After nearly half a year of almost frenzied, arduous cultivation, Elara Stonefield once again stood before Physician Morus, ready to undergo his formal assessment of her cultivation progress.
Tyg stood tightly beside Elara, wringing his hands, his expression exceptionally nervous. This was hardly surprising; Elara had long since gathered from his despondent remarks that after nearly half a year of hard cultivation, he had made virtually no progress with the nameless incantation, achieving no substantive results.
Elara knew in her heart that Tyg's diligence and dedication to cultivating this incantation were, in fact, no less than her own. Although he lacked her almost reckless, life-risking fervor, the effort and painstaking care he had invested were by no means insignificant; he could fully be described as conscientious and diligent.
But strangely, this mysterious incantation seemed to have no effect on Tyg whatsoever. No matter how much effort he poured into studying it, he couldn't produce even the slightest cultivation effect. It seemed this nameless incantation was fated to have no affinity with him.
Elara's heart was also in turmoil, far from calm. She knew that Tyg was almost certain to fail this assessment. As for herself, although she had barely achieved a tiny, insignificant result in cultivating this incantation, she was actually not much stronger than Tyg.
After cultivating so desperately, the final result was merely that the peculiar, faint cool energy flow within her body had become just a little more vigorous than before. If the energy flow had previously been as fine as a single strand of hair, now it had barely grown to the thickness of an ordinary cotton thread. However, with such meager progress, Elara had absolutely no confidence in whether she could pass Physician Morus's assessment. Thus, her heart couldn't help but leap to her throat, feeling anxious and unsettled.
"Are you both ready? Then, show me your respective cultivation results." Physician Morus narrowed his deep-set eyes, still sitting calmly in his large, high-backed armchair, examining the two slightly nervous children before him with his usual indifferent gaze.
"Yes, Old Morus, we are ready." Elara and Tyg could only brace themselves and reply in unison.
Physician Morus slowly rose from his armchair and gently placed "The Eternity Scroll," which he almost never let out of his sight, on the adjacent oak desk.
"Extend your hands. Each of you, circulate the technique you have cultivated, and let me examine it carefully."
Physician Morus extended a hand and first grasped Tyg's right wrist, placing his fingers on what was considered the key pulse point for energy flow, while his other hand gently pressed on Tyg's lower abdomen—the area considered to be where energy converged. After about a quarter of an hour, Physician Morus removed his hands from Tyg's body. He remained expressionless, merely scrutinizing the dejected Tyg from head to toe with his sharp eyes.
Tyg was already flushed crimson with shame and mortification. He hastily hid his hands behind his back and bowed his head deeply, no longer daring to meet Physician Morus's gaze. He knew very well that Physician Morus must have already realized he had achieved no results whatsoever in cultivating this incantation. Next, this stern physician would probably not give him a pleasant look.
"Your turn."
However, somewhat surprisingly, Physician Morus showed no intention of reprimanding Tyg. Only in the depths of his eyes did a hint of almost imperceptible disappointment seem to flicker. He quickly shifted his gaze from Tyg to Elara, who was standing to the side.
Physician Morus, using the same method as before, seized Elara's outstretched right wrist, placing his fingers on her pulse point.
"So cold! This hand is as cold as a block of ice, not at all the temperature a living person should have." The moment Physician Morus grasped her wrist, this thought involuntarily flashed through Elara's mind, making her feel a strange sense of unease and disquiet.
The skin on Physician Morus's hand felt somewhat dry and rough, and it was covered with thick calluses. Pressing against Elara's delicate skin, it caused her a slight stinging sensation. This was Elara's first impression upon being grasped by Physician Morus's hand.
Perhaps due to this sudden external stimulus, the faint energy flow within Elara's body began to circulate on its own, even before Elara herself actively tried to activate it. It flowed along those mysterious magical conduits, passing through all the key energy nodes throughout her body, originating from the energy convergence point in her lower abdomen, rushing upwards to the crown of her head, then branching out to her limbs and extremities, rapidly completing a full circulation cycle before finally returning to the energy convergence point in her lower abdomen. Strangely enough, as soon as this energy began to flow, the slight discomfort and stinging sensation Elara had previously felt on her skin immediately vanished without a trace.
"Hmm?" Physician Morus seemed to have noticed something unusual and couldn't help but let out a soft sound of surprise. It appeared he had discovered the peculiar energy flow circulating on its own within Elara.
