Moving the Boulder
Bai Lang effortlessly glided over to the platform from the audience area. The senior disciple and representative of Green Pine Sect, as well as the host of the disciple selection, won the children’s attention.His appearance ceased the discussion among the immortal masters owing to his background. The elder at the table also stood up and courteously stood aside.
Bai Lang greeted the immortal masters with a fist-palm salute. “Greetings friends and elders. This one’s is here on behalf of Green Pine Sect to administrate this selection under his teacher’s instruction for his teacher is training in seclusion. Should this one have any shortcomings in his handling of the matter, please pardon him.”
“Do not mind us, and do what you must. Daoist Qingsong is an esteemed elder amongst us,” expressed a middle-aged man.
“Indeed. It is worth celebrating Daoist Qingsong’s improvements, as well!” agreed a man with a red face.
Bai Lang bowed to the man with the red face. He straightened up. “Thank you, Elders. Now, let the test commence! Please use your best judgement to select the disciples you take a liking to. According to the rules in previous years, the stone spiritual mountain ranking shall decide which of us earns the privilege to choose disciples first. We came out in first place last year and selected five disciples. Jiuhua Sect was second followed by Wordless Sect, Swallow Mountain… Each sect is allowed to select five disciples. Everyone is only permitted to select two disciples of the same level. Everyone may choose from the remainders as they see fit.”
Of the twenty-odd sects Bai Lang listed, Mu Yu could only remember the first four mentioned. Green Pine Sect was a free one and the most memorable for self-explanatory reasons. Being Bai Lang’s junior would’ve been nice, Mu Yu thought.
Chubby rolled his fingers into his palm. “Dustfallen Sect was named last. Therefore, it must be the worst sect. I mustn’t embarrass myself and end up with them.”
It didn’t take a genius to discern what the order of sects listed indicated, especially when Bai Lang’s condescending undertone reinforced the implicit suggestion. Some deemed joining Dustfallen Sect the same as closing the doors to a bright future. Still, some deemed it a positive opportunity. After all, not being wanted at all was the worse outcome possible.
Historically, Green Pine Sect would always recruit all of the candidates who showed the most potential. The top four would be able to recruit candidates they were satisfied with, while the remainder had to accept ordinary candidates. The last candidate chosen was considered one with no hope. There wasn’t much that could be done because the four biggest sects established the academy in order to recruit better disciples. The other sects were relegated to putting up with the leftovers begrudgingly.
It was acknowledged that twelve years old was the prime age for children to begin their cultivation quest. Test results before they were twelve didn’t yield accurate representations of the children’s true potential. The only way a sect could obtain an accurate reading was if they visited every village and town for every child in the age bracket every year. It was a time consuming endeavour that didn’t promise to bear fruit. Plus, it was a trade-off, in the sense that they were sacrificing their own development time to search for a talented candidate. The challenge of finding a qualified candidate was too small for smaller sects to justify the costs involved. Thus, they had to rely on recruiting candidates from the academy the four biggest sects established.
Sure, every disciple was a unique individual; however, by no means was joining a reputable sect a free ticket to becoming a skilled immortal master. If there was an advantage, it would arguably be having more motivation thanks to the more fiery competition. At most, it would mean one had a head start. Their future rode on their effort, something smaller sects knew best since they often nurtured their own share of outstanding immortal masters through that very mean.
Bai Lang gave the elder with white hair a nod. “Let us begin, Elder Xun.”
“Yes, Master Bai.”
Although the academy didn’t have much influence over other sects, Bai Lang was an exception.
After Bai Lang returned to his seat, the elder turned back to send the middle-aged immortal master a signal. The immortal master gestured he understood, then turned his attention to the children. “You may head up now. Remember: one at a time and try to move the boulder.”
Mu Yu certainly wasn’t the only one glad the hearsay wasn’t true. Well, the wealthy boy was disappointed he didn’t have a chance to flaunt his magic skills. Having said that, it was outlandish to expect them to move a boulder the size of a grown human. They were concerned what the consequences of failing to move it were. The lanky boy even felt he’d have a better chance of winning against a wild beast with his agility than moving the boulder; war of attrition was always a feasible tactic, after all. Worth noting was the test concept was puzzling. What was being tested? Strength?
The first candidate was a lean young girl. Her heart thudded hard. She tripped on the stairs, but everyone was so nervous that they couldn’t find it in them to laugh. Elder Xun gave the girl a smile. “Relax. Place your hands on the rock, and you will know what to do. It’s simple.”
The girl found it hard to believe it was as simple as Elder Xun depicted it to be. She bit down on her lips to control her tears before taking a deep breath. She placed her hands onto the boulder. Her eyes widened, and then she contracted her brows. Next, she shut her eyes. Those who were aware of the process observed the girl closely. Those who didn’t tried to make sense of her reaction.
The grey boulder glowed green. Various reactions, including envy and surprise, surged through the audience. She opened her eyes and flustered upon noticing the gazes trained on her. As the boulder didn’t move, she felt uneasy.
“Don’t worry. You’ve passed the test. Take this, and go stand over there,” instructed Elder Xun, jovially passing the girl a green token.
The girl jubilantly took the token and jogged over to the spot she was directed to. Meanwhile, the children were scratching their heads, baffled if it was as simple as placing their hands onto the boulder.
When the boy next touched it, he turned the grey rock orange. Hence, Elder Xun handed the boy an orange token. The boy swung his arms and remarked, “That was so simple. I thought we had to move it to pass.”
Most of the children produced a red colour. Those who turned the boulder yellow impressed immortal masters. It soon occurred to Mu Yu that the boulder produced red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue or purple. Judging from the immortal masters’ reactions, he speculated red was ordinary, and green was considered terrific. He hadn’t noticed any colour that impressed them more than green. Around five of the children failed to change the boulder’s colour. Elder Xun uninterestedly handed them grey tokens, and that was it for them.
The four children from Raindrop Village, who were part of Xiaohu’s clique, blocked Mu Yu’s path out of the blue and gave him derisive looks. “Hey, aren’t you from Useless Village?”
Mu Yu furrowed his brows. “I’m from Waterstream Village, not Useless Village.”
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