Weeks before the entrance exam, Shen Mo dedicated his time to guiding Cai. Her cultivation slowly progressed and in four weeks, she reached the sixth level of Qi Refining. Not only in cultivation, but Shen Mo also taught her many techniques and possible attributes for her talent. Cai excels more in combat, any weapon suits her but she likes to use twin sai. She is talented in array formations and Shen Mo has high hopes she can be an Array Mage in the future or even a Rune Master. Her qi is boundless too which is suitable for all three categories. She can also handle alchemy and healing. Her infinite talent amazed Shen Mo. What disappoints him though was her very slow improvement.
The entrance exam arrived. Shen Mo wanted to know if she can surpass a genius and had Cai register outside the sect. Shen Mo sat with the outer court elders as he anticipated the result of the exam.
"Hey, little girl, are you lost?" A young girl approached Cai when she lined up with the other cultivators.
A ten-year-old girl by herself in this legendary sect is a questionable sight. Most of the competitors are old people and they are not even in the second level of Qi Refining.
"I want to participate." Cai simply answered which shocked everyone who heard her.
"Are you sure? What level are you in?"
Cai exposed her cultivation of the sixth level. The geniuses around are about thirteen to fifteen and they are only in the fifth level of Qi Refining.
"Haha! That's my Cai!" Shen Mo's eyes brightened like stars witnessing how others admire his disciple. Cai is too young but a prodigy like her is one in a million around the world.
"Amazing! I'm Jing Sui, lets team up! What's your name and where did you come from?" The girl asked in amazement. Jing Sui is the best talent in their renowned town and she is considered as the youngest of the competitors here. She brought glory to her clan if she passes the exam but Cai's presence shocked her.
"Cai, that is my name. I'm from Zhou." She responded briefly.
"Oh, so our countries are neighbors. I came from the Great Han and my father is the royal advisor of our emperor. In truth, His Majesty wants me to stay and inherit my mother's position as the Array Mage of the Great Han but for some reason, my father sent me here to study well and become immortal. What about you? Why did you come here?"
"My master wants me to become immortal too." Cai faced the girl about her age. Jing Sui is a bit taller and their personality differs from each other. It makes Cai wonder why so many people are talkative but she can't?
"Nice to meet you. From now on, I will call you Junior Cai. You can count on me in the future and I won't mind if you refer to me as a big sister."
"I prefer Senior Jing."
Ding!
While the girls talked, the sound of a bell rang which turned the whole place silent. Everyone looked up to see a majestic azure bird descending the sky and it settled in front of the empty gateway.
"Cool! What spirit beast is that?"
"I heard this is even stronger than a Tao Qie!"
"Yes, my cousin is an outer court disciple here and he said this spirit beast is called Sky Heron that the sect gifts only to outer court elders."
Jing Sui craned her neck to the group of older cultivators talking about the spirit beast. She said to Cai, "Sky Herons are agile and best in aerial conveyance. It can be as fast as a second-rate Immortal Ship. I was informed Tao Supreme Sect has hundreds of elders. That means the numbers of Sky Herons are equal to them too. My, the Great Han only have five second-rate Immortal Ship. Tao Supreme Sect is really rich! There's also a gossip in Great Han that the founder of Tao Supreme Sect is the wealthiest man in Wu after he looted ten immortal tombs consecutively."
Cai chose to be silent even though she knew the real truth behind the rumor. She has been looking through the books in the library and found out Shen Mo's journal carelessly used as a table's foot stand. Cai has been reading the book in secret and the events were written during his youth. Most of the pages are faded and the ink can't be read clearly. Thus, Cai has limited personal information about her master. Regarding the rumor, it wasn't true. Shen Mo is rich because of his old master.
When his master died, Shen Mo inherited his wealth which he stole from ten super forces with a background of traitorous immortals that succumbed to the evil path. Shen Mo used the fortune for Tao Supreme Sect and invested the rest in a stable business a merchant owns. Even without working, he gets a share of the merchant's profit.
Ding!
Another sound of bell reverberated. A lady in blue jumped down the Sky Heron. She has an intimidating gaze and a pretty cold face.
"Listen up, I am Chen Aiwei, the elder assigned to guide you in every test. There are three levels. The first one defines your aptitude, where everyone can pass. We don't care if you have a heavenly spiritual root or an inferior spiritual root. Tao Supreme Sect is here to teach you the ways of immortality and requires your perseverance to become stronger because your talent will be useless once you exceeded the mortal levels of cultivation. Enter this portal and it will bring you to a different stage."
As soon as her voice fell, Chen Aiwei transmitted her qi into a tablet that opened up the portal inside the gateway. The participants lined up accordingly and followed her to a different zone. The new area is one of the floating islands surrounding Tao Supreme Sect. A lot of them gasped in awe to catch a glimpse of the legendary school and the dreamy realm too. Tao Supreme Sect is in a secluded space Shen Mo created that is why this place can't be intruded by outsiders, except for the almighty Will of Heaven. Those who can witness Tao Supreme Sect's glory are considered the luckiest already. What's more if one were to learn in here?
