Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The old man’s eyes were half-closed as he leaned against an armchair. His legs were casually crossed. He seemed to be taking a nap.
When he heard Rong Yiyang speak, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. He opened his eyes. He looked impatient as he replied, “Oh, it’s you, Yiyang. What are you doing here?”
Although he recognized Rong Yiyang, the problem was that this fellow had been sent off to a rural estate that belonged to the family many years ago. He had remained out of any practitioner’s or the family’s sight for more than 10 years.
Rong Yiyang’s father was a powerful man within the clan, so he had to be polite around his father.
Since Rong Yiyang never managed to gather and refine true Qi, his father refused to see him.
Naturally, Rong Jieming didn’t care for a small fry like Rong Yiyang.
Rong Yiyang bowed low and said with great respect, “Uncle Ming, I haven’t come to see you in a long time, so…”
“There is no need to beat around the bush.” Rong Jieming frowned slightly and cut Rong Yiyang off with a wave of his hand. He said, “You wouldn’t think of me for no good reason. Tsk, just say what you want to say. On account of your father, I’ll help you if it’s within my ability.”
He sounded magnanimous on the surface, but the real meaning behind his words was fairly clear.
He offered to help if he could. If he wasn’t able to, that was the end of it.
Rong Yiyang nodded profusely and said, “That’s… Well, that’s…” He turned around and called Rong Kaixuan over with a wave of his hand. He pushed him in front of the old man and humbly said, “Uncle Ming, this is my son, Kaixuan. Kaixuan, quickly greet Grandpa Ming.”
Rong Kaixuan nodded and greeted loudly, “Grandpa Ming.”
Rong Jieming looked Rong Kaixuan up and down. He smiled and said, “What a good boy. Hoho, have you two come here for a test of sorts?”
He was much older and had been working at the Ability Testing Hall for several decades, so he could easily guess why this father and son had come there.
Rong Yiyang quickly responded, “That’s right. Uncle Ming, your observation skills are amazing.” Rong Yiyang put on a smile to try to gain Rong Jieming’s favor and said, “Uncle Ming, this boy has been training in the art of boxing from a young age. He was finally successful in gathering and refining true Qi just a few days ago, so I’ve brought him here for you to have a look.”
“Oh, so he’s managed to gather and refine true Qi.” Rong Jieming’s expression changed slightly. There was finally a slight change in his gaze. He looked at Rong Kaixuan more warmly than he had before. “Kaixuan, was it? How old are you this year?”
Rong Kaixuan replied without hesitation, “I will turn 15 in three months.”
“Did you say in just three months?” Rong Jieming’s face slightly twitched. The warmth in his eyes had faded quite a bit.
To Rong Yiyang and his son, it was an amazing feat to be able to gather and refine true Qi before the age of 15. To someone who had worked in the Ability Testing Hall for a few decades and seen so many talented disciples of the Rong clan, such as Rong Jieming, gathering true Qi at this stage in life was nothing to shout about.
This sort of disciple was eligible to enter the Inner House, but his future was fairly limited. Thus, it wasn’t worth Rong Jieming’s effort to try so hard and butter up to him.
Of course, as a senior member of the family, Rong Jieming couldn’t just offend a future inner disciple just like that either.
He coughed quietly and said, “Since you’ve managed to gather and refine true Qi, then according to our clan’s policy, you get to test the quality of this true Qi you have at no cost.” He got up and yelled, “You! Get the Ability Testing Stone for me!”
He wasn’t a big shot within the Rong clan, but within this hall, he was a veteran martial arts practitioner.
After he shouted the instruction, someone quickly ran out. After a short while, the same person came running back. He held two different colored jade stones in his hand.
Both jade stones were about the same size, and they were both about the size of a fist. One of the stones was slightly yellow while the other was white and flawless. It even seemed to glow faintly from within.
Rong Jieming’s face fell. He angrily scoffed, “You idiot, why did you bring the Ability Testing Stone for Spiritualists as well? Tsk, don’t you know how valuable these things are? If you accidentally trip and break them, can you afford to replace them?”
The young man who had brought the jade stones only looked slightly older than 20 years old. His face turned red as he cursed Rong Jieming in his heart for not clearly stating which stone he wanted. There was no way he could have known which one Rong Jieming wanted.
Even though he was furious inside, he dared not argue back to Rong Jieming. His only option was to hang his head and reply in a lowly manner, “Senior Ming, I’ll put this one back now.”
“Tsk, forget it.” Rong Jieming hesitated for a while before saying, “You’re in such a hurry, so I’m very worried about your ability to put it back now. Put them back at the same time later.”
He reached a hand out and took the slightly yellow jade stone. He placed it in his hand and put it in front of Rong Kaixuan. He gently said, “Kaixuan, this is a martial arts practitioner’s Ability Testing Stone. If you hadn’t cultivated any true Qi, then you would have to just hold it tightly for 10 minutes and the stone would give off a glow. The strength of the glow helps me judge the quality of a person’s constitution and future in martial arts.” He paused for a while before continuing, “Since you’ve already gathered and refined true Qi, then you don’t have to go through such trouble. Hoho, come, focus your true Qi into the Ability Testing Stone, and it will reflect the quality of your true Qi from there.”
The main hall of the Ability Testing Hall was huge. Since this wasn’t a time of day when many disciples came forward for a test, there weren’t a lot of people around. There were at least a dozen people stationed in the hall all the time. Those people turned toward where Rong Jieming was at the same time.
It was a common thing for the Rong family’s descendants to enter the Ability Testing Hall and go through a test. They saw these tests carried out many times a year. They had turned their heads to look only because they had nothing else better to do, so they threw a glance over out of boredom.
