The female lead thought she had a "proud and arrogant" character script.

Lost in thought.

Only Luo Qingcheng was very excited.

it is good!

well said!

She clapped her hands, the sparse applause echoing in the quiet main hall, drawing everyone's attention.

Luo Qingcheng hesitated for a moment.

Why aren't these people clapping?

She looked at the red bean beside her.

Hongdou looked at her in surprise, met Luo Qingcheng's gaze, and asked, "Miss... what are you doing?"

She felt quite embarrassed.

Oh no, her young lady has done something foolish again.

Luo Qingcheng lowered his hands, looked around, and realized that he had become the center of attention.

He was taken aback and said, "Doesn't the pause mean 'applause should be given here'?"

Red bean on forehead.

Helpless, she said, "Miss, I don't quite understand what you mean."

Luo Qingcheng: ...

She chuckled awkwardly, then turned to meet the Grand Elder's icy gaze, and couldn't help but shiver.

In an attempt to mitigate the negative consequences of ingrained thinking, he fawned, "Sword Master, please continue, please continue."

The Grand Elder didn't hold it against her, after all, he had watched Luo Qingcheng pass through the trials all the way.

They've developed some resistance to this unconventional girl.

His voice drew everyone's attention back to him.

"The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Evolution is forty-nine, and man escapes to one. I ask the Sword Sect to seek the transformation of oneness through the sword. We do not force our disciples to have any particular talent. Those who reach this point are not necessarily the most talented, but they must have their own unwavering persistence and pursuit."

This round of assessment, getting to the bottom of things, aims to make disciples understand that without talent, the path to mastery requires much more blood and sweat; knowing oneself and one's enemy is the only way to fight without confusion.

The Grand Elder looked around and saw that many people had been moved by his words and seemed to be deep in thought. Only Luo Qingcheng looked foolish, staring at him with bright eyes.

Great Elder:...

Even he couldn't see through what Luo Qingcheng was thinking at that moment.

Forgot the lyrics.

Withdrawing his gaze, the Grand Elder abruptly ended his speech, saying, "Everyone may step forward one by one to test their spiritual roots."

He retreated to the back, but did not leave, clearly intending to watch the whole thing.

The disciple in charge stepped forward again, stood beside the testing stone, and waved.

"Please queue here and keep a distance of three feet from each other."

Luo Qingcheng pulled Hongdou and squeezed through.

Hongdou was being pulled along, and seeing her excitement, she was quite puzzled. "Miss, your spiritual root—"

She clearly has no spiritual roots, so why does she act so confident?

Luo Qingcheng said matter-of-factly, "It's alright. Didn't you hear what the Sword Master just said? Those who lack talent can make up for it through hard work."

Besides, she is Feng Aotian; if she doesn't have it now, she will have it in the future!

red beans:……

Kong Fuling leaned closer and nodded in agreement, "Sister is right. Mother also told me that hard work is more important than talent!"

red beans:……

She fanned the air, wondering why she smelled a faint green tea fragrance.

Seeing that others were agreeing with him, Luo Qingcheng became even more confident.

She thought Kong Fuling was like her, a high-scoring student with poor talent.

Treating them as like-minded partners, the three of them, one holding Hongdou and the other holding Kong Fuling, squeezed to the front of the line.

"Senior brother! Let's test first!"

The disciple in charge looked up.

Because the Sword Inquiry Sect does not limit talent, many of those who come to participate in the Sword Inquiry Sect's assessment are people of mediocre talent. Although the words spoken by the Grand Elder just now shook everyone's hearts, the cultivation world has always valued talent above all else, and those who did not want to become a laughing stock did not step forward for the time being.

Luo Qingcheng and the two of them immediately became the focus of attention.

A man with bandages wrapped around his hand said enviously, "Judging from their confident demeanor, they must be extremely talented."

"Yes, I heard that the young master of Kongxun Palace, who has a natural sword heart, also participated in this year's admissions ceremony."

"Then it might be one of them."

"Ugh--"

The disciple in charge raised his hand and beckoned.

"Who comes first?"

Luo Qingcheng knew he didn't have any spiritual roots, so he naturally wouldn't rush to take the test and pushed Hongdou forward.

