Chapter 1: Jin Yun Assessment
Liang Nation, Jin Yun Valley.
The third stage of the Immortal Sect's assessment, the Illusion Heart Platform.
On the circular platform made of white jade, one to two hundred youths were enveloped in a pale purple light, trapped in illusions, their expressions ranging from anger, fear, to grief and despair...
"Hiss!"
Lan Chang'an grunted and suddenly woke up.
His brows furrowed, sweat beads the size of beans dripped from his forehead. It felt as if a seal deep in his brain had been broken, subjected to a torrential rush of information!
"Not bad! The third person to awaken on the Illusion Heart Platform, exceptional willpower."
Not far away, several sect masters whispered among themselves.
The Illusion Heart Platform was the final stage of the entrance assessment for Jin Yun Valley, focusing on mental state and willpower.
"Lan Chang'an, medium-grade spiritual roots, ranked third on the Illusion Heart Platform, he can be considered a budding immortal..."
"Hmm? Only at the Qi Refining First Stage but nearing eighteen years old?"
"What a pity..."
A few voices of regret echoed around.
...
"In the cultivation world of Liang Nation... Jin Yun Valley's entrance assessment..."
"Lan Chang'an, nearing eighteen years old?"
"Breaking the mystery of cultivation later in this life than in the previous one, past the optimal age for cultivation."
On the Illusion Heart Platform, Lan Chang'an's facial muscles twitched, his gaze profound.
From the memories of this world, he found himself in a different place compared to the first and second lives.
"Upon awakening in this life, I once again acquired the Nine Seal Stele, and the initial strength of my soul seems to surpass even that of the second life?"
Lan Chang'an relaxed his brows, his expression returning to normal.
He closed his eyes slightly, seemingly conserving his energy.
Right, the Nine Seal Stele!
In the depths of his mind, a simple and ancient black stone stele emerged, its surface adorned with abstract patterns.
The Nine Seal Stele was the mysterious ancient stele he accidentally encountered on Earth, thus beginning his extraordinary journey of cultivation.
Lan Chang'an didn't know the origins of this stele, so he simply named it based on its appearance.
On the front of the stele.
From top to bottom, there were nine rectangular seal-like imprints.
In the first seal, a handsome young man holding a brush was depicted, his posture upright.
In the second seal, there was an old man in ink robes, his feet stepping on a beam of light.
The first two seals were dim and lifeless, the figures comparable to still images.
But the third seal was a faint white light of a young boy's phantom.
Faintly discernible, not yet fully depicted on the stele.
This phantom of the young boy perfectly matched Lan Chang'an's current appearance.
The remaining six seal imprints below were all blank.
Counting from the first life he traversed from Earth to the cultivation world, this was already the third life.
Lan Chang'an withdrew his consciousness from the Nine Seal Stele, briefly summarizing the experiences of the previous two lives.
In the first life, he initially arrived in the cultivation world, with average aptitude, a mere wandering cultivator, stumbling through and barely cultivating to the ninth level of Qi Refining.
The only thing noteworthy was his talent in drawing symbols.
Ultimately, in a bid for a chance to establish his foundation, he fell in battle due to his inferior skills.
In the second life, born into a prominent cultivation family, with superior spiritual roots, having the insights and skill in symbols from the first life as a bonus, He advanced swiftly to the peak of the late stage of Foundation Establishment and even reached Core Formation.
But in the end, he failed to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, perishing in the midst of cultivation.
"In the previous two lives, I only scratched the surface abilities of the Nine Seal Stele. I speculate that at least reaching the Nascent Soul stage, after undergoing a qualitative change in soul strength, can one excavate the true secrets of the 'Nine Seal Stele.'"
At this point, Lan Chang'an had already clarified his goal for this life.
"The Nascent Soul stage!"
If he couldn't reach this realm, the 'Nine Seal Stele' might continue his reincarnation... up to nine times at most.
Of course, this was an optimistic speculation.
Perhaps there were only "Three Lives, Three Worlds."
If he failed in this life, perhaps what awaited him would be utter annihilation!
...
"Ah! No..."
As time passed, the youths on the Illusion Heart Platform gradually woke up, the scene becoming noisy, interrupting Lan Chang'an's thoughts.
"Lan Chang'an, when did you wake up?"
Several nearby youths looked at Lan Chang'an, who had awakened earlier than them, with some surprise.
"Lucky, woke up a bit earlier than you guys."
Lan Chang'an remained calm, surveying the two boys and one girl in front of him.
They were all promising talents brought from Hengshui Prefecture, who had met on the way.
Zhao Siyao, medium-grade spiritual roots, from a scholarly family.
Only fourteen or fifteen years old, she was already graceful and delicate, with bright eyes and delicate lips, truly a budding beauty.
Lin Yi, low-grade spiritual roots, the illegitimate son of the Marquis of Guang'an.
A young man of sixteen or seventeen, dressed in fine clothes, with sharp eyebrows and a heroic look. Among the group, he had the highest cultivation level, reaching the third level of Qi Refining.
At this moment, Lin Yi's expression was gloomy.
Li Ergou, low-grade spiritual roots, from a peasant family.
Dressed in coarse short clothes, he was thin and dark-skinned, looking a bit flustered and timid, not daring to approach Lin Yi and Zhao Siyao.
