On the other side, Shen Xiuhan and the others walked south along the main street until they reached a white stone plaza.
On the eastern side of the plaza, right up against the foot of the mountain, four small blue-brick houses with tiled roofs stood in a row.
This was precisely the sub-branch set up by Bixia Villa to receive and assess new disciples.
Outside the tiled houses, long queues had formed.
They snaked all the way from the doorways to the center of the plaza.
Most of the people in line were young, their expressions a mix of anxiety and hope, resembling the crowd outside the examination hall before the autumn imperial exam results were posted.
“This is the place.”
Lu Yuan swept his gaze across the four lines and picked the shortest one to stand at the end.
The others who had traveled on the same boat followed his lead and lined up behind him.
Shen Xiuhan blended into the queue, waiting calmly and silently.
This wait lasted for nearly an hour. The line in front of them crawled forward inch by inch.
During this time, some walked out laughing with flushed, jubilant faces, while others left in dejection, their faces as pale as ash.
By the time the sun began to sink in the west, it was finally Lu Yuan's turn.
He straightened his robes, took a deep breath, and strode into the tiled house.
Although Shen Xiuhan could not see what was happening inside, he had opened his Tinggong acupoint, granting him exceptionally sharp hearing. He could clearly make out every sound within the room.
As soon as Lu Yuan entered, a flat, haughty male voice rang out:
“State your name, place of origin, age, and cultivation realm.”
Lu Yuan sounded slightly nervous. “Reporting to Your Honor... This humble one is Lu Yuan, a native of Fengnian County. I am twenty-one years old, and my cultivation is... one of the nine acupoints opened, early-stage Anjin!”
“Oh?”
The male voice paused, his businesslike tone instantly softening as he showed a trace of interest. “Hmm, reaching the Anjin Rank at twenty-one is indeed decent talent. Lu Yuan, is it? Step forward.”
“Yes...”
The sound of Lu Yuan's footsteps echoed inside, followed by a sharply suppressed cry of pain. “Sss... Your Honor, what is this...?”
“This is Bixia's unique technique for testing skeletal structure and constitution... Cultivation can be piled up with spiritual pills and elixirs, but one's natural constitution cannot be faked.”
Though the man's voice remained flat, it carried a hint of satisfaction. “Not bad. Your bones are balanced and your flesh is firm. This is a Four-Form Constitution. With several decades of bitter cultivation, you might have a chance to glimpse the Huajin Rank.”
Lu Yuan was ecstatic but also a bit bewildered. Summoning his courage, he asked in a trembling voice, “May I ask, Your Honor, what exactly does a Four-Form Constitution mean?”
“The constitutions of martial artists in this world are divided into nine forms. Your Four-Form Constitution is already considered mid-grade. Enough, you will naturally learn about these basic facts in the future. You may leave now. Return in three days to check the results!”
“In the future... Yes! Yes! Thank you for your guidance, Manager!”
The curtain was suddenly tossed aside, and Lu Yuan strode out.
His face was flushed red, his eyes brimming with wild joy, and the grin on his face was impossible to suppress.
Seeing his expression, how could the others from the boat not understand what had happened?
In an instant, envy, jealousy, and a desire to curry favor filled their faces. They crowded around him, cupping their hands in congratulation.
At the back of the crowd, Shen Xiuhan's eyes flickered as he calculated in his mind:
‘Reaching the Anjin Rank at twenty-one... this Lu Yuan indeed has some talent, not far behind Senior Sister Jiang.’
‘The manager's words just now were highly suggestive... saying "you will naturally learn in the future"... Does this mean that reaching the Anjin Rank around twenty guarantees entry into Bixia Villa?’
‘Although I have Senior Brother Zuo's recommendation letter, making entry easy, my goal in coming here is to rapidly raise my cultivation to prepare for the Diaohai Blessed Land in four months.’
‘If I blindly hide my strength and pretend to be mediocre, I won't be able to obtain the sect's resources. Therefore, showing a suitable amount of cultivation is the right path.’
‘Still... I shouldn't reveal everything. A tree that stands out in the forest is bound to be broken by the wind. That is an immutable truth.’