Rong Kaixuan nodded and stretched both arms out. He reverently took the martial arts practitioner’s Ability Testing Stone from Rong Jieming’s hands. He deeply breathed in and started to maneuver the true Qi within his body.
The strange force within his energy center started behaving like a soldier that had received an order. It immediately rushed up and reached his hands and instantly rushed straight into the Ability Testing Stone.
Rong Kaixuan knew very well how powerful true Qi could be. Even a tiny bit of true Qi could send a huge and ferocious tiger flying when it was released at its maximum power.
When he released his true Qi, he still had some reservations. If his true Qi accidentally smashed this Ability Testing Stone, he probably wouldn’t make it out of this place in one good piece.
But the Ability Testing Stone was way more durable than he had expected.
After the true Qi in his energy century had rushed so suddenly into the Ability Testing Stone, the stone wasn’t affected at all. It was like dropping a pebble into the great ocean.
After the Ability Testing Stone was agitated by the true Qi, a glow appeared on its surface. This glow wasn’t strong nor blinding. It was very faint and almost negligible.
“Sigh…”
There were a few sighs that resounded in the hall. Those men who were watching out of boredom looked away. Some of them shook their heads. Some faintly smiled and said, “I knew it. If he only managed to gather and refine true Qi when he’s so close to turning 15, then the quality can’t be anything good.”
Rong Kaixuan looked around and noticed how everyone couldn’t be bothered by the situation. His heart started wildly pounding.
He sensed that these people had a slight bit of disdain in their eyes. Even Rong Jieming, who had been smiling at him earlier, now turned his lips downwards. There was a look of disapproval on his face.
He immediately understood that his constitution wasn’t good. At least, the martial arts practitioners in the Ability Testing Hall didn’t think he had a bright future ahead.
Rong Yiyang’s face turned slightly red, but he still tried, “Uncle Ming, do you think…”
Rong Jieming grunted casually and said, “Kaixuan has indeed managed to gather and refine true Qi, but the quality of it…” He shook his head and continued, “Well, it’s already not bad that he can gather and refine true Qi. So, per the clan’s rules, as long as he’s able to gather and refine true Qi, he is eligible to become an inner disciple.”
Rong Yiyang was glad to hear those words. Even though he had barely made it in, as long as his son was an inner disciple, it would help him achieve much more in the future. He wasn’t letting go of this chance.
Rong Yiyang bowed deeply toward Rong Jieming and said, “Uncle Ming, thank you so much.”
Rong Jieming waved his hand and said, “You don’t have to thank me. I’m just going by the book.” He glanced at Rong Kaixuan and quietly said, “But don’t hold very high hopes for this boy. It was indeed difficult for Kaixuan to gather and refine true Qi, but it will be hard if he wants to go any further than this.”
He had seen many people enter the Inner House with great joy and anticipation but end up with great disappointment. He decided it was best to burst their bubble first and warn them of the future to come.
Rong Yiyang pulled himself together. He laughed bitterly and said, “Yes, I understand.”
His son had only managed to gather and refine true Qi when he was just about to turn 15. Even though he was eligible to enter the Inner House, Rong Yiyang was already mentally prepared that his son’s constitution and quality of true Qi wouldn’t be very high. Thus, he held no high hopes for anything out of the ordinary.
Rong Kaixuan hung his head. He started clenching his fists without knowing it.
All the excitement and happiness that he had on the way there instantly dissipated. He felt a sort of helplessness that came after being insulted rising in his heart.
He was not able to accept this. He was indignant.
He had worked so hard for more than 10 years, practicing every day without fail. He had controlled that strange body and sent it into the deep mountains to face the king of the mountains to activate the potential within himself. He had put in so much time and effort into gathering and refining true Qi, but he had been looked upon with such contempt.
Even though nobody said it out loud, he could tell how these people felt from their expressions, as well as their conversations.
This feeling was very insulting, but he didn’t have any ability to change it.
Perhaps he had to work extra hard after entering the Inner House and reach a level of cultivation way above everyone else before these people would look at him and treat him differently.
Rong Jieming waved a hand at the young man who brought the stones over and said, “Go and get a waist tag for inner disciples and put the Ability Testing Stones back at the same time.”
When the young man was about to leave the hall, someone suddenly spoke up, “Wait up, Uncle Ming. According to the clan rules, since he has already cultivated true Qi, then he can also take the Spirit Power test.”
Rong Jieming froze for a while. He smiled and replied, “Ah, I missed that part.”
Even though a smile remained on his face, Rong Jieming was secretly displeased. This Rong Kaixuan’s constitution was so poor that a test of his Spirit Power was a waste of time and resources to him.
The person who spoke up was an up and rising character in the clan. His status and position were about the same as Rong Jieming, so Rong Jieming wasn’t going to offend him over a small thing like this.
He took the white and flawless jade stone from the young man’s hand and passed it to Rong Kaixuan. He said, “Kaixuan, you can have a go.”
Rong Kaixuan asked in confusion, “What should I do?”
“It’s very simple. Focus your mind. Don’t be distracted by anything else. Fix everything on this jade stone.”
Rong Kaixuan nodded. He followed Rong Jieming’s instructions and gathered all his Qi and focused his mind as he applied his will to the jade stone.
The dozen or so people within the Ability Testing Hall were still laughing among themselves and couldn’t be bothered. Even the middle-aged man who had spoken up earlier to remind Rong Jieming about this test didn’t think the jade stone would react at all.
In a blink of an eye, the jade stone in Rong Kaixuan’s hands lit up.
A sparkling and somewhat blinding ray exploded from within the jade stone.
This ray was sufficient to light up everyone’s faces and blinded everybody’s eyes.
The entire Ability Testing Hall instantly fell silent. One would have been able to hear a pin drop.