Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

When Liu Xing flew out of the Refining Heart Gourd, the tears had long since vanished from his face. He looked calm and composed, as if nothing had happened. Yue Qianjun, watching Brother Liu emerge unharmed, was overjoyed and immediately sent a message to inquire about his condition. Liu Xing replied that everything was going well. Everyone felt as if they had spent an eternity in the Refining Heart Gourd, some even a lifetime, but in reality, it had only been a quarter of an hour. Freed from the illusion, everyone felt a sense of relief, yet also a wave of fear.

"The first round of the Heart Refining Test is over!" Sect Master Hou announced the end of the first round and arranged for the eliminated candidates to be escorted out of the sect. Naturally, the eliminated candidates were dejected, their courage and determination to move forward had been extinguished. From then on, there was no possibility of a breakthrough. Their path to immortality was cut off, and they could only return to the mortal world to live a stable life as wealthy men.

Sect Leader Hou took out a transparent crystal ball and cast a spell on it. The ball magnified a thousand times and flew over everyone's heads, emitting a dazzling light.

"All candidates, please place your palms on the Spiritual Root Test Ball," Sect Master Hou commanded, and everyone sprang into action. Some stood still, holding their palms high. Others flew above the ball, stood upside down, and raised their palms. In the blink of an eye, a dense crowd of people surrounded the ball, like nails on a basketball. Then, the ball emitted a humming sound, and a magical force seemed to be transmitted to all the candidates. Suddenly, beams of light of different colors burst out from each of them.

Colors represent different spiritual root attributes: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth correspond to white, green, blue, red, and yellow, respectively. The number of light pillars represents the number of spiritual roots. For example, one pillar represents a natural spiritual root, two pillars represent dual spiritual roots, three pillars represent triple spiritual roots, and four pillars represent quadruple spiritual roots. Therefore, the spiritual root attributes around the test ball are easily discernible, revealing one's talent and aptitude at a glance. For example, at this moment, four pillars of light, white, blue, red, and yellow, rose high around Liu Xing. Like him, most of the test takers had four spiritual roots. Yue Qianjun was stunned and unwilling to believe Liu Xing's four spiritual roots, lacking wood. He repeated this observation several times, but the reality remained the same. He felt sadness for Liu Xing, but also a deeper admiration for his ability to achieve so much more than himself despite such limited talent. This was a level of achievement achieved through countless hardships and risks. Yue Qianjun did not despise Liu Xing for his lack of talent. Instead, he was inspired by his courage to defy fate and change his fate. He vowed to emulate Liu Xing in the future, persevering and never giving up.

Sect Master Hou surveyed the group's spiritual roots and talents and nodded. This group of students was not bad, and was within the normal range. There were no gifted individuals with natural or unusual spiritual roots. There were fifteen with dual spiritual roots and ninety-eight with triple spiritual roots. With a wave of his hand, Hou Youyuan divided the students in the dual, triple, quadruple, and foundation-building stages into four teams. The quadruple spiritual root Qi training team was the largest, estimated at five to six hundred.

"The second round of spiritual root testing is complete. Those with double or triple spiritual roots will enter the sect directly. The rest will undergo the third round of strength testing," Hou Youyuan announced. The candidates with double or triple spiritual roots who passed the test were overjoyed. From then on, they had the protection and resources of a major sect, and the path to immortality was within their grasp. Their nervousness finally relaxed, and they watched the other candidates take the next strength test with ease.

Sect Leader Hou produced a silk handkerchief and chanted a spell. The handkerchief expanded and covered the examinee's head, instantly radiating a tremendous pressure. The pressure varied in intensity across different realms: one level for Qi Training, one level for Early Foundation Establishment, one level for Middle Foundation Establishment, and one level for Late Foundation Establishment.

"The third round, the strength test begins. Those who can last a quarter of an hour without falling will pass the test!" Sect Leader Hou announced the rules promptly.

Liu Xing felt the pressure mounting, as if a thousand-pound weight was bearing down on him. However, his mana was three times greater than that of his peers, so he could handle it easily. However, to avoid exposing his strength and drawing too much attention, he planned to enter the sect through the specialized skills channel. He secretly observed the performance of nearly thirty candidates in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, adjusting his own strength and condition accordingly. Like everyone else, he was sweating profusely, his face flushed, and struggling to hold on. Time ticked by, and one candidate after another collapsed. Those in the Qi Condensation stage were dragged out of the sect, while those in the Foundation Establishment stage were taken aside for their specialized abilities. Finally, as time was running out, Liu Xing collapsed from exhaustion. Yue Qianjun, observing Brother Liu's collapse, was incredulous. Brother Liu's strength shouldn't be this low; he must have failed. He wasn't too worried, though. Brother Liu's professional skills were strong, and he could easily pass the tests, whether it was refining weapons or making puppets. He just didn't know how good he was at deducing restrictions. Brother Liu was confident it wouldn't be bad. Ultimately, over fifty Qi Condensation disciples remained, all of them Level 12 masters, and over forty Foundation Establishment cultivators passed, earning admission to the sect.

At this point, there were approximately sixty remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators, the vast majority of whom were in the early stages of Foundation Establishment. Only four or five, including Liu Xing, were in the middle stages of Foundation Establishment. All the late-stage cultivators had successfully passed the strength test. Sect Leader Hou looked at Liu Xing in the crowd with a bit of doubt. This young man, who had so astonished him on his path of refining his mind, had such poor spiritual roots and such poor strength. It seemed a bit unusual, but he was only suspicious and didn't dwell on it. He had too many important matters to deal with and didn't want to spend too much time on a young, entry-level cultivator.

"Those who have passed the tests, please step aside and discuss initiation with the respective peak's recruiters. The remaining Foundation Establishment candidates will undergo a final round of skills testing." Sect Master Hou quickly made the arrangements. The peak's recruiters first quickly communicated with the dual-spiritual root initiates, promising their respective recruitment conditions. Everyone was arguing enthusiastically, and Sect Master Hou didn't intervene, allowing each peak to showcase its abilities. Finally, amidst the tussling, the initiators were divided among the various candidates. Then, everyone quietly watched the professional skills exams, though with less anticipation. Historically, independent cultivators with specialized skills were rare, rarely finding such talent elsewhere. Masters possessing specialized skills were highly respected in the world of immortal cultivation, welcomed with courtesy and generously hired as guest officials wherever they were, without the need to seek patronage from a major sect. As expected, the only two who emerged victorious were Wu Yong, an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, who passed the weapon refining assessment, and Liu Xing, who passed the restriction assessment. Both were granted privileged admission to the Thousand Machine Sect. Yue Qianjun's anxiety finally settled, and Liu Xing gave him a reassuring look.