Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 142
Chapter 142: Spirit Assessment
“I’ll stay here for a month after the disciple selection is over. If the Foundation Establishment Blood Spirit Cultist makes a move during that period of time, I’ll get rid of him on your behalf. Otherwise, I’ll return to the Moon Monastery with my people, and I’d consider our deal to have been fulfilled. You’ll have to pass down the Purple Lightning Talisman’s heritage to Clearlotus,” Abbess Moonchaser said.
Abbess Clearlotus was stunned. She thought her master was exploiting Fang Chen’s crisis here, but before she could say a word, the latter nodded and accepted the offer.
“How decisive. You should know too that the Purple Lightning Talisman’s heritage is not a small thing.” Abbess Moonchaser frowned.
“The Purple Lightning Talisman’s heritage is not as important as getting rid of the Foundation Establishment Blood Spirit Cultist,” Fang Chen replied with a smile.
Abbess Moonchaser eyed Fang Chen with a perplexed frown. In the end, she shook her head. “It’s a pity you aren’t a woman, or else you could have joined our Moon Monastery.”
“That sure is a pity,” Li Daoye interjected, though he sheepishly shut his mouth when he saw the crowd looking at him.
“Young master, the imperial palace sent someone over,” a servant suddenly reported.
Fang Chen nodded. “Bring him in.”
An hour later, Fang Chen and the others followed a eunuch into the imperial palace’s garden.
Astonishingly, the Great Xia’s emperor wasn’t taking the center seat as he usually did; instead, he was standing together with his officials.
A group of peculiar people took the center stage today. There was a middle-aged man in scholarly robes, a farm lady holding an old hen in her arms, an enigmatic individual wearing clothes weaved out of black feather, and a woman with fiery-red hair.
The officials of the imperial court were baffled. The surrounding eunuchs and maids looked incredibly nervous, as they tried to figure out the identity of the four people who made the Great Xia’s emperor stand by their side.
“They arrived fast…” Abbess Moonchaser remarked with a frown.
Her arrival caught the attention of Elder Jinnan and the others, especially since she made no attempt to conceal her aura, so the group turned to look at her.
“Abbess Moonchaser, you arrived today too?” Elder Jinnan asked with a merry smile.
Quite a few cultivators directed amicable gazes toward Abbess Moonchaser, but the farm lady holding onto an old hen looked at her with eyes filled with disdain and hostility.
Abbess Moonchaser acknowledged them with nods.
“Those two are…?” Elder Jinnan turned his attention to Fang Chen and Li Daoye.
They knew that the Moon Monastery didn’t accept male disciples, so they were perplexed to see her accompanied by two men.
Xia Yun quickly rushed forward and whispered to them, but that only deepened the cultivators’ frowns.
Daoist Crow turned to Li Daoye and asked, “Unaffiliated cultivator?”
“Yes, yes!” Li Daoye sheepishly replied.
Abbess Moonchaser glared at him before saying, “He’s a disciple of the Eight Trigrams Sect.”
The cultivators who were starting to show looks of disdain nodded. The Eight Trigrams Sect could be considered to be a proper sect with a complete heritage, not to mention that they had a Foundation Establishment cultivator in their ranks.
Sects that only had Ki Refinement cultivators were thought to be inferior in Infernoblaze. It was not without reason that was the case. For instance, those sects didn’t have the ability to sense the emergence of the Spirit Marrow, so none of them sent anyone over.
“It is like the Eight Trigrams Sect to cheat and deceive,” Daoist Crow sneered.
Li Daoye was infuriated, but he couldn’t do anything as he was up against a Foundation Establishment cultivator. All he could do was to turn his head away.
Xia Yun, Junior Brother Liu, and Junior Sister Tantai were startled. They thought that Li Daoye was really an unaffiliated cultivator, but to think that he belonged to a proper sect too.
“Speaking of which, why didn’t the Eight Trigrams Sect come? They should have noticed the emergence of the Spirit Marrow faster than any of us given their art of omen reading.”
“How perplexing.”
Some cultivators looked at Li Daoye with perplexed frowns.
Fang Chen and Li Daoye knew that the chances were that the Eight Trigrams Sect were intimidated by the Blood Spirit Cult. They dared not to come here despite knowing both their young master and the emergence of the Spirit Marrow were here.