‘I should first get a feel for Bixia Villa's atmosphere before deciding whether to display my full cultivation...’
With this thought, Shen Xiuhan shifted his focus and quietly activated the “Turtle-Breathing Face-Altering Formula”.
In the next instant!
The camouflage on several of his acupoints, which had previously been hidden as if behind a veil, was suddenly lifted.
At the same time, the manager's voice inside the tiled house returned to its flat tone:
“Liu Shaolou, twenty-two, Mingjin Rank Tendon Tempering, thick bones and muddy flesh, Two-Form Constitution...”
“Huang Ying, eighteen, Mingjin Rank Bone Tempering, Three-Form Constitution, difficulty retaining true qi...”
“Yu Haoming, twenty-four, Great Perfection of the Mingjin Rank, Two-Form Constitution, mediocre talent...”
In the span of a cup of tea, the three people in front of Shen Xiuhan who had traveled on the same boat all walked out of the tiled house with deathly pale faces.
Lu Yuan quickly reined in his joy and stepped forward to offer words of comfort.
However, the feeling of superiority deep within his eyes was ultimately hard to completely conceal.
“Next!”
Finally, it was Shen Xiuhan's turn.
Seeing this, Lu Yuan seemed to want to win over his sole remaining prospective sect-brother, and immediately called out:
“Brother Shen, do your best!”
Shen Xiuhan glanced back at him and smiled faintly. “Thank you for the kind words.”
With that, he calmly stepped into the tiled house.
Inside the room, the furnishings were simple: a long wooden desk, a chair, and writing brushes, ink, and an inkstone resting on the desk.
A slender, purple-robed middle-aged man sat behind the desk, flipping through a register. A bronze plaque hung from his waist, engraved with:
‘Bixia’
‘Qi’
‘Yue Lingyong.’
Hearing the footsteps, Yue Lingyong raised his head, glanced at Shen Xiuhan, and said expressionlessly, “State your name, place of origin, age, and cultivation realm in order.”
Shen Xiuhan cupped his hands, neither humble nor arrogant, and said, “This junior is Shen Xiuhan, a native of Changyun County. I am eighteen years old. My cultivation is...”
“I have fortunately opened three acupoints—Taichong, Guanyuan, and Tinggong—and have reached the peak of early-stage Anjin!”
“Hmm?”
Yue Lingyong's expression suddenly froze. The wolf-hair brush he was about to dip in ink to record the entry stopped abruptly in mid-air.
With a soft patter, ink splattered and bled onto the pages of the register.
Yet Yue Lingyong completely ignored it, his hawkish eyes locking onto Shen Xiuhan, filled with astonishment. “Words alone are proof of nothing. Show me your inner force!”
Swish!
Without a second word, Shen Xiuhan's three acupoints rumbled, unleashing a fierce and violent wave of inner force.
A powerful current of air billowed from his body, causing his green robes to flutter and snap loudly despite the lack of wind, sending the dust on the floor swirling into the air!
“Splendid boy!”
A look of pleasant surprise finally emerged on Yue Lingyong's face. “Step forward and let me examine your... constitution!”
Upon hearing this, Shen Xiuhan did not step forward immediately. Instead, he drew a letter from his chest pocket and presented it respectfully with both hands, saying, “Manager, this is a recommendation letter from a senior brother of the sect. Please have a look.”
“Oh?”
Yue Lingyong took the envelope and tore it open. His brows raised slightly, and he could not help but laugh and curse, “So it's that lazy brat, Zuo Guangshu...”
After tucking the letter away, his expression softened even further. He reached out and began tapping, pressing, and kneading along Shen Xiuhan's shoulder blades, spine, lower back, and ribs.
With every finger that pressed down, Shen Xiuhan felt a dull ache ripple through his body like an electric current.
A moment later, Yue Lingyong withdrew his hand, stroked his beard, and nodded, a hint of approval appearing in his eyes.
“Excellent!”
“Bones of refined steel, flesh of a drawn bow. This is truly a Five-Form Constitution!”
A Five-Form Constitution?
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