CH 42

Chapter 42 – Choice

Xu Disheng opened his eyes, feeling that it was a pity that he had to leave so soon. In the time that everything had been happening in the hall, he had already cultivated for 6 hours. He managed to compress 10 strands of Sea of Qi stage profound qi, which could be considered to be a shockingly fast cultivation speed.

He stood up, then walked directly into the vortex. When the multicolored light before his eyes dissipated, he was in another cyan-colored space, and there was only a single jade obelisk in front of him, glowing with splendor. In his ears, a cold, yet somewhat stupefied voice was transmitted. “Place a drop of blood on the jade obelisk and your aptitude will be shown.”

This aptitude test was really simple and crude to the extreme. Xu Disheng shook his head, taking out the Autumn Water Sword from its scabbard and cutting his finger with it. He then placed a drop of fresh blood onto the jade obelisk.

The obelisk lit up with jade-colored light, and a few words slowly floated into the air above it. “Rank 6 Spiritual Root!”

Secret Realm Envoy Liu’s eyes flashed with astonishment. “Senior Martial Brother Chu, how did you not know beforehand that there was a Rank 6 Spiritual Root talent in your Chu Territory?”

The highest aptitudes among the people here were those with Grade 1 Profound Meridians. Even the people from the You Province Dao Palace like Daoist Lords Qingxin and Qingyu had rapidly changing expressions, stunned beyond belief.

The look in Emperor Chu’s eyes deepened as he looked towards Daoist Lord Qingyu. “When your You Province Dao Palace reported about this child to the sect, why did you rank his aptitude so?”

Daoist Lord Qingyu saluted with a bitter smile. “Martial Uncle, when Sheng’er was admitted to the Dao Palace 10 years ago, he was tested to have Grade 2 Profound Meridians. When we came to the Central Imperial Province this time, we reported this to the court a long time ago, but we didn’t dare to give a misreport.”

Secret Realm Envoy Liu said, “Senior Martial Brother Chu, as far as I know, there aren’t any sufficient Spirit Tools within the Mortal Secret Realms to test the middle ranks of the Spiritual Root Sequence. It could be considered normal for them to have incorrectly measured it as Grade 2 Profound Meridians.”

The Spiritual Root Sequence was split into three classes. The low class Spiritual Root included Grade 3 Profound Meridians, Grade 2 Profound Meridians, and Grade 1 Profound Meridians, while the middle class Spiritual Root consisted of Rank 6 Spiritual Root, Rank 5 Spiritual Root, and Rank 4 Spiritual Root.

Although Rank 6 Spiritual Root was only slightly better than Grade 1 Profound Meridians, those with Rank 6 Spiritual Roots were considered to be part of the middle class of the Spiritual Root, so the difference in their treatment within the sect was considerably better on many fronts.

Emperor Chu nodded and said, “What you say makes sense, Junior Martial Brother. But the ancient mirror Martial Treasures given to each Dao Palace can measure Dao Channels up to Grade 1 Profound Meridians. So when you reported it, shouldn’t it have been Grade 1 Profound Meridians?”

As they were speaking, Xu Disheng stepped out from the multicolored vortex. He bowed towards the honored seats in the hall, receiving different looks from everyone as he went to stand behind Daoist Lord Qingxin.

Emperor Chu and Secret Realm Envoy Liu were both at the Dao Foundation stage, but it never once occurred to them that Xu Disheng’s aptitude had increased. In the endless vastness of the Human Realm, there was never a single reported instance of a person’s aptitude changing. One’s aptitude on the Spiritual Root was fixed by nature. This was the immutable truth for the hundreds of millions of years that the Human Realm existed, just as the three suns had always shined unabated in the sky during the day, and the three moons during the night.

They were somewhat amazed by this, since it was impossible for the jade obelisk to make a mistake. It was personally refined by a Saint Lord level power, so if it showed Rank 6 Spiritual Root, then it had to be exactly Rank 6 Spiritual Root.

Zhou Xin and Liu Jiangwu walked up to Secret Realm Envoy Liu and respectfully handed him the detailed records.

Secret Realm Envoy Liu casually flipped through it then smiled and said to Emperor Chu, “Senior Martial Brother Chu, out of the 17 total people participating in the test, 13 have passed and can join the sect.”

Emperor Chu received the list, and his brows furrowed slightly. Among the four people who didn’t pass, one of them was a direct descendent of his Chu Clan. The other person participating from the Chu Clan aside from Chu Qing’er and Chu Tianhe had Grade 2 Profound Meridians, but he was unable to conjure a fireball within 4 hours.

Secret Realm Envoy Liu glanced at Emperor Chu. He saw that there was a person called Chu Yuanlin among the names of the four who didn’t pass, and he understood. “Senior Martial Brother Chu, it’s alright for the comprehension to be a little lacking. After all, it can be made up for with hard work.” With that, he took back the list of results and handed it back to Zhou Xin, giving him a meaningful look.

