Section 58: Chapter 17 The Slacker
Zhong Yanhan, you’re practically demonstrating textbook foreshadowing.
If Ye Changsheng were to use sweet talk here and stir her heartstrings a bit, he might just unlock the route to conquering Zhong Yanhan.
But Ye Changsheng doesn’t see himself as an emperor building a harem. Since the script is wrong, he’ll just let it be.
He doesn’t want to further increase Luo Yingying’s blackening degree.
“Let’s encourage each other, Miss Zhong,” Ye Changsheng offered as a polite remark.
Afterward, he paid the registration fee, filled out a simple form, and waited for the examination to begin.
Ye Changsheng had heard some rumors.
The White Emperor Sword Sect, though now a prestigious great Sect, was in gradual decline. The Sect’s higher-ups were increasingly anxious, resorting to various measures in recent years.
They opened up their Sect’s disciple recruitment examination, sent core direct disciples on journeys to seek opportunities, and pressure surrounding Sects and powers to expand their territories.
Traditionally, great Sects recruit disciples based on fate.
Either through recommendations or by Elders and Masters discovering promising young talents during their travels and bringing them back to the Sect.
Only the White Emperor Sword Sect, recruiting so broadly to the world, explicitly displayed urgency.
The intelligence Luo Lin’er provided Ye Changsheng was that the White Emperor Sword Sect’s Spirit Gathering Array had a huge problem, and the spiritual energy on White Emperor Mountain was constantly leaking. They were trying to resolve this crisis through various means.
The Spirit Gathering Array was self-explanatory; it was the foundation of a Sect. Without spiritual energy, a Sect was essentially finished.
The White Emperor Sword Sect’s Spirit Gathering Array was the Sky-Opening Sword Array, meaning the Sky-Opening Sword Array had encountered some major issue.
However, the specific details could only be known after entering the White Emperor Sword Sect.
“Quiet!”
With a command, a maiden riding a sword descended from the sky.
Ye Changsheng recognized her. Wasn’t this Yu Xin’er, the devoted fan girl of Zhou Bujue?
Yu Xin’er, clad in the sword robe of a White Emperor Sword Sect Inner Disciple, adopted a stern expression and began to announce to the crowd.
“Fellow trainees, welcome to the White Emperor Sword Sect’s entrance examination. I won’t waste time with pleasantries. If you have any questions, consult the examination manual. Don’t ask if you don’t understand; we don’t accept slow-witted disciples!
Afterward, we will issue each of you a Spirit Wood name card with your registration number.
Remember, infuse it with spiritual energy to activate it. If you lose it or the Spirit Wood card stops activating, it means you’ve been disqualified!”
The disciples of the White Emperor Sword Sect distributed the Spirit Wood name cards to everyone.
Ye Changsheng took one and examined it. It required at least Qi Refining Realm cultivation to activate, directly filtering out those in the Body Tempering Entry stage.
Everyone infused spiritual power as instructed, and instantly, spiritual energy of varying qualities surged around them.
Ye Changsheng, however, frowned.
“What’s going on?”
Among the trainees taking the exam, weren’t there several with Golden Core Realm cultivation?
He probed and discovered that four individuals were deliberately concealing their cultivation.
If Ye Changsheng’s cultivation wasn’t so much higher than theirs, he might not have noticed.
The White Emperor Sword Sect disciples detected no anomaly whatsoever.
These individuals wore somewhat strange expressions, and they were all focused on one target—
Zhong Yanhan.
But she herself was completely oblivious to this.
“Alright, we’ll begin the written test now. According to your assigned numbers, enter the designated examination hall! Pay attention, cheating is prohibited. Those caught cheating will be immediately disqualified,” Yu Xin’er warned.
The crowd then proceeded into the examination halls.
…
The examination covered a wide range of topics, primarily encompassing mainstream cultivation subjects.
