In the grand hall.
Chu Xingchen sat in the seat of honor, with about twenty people currently standing before him.
The illusion array designed by Li Yingling was actually quite impressive, effectively filtering out most of those with ill intentions.
It seemed Li Yingling had indeed put in considerable effort.
Chu Xingchen mused that perhaps he should have arbitrarily kept one or two more candidates—after all, there was no way he would follow Li Yingling’s submitted plan to the letter.
Not to mention the personal biases embedded within it, just going through the formal procedures would take a month.
Chu Xingchen had no patience for such tediousness.
His gaze swept over the crowd standing in the hall. A couple of undesirables had slipped through the cracks, but he’d find some excuse to dismiss them later.
After counting the attendees, Li Yingling spoke softly, "Master, only one person hasn’t arrived yet."
Chu Xingchen shook his head slightly, signaling his indifference.
"No matter. Your master has the patience to wait a little longer."
Li Yingling believed him—his master had the temperament for it.
Before long, Zhao Wanqing led in a well-dressed young man.
Chu Xingchen glanced up as the youth stepped into the hall.
The moment the young man bent forward in a bow, before he could even straighten up, Chu Xingchen’s calm but unyielding voice rang out:
"You’re disqualified. You may leave now."
The young man looked up in shock, disbelief in his voice as he asked, "May I ask, Immortal, why?"
"Because you were the last to arrive. What did you think this opportunity was?" Chu Xingchen’s gaze was steady but carried an overwhelming pressure. "Did you think fate would wait for everyone to gather before deciding who gets what?"
"On the path of cultivation, urgency is paramount. Since you weren’t in a hurry for this chance, try again next time."
With that, Chu Xingchen waved his hand, and a surge of spiritual energy sent the young man flying out of the hall, the doors slamming shut behind him.
He had hoped the latecomer might be something special, but this?
Not only was his talent lacking, but the black-marked trait [Pyromaniac] alone made him a liability.
His sect couldn’t afford to deal with such a troublemaker—better let him wreak havoc elsewhere.
Li Yingling stole a glance at her master.
So much for patience.
He hadn’t even pretended to tolerate it.
Still, her master’s reasoning made sense, reminding her of the time he took her to steal spirit herbs…
The memory felt as fresh as yesterday.
Amusing, when she thought about it.
As the doors closed, the remaining candidates in the hall instinctively straightened their postures further.
Even Cui Hao felt a twinge of tension under the suddenly solemn atmosphere.
Chu Xingchen stood, his eyes sweeping over the group before him, then spoke in a relaxed tone:
"No need to be nervous. This second round is simple—just answer a few questions and chat with me."
With that, he leisurely walked up to Lin Luoyu, his tone noticeably gentler.
"I heard you scored full marks in the first round?"
Lin Luoyu quickly clasped her hands in response. "Yes, full marks!"
Chu Xingchen nodded approvingly.
"Good. What do you think is most important on the path of cultivation?"
Lin Luoyu pondered briefly before answering earnestly, "Perseverance and staying true to one’s heart."
"Not a bad answer. It hasn’t been easy for you, has it? I see your robes have been mended more than once." Chu Xingchen pointed at the two patches on her sleeves.
Lin Luoyu’s voice was firm. "Difficult or not, I will walk this path!"
Chu Xingchen smiled and moved to the next candidate—a short-haired girl—asking in the same tone:
"Using the Discourse on the Great Dao as a foundation, briefly explain your understanding of cultivation."
The girl froze, staring at Chu Xingchen in bewilderment.
Wait, wasn’t the difficulty spike a bit extreme here?
Why did the others get simple questions about hardships, while she was hit with Discourse on the Great Dao?
After a long pause, she gritted her teeth. "I… haven’t read Discourse on the Great Dao..."
Chu Xingchen shook his head regretfully and moved on to the next candidate—a visibly nervous young man.
"Discuss the inevitable connection between the cycle of the Great Dao and cultivators."
The man gave a bitter laugh. "I… I never studied…"
With another sigh, Chu Xingchen proceeded to the next.
"Explain..."
"I don’t know..."
"Please answer..."
"I’m not familiar with this..."
After several similarly abstract questions went unanswered, Chu Xingchen finally stopped before Cui Hao.
Studying the scholarly-looking young man, he took a moment to observe him before speaking:
"Discuss the relationship between the mortal market economy and cultivation sects."
Cui Hao blinked, then after a moment of thought, answered earnestly:
"The mortal market is the foundation. Only a stable mortal economy can sustain a cultivation sect."
"While cultivation sects aren’t entirely dependent on the mortal market, a prosperous one provides immense support."
"After all, the essence of a cultivation sect is the pursuit of the Great Dao. Often, they lack the bandwidth for mundane production. Though the mortal market has limited direct impact on cultivation resources..."
"A thriving mortal economy offers significant convenience. Repetitive and trivial tasks can be delegated to mortals."
"This allows cultivation sects to allocate their resources more efficiently, focusing on endeavors beyond mortal capability—thus enhancing the sect’s overall productivity."
"Therefore, I believe any cultivation sect aiming for long-term stability must foster a prosperous and stable mortal market."
Chu Xingchen’s eyes flickered with surprise. Though the answer was straightforward, it wasn’t wrong.
Well, well. You actually knew this one?
Heart] Chen Yi traversed the cultivation world for eight hundred years, charging his way to the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Just as he was outwitting his 81st Heavenly Tribulation to ascend to immortality, he was suddenly pulled into a chat group called the "Multiverse Transmigrators Support Group." To his surprise, the group was filled with nothing but fresh-faced newbies who had just transmigrated. [Help! I transmigrated into a disgraced concubine in the cold palace, and the tyrant emperor is about to execute me!] [I ended up as a cannon-fodder villain, and the protagonist is still chasing me—WTF!] [I woke up as the protagonist’s father, but I’m about to be sacrificed in a ritual! What do I do? Urgent!!!] Chen Yi stared at the chaotic flood of desperate pleas in the group and fell into deep thought. "Seriously? You drag me into a newbie transmigrator chat group… only after I’m one step away from becoming an immortal?"
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
