Atop the high platform.
"Truly extraordinary—perhaps the most remarkable I’ve seen in my lifetime."
Xue Jing, still clad in his patched robe, stroked his long beard with a flickering gaze.
Ying Bing’s "Heaven-grade" bone structure came as no surprise to him.
"So this is the promising seedling you mentioned encountering during your descent from the mountain?"
A languid voice sounded from nearby.
A woman in palace robes, her cheeks flushed, reclined lazily in her chair.
"That’s her. The question is how far she’ll go on the Stairway to Heaven."
Xue Jing glanced at the woman, his eyes betraying helplessness.
"I like this girl."
The palace-robed woman took a bold swig of wine.
The other Elders: "..."
Are you sure it’s not just because she’s devastatingly beautiful?
"She’s unsuited for your martial lineage."
Xue Jing sighed.
"How is she unsuited?!" The woman’s brows shot up.
"Don’t force it. You’ve tempered yourself into a human furnace—this girl clearly shouldn’t be apprenticed under you."
A cold, rigid voice interjected.
"Han He, looking for a fight?"
The palace-robed woman cracked her knuckles, brimming with eagerness.
Elder Han He instinctively retreated half a step, letting out a wary snort.
"Enough."
The voice carried undeniable authority.
At the Sect Master’s command, the woman reluctantly picked up her gourd and took two more gulps.
The Elders exchanged glances.
Could it be... the Sect Master has taken an interest in the girl?
......
Unnoticed, another incense stick’s worth of time passed.
Five hundred aspirants had undergone bone assessment by now.
Finally, it was Li Mo’s turn.
The old woman seized his shoulder, sensing a surge of energy rush in, poised to circulate through his meridians.
But in an instant, that energy vanished.
Hm?
The old woman frowned for the second time.
Internal energy could stimulate one’s organs, meridians, and bone structure.
The stronger the bones, the more intense the reaction.
Yet.
This boy’s body showed no response whatsoever.
That alone would be one thing, but her energy had dissipated like clay oxen plunging into the sea—gone without a trace.
Were it not for the boy standing plainly before her, she’d have mistaken him for a slab of stone.
After a moment’s hesitation, she noted his name:
"Li Mo, Third-grade. Move along."
"My thanks."
Li Mo had expected this. He clasped his hands respectfully and strode past the mountain gate without a flicker of unease.
"Ah, Third-grade. Father won’t be pleased."
"You’ll have to put in a good word for me—he listens to you."
Li Mo grinned, nudging the girl beside him with his shoulder.
Ying Bing was mildly surprised.
Third-grade aptitude matched her memories.
Yet he seemed unbothered.
Li Mo wore his indifference openly, still cheerful:
"Three parts fate, seven parts effort."
"Plenty don’t even pass the gate. I’m already fortunate."
What he didn’t say aloud:
No worries. I’ve got cheats.
Seeing his genuine ease, Ying Bing relented.
Fine.
His vial of Pure Yang Pills had helped her unlock her meridians half a year early, after all.
Such temperament deserved a slight lift—how far he’d go was up to him.
Just then.
A steward’s announcement drew the crowd’s attention:
"Wang Hu—tiger’s arms, leopard’s waist! High Second-grade!"
The square erupted in murmurs.
Apart from the two Heaven-grade freaks.
Wang Hu now held the highest innate talent!
One in ten thousand wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Basking in the flattery, Wang Hu smirked arrogantly, sweeping his gaze across the crowd.
"The hell you lookin’ at?"
Li Mo fell into thought.
......
At that moment.
A figure landed before the gate.
"Tiger-leopard physique?"
A tower of a man clamped onto Wang Hu’s shoulder.
Wang Hu startled—until his cousin Wang Hao stepped from the disciple ranks, signaling him with a look.
"Fine form indeed. True tiger-leopard traits."
The iron-pillar man nodded approvingly.
"Master, this is my younger cousin." Wang Hao bowed respectfully.
"Good, good. He suits my Tiger-Leopard Thunderclap Fists better than you did."
His laughter boomed like thunder, rattling eardrums.
"Fu Tu, wait until he enters the inner sect before taking disciples."
A stocky elder reminded tersely.
Fu Tu?!
Wang Hu’s eyes widened, then gleamed with triumph.
This was a formidable inner sect steward—were it not for the fixed number of elder seats, he’d already command his own peak.
"Of course, rules are rules."
Fu Tu gave a perfunctory salute.
At his cousin’s cue, Wang Hu hastily bowed:
"Greetings, Master."
"Clear the Stairway first."
Fu Tu didn’t correct the title.
Once he’d left.
Wang Hu’s chin lifted higher, practically spelling "cocky" on his forehead.
Striding past the gate, he marched straight over, clasping his fists with swagger:
"Miss Ying, we’ll be fellow disciples henceforth."
And earned pure indifference.
Such talent barely passed muster in a backwater like Purple Sun Prefecture.
To Ying Bing, Wang Hu’s Second-grade and Li Mo’s Third-grade held no real difference.
Both were mere stones—why bother distinguishing which was slightly smoother?
Wang Hu stood frozen, face flushing crimson.
He rounded on Li Mo instead:
"Heh. We’re from the same county. If I rise, how could I forget you?"
"Wait—inner and outer sects are worlds apart. Coming down to visit won’t be easy."
"Who knows? Soon enough, I might even be a core disciple."
"Seeing you’d be harder than seeing Miss Ying, right?"
His grin oozed malice.
With an inner sect steward as his backer.
The young, brash Wang Hu’s ego ballooned skyward.
Other youths from Ning'an County clenched their fists in silent fury. Wang Hu had been insufferable back home—now he’d truly leapt beyond reach.
Even those who’d disliked Li Mo now found him almost endearing by comparison.
"...Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Li Mo hadn’t turned off his Heavenly Destiny Eye.
Since Wang Hu’s bone assessment, the originally cyan destiny threads had begun darkening.
Now, with his posturing, the black deepened further.
His updated evaluation read: "Obstinate and conceited. Unwitting lab rat for Inner Sect Steward Fu Tu. Future: bleak."
Li Mo couldn’t be bothered with fools—let alone half-dead ones.
More indifference.
"You—!"
Wang Hu choked on his own rage, fury boiling in his chest.
Yet the stocky elder’s gaze had drifted their way.
Withdrawing his scrutiny of Li Mo and Ying Bing, the elder smirked inwardly:
"Plenty of time ahead."
"Outer sect and core disciples exist in separate worlds—they’ll never cross paths."
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
with Taming My Adopted Niece) (Multiple Heroines + Power Fantasy) Before transmigrating, Wang Jianqiang suffered greatly from novels with no female leads. Holding firm to the belief that "women only slow down my blade," he stubbornly maintained his virginity even after decades in the Sect of Dual Cultivation. In his twilight years, with his cultivation stagnant at the third level of Qi Refining, he finally succumbed and "rewarded" himself once—triggering the awakening of the Godly Cultivation System. From then on, he realized women might actually be his lucky stars on the path to immortality. Deciding to indulge freely and savor life, he found his ungrateful adopted niece knocking at his door...
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
