Chapter 74: The Early-Death White Moonlight in a Cultivation Novel (Part 5)

After everyone returned to the Haomiao Sect, the new disciples had to undergo a spiritual test within a fabricated illusion. Their performance in this assessment, along with their innate talent, would determine their placements and assigned roles within the sect.

As for Zhou Yanxi and her team, their recruitment mission was now complete. From here on, the new disciples would be managed by steward disciples; there was no further need for her or the others to intervene.

At that moment, Li Haochen stood before the vast and imposing sect, a surge of ambition rising in his chest. However, the thought of his mediocre spiritual roots made him secretly indignant.

He also felt annoyed when he recalled how Zhou Yanxi and the others had ignored him on the flying vessel. He had tried to strike up a conversation, hoping for some information, but every one of them had brushed him off with a lofty "You'll find out when you arrive at the sect."

This left Li Haochen, who had always felt superior in the mortal world, seething with frustration. In his eyes, their dismissive attitude was solely because of his low-grade spiritual roots.

In reality, it was simply that the inner sect disciples had already delayed their own cultivation for several days. Now that their task was done, all they wanted was to return to the flying vessel and cultivate. No one wanted to babysit a bunch of newcomers.

Moreover, all new disciples would receive an orientation session upon entering the sect anyway. Only those with a twisted mindset would assume everything was an insult.

Back on her own Zhenyuan Peak, Zhou Yanxi sent a voice transmission talisman to instruct a servant disciple to monitor the final assessment results of all new recruits with three or more spiritual roots, including their peak assignments.

She did this for two reasons: first, there was no need for her to personally investigate such a small matter; second, she didn't want anyone to notice her excessive interest in Li Haochen.

So, instead of singling him out, she had her servant keep tabs on all new disciples with notable talent.

At this time, Li Haochen was deep inside the illusion created by the sect's protective treasure, the Phantom Pearl, which constructed dreamscapes based on each disciple's deepest desires.

He was currently twitching and mumbling to himself, his expression twisted in ecstasy and obsession.

Inside the main hall, the sect's elders were observing each disciple's performance through a magical water mirror. They were looking for candidates with firm hearts and mental clarity. A slightly lower aptitude was acceptable if the disciple had strong character.

But when they saw Li Haochen utterly lost in his illusion, unable to wake himself up, the elders collectively sighed. One straightforward elder even scoffed, "This one's temperament is clearly flawed. He'll never walk the Great Dao. The quality of new disciples is getting worse every year."

In the water mirror, many other disciples were also reacting poorly—some writhing, some undressing, some with bloodshot eyes, and some completely hysterical.

Only a handful maintained calm expressions and broke free from their illusions after just a few incense sticks' time.

Li Haochen's situation was especially worrying. His dream? Ascending to immortality with all of Canglan Continent worshipping at his feet. He was utterly intoxicated by this fantasy.

Naturally, there was no way he could maintain spiritual clarity. A creepy smile lingered on his lips the entire time.

But just before the illusion ended, an inexplicable force stirred in his mind, forcibly ejecting him from the illusion.

Even so, Li Haochen couldn't feel happy—he had ranked at the very bottom among all new disciples.

When he later found out that the elders had been watching their illusion trials, his expression turned stormy, shifting between pale and ashen. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, trying to ignore the strange looks cast his way.

In truth, his performance had been utterly disappointing—even worse than several fake-rooted newcomers.

When Zhou Yanxi learned that Li Haochen had been assigned to Sword Dao Peak as a servant disciple due to his poor temperament, she was inwardly thrilled.

Because in the original timeline, Li Haochen had ranked first in the illusion trial and was personally accepted by an elder as a registered disciple.

After receiving the news she wanted, Zhou Yanxi casually pulled fifty low-grade spirit stones from her storage pouch and handed them to the errand-running disciple as a reward before sending him away.

She could've chosen not to reward him, but Zhou Yanxi believed in "If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it." Besides, she might need this servant's help again, so a little generosity now was an investment.

It was clear now: relying solely on his own strength, Li Haochen would never rise. But Zhou Yanxi still had a suspicion—he wouldn't stay down for long.

Which meant she had to get her hands on the Spirit-Cleansing Herb before he did.

Unfortunately, when she went to the marketplace earlier, she found nothing. Could this opportunity really be destined for that guy?

She knew about it because in the original timeline, Li Haochen had stumbled upon a rare Spirit-Cleansing Herb in the market. It had miraculously washed away his weakest spiritual root, turning him into a cultivation prodigy. The news had shocked the entire sect.

Afterward, countless people flocked to the marketplace hoping for similar luck, but all failed. Li Haochen's reputation as "heaven-blessed" was solidified.

Zhou Yanxi didn't want the herb for herself. Her fire root was 73, and her wood root was 92—if she lost the wood root, she'd be left with only the weaker fire root, rendering her spiritual foundation even worse.

Plus, she knew her own luck. Unlike Li Haochen, she had none. If she used the herb, she was sure it would target her better root instead. That would be a complete disaster.

Not to mention, changing her spiritual root would mean starting over: switching cultivation methods, abolishing her current cultivation, and rebuilding from scratch—a risk she wasn't willing to take.

Instead, she planned to exchange the herb for points with the system and, as a bonus, undermine Li Haochen.

So why not just eliminate him now?

It wasn't because Zhou Yanxi was merciful. It was because in the cultivation world, cultivators weren't allowed to harm mortals, and sect disciples were forbidden from killing each other.

That's why she planned to wait until Li Haochen officially began cultivating before dealing with him quietly. As long as she covered her tracks, who could stop her?

Yes, Zhou Yanxi thought Li Haochen was dangerous and didn't plan to play the game of letting him rise just to crush him later. She preferred to strike first and remove the threat early.

But… would things really go that smoothly?