Chapter 1: Today is Suitable for Travel, But Not for Cheating

 

Translator: yikaii Editor: yikaii

On the second day of the second lunar month, it’s suitable for traveling.

The moderate rain was pouring down noisily, bringing forth the fragrance of the soil as it hit the ground, causing ripples on the surface of the lake, and provoking quiet curses from the people it landed on.

“Who said it was a good day for traveling? It starts raining as soon as I step outside,” complained Lu Yang, regretting not bringing a raincoat in advance.

It was his first time traveling far from home, and he was inexperienced. The sudden rain soaked him, making his  shoes muddy and every step felt like the ground was against him——he had to pull his feet out of the mud.

The sound of trotting hooves approached from behind, catching Lu Yang’s attention.

Turning his head, he saw a horse carriage approaching him. There was no coachman, and the old horse seemed to know the way, not needing anyone to steer it.

“What a mystical horse.” Lu Yang marveled. The horse had a few scales on its forehead, resembling snake scales, clearly some sort of rare demonic beast.

Although he didn’t understand its true value, he knew this old horse was precious.

At least, it was beyond his means to afford it.

“This brother slowly walking in the rain, it is truly elegant. Why not come and sit in the carriage?” a cheerful male voice came from the carriage. Lu Yang accepted the offer, pulling his feet out of the mud and hurriedly got in.

“Sorry to impose, my name is Lu Yang.” Lu Yang carefully sat inside, afraid of dirtying the carriage with the mud and rainwater on him.

“Meng  Jingzhou,” the owner of the carriage introduced himself, just as easy-going and optimistic as his voice suggested, seemingly able to strike up a conversation with anyone.

“Brother Lu, are you also here to participate in the Dao Seeking Sect’s recruitment?”

“Just trying my luck.”

Meng  Jingzhou laughed heartily, “Brother Lu, what harm is there in being honest? If you were just trying your luck, you wouldn’t have braved the rain to get to the Dao Seeking Sect.”

Lu Yang felt a bit embarrassed, “Who doesn’t want to enter the Dao Seeking Sect?”

The Dao Seeking Sect, one of the five great immortal sects in the Central Continent, was immensely powerful and housed innumerable cultivation experts. Today, the Dao Seeking Sect was looking for disciples and countless individuals were trying their luck at the recruitment.

Lu Yang and Meng  Jingzhou were among them.

Lu Yang had transmigrated to the Central Continent where his parents died early. He survived on the small inheritance they left and the help of his neighbors.

In the small town where he had lived for over a decade, he heard from a storyteller about immortals knocking on the gates of heaven with their swords, about river demons turning over five hundred miles away causing floods, about disciples of immortal sects flying with swords to slay demons and defending the path of righteousness. He had seen unkempt Daoists cheat and deceive, fly up into the air, publicly break out of prison, and then get captured again by the authorities who could also fly.

At that time, he realized this was not the world he was familiar with and not any era that he knew. This was a world of cultivation where individuals wielded great power.

He aspired to seek the path of immortality, to learn the arts of everlasting life.

The Dao Seeking Sect was his first choice.

There was no particular reason for choosing the Dao Seeking Sect, simply because there were no other sects around his home, only the Dao Seeking Sect.

Where the Dao Seeking Sect stood, other sects would not foolishly try to establish themselves nearby.

In their conversation, Lu Yang learned that Meng  Jingzhou came from a family of cultivators, possessing far more knowledge about cultivation than Lu Yang did.

“The Dao Seeking Sect’s requirements for recruiting disciples are that they must be mortals under the age of sixteen. Not just the Dao Seeking Sect, most sects have this requirement.”

“The path of cultivation is long and full of obstacles. Qi training, foundation building, golden core, nascent soul, spirit transformation, void refinement, unity, tribulation crossing—each stage is a major hurdle, stopping countless people. One in ten, one in twenty, or even one in a hundred might succeed.”

“There are many factors determining success in cultivation, such as luck, wisdom, spiritual roots… By the way, Brother Lu, do you know what your spiritual root is?”

“The Dao Seeking Sect doesn’t have high requirements for spiritual roots, but they still won’t accept very poor ones.”

Lu Yang frowned; he only knew about spiritual roots from the storyteller and didn’t know his own.

