"The moon shines brightly tonight," Fang Lin said softly. "But tell me, Yuan… why do people admire the moon?"
Yuan blinked. "Because it's beautiful?"
Fang Lin shook his head faintly.
"They admire it because it shines in the darkness. Yet when dawn arrives, it vanishes without protest."
He turned his gaze toward the horizon.
"In the Azure Realm, there will always be someone brighter than you. Someone faster. Someone born with purer talent."
He paused.
"But talent is not what destroys a man."
Yuan frowned. "Then what does?"
Fang Lin's lips curved slightly.
"Kindness that hides calculation. Smiles that conceal blades… just like him."
His eyes darkened for a brief moment.
"Geniuses are easy to see. It is the gentle ones standing closest to you that you must measure carefully."
A cold breeze passed between them.
Yuan swallowed. "How will I recognize them?"
Fang Lin did not answer immediately. He shifted his gaze toward the moon.
"You will know… just as you know the moon is before you."
He looked back at Yuan.
"Learn to observe before you trust. Even me."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Tomorrow is the most important day of your life. It will decide your path."
A flicker of nervousness crossed Yuan's face, but he straightened his back.
"I'll obtain a good spiritual root," he said firmly. "I won't disappoint you, Brother Fang Lin."
Fang Lin looked at him for a moment before turning toward the village.
"Just remember what I said."
"I will."
When they returned home, the market was nearly empty. A few oil lamps flickered in the night breeze.
Yuan sat on an old wooden chair while Fang Lin placed food on the table.
"Eat well," Fang Lin said. "Tomorrow is the sect's entrance examination and spiritual root test. You'll need your strength."
Yuan hesitated. "Is it really that difficult? The shopkeeper said only luck decides who passes."
Fang Lin chuckled at Yuan's tense expression.
"Only ten to fifteen out of a hundred pass."
For a brief moment, something dimmed in his eyes a memory of his own failure.
"But you'll pass," he added. "You're my Yuan."
Yuan clenched his fists.
"Then I'll pass. I don't want to disappoint you."
He hesitated.
"Hyung… you didn't pass, did you?"
For the first time, Fang Lin did not answer at once.
He picked up his bowl, staring at the steam rising from it.
"I passed," he said calmly.
His fingers tightened slightly around the bowl.
"But it was something else entirely."
Yuan looked up. "What?"
Fang Lin's gaze lifted, steady and unreadable.
"I believed strength alone was enough."
Silence filled the room.
After a moment, he smiled faintly.
"You'll understand when you stand where I once stood."
Yuan wanted to press further, but he held back. Soon, exhaustion claimed him.
At dawn, sunlight spilled over the mountains.
"Yuan! Wake up or we'll be late!"
Yuan rubbed his eyes and jumped out of bed.
"Hyung-nim! Let's go!"
Fang Lin laughed softly.
By mid-morning, they arrived at Xianwu City, where the Heavenly Sect was conducting its entrance test.
Outside the testing grounds, a man sat at a wooden table collecting money and handing out tokens.
Fang Lin and Yuan approached.
"We need a token," Fang Lin said calmly.
The man didn't look up. "Ten copper coins."
Then his eyes lifted, scanning Yuan dismissively.
"For him, fifteen."
Yuan's brows furrowed. "Why?"
The man leaned back lazily. "Because I said so."
"You treat people poorly and demand extra money?" Yuan snapped. "Are we just tools for you to exploit?"
The surrounding noise faded.
The man slowly stood.
"Exploit?" he repeated.
Before Yuan could react
PAH.
The slap echoed sharply across the street.
Yuan stumbled, nearly falling. His cheek burned, ears ringing. He tasted blood.
The man looked down at him with cold indifference.
"Know your place."
For a moment, the entire street fell silent.
The few bystanders who had witnessed it quickly looked away, as if nothing had happened.
No one stepped forward. No one spoke.
Yuan felt the heat on his cheek spread down his neck.
Not just pain.
Humiliation.
His fingers curled against the ground. Rage surged in his chest.
A firm hand pulled him upright.
"Forgive him," Fang Lin said calmly. "He is young."
The man studied Fang Lin for a moment before snorting.
"Fifteen coins."
Fang Lin paid without argument.
Yuan lowered his head.
Not from fear.
But because if he looked up now, the hatred in his eyes would be obvious.
The token landed on the table.
"If it weren't for your brother," the man added coldly, "you'd be dead. Remember that. Behave properly before the strong."
Yuan swallowed his anger.
"I will remember."
But what he would remember was not the warning.
It was the feeling of being powerless.
Inside the testing grounds, Yuan froze.
The arena stretched farther than he expected.
Waves of voices overlapped nervous whispers, forced laughter, quiet prayers.
Some youths wore fine silk robes, guarded by servants.
Others stood barefoot, hands clenched, hope written plainly across their faces.
More than four thousand had gathered.
All chasing the same narrow path.
A man in white robes stood on the stage as the gates were shut with a heavy clang.
His gaze swept across the crowd.
"I am Murong Yu, Chief of the Lower Division of the Heavenly Sect."
The moment he finished speaking, an overwhelming aura descended.
The air grew heavy.
It felt as though an invisible mountain had settled upon their shoulders.
Breathing required effort.
The ground beneath Yuan's feet seemed harder to stand on.
Several weaker youths trembled. Some fell to one knee, faces pale.
One boy vomited blood.
Another fainted outright.
The guards standing near the stage remained unmoved as if this pressure meant nothing.
"Ahh!"
"It's suffocating!"
