How To Be A System (Dummy-Proof Edition)

Chapter 38. The Difference Between Talent For Martial Arts And For Cultivation

After the whole mayhem with Third Princess, fatty Zhang, and that senior brother. The exam soon resumed.

The result of the next few people are Aunt Zhang having flame and wood dual spirit root, Third uncle having mutated wind and water dual spirit root, Peak Master Fen with wood and earth dual spirit root, and lastly Ren Qingchen with his mutated lightning and fire spirit root.

During the whole test, I could see that head examiner smiling from ear to ear. The wrinkle on his cheek could even be used to kill a mosquito.

After the consecutive pure spirit root and dual spirit root, that elder looked at Ren Qingquan who stood at the rear end of their group with a kind smile.

He probably think, because Ren Qingquan went with the group, he might also be extremely talented.

Within consciousness space. While continuing my work to [Scan] how that steel works, I could hear Ren Qingquan’s narcissistic thoughts.

‘Mwehehe. As the saying goes, the best comes last. So, my position at the rear end of our group is not a coincidence because I choose to stand here on my own. I am already known as a genius even in the Martial Arts World. If I stood at the front end of the group, the other wouldn’t have any chance to show off. ‘

It seems the aftermath of Ren Qingquan overclocking his brain from thinking is pretty serious. His silliness actually increased greatly.

Standing in front of the stele, Ren Qingquan placed his hand at the circular dent on the stele.

Once his hand touched the stele, it shone with colorful light before slowly fading away. As the glow fades, Ren Qingquan’s expression also fades with it.

***

Seeing Ren Qingquan walking forward, the elders sitting in a room stared at the screen with focus as they began to talk among themselves.

“Is this the other boy with massive luck that guy Fengyun talks about?”

“It seems so. Anyway, any of you want to take the other lucky boy with mutated lightning and fire dual spirit root? If no one wants to take him, then I will. “

That elder has just finished speaking when the screen shows Ren Qingquan’s test result. Looking at the five colored glow, silence descended into the room.

***

Ren Qingquan: (๏_๏)

Looking at the five colored glow Ren Qingquan received, I feel a bit tired. It seems I need to work overtime to help Ren Qingquan cultivate, as he doesn’t meet the requirement to enter the Pure Wave Sect.

If those xianxia novels I read in the previous world teach me something. Cultivating as a loose cultivator without any sect is definitely more difficult. Well, at least he still has spirit roots, which allow him to cultivate.

Thinking so, I looked at Ren Qingquan’s expression, which had been frozen in shock until the examiner announced his result.

“Five element spirit root. Fai-“

“Wait!”

Just when the examiner was going to announce Ren Qingquan’s test result, the head examiner stopped him after receiving a fluctuation used to communicate.

Using my [Scan], I tapped into that elder’s conversation with an unknown person.

“Elder Guan, let that boy pass this test. He is one of the boys with high luck that guy Fengyun talks about.”

Hearing the unknown person’s words, Elder Guan, the head examiner, is confused.

“Are you sure? Even someone with this kind of rubbish talent could be called lucky? Is it possible that Guy Fengyun’s eyes finally have a problem?”

The other party went silent hearing Elder Guan’s frank words.

“Well, anyway. Just let that boy pass this test. If he failed the next one, it means he is not fated with the sect. Also, don’t let him hear you talking shiet about him like that. You must remember ‘THAT EVENT’ which makes our Pure Wave Sect drop from one of the top sects into a second rate one.”

Being reminded of that event seems to make elder Guan frightened as he quickly nodded.

“Alright then. Luckily you reminded me of that historical EVENT. You know how I am, I often went to cultivate during the history class and forget about what they thought.”

After elder Guan said that, the fluctuation stopped and he smiled at Ren Qingquan.

“You can pass.”

Elder Guan’s words caused many people who had failed due to having a five spirit roots to complain. Hearing their complaints, Elder Guan just shrugged.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

“Who asked you to have no guarantee from someone with high status in the sect?”

