Heaven’s Shadow

“What’s the matter?” Yan Luo turned around and asked Yi Xin.

Yi Xin looked somewhat embarrassed but gathered her courage and said, “Senior Sister, I heard that the selection for cultivating spiritual power is about to be finalized. How many people are they going to choose this time?”

Yan Luo was momentarily surprised. “Why do you ask?”

Yi Xin hesitated for a moment and then said hesitantly, “Um… I have a friend who also wants to compete for this opportunity.”

Yan Luo smiled and asked, “Are there candidates from your family among the miscellaneous disciples accepted for spiritual power cultivation this year?”

Yi Xin quickly shook her head. “No, it’s not from my family. It’s a friend of mine.” She stole a glance at Yan Luo and continued, “I just wanted to ask if you could give him a chance…”

Looking at her, Yan Luo smiled faintly. “Little girl, are you asking me to bend the rules?”

Yi Xin was startled. “Of course not, Senior Sister. It’s just that, according to the rules, as a direct disciple, I have the qualification to recommend candidates for spiritual power cultivation. So I just wanted to ask if you could consider…”

Yan Luo thought for a moment and said, “Well, the selections are going to be announced in three or four days. I remember the quotas are almost filled.”

“Oh?” Yi Xin was surprised and then looked disappointed. She murmured, “Oh no! I’m too late.” She looked somewhat disheartened and glanced at Yan Luo with a hint of pleading in her eyes.

Yan Luo looked at her and suddenly chuckled. “Little girl, why are you pretending to be pitiful? Forget it, forget it. It’s because you’re likely to become a true disciple soon, so you have quite a lot of face.” She then said, “Tell me the name of your friend. Let me see if I can squeeze him in. But I must remind you, spiritual power cultivation has certain requirements on the foundation of Dao. If he fails during the inspection later, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Of course, I understand,” Yi Xin said eagerly, nodding repeatedly. She smiled and said, “Thank you so much for your kindness, Senior Sister. My friend’s name is Lu Chen.”

“Lu Chen?” Yan Luo furrowed her brows slightly.

“Yes, that’s right. 6 as in the number, and Chen as in dust. Lu Chen,” Yi Xin repeated quickly, fearing that Yan Luo might misunderstand.

Yan Luo nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll make a note of it.”

Yi Xin smiled with joy, unable to contain her happiness. After chatting with Yan Luo for a while in the quiet hall, she bid farewell and left.

Watching the cheerful figure of the girl as she left, Yan Luo shook her head with a smile. Then, she sat back and pondered for a moment before standing up and walking to a cabinet nearby. She opened one of the drawers and took out a letter.

The smile on Yan Luo’s face had disappeared by now. With a calm expression, she opened the letter and quickly found a page where several names were written.

Yan Luo read through each name one by one until her gaze stopped at the last name.

It read “Lu Chen.”

Yan Luo stared at the two words, her eyebrows slightly raised. After a moment, she muttered to herself in a low voice, “Who is this Lu Chen? Why are so many people trying to secretly help him?”

***

Three days later, Lu Chen received a notification from Zhou Kui, who managed their group of miscellaneous disciples, asking him to go to Shiban Mountain for the inspection of spiritual power cultivation. At that time, he was still working in the spiritual field and was somewhat surprised by the news. However, on his way to the main hall on the mountain, he saw Yi Xin waiting for him with a smiling face under a lush pine tree, and he understood what was going on.

It was a beautiful day with clear skies and gentle breeze. Yi Xin stood under the tree, smiling brightly, radiating youth and beauty, attracting the attention of many miscellaneous disciples passing by.

Lu Chen intentionally lagged behind, waiting until most of the others had passed before approaching her quietly. “Is this your way, Miss Yi?”

Yi Xin snorted and looked proud, saying, “How about it? Not bad, am I?”

Lu Chen gave her a thumbs-up and said, “Impressive.”

Yi Xin covered her mouth and laughed, looking very pleased. Then, she glanced at the main hall ahead and whispered, “Don’t be too happy yet. I heard they’re going to select fifty people this time for spiritual power cultivation, but just now, I saw at least sixty or seventy people coming up here. Don’t get rejected.”

Lu Chen smiled and said, “I should be fine. Spiritual power cultivation focuses on using one’s own spiritual power to nurture special spiritual plants, especially those suited to wood and earth attributes. Although my talent is mediocre, I do have a earth attribute pillar on the Five Elements Divine Disk.”

Yi Xin clapped her hands and smiled, “That’s great! Just pass the assessment. You go up first, and I’ll try to sneak a peek from the side.”

