31 **Chapter 31: Tests**

1. Lang Ya Land Spirit used a killer move called "complete silence" that negated the sound path. What do you think is the limit of that killer move? (Chapter 1545)

2. What percentage of Land Spirits do you reckon have an obsession that is impossible to fulfill? (e.g., become a Venerable, become immortal…)

3. Who do you think, in the original story, are the closest people to becoming Venerable? (after fate was destroyed, and it became possible)

......….

"Hello, my future master, whoever you may be...

"Damn... I guessed as much before, but now it's certain, this immortal Aperture is preventing me from using any of my Gu....

"But I will be able to let you know who it's not going to be, so how about we start the first test?"

As what was obviously a land spirit finished his sentence, I see walls that seem to be made of yellow light forming around me. The particular thing about them is that there are only three of them, as well as a roof, seemingly made of the same materials.

So here I am standing in the middle of a triangular room. I don't hear the outside world anymore, none of the annoying crying and panicking of the others. But there were also no other sounds, no breathing, no scratches or creaks in the distance.

"I think this is truly the first time in both my lives that I have heard absolutely nothing..."

The silence did not last, though, as the land spirit's voice appeared around me, from all directions equally, not too loud, but not silent either.

"Your first obstacle will be a test of luck."

With the words entering my ears, I see that the numbers 1 and 2 appear on the two walls in front of me.

I turn around to confirm my suspicion, and sure enough, there is a three on the third wall.

"Just choose a number by touching one of the walls!"

"This does not seem like a trick..."

Looking around a bit, I notice no abnormalities, and nothing different.

"It truly seems to be a test of luck... Interesting for a Land Spirit to care about something like this..."

"Maybe the obsession of this Gu Immortal was a kind of inferiority complex?"

"Dear Immortal, what is the passing rate in this? Or to ask it in a different way, do 2/3 people pass or do 2/3 people get eliminated?"

To quote a famous saying from my past life: 'The silence was deafening....'

So either this was a trashy immortal without the ability to answer the questions of a few hundred people at the same time. Or more likely, the land spirit just does not care about any of our concerns, at least before we pass his test.

"No use thinking about this too much, either my luck is good or it isn't..." I argue as I fist bump the wall with the number one on it.

"Congratulations on passing the first test of luck; you are currently tied with 129 others for 2nd place," the voice of the land spirit announces as a list appears on the wall that I just touched.

It had three columns labeled: place, name, and points. With only two places existing, a tie for first between 111 people, all of them having 50 points, and a tie for second place between 129 myself and 128 others.

The number of people that were in a tie for first and second place was constantly changing, or rather increasing.

"So there are two outcomes from this so-called test of luck: to get 50 points or to get no points."

"But there were three options, and the ranks 1 and 2 on this list have about the same number..."

"This can mean two things: my trial was special, and the only one that had three options, which in my opinion is unlikely."

"Or the more likely option, that there was a 1/3 chance to be eliminated from the trial outright. With 3 options, one eliminating you, one rewarding you, and one doing nothing really."

I, of course, got the most underwhelming option, one that gave me no advantage while not giving me the option to get out of here either.

"The first trial is officially over!"

"Out of 750 participants, 512 have passed!"

"Congratulations!"

"As you can all see, there is a table with a rank and a number of points in front of you. In the second part of this test, you will be asked questions."

"They will get increasingly more difficult. For every question you get right, you get a certain number of points. The number of points you get will depend on the quality of your answer."

"For every question you get wrong, you get 10% of your points subtracted."

"You can stop taking new questions at any time, but if you answer three questions wrong, you are eliminated, and your number of points is final."

"The second trial has a maximum duration of 4 hours."

"At the end of this trial, you will be granted rewards or be eliminated from the competition, depending on your number of points."

"This confirms my theory; this immortal was definitely an otherworldly demon when he was alive...."

"I can explain Mozart's work with the immortal having heard it from somewhere, and him or her just copying it. But the gamification of this inheritance is undeniable proof that we are dealing with an otherworldly demon."

The ranking moved to the side, onto the wall that had the number 3 on it before; I could still see it out of the corner of my eyes. It was replaced by a question, or rather a task.

"Recite a Poem or sing a song."

"...."

"The blue sea is laughing, the tidal waves are surging.

Drifting with the waves, only caring about today.

Heaven laughs, at this hectic mortal world.

Who will win, who will lose, only heaven knows.

...

Human lives have ups and downs like the waves, sometimes high, sometimes low.

Why do we have to be always concerned about victory or defeat?

The natural romanticism intoxicated the crowd.

...

The rivers and mountains laugh, the misty rain is far away.

How many great men and heroes, have the tides washed away?

Smiling at the breeze wind, lost in quiet solitude.

Heroic feelings remain, reflected in the cold night.