Seeing how things develop, I must say I am incredibly surprised. Whether it is about elder Fengyun and his ability to see luck. Or about the mysterious event elder Guan talked about. Everything makes me curious.

Once Ren Qingquan heard Elder Guan’s words. I am speechless at the thought he is having.

‘Well, maybe my spirit root is special and that stele actually couldn’t detect it. But that head examiner found out about my amazingness and decided to let me pass?’

Should I be amazed at Ren Qingquan’s imagination and his ability to comfort himself?

After another hour, all fifty lines had already finished testing. On average, every person took less than 1 minute to finish the test. Among the close to ten thousand people previously. Only around one thousand could make the stele glow. And among those thousand, 90% of them make the stele glow with five colors which means they failed.

Seeing as the test is finished, Elder Guan spoke to the group of peoples. By using some sort of skills that causes the ambient energy around him to tremble, the word he spoke spread far and wide.

“The first test has been finished. Those who failed can return to the city. As for those who succeed, all of you will follow me toward the mountain!”

Listening to Elder Guan’s words, those who failed went toward the city located nearby while looking dispirited.

Glancing at the slightly more than a hundred people remaining, Elder Guan said to them.

“I am busy and don’t have time to wait for you guys to walk toward the next testing site. So, I will just pull all of you with me.”

As elder Guan moved his hand in a pulling motion. From [Scan], the ambient energies gathered around all hundred people and made them float toward his direction. Once elder Guan started flying, everyone that floated behind him because of his power followed suit.

Arriving at the mountain with a flat peak, elder Guan dropped all of them at the foot of that mountain.

“All of you just need to use the step here and try to reach the top of that mountain. The test will last until night arrives. As long as you pass through the gate midway through the mountain, you will pass.”

Upon finishing his word, elder Guan started flying to the top of that mountain.

Hearing Elder Guan’s words, I am incredibly suspicious. The test is definitely not only about passing through the step to test their stamina. Otherwise, he could’ve just let those people walk here to test it.

Focusing my [Scan] toward those steps, I realized it is actually engraved with many extremely tiny runes. Searching for related information I stored, I found out those runes are actually a formation to generate illusion.

Due to insufficient information, I could only know those are illusion formations by checking the similarities to other illusion formations stored in my [Storage]. And couldn’t specify what kind of effect those formations will achieve.

Remembering the information Ren Qingchen told their group about the possible test, I concluded this is most likely a formation used to test their will power. As for the specific, Ren Qingchen doesn’t say about it and merely told them every sect has different means.

Returning my focus toward Ren Qingquan. The people around him, including Ren Qingchen and others quickly moved toward the steps upon hearing there is a time limit to the test.

Following them, Ren Qingquan took his first step.

Upon standing at the first step, I saw everyone froze on their step.

From the sense shared by Ren Qingquan, it seems he already entered the illusion as I saw an empty desert instead of the mountain with stairs.

Looking at that illusion, Ren Qingchen’s information is accurate. Then Ren Qingquan is damned and he might get stuck on the first step.

Ren Qingchen previously told everyone the will power test is usually held in an illusion. Different illusions have different focus on what kind of will power is being tested.

The one Ren Qingquan met is a will power test to check someone’s ability to endure loneliness. As long as one doesn’t get anxious after a certain amount of time, they could get out of the formation and continue to the next one. Of course within the illusion, people will feel the time has slowed down to the point of 1 minute feels like an entire week.

Here is the problem, With Ren Qingquan’s impatience and willpower. He is almost guaranteed to fail this step even after knowing how to pass it.

Looking around, I could see many people already woke up from the first stair. Understanding the difficulties of this test, there are some people trying to skip a step by jumping. But instead of skipping the step, they got hit by an invisible wall instead. It seems the test requires them to pass through every single step.

Thinking if this goes on, Ren Qingquan might fail this test. So, I decided to lend some help.

Preparing a new message I have just written. I sent it directly toward Ren Qingquan’s mind using the connection we have.

