CH 16.1

◎ stick to a routine, and habits will form automatically ◎

in the open space in front of the teaching pavilion, with the eight trigrams array at its center, bamboo mats were neatly arranged.

the four mentor masters stood at the forefront, wearing eight trigrams robes and daoist caps.

especially the master of runes, li dao wei. despite his white hair, he had no wrinkles on his face, his spirit was vibrant.

five years ago, he had entered the nascent divinity stage. he could traverse the world with his divine sense, making him the foremost among the outer sect.

accompanied by senior brother xu rui, lin shuang arrived here. when she saw master li dao wei standing in the lead, a sense of quiet joy appeared on her face.

in the previous rune lesson, her grades had progressed by exactly one place.

master chen had even nodded and smiled at her.

good impression of the main examiner √

thinking about this, lin shuang chose a bamboo mat on the outermost edge as usual – it was situated near the entrance, making it easier to leave. she sat cross-legged.

in just a short while, zhao keran, who had just finished the rune examination, spotted her and turned to come over.

she aimed to sit beside her senior sister.

however, lin shuang waved her hand directly at zhao keran.

“young junior sister, you don’t need to follow me. sit in your usual spot in the front row.”

if it were a normal day, zhao keran would have obediently complied.

as one of the most outstanding outer sect disciples over the past two years, the mentor masters paid special attention to her, often providing extra guidance during class. following her senior sister’s advice, sitting in the first row was indeed more convenient.

but now, she felt aggrieved, “senior sister, do you find my ranking in the assessments too high, attracting too much attention? sitting next to you might lead to crowding and affect your speed when you leave later?”

zhao keran had a sudden realization!

“…”

lin shuang’s fingertips paused.

as kids grow up, they indeed become more difficult to trick.

“correct.”

zhao keran: “…”

senior sister is so straightforward!

back when she was immature, she didn’t grasp the essence of “fastest cultivation,” and she went all out in every assessment, inadvertently ending up in the top three!

now, she was being despised by senior sister, sigh.

zhao keran walked away with a sense of grievance, but she still turned back and waved to zhuo xuanwu, who was also silently moving toward lin shuang.

“senior brother zhou, you can come sit with me in the first row too. don’t slow down senior sister’s speed when she leaves later.”

zhuo xuanwu, who intended to sit on lin shuang’s left, froze in his tracks.

senior brother xu rui, who had planned to say a few words of advice, turned his head away and walked quickly to the mentor masters’ side. he didn’t want to hear the nonsensical conversation between the two sisters anymore.

the twelfth bell from the bell tower rang.

looking over, the area in front of the teaching pavilion was full of disciple figures, quite spectacular.

li dao wei stepped forward, stroking his white beard, and solemnly said, “those without true dao hearts are possessed by delusional thoughts. once encountering impurity, they’ll sink into the sea of bitterness and forever lose the true dao.”

“today’s heart examination is to measure the hundred-year dao hearts of all of you.”

having said that, he made a hand seal, activating the eight trigrams array in front of the teaching pavilion.

a golden light shot up into the sky, splitting into one, two, and two into four, multiplying like the creation of all things, falling into the foreheads of every seated disciple.

“remember, if you can remain serene, the world will return to its original state, and the great dao will ultimately be achieved.”

“the examination of the heart begins!”

golden light enveloped them, causing a glimmer of light to appear on the foreheads of all the disciples, who then closed their eyes.

li dao wei nodded, looking at the elders and management on both sides, “everyone, i’ve entered the heart array. let’s also enter to observe.”

as he spoke, he took a step with his spiritual consciousness, touched a few others, and together they flew towards the formation.

when xu rui and the elders opened their eyes, they saw the disciples hovering above, and fragments of light resembling shards of glass whirling around them, reflecting the blurry expressions of the disciples.

within the formation, time swiftly passed.

with their eyes closed, disciples experienced decades passing in their hearts.

“for those disciples whose cultivation has rapidly increased, we must pay particular attention. additionally, we mustn’t overlook those whose rankings are lower; there have been cases in the past of them leaving the sect and falling into evil cultivation.”

li dao wei instructed, and the others nodded in agreement.

upon hearing this, senior brother xu rui also worriedly delved into lin shuang’s hundred-year dao heart.

her strength exceeded what she had demonstrated in their previous battle which led to her successful qi condensation stage.

how had she broken through her cultivation under the watchful eyes of the masters and senior brothers and sisters of the teaching pavilion?

curious and concerned, senior brother xu rui scanned the disciples’ hearts, but his attention was drawn to the front row.

he saw within the light of the disciples in the front row, a small figure resembling zhuo xuanwu. his demeanor remained aloof, and snippets of scenes from his early morning practice quickly flashed by like a carousel.

senior brother xu rui nodded inwardly.

junior brother zhou’s dao heart was resolute, and a promising future lay ahead.

“xiao lan, i’m finally back. hoo… so tired. senior brother xu rui insisted on talking to me; i’ve been exhausted…”

senior brother xu rui: “?”

“wait! did i say something that annoyed senior brother xu rui again? i can’t speak now. what should i do? what should i do?”

zhuo xuanwu’s heart, portrayed as a small figure, turned gentle when looking at the orchids in the room.

blushing, flustered, embarrassed, conflicted.

in the blink of an eye, ten years passed.

“ah, i finally entered the inner sect! xu rui senior brother, goodbye, i won’t have to be questioned by senior brother xu rui anymore!”

“but wait, now that i’m in the inner sect, will xu rui senior brother still send me long-distance messages? oh no, i better start seclusion quickly.”

xu rui: “…”

twenty years passed.

“the taste of seclusion is so nice. i don’t have to talk to anyone, and i feel so relaxed.”

“huh? a transmission from xu rui senior brother? well, back to seclusion for another ten years!”

thirty years passed.

“fantastic, i’m all alone again. even xu rui senior brother can’t find me, hehe.”

“well, back to seclusion…”

xu rui: “…!”

his gentle gaze shattered.

junior brother zhou!

he tremblingly withdrew his gaze from the self-contained mental state of zhou xuanwu, who went into seclusion and came out, went into seclusion, and came out again.

he turned his attention to zhao keran’s century-long mental state beside him.

like a revolving lantern, her mental figure and lin shuang were seen cleaning the wooden house together, cultivating together, and chatting while eating together.

lin shuang stood in front of her, radiant like the sun, emitting a radiant glow, her face so bright that it was almost indistinguishable.

when they walked into the transmitting hall for the early lesson, lin shuang’s figure was even taller and broader than that young lad zhou xuanwu, towering with broad shoulders.

the corner of xu rui’s mouth twitched.

junior sister zhao…