From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 456 The Examination Decides the Fate

The morning mist of the day of the review had not yet dissipated. I stood at the entrance of the training ground, watching the disciples crowding under the corridor to adjust their protective gear.

Chu Qing's talisman pouch was tied crookedly, and Xiao Tao pulled him to tie it again; Wang Erniu wiped the heart-protecting mirror three times, and the mirror reflected his reddened ear tips; Zhou Xianzi stood at the very edge, her fingertips unconsciously forming hand seals, the hem of her Taoist robe was lifted by the wind, revealing a neatly folded thunder-patterned handkerchief inside—she had secretly slipped it to me last night, saying, "If you're nervous, touch this."

Senior Brother Lin straightened my Taoist robe collar from behind. His hands were still smelling of ink, so he must have just finished copying the last copy of the disciple's cultivation manual annotations.

“Senior Sister Xiao,” his voice was as soft as bamboo leaves in the morning mist, “the Grand Elder is in the third seat of the main seat, the white-bearded man to Elder Li’s right is the head of Danfeng, and Hall Master Zhao… is in the middle.”

I followed his gaze.

On the high platform of the martial arts arena, Hall Master Zhao, dressed in a black robe, sat upright drinking tea. The teacup spun rapidly in his palm, its rim tapping against the table with a soft "click" sound.

Behind him stood seven high-ranking members of the academy. I recognized some of them; they were the ones who had frowned and said, "It would be good if the outer disciples could learn even a little bit," when they came to inspect the outer sect a few days ago. There were also a few unfamiliar faces who were flipping through the review list on the table. At the very top of the list, the two characters "Xiao Yao" were circled repeatedly in red pen.

"Let's go." I touched the silver hairpin Chu Qing had placed in my sleeve, the warmth of the amulet seeping into my palm through the fabric.

The disciples immediately surrounded me, and Wang Erniu shoved the protective mirror into my arms: "Senior Sister Xiao, take this to keep things in check!" Chu Qing tugged at my sleeve and shook it: "I hid the immobilization talisman in my hair. If Hall Master Zhao makes things difficult, I'll... I'll..." Her voice trailed off, and Xiao Tao poked her waist: "Junior Sister Chu, you mean to say, we're all here."

The bell on the high platform rang three times.

Master Zhao's teacup slammed onto the table with a "bang," splashing tea foam onto the register.

“Xiao Yao,” he said, his gaze turning icy as he looked up, “you have half an incense stick’s time to give your statement during the outer sect teaching review.”

I took a step forward, my shoe soles rolling over the bluestone slabs of the training ground—slabs that I and my disciples had cleaned overnight, filling every crevice with water, which now gleamed with a bluish light in the morning mist.

"Reporting to Hall Master Zhao, I have been leading the outer disciples for over three months, with 'practical combat' as the core of the teaching," I said, unfolding the bamboo slips I carried with me. The slips were filled with the disciples' training logs. "Every day, they practiced physical training at 3 AM, learned talismans at 5 AM, and entered the illusionary realm at 7 AM... Yesterday's assessment showed that the disciples were able to set up defenses against ten third-tier demonic beast phantoms within one breath and break through the formation within three breaths."

"Real combat?" Hall Master Zhao scoffed, reaching out to snatch the bamboo slip from my hand. "Outer disciples have mixed spiritual roots, their Qi cultivation is unstable, what kind of real combat are they talking about? You're making them hold up a broken protective mirror and fight against demonic beasts head-on. If it were a real demonic beast's sharp teeth, they would have been minced meat long ago!" He slammed the bamboo slip on the table, the bamboo pieces scattering with a "clatter," and Wang Erniu's training record floated to my feet—it recorded that he had been slapped away by the Illusionary Bear Demon seventeen times, and each time he got up, he drew a small sun next to him.

“Master Zhao is right,” I bent down to pick up the bamboo strip, my fingertips touching the row of small suns, “so I had them withstand it three hundred times in the illusion. The bear demon’s striking force increased from 20% to 100%, the crack in the breastplate was caused by 30% force, at 50% force they learned to deflect the force by turning to the side, at 70% force… Wang Erniu.” I turned to look at the group of disciples, and Wang Erniu immediately stepped forward with his chest out, the breastplate gleaming in the morning mist.