"Quick! Circulate your cultivated incantation completely once more!" Although Physician Morus was still trying his utmost to suppress it, not wanting to show his joy too openly, the almost fanatical light that suddenly flashed in his eyes still left Elara, standing before him, somewhat stunned and bewildered.
"Slowly, don't rush. Let me feel it carefully," Physician Morus added immediately. His usually cold, emotionless tone had now become somewhat hurried due to excitement. As he spoke, he quickly pressed his other hand onto Elara's lower abdomen.
Elara vaguely sensed that Physician Morus's hands on her body were trembling slightly due to excessive excitement. It seemed his current mood was indeed very agitated. Thus, Elara, following his instructions, once again focused her mind and carefully guided the faint energy flow within her body through another complete cycle.
"That's it! That's it! This is the feeling! This is what I've been searching for for so many years! It can't be wrong! It absolutely cannot be wrong! Haha... Hahahaha..."
After a thorough and extremely cautious examination, Physician Morus could no longer suppress the ecstasy in his heart and burst into loud laughter. His hands, like iron clamps, gripped Elara's slender shoulders tightly. His eyes, usually narrowed, were now wide with extreme excitement, staring intently at Elara, as if admiring a rare treasure of the world. In the depths of his gaze, there seemed to be a faint glimmer of near madness.
Elara's ears echoed with Physician Morus's deafening peals of laughter. She felt her shoulders ache from his grip, and seeing the slightly crazed expression on his face, she couldn't help but feel a little scared and uneasy.
"Good! Very good! Excellent!" Physician Morus seemed to have noticed the slight fear in Elara's expression. He then realized his behavior just now had perhaps been a bit too unrestrained and unseemly. So, he immediately reined in the ecstasy on his face and stopped his booming laughter.
"In the future, you must cultivate as diligently as you do now. From today onwards, you are my, Morus's, sole inner chamber disciple!" He released his tight grip on Elara's shoulders and then gently patted her shoulder as a sign of approval and encouragement.
Physician Morus's face returned to its usual calm, impassive expression, as if all the nearly frenzied actions just now had never occurred. Only from the occasional, still somewhat unconcealed, eager glances he cast towards Elara could one vaguely perceive that his heart was actually still in a state of extreme excitement and agitation.
"As for you..." Physician Morus finally turned his gaze back to Tyg, who had long been frightened into a daze at the side.
Tyg had been completely stunned by the series of dramatic events that had just transpired. Now, seeing Physician Morus turn the conversation to him, he abruptly snapped out of his shock. The thought of being immediately sent down the mountain if he failed the assessment, this cruel reality, made Tyg's gaze towards Physician Morus fill with a look of desperate pleading.
"Alas, your innate aptitude is indeed not quite up to par," Physician Morus said, looking at Tyg and shaking his head repeatedly in regret. "After such a long time, you haven't managed to show even the slightest cultivation result. It's truly a bit too much of a stretch for you to be my disciple."
Tyg's heart sank with each shake of Physician Morus's head, almost hitting rock bottom.
From Physician Morus's words, both Elara and Tyg clearly understood his intention not to accept Tyg as a disciple any longer.
But just then, Physician Morus seemed to suddenly think of something extremely interesting. A strange, peculiar look flashed in his eyes as he looked at Tyg.
"However, when I was examining your innate constitution and aptitude just now, I unexpectedly discovered that there is another rather ancient body tempering art that seems to be more compatible with your physique. I wonder, are you still willing to become my disciple and cultivate that technique with me?" Physician Morus's tone suddenly shifted, surprisingly hinting at an unexpected intention to let Tyg pass the assessment as well.
Upon hearing this, Tyg was overjoyed. How could he possibly be unwilling? He immediately agreed without hesitation, as if afraid Physician Morus would go back on his word.
"Good, very good! Then, you two may go down first. Starting tomorrow, I will separately impart new cultivation methods to each of you." It was evident that Physician Morus was in an excellent mood, as another "Good, very good!" escaped his lips.
Hearing this, Elara and Tyg looked at each other in disbelief. They both felt that today's entrance test had truly been full of ups and downs, twists and turns, yet in the end, it had taken an unexpected turn for the better. That both of them had passed Physician Morus's assessment in such an unexpected way filled their hearts with a sense of heartfelt relief and gratitude.