…

Bold and lofty, free and unrestrained, all kinds of 'aspirations' would be washed away by the waves. Even life itself will perish.

But what is the big deal? A noble man is not a slave to external matters, aloof from the world, forgetting gains and losses. Destiny is fickle, so why uphold your disposition, throw away your mask, and find your true self. True self is unyielding, true self is lonely. Even if my life is the setting sun, I will live my own splendor.

...

The blue sea is laughing, the tidal waves are surging.

Drifting with the waves, only caring about today.

Heaven laughs, at this hectic mortal world.

Who will win, who will lose, only heaven knows.

The rivers and mountains laugh, the misty rain is far away.

How many great men and heroes, have the tides washed away?

Common people laugh, there is no more loneliness.

Yet the unyielding spirit in me is still laughing crazily.

…

I struggle to survive in the mortal world, I came to life and I joined the world.

I lived my own life, I lived according to my own feelings, even if the waves toss me up and down, sending me to the border of death, I will never grieve, lament, fear, or worry; I will savor these flavors thoroughly, I will still laugh crazily until the end.

I am true to my nature. I am a true person."

"You have completed the task; the maximum number of 50 points has been accredited to you."

My gaze wanders to the ranking, with my name now colored in light blue, in contrast to all the others.

There were still 512 people, so nobody had been eliminated yet, but there were more ranks now. The lowest being -20 and the highest 67.

'Hmmm… thanks, Fang Yuan, for the 50 points. You must have really impressed the land spirit, even though you have not even been born.'

'But let's focus again…'

"If you are a rank 1 peak stage Gu, with a talent of 67%, how often could you use the Ember Gu, that consumes 7% rank 1 peak stage primeval essence?"

"9 times."

"Correct, 10 points."

"If you are a rank 1 peak stage Gu, with a talent of 75%, how often could you use the Soundbeat Gu, that consumes 10% rank 1 middle stage primeval essence?"

'This one's a bit more difficult; I should maybe take a second before answering it….'

"30 times."

"Correct, 10 points."

"How many rank 3 Gu can the average rank 3 Gu master afford to feed?"

"5."

"Within the margin of error, the correct answer is 6. 8 Points."

"How far will your voice travel, if you are talking in a normal tone, if you are outside and there is no wind, as well as no other noises?"

'This one is a bit more difficult…. The immortal might be interested in seeing if we have an instinct for the sound path…'

'I don't know, so I can do nothing but guess.'

"100 meters."

"Anything from 100 to 200 meters is correct, 10 points."

I look at the ranking on the other wall and see that I am in third place with 88 points. I also saw that the number of contestants has been reduced to 491, meaning that 21 people got eliminated already.

And if you looked into the lower half of the scoreboard, you would see a lot of people who have lost points or have just started from 0 and gained very little.

Another thing I noticed was that there were people that had a gray name; all of them started out with 50 points and did not improve at all.

'Might be the ones that stopped straight out of the gate…'

"If a Leaf Health Gu consumes 5% middle stage primeval essence and can be used 50 times before it dies of overuse. How much primeval essence would a rank 1 upper stage Gu Master have to use before the Gu dies of overuse?"

'5% for middle stage are 1.25 for upper stage… That times 50 is….'

"62.5%"

"Correct, 10 points."

…

…

…

"Time is up!"

"Out of 512 initial candidates, 96 have a score that is not enough and are hence eliminated."

"This leaves us with 416 participants that have passed. Now you may choose your reward!"

'Pfff… These tests were a lot of math, which i am a lot better at than all the others evidently, but I don't think I let it slip that I am an otherworldly demon too.'

[Rank 1: Fei Yu Zhen Wei, 1087 Points]

'And that, without the advantage of the 50 points from the first test…. I did cheat with Fang Yuan's poem though…'

"As you are the first place, you can choose any Gu or material as a reward, as long as it does not have a higher value than your points."

"How much is each Point worth?"

"10 primeval stones."

"So which Gu would you like?"

"I want Livespan Gu!"

"No."

"Then I want a Gu that increases my Talent!"

"No."

'This guy is either broke or stingy. Like, what kind of poor immortal gives the first place in his inheritance a price worth 10,000 primeval stones….'

"Then do you have Red Steel Relic Gu at least?"

"Yes, it costs 800 Points; here you go! You have 287 Points left."

'That is good; rank 2 will be a breeze with that….'

"With the rest of my points, I would like to redeem a Gu that can conceal cultivation. Just give me the best I can afford."

"Here you go; this is the rank 3, three-color change Gu, with it, anyone under rank 3 can make their own cultivation look like a rank 1 or 2 Gu master of any stage. The only catch is that you can only make yourself appear weaker than you are."

'As i look at the ranking, i doubt that more that 100 people will get anything usefull from this stingy land spirit.'

1994 words