The Midnight Lily Hall held a grand name but in reality, was a relatively humble building attended to by a Novice Scholar who specialized in administration. Here, potential recruits were assessed and if they were accepted, those recruits would be welcomed into the ranks of the Bamboo Silk House as Outer Disciples.
There was also a Dawning Lily Hall in the front of the sect that served the needs of the Light Half of the sect. If either of Wu Ling's companions had been unwilling to enter the Dark Half he'd have taken them on a tour of the Light Half of the sect and brought them to the Dawning Lily Hall at the end. There were always more disciples in the front of the house than the back, and that part of the sect was busier, but fortunately, they didn't need to bother with the crowds screening hopefuls who would never dip themselves in shadow. Instead, Wu Ling was able to greet another old acquaintance who greeted them warmly when they entered the Midnight Lily Hall.
"I see Little Lingling is already doing good work for the sect on behalf of her mother," the Novice Scholar said with a warm smile on her thin lips. Despite her youthful appearance, Florist Dongtian had been one of the three women responsible for the Midnight Lily Hall for far longer than Wu Ling had been alive and her warm demeanor put many potential recruits at ease. Those who knew her better recognized the sharp eyes that captured every detail of the people who entered her domain while only those who knew her best were aware of the fierce talons the woman had trained to tear the throats of any spies who attempted to infiltrate their sect under the guise of becoming a new disciple.
"I received notice from the Hall Master that I'm to send you to see her after you're finished here," the older woman said. "I can't imagine that anyone you bring us wouldn't pass the exams so I'll ensure they're settled in while you meet with the Hall Master."
"As the Hall Master wishes," Wu Ling answered, bowing slightly to the older woman with cupped hands. "These are my close sisters from the Pure Virtue Musician's Hall, Senior Sister Yao Meifeng and Junior Sister Su Yao," Wu Ling said gently, turning the attention to the two young women.
"So that's where you've been studying while you were away," the Florist said with a knowing look. "If they've managed to nurture all three of you, perhaps there will come a day when we ask you to return to your old school as teachers to watch for other talents. Before we can know where you'll go, however, we need to understand the kind of talents you bring to the sect. At the end, you'll have the opportunity to demonstrate your cultivation talents but before that, we'll examine your bloodline along with your potential for growth," she explained, falling into a familiar speech that she had delivered countless times over the years.
"These tests will not determine the entirety of your fate," Florist Dongtian said. "People with great talent and bloodline potential can squander it and people with lesser innate gifts may rise above their limitations with hard work. What these tests can do, is to help us understand where you should begin your journey in the sect. Everything after that is up to your own efforts. You understand? Good," she said once everyone had nodded.
"Let's begin with your current cultivation," she said, producing a polished hemisphere made from a refined beast core nearly five centimeters across. "This is the first of the spirit tools we'll be using to assess you. Over the years, a number of our enemies have attempted to infiltrate the sect as potential disciples, believing they could awaken a second path as an Artist and hide their greater cultivation behind their meager aptitude in their second path. Tools like this help us ensure that such efforts result in failure almost every time."
"Almost?" Su Yao asked, looking at the tool. "There are people who still make it past your defenses even with tools like this?"
"There are many exceptional people in this world who possess rare talents, secret skills, and powerful treasures," the older woman explained. "A woman like Elder Phantom would have no difficulty evading our best efforts to see through what she chose to present to the world, even if she presented herself as a newly awakened Aesthete. We have other methods of defense to capture those who evade our first measures but you should never be so arrogant as to believe that nothing can penetrate our defenses. Elder Phantom did it to the Sanguine Saber Sect, after all. Someone else could do it to us," she admitted without a hint of shame.
In the world of the dark half of the sect, there were always new methods to sneak past someone's defenses and new counters being created for those methods. Only a fool believed that they would never be infiltrated simply because they had succeeded at preventing infiltration so far.
"Oh, that makes sense then," Su Yao said, more reassured than frightened by the acknowledgment that their defenses weren't perfect. She might not have her Cousin Xiang's ability to see through falsehood, but since awakening, she had begun to see matters more clearly. Seeing the sect acknowledge their defenses weren't perfect showed that they maintained vigilance and she preferred to find safety among vigilant people than among people who felt themselves unassailable. "How do I use the tool?"
"Prick your finger with this needle," the older woman said, handing a thin silver needle to each of the young cultivators. "You'll need to force out a drop of blood, then press your finger to the tool and circulate your energy. You'll feel it begin to draw your energy into the tool, don't attempt to fight it," she cautioned. "Once it has a sample of your energy, it will glow. The colors that it glows indicate the type of path you follow and the brightness of the glow indicates your strength in that path. Don't worry that the glows are dim, this tool is designed to measure up to third-stage cultivators so even if you were at the door of the second stage you wouldn't produce too bright of a light. Now, who will go first?"