CH-10: Root Asessment

"You wish! Not everyone is a monster like you and can stay unfazed when they hear my voice."

With that we finally went on our separate ways, I did not come to listen to free concerts anymore and focused on the Descending Starry Palm. Although I didn't know how to force my will with my soul just yet, I used my pseudo-divine sense to perfect my stances.' I thought the 4th Elder would give me the weapon he mentioned by now, it would be best if I got it before going to the Institute.'

Unfortunately, no weapon came and I had to do with a basic whip. 'I know the sect is busy these days but couldn't you just have it made and focus on everything else.' How would I know the 4th Elder had gone to seclusion, trying to breakthrough? The awaited day came and I was standing in front of the gates with other branch members. I was standing with Iyana and my two siblings, sixth sister and 5th brother. One is of age 13 while the other is 14. With all three of us attending it would only be 4th brother who did not go to the Institute. 'Deserved, I guess.' The Second Elder's voice echoed;

"Line up! Today, you will be leaving the Clan and cultivate at the Institute for five years. We will fly through the Continent and reach the centermost where the Institute is located. The journey will take three days and the next day your spiritual roots will be assessed. Even though you know your elements, you do not know their grades. There are three grades for spiritual roots. From worse to best in order they are, 'Human Roots', 'Earthly Roots' and 'Heavenly Roots'. If you are of multiple spiritual roots, their grades may or may not be the same. These grades in itself reflect your talent, the talent you are born with. Having Human Roots in all or one of your spiritual roots means you can not go beyond Foundation Establishment, forever destined to stay mortals. Having Earthly Roots, on the other hand, means that you will not go beyond Birth Of Self, and your cultivation will also be slower than 'Heavenly Roots'. And if you have Heavenly Roots your limits do not lie in the lower realm, if there is even one."

Many of the branch family kids face fell, who doesn't dream of Divine Ascension? The Second Elder continued like she didn't shatter dreams.

"For those who reach Golden Core, it is mandatory to teach at the Institute for 5 years. For those who can't reach it in the next 40 years, they will have to pay a remuneration. There are also those who can't achieve Foundation Establishment, failing the final exam. They are to stay at the Institute for the next 10 years, doing odd jobs and gathering resources for them. If any of you are to fail you can forget about coming back to the Clan." She said coldly.

"Comprehension exam is rather straightforward. You will be copying scriptures that are infused with Qi. Depending on how these two connect the real scripture will form. You are to copy that real one, copying over 50% means a pass and full points. Anything over it is bonus points. If you don't get at least 65% don't dare call yourselves a Lin! Renowned for our stronger souls, Lin Clan is unmatched in comprehension! Now, you will board my flying boat as I call your names per seniority! Namor Lin!"

-"Here!"

"Rose Lin!"

-"Here!"

"Axel Lin"

"Here!" But I did not just go in, as I knew what would happen later if I did so.

"Iyana Jiang!" And here it is. Since she said 'by seniority' it would mean that any spouses the direct line had would be senior to those in branch families. 'Man, just look at their faces, they will definitely pester her. I'm saving your lives, you should thank me later.

She raised her hand and walked towards the boat. I helped her up and escorted her onboard, not forgetting to give the branches a stern look. 'Now that I backed her up they shouldn't be able to pester her.' Looking uninterested in the whole ordeal, Iyana made her way into her cabin. 'Does she even know which one is her cabin?' Shaking my head I headed towards the bow of the boat.

"And she calls this huge ship only a boat?" Someone spoke my thoughts out loud. 

"Oh~ you were here little brother? When did you become such a gentleman?" Not bothering to answer I turned back. Nothing worse than a kid only a year older than you trying to tease you.

I entered my cabin after checking which was mine and lay on the bed, only to find an angry flamingo looking glaring at me. 'Ugh, can't I get a break?'

"Why are you here?"

"Can't you see, I'm lying."

"Go lie somewhere else, I picked here already."

"Look here, Grandma. I don't know how your Clan handled these kinds of things but in my Clan, it is always arranged beforehand alright? You saw the official with the stupid grin right, just ask him."