“I don’t know, what about you, Brother Meng?”

Meng  Jingzhou looked perplexed and shook his head, “I was tested for spiritual roots in my clan. The elders looked worried and didn’t tell me the result, just saying that my talent was extraordinary and entering one of the five great immortal sects wouldn’t be a problem. Later, I secretly asked my parents. They were even more worried than the elders and also didn’t tell me.”

Lu Yang speculated, “Maybe your spiritual root is so extraordinary that it might bring disaster to the Meng family. Only a huge sect like the Dao Seeking Sect could protect you.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Meng  Jingzhou patted Lu Yang’s shoulder, seeing him more and more as a kindred spirit, a natural seed for cultivation.

Lu Yang, listening to the increasingly heavy rain outside, felt fortunate that Meng  Jingzhou had let him into the carriage.

“Stop.” Suddenly, Meng Jingzhou shouted. The old horse trotted a few steps and then gradually stopped.

The carriage itself was a treasure, allowing Meng Jingzhou to see outside.

He saw a woman walking in the rain, just like Lu Yang had been earlier.

“This lady seems to be heading in the direction of the Dao Seeking Sect for the test. The rain is pouring so heavily; why not come up and rest in the carriage?”

The woman was surprised by Meng  Jingzhou’s offer but eventually agreed.

As the woman got on, both Meng Jingzhou and Lu Yang were stunned.

Meng  Jingzhou, though well-traveled, had never seen such a beautiful woman. Lu Yang, even more so—the most beautiful woman he had seen was the young widow who sold tofu next door.

Of course, Lu Yang was a gentleman and had no improper thoughts about the widow.

The woman, like an exquisite but not flamboyant lotus flower, stood slender and elegant in her white dress, clear-eyed and bright-toothed, giving off a sense of otherworldliness.

She wore a string of golden bells on her right wrist.

“Yun Zhi thanks you both.”

Her voice was like a clear spring, making one feel comfortable when listening.

Lu Yang noticed something odd and whispered, “Brother Meng, why is she dry? Could she be a demon?”

In the stories, demons often transformed into beautiful women to seduce young men full of vigor like themselves.

Lu Yang was drenched like a drowned chicken, battered and exhausted. In comparison, Yun Zhi was dry, not looking like she had walked in the rain at all.

Meng  Jingzhou didn’t think much of it, “Maybe she has a treasure that wards off rain. That’s not uncommon in large families.”

Meng  Jingzhou wasn’t worried that Yun Zhi was a monster or demon. This was the Dao Seeking Sect’s territory, and no monster would dare cause trouble here and send themselves to death.

“Miss Yun Zhi, are you here to participate in the Dao Seeking Sect’s test?”

“Indeed.”

Meng Jingzhou said helpfully, “I have the content of the Dao Seeking Sect’s test here. I spent a lot of money to get it from an elder of the Dao Seeking Sect. Would you like to hear it?”

Lu Yang looked at Meng  Jingzhou in surprise; why hadn’t he mentioned this before?

Yun Zhi was even more surprised than Lu Yang, “This is cheating. What if the Dao Seeking Sect finds out…”

Meng  Jingzhou waved his hand confidently, “This carriage is a treasure. Even those great cultivators, or old monsters in seclusion, can’t use their divine senses to probe here.”

“I see, please tell me the content of the test.”

Lu Yang perked up his ears to listen.

Meng Jingzhou cleared his throat, “The Dao Seeking Sect’s test is divided into three parts. The first part tests the spiritual root. This is a rigid test; there’s no trickery or shortcuts. The second and third parts are where there’s room to operate.”

“The second part tests moral character. A carriage is out of control and is about to hit five people lying on the side of the road. If it hits them, they will undoubtedly die. There’s also another person lying not far away. We, as bystanders, can control the direction of the out-of-control carriage. Do we choose to ignore it and let it hit the five people, or do we change the direction and hit the other person?”

Without hesitation, Lu Yang said, “Hit the other person.”

Meng  Jingzhou was surprised. Ever since he learned the content of the second part, he hadn’t figured out a solution. How did Lu Yang decide so quickly?

Choosing to ignore it means watching five people get hit and killed. It’s theoretically justifiable, but it doesn’t sit well with one’s conscience.

