Chapter 3: The Awakening of Fate
[First Person POV]
Long Chen grew even angrier when I apologized for something I hadn't done. He looked at me as if I had betrayed him.
"No, no… Xu Mo, why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong. There's nothing to be afraid of."
The elder raised an eyebrow at Long Chen's words.
"D-Does this mean that you actually feel guilty after committing the crime?"
I glanced at Long Chen, wondering if he had a screw loose. I knew it was unjust to apologize for something I hadn't done, but right now, I was desperate. There was no one waiting for me back home, no warm welcome awaiting my return.
If I gained enough strength in the future, maybe I could take revenge. But for now… it was better to apologize than to be banished from the sect and miss the best opportunity to start my cultivation journey.
Long Chen must have taken some sort of medicine, as he suddenly backed away from me.
"Heh… quite intriguing," he muttered.
The elder turned his gaze toward Long Chen and spoke.
"Why are you laughing?"
Clap!
"Let's continue the test. You two, step forward—I will begin with you."
Everyone present knew exactly who "you two" referred to.
Xu Mo and Long Chen.
I shook my head and followed behind the elder. As he walked toward the platform, the hundreds of aspirants instinctively made way for him. The elder led the way, followed by me, and then Long Chen.
I kept my back straight, ignoring the unwelcoming glares thrown my way. I knew in my heart that I was innocent.
This wasn't the first time I had received such treatment. Even back then, after my adoptive parents' deaths, it felt as if the sky had shattered over my head.
Those experiences had forced me to mature early, to learn when to advance and when to retreat.
I glanced at Long Chen, who was deliberately ignoring me.
Hehe~
A small smile appeared on my face. Not everyone shared the same circumstances as me. Long Chen, at this moment, reminded me of a child whose parents had scolded him in front of his friends—or worse, had sided with his friends instead of him.
Standing at the front of the aspirants, I finally got a clear view of the stone used for talent testing. It was enormous.
I didn't know much about it—Long Chen was about to explain, but then everything had turned into chaos. I glanced at him again, silently urging him to tell me what the stone was.
Long Chen turned his face away.
The elder noticed but said nothing.
"Write your name and age in this Entry Register. Then, place your dominant hand on the Talent Stone," the elder instructed.
After a brief pause, he added, as if suddenly remembering something, "…You do know how to write, don't you?"
"Yes," I replied plainly.
So, it's called a Talent Stone…
I took the register and brush from the elder's hands.
Flipping open the register, my gaze habitually landed on the entries before me—those who had taken the test earlier.
Fortunately, my adoptive parents had been financially stable enough to hire a scholar to teach me how to read and write.
Xu Mo, seventeen years old.
I carefully wrote my name and age in neat, clean handwriting. Then, I glanced at the elder, silently asking whether I should pass the register to Long Chen.
He nodded.
Long Chen took the register and brush from my hand, but time ticked by, and he was still playing with the brush, rolling it between his fingers.
"We don't have all day. Hurry up!" the elder chided.
"Long Chen, should I write it for you?" I asked in a low whisper, seeing the dilemma he was in.
The other aspirants were growing impatient.
Long Chen's neck and ears flushed red with embarrassment. He really didn't know how to read or write. Instead of answering, he shot me an angry glare.
Huh? What? I was offering to help, and he's glaring at me?
"Xu Mo, leave Long Chen. You go first—place your hand on the Talent Stone," the elder commanded.
I left Long Chen behind and walked to the center of the platform. The Talent Stone stood at a towering two meters. In front of it, I looked like a mere child.
Hooo~
I inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to ease my nerves.
Slowly, with anticipation and anxiety intertwining in my heart, I raised my right hand and placed it on the stone.
The surface of the Talent Stone was cold and smooth, about twenty-eight centimeters thick.
And then—
A tremor.
The massive black Talent Stone began shaking violently. Dust rose from the ground. Pebbles trembled. The very mountain the sect stood on quaked.
Cracks appeared on the stone where my hand touched it. Tiny spiderweb-like fissures spread outward, originating from my middle and ring fingers.
[Third Person POV]
The elder's composed expression shattered. His eyes widened in shock.
Deep within the sect, elders who were in seclusion were abruptly awakened by the sudden earthquake.
Many aspirants collapsed to the ground, barely able to support themselves.
One by one, sect elders began appearing around the testing platform—some teleporting directly to the location, others walking through the sky.
Xu Mo, Long Chen, and the other aspirants were in awe. They had heard of immortals who could fly, who could split the sky in two with a single strike. But hearing was one thing—seeing it was another. The sheer presence of these powerful figures made them instinctively want to kneel.
The newly arrived elders unleashed their divine sense, scanning the entire sect.
They quickly pinpointed the source—the Talent Stone buried deep within the ground. It was the cause of the tremors.
Their attention snapped toward Xu Mo, whose hand remained pressed against the stone.
The moment he removed his palm, the shaking stopped.
Everyone regained their footing.
The testing elder hurriedly bowed upon seeing that even inner sect elders had arrived.
"What is your name, young man?" One of the elders—clearly the leader—descended from the sky, his presence dominating the air.
His footsteps made no sound as he landed on the testing platform.
"E-Elder! M-My name is Xu Mo," Xu Mo stammered, startled by the elder's sudden approach. But he quickly corrected himself.
"Were you the one who caused the tremors? Or was it someone before you?" the elder asked, his gaze scanning the other aspirants.
The testing elder, drenched in sweat, hastily pointed at Xu Mo. In his fifty years of service, nothing like this had ever happened. The Talent Stone cracking? Unheard of.
Xu Mo, though uncertain how a mere mortal like him could shake an entire mountain, did not shy away from taking responsibility.
"Elder, the tremors began the moment I placed my hand on the Talent Stone… and then cracks appeared."
The testing elder was about to say something more, but he quickly fell silent under the sharp gaze of the inner sect elder.
Shhh—
A heavy silence blanketed the entire testing platform.
An ominous, powerful aura spread across the Hidden Dragon Sect's entrance examination.