“When the bear demon struck with seventy percent of its power, his protective mirror shattered.” I pointed to the cracks on Wang Erniu’s protective mirror. “But it didn’t break.” Wang Erniu scratched his head and took out a piece of broken jade from his pocket—it was left by his mother. “Senior Sister Xiao said that protective gear can break, but a person cannot.” His voice was deep and resonant, yet it was like a needle piercing through the cold mist on the high platform.

The white beard of the Danfeng chieftain twitched, and Elder Li nodded slightly to me from below.

But then Zhao, the head of the hall, suddenly tapped the table with the heel of his black boot. “Enough.” He glanced at the time display board. “There’s only half an incense stick’s worth of time left for the presentation. Let’s go straight to the display.”

Chu Qing was the first to raise her hand. The wind lifted a corner of the immobilization talisman in her hair, revealing half of the talisman's pattern.

"I'll do it!" She jogged to the center of the training ground, her fingertips holding a talisman, but her hand was trembling—only then did I notice that there were specks of ink on the cuffs of her Taoist robe, probably from when she secretly practiced drawing talismans last night.

"Ignite the fire talisman, activate!" Chu Qing shouted in a low voice, and a ghostly blue flame rose from the talisman, three times brighter than usual.

The flames, carried by the wind, swirled toward the test stone at the edge of the field, exploding with a "boom." Smoke rose from the test stone, revealing a scorch mark half an inch deep.

The training ground fell silent for a moment.

Xiao Tao covered her mouth and gasped softly, Wang Erniu clenched his fists, and Lin Shixiong's bamboo whistle was sweating in his palm.

But Hall Master Zhao stood up, his dark robe sweeping across the teacups on the table. "The Azure Flame is a second-tier talisman fire; it's lucky that an outer disciple could even ignite it." He walked up to Chu Qing, pointing his finger at the scorch mark. "The Trial Stone is a third-tier stone; a second-tier fire can only leave a burn mark, not a real threat. Furthermore—" He tugged at the immobilization talisman in Chu Qing's hair, the edges of the talisman frayed, "...the runes are distorted. In actual combat, the three-breath immobilization might become three instants."

Chu Qing's eyelashes trembled like butterfly wings wet with rain. She bit her lip tightly, tears welling up in her eyes, but ultimately did not fall.

I saw her fingernails digging into her flesh, and I remembered her squatting in the training ground crying last night, saying, "If the talisman is not drawn well, I will be letting down the talisman paper given by Senior Sister Xiao."

At this moment, the talisman was held in Zhao Tangzhu's hand, the rough edges left by her revising it seven times overnight.

“What Hall Master Zhao says is true,” I walked over and tidied Chu Qing’s disheveled hair, “This talisman does indeed have a flaw.” Chu Qing suddenly looked up at me, the light in her eyes dimming for a moment.

I gently patted the back of her hand. "But Chu Qing had just had a high fever when she drew this talisman. She wrapped herself in a blanket and drew it for half the night, saying, 'I can't let Senior Sister Xiao have nothing to show during the review.'"

Discussions arose from the high platform.

Elder Li coughed and said, "The conditions in the outer sect are limited, so it is already quite an achievement." The head of Danfeng stroked his beard and nodded, "When I was learning talismans, my first successful talisman was also rough."

Zhao Tangzhu's face darkened, and just as he was about to speak, a noise suddenly came from the sidelines.

I turned my head and saw that Fairy Zhou was pulling Xiao Tao and Wang Erniu toward the center of the training ground. The wind was blowing the thunder patterned handkerchief at her waist, revealing three thunder talismans folded underneath.

Wang Erniu placed the protective mirror on the ground and waved to Chu Qing: "Junior Sister Chu, come stand to my right!" Xiao Tao bit her lip and unfolded the barrier-avoidance array flag, the array patterns gleaming faintly in the morning mist.

Zhou Xianzi looked up at me, and the light in her eyes was brighter than the candlelight in the training ground yesterday.

“Senior Sister Xiao,” she said softly, “we…want to try it together.”

Zhou Xianzi's voice was like a delicate string; with a gentle pluck, it tightened the breath of the entire audience.

I looked at the stray strand of hair sticking up on the top of her head—it was from a spark that had burned her when she was squatting under the candlelight studying the thunder talisman last night.

At that moment, a wisp of hair trembled slightly with her movements, as if it were the heartbeat hidden beneath her Taoist robe.