Choosing to change the direction and hit the other person means that person is just unlucky and deserves to be hit and killed, and it’s also your own doing.

Meng  Jingzhou shared his doubts, and Lu Yang explained, “You don’t have that much time to think. By the time you come up with a result, those five people would have already been hit and killed. I guess the Dao Seeking Sect’s test isn’t about choosing to save five people or one person, but seeing if you can make a quick decision.”

“I heard the storyteller say that the difference of a hair’s breadth can mean life or death in a fight between cultivators. The moral character tested in the second part isn’t about whether you’re indecisive or decisive, but about making the quickest decision. That’s the most important.”

Meng  Jingzhou suddenly understood.

“The third part tests honesty. The Dao Seeking Sect has a mirror that can tell if you’re telling the truth or a lie. If you’re found to have told a lie, you’re directly kicked out of the test.”

Lu Yang pondered, “This part is simple. If you weren’t warned in advance, it’s easy to lie to cover up for yourself. But since we know in advance, just tell the truth.”

Meng  Jingzhou nodded; he thought the same.

The two discussed for a while, coming up with many possible emergencies and countermeasures, and after deliberation, they felt confident.

Yun Zhi smiled slightly, seemingly finding their plans sound.

“Thank you for the information, Young Master Lu.”

“Uh, has the rain stopped?” Lu Yang noticed that the sound of raindrops hitting the ground had ceased outside and curiously peeked outside.

The area they had just passed was still under heavy rain, while their location was sunny and fragrant with the scent of flowers, as if an unparalleled sword energy had split the world into two halves, yin and yang, never intersecting.

Lu Yang looked up to see numerous rare beasts and immortal treasures rushing towards the towering mountain that pierced the sky.

The towering mountain was coated in a layer of pale gold by the sunlight, with magnificent patterns spreading out from behind the mountain, covering the sky and blocking the rain.

That was the gateway mountain of the Dao Seeking Sect, protected by a great formation, impervious to all.

Out of respect for the Dao Seeking Sect, cultivation geniuses, led by their family elders, landed at the foot of the mountain, waiting for the Dao Seeking Sect to start the test.

The old horse was already a rare demonic beast, but compared to the divine and extraordinary beasts resting at the foot of the mountain, it was still lacking.

“Mom, this is much more impressive than our Meng family’s estate,” Meng  Jingzhou rubbed his hands, a bit nervous, but more excited about the thought of passing the test and becoming a member of the Dao Seeking Sect.

Lu Yang was silent. He could see the mountain from his home, but it didn’t feel like much from a distance. Standing at the foot of the mountain, he realized the enormity of the structure.

He was a bit nervous. He had solutions for the second and third parts, but he still didn’t know his spiritual root. He might not even pass the first part of the test.

Dozens of cultivators floated in the air, guarding in front of the mountain, all exuding powerful aura fluctuations. Lu Yang suspected that if they fully released their auras, few people present could stand.

These cultivators were silent, imposing a psychological pressure without a word.

Lu Yang heard a family elder introducing to a younger member, “Judging by their Daoist robe styles, these are core disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect, all disciples of various elders. In the future, these people will be your senior brothers and sisters.”

“Don’t be nervous. They’re not deliberately pressuring you. It seems they are waiting for the person hosting this test. Once the host arrives, the test will begin.”

Lu Yang turned his head, wanting to see Yun Zhi’s reaction. Was she excited or nervous?

She couldn’t still be indifferent, right?

“Miss Yun Zhi, you…”

Just as Lu Yang was about to say something, he saw Yun Zhi step lightly, and before each step landed, a white lotus would support her delicate body.

The crowd was astonished, and family elders broke into a cold sweat, quickly silencing their juniors.

A path of white lotuses spread out, crossing over everyone. Yun Zhi walked to the middle of the Dao Seeking Sect’s core disciples. The disciples bowed to her respectfully, and Yun Zhi gently raised her hand, then faced the crowd and smiled.

“Thank you for waiting. I am the senior sister of the Dao Seeking Sect and the host of this test.”

“I announce that the test officially begins.”

After speaking, Yun Zhi glanced at the stunned Lu Yang and Meng  Jingzhou with a smile that was not quite a smile.

She indeed came to participate in the Dao Seeking Sect’s test, but not as a candidate; she was the examiner.

(End of the chapter)