Zhou Xin had received a scolding earlier, so he had already learned his lesson. He smartened up and became perceptive, making sure to always pay attention to Secret Realm Envoy Liu’s body language and facial expression.

When Zhou Xin took back the list of names, he directly crossed out Chu Yuanlin’s name from the list of the four who were eliminated, added it to the 13 who passed, then politely handed it back to Secret Realm Envoy Liu.

Secret Realm Envoy Liu put away the list, then addressed the entire Nourishing Heart Hall. “This marks the end of the Shangqing Sacred Sect’s disciple admission tests for the Seventh Mortal Secret Realm. There were 14 people who passed. Chu Qing’er, Chu Tianhe, Chu Yuanlin, Wang Ziyu, Zhao Zheng, Xu Disheng… These fourteen people, please come with me.” He turned to Emperor Chu and said, “Senior Martial Brother Chu, we’ll be returning to the sect early to continue with our duties. There are still several Secret Realms I need to visit. Now that this matter is complete, I won’t be staying too long.”

Emperor Chu nodded. “Thanks for your hard work, Junior Martial Brother.”

Secret Realm Envoy Liu replied with a smile. “I was just performing my duties.” He glanced at Xu Disheng before taking Zhou Xin and Liu Jiangwu with him to exit the hall. The fourteen who passed the test followed after them, while the three whose names weren’t called all had ugly expressions on their faces.

“Secret Realm Envoy, milord,” an unconfident-sounding voice called out from the crowd of people. It was an 11 or 12 year old boy of a small build. He didn’t stick out from the crowd at all, but he was still one of the people who had Grade 1 Profound Meridians. This person was none other than Su.

Xu Disheng’s brows wrinkled, but he didn’t say anything.

The actual name of Secret Realm Envoy Liu was Liu Xiangji, and he was one of the people from the Affairs Hall put in charge of the Secret Realms. As a Dao Foundation powerhouse, he had enormous power and wealth second only to the Deacon of the Affairs Hall. When he heard himself being addressed, he stopped walking and turned his head. “What’s the matter?”

Su’s face was stiff. “May I dare to ask, if I leave this time, when will I be able to return here?”

The hall was silent for a moment. Everyone looked at the small, young boy with looks of disdain, doubt, or disparagement apparent in their eyes.

Liu Xiangji didn’t get angry. He cast him a sideways glance and said, “There is no turning back in the path of profound cultivation. If you don’t want to leave for the Human Realm then you can just stay here.”

With that, he stepped out from the gate and went directly towards the Imperial Court with Zhou Xin, Liu Jiangwu, and the 14 people following after him.

Xu Disheng was the last person following along in the crowd of people. He saw Su standing there, struggle apparent in his eyes. Xu Disheng shook his head, then followed after the crowd.

During the test, Su managed to conjure a small walnut-sized fireball in 2 hours. Although its power was very weak, it was because he didn’t have much profound qi since he had only cultivated for such a short time. However, his powers of comprehension weren’t bad. He muttered to himself, “If I leave this place, I won’t be able to return? Then what about my sister? What should I do…?”

After he hesitated for a while, watching as Xu Disheng’s figure grew further in the distance, he was still unable to take that one step forward. A voice was transmitted to his ear. “If you don’t want to go, then just stay at the Eastern Qin Province Dao Palace.”

That voice belonged to Daoist Lord Shangyuan. In certain aspects, Su was somewhat similar to Daoist Lord Shangyuan. They were both unwilling, and didn’t dare to confront the cruel reality of leaving for the Human Realm and never returning.

The massive Realm-Crossing Wooden Boat was still sitting there on the Sky Platform in the Imperial Court. Liu Xiangji performed a series of complicated hand seals, and a stormy vortex slowly appeared high up in the air, which slowly grew in size. This stormy vortex was the Realm Passage that was set up tens of thousands of years ago, and it could only be opened with a specific sequence of hand seals.

After the stormy vortex completely took shape, Liu Xiangji said, “Get on the ship.”

The procession of people boarded the wooden boat in turns. Liu Xiangji looked in the direction of the Heavenly Heart Palace in the far off distance and saw Emperor Chu standing by the palace gate, gesturing to him in farewell. He nodded in return, then boarded the wooden boat himself.

The wooden boat began to slowly ascend, heading towards the ever-fluctuating stormy vortex.

Xu Disheng stood there on the bow of the ship, watching the scenery below him grow smaller as the wooden ship continued to ascend. When the entire Imperial Palace Complex looked like it could fit in the small of his palm, the front of the wooden boat entered the vortex, destined for the real, complete world: the Human Realm.