"Ugh, fine."

Having sent off the angry flamingo I kept lying in the bed till we set off. Can't miss the view of a hypersonic wooden flying ship now can I? Watching the mountains and rivers pass by I realised how big this world truly is. 'It's been several hours at hypersonic speed and you are telling me we still have two and a half days to go?'

 I also learned watching mountains and rivers pass by in hypersonic speed gets boring quickly. 'I lasted longer than I thought.' Being a modern person, having ADHD was a must. 'Being in a cultivation world must've toned it down.' Feeling good about myself I went on from doing a boring thing to a more boring thing, meditating. 

Two days passed by. Getting bored I visited a certain person's cabin, not forgetting to knock this time around. 

"Are you here to torture yourself again?"

"Is it still torture when you enjoy it? Wait that came off wrong, forget I said that."

"No way, the esteemed Seventh Young Master of the Lin Clan is an 'M', how can I forget that!"

"Sigh... I meant the music. It is too boring to meditate all day. How about this, I will play Xiao and you will forget what I said."

"Depends on how you play it." After we landed and got out, she looked like she was the one who got hit by a soul attack... 

"This is the Rising Central City." The Second Elder took the lead. 'Are you sure that name isn't DMCA?' 

"It is called 'Rising' because this place is where the top talents of our continent rise. You will be staying at Fleeting Dragons Inn for today. Tomorrow the exam will be held. Be at your peak performance at any point. You can explore the city but stay in the vicinity."

 'Here comes the find a treasure among trash trope. Should I try my chances?'

Looking at every stall nearby I looked for hidden treasures, colour me surprised, but I didn't find any. It is a trait only protagonists have. Descending Starry Palm doesn't count because Eldest Brother would've bought it anyway. After I returned to the inn, not staying for dinner I straight went to bed.

All of the nearly a hundred juniors of the Lin Clan lined up in front of the in. With the official from Clear Sky Institute guiding us, we made our way to an obelisk, this obelisk is the thing that will be grading our spiritual roots' elements and grade. The alley where the obelisk was located teemed with juniors from other clans and loose cultivators. A Dean of the Institute made a statement but I didn't really focus. My eyes were searching for the original protagonist.

"Now, let the spiritual root examination begin! First, we will have the juniors from the Wang Clan, then Lin, Jiang, Mo and lastly Xue. Then we will have the juniors from noble families starting with Xiao, Wu, Namgung and Tang. Lastly, we will have loose cultivators."

Wang Clan lined up, starting with their branch family members. 'They plan to use their direct lines results to slap our face? Not with me here. I'm sure that my Lightning Spiritual Root is of Heavenly Grade and my metal one is Earth Grade. What I thought was body-refining talent when I built my body turned out to be my Roots' grades instead.'

With their 150 juniors, Wang Clan was the biggest group of juniors and of course, they all passed. Then it was their direct line's turn.

"Weiner Wang, touch the obelisk."

-Water and Wood Roots. Both are of Earthly Grade.

"Hughie Wang, touch the obelisk."

-Earth and Fire roots. Earth of Earthly Grade and Fire of Heavenly Grade.

The crowd of loose cultivators drew a breath, it was the first heavenly grade root till so far but definitely wouldn't be the last. Despite the overwhelming number of Wang Clan branch family juniors, there were only two direct-line juniors. We started with our Direct Lineage to counter their momentum.

"Namor Lin -"

-Metal and Water Roots. Metal of Heavenly Grade and Water of Earthly Grade.

Another cold breath was drawn, this competition between two Prominent Clans did not go unnoticed.

"Rose Lin-"

-Metal and Fire Roots. Metal of Heavenly Grade and Fire of Earthly Grade.

"Axel Lin, touch the obelisk." I turned towards Iyana, smirking.

"Watch this."

I turned towards the platform, going up to touch the obelisk, before I did so I looked at the Wang Clan with contempt, which was seen by everyone.

-Metal and Lightning Roots. Both of Heavenly Grade.

The crowd's silence was loud enough. 'And that's how you slap faces.'