A-Song stood before the ten-zhang-tall black Spirit Testing Monument, feeling like an ant standing at an elephant's foot.
The monument was ice-cold throughout, emanating a suffocating ancient pressure. Around him was deathly silence, with thousands of eyes staring at his back. Some contemptuous, some numb, others waiting to see him fail.
His hands were trembling.
Though wearing clean new clothes, in this moment, that inferiority complex deeply rooted in his marrow—as an orphan and lowly servant—still surged like a tide trying to drown him.
"Go open up the life that belongs to you."
The expectant words Seventh Brother said before leaving suddenly exploded in his mind. And that night, the wooden token still warm with body heat that Seventh Brother handed him; and this past month, that "poor brother" who didn't actually have much money, whose purse had become empty from buying medicinal bath materials for him.
"I can't... absolutely cannot let Seventh Brother down."
A-Song clenched his teeth. His originally trembling palm suddenly gripped tight, then with a decisive ruthlessness, he pressed heavily against the monument's cold surface.
One second. Two seconds.
The monument remained completely still, not even a trace of faint white light appeared.
The originally tense atmosphere below the platform relaxed. A few snickers came from the crowd.
"Tch, I knew it. No matter how well-dressed, still just a servant..." A brocade-robed youth contemptuously curled his lip, about to turn away.
However, his movement froze.
"Hummmm—"
A low, resonant hum, as if coming from deep within the earth, emerged without warning from inside the monument.
Immediately after, the ground began to tremble. Not an earthquake, but a rhythm originating from the source of life itself.
The originally ink-black Spirit Testing Monument suddenly began glowing from its base with an emerald green light. This light wasn't blinding, but carried an indescribable vitality, climbing upward at an astonishing speed.
Three zhang... five zhang... ten zhang!
BOOM!
A dazzling azure pillar of light, like an awakening azure dragon, roared out from the monument, piercing straight into the clouds!
The light was too brilliant, even dyeing half the sky above the plaza a translucent jade green. Within that pillar of light, countless runes faintly circulated, transforming into phantoms of flowers, birds, fish, insects, and towering ancient trees.
But this wasn't even the most shocking part.
The instant the light pillar shot skyward, the entire outer sect plaza seemed enchanted.
The withered yellow weeds growing in the stone cracks, as if injected with stimulants, grew madly upward, reaching half a person's height in the blink of an eye and blooming with brilliant wildflowers. The several old locust trees around the plaza's perimeter, which had already shed all their leaves, now in the cold autumn wind, sprouted tender green buds at a visible rate, then instantly burst into magnificent bloom!
Fragrance filled the air. A hundred flowers bloomed together.
All the plants bent slightly toward the Spirit Testing Monument, as if paying homage to their sovereign.
A celestial phenomenon: [ Ten Thousand Trees Paying Homage ].
"This..."
The brocade-robed youth who had just been mocking now gaped open-mouthed, his folding fan falling to the ground unnoticed.
The entire plaza—thousands of servants and cultivators—was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was like ducks with their necks gripped, eyes wide, witnessing this miracle that only existed in legends.
"Swoosh!"
On the elevated platform, those elders who had been carelessly indifferent, even meditating with closed eyes, now sprang to their feet in unison as if spring-loaded.
The presiding Enforcement Elder crushed the teacup in his hand with a crack, scalding tea spilling over his hand, yet he remained completely oblivious.
"The Azure Wood Dragon Qi?!"
A white-haired elder pointed trembling at that pillar of light, his voice distorted with extreme excitement, "This purity... this phenomenon... This isn't Middle-grade! This is Superior-grade! Even... approaching the legendary Heaven Spirit Root!!"
Superior-grade Wood Spirit Root—a natural medicine cultivation prodigy, the top-tier alchemist seedling! And a one-in-ten-thousand cultivation genius!
Meanwhile, in a corner below the platform.
Steward Wang, who had earlier kindly given A-Song his number token, was now completely dumbfounded.
The roster in his hands dropped into the dirt with a plop. Watching that thin youth standing at the pillar's center, bathed in divine light, his back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.
"Good heavens..."
Steward Wang felt his calves cramping. "Thank goodness... thank goodness I didn't renege! Thank goodness I registered him! This isn't some servant—this is a future true disciple! An ancestor!"
He didn't dare imagine what his fate would be if he'd pocketed that registration slot for a pittance. Probably without the sect even acting, just those elders wanting to curry favor with A-Song would tear him to shreds.
Before the testing steward could announce the results, several streams of light from the elevated platform could no longer restrain themselves and shot directly down.
Not sword-riding—several elders literally used their bodies to break through the air, hurriedly landing beside A-Song.
"Child!"