"Red Bean, go for it! I'm rooting for you!"

Hongdou stumbled as she was pushed.

“Miss! I can walk by myself!” Hongdou steadied herself and walked to the testing stone.

The disciple in charge looked you up and down. "You've already reached the Foundation Establishment stage?"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding people began to discuss it animatedly.

"Could she be the young palace master?"

"What young master would refer to himself as 'this servant'?"

"She doesn't look very old, but I didn't expect her to have already reached the Foundation Establishment stage."

Even those who were originally highly talented had to put aside their arrogance and take Hongdou seriously.

"Yes, I just broke through not long ago."

The disciple in charge responded indifferently.

He wasn't surprised that there had been Foundation Establishment stage disciples who wanted to join the Sword Inquiry Sect in the past.

The question was asked simply because Hongdou looked quite young.

Give me the license plate number.

Hongdou hurriedly took the number tag from her waist and handed it to him.

The disciple in charge took it, raised his voice, and explained to Hongdou and the others, "Simply place your hand on the testing stone."

Hongdou quickly stretched out her right hand and placed it in the center of the handprint on the stone.

A suction force emanated from the stone, instantly wiping out all the spiritual energy within her body.

Hongdou's face turned pale.

I feel like my body is being hollowed out.

As the surrounding temperature cooled down, a snowflake slowly drifted down from above the test stone, turning into ice crystals in the air.

Then, a stream of icy blue spiritual energy transformed into characters in the air.

The disciple in charge read out, "Single ice spirit root, early Foundation Establishment stage, bone age thirteen, cultivation—"

"Ok?"

As he was reading, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

Hongdou asked anxiously, "What's wrong?"

The disciple in charge looked her up and down, as if this was the first time he had given her a proper look.

But the test stone will not make a mistake.

He shook his head and continued reading, "I have been cultivating for more than a month."

As soon as these words came out, it immediately caused an uproar.

"A month? How is that possible?!"

At the age of thirteen and the early stage of Foundation Establishment, one can only be described as an average genius. However, if one reaches the Foundation Establishment stage in less than two months of cultivation, even if it is only at the early stage, it is still too heaven-defying!

"I've heard that an inner disciple of another sect also has a single ice spirit root, but their cultivation speed isn't that terrifying!"

Upon seeing the test results inside the water curtain, a group of elders became restless.

The second elder said first, "You wait here for a moment, I'll go get you some oranges and be right back."

The elder from Sichuan said, "Your abacus beads have all gone up on my head. I'll be next to you when I die."

"Senior brother, I want to go too. By the way, senior brother, please speak Mandarin, I can't understand it."

……

Red Bean has no idea that she is now a hot commodity.

Seeing that nothing was wrong, she breathed a sigh of relief, withdrew her hand, and stood aside.

Two months ago, she was just an ordinary person, and she didn't know anything about whether someone was talented or not.

Amidst the noise, Luo Qingcheng nodded, his face full of pride, looking as if he were honored.

The disciple in charge was certainly worldly-wise.

"next."

Kong Fuling stepped forward and handed over the number plate before the disciple in charge could speak.

She even smiled at the disciple in charge, looking adorably well-behaved and sensible.

The disciple in charge took it and gestured for her to put her hand on the testing stone.

As soon as Kong Fuling touched the testing stone, a powerful spiritual force rose straight into the sky from the testing stone.

A strong wind made the hems of the clothes of the people around them flutter loudly.

He couldn't help but squint.

It took a few seconds for the spiritual energy to be completely absorbed by the testing stone.

A nearly transparent stream of spiritual energy slowly rose from the testing stone, forming characters that were not very clear.

Luo Qingcheng couldn't see clearly and could only wait for the disciple in charge to read it aloud.

Looking at the disciple in charge, one could see a faint hint of surprise on his usually expressionless face.

Luo Qingcheng recalled the unusual nature of the testing stone earlier, and his previously excited expression suddenly turned calm.

So, is the talent of Poria cocos even higher than that of red beans?!

Luo Qingcheng: ...

He had a long face.

Her own failure was terrible, but her partner's success was even more distressing.