In the middle of the floating island is a long stair that leads to an inactive gateway.
Chen Aiwei stood on the Sky Heron's back while it is hovering around the horizon. She looked down and explained, "Climb the stairs one step at a time. No more than fifty steps and below, inferior spiritual root. Fifty-one to a hundred, average spiritual root. A hundred and fifty, excellent spiritual root. Two hundred, rare spiritual root. Above two hundred, heavenly spiritual root. If you reach the stage, a reward will be given. Choose between a young Sky Heron that is tamable and a satchel of high tier cultivation pill."
"Amazing! With that amount, I can reach Qi Integration in no time!"
"I must get that pill!"
"The Sky Heron can be my first spirit beast!"
Only Cai and Jing Sui are calm. Cai has no desire for the Sky Heron or the cultivation pill and Jing Sui knows her limit, she can face disappointment if her talent fails her.
A lot of participants can only stay below fifty. Not even half the half made it to two hundred. It was due to the increase in energy consumption while taking a step on the stair. The higher a cultivator goes, the stronger the consumption is until the dantian becomes empty.
"Next, Participant Number 1230, Jing Sui, come forth!"
"Wish me luck." Jing Sui sneered and hopped forward.
She took a deep sigh before taking a step. At first, she can barely notice the difference in her dantian. Upon reaching the fiftieth step, she began to feel the decreasing of her stored qi.
"There are dense amount of qi up here and even if I refine them, it won't be enough for one step higher." She finds this test tricky after realizing the situation.
"Hundredth step!"
"Two hundred steps!"
"Two hundred and thirty!"
Chen Aiwei announced. She is impressed Jing Sui is only twenty steps away from the stage. The rest of the cultivators are very dumbfounded by her progress. She is the first one to prove she has a heavenly spiritual root!
"Come on! I can do it, fifteen more!" Jing Sui muttered to herself but the gravity is becoming more oppressive. Her dantian was emptied the second she took another step. Jing Sui fell on the stairs, gasping for air from fatigue. She can't even lift a finger because of her emptied dantian.
"Impressive, you are the first participant who has a heavenly spiritual root that has appeared in our school for over two centuries." Chen Aiwei smiled and had the Sky Heron pick Jing Sui. She brought the girl down the ground again. "Participant Number 1231, Cai, go on."
"Junior Cai, do your best!" Jing Sui encouraged her fellow and Cai returned a nod. "Be careful. The higher you go, the more difficult it is for you to advance."
"En." Cai murmured her assent. She looked up to the stairs that is wide and floating above the ground.
"I wonder what the result will be." Shen Mo thought. He watched from the monitor along with the elders. He can't wait to see how far Cai can go.
Cai walked normally the whole time. She seemed to be undisturbed as if having a normal stroll.
"One hundred steps!"
"Two hundred steps!"
Everyone held in their breath. She is walking at the same pace as before and she seemed to be not affected by the gravity. Cai continued and she is only ten steps away from the stage.
"It's not consuming my energy in large amounts. Or was it because I have a special physique that is boundless?" Cai wondered. She can reach the peak without effort, ah.
"Two hundred fifty steps!" Chen Aiwei announced too late after recovering from her shock. She thought, "This girl? Who is she? No one can reach the peak ever since Tao Supreme Sect was established! Even the Founder admitted if he was to test it at these participants' age, he can't get on top!"
"Heavenly spiritual root, and her dantian is special. It stores a lot of qi that is consumable in small amounts but extremely destructive. The only drawback of her special physique is that she has the slowest progress in attainment. It will withhold her in the future." Shen Mo pondered deeply.
He thought it is either lucky for Wu or unlucky for Cai. If she is purely evil, Wu is in grave danger. However, her special physique contained her strength and she can still be repressed. Fortunately, Cai is an obedient disciple. Unfortunately, she will have great problems in cultivation advancement.
Hours later, all participants are tested. Four talents are the most remarkable this year and Tao Supreme Sect reaped a very good harvest. Two of them are Cai and Jing Sui, the other two are male cultivators about Jing Sui's age and attainment. These four participants have heavenly spiritual roots. If they can reach the core zone in the future, they can be lucky to become a direct disciple of a supreme elder.
"Line up everyone. The second level will test your speed and heart. I will hand you a qiankun bag that you must fill with any amount of tree leaves. The next level is in a different area again. Head to the mountain that you will see where the same kind of tree grows. Reap the leaves, small or tantamount, it will be your choice. Travel upwards to the mountain peak where the next portal is. I will wait for all of you."
Chen Aiwei can guess one-third of the participants can pass this level. Those with knowledge and those with kind hearts.