Chapter 104
Chapter 104
Choose a Doorway (2)
She was just about to say no when she saw Cui Wang flicking his sleeve; a sword light shot out. The beam of light seemed to be slow, but was actually fast, and went straight at Fu Sheng Zhenjun. He let out a “Hoh!”, and the Buddhist beads around his wrists rattled wildly, jingling and jangling for a good while before the sword aura was finally blocked.
Fu Sheng Zhenjun yelled, “Don’t take advantage of me when my reincarnation has just returned! We’ll fight again in a year!”
“Fine, one year.”
Cui Wang retracted his sleeve and snorted coldly.
“Why do you two hanker to battle like children every time you meet?”
Ming Yu Zhenjun shook her head and laughed, then stroked her face. “It’s too bad my parents didn’t give me beautiful and delicate looks, otherwise, having you two fight over me would be a pretty nice experience!”
“Tch!”
Fu Sheng Zhenjun covered his chest. “Ming Yu, don’t be so pretentious, it doesn’t suit you!”
Zheng Wan, however, had already used her extremely keen woman’s intuition to sense the displeasure beneath Ming Yu’s cheerful smile.
The emotion was very subtle, but because she had been surrounded by such feelings since she was a child, she was able to detect it very quickly. Zheng Wan sat with her eyes and nose to the ground, not letting herself get involved in anything.
The next two hours went by much smoother.
When they reached Chiyou City, it was exactly noon.
The group of a hundred and twenty were all small cultivators who had not yet reached the Centring stage. As they have not yet learned to bigu2, the cultivators of various clans brought them to the restaurant to eat their fill before settling down in the inns themselves.
As the leader, Cui Wang naturally wasn’t with them. Zheng Wan had a rare good night’s sleep. By the time she woke up the next day, the skies were already bright.
According to the information she had gathered previously, the second round of assessment would also take a day. If they performed well, they could skip the third round and be selected by the various sects. If they didn’t perform well, they would have to defeat the other cultivators in battle in the third round and obtain the last few remaining places before they could stay.
In terms of magical artefacts, Zheng Wan currently only had a Puppet Mirror. The “Returning to the Origin” scripture emphasised neutrality and calmness. To date, the only means of attack she had was an ice arrow technique—she really wasn’t fit to be the opponent of those local cultivators.
“The second round assesses the nature of the heart.”
Before Zheng Wan stepped into the hall, Granny Jin said, “The sects stress intention and harmony, so, let everything come from the heart. If you act in a manner that is inconsistent with your fundamental nature, you will be ejected by a formation straightaway. Good is fine, evil is also fine. In addition——”
She paused. “During this round, any means of communication with the otherworldly will be suppressed. Granny will also be going into hibernation, so I won’t be able to help you.”
Zheng Wan immediately became a little uneasy.
Ever since she entered the Heavenly Realms, she had never been by herself. lived. No matter how frightened she was, Granny was always there. Yet, Granny Jin was now telling her that she was going to have to go through this alone——
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“Wanwan, you have to grow up too.”
Granny Jin sighed. “In this world, anyone can leave you, only you yourself cannot.
“Remember, follow your heart.”
After that, she refused to speak anymore.
Zheng Wan bit her lip, understanding as never before that her arrogance in the mortal world was because she had the support of her father and mother, and the backing of the Zheng family. When she arrived at the Heavenly Realms, she appeared to be full of self-confidence as usual, but that was because of Granny Jin’s presence——
She was the one who was a tiger made of paper.
“If an eaglet wants to strike out in the skies, it has to leave its nest someday.”
Zheng Wan looked at the hall in front of her. The hall was crowded with people, many of whom only reached her waist. But there were also a few who were around her age. Zheng Wan took a deep breath, lifted her foot, and entered the hall.
Then, she saw Liu Yi.
Liu Yi was standing in a corner. The red blemishes on her face were gone, and she was now a refined beauty, currently looking at her with narrowed eyes. It was hard to tell if the look in her eyes was of hatred or annoyance, but it was definitely not well-intentioned.
Zheng Wan turned her head and looked in front.
There was a white jade platform in the hall. The disciples of the seven sects, three schools and two academies were all standing on the platform, looking far into the distance, seeming to be waiting for something. After a few minutes, twelve long chimes sounded, and twelve people flashed abruptly above them in the hall, situating themselves into the positions of the twelve stars while releasing vital energy towards the hall’s cauldron at the same time.
Zheng Wan recognised Cui Wang, Fu Sheng Zhenjun, Ming Yu Zhenjun, and others among them.
Less than twenty breaths, there was a loud rumbling, and three arched doorways appeared out of thin air in the hall’s southern wall, each bearing one of the following words: “Frankness”, “Rugged”, and “Danger”.
“Choose a doorway to enter.”
Zheng Wan lifted her eyes for a look. Behind the “Frankness” doorway was a wide avenue. It was extremely flat and smooth, with grass swaying on either side in the warm breeze, looking extremely peaceful. Behind “Rugged”, was a narrow winding path with lots of twists and turns, and she could also see lots of pebbles that one could trip over on it. Indeed, it was a rugged path. Behind “Danger”, she could see that it was raining heavily, with lightning and thunder filling the skies. Far away in the distance, was a dangerously steep mountain.
The little cultivators all lined up and walked forward. She noticed something very strange—there were many people in front of the “Rugged” and “Danger” doorways, but only two or three in front of the “Frankness” doorway.
As Granny Jin told her to “follow her heart”, Zheng Wan looked at her beautiful and clean white dress, lifted her foot, and went straight to the “Frankness” doorway.
There was no one at the “Frankness” doorway, so it was her turn almost instantly. In the moment Zheng Wan disappeared behind the doorway, a slender and graceful figure also disappeared through the “Frankness” doorway at the same time.
Footnote:
2 bigu: a Daoist fasting technique associated with achieving “transcendence/ immortality”.