"Finding directions is a breeze; it's a piece of cake for me."
Finding directions was too easy for Zhou Chuan. He had walked all the way from the western Mainland to the eastern Mainland on foot, losing count of how many roads he had traveled, how many jungles, seas, and lakes he had crossed, and how many towering mountains and deserts he had conquered. The moment he entered, he habitually looked for the position of the sun to determine his bearings.
"I am in the south, the mountains are to the north, and north is the correct direction."
Every few dozen steps, he would squat down, search carefully, and make a serious inspection.
"Here is a morning sun flower, and over there is a blazing sun grass. Both are sun-loving plants, and their leaning direction indicates the east. North is this way."
"Found a rattlesnake, a creature of cold and yin. The snake's tail points south, so I have my direction—go this way."
"This is a camphor rat. Camphor rats love the wind and cold, so their nest entrance faces north. Found the entrance."
"These are rare marching ants. With the Grain in Ear solar term approaching, they are busy transporting food, and their trail runs from east to west. North is this direction."
Two hours later, relying on his knowledge and experience, Zhou Chuan finally walked out of the dense fog and mist, passing the first test.
He was far from being the first to pass, using such rudimentary methods after all. The truly clever ones utilized Heavenly Derivation Star Arts, eye-opening techniques, insect-repelling methods, and other skills to easily break through the mist and find a way out.
"Oh? Fellow Daoist, what is your Cultivation base?" The person speaking to Zhou Chuan was a literati scholar named Lu Yao.
The reason Lu Yao asked was that he could not read Zhou Chuan's Cultivation base. Having walked out of the smoke and mist so quickly, he figured the other person's strength should not be underestimated. Yet, despite considering his own divine sense to be quite strong, he could not detect anything.
This time, Zhou Chuan did not answer. After suffering so many losses, he had finally learned his lesson. He figured that once he revealed the truth, he would surely be ridiculed—why ask for humiliation?
"A cold and aloof person! I like it!" Seeing that Zhou Chuan ignored him, Lu Yao instead smiled happily.
No one was in a rush to cross the river, so they stayed on the bank to rest. After a while, Zhou Chuan saw a familiar face: Chu Le arrived at the riverside along with four other examinees and sat down near him.
When the fatty saw Zhou Chuan, he was somewhat shocked. His mouth opened as if to say something, but in the end, he closed it. He was wondering if he had underestimated the guy and misjudged him.
The second test was crossing the river. The river was not particularly wide, measuring only fifty zhang across.
The calm river looked utterly ordinary, but the moment anyone waded into the water, it instantly turned violent, sweeping around like a dragon emerging from the sea, creating a terrifying suction force that pulled people in and dragged them down to the riverbed.
"Strange, Sword Qi is failing, flying magical treasures are failing, and the Divine Wind Talisman is failing too. What kind of river is this?"
"It must be a restriction against flight."
"That's right. My spirit bird went to scout just now, encountered the restriction, and couldn't get across."
"The sky won't work, so we can only take the water route."
"Tried it. The water is very deep, and there's something at the bottom. Anyone who wades in gets swept away. The first batch of people who tested it were all washed away and never came back."
Zhou Chuan had originally wanted to observe carefully before making a move, but these people were entirely caught up in debating without taking any action. Restrictions, flying prohibitions, Spiritual Power spinning out of control—he found it all very confusing.
"They have magic power, so their methods aren't suited for me. I can only walk my own path and follow my own methods." He decided he wouldn't wait any longer.
Holding a bamboo stick, he walked ahead of the crowd. He wouldn't wait; the clumsy bird flies early.
Chu Le and Lu Yao noticed Zhou Chuan making a move and both looked over at the same time.
"What is he doing? Is he going to cross the river?"
"Who is that? What is he holding in his hand... is that a spiritual item?"
"Finally someone is trying! I'm so excited!"
"Let's see if his method works before deciding."
"How very strange. He doesn't look like a cultivator at all; he's not even at the 1st Layer of Qi Condensation."
Zhou Chuan taking the lead attracted widespread attention. His approach was so unusual and unexpected.
Thud! Gathering his momentum in one breath, he jumped into the river and began to wade.
"Oh no!"
