The Start of the Examination

The group of youths made surprised and amazed noises. The underground cave was beautiful, stalactites sparkling like stars. This light shone on the youth's faces, the neon hues were gorgeous.

Di Lan was mixed into the crowd, quietly observing everything that was happening. He noticed that as they descend further, he felt that his heart and mind was starting to feel heavy.

Later on, all of the children were feeling the same way, while some were even perspiring.

As they descended further and further, heavy feeling kept pressing on their minds. Di Lan and Di Jiu who were one of the children that entered the stone door was slowly being left behind by the young teenagers who were behind them at the beginning.

But, they do not know about this.

The underground cave got darker and darker to the point that you can't see those who are at the near distance. Only the sounds of splashing water were faintly heard.

After turning around a corner, a hundred meters wide underground lake greeted them. By now the colorful lights of the stalactites had disappeared completely, yet in the darkness the lake emitted faint blue light. It was like a gibous moon of the night sky.

The lake flowed from the small gaps the leads to the dark depths of the cave. Inside the crystal clear water, one could see fishes, aquatic plants and even the sand beneath the river. Surrounding the lake was a field of flowers.

This was the Mu Clan's closely cultivated moon orchids. The beautiful black and pink colored petals were like elegantly shaped like a crescent moon; the flower stems were like lapiz lazuli, the center of the flower shining like the sort of cool brilliance that radiates from pearls under the light. At first glance, in the dark background, the flower sea looks like a huge piece of land covered in an ocean carpet dotted with countless pearls.

The moon orchids gather the Spirit Qi of the moon giving off the characteristic of illusiory. The more they are gathered in a certain area, the more the illusiory characteristic being amplified.

"Wow, so pretty!"

"It really is beautiful!"

Finally, Di Lan have reached the bottom of the stairs. Most of the children were able to reach this maginificent view faster than him.

The other elders observing the scene in the dark started becoming skeptical with his performance. They know that descending down the stairs was the first part of the Awakening Test to qualify to the final test, and Di Lan did not aced it as they expected him to be.

The new sight opened his eyes. Each one of them had a light radiating from their gaze with excited and anxious feelings.

"Alright, listen as I call your names. Those who are called must cross this Fields of Dream to reach the Moon Lake. Cross as fast as you can, of course, the faster you go the better it is. Understood?" The elder said.

"Understood!" the youths replied. Actually before they came here, they had all heard their family members or seniors talk about it. It is known that the faster you can cross, the better your talent is. Your future will also become brighter.

"Mu Er Bo." The elder held the name list and called out the first person.

The sea of flowers was wide but does not have long distance – it covered up to a youth's kneecaps. Er Bo's face was full of seriousness as he stepped into the field. As he did so, he could feel his mind becoming hazy as his sight slowly spinning, giving him a hard time on walking forward. During this moment, the flowers at his feet suddenly gave off a weak white light. The light gathered around Er Bo and entered his body.

For a moment, Er Bo was seeing a different scenery. He tried to remember what he was originally doing, yet after thirty breathes, he was still having a hard time. It was only after sixty breathes that he was able to break out from the hallucination and reached the lake bank.

The elder sighed as he watched this. While recording what happened, he said, "Mu Er Bo, 99 breathes, mortal talent as a Spirit Master. Next, Mu Xiao Che!"

Er Bo was deathly pale as he looked at his livid reflection on the lake, clenching his teeth, he burried his face under the water to drink lots of the water and to hide his shame. Without the endowed talent he could only live as a Rank 1 Spirit Master with no hopes of breaking through, holding the lowest position in the clan.

His stature was shaky; it was a huge blow to him, as if reality had killed all his hopes. Many people threw him pitiful gazes, while even more had fixated stares at the second person crossing the river.

It was a pity that this youth could only reach the lake at 90 breathes – he did not have talent either.

Not everyone has the natural talent to be a Spirit Master. Generally speaking, it is not bad if five out of ten people have talent. In the Mu Clan, this ratio is higher, reaching six people. This is because of the Mu clan's ancestor – The first generation clan leader was a famous, legendary and powerful man. Due to cultivation reasons his bloodline carried powerful genes, thus the average quality of talent in the Mu clan was generally higher as they carried his blood in their veins.

With two consecutive failures, the other elders observing the scene in the dark started making ugly expressions. Even the clan head was frowning slightly. The next moment, the academy elder called out the third name: Mu Mo Chen.

"Here!" A horse-faced youth dressed in linen robes lightly called as he came forth. He was tall in build, looking much sturdier than his peers. There was a brave aura about him. He crossed the fields of dream in a few breathes and reached the banks of the lake. 15, 30 breathes, 40 breathes; one after another small lights entered his body. He was able to cross until he reached he reached the lake at 49 breathes.

The youths watched with wide wide eyes opened. The academy elder happily exclaimed, "Good, Mu Mo Chen, Silver Grade talent! Drink lots of water from the lake, let me see your Origin sea."

Mu Mo Chen walked back to the academy elder's side. The latter stretched out his hand and put it on the juvenile's head, closing his eyes as he checked with focus. Then he retracted his hand and nodded, recording down on the paper: Mu Mo Bei, spiritual sea measuring six by six, can be vigorously trained.