Cold sweat drenched Yuan's back.
"This… this is the pressure of a Foundation Establishment cultivator…"
Whispers spread rapidly.
"To reach the Foundation Establishment Realm in his early twenties… his aptitude must be extraordinary."
Yuan clenched his fists under the invisible weight pressing down on him.
His bones felt as though they might crack.
"So this is the Heavenly Sect," he thought. "If even a lower division chief possesses such presence… how terrifying are the true elders?"
He turned toward Fang Lin.
"Hyung! How are you standing so easily?"
Fang Lin slipped a thin yellow talisman from his sleeve. Crimson spiritual lines pulsed faintly across its surface.
"A small protective charm," he said lightly. "Experience has its advantages."
For a brief heartbeat, Yuan wondered How much experience does Hyung truly have?
Yuan's eye twitched.
"You could have given me one!"
Fang Lin chuckled.
"Endure it. Consider it training."
The pressure withdrew. The crowd gasped in relief.
"Listen carefully," Murong Yu said coldly. "Today, your spiritual roots will determine your path."
He raised one hand.
"The root system is divided into five fundamental elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth."
"One element pure and refined. Cultivation speed unmatched. This is known as a Heavenly Root."
"Two elements balanced and stable. Considered superior aptitude."
"Three or four elements mixed roots. Progress will be slower."
His gaze sharpened.
"Five elements chaotic and diluted. Advancement will be painfully slow."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"However," Murong Yu continued, "rare individuals may awaken variant attributes Thunder, Wind, Ice, and others."
He paused.
"Understand this well your initial foundation will shape the limits of your cultivation base."
Silence fell.
Murong Yu pointed toward a massive black stone at the center of the stage. Five hollow grooves ran across its surface like veins.
"This is the Elemental Resonance Stone."
"Place your palm upon its center."
"The stone will reveal the number of elemental affinities within your spiritual root."
Several youths subconsciously clenched their fists.
This was the moment that would divide their lives into before and after.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Those who possess a root will advance to the second stage."
A faint smirk touched his lips.
"The rest… will leave."
The guard stepped forward and raised his voice.
"Candidates will be called according to the number on your token."
Yuan look at his token
"Oh my god it's freaking 2163th number"
Yuan give a annoying look at the token.
The guard Hm glanced down at the list.
"Number One Lian Tian."
A young man in white robes stepped out from the crowd. His expression was calm as he walked toward the Elemental Resonance Stone.
Thousands of eyes followed him.
He raised his hand and placed his palm on the center of the stone.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then
The stone flared.
A crimson light burst forth.
"Fire attribute!"
A second glow followed immediately after deep green.
"Wood attribute!"
Murmurs spread through the arena.
Before the noise could settle, a sharp emerald radiance spiraled upward from the grooves.
Wind.
The moment the wind attribute appeared, several elders on the stage stood up abruptly.
Even Murong Yu's expression changed.
Lian Tian remained still as the lights flickered together briefly before fading. The stone returned to pitch black.
Silence fell.
Then
A figure appeared before Lian Tian as if stepping out of thin air.
Gasps erupted from the crowd.
The man looked to be in his mid-thirties, dressed in flowing black robes embroidered with subtle golden patterns. His presence was restrained, yet suffocating.
He studied Lian Tian with sharp eyes.
"Lian Tian," he said calmly, though excitement flickered beneath his tone. "Would you be willing to join the Black Division of the Heavenly Sect?"
The crowd stirred.
"I can provide you with abundant cultivation resources," the elder continued. "Techniques, pills, spirit stones everything necessary to nurture your talent."
Lian Tian lowered his hand and glanced toward the main stage.
A man in white robes, around fifty years old, stood there quietly observing.
Lian Tian bowed slightly toward him before turning back to the elder in black.
"It is a generous offer," he said respectfully. "But I must decline."
The black-robed elder's expression darkened instantly.
"You dare reject me?" His aura fluctuated faintly. "I am Mo Fan. Countless disciples beg to enter my tutelage and you refuse?"
Whispers exploded through the crowd.
"Is that really Elder Mo Fan?"
"I heard he reached the Core Formation Realm!"
"Yes and in only one hundred fifty-seven years!"
"That speed… he's truly a genius!"
From behind Lian Tian, a young woman in white robes scoffed softly. Her beauty drew several glances.
"If he is considered a genius," she said lightly, "then what of the one who reached Nascent Soul in one hundred nineteen years?"
The surrounding crowd gasped again.
A plainly dressed young man nearby frowned.
"That's only a difference of thirty-eight years."
The woman shot him a disappointed look.
"You clearly do not understand cultivation," she said coldly. "After every breakthrough, the next realm becomes ten times more difficult. Thirty-eight years at that level is the difference between heaven and earth."
The young man fell silent.
On the stage, the tension between Lian Tian and Mo Fan thickenen
Yuan leaned closer to Fang Lin, lowering his voice.
"Brother… why did that elder rush out the moment the wind element appeared?"
Fang Lin kept his gaze on the stage.
"In the Azure Realm, there are billions of people," he said calmly. "Among them, possessing three elements is already considered good aptitude."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"But a rare element like Wind… that is different."
Yuan's eyes widened slightly.
"It is not something one simply awakens through luck," Fang Lin said. "Most who possess it inherit it through bloodline. And such bloodlines often come with additional advantages."
Yuan looked back at Lian Tian, who stood calmly before the elders.
"Wind element…" he thought. "It's so rare… will I awaken something rare too?"
He swallowed and turned back.
"What kind of advantages, Hyung-nim?"