CH 11

Upon seeing that, Lu Ye immediately understood that there were two parts to the test. The first part was to find out whether a person had the aptitude to cultivate. The second part was to ascertain how talented a person was.

Aptitude and talent were two different things. The former determined whether a person had the right to cultivate at all. The latter was an important factor in a person’s future achievements. Theoretically, a highly talented person would achieve greater heights in the future.

Certainly, due to the limitations, the talent examination was just a general test, and accuracy couldn’t be guaranteed. However, the margin of error was pretty small.

Lu Ye wasn’t worried about his aptitude at all. Since he had been enlightened, there was no doubt that he could cultivate. Nevertheless, it was hard to tell how talented he was, and he wasn’t sure about it himself. Therefore, he could only find out the result after going through a test behind the tent.

When the first person with the aptitude to cultivate appeared, the listless group of people became slightly energised. At that instant, they thought that they could probably cut it. However, reality was cruel. More than ten people had been eliminated in the test before the next person with an aptitude appeared again. Then, the same scene went on and on.

The long line slowly shortened as the slaves’ hope turned into despair. Generally, there would be one person with the aptitude to cultivate for every dozen people. The ratio was pretty close to what Lu Ye had speculated.

He was at the latter half of the line. However, since the test could be carried out quickly, he reached the desk in just one hour.

“Have you been enlightened?” The cultivator behind the desk asked a question that he had asked countless times before.

“I’ve unlocked one Spiritual Point,” Lu Ye replied honestly.

Upon hearing that, the cultivator quickly lifted his head and examined him before he put on a smile. “That’s great. Finally, there’s a person who has been enlightened.”

Although seven to eight people had passed the aptitude test, they hadn’t been enlightened. Among this group of people, Lu Ye was the first one who had been enlightened.

“Come on. Place your hands on it.” The cultivator pointed at the Crystal Ball on the desk.

Lu Ye was puzzled as he thought that this thing was to test a person’s aptitude. Since he had been enlightened, why was there still a need to go through the test?

Seeing through the doubt in Lu Ye’s heart, the cultivator explained, “I’m not only responsible for testing the aptitude of all of you, but I’ll also have to ascertain your attributes.”

“Our attributes?” Lu Ye was perplexed as he had never heard of it before.

Perhaps it was because Lu Ye had been enlightened, the cultivator decided to patiently explain it to him. “Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth are the five elements. Everyone’s Spiritual Power is skewed towards one of them, and this is what we call an attribute. Every attribute has a different emphasis.”

“I see!” Lu Ye finally understood what the Crystal Ball was for. Then, he asked doubtfully, “What about those people…”

The cultivator replied with a smile, “They haven’t even been enlightened, so they have no Spiritual Power, which is why it’s impossible to examine their attributes.”

“I see.” Upon hearing his explanation, Lu Ye lifted his hands and placed them on the Crystal Ball.

“Activate your Spiritual Power and infuse it into the ball,” the cultivator uttered.

Lu Ye did as he was told, then he stared fixedly at the transformation of the Crystal Ball. He was curious what attribute he was.

The Crystal Ball started glowing, which went to show that he had the aptitude to cultivate. However, since he had been enlightened, the outcome was meaningless to him. The following change was the result of his attributes.

Under his attention, an orange flame was suddenly ignited inside the Crystal Ball, then it started burning brightly. His pupils contracted when he saw that because the orange flame looked familiar to him.

“Oh?” The cultivator behind the desk arched his brow as his interest was piqued. “Your main attribute is Fire and your supporting attribute is Gold. That’s not bad. Alright. Retract your hands now.”

Lu Ye could understand that his main attribute was Fire. After all, it was thanks to the Skill Tree that he was enlightened. At that time, it was the tree that had swallowed an orange flame that allowed him to be enlightened all of a sudden. The tree leaf with the Spiritual Pattern, Sharp Edge, was ablaze as well.

However, he didn’t understand why his supporting attribute was Gold as he had a feeling that this was his original attribute.

“Keep it and go over to the tent at the back to look for my Third Senior Brother.” The cultivator gave Lu Ye a jade tablet. Lu Ye thanked him and took it. Then, he saw that his name and a symbol that should mean that he had unlocked one Spiritual Point had been engraved on one side, while the other side was engraved with his attribute.

Moving past the desk, he kept walking forward.

There was a temporary tent in a nearby place. Everyone who had passed the aptitude test had to enter it to get their talent checked.

Before entering the tent, Lu Ye apologised to the person inside it before he pulled the curtains open and stepped into it.

It was spacious inside the tent. There was a cultivator with a solemn and cold expression who was seated on a futon with his legs crossed. With his eyes closed, he appeared to be taking a rest. It seemed that he was Third Senior Brother.

On a spot near Third Senior Brother, there was a disc that was made from some kind of wood. The disc was as large as a table and there were eight pits around the edge. Some bare saplings had even grown on the pits.

Lu Ye walked up to him and cupped his fists. “Nice to meet you. My name is Lu Ye. Please examine my jade tablet, Senior Brother.”

Third Senior Brother opened his eyes and took the jade tablet. After looking at both sides, he arched his brow. “You’ve been enlightened?” Then, he made a gesture with his hand. “Have a seat.”

It seemed that the disc was used to ascertain a person’s talent. Lu Ye stepped onto the table and sat down in the centre with his legs crossed. Inadvertently, he saw that many complicated patterns had been engraved on it.

[Are they Spiritual Patterns?] Lu Ye’s interest was piqued as he studied the patterns. However, he did not have enough knowledge to find out what these patterns were for. The only Spiritual Pattern he knew was Sharp Edge.

The patterns engraved on the disc were complicated and dense. They were so well connected that they looked like a unibody.

[They’re not just Spiritual Patterns!] Lu Ye finally understood what it was as he recalled something that he had heard of before. [It’s called an array! Is an array made up of Spiritual Patterns?]

“Ahem!” Third Senior Brother’s cough made Lu Ye snap back to reality as he quickly straightened up.

As they stared at each other, the place fell into silence. Suddenly, Third Senior Brother uttered, “Green Jade Sect is located on Mount Heavenly Tree, which is a strategic location in Bing Zhou. We have 300 Spirit Peaks of different heights. We’re one of the top five Sects in Bing Zhou in terms of comprehensive power. Our Sect Master and Deputy Sect Masters are all in the Divine Ocean Realm. Under the Sect Master, there are about 100 Real Lake Realm Masters…”

Initially, Lu Ye thought that Third Senior Brother was a taciturn man, but at this moment, he realised that he was mistaken.

Third Senior Brother was incessant as he kept talking about Green Jade Sect, which made Lu Ye to feel lost. For some reason, as he listened to Third Senior Brother’s narration, he had a strong sense of deja vu.

When Third Senior Brother talked about the sword techniques and cultivation techniques of his Sect, the memories that Lu Ye had forgotten seemed to be springing back into his mind.

The corners of Lu Ye’s mouth twitched as he wondered if this was the introduction to the Sect before a disciple was recruited in the cultivation world.