The floor, paved in white jade, reflected faces filled with alarm and irrepressible curiosity.
Reverence and fervor for immortals were etched into their very bones. How could this fellow disciple be so bold?
The young men and women, who had only just left home, were terribly nervous, afraid of provoking the immortals’ wrath. Yet they could not help pricking up their ears.
“You certainly have nerve,” came a cool, detached voice from above. “If only your talent were as great.”
How could they possibly offer her guidance?
And why should they guide her merely because she asked?
“My courage is my talent!” Nangong Yu lifted her chin. This time, she did not keep a low profile; her expression was proud.
This was the Heart-Questioning Trial. She remembered clearly that it was not over yet, and she had to follow the rules.
To question one’s heart meant that whatever one thought in one’s heart, one had to say aloud.
And her courage was precisely her greatest talent. The infinite survival game had taught her that, and she believed it wholeheartedly.
There were, in fact, innate talents in the infinite survival game. Some people gained enhanced intelligence, some awakened supernatural abilities, and some received boosts to their luck. All manner of overpowered gifts had appeared.
Those people were heaven’s favored, always at the top of the rankings, their reputations known throughout the player community.
But Nangong Yu had never awakened any special gift. When the infinite survival game first descended, her initial attributes had received no bonuses. After every dungeon, when the system distributed rewards, she had never obtained one either.
Yet she had survived.
Her courage, her bravery, her intelligence—everything her grandfather and grandmother had taught her, including the house her grandmother had promised her but which she had not yet inherited—all of it made up her talent.
She did not need to envy anyone else’s gifts. “My talent is very high!”
“...”
A row of speechless faces looked down from above.
Cultivators were rarely moved by emotion, especially when facing a group of children who had only just entered the sect—most of whom were still ordinary mortals.
But Nangong Yu... how had she managed to say that out loud?
Even the Ziyang Sect, which did not place much importance on spiritual aptitude, could not overlook such dreadful qualifications.
“Zhou Wan will be my disciple. You may divide up the rest among yourselves.” In an instant, a figure in white descended from above and swept through the hall.
Accompanied by a delighted cry, one disciple vanished from the first row.
“Mo Jiuyou will be my disciple.” Another elder rose, called Mo Jiuyou by name, and strode straight out of the hall.
“Master, Nangong Yu—” Lifted by the collar, Mo Jiuyou hurriedly pointed below, but he managed only the beginning of his sentence before disappearing.
After that, more elders rose and called out names.
Nangong Yu was merely an insignificant mortal.
Her spiritual aptitude was so abysmal that she was someone despised by Heaven itself. That was already the greatest punishment she could receive.
—Having no spiritual roots was not the most frightening thing. The most frightening thing was having spiritual roots, yet being unable to cultivate.
She had been hated by the heavens since birth.
One disciple after another was taken away. Each wore an expression of joy and pride as they disappeared from the great hall.
There was a small dispute over who would take Xiao Junlin and Zhao Ziyun. Several elders argued for a while, though it did not escalate into a fight.
In the end, only Nangong Yu remained.
Above, most of the seats stood empty. Only the Sect Master and two elders remained.
Nangong Yu looked at one, then the other.
“Which of you will take her as a disciple?” the Sect Master asked the two elders.
According to the rules of the Ziyang Sect, anyone who made it to the top of the Celestial Stairway became an inner disciple.
That meant being taken under the wing of an elder and becoming one of the Ziyang Sect's key disciples.
"I don't take disciples. The Sect Master knows that." With that, one elder's figure dissolved like mist.
It had only been a projection.
That left two people above.
Nangong Yu looked from the Sect Master to the other elder.
"Not going to say something nice?" the Sect Master hinted. "It seems your options are running out."
Nangong Yu curled her lip. "I'm giving my master a dragon. This isn't about who chooses me as a disciple. It's about who I choose as my master."
What a joke.
Taking a master was basically like stamping herself with the mark of a fixed boss.
It wasn't as though that was a good thing.
Nangong Yu had climbed to the summit of Azurecloud Peak only to get a look at these bosses and memorize their faces, so she would recognize them if she ran into them later.
"A dragon?!" The Sect Master was stunned.
The elder beside him looked equally shocked. "Where did you get a dragon?"
The pressure on her suddenly intensified as the elder said, "Do you know that dragons are demon emperors, the overlords of all races?"
What was more, after the great war a hundred thousand years ago, the demon emperors had been weakened and found it difficult to reproduce. Races such as dragons and phoenixes had already gone extinct.
Where could she possibly have gotten a dragon?!
"Oh, it's not alive," Nangong Yu added. "Just dragon whiskers, dragon horns, dragon scales, dragon teeth, dragon blood, and things like that."
