The main gate of the Azure Mystic Sect was not designed to be welcoming. It was designed to make you feel small.
Two massive pillars of white jade spiraled into the clouds, supporting a header inscribed with runes that hurt the eyes if you stared too long. Beneath it, a sea of hopefuls waited—hundreds of youths from wealthy clans, martial cities, and renowned dojos, all vying for a spot on the mountain.
The air smelled of ozone and desperation.
Chu Feng stood at the back of the line, clutching his cloth bundle. He was the only one wearing straw sandals. Everyone else had silk rucksacks or spatial pouches that hummed with faint spiritual fluctuations.
"Hey," a youth in front of him turned around. He was wearing golden silk and holding a fan made of spirit-feathers. He looked Chu Feng up and down.
"Are you delivering supplies to the kitchen?" the youth asked, genuinely confused. "The service entrance is around the back."
Chu Feng paused. He looked at his bundle. He looked at his hands.
They were calloused from farming, but they were clean.
"They look normal," Chu Feng mumbled, more to himself than the youth. He stepped aside slightly to the edge of the path. "I'm not blocking the way."
The youth rolled his eyes and turned back to the gate.
"Next!"
The voice of Examiner Wei Rong boomed across the plaza. He stood next to the Testing Monolith—a ten-foot crystal pillar that pulsed with a low, rhythmic thrum.
"Qin Lie!"
A youth in crimson robes stepped forward. The crowd instinctively parted. This was the genius from the Southern Capital. Even his walk was arrogant; he moved like the air owed him money.
"This is how it's supposed to be," Qin Lie announced to no one in particular.
He slammed his hand onto the crystal.
ROAR.
The crystal didn't just light up; it screamed. A pillar of fiery orange light shot upward, illuminating the runes all the way to the top. The air grew hot. The crowd gasped, shielding their eyes.
"Upper Tier!" Wei Rong announced, nodding with approval. "Fire Spirit Root. High volume. Pass! Inner Sect potential!"
Qin Lie smirked, accepting his jade tablet.
Next was Shen Yu. She moved like a ghost, silent and cold. She placed her hand on the stone gently. The light was a piercing blue—clean, steady, and sharp.
"Pass. Upper Tier."
She took her tablet without a word. As she walked away, her gaze swept over the line. She paused on Chu Feng.
He was standing by a decorative stone lion, eating a piece of dried meat. He didn't look nervous. He didn't look excited. He looked like he was waiting for rain to stop.
'Why isn't he shaking?' she wondered. 'Does he not know what this means?'
"Huo Zhen!"
A burly youth stepped up. He was sweating before he even touched the stone. He grabbed the crystal and roared, forcing his Qi out.
The light flickered. It surged, then dimmed, then surged again. It was ugly, unstable light.
"Pass," Wei Rong muttered, looking bored. "Middle Tier. Next!"
The line dwindled.
Finally, Wei Rong looked at his scroll. He frowned.
"Chu... Feng?"
He looked up. He scanned the crowd of rejected applicants and accepted disciples.
"Is he lost?" someone whispered.
Chu Feng swallowed his last bite of dried meat. He wiped his hands on his trousers and stepped forward.
"Here," he said softly.
The crowd hesitated.
"Wait... was he in line?"
"I thought he was the gardener."
Chu Feng ignored them. He walked up to the crystal pillar. Up close, it was intimidating. It hummed with a frequency that made his teeth itch.
"Hand," Wei Rong barked.
Chu Feng took a breath. He reached out.
'Just like Elder Qiao taught,' he thought. 'Don't force it. Just let it flow.'
He placed his palm on the cold surface.
He pushed his Qi.
Inside his Dantian, the Mo Seal reacted instantly. It felt the suction of the crystal—an external force trying to draw energy out—and it clamped down.
Leak detected. Seal active.
The Qi that should have entered the crystal was violently yanked back into the black sphere.
The result was immediate.
The crystal didn't light up. It didn't even glimmer.
It went completely, utterly dark. The faint ambient hum of the formation died. The runes turned gray.
Silence.
It was a heavy, awkward silence.
Someone in the back coughed.
Chu Feng blinked. He looked at the dead crystal. He looked at his hand.
"Oh," he whispered.
He gave a small, apologetic smile to the Examiner.
"Sorry," Chu Feng said. "I think I clogged it."
Wei Rong stared at the stone. He had seen weak talents. He had seen empty talents. He had never seen someone subtract light from the room.
"Fail," Wei Rong said. His voice was final. "Remove him."
The crowd exhaled, a mix of laughter and dismissal rippling through the plaza.
"Knew it."
"Why did they even test him?"
"At least he tried. Takes guts to be that useless in public."
Chu Feng bowed politely. He wasn't surprised. He was a Leaking Body, after all. Why would a rock light up for a bucket with no bottom?
"Understood," Chu Feng said. "Thank you for your time."
He turned to leave.
As he turned, his rough hemp sash shifted. The small wooden token Elder Gu had given him slipped halfway out of his pouch.
It didn't glow. It didn't release a wave of power. It just hung there, bobbing against his hip.
But Wei Rong saw it.
He froze.
His eyes locked onto the cloud motif burned into the wood. He recognized that carving. It wasn't a standard sect token. It was a Personal Command Token from the Elder Hall. specifically, from that Elder.
Wei Rong's heart skipped a beat.
'Why does a peasant have that?'
He looked at Chu Feng's retreating back. If he let the boy walk away, and the Elder found out...
"Hold."
Wei Rong's voice cracked slightly, then he corrected it. Louder.
"HOLD!"
The chatter in the plaza died instantly.
Chu Feng stopped. He turned around, confused.
Wei Rong cleared his throat. He pointed a finger at Chu Feng.
"Special acceptance," Wei Rong announced.
The silence broke.
"What?"
"On what grounds?" Qin Lie stepped forward, his face flushed. "He turned the crystal off! He has no Qi! This is a mockery of the test!"
"That is not your concern!" Wei Rong snapped, his face paling. He didn't offer an explanation. He couldn't. How could he explain that a piece of wood held more authority than the crystal pillar?
He grabbed a wooden tablet—the lowest rank—and shoved it at Chu Feng.
"Take it. Go. Logistics Division."
Chu Feng caught the tablet. He stood there, frozen.
He looked at the angry crowd. He looked at the sweating Examiner.
"...Do I need to retake the test?" Chu Feng asked carefully.
Wei Rong looked like he wanted to scream.
"No," the Examiner hissed. "Just go."
Chu Feng nodded seriously. "Thank you."
He walked through the gate. The crowd parted, but not out of respect. They parted with looks of disgust and suspicion.
"He failed and got pulled in through connections," someone whispered loudly.
"Shameless."
"Must be an illegitimate son of a deacon."
[The Corner of the Plaza]
Old Porter Lin leaned on his broom. He watched the boy disappear into the sect.
He had seen the failure. He had seen the token. He had seen the fear in Wei Rong's eyes.
Most people saw corruption.
Old Lin saw something else.
He looked at the crystal pillar. It was slowly starting to hum again, recovering from whatever had just touched it.
"That wasn't mercy," the old porter wheezed to himself, shaking his head.
"That was permission."
He looked at the angry youths, the proud geniuses, and the sweating examiner. None of them understood.
The test rejected him.
The sect did not.