After Lin An accepted the beginner's reward, a treasure chest appeared in the system's space.
Lin An discovered that he could store and retrieve items in the system at any time. He chose to open the treasure chest, and a foundation establishment pill appeared in the space. A string of characters formed in front of his eyes as the increasingly familiar voice rang out, [This foundation establishment pill is made from ice-thorn grass, a lava crystal core, and over ten types of herbs, specially refined by the system. If you combine it with a suitable cultivation method, the chances of successfully utilizing the foundation establishment pill will be increased! Your current success rate if you choose to ingest the pill is 0%.]
After finding out the success rate, Lin An relaxed and put the foundation establishment pill back into the treasure chest.
He knew that he would have to find a cultivation method in order to consume the pill. Once he accomplished the task, he could utilize the treasure chest.
After taking some time to digest his new reality, Lin An pushed open the door and left.
...
Jiuxiao Sect, Heaven's Secret Square.
More than a hundred youths stood solemnly on the square. They were secretly excited as they awaited the assessment to begin, but they couldn't display their vigor due to the dozens of elders standing in front of them. The oldest master in the group had a kind face, but his long hair and his white beard gave him an authoritative look. He was the Red Cloud Spiritual Master, and he was in charge of the assessment.
When he saw that Lin An had finally joined the group, the Red Cloud Spiritual Master gave them a stern look and then said in a loud voice, "Today is an important day for you all. It will determine whether you have the qualifications to be inner sect disciples! No matter the challenges, cultivators should always clear their minds and cultivate diligently. Only then will they be able to slay demons and defend the human world!"
The young men promptly bowed their heads and chanted in unison, "Your disciples respectfully obey your teachings!"
"Good! The assessment ceremony will officially begin!"
Master Chi Xiao nodded his head in satisfaction and beckoned for all the examinees to carry a pile of old books onto the stage.
The assessment ceremony was very simple. The Elder Council on the stage would provide dozens of low-level cultivation techniques for the disciples to learn on the spot.
If one wanted to enter the inner sect, they had to learn cultivation techniques. As long as they used the abilities in the cultivation techniques and unleashed the power of the foundation establishment level, they would be considered to have passed the inner sect assessment!
It was equivalent to testing the comprehension ability of the disciples. The elders started to read out the names on the stage, and the young men quickly lined up in a row and began to try out the required cultivation techniques.
The presiding elder eventually called out Lin An's name, and he immediately ascended onto the stage.
When they saw that it was Lin An's turn, the disciples below the stage all let out sighs.
"He won't choose the ice heart mantra again, right?"
"Lin An chose the ice heart mantra during his first two tests, but his comprehension ability is too low. He can't even execute the easiest cultivation technique!"
Even though Lin An was a senior disciple in the sect, his peers did not respect him since he had failed the assessment on two separate occasions.
Lin An ignored the disciples and went on to pick a cultivation technique. A string of characters flashed across his eyes, and he calmly listened to the system's instructions.
[Ice heart mantra: This is a low-level human-rank cultivation technique. Once you successfully execute it, you will be able to manipulate ice. You can at most cultivate to the early stage of the golden core stage. The final success rate is 25%! When combined with the foundation establishment pill, the success rate is 100%. To correctly execute the technique, you start with the descending dragon fiery palm, a high-grade human rank technique. After cultivating it, you can release the fiery palm. At most, you can cultivate it to the middle Jindan stage. The final success rate is 55%. When combined with the foundation establishment pill, the success rate is 100%!]
Cultivation techniques were divided into three levels, heaven, earth, and man. Each level was divided into the upper, middle, and lower stages.
The cultivation technique used for the foundation establishment level would accompany the cultivator for the rest of his life!
Therefore, the higher the level of the cultivation technique, the higher the upper limit!
After listening to the system, Lin An instantly understood.
As long as he cultivated with the foundation establishment pill, regardless of which cultivation technique he chose, he would have a 100% success rate in the foundation establishment assessment test and obtain the qualification to proceed to the next level.
Additionally, Lin An now knew why he had failed his previous assessment tests. He had chosen a cultivation method that was not suitable for him. However, with the supplementary medicinal pill in his treasure chest, he would be able to obtain a 100% success rate! Lin An would only have to choose the most suitable cultivation technique for the assessment.
Before he concluded his thought process, two disciples suddenly appeared in front of him and blocked his path
Lin An scoffed when he identified the young men who had accosted him.
Xiao Muran was the most promising prospect in the Jiuxiao Sect. Due to his unique talents, he had been ranked first among the disciples ever since he joined the sect. However, he was arrogant, and he looked down on those with low talent.
Li Mubai also stood alongside Xiao Muran, and they glaringly stared at Li An.
Xiao Muran opened his mouth slowly and sneered, "Yo, isn't this senior brother Lin An? Do you still want to choose the ice heart technique this year? You haven't had any success with it in the past. Why don't you try the dragon subduing inferno palm! This is a human-rank high-grade technique!"
However, Li Mubai immediately interjected, "Brother Muran, can a good-for-nothing like Lin An execute such a high-grade cultivation technique?"
Xiao Muran rubbed his chin and turned towards Li Mubai.
"That's true. I was too rude! He obviously can't do it!!"
Lin An felt disgusted after he heard the two disciples taunting him with their sarcastic remarks.
However, he decided to ignore them and focused his efforts on choosing a cultivation technique.
Lin An pushed them aside and made his way towards the center stage. Suddenly, a thick block of text appeared in front of his eyes. A system notification popped up, and a hollow voice read out the contents of the message.
[Inceptive scripture: three pages to help you navigate from the foundation establishment level to the Emperor Immortal level. Your foundation establishment success rate is 0.0001%! Your aurous core stage success rate is 0.0001%! Your nascent soul stage success rate is 0.0001%! Your success at the soul formation stage is currently 30%! The void training stage success rate is currently 40%! Your form synthesis stage success rate is currently 50%! While your success rate at the tribulation stage success rate is 60%. At the Mahayana stage, your success rate will be 80%! However, your chances of reaching the Emperor Immortal stage are currently 0.000001%! Combined with the foundation establishment pill given by the system, the host's foundation establishment rate has increased to 100%!"]
Lin An's heart raced faster once the system finished reading out the message.
Although the proposed cultivation technique did not have any specific strength, it could be cultivated all the way to the Emperor Immortal Realm!
As an ordinary cultivator, having an earth cultivation method to build a foundation on was enough to make everyone envious!
But an earth-rank cultivation method could only be cultivated to the late stage of the Jindan Stage!
Lin An had the chance to join the supreme realm of the Emperor Immortal! With the foundation establishment pill given by the system, he had a 100% chance of breaking through the first level!