For instance, Sword Cultivators, Pill Cultivators, Artifact Cultivators, Talisman Cultivators, Array Cultivators… etc. It was likely that the White Emperor Sword Sect would judge the trainees based on their overall scores.
It was evident that the White Emperor Sword Sect intended to use this method to quickly recruit talented individuals who were already proficient, thereby reducing cultivation time.
It so happened that Mo Baizhi had taught Ye Changsheng a bit of everything in the Wuji Immortal Realm, so this test posed no difficulty for him.
However, he pondered whether he should aim for a perfect score.
While others were racking their brains, some even contemplating the risks of cheating, Ye Changsheng was troubled by this dilemma.
After much thought, he decided to control his score; he wouldn’t answer everything correctly to avoid being too conspicuous.
“What kind of question is this?”
However, to Ye Changsheng’s surprise, some of the test questions were rather peculiar.
For example—
[Question: If your mother and wife fell into the water simultaneously, who would you save first?]
Ye Changsheng paused for a moment before writing his answer.
[Answer: They both know how to swim; I don’t need to save them. Me jumping in would just be a nuisance.]
Several more questions followed.
For instance, [What do you do if you discover a cave mansion with people from other Sects?], [What do you do if your Master’s Dao heart becomes corrupted and they fall into the Demonic Path?], [What do you do if you are pursued by a demonic enchantress?]
Originally, Ye Changsheng wanted to be a bit playful, but considering it might affect his impression, he dutifully answered in a conventional manner.
Applying his years of experience as an undercover agent, he perfectly integrated into the role, providing straightforward answers.
“Alright, time’s up!”
After Yu Xin’er officially announced the collection of papers, she used her artifact control technique.
All the test papers flew up and settled on the table before her, stacked neatly.
Many trainees sighed with regret, their faces dim with lost hope, while some were beaming with confidence, evidently assured of high scores.
Everyone left the examination hall, awaiting the results.
During the long wait, Zhong Yanhan had been observing Ye Changsheng and finally couldn’t help but approach him.
“How did you do?” Zhong Yanhan, despite her efforts to control it, still revealed a hint of curiosity in her voice.
Ye Changsheng shook his head. “I’m a slacker. I didn’t know much, just guessed. My score should be terrible. I’ll be lucky to pass.”
“That makes sense,” Zhong Yanhan became slightly happier.
“Miss Zhong, what about you?”
“I’m absolutely confident I’ll get first place. There were just a few questions I wasn’t sure about.”
“Which ones?”
“For example, there was a question about Pill Cultivation, specifically refining the Primordial Pill,” Zhong Yanhan said. “The Primordial Pill can only be refined by Nascent Soul cultivators. Our current cultivation level is insufficient to answer it. Several questions were deliberately set this way.”
The White Emperor Sword Sect intended to include overly difficult questions to identify suspicious high-level cultivators attempting to sneak in.
However, in Ye Changsheng’s view, he had left those questions blank.
“Alright, alright, stop chattering. Now, announcing the written test results! I’ll only announce those who passed!”
Yu Xin’er, riding her flying sword, appeared in the most prominent position and announced the results to everyone.
In the end, out of nearly thousands of participants, less than a hundred passed.
“Fifth place, Yu Zhibo Shui!”
“Fourth place, Kai Mingqi!”
“Third place, Wu Zi!”
“Second place, Zhong Yanhan!”
Ye Changsheng’s name had not been called yet. Although Zhong Yanhan hadn’t secured first place, second place was still excellent.
Moreover, thinking of Ye Changsheng failing, a smile couldn’t help but curl on her beautiful face.
Zhong Yanhan said disdainfully, “Ye Changsheng, I told you long ago, you’re not suited for cultivation—”
“First place, Ye Changsheng!” Yu Xin’er loudly announced the last name.
“You, you?”
Zhong Yanhan looked at Ye Changsheng in astonishment, as if she had been slapped in the face.
“Didn’t you say you did very poorly?”