Just?! Those things?!
Above her, the Sect Master and elder nearly jumped from their seats. "How did you come by such things?"
"None of your business," Nangong Yu said. "I just have them."
That was right. The Myriad Treasures Trading House owed her.
Back when Ruo Zhu had gone there to sell materials, the Myriad Treasures Trading House had cheated him. Nangong Yu had promised to recover what was owed, and anything extra was her reward for standing up for him.
The Sect Master considered this, then smiled. "I understand. You're bluffing."
Children, after all. Unable to find a master, anxious in their hearts, so she had started boasting outrageously.
Nangong Yu crossed her arms, tapping one toe against the ground. "Which one of you is taking me as a disciple? If neither of you will, I'm leaving."
Dragon or no dragon, she was genuinely calm.
"Leaving?" the Sect Master asked curiously. "Where would you go?"
"Become an outer disciple, obviously!" Nangong Yu said with a dismissive curl of her lip. "If climbing the Celestial Stairway still doesn't get me into the inner sect, you should have said so earlier. I wouldn't have bothered climbing it. What a waste of effort!"
She truly did not care about becoming an inner disciple? The Sect Master and Elder Ling Heng exchanged a glance. They had originally intended to brush her off, but now their interest was piqued.
To cultivators, after all, time was the cheapest thing in the world.
"You really don't care about becoming an inner disciple?" the Sect Master asked.
Nangong Yu gave a cold laugh. "A bunch of irresponsible people who can't recognize talent when they see it. You're not worthy of my dragon. Go eat earthworms instead!"
The Sect Master's face stung with embarrassment. Though he felt she had not been cursing him specifically, he still shifted slightly in his seat. "On the Azurecloud Stairway, you cursed the most viciously. The elders believe you are crude, rude, and beyond refinement."
"Exactly," Nangong Yu said. "I'm beyond refinement, so none of you have to do anything. Just push all the responsibility onto someone else."
The sect rules were clear: whoever climbed the Azurecloud Stairway became an inner disciple.
And being an inner disciple meant having a master to guide you.
“But no one is willing to take her in now. If that isn’t irresponsible, then what is?”
The Sect Master glanced to the side. Elder Ling Heng did not disappoint him, saying, “Climbing the Azure Cloud Stairway has always meant becoming an inner disciple. It is a sect custom, but it was never written into the sect rules.”
In other words, it was an established convention. Refusing to follow it would not technically violate any rules.
“Wow! The elders are exploiting a loophole!” Nangong Yu’s eyes lit up, and she could not help revealing an admiring expression. “The elders are so clever!”
Elder Ling Heng was instantly struck speechless.
The Sect Master lowered his head to hide a smile. Being cornered like this by a mortal child was both novel and rather amusing.
The admiration vanished from Nangong Yu’s face, replaced by impatience. “If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving?”
The Sect Master raised a hand and waved, indicating that she could go.
What else could they do? Neither he nor Elder Ling Heng intended to take her as a disciple.
“Fine.” Nangong Yu held out her hand as well. Unlike the Sect Master’s inward-facing palm, hers faced upward. “Hand over the compensation.”
The Sect Master froze for a moment, while Elder Ling Heng, standing beside him, leaned forward with newfound interest. “What compensation?”
“I climbed the Azure Cloud Stairway. When you recruited disciples, you told everyone that whoever climbed it would become an inner disciple. I don’t care whether it was written into the sect rules—you said it publicly. I believed you, I climbed it, and I made it to the top,” Nangong Yu said.
“Is my trust worth nothing? Is my effort worth nothing? Is being deceived and having my heart broken worth nothing?” Anger appeared on her face.
[Watch Yourself]: While wearing this title, any being you gaze upon will have their heart shrink to one-third smaller than usual.
(Note: If the target has no heart, a random organ will be selected instead.)
In that instant, as the mortal girl fixed her gaze on them, both the Sect Master and Elder Ling Heng felt their hearts clench tightly.
An indescribable feeling rose from the depths of their instincts. Almost immediately, the Sect Master said, “What do you want?”
Nangong Yu folded her arms. “You decide.”
That was precisely what made it difficult.
As the Sect Master pondered, she added, “Let me see the sort of wealth a sect counted among the Five Great Sects and Eight Major Schools possesses.”
Then she continued, “Of course, if the Ziyang Sect has fallen on hard times and can only fob me off with junk, I won’t complain.”
She put on a kind expression. “I’m very considerate toward sects.”
Elder Ling Heng could not stop himself from rolling his eyes.
Aside from being a mortal, there was nothing ordinary about this child.
A flash of insight passed through his mind, but it was too faint for him to seize.
