Becoming a cultivator in reserve doesn't mean you'll immediately begin cultivating. More often than not, it simply means you're allowed to observe.
Lin Jin was assigned to participate in an internal observation session. The location was on the outskirts of the Emotional Transformation Center. It was the first time he'd seen cultivators circulating their spiritual energy up close. It wasn't the grand spectacle he'd imagined, but a highly procedural operation. Emotions were diverted, compressed, and stabilized. The cultivators simply stood at nodes, like interfaces. Someone whispered, "The truly important thing isn't the cultivator, but the system." This statement was quickly recorded as "invalid noise." Lin Jin didn't speak. He realized a fact: cultivators weren't the source of power. They were merely authorized users.
The evaluation results at the end of the observation period were quickly issued. The document title was concise and clear:
"Evaluation Opinion on the Priority of Lin Jin's Individual Cultivation" The conclusion section contained only one sentence:
"High emotional stability, insufficient intensity; not recommended for inclusion in the key cultivation sequence."
Note: "Can be used as a sample for structural stability; retain for observation." Lin Jin finished reading, folded the document, and put it back in the file folder. He wasn't surprised. In this system, being needed and being valued are two different things. He looked up at the window. The purple clouds remained calm, and the city was functioning well. And he, silently, was being incorporated into a larger statistical model.