A disheveled old man reeking of medicinal herbs rushed first to A-Song, his originally cloudy eyes now glowing green, as if viewing a priceless treasure.
"I'm the Chief of Spirit Plant Hall! Come with me! As long as you join Spirit Plant Hall, you can eat any spirit medicine in the sect! My ten-thousand-year medicine garden—plant whatever you want!"
"Nonsense! You dirt farmer, what do you know about teaching disciples!"
Another tall elder shoved him aside, shouting loudly, "With this aptitude, he must cultivate the Main Peak's 'Longevity Art'! Child, I'm the Enforcement Elder of Longevity Peak. Come to me, and I'll guarantee your path straight to Golden Core! Anyone who dares bully you, this old man will cleave them with one sword!"
"Go, go! You bunch of crude people—this child has a gentle temperament, he should naturally enter my Alchemy Peak..."
The originally lofty elders now squabbled around A-Song like marketplace aunties fighting over vegetables, faces red, even showing signs of coming to blows.
The scene was chaotic.
That humble youth in gray cloth instantly became the entire venue's sole focus, the prize everyone coveted.
A-Song stood in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by these great figures he normally wouldn't even glimpse, appearing somewhat at a loss.
The skyward pillar still blazed behind him, but his eyes were filled with confusion.
"Outrageous!"
Just as the scene was about to spiral out of control, a roar like a great bell thunderously exploded from the elevated platform.
A terrifying pressure instantly swept the entire venue, forcibly pushing back the bickering elders three steps.
On the platform's center, that Chief Elder who had been meditating with closed eyes, wearing purple-gold robes, slowly stood. His hair and beard were white, but he radiated authority, his lightning-like gaze sweeping below.
"Such clamoring—what impropriety!"
The Chief Elder coldly snorted, flicking his sleeve. An invisible force directly separated the Spirit Plant Hall elder trying to pull A-Song.
"Do you have no regard for sect rules?!"
He stepped forward, his form instantly appearing before A-Song, gazing intensely at the youth, a flash of extreme fervor and solemnity in his eyes.
"Superior-grade Wood Spirit Root, Azure Wood Dragon Qi..."
The Chief Elder took a deep breath, his voice resonating throughout, "This is top-tier aptitude sharing the same source and roots as our sect's founding ancestor's 'Azure Emperor Longevity Art'!"
He surveyed the surroundings, his tone brooking no argument:
"What are you all still clamoring about? Is a seedling of this caliber for you to decide privately?" "In this matter, no one may contest!"
The Chief Elder drew from his robes a token emanating purple light and solemnly placed it in A-Song's hands.
"By my decree! Seal the news immediately, activate the mountain protection formation!"
"This child shall temporarily reside in the Main Peak's 'Dao Inquiry Palace.' All decisions await the Sect Master's personal determination upon his emergence from seclusion!"
At these words, the entire venue fell deathly silent.
The elders who had wanted to compete instantly closed their mouths, exchanging glances, finally only able to helplessly cup their hands in acknowledgment.
Personal disciple of the Sect Master!
What did this mean? It meant this youth who moments ago was just a servant, once admitted, might rank higher in seniority than these inner sect elders!
A-Song held the purple-gold token, completely dazed. He didn't know what Sect Master, didn't know what Dao Inquiry Palace.
He was searching for someone.
Searching for that person who gave him all this, who pulled him from the mire.
Finally.
Through gaps in the crowd, in the outermost corner of the plaza, he saw that familiar figure.
Mo Fan stood in the shadows, wearing a bamboo hat, draped in beast hide. Unlike others, he showed no shock.
He simply stood there quietly, watching A-Song being personally escorted by the Chief Elder, a faint smile on his lips that suggested he'd anticipated everything.
Seeing A-Song's pleading gaze, Mo Fan didn't approach.
He only gently shook his head, then raised his hand, making a "go in peace" gesture.
The path was laid, the door opened.
The remaining road, you must walk yourself.
A-Song understood.
The panic in his eyes gradually dissipated, replaced by unprecedented determination. He took a deep breath, gazed deeply in Mo Fan's direction, engraving that figure in his heart, then turned and respectfully performed a grand bow to the imposing Chief Elder.
"This disciple... submits entirely to the sect's arrangements."
Seeing this scene, Mo Fan smiled.
He reached up to pull down his hat brim, concealing the light in his eyes, then turned and left without lingering.
At this moment, everyone's attention focused on that genius youth about to soar skyward. No one noticed this silently departing servant.
Having accomplished the deed, he departed, concealing merit and fame.
"Next..."
Mo Fan walked against the frenzied crowd, alone toward the mountain descent path, his silhouette appearing especially solitary, yet incomparably free.
"It's time to walk the road that belongs to me."