"Big Brother Lan, the third stage was so difficult. If it weren't for the sudden crowing of my family's rooster, I would've almost fell into a life of luxury..."
Li Ergou shivered with lingering fear, patting his chest, naturally getting closer to Lan Chang'an.
Due to differences in social status, the relationship between several talented youths from the same region varied.
Lin Yi exuded an air of nobility, which made Li Ergou instinctively apprehensive.
Zhao Siyao, as a well-educated lady from a prestigious family, was polite to everyone, not looking down on Li Ergou and Lan Chang'an due to their humble origins.
Li Ergou, however, didn't dare to meet the beautiful and lively Zhao Siyao's eyes.
The gaze of a beauty would occasionally fall on him, making him blush and feel at a loss. Fortunately, his dark complexion helped to conceal it.
Li Ergou was only close to Lan Chang'an.
Lan Chang'an was an orphan but at the same time, he had another identity: a martial artist of the rivers and lakes, a master of a sect.
To be precise, he was the adopted son of the leader of the Angry River Gang in Hengshui Prefecture.
Lan Chang'an had excellent martial arts aptitude from a young age, already a second-rate martial artist in the martial world despite his young age.
According to the original plan, he was to take over as the leader of the gang from his adoptive father in a few years.
However, two years ago, he befriended a destitute Taoist priest and learned that he actually possessed spiritual roots for cultivation, and even a medium-grade spiritual root with decent talent.
Hence, Lan Chang'an's life trajectory changed.
In the third stage of the Jin Yun Valley assessment, the Illusion Heart Platform, he regained memories from his previous life.
...
"Ergou, with your spiritual roots, once you step onto the path of immortality, whether you were once a king or a farmer... It's all in the past."
Lan Chang'an looked at the humble and timid Li Ergou, patting his shoulder lightly.
After two lives of cultivation, Lan Chang'an remained true to his original intentions and didn't turn into a strange old monster with hundreds of years of mental maturity.
This was the miraculous aspect of the Nine Seal Stele.
It was as if he had awakened from an immersive movie, his consciousness returning, just with two lifetimes of cultivation memories added.
Even with more life experiences and broader horizons, his true heart remained as it was when he first crossed into the cultivation world.
"Yea-yeah, I know. Thank you, Brother Lan..."
Li Ergou rubbed the back of his head, feeling a warm sensation.
"Lan Chang'an, what place did you get in the third stage, the Illusion Heart Platform?"
At this moment, Lin Yi, whose face was increasingly uneasy, couldn't help but ask.
Lan Chang'an glanced at Lin Yi, the noble son, thoughtfully.
If he remembered correctly, Lin Yi was the last to awaken among them on the Illusion Heart Platform in the third stage.
In terms of cultivation, Lin Yi was the highest among them, reaching the third level of Qi Refining.
However, in this test of mental state and willpower in the third stage, Lin Yi's performance was surprisingly the worst!
Even Li Ergou, who came from a peasant background, was slightly better than him.
"It seems like I got third place," Lan Chang'an pondered.
"Third place?"
Lin Yi's pupils contracted slightly, his face unsightly, seemingly unable to accept such a disparity.
In the previous two stages, his overall performance was consistently superior to Lan Chang'an's.
"I didn't expect Brother Lan's willpower to be so outstanding. Truly worthy of being a martial hero! Congratulations..."
Zhao Siyao was also surprised, raising her eyebrows gracefully, her eyes flickering.
On the way to the sect, Lan Chang'an, as a martial artist from the martial world, had plentiful experience and an amicable disposition, making him close to Zhao Siyao through conversing along the way.
Moreover, being the oldest among them, Zhao Siyao called him 'Brother Lan.'
The relationship between the two was even closer than the one between Lin Yi, who came from a noble family, and Zhao Siyao.
Seeing that his worries were true, Lin Yi's mood worsened, but he forced himself to calm down, casually saying, "It's a pity, if Brother Lan could have taken first place on the Illusion Heart Platform, he could ignore the results of the previous two stages and directly pass the assessment to become an outer disciple of Jin Yun Valley."
"First place on the Illusion Heart Platform allows direct entry into the sect?"
Lan Chang'an was taken aback, unaware of this information.
He felt a slight regret in his heart. If he had awakened a few days earlier and gained the soul enhancement from the Nine Seal Stele, his entrance assessment would have been almost guaranteed.
After two lifetimes of cultivation memories, Lan Chang'an didn't want to be a wandering cultivator. He deeply felt the hardships of a wandering cultivator in his first life.
In the immortal cultivation path, "wealth, companionship, techniques, and land" were all indispensable. Among them, "land," referring to the cultivation site, ranked last.
And in the cultivation world, almost all spiritual veins, blessed lands, and even desolate beasts occupied them.
The secular areas were called "spiritually poor areas," with extremely thin and barren spiritual energy. It was not suitable for cultivation at all! Without a cultivation site, the efficiency of cultivation could be more than ten times worse!
Ranked first was "wealth," referring to cultivation resources such as spiritual stones, elixirs, and magic treasures.
Without a cultivation site or resources for cultivation, even with outstanding cultivation talent, the early stages of cultivation wouldn't be so smooth.
Therefore, Lan Chang'an wouldn't miss the opportunity to enter the sect.
"Those called by name, step forward!"
Before long, a steward from Jin Yun Valley floated in the air, beginning to announce the list of those who passed the assessment.
(End of Chapter)
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