Immortal Mortal

“...The Spring Immortal’s Gate is officially open! I wish the various sects good luck in finding exceptional disciples. And for our participating geniuses, may you ‘spring’ into immortality and transcend mortality.”

With the end of the Xing Han Emperor’s speech, the Spring Immortal’s Gate Conference officially commenced. A huge queue of people a few metres wide appeared, forming directly at the front of the marble platform in the middle of the square.

As the Xing Han Emperor descended, two officials responsible for recording the test results stood on the two sides of the crystal pillar.

One of them rolled out a long leather scroll and announced, "Chang Luo Prefecture’s Ou Zuoce is to take the test. Chang Luo Prefecture’s Wei Xi, get ready..."

After the official reported the two names, a youth in golden robes emerged from the queue and hastily walked to the front of the marble platform. With a jump and a somersault, he landed on top of the platform. After landing on the stage, he did not walk towards the crystal pillar but turned to face the crowd.

This youth had an attractive figure. There were even a few girls screaming by the the side.

Shen Lian sneered, "This guy really loves to show off. Unless he has some heaven defying spiritual roots, many schools and sects wouldn’t want him."

The golden robed youth stood in front of the crystal pillar. A stream of khaki light rose from the pillar, reaching the 1.5 metre mark before it stopped.

The official on the other side of the pillar announced, "Chang Luo Prefecture’s Ou Zuoce, Earth intermediate grade spiritual roots. Qualification: Medium-Low."

Mo Wuji could see that the golden robed youth had quite a satisfied expression. Obviously, he was clear about the grade of his spiritual roots, and knew that it was enough for him to enter some sects as an outer disciple.

However, the youth’s expression soon hardened; no sects were interested in him.

The Xing Han Emperor made it sound easy for those with spiritual roots to enter the sects they wanted. However, the prerequisite was for the sects to be interested in them. If no sect expressed interest, then it was meaningless even if one had great spiritual roots.

The golden robed youth stood rooted to the ground, stupefied. Seeing that Ou Zuoce was still standing on the platform, the assessing official said grumpily, "You have not been chosen. Hurry and get down."

"Yes, yes..." Ou Zuoce finally came to his senses, walking down the platform with a blushed face.

Mo Wuji shook his head; even if this fella got selected by a sect, he wouldn’t achieve much. He started showing off even before his results were announced, only to end up defeated and ashamed. This was not the mentality for great people.

At this moment, a 3 metre tall khaki light shone from the crystal pillar.

"...Chang Luo Prefecture’s Wei Xi, Earth high-grade spiritual roots. Qualification: Medium-High." The assessing official called out yet again.

At this moment, two of the sects’ altars lit up with a golden light. Mo Wuji puzzledly asked Shen Lian, "Shen Lian, those two sects are interested in Wei Xi, right? Why are there only two sects interested in a high-grade spiritual root? Don’t tell me the sects are only looking for those with supreme-grade spiritual roots?"

Shen Lian answered, "Naturally, that’s not the case. Unless it’s for a peak level genius, sects usually won’t compete for a disciple. These two sects probably indicated their interest at the same time. Usually, you would only see one light."

"Earth Sects Golden Spear Sect and Fire Phoenix School have selected Wei Xi at the same time. May Wei Xi go over and take his pick. Next, Chang Luo Prefecture’s Cheng Fei is to take the test..."

The official continued to call out.

Many eager and envious eyes landed on Wei Xi; not only was he favoured by an Earth Sect, he had the privilege of picking his sect.

As everyone’s eyes were on Wei Xi, a towering red light drew their eyes back to the crystal pillar. This light was approximately 4.5 metres tall. If it was a little taller, it would have reached the top. Nonetheless, it was an incredibly dazzling pillar of light.

This reminded Mo Wuji of Yan’Er. When she tested for her spiritual roots, there was also a similar towering pillar of light. Her light wasn’t as high as this Chang Fei definitely because her testing crystal pillar was of an inferior grade.

"Chang Luo Prefecture’s Cheng Fei, Fire supreme-grade spiritual roots. Qualification: High-High..." the official announced with a trembling voice.

As he announced the results, more than ten altars lit with a golden light. Obviously, this Cheng Fei had attracted more than ten sects to compete for him.

"Quasi-sky Sect Heavenly Temple, Distant Fire Sect, Jade Net Sect, Demonic Sect..."

As the official reported the names of the interested sects, Shen Lian muttered astonishedly, "What a fella! In just a short moment, almost all the quasi-sky sects in Xing Han Empire have entered the fray."

Mo Wuji clenched his fist; he suddenly thought of that god damned woman who snatched Yan’Er away, and could not help but get infuriated. This was the place Yan’Er should be. She should be here picking her sect, instead of being snatched away soundlessly.

There were so many quasi-sky sects she could choose from. This was exactly the kind of treatment a Gao Kao [1] scholar would experience. Under the awed and envious eyes of the crowd, Cheng Fei chose the Heavenly Temple.

In the following tests, there weren’t anymore supreme-grade spiritual roots. The best were the high-grade spiritual roots. Most of the participants had low-grade spiritual roots, followed by intermediate-grade spiritual roots.

"Wuji, I actually have Earth intermediate-grade spiritual roots! I get to take part in the selection..." Ding Bu’Er’s excited voice called over. Mo Wuji turned and saw the jumpy figure of Ding Bu’Er rushing over.

"Bu’Er, congratulations!" Mo Wuji was genuinely happy for Ding Bu’Er.

"Why don’t you also go and try your luck?" Shen Lian asked Mo Wuji curiously.

Mo Wuji did not say anything. He only had mortal roots, there wasn’t any luck for him to try.

"Ai, Wen Manzhu is going up the platform..." Ding Bu’Er cut himself off halfway through his sentence, remembering the rumors between Wen Manzhu and Mo Wuji.

A red light beam emerged from the pillar and rose to the 2.5 metre mark. Mo Wuji sighed in his heart; this Wen Manzhu had not bad spiritual roots.

As usual, the official reported, "Cheng Yu State’s Wen Manzhu, Fire high-grade spiritual roots. Qualification: Medium-High."

Three golden lights simultaneously lit up, ostensibly interested in Wen Manzhu’s fire affinity spiritual roots. Mo Wuji saw the Heavenly Temple’s light lighting up, and immediately knew that Wen Manzhu would choose the Heavenly Temple.

"This lady is really lucky," Ding Bu’Er lamented saltily.

Mo Wuji laughed. High-grade spiritual roots? So what? He did not have spiritual roots but he was no less than geniuses with high-grade spiritual roots.

"Get out of here. Why is there a beggar like you here at the Spring Immortal’s Gate? This is simply humiliating this grand affair..." A snappy voice resounded somewhere near Mo Wuji. At the same time, Mo Wuji heard a painful muffle.

Mo Wuji turned back and saw a disheveled, emaciated girl being kicked. When she fell, Mo Wuji’s heart skipped a beat. At the next moment, Mo Wuji immediately rushed over.

Yan’Er. She must be Yan’Er... He definitely did not see wrongly. But... Why was Yan’Er here? How did she fall to such a sticky situation?

[1] Gao Kao (高考) is China’s National College Examinations.