"Xiao Tao, set up your obstacle avoidance flags first!" Wang Erniu shouted in a deep voice, the protective mirror making a clear sound as it tapped at his feet.

Xiao Tao's fingertips brushed across the patterns of the array flags, and a pale blue mist of light spread out with a "whoosh," encircling the five of us in a semicircle.

Chu Qing's immobilization talisman finally stopped shaking. She bit her lip and patted the talisman in her palm. The rough edges of the talisman were stimulated by spiritual energy and turned golden-red—that was the mark she had secretly repaired with spiritual herb juice.

Zhou Xianzi's lightning-patterned handkerchief floated even higher. She untied the handkerchief and tied it around her waist. The blue light of the lightning talismans flowed along the patterns of the handkerchief, like a small, living snake. "Rise!" she shouted, and the three lightning talismans exploded simultaneously.

I saw Wang Erniu's protective mirror suddenly glow with a warm light, which was the resonance of the spiritual patterns he had nurtured with broken jade for three months; Chu Qing's immobilization talisman transformed into a golden net, catching the exploding lightning; Xiao Tao's barrier-avoidance array suddenly rose, drawing the lightning upwards—this was hardly a hastily put together spell.

It was clear that they had secretly practiced the "Wave Stacking Technique" for twenty-seven nights.

The lightning bolt exploded into an umbrella shape in mid-air, and the test stone was split open with a crack half a foot deep.

The aftershocks shook the bluestone slabs of the training ground, causing them to shed dust, and even the teacups on the high platform were swayed and watermarks appeared.

Chu Qing's talisman was burned to half its original size, yet she still clutched it in her sweaty palm; Zhou Xianzi's thunder-patterned handkerchief was scorched at the edges, but her eyes shone as brightly as if tempered with starlight.

"A trivial skill." Master Zhao's voice was like a block of ice smashing into hot soup.

His black boot heels crushed the grass leaves scorched by lightning and fire. "If outer disciples gather together and use their skillful strength, they can withstand three real battles."

When they each faced the demonic beasts, the array flags were torn, the talismans were shattered, and the protective mirrors were cracked—"He suddenly grabbed the talisman ash from Chu Qing's hand, "What will you use to protect yourselves?"

Danfeng's chief monk's white beard twitched, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated; Elder Li tapped his fingers twice on the table, his gaze sweeping over the bits of grass stuck in Wang Erniu's hair—the marks of the ten times he had rolled in the haystack yesterday to practice his force-reducing technique.

On the high platform, an elder in yellow robes stroked his beard and spoke: "Hall Master Zhao is right; outer sect teaching should prioritize a solid foundation..."

My nails dug into my palms.

Three months ago, they said, "It would be good enough if outer disciples could draw qi." Now, the disciples can set up third-tier arrays and draw second-tier talismans, but it has been called "a last-minute trick."

I looked at Chu Qing's reddened eyes, the crack on Wang Erniu's breastplate that I had patched with the spiritual ointment, and the fire-avoiding pattern I had embroidered overnight on Zhou Xianzi's thunder pattern handkerchief—these children didn't rely on skill; they poured every ounce of their strength into the mud and then dug out sprouts from it.

“Master Zhao.” I took a step forward, the warmth of the silver hairpin in my sleeve burning my skin.

That was a piece of silver jewelry left to me by Chu Qing, melted down and recast. The part engraved with the character "Xiao" was polished to a shine by her. "You said they relied on protective gear, talismans, and array flags—but who stayed up all night polishing these protective gear?"

Who ruined three hundred talismans before finally completing the project?

Who practiced the formation flags in the rain for forty-nine days, etching the formation patterns into their very bones?

I placed my hand on Xiao Tao's shoulder; her array flag felt hot in my palm. "They don't rely on external objects; external objects have become their bones." I touched Wang Erniu's protective mirror again; a faint spiritual energy seeped from its cracks. "Like this protective mirror, it's been broken three times, but now it can activate its protective spiritual runes—because when it broke, they filled it with their own spiritual energy."

Master Zhao's eyebrows twitched, and he was about to retort when Fairy Zhou suddenly tugged at my sleeve.

Her palms were sweaty, but she stuffed the handkerchief with the thunder pattern into my hand: "Senior Sister Xiao, use this." I unfolded the handkerchief and saw the words "Teacher's Grace" embroidered in gold thread on the corner—it was her birthday last month, and she said she wanted to embroider it for the person she wanted to thank the most.

