Sage of Humanity

Upon seeing this scene, Lu Ye immediately understood that the test was divided into two stages: one was to check whether one had cultivation aptitude, and the other was to assess the level of talent.

Aptitude and talent are different; the former determines whether a person can engage in cultivation and whether they possess the qualifications for cultivation, while the latter determines how high one's future achievements can be. Theoretically, the better the talent, the higher the future accomplishments will be.

Of course, due to limitations, the talent test here was just a general test, not guaranteed to be completely accurate, but it was usually quite close to the mark, with not too large a deviation.

As for aptitude, Lu Ye was not worried, for he had already opened his spiritual orifice and was definitely capable of cultivation.

As for the level of talent, this was uncertain. He did not know his own talent and still had to undergo the testing in the tent behind to find out.

The first person with cultivation aptitude had already appeared, bringing a trace of vitality to the originally dull and heavy queue, instantly giving everyone a feeling of possibility.

However, reality was ultimately cruel.

In the following tests, more than ten people were eliminated before finally another person with cultivation aptitude appeared.

As in the previous scene, it replayed itself.

The long queue continuously shortened, one after another dropped from hope to disappointment…

Overall, among every dozen or so people, there would be one with cultivation aptitude, a ratio that matched what Lu Ye knew.

He stood in the latter half of the queue, but since the testing was swift, in less than the time it took one incense stick to burn, he was standing in front of the desk.

"Have you opened your orifice?" the cultivator behind the desk asked in a routine manner.

"I have opened an orifice," Lu Ye replied honestly.

The cultivator immediately lifted his head to size up Lu Ye and smiled widely, "Good, finally someone who has opened an orifice."

Although seven or eight people had passed the aptitude test earlier, none of them had opened their spiritual orifice. Among those in this queue, Lu Ye was the first one who had actually done so!

"Come, place your hands over this." the cultivator pointed to the Crystal Ball on the desk.

Lu Ye was puzzled, wasn't this device for testing aptitude? Since he had opened his spiritual orifice, what else needed testing?

The cultivator, seeing the confusion in Lu Ye's mind, explained, "Here, I not only test for aptitude but also check for element sign."

"Element sign?" Lu Ye was even more confused; he had never heard of this before.

Perhaps because Lu Ye had opened his spiritual orifice, the cultivator patiently explained, "Metal, wood, water, fire, earth—among the Five Elements, everyone's spirit force tends to lean toward one type, which is the element sign, and each element sign has different focal points."

"I see!" Lu Ye suddenly realized, then wondered, "But before…"

The cultivator smiled, "They hadn't even opened their spiritual orifices, had no spirit force, and thus couldn't have their element signs detected."

"I see," Lu Ye nodded, raising his hands to cover the Crystal Ball.

"Activate your spirit force and channel it into it," the cultivator instructed.

Lu Ye did as he was told, his eyes fixed on the changes in the Crystal Ball, curious about what his element sign was.

The Crystal Ball first lit up, indicating that Lu Ye had cultivation aptitude, but for someone who had opened his orifice like him, this result was meaningless.

The change that followed was the actual test for the element sign.

Under Lu Ye's watchful eye, a yellow-orange flame suddenly sprung to life within the Crystal Ball and burst into intense flames!

This scene made his pupils involuntarily constrict because the yellow-orange flames looked... familiar.

"Oh?" the cultivator behind the desk raised an eyebrow, brimming with interest, "Primarily the fire of the Five Elements, hmm, with a bit of the metal element, not bad, not bad, alright, you may withdraw your hand now."

His own Five Elements' fire, Lu Ye could understand, as it was thanks to the Talent Tree that he had been able to open his spiritual orifice. It was because the Talent Tree had engulfed a cluster of yellow-orange flames that he had suddenly activated his spiritual orifice.

The leaves on the Talent Tree that bore the Sharpness spirit runes were also burning intensely.

But the inclusion of the metal element confused him; he vaguely felt that this might be his original element sign.

"Keep this item close, and go find my Third Senior Brother in the tent behind this one." The cultivator handed Lu Ye a jade tablet, which Lu Ye accepted with thanks. On one side, it was engraved with his name and beneath it, a character likely indicating the opening of one orifice; on the other side was engraved his element sign.

Lu Ye headed towards the back beyond the desk.

Not far away was a makeshift tent that those who had previously passed the aptitude test had entered to have their talents assessed.

Standing in front of the tent, Lu Ye first apologized before lifting the door curtain and stepping inside.

The tent was surprisingly spacious, with a cultivator sitting cross-legged on a cushion, his demeanor stern and his expression cold, presumably the Third Senior Brother he was meant to find.

Not far in front of Third Senior Brother was a round disc, seemingly crafted from some type of wood. The disk was as large as a tabletop, with eight indentations along its edge, beside which some barren saplings sprouted.

Lu Ye approached with a fist-and-palm salute, "Lu Ye greets Senior Brother. This is my jade tablet, please inspect it."

The Third Senior Brother opened his eyes, took the jade tablet, and examined both sides; his eyebrow lifting, he gestured with his hand, "Have you opened an orifice? Sit down."

It seemed that this round disc was the device used to assess one's level of talent. Lu Ye approached, sat cross-legged at the center, and inadvertently glanced at the disc's surface, noticing many intricate, complex patterns and symbols.

Spirit runes? Lu Ye became intrigued and scrutinized them carefully, though with his current level of vision, he couldn't determine what these spirit runes were used for.

The only spirit runes he knew of were those of Sharpness.

The quantity of spirit runes engraved on the disc was extensive and densely packed, interlinked closely together, forming a unified whole.

This was not just spirit runes, Lu Ye realized, recalling something he had heard about before.

This was a Formation!

Was a Formation constructed from spirit runes?

"Ahem!" Third Senior Brother coughed lightly, breaking Lu Ye's train of thought, and Lu Ye quickly straightened his posture.

After a brief moment of eye contact and silence, Third Senior Brother spoke, "My Qingyu Sect is located in the heart of Bingzhou at Mount Cangluan, with three hundred spirit mountaintops and ranks among the top five in Bingzhou in terms of combined strength. The Sect Leader and all the Vice Sect Leaders are of the Divine Sea Realm. Below the Sect Leader, there are hundreds of cultivators in the True Lake Realm…"

Lu Ye had assumed Third Senior Brother was a man of few words, but he was mistaken.

Once he started talking, Third Senior Brother spoke continuously, providing an overwhelming amount of details about Qingyu Sect, leaving Lu Ye confused and impressed.

Moreover, somehow, Third Senior Brother's discourse gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.

When Third Senior Brother began to enthusiastically describe "how the sword sect and the magic sect within our sect do this and that…" Lu Ye's long-sealed memories surged forth.

The corners of Lu Ye's mouth twitched as he wondered silently if this was some sort of recruiting brochure for the cultivation world.