[Ding! The host has been trapped within an illusion formation! Proceed with an emergency escape program? Yes/No]

Reading the word displayed on the screen, Ren Qingquan focused on the Yes button to press it.

Once Ren Qingquan pressed yes. I prepared myself to do an extremely difficult operation that I haven’t experimented with but is theoretically possible.

Creating an extremely tiny amount of electric charge, I sent them toward Ren Qingquan’s body in an attempt to control its movement. After testing what kind of electric charge causes what kind of movements, I start to make his body move.

Due to my inexperience or perhaps other reason, the movement Ren Qingquan’s body does is more similar to someone forcing themselves to walk while convulsing.

Through [Anchor], I could see the illusory scene around Ren Qingquan changing like it was glitching. One time he is in the middle of an empty desert, the next time he is near a falling meteor, then there is a scene with many beautiful women, and many other scenes. Those scenes keep on switching like someone doing a 100 page powerpoint presentation in five minutes.

Actually at first, I thought of using [Transfer] and teleported Ren Qingquan to the top of this mountain. But, doing so might cause people to think that Ren Qingquan has some incredible treasure capable of teleportation. Afterall, even someone as strong as elder Fengyun and that elder Guan that I had scanned previously doesn’t have any item related to space.

I also have the idea to block the effect of that formation and release Ren Qingquan from the illusion. But after checking every available means I have, there is none that could achieve that result.

***

Looking at the screen where Ren Qingquan twitches his way to the gate, everyone in the room could only stare blankly.

“He is definitely cheating.”

One of the elders said the word in everyone’s mind right now. His word received the nod from everyone else. Soon, the elder Guan who had just entered the room rolled his eyes toward that guy.

“Everyone could see he is cheating. But, the main question is how? This mountain has been refined together by many elders from Weapon Refining Peak including myself and the elders from Formation Peak working together. Those people from Divination Peak have even done many divinations to check for any possible loopholes!”

Nearing the end of his sentence, elder Guan lost his composure. Well, everyone will be when the masterpiece they thought is perfect actually got tricked by a child several hundred years younger than them.

Soon, other elders start to speak their theory one by one.

“Perhaps it is the power of luck that guy Fengyun talks about?”

“Looking at his twitching movement, it might be a technique similar to those used by puppet sects. “

“No way, this mountain directly blocked every outside interference every potential disciple might receive. Unless it is a super big shot, the means of those puppet sects couldn’t pass through the blockade.”

Slowly, the room descended into chaos as everyone told a wilder and wilder theory until the fat elder who already picked fatty Zhang and senior brother as his disciple spoke.

“Alright, all of you. Silence! I have already found out the means that boy used.”

Hearing that fat elder’s word, everyone focused their eyes toward him.

“My senses could detect some lightning element flowing through his body at several places following a weird rhythm. Everytime the lightning passed a certain place, it would make his body twitch forward. That is why his movement looks like someone’s convulsing. “

After being told by that fat elder, their senses could indeed detect a faint electricity moving around Ren Qingquan’s body.

That fat elder then continued his conjecture.

“He probably has a certain treasure capable of generating lightning. That treasure also most likely has gained some degree of sentience to be capable of doing such a feat while its owner is unconscious.”

Hearing that fat elder’s conjecture, some people there have a glint in their eye.

Sensing something wrong, the fat elder continued.

“I know some of you might have some thoughts about the treasure he has. Like how could a weakling have such a treasure, or other similar thing. But, quickly cease your thought! You must remember THAT EVENT! The event that traumatized every senior in the sect. “

Hearing that fat elder’s warning. Those people with a glint in their eyes stopped and shuddered. One of them tried to change the topic as he asked.

“So, should we let him pass even though he cheated?”

Fat elder nodes his head.

“Having such a treasure is evidence of his massive luck, and luck is also an extremely important part of cultivation.”

Soon, everyone also nodded to give their agreement.

Well, everyone except for Elder Guan who Is holding his tears while thinking how the masterpiece he thought is perfect actually has a glaring loophole.