxuan Zhenren, then looked at Lin Jingyu with anticipation in his eyes and said, "This child's talent and temperament are both top-notch, a one-in-ten-thousand Daoist child. Why not let him be received into my sect? I will certainly teach him with all my heart, and it is not impossible to help him achieve the Great Dao!"

"As for you fellow Junior Brothers and Sisters, isn't there still Changqing? Perhaps his temperament can make up for his lack of aptitude. I will not compete with you all."

Seeing Cangsong stand up and finish speaking, Tian Buyi hurriedly stood up and followed Cangsong's words, smiling at the two and saying, "Sect Leader Senior Brother, Cangsong Senior Brother, you both know that my Dazhu Peak has always been thin on manpower. Why not take pity on me and let me take in this Lin Jingyu?"

"I will certainly restrain my temperament and teach him carefully; it is not impossible to teach a proud son of heaven."

As soon as these words were spoken, Cangsong's face darkened.

He had not expected that his Junior Brother Tian, who had always been lazy about teaching disciples, would also come out to compete. He feared that his level of teaching would only waste a good disciple.

Shang Zhengliang, the Peak Master of Zhaoyang Peak, seeing that both had spoken, immediately stood up as the third to say, "Sect Leader Senior Brother, the moment I saw this child, I felt a connection with him. His appearance and demeanor are somewhat similar to mine. Who knows, he might even be a distant orphan from my mortal family. Why not let him be received into my sect?"

"Junior Brother Shang, you don't even blush when you say that. And every time you take a disciple, you talk about 'connections'; you already have three thousand connections in your sect."

Tianyun Zhenren, the Peak Master of Luoxia Peak, could not help but tease him, and then looked eagerly at Lin Jingyu.

"It is better to have him join my Tianyun sect and let me be his Master."

Just as Shang Zhengliang was about to retort, Ceng Shuchang, the Peak Master of Fenghui Peak, stood up and said with a smile.

"Fellow Junior Brothers, it is clearly I, your Senior Brother, who wanted the person first. You all competing with me one by one is truly lacking the courtesy of first come, first served."

"Cangsong Senior Brother, in hearing the Dao, one does not ask who came first or last; in taking disciples, of course, there is no distinction of first or last."

"Tian Senior Brother, in hearing the Dao, there is no first or last, but there are levels of high and low. Do you not know the cultivation levels of the disciples in your sect?"

"Junior Brother Shang, isn't saying that a bit too much?"

For a time, in this magnificent great hall, there was no chanting of scriptures, but rather it was as noisy as a marketplace.

The several True Person Peak Masters, famous throughout the world, argued endlessly, one sentence after another, even becoming red-faced, with the implication of wanting to draw weapons and compare cultivation levels to fight for the right to take Lin Jingyu as a disciple.

(End of chapter)