The spiritual energy flowed into my meridians along the patterns on the handkerchief.

I suddenly remembered the "Spirit Fusion Technique" that I comprehended while gazing at the starry sky in the training ground last night—it's not simply about drawing in qi, but about allowing spiritual energy to merge with the cultivator's will.

The disciples' spells contain their perseverance, their unwillingness to give up, and their desperate struggle. If I were to use the "Spirit Fusion Technique" to string these sentiments together...

“Children,” I said, looking into their shining eyes, “send your spirit to me.”

Chu Qing's talisman ash suddenly floated up, condensing into a golden-red light at my fingertips; Wang Erniu's protective mirror hummed, and spiritual energy flowed into my palm like a stream; Xiao Tao's array flag trembled, and a green mist enveloped my wrist; Zhou Xianzi's thunder talisman's blue light surged, wrapping around my arm along the thunder pattern handkerchief.

Five kinds of spiritual energy surged within me, yet they did not conflict—because they all carried the same temperature: the stubbornness of Chu Qing burning talismans, the persistence of Wang Erniu getting up to draw the sun, the perseverance of Xiao Tao holding up the battle flag in the rain, and the gentleness of Zhou Xianzi embroidering handkerchiefs all night.

"Melt!" I shouted in a low voice.

The training ground was suddenly as bright as day.

The golden-red, cyan, blue, and warm yellow light intertwined, transforming into a dragon of light that crashed into the testing stone with a "boom".

The testing stone cracked in two, and spiritual energy seeped out from the crack—a spiritual vein that only fourth-tier spirit stones possess.

The teacups on the high platform clattered to the ground.

The black robes of Master Zhao were whipped up by the shockwave, and he stared wide-eyed, not even noticing the teacup shattering at his feet.

The chief of Danfeng suddenly stood up, his white beard trembling like a reed in the wind: "This is... the Spirit Fusion Technique?"

"How could an outer disciple achieve a spiritual fusion where their minds are in perfect harmony?" Elder Li smiled so broadly that the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes formed a flower-like shape, and he nodded vigorously at me.

Chu Qing suddenly burst into tears, her tears falling onto the charred talisman paper: "Senior Sister Xiao, our magic... has become more powerful!" Wang Erniu wiped his face, and spiritual energy seeped from the cracks in the protective mirror, condensing into a small sun in his palm.

Zhou Xianzi's lightning-patterned handkerchief floated up and circled the light dragon twice, the words "Master's Grace" on the corner of the handkerchief shining with golden light.

“Xiao Yao.” Hall Master Zhao’s voice was hoarse.

He bent down to pick up the shards of the teacup, then looked up at me, his icy gaze completely melting away. "I underestimated the outer sect disciples, and even more so, I underestimated you." He cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards me. "Today's assessment of outer sect instruction is satisfactory."

Applause erupted in the training ground.

Elder Li squeezed in front of me and shoved a warm jade bottle into my hand: "This is a newly refined Qi-Nourishing Pill from Danfeng, to nourish the children." The yellow-robed elder stroked his beard and smiled: "Starting next month, the outer sect will be allocated three more acres of spirit fields, specifically for growing talisman herbs." The Danfeng headmaster shoved his whisk into my hand: "There's a spirit-guiding array I carved on the handle of this whisk; you can use it to teach your disciples."

Surrounded by people, listening to these words, I suddenly saw Elder Li wink at me.

After the crowd dispersed somewhat, he pulled me to a corner of the training ground and took out a bronze fragment from his robes. "Last night, while sorting through ancient texts, I discovered records saying... there's a celestial ruin in the Southern Wilderness, containing a secret technique that allows cultivators to communicate with spirits." He lowered his voice. "I remember you always saying 'magic is an extension of the human heart,' this ruin... might fulfill your wish."

The bronze fragments were engraved with some blurry patterns, and they felt like they were crawling with life when touched.

I looked at Zhou Xianzi, whose ears were turning red from being praised by the chief, Wang Erniu, whose hair was being ruffled by the yellow-robed elder, and Xiao Tao, who was stuffing the Peiyuan Pill into Chu Qing's hands—their laughter shattered the morning mist and warmed the sunlight.

“Elder Li,” I said, putting the bronze fragment into my sleeve, “after the disciples rest for a couple of days, we… should go and explore a new path.”