Shu Chen had been on Nameless Peak for five days now. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen Baili Qinglan, and most of the time it was only his voice he heard, never his person.
“Master, we should set off now.” Outside the door, a strikingly handsome young boy spoke respectfully.
“Alright.” A crisp, cool male voice followed immediately after Shu Chen’s words.
He always replied, but the person inside was simply never seen.
Shu Chen waited patiently outside. He understood experts always had a few eccentricities.
Before long, the door opened. The man who had perpetually held the top spot on the beauty rankings approached with an indifferent air, a breath of fresh snow wafting toward him.
Shu Chen stepped aside to make way, but the other man stopped right beside him.
“Master?”
Adopting the attitude of not provoking trouble unless necessary, Shu Chen maintained his aloof persona and rarely let his emotions show. Baili Qinglan, on the other hand, kept his face completely cold, devoid of any expression, even somewhat stiff.
He placed his hand on his disciple’s shoulder, his thin lips parting slightly. “This master will take you there.”
Shu Chen: ? He could find the way himself.
Before the words could leave his mouth, they had already arrived at a plaza where all the peak masters were gathered. The speed was too fast after stopping, Shu Chen was still lurching forward from inertia.
The next moment, a strong hand grabbed his arm, steadying him firmly.
“Careful.”
After regaining his balance, Shu Chen thanked the culprit. “Thank you, Master.”
Baili Qinglan’s face remained expressionless. “Mm.”
Their unique entrance drew the gazes of all the big shots present.
The master of Carefree Peak, who spent most of his time traveling abroad, shot his junior brother a look of familiar disdain. “Getting lazier and lazier. Can’t even be bothered to walk this short distance.”
Baili Qinglan remained unmoved.
The master of Boundless Heaven Peak, who seemed to be deducing something or other, chimed in. “If he weren’t lazy, he wouldn’t have developed the skill of teleportation in the first place.”
Baili Qinglan found his seat and sat down, still unmoved.
Su Yang patted Carefree Peak’s master from behind. “A greeting gift.”
The relationship between the peak masters was close enough that they could casually snatch each other’s magical artifacts. Su Yang’s behavior was already considered polite.
Carefree Peak’s master turned his gaze to Shu Chen, his expression shifting from disdain for his junior brother to a smile. “No wonder you’re Senior Sister’s child. You really are good-looking.”
Shu Chen: “You flatter me, Uncle-Master.”
Carefree Peak’s master looked at him, then at his junior brother sitting there with his aura concealed. Refusing to believe it, he offered a valuable greeting gift.
Shu Chen’s expression remained calm. “Thank you, Uncle-Master.”
Carefree Peak’s master’s handsome face could barely hide his disappointment. How could both the elder and the younger have the same attitude?
Boundless Heaven Peak’s master didn’t even lift his head. “You could go mess with those disciples on Sword Peak. They explode at the slightest provocation definitely more entertaining.”
Seeing that Third Brother’s hand was already reaching for his sword again, the Sect Master gave a light cough. “The selection is about to begin. Return to your seats.”
The big shots did listen to the Sect Master’s words. If they managed to piss him off enough that he refused to preside over things, and the sect’s affairs were left to them, they’d have the sky falling down in no time.
In the floating mirror, a large crowd of seekers was gathered at the first checkpoint.
Shu Chen swept his gaze over them and didn’t see the male lead. He looked again more carefully still didn’t see him. A dark, unspeakable thought arose in him: “System, the male lead isn’t planning to use this chance to shake me off and skip the selection, is he?”
They had parted ways five days ago. Shu Chen had come to take a master, while Xiao Nian stayed in the small town below the sect with the other participants.
[No, he’s almost here.]
The mysterious, eccentric master of Boundless Heaven Peak looked at the participants and said, “Quite a few people have decent luck this year.”
“But the strongest luck belongs to you, Junior Nephew.” He looked at Shu Chen with a smile.
Su Yang, who had been whispering to his disciples, said smugly, “That goes without saying.”