Lu Chen chuckled but didn’t say anything. He walked towards the main hall on the mountain.

***

Inside the main hall on Shiban Mountain, all the miscellaneous disciples gathered together under the call of Bai Cao Tang. Lu Chen stood among the crowd, looking around. Sure enough, there were many people here, about sixty or seventy.

Although there were many people, the main hall was not noisy. Kunlun Sect emphasized discipline, and even miscellaneous disciples had been educated repeatedly after joining. No one dared to make loud noises here casually.

After a while, a group of people walked out from the back of the main hall. Leading them was Yan Luo, a Golden Core cultivator of He Tong Yan, followed by seven or eight disciples, ranging from Foundation Building to Qi Refining stages, all of whom appeared to be talented direct disciples, significantly higher in status compared to the miscellaneous disciples.

Yan Luo didn’t bother with reprimands or speeches. She went straight to the main seat at the back of the hall. Someone naturally stepped forward next to her to address the crowd, succinctly explaining that today’s task was to assess everyone’s aptitude and determine who was most suitable for spiritual power cultivation. This process would be overseen personally by Senior Sister Yan Luo.

Following this, the direct disciples descended and divided the miscellaneous disciples into several groups to begin the inspection. The method of inspection was similar to the one used when most people first entered the Sect, involving a mirror that judged their aptitude, confirming what Yi Xin had said earlier about the focus on the adaptability of the Five Elements spiritual power.

Lu Chen was placed in one of these groups. Soon, the inspection began, progressing rather swiftly. Each person called forward placed their hand on the mirror’s surface to absorb the reflected light, revealing their innate aptitude.

Before long, they called his name.

When the two words “Lu Chen” were called out, Yan Luo, sitting above, glanced over calmly in their direction. In a corner at the back of the hall, Yi Xin peeked out cautiously, looking worriedly towards them.

Lu Chen walked over calmly. His expression was serene as he placed his hand on the mirror’s surface, closed his eyes slightly, composed himself, and then began to channel his spiritual power.

In the depths of the distant mountains, there was suddenly a faint, deep rumble echoing through the clouds and mist, faintly resounding.

***

In legends, during the judgment of the Immortal Mirror, extraordinary geniuses might witness auspicious signs.

The heavens roared, the earth trembled, rainbow lights crossed the sky, cloud dragons and mist tigers soared, and auspicious beasts flew. These were miraculous phenomena rarely seen in the cultivation world, mostly reserved for the one in a thousand Five Pillars geniuses.

Those fortunate enough to be blessed by heaven during the judgment appeared majestic and awe-inspiring, earning reverence and admiration from others. Ordinary cultivators, however, typically only manifested a few rays of spiritual light corresponding to their Five Elements spiritual power.

Today, within this grand hall, such unexpected occurrences were improbable. Most of the miscellaneous disciples were one-pillar disciples, possessing the lowest aptitude. In their spiritual seas on the divine disk, there was usually only a solitary ray of spiritual light, forever limited to this single connection.

The hall was filled with these solitary and simple rays of light, each person silently bearing their fate and accepting this reality as the most basic individuals in this world.

Lu Chen placed his hand on the mirror.

His face remained calm and natural, showing no signs of nervousness or tension. He appeared like an ordinary mortal who had long accepted his fate, simple and unremarkable.

The Immortal Mirror artifact trembled slightly.

Standing next to the Immortal Mirror was Zhou Kui. His expression was serious, though inwardly somewhat bored. After all, he had seen it all before, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He had even forgotten that when ordinary one-pillar disciples came for inspection, the Immortal Mirror merely reflected light without any tremors or unusual signs.

In that moment, like a flash of lightning passing through the sky in an instant.

In that moment, like the blink of an eye.

In that moment, as if it were an instant, the Immortal Mirror suddenly emitted a faint light, trembling as ripples spread across its surface, several strange lights interweaving into a chaotic and bizarre image resembling scribbles. Then, in that indescribable tiny moment, a swath of black suddenly spread, erasing all radiance.

That black was as deep as the sea.

That black light was like the eternal loneliness of the deep night.

However, after a moment, everything dissipated. Like a momentary daze, like flowing clouds and wind, all those phantom images vanished without a sound.

There was no faint light, no unusual colors, and no darkness.

The Immortal Mirror returned to calmness, as usual, as if nothing had happened. After that fleeting moment, everything was like a dream or bubble, even too fast to be remembered or seen clearly, especially that eerie scene.

On the mirror’s surface of the Immortal Mirror, a gentle yellow light slowly lit up.

Solitary, yet bright.

***

Zhou Kui nodded and said, “Pure earth attribute spiritual power, quite good.”

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