19. Probe_1

"It hasn't been very long since we last met, yet to my surprise, junior brother, you have already reached the Late Qi Refining Stage and are ready to challenge the bottleneck of Foundation Establishment."

Senior Brother Jiang was the first to speak, and even gestured towards a stone stool nearby.

"Have a seat; there's no need to be formal."

Uh...

Song He glanced at Uncle Jiang, who had remained silent, with an inquiring look.

However, the latter only smiled and seemed unconcerned.

"You and your fellow disciples are of the same generation; besides, since we're not in public, there's no need to worry about formalities."

With that attitude, he did seem like an understanding and kind elder, but it only made Song He more puzzled.

While he was indeed an "Uncle," to say an Uncle was the archetype of a kindly elder... Song He found it a bit too fanciful to believe.

He really didn't dare to sit.

"Hehe, it seems you're a bit puzzled."

Seeing Song He's hesitation, Uncle Jiang spoke leisurely: "Your elder once had a certain connection with me. When you entered the sect, your assessment results were not good, but it was with my approval that you were admitted."

"Otherwise, do you think the two Class II Spirit Plants, the Golden Jade Water Trees, that you received when you joined would have been yours to claim?"

Oh... so it was a backdoor deal; turns out I'm one with connections.

No wonder they valued him so much, and arranged for someone to manage his housing on top of giving him seeds.

At this moment, Song He's heart did not relax, but rather tensed even more.

Because he realized that if the other party had been paying attention to him since his induction, then they must be fully aware of his situation.

Since he had little contact with other disciples, his changes went unnoticed; although he sought medical advice everywhere, he could still barely explain it as a concern for Spirit Plants.

Or perhaps, it was precisely because he was so focused on farming that he swallowed his pride to ask for medical help when the Spirit Plants fell ill.

But... could he convince himself with this reasoning, and would the cunning Uncle Jiang think the same?

Watching Song He, Uncle Jiang continued:

"Once, I gave you the choice of three, and you chose the most special Spirit Plant. Now, I need you to choose one out of nine... to decide my subsequent attitude towards you."

With a wave of his sleeve, nine seemingly ordinary blades of grass appeared on the stone table in the center of the pavilion.

Just ordinary grass.

Indistinguishable from the weeds by the side of the road.

"I have to choose again? But choosing is actually my forte," thought Song He with a slight sense of relief. He looked over from right to left, the [Name]s all the most common "Green grass," yet the second from the left struck him as surprising.

[Name]: Life Light Grass

[Class]: Class IV mid-grade

[Status]: Perfect (100%)

①. Continuation of light (fake): Can hide its true form, appearing as an ordinary green grass, distinguishable only by those sensitive to Fate and Luck (cannot be upgraded).

②. Continuation of light (purple): Consuming it can extend one's life by 10 years.

Fate and Luck?

Song He sharply picked up on this term.

He wondered why Uncle Jiang would suddenly ask him to choose—was it to test if he was Blessed with Air Luck?

He didn't know much about Fate and Luck.

But legends mentioned that those favored by Fate and Luck would suddenly gain enlightenment; even the most foolish could become perceptive and have almost cheat-like intuition for all matters.

They would become incredibly lucky.

Even placed in a labyrinth, they would follow their intuition to find their way out.

After mulling over the information on Fate and Luck, Song He suddenly considered a possibility—

Could the sudden change in himself have made Uncle Jiang think he was marked by Fate and Luck?

And thus, want to cultivate him?

After some thought, there did seem to be such a possibility. However, in the Cultivation World, there was another reason for a drastic change in personality: possession.

If he failed to choose the Life Light Grass, would Uncle Jiang think he had been possessed? In that case, he feared Uncle Jiang might decide to swiftly extinguish him!

Fortunately, he had the panel, so even without being marked by Fate and Luck, he could tell which plant it really was.

Feeling grateful, he hesitated no more.

Pointing to the second patch of small grass on the left, he said, "Uncle Jiang, I choose this blade of grass."

"Oh?" Uncle Jiang raised an eyebrow. "Why choose this one?"

"I'm not sure myself, it's just an instinct that this grass is different, it seems... it seems to emanate an indescribable aura."

Song He scratched his head, pretending to be very troubled.

Although he was bowing his head, he could still see from the corner of his eye that Uncle Jiang was staring at him, those seemingly clear eyes were unfathomably deep.

Deep enough to swallow everything.

Silence...

"Heh, interesting."

A moment later, Uncle Jiang suddenly let out a laugh.

All the grass on the table had vanished without a trace, taken away by an invisible force.

Uncle Jiang maintained a smile and said, "At the Peak of Late Qi Refining Stage, how confident are you in breaking through to Foundation Establishment?"

As he spoke, the atmosphere relaxed.

The indescribable oppressive feeling around seemed to have dissipated like smoke and clouds.

Song He's heart relaxed a bit; it seemed that he must have passed the test, otherwise he wouldn't be so affable.

He replied, "I purchased a Foundation Establishment Pill, planning to attempt the breakthrough when the opportunity arises."

"You must have consumed the Elixir Pavilion's Azure Cloud Spirit Pill, right?"

"Yes."

"Although that Spirit Pill is extremely special, you don't have to worry about any adverse effects. As for the Foundation Establishment Pill..."

The elder's expression became difficult to describe.

From his look, it seemed he didn't think highly of the Foundation Establishment Pill.

"Hehe, little brother doesn't know."

Senior Brother Jiang, who had been as silent as a statue, finally spoke up to explain:

"Cultivators in the outside world mostly rely on elixirs for their breakthroughs, but our Spiritual Leaf Sect is different. We can utilize some special Spirit Plants for breakthroughs.

Certainly, the natural force from Spirit Plants, untainted by the poisons of fire, tend to be superior to the external power of elixirs."

Generally speaking, when a 'leader' specifically mentions something, that's basically the same as hinting at something to you. Song He immediately showed a surprised and curious expression.

"Please enlighten me, Senior Brother, how can I see this kind of Spirit Plant?"

"This is where it gets interesting. In half a month, there will be a batch of openings to enter Heyun Heavenly Cave. I can register your name first."

Senior Brother Jiang smiled.

Song He: "..."

This overly coincidental event was too convenient and intentional.

Song He truly suspected that it was a case of being given a jujube after being scolded with a stick.

But how to put it... since he learned that Uncle Jiang and one of his seniors had old ties, he was somewhat genuinely a 'Uncle Jiang' now.

Though it was just registration, for a powerful elder within the sect, it would be ridiculous if he couldn't easily arrange for a cultivator to enter the heavenly cave to complete the Foundation Establishment.

Overall, it was a blessing in disguise.

The advantage was right before his eyes; if he really refused out of dissatisfaction, that would be truly foolish.

Putting himself in their shoes, if it were him, he would have been much more direct in his testing methods, and definitely not so gentle.

'Thank goodness, I passed. I can finally breathe a little easier,' Song He thought to himself.

Of course, only halfway.

Song He didn't let his guard down at all. After this test, he figured Uncle Jiang would likely assign him some task.

But that's fine, he would just play it by ear.

It could only be about tasks related to Spirit Plants.

Luckily, he had the panel with him, and when it came to Spirit Plants, he truly had a game-changing advantage.

More useful than being Blessed with Air Luck was this special ability.

After all, many might be Blessed with Fate and Luck, but he didn't believe there could be a second person with the panel—it was, in a sense, also being Blessed with Fate and Luck, right?

Unique and unparalleled Fate and Luck at that.