The calm river held hidden depths; they tugged at him like insects, draining away his physical strength. The current was torrential, instantly sweeping him dozens of zhang away.
He reached down with his bamboo stick to probe, but finding he couldn't touch the bottom, he had no choice but to throw the stick away.
"What do I do? Can I swim across? It's still not too late to turn back." Panic rose in his heart.
Anyone a little more observant would have noticed that the speed of the current was directly proportional to the strength of the Spiritual Power he released. Zhou Chuan wading into the water hadn't triggered the river's fury at all; the current's speed, fast as it seemed to Zhou Chuan, was nothing to them at all.
After a rapid mental calculation, Zhou Chuan ultimately decided to turn back and climb ashore. But where was that so easy? The riverbanks were wet and slippery; he kept slipping, sliding back down, and getting swept away by the current again.
"He wants to swim across? What a joke. Does he think the Water Talisman Sect's setup is made of paper?"
"Compared to others, his current speed isn't fast at all, and the river didn't even turn violent. Why is it turning out like this?"
"Did you guys notice? He hasn't used a single shred of Spiritual Power. That's probably why he didn't trigger the restriction, otherwise he would have been washed away long ago."
"No Spiritual Power? Did he do that on purpose? Or does he simply... not have any?"
At this point, everyone was just watching the spectacle, and no one offered Zhou Chuan a hand; some even burst into boisterous laughter, such as the fatty who had stood up.
"I know him. He's not from a cultivation nation; he's just some pauper who crawled out of some godforsaken corner and has never cultivated a day in his life. He doesn't have an ounce of foundation, yet he wants to test into the Water Talisman Sect? In his dreams!" Chu Le loudly exposed him.
He had almost been fooled! Earlier, seeing Zhou Chuan clear the mist before him, he had mistakenly assumed the guy was an expert. Now, witnessing this river crossing, he finally saw Zhou Chuan's true strength, so there was no need to be polite anymore.
"How dare someone who has never cultivated show up to take the entrance trial of a third-tier immortal sect? What does he think a third-tier immortal sect is?"
"How did he even pass the first test? Did someone help him, or did he just have dumb luck?"
"He's simply wasting our time. His method has zero constructive value. Everyone stop looking, and don't save him."
"We've all been tricked! Let him die!"
"Utterly boring. Don't let me lay eyes on him again."
Once they knew Zhou Chuan's background, jeers and curses came rolling in. The fatty Chu Le even threw stones at Zhou Chuan as a minor punishment.
As Zhou Chuan was suffering and receiving no sympathy, he was even struck in the head by a rock, sending blood splashing. In the blink of an eye, Zhou Chuan was swept far down the river and vanished from everyone's sight.
"Interesting. Without having cultivated, he cleared the first test purely relying on his wits. If you aren't exceptionally brilliant, then you must be blessed with great fortune. Today, I'll help you out."
Only one person looked at Zhou Chuan with an appreciative gaze—the very person Zhou Chuan had previously disdained to chat with. Lu Yao now guessed roughly how Zhou Chuan had passed the first test. The older generation in his family often told him that on the path of cultivation, fortune matters more than talent. Therefore, when walking out in the world, he would rather offend a vicious tyrant than someone possessing great fortune.
He felt that Zhou Chuan's fortune was decent, seeing as he hadn't been swept away by the river after all that.
"Am I going to die here? I won't accept this!"
The riverbank was made of some unknown material; the moment he exerted force to grab it, it would dissolve into wet, slippery mud, causing him to slip every single time.
Zhou Chuan had already swallowed a bellyful of water, and his stamina was draining away rapidly. If this kept on, he wouldn't last much longer.
"I'll pull you! Hurry!" In the midst of despair, a forceful voice rang out.
A sword hilt thrust horizontally right before his eyes. It was a fine sword, but he had no time to admire it. He was about to be swept away by the river, and he had only one chance. Without stopping to think, Zhou Chuan lunged out of sheer instinct, his hands tightly gripping the sword hilt. To call it a lifeline was no exaggeration.
Immediately afterward, a tyrannical force surged from the sword hilt, yanking his entire body straight up out of the water and hauling him ashore.
Thud, he landed heavily on the ground, the impact making his internal organs ache. Still, without that tyrannical force, there was no way he would have escaped.