“How heartless!” Li Daoye clenched his fists. He had almost forgotten about that if not for those cultivators’ reminder.
“Something might have delayed them,” Elder Jinnan remarked with a smile. He then turned to Fang Chen and asked, “Who’s this?”
The officials of the imperial court were bewildered.
Xia Yun quickly stepped forward to recount Fang Chen’s history. Upon learning that Fang Chen was just a mortal, the cultivators paid no heed to him.
After Abbess Moonchaser took her seat, Elder Jinnan glanced at Xia Yun and asked, “If I remember correctly, you’re Xia Yun, right?”
“Yes, I am Xia Yun,” Xia Yun hurriedly replied.
Xia Yun?!
Boom!
It looked as if a bolt of lightning had struck the old officials of the imperial court. Prime Minister Li Guozhu rubbed his turbid eyes as he looked at Xia Yun in disbelief. T-this person is an ancestor of the imperial family, the great grandfather of the incumbent emperor!
Most of them had heard about Xia Yun’s affairs—he was famous for being more interested in the pursuit of immortality over his throne. He had left Great Xia at a young age, and there had been no news from him for a long time. Who could have thought that they would suddenly meet him here today?
And he looks to be in his forties. Could he have really…
The crowd was astonished and excited, as the truth surfaced in their minds. This also enlightened them to the identities of the peculiarly-dressed individuals in the Imperial Garden.
“You’ll be responsible for hosting since this is your turf,” Elder Jinnan said with a smile.
“Disciple Xia Yun understands!” Xia Yun was excited to have received a task from Elder Jinnan.
“The people gathered here are all elders of Infernoblaze sects, and we have come here today to take in disciples who are less than thirty years old. More cultivators may arrive over the next few days, so let’s start making preparations now,” Elder Jinnan said.
Xia Yun accepted the orders. He proceeded to inform the officials about the spirit rain a few days ago, which delighted the crowd. It was as if the world had suddenly chosen to present them with a huge gift.
This was a rare opportunity for them to embark on the path of immortality!
An hour later, thirty cultivators from Infernoblaze took their seats in the square in front of the imperial palace, while Yan Beihan tightly guarded the area with thousands of imperial guards.
Messengers had been dispatched all over the capital to relay the news to households, demanding all men and women of thirty years of age to head to the square to have their aptitude assessed.
There was an order for the talent assessment. The imperial family and their relatives had the priority, followed by the nobles and the officials, then the eunuchs and palace maids, and, last but not least, the common populace.
It didn’t even take an hour before the square was packed with people. At the front of the queue were the imperial offspring and scions of distinguished clans.
Elder Jinnan stroked his beard and asked with a smile, “Shall we use our South Heaven Sect’s Spirit Gauging Bell or yours?”
“Your South Heaven’s Sect’s Spirit Gauging Bell boasts 36 daosoul imprints. No other sect in Infernoblaze has a better Spirit Gauging Bell than yours. Let’s use yours,” the farm lady holding an old hen said.
The other cultivators nodded. There was no point disputing this as it was common knowledge. Using the South Heaven Sect’s Spirit Gauging Bell should yield the most accurate results of all.
Elder Jinnan smiled. He waved his arm, and a small bell flew out of his sleeves. The bell swiftly expanded to over three meters tall before landing heavily at the center of the square.
His mystical means drew surprised exclaims from the crowd. Be it scholars, martial artists, or merchants, all of them were impressed by what they had just seen.
“It’s an immortal, a true immortal!”
“Paying respect to Lord Immortal!”
A commotion broke out, but that was quickly suppressed by the Imperial Army. The crowd dared not cause a fuss, but they continued looking at Elder Jinnan with heated eyes.
Tao Yu was astonished. “It really is an immortal’s means.”
Ye Qinghe thought about it before remarking, “Such strength should be enough to suppress the likes of Fang Chen, right?”
Tao Yu didn’t say a word, but he cast his glance at Fang Chen, who sat near the cultivators together with the other officials.
“Let the spirit assessment begin,” Xia Yun projected his voice with his spirit ki, relaying his words to every nook and cranny of the capital.
The capital’s youths were trembling with excitement. All of them believed that they possessed exceptional aptitude, and they thought they could achieve an outstanding result in the test and join a cultivator sect.