The Sect Master’s deep voice rang out. “Second Brother, keep a low profile.” The worrywart Sect Master was terrified that one day Su Yang would reveal his identity and attract covetous attention. His gaze shifted and happened to land on Baili Qinglan, who was sitting properly upright. Another silent sigh not a single one of them gave him peace of mind.
Shu Chen made no comment on this. Soon enough, they would witness someone with truly great fortune.
Xiao Nian arrived at the very last moment. Almost immediately, no one stood within several meters of him the crowd subtly kept their distance.
The master of Boundless Heaven Peak exclaimed in shock, “There’s actually someone with luck this powerful!”
The other peak masters didn’t know who he was talking about, nor did they particularly care. Luck wasn’t the deciding factor in strength. Take that red-feathered bird of the demon race, for example blessed with all kinds of fortune, and it still got beaten down by their junior brother.
The Sect Master said, “Don’t rush. Let’s see what his spiritual root is like first.”
Holding the script in hand, Shu Chen asked the system, “Why is the male lead so unpopular?” Even without being there in person, he could sense the subtle, awkward atmosphere surrounding the male lead.
[He got into a fight. Though to be fair, it wasn’t really his fault.]
Shu Chen: “Alright, I don’t want to know the rest.”
[Oh.]
The participants knew that everything they did now was visible to all the peak masters. As they cleared the trials, they were careful with their words and actions, striving to leave a good impression.
Two checkpoints had already eliminated more than half the participants. The few masters on the viewing platform who wanted to take disciples had also roughly identified their preferred candidates, waiting only for the final spiritual root test.
“The Cultivation Master’s Growth Manual” focuses heavily on the male lead, neglecting much of the supporting cast’s information. For instance, those two rare and coveted mutated single spiritual roots Shu Chen searched the entire book but never found their names.
Su Yang: “I want the one with the ice spiritual root.”
Everyone tacitly allowed the female disciple to pick first, and no one objected. As for the other one.
The sect master made the final call before his junior brother could speak, “The one with the lightning spiritual root has a connection with me. I’ll take him.”
Mutated spiritual roots were rare, and mutated lightning spiritual roots were especially so. The most widely circulated saying was that those with lightning spiritual roots were related to the Heavenly Dao by blood. The sect master himself had a lightning spiritual root, and he agreed with this notion.
Shu Chen’s gaze fell on the male lead, his eyes flickering. The male lead’s first round of public ridicule was about to begin.
Su Yang glanced at him. So he was that interested in that book boy?
She had probed Xiao Nian’s aptitude earlier her son was in for a disappointment.
The result was as she expected. Xiao Nian tested as having a five-element mixed spiritual root, essentially destined to have no connection with cultivation in this lifetime.
The peak master of Wuliangtian Peak doubted himself for the first time. “That shouldn’t be.”
Cultivators considered single spiritual roots the highest grade. The more mixed one’s spiritual roots, the harder cultivation became. To achieve anything, one would need several times the resources and effort of a single-root cultivator. Not to mention elemental conflicts while raising one’s realm could extend lifespan, those with multiple roots might well die before reaching a breakthrough. The idea of accumulating slowly and bursting forth suddenly was utterly out of reach.
The peak master of Xiaoyao Peak said regretfully, “He performed well in the trials earlier, but this is just too poor.”
Shu Chen spoke in a calm tone, “Time is short. Why not let him stay in the outer sect for observation for a while? What do you all think, senior uncles?”
In the original novel, ‘Shu Chen’ had also made this same rule-breaking suggestion to keep the male lead, conveniently placing him within her grasp for torment.
The outer sect taught with a broad-net approach, and only those who performed well were taken into the inner sect.
The peak master of Wuliangtian Peak was the first to agree. “Fine.”
Su Yang: “It’s just one more person. It’s not like we can’t afford to support him.”
The sect master, who handled finances, silently glanced at her upon hearing this.
Baili Qinglan: “Agreed.”
The peak master of Xiaoyao Peak: “Alright, it’s decided. Third brother’s opinion doesn’t matter.”
Throughout the entire exchange, the Sword Peak master, who believed in action over words and had not said a single word, was unilaterally excluded by his just-returned junior brother.