“Then I’ll give you a ten-thousand-year cold jade bed.” After some thought, the Sect Master produced a large jade bed that radiated biting cold. “My master gave this to me when I first became his disciple.”
A nostalgic look appeared on his face. “Your spiritual roots are poor, so cultivation will surely be slow for you. This cold jade bed can help calm your mind and gather your qi, guide the circulation of spiritual energy, and nourish both your body and soul.”
It was an exceptionally precious treasure. His master had crossed the Nine Provinces Continent and traveled to the far northern icefields, where he excavated a complete piece of cold jade from ten thousand meters beneath the ice.
He had accepted many disciples before, including personal disciples, yet he had never been willing to give this cold jade bed away. But today, for some reason...
Nangong Yu eyed his reluctant expression with suspicion. “Couldn’t I just sit on a block of ice to calm my mind and focus my spirit?”
“You’d freeze to death!” The sect master, offended that she failed to appreciate its value, was about to put it away. “Forget it if you don’t want it!”
He had barely been willing to give it to her in the first place!
“I never said I didn’t want it.” Nangong Yu immediately stepped forward. At the touch of her fingertip, the Cold Jade Bed vanished.
The sect master froze, his breath catching. “You put it away?”
“Mm-hm.” Nangong Yu answered casually. “Did no one report it to you? I may be a mortal, but I came across a fortuitous opportunity. I have a storage treasure.”
The sect master stared at her intently.
A mortal disciple who had only just entered the sect and possessed such poor talent... who would go out of their way to report her circumstances to the sect master?
“I heard you helped Xie Jinyue and the others break through?” The sect master recalled the matter.
Before this, he had only thought her crude, disrespectful, and beyond redemption.
But now, one report after another from Chen Zhi began to connect in his mind.
“It had nothing to do with me.” To his surprise, Nangong Yu repeatedly waved her hands, refusing to take credit. “I didn’t do anything. They broke through just by drinking some soup. What does that have to do with me?”
The sect master told her to explain in detail.
Nangong Yu looked around. The sect master actually understood what she meant. With a sweep of his sleeve, a chair flew over to settle behind her.
Nangong Yu sat down, then looked at the space in front of her. This time, the sect master pretended not to understand.
“I’m thirsty,” Nangong Yu said. “What time does the Purple Sun Sect serve meals?”
The sect master flicked a fasting pill toward her.
“Alas, alas,” Nangong Yu sighed dramatically. “Our Purple Sun Sect really has fallen on hard times. Had I known, I would have gone to the Central Continent.”
The sect master: “...”
Elder Ling Heng had matters to attend to, yet he could not bear to leave. “Who told you not to?”
This child was taking a mile when given an inch. They could not indulge her too much.
“Wasn’t this place closer?” Nangong Yu replied.
The sect master said, “Wasn’t it because one of our disciples slaughtered half the villagers of Little Swallow Village, and you came seeking revenge?”
His eyes were cool and clear, as though they could see through everything.
Nangong Yu paused. She clenched the fasting pill in her hand and crushed it. “The sect master can’t control his disciples. The Discipline Hall can’t intimidate them. The sect teaches cultivation but not how to be decent people. The Purple Sun Sect is rotten to the core!”
Hiss.
The sect master felt his heart tighten painfully.
“Aren’t you afraid of dying? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?” Elder Ling Heng’s expression darkened.
Nangong Yu said, “If you have no shame, then go ahead and kill me.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, a stream of spiritual power swiftly enveloped Nangong Yu. It was not meant to take her life, but to shield her.
“You little brat, can’t you speak properly for once?” The sect master rubbed his temples wearily and glanced to the side.
Elder Ling Heng had merely spoken harshly; he had never intended to act. The sect master’s response was rather humiliating for him.
He gave a cold snort. “The Purple Sun Sect has tens of thousands of disciples. Is it not normal for one or two of them to escape discipline?”
Nangong Yu nodded emphatically. “Exactly. Since you can’t restrain your disciples, you take it out on the victims instead. Scare the victims to death, and then everything is settled once and for all.”
Elder Ling Heng: “...”
The sect master raised a hand, sending another stream of spiritual power flying out to reinforce the protective barrier. He glanced at Elder Ling Heng beside him, whose expression was far from pleasant, and gently advised, “Don’t you have other matters to attend to?”
“I have nothing to do!” Elder Ling Heng flicked his sleeve and shifted into a different sitting posture. Looking at Nangong Yu, he said, “I’ll give you a chance—become my disciple.”
Nangong Yu looked at him. “I’m not necessarily asking you to be my master.”
Elder Ling Heng waved a hand. “I don’t want your dragon. I’ll even give you another dragon in return.”
Hm? Nangong Yu was immediately intrigued. “Then go on.”
