There was a line of around 700 people queued up before the entrance to the village. The Elder was methodically tapping the foreheads of the villagers to examine their physique and the size of their dantian—the energy center in their bodies.
"No physique, small dantian."
"Tiger Physique, small dantian."
" … small dantian."
"Jade Physique, …"
After examining about two hundred villagers, they finally found the first person with a moderate sized dantian.
"Tiger Physique, moderate dantian."
The boy with the moderate sized dantian was expecting the Elder to accept him, but instead, the Elder pointed to his right where all the declined villagers were.
Witnessing someone with a moderately sized dantian being rejected, the rest of the villagers felt a sense of hopelessness and despair.
Around the 600th villager, the Elder began to lose hope for finding suitable candidates from the village. Despite this, he continued out of a sense of pity and nostalgic memories of the place.
"Next," the Elder said, and was taken aback by the otherworldly appearance of the young man before him. He had encountered many powerful and influential individuals, but none of them could compare to the striking presence of this young man.
He glanced at his disciple and noticed her face was slightly red before clearing his throat, regaining his composure.
"What's your name?" the Elder asked, still finding it difficult to meet the young man's gaze without being distracted by his extraordinary appearance.
"Tang Zhi."
The Elder touched Tang Zhi's forehead and his eyes widened in shock. "Giant size dantian!" he exclaimed, surprising everyone around.
A giant-sized dantian was exceedingly rare, appearing only in one in a million cultivators.
There were four sizes of dantians: small, moderate, large, and giant. Each size was 100 times larger than the previous. Therefore, the difference between a large dantian and a giant-sized one was immense, despite the one small difference in size categories.
Although the size of a dantian doesn't determine everything, it does offer a slight advantage. A larger dantian can absorb cosmic energy more rapidly and transform it into qi more efficiently, which can aid in faster breakthroughs.
He examined Tang Zhi's physique and his expression turned to disappointment. "Tiger Physique..." he muttered with a sigh.
He had thought he had found a once in a generation prodigy, but instead, he was met with disappointment.
A physique was far more important than the size of the dantian. While a larger dantian can expedite the breakthrough process, a strong physique allows one to turn cosmic energy into richer qi, which accelerates progress towards breakthroughs and enhances innate talent.
Certain physiques grant a deeper understanding of swordsmanship, impart immense strength or speed, and the most powerful physiques can encompass all these attributes and much more.
That's why sects primarily focus on physiques rather than dantians. The tiger physique was common in the cultivation world, it primarily enhances eyesight. This was the reason the Elder was disappointed upon learning of Tang Zhi's physique, despite his giant-sized dantian.
"The heavens gave you the face of a god, but not the talent," the Elder muttered under his breath. It was common knowledge that the heavens were just, and for any great gift someone received, there would be a corresponding limitation to maintain balance.
He pointed to the right, surprising the villagers.
"Even Tang Zhi didn't get accepted, there's no hope for us."
"Impossible, Tang Zhi failed!"
But Tang Zhi remained rooted to his spot, staring at the ground.
The Elder shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to go to the right. There are still others waiting behind you," he said gently but firmly.
Tang Zhi still didn't move, and his father and mother rushed forward to grab him, worried that the Elder might intervene and take some action against Tang Zhi.
"Please forgive my son! The results seem to have shocked him," Tang Cai pleaded, bowing to the Elder, who waved his hand in response.
"Don't worry, I understand."
Tang Cai tried to drag his son away, but Tang Zhi didn't budge an inch. "Please, give me a chance! I promise not to lag behind anyone in the sect! I'll work a hundred, no, a thousand times harder than any disciple! You won't regret it!" Tang Zhi pleaded, staring into the Elder's eyes with unwavering determination. His intense gaze surprised even the Elder.
At that moment, Tang Zhi was like a young dragon standing before a powerful, older dragon.
The Elder smiled. He had witnessed determination in many cultivators, but the level of willpower and determination displayed by Tang Zhi surpassed anything he had ever seen before.
He smiled and glanced at his disciple, who was still fixated on Tang Zhi's face. "Fine, I'll take you in, but you'll be on your own. I want you to prove to me that this decision wasn't a mistake," the Elder said, setting a challenging tone for Tang Zhi's future in the sect.
"May everyone, and even the heavens, bear witness to my words!" Tang Zhi shouted at the top of his lungs, his declaration filled with determination and conviction.
The Elder pointed to his left, and Tang Zhi bowed down in gratitude. "Thank you!" he exclaimed before walking confidently to his designated spot on the left.
The Elder nodded and resumed the evaluations while the rejected villagers looked at Tang Zhi with envy. They felt it was unfair that he had been initially declined and then accepted after saying a few words. However, they didn't dare voice their thoughts aloud.
The evaluation continued for another 15 minutes, with Tang Zhi being the only one to pass.
The Elder addressed Tang Zhi, "Be in Spirit City before the end of this week. A carriage will be picking you and a few others accepted to the sect," he instructed before flying off on his sword with his disciple.
Once the Elder had departed, Tang Cai patted his son on the back with great pride, and his mother kissed his forehead. They celebrated Tang Zhi's acceptance with the villagers for four days straight before it was time for him to depart for Spirit City.
"Me and your father will miss you every second while you're gone. Stay safe and try to keep your head down while you're there," Tang Zhi's mother said with concern as they prepared to part ways.
"On your journey to Spirit City, you will be escorted by five guards in case of a beast attack. The route you're taking is the safest, with no beasts ever appearing there, but we're sending guards as a precaution. I would have gone myself if I could, but as the captain, I have a duty to protect the village," Tang Zhi's father explained, reassuring his son about the safety measures in place.
Tang Zhi hugged them both tightly. "I'm going to miss you both. Take care of each other while I'm gone. I'll be back soon," he said before departing with the five guards towards Spirit City.
During the journey to Spirit City, Tang Zhi's thoughts were consumed by his parents. It would be the first time since he was born that he would be apart from them, and he couldn't help but dwell on their absence.
Tang Zhi clenched his fist, realizing that to fulfill his promise to the Elder, he needed to eliminate distractions, and his main distraction was his attachment to his parents.
Before arriving in Spirit City, Tang Zhi decided to reminisce on his memories with his parents, knowing that he would need to detach from them once he entered the sect and focused solely on cultivation.