This special talent can be measured by four grades – Gold grade to Mortal grade. A Mortal Grade talent youth who is raised for 10 years would be able to become a Rank One Spirit Master, a normal member of the family. A Bronze Grade talent youth after a decade of cultivation will usually be able to become a Rank Two senior Mu Master, becoming the clan's backbone. A Silver grade talent must be cared for. Often becoming a future clan elder, with 10 years of training, they will become Rank Three Spirit Masters.

And when it comes to Gold Grade, even if it was just one, would bring great luck to the entire clan. Great care must be given; with this talent in about 10 years they can become a Rank Four Spirit Grandmaster. At that moment they would be able to compete for the position of the head of the clan!

In other words, as long as this Mu Mo Chen grows up, eventually he will become one of the elders of the Mu clan. That is why the academy elder laughed happily; the elders watching in the darkness also sighed in relief, then they all turned to look at one of the elders amongst them with jealousy.

This elder was also horse-faced, known as Mu Mo Chen's grandfather, Mu Mo Shen. His face was already smiling. He provokingly looked at his old nemesis and said, "What do you think? My grandson isn't bad huh, Mu Shi Chi."

Mu Shi Chi had a head full of green hair. He made an annoyed 'hmph', not replying to other. It was apparent that his face expression was really dark.

One hour later, half of the youths had already walked through the flower sea. There were quite a number of Bronze and Mortal Grade talents among them.

"Sigh, the bloodline is getting thinner. These few years the clan hasn't had any Rank Four grandmasters to strengthen the bloodline. The fourth generation clan head was the only Stage Five grandmaster, but in the end he perished together with the Sunflower monk and did not leave behind any descendants. The Mu clan's later generation talents are getting weaker and weaker," the clan head said with a deep sigh.

At this moment, the academy elder shouted, "Mu Shi Cheng!"

On hearing this name all the elders looked at Mu Shi Chi; this was his grandson.

Mu Shi Cheng had a small and short build with a face full of pockmarks. He was clenching his fist, his entire face sweating. It was evident that he was incredibly nervous.

As he crossed onto the field of dreams, the little lights entered his body; after 49 breathes, he was able to reach the lake.

"Another Silver Grade!" The academy elder yelled.

The youths started a commotion, sending Mu Shi Cheng envious stares.

"Hahaha, 49 breathes, 49 breathes!" Mu Shi Cheng shouted, proudly staring at M Mo Chen. This time it was Mu Mo Shen's turn to have a sour face.

"Mu Shi Chi, huh…" In the midst of the crowd, Di Lan stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Mu Mo Shen was always hostile towards Mu Shi Chi, these two elders are the clan's two biggest influential authorities. To suppress his opponent he would need his own grandson to have an outstanding talent.."

As he pondered, he suddenly heard the academy elder call out his own name: "Mu Di Lang!"

But no answer came.

"Mu Di Lang!" The elder yelled again, the sound of his voice reverberating inside the cave.

"Ah? I'm here, I'm here!" Di Lang snapped out of his shock and ran out hurriedly. Unfortunately, she tripped over her own foot and fell, hitting her head with a groan and tumbled into the river.

Instantly, the entire cave was filled with huge laughter.

"The Di little sister, nothing special." Some of the Mu clan elders scoffed, feeling a sort of annoyed boredom towards Di Lang.

"This is such a huge embarrassment!" Di Lang struggled as he got up from sea of flowers. The flowers were just to illusiory; he couldn't get up properly. Trying her best only made her look more stupid and clumsy. Her heart increasingly flustered as the sounds of laughter filled her ears.

But right at this moment, she suddenly felt a strong pull lifting her up. Her head finally left the surface and her body found balance again.

She wiped her face in a panic and focused his sight. It was actually her older brother Di Lan who had grasped his collar and pulled him up.

"Big brother…" He opened his mouth, but have no words to say.

Di Lang was completely at a loss on what to do, and then he heard her brother say to her, "Go on. The road to the future will be interesting."

Di Lang could not help but open her mouth in surprise. Di Lan's back was facing the crowd so they could not see properly, but Di Lang could clearly feel the calmness radiating from Di Lan. As his older brother spoke the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, revealing a deep and thoughtful smile.

Di Lang wore a stupefied expression as he walked towards the flower sea. "I never thought big brother really believed in me…"

She lowered her head, walking forward absent-mindedly. Yet she did not know that she was playing out a miraculous scene. When she finally snapped out of her reverie, she have already crossed the sea of flowers, standing in a distance that no one else had reached before him.

23 breathes!

"Oh my god, a Gold Grade talent!" The academy elder screamed, seeming to have lost his mind.

"Gold Grade, really a Gold Grade!?"

"It's been 15 years, a Gold Grade talented genius has finally appeared in the Mu clan!"

The clan elders that were watching in the darkness were also screaming out at the same time, losing their composures.

"Well, the Di bloodline originated from us Shi bloodline. So we Shi family will adopt in this Mu Di Lang," Mu Shi Chi immediately announced.

"How is that possible? You old bag Shi Chi, your morals and abilities are out of order, but you're definitely good at misleading young people. It's better to pass this kid to I, Mu Mo Shen to raise!" Mu Mo Shen roared back instantly.

"Stop arguing. No one is more qualified to raise this child than the current clan leader. Whoever has any objections is to go against me, Mu Jin Bu!" The Mu clan head had gone crazy and swept his fiery red gaze over the disappointed and discouraged looks.