Ah, he lay on the ground groaning for quite a while.
Seeing that Zhou Chuan was out of danger, Lu Yao quietly walked away, figuring that since they were both aloof types, he probably wouldn't get a word of thanks anyway.
No one cared that Zhou Chuan had been saved; even those who saw it turned a blind eye. Time waits for no one. A yellow-robed youth strolled leisurely to the riverside, extended his right hand, and rapidly formed hand seals with complex and ornate gestures.
"Appear!"
He let out a shout, his hand seals snapped to a halt, and a white mist-like halo of light materialized out of thin air, slowly wrapping around him to form a barrier. With a smug smile, he took a step forward, crossing the river with ease.
With every step he took, the halo moved an inch, clinging to him like a shadow and dodging the downward force.
When the halo met the water, ripples formed at its base, merging with the force of the current to perfectly neutralize the river's impact. Step by step, the youth in yellow robes crossed the vast river and reached the opposite shore.
The onlookers couldn't help but count the steps; the yellow-robed youth had crossed in just twenty steps, which could only be described as effortless.
"He's across! He successfully crossed the river!"
"He has a Water Spiritual Root, what's so surprising about that? The name Water Talisman Sect has 'water' in it—didn't you understand? Geniuses with Water Spiritual Roots are like fish in water here; they can achieve great things."
"So disciples with Water Spiritual Roots are the top priority. No wonder they set up a trial like this."
"He used a Water Spirit Shield—a basic technique, not profound at all."
"If it's not profound, why is he only coming to cross the river now? Doesn't he care about time, or fighting for first place?"
"Maybe he wanted to show off when there are more people, or maybe he was afraid there were fierce beasts in the water."
Some failed to cross, while others succeeded, and the clever ones figured out the details. The river water could not be touched, and the airspace above could not be violated, so one had to cross across the surface. Since there were no fierce beasts or monsters in the river, things became much simpler.
Once the first person succeeded, the others were eager to try.
Some stepped on similar halos of light, while others began crossing on clouds and mist. Examinees blessed with Water Spiritual Roots in particular charged straight to the front, seizing the initiative. Others with deep cultivation bases continuously unleashed spells, floating across, winning through sheer, robust Spiritual Power.
Chu Le was among the first batch to go. Although he didn't have a Water Spiritual Root, some of the people whose coattails he rode did, so he bribed one of them at the cost of a hundred Spiritual Stones.
The literati scholar Lu Yao crossed a bit later. He didn't have a Water Spiritual Root, but rather a Lightning Spiritual Root. Lightning, wind, and ice spiritual roots were known as mutated spiritual roots, and their quality was superior to the five elements spiritual roots. However, acquiring suitable resources for them wasn't easy, and advancing was difficult, so pledging allegiance to a major sect was the only way out.
"There's nothing in the water, so that makes it simple!" Lu Yao felt grateful to Zhou Chuan, because Zhou Chuan had stayed in the water for quite a while, proving that no living creatures were lurking beneath the surface.
Just like the others, he channeled his Spiritual Power and dashed across. When he reached the middle of the river, he lightly tapped his foot like a dragonfly skimming the water, borrowing and redirecting momentum. The difference was that while others needed to tap the water three or four times, he only needed to do it once.
As long as one didn't wade and didn't fly, having enough Spiritual Power was enough to cross the river. This test examined both talent and strength.
One hour later, out of two hundred people, only forty or fifty had yet to cross. Those left behind were all those with insufficient Spiritual Power, lingering at the 1st and 2nd Layers of Qi Condensation.
"They've all crossed. Should we give it a try? Otherwise, this entrance trial is a lost cause."
"Who knows how many years we'll have to wait for the next recruitment? Let's risk it!"
"I'm going too! Let's go together!"
Unfortunately, their strength was lacking. Like a flock of ducks jumping into the water, they were instantly swallowed by the violent river and dragged down to the riverbed.
"Save me!"
"Help!"
Zhou Chuan watched these tragic scenes play out one after another.
Failing the trial really meant death. The remaining people were cowards; seeing this, they immediately turned around and fled. Between heaven and earth, only Zhou Chuan was left.