Chapter 30 – Deep Blue Fate: B-Grade Rating

Upon realizing the girl might not be a true maiden but rather someone who had reversed aging, Mu Lin immediately averted his gaze.

The girl, seemingly accustomed to such peculiar stares, did not press the matter further. Instead, she said with displeasure, “Proceed with the test.”

At her command, a crystal ball was quickly brought forth. Under the watchful eyes of the three, Mu Lin placed his palm upon it.

“Hum!”

The moment they made contact, a ripple emanated from the crystal ball and transmitted into Mu Lin’s dantian. Simultaneously, an unusual phenomenon appeared on the crystal ball.

To Mu Lin’s relief, this phenomenon did not reveal the Spirit Foundation within his dantian. Instead, it merely emitted a glow corresponding to its grade.

“That makes sense. The Spirit Foundation is a Qi Refiner’s private matter. Carelessly probing it could easily lead to enmity. The Dao Palace cultivates Qi Refiners to combat Evil Aberrations, not to antagonize its countless Disciples. They wouldn’t cross such a line.”

As Mu Lin pondered, the crystal ball began to emit light. It started as white, shifted to yellow, then transformed into azure…

This was the grade of Mu Lin’s Spirit Foundation, also known as the legendary color hierarchy of fate.

The Heavenly Dao values purple. Legend has it that when a sage emerges, purple qi billows for three thousand miles. Thus, among the colors of fate, purple is the most noble.

After purple comes gold, then crimson, followed by azure.

Mu Lin’s fate settled at azure. Although the azure aura surrounding him was exceptionally dense, it remained azure.

What made Mu Lin frown even more was that within his azure fate, there was a trace of ashen-white and a considerable amount of bluish-black, giving off an ominous feeling.

This sight caused Mu Lin to clench his fists slightly.

“Only azure…”

While Mu Lin frowned, the old man in the room was also quite surprised, though his surprise differed from Mu Lin’s.

“Deep azure—an Earth Grade High Rank destiny. However, there’s a significant amount of bluish-black… Young man, do you have any enemies, or have you been cursed?”

This question caught Mu Lin off guard. Before he could respond, Ma Daoren, who had brought him in, spoke up, “Mu Lin possesses the inheritance of the Yin Eight Gates.”

He said no more, but the other two in the room understood the source of the bluish-black in Mu Lin’s destiny.

Even Mu Lin himself could not refute this. The inheritance of the Yin Eight Gates was indeed ominous. As a practitioner of the Paper Crafting Lineage’s Cultivation Method, he was closely linked to Sky Burial City and indeed carried the potential for corruption.

Seeing Mu Lin tacitly acknowledge this, the old man among the three spoke with a furrowed brow.

“An ominous inheritance—this evaluation must be lowered somewhat…”

Before he could finish, a cold laugh echoed beside him. To Mu Lin’s surprise, it came from the ‘girl’ who had seemed displeased with him earlier.

“Hah, lowering the evaluation is a fine idea. Since you’re so strict, Qi Hong, perhaps we should suggest to the Dao Palace that they reassess the ranks of its Disciples and thoroughly scrutinize all those who rely on external aids or are unqualified.”

These words immediately made the old man grimace. Looking at the girl, he spread his hands and said, “Miss Dongfang, I didn’t mean to target him. Lowering the evaluation due to an ominous nature is the Dao Palace’s assessment standard.”

“Lowering the evaluation for relying on external aids is also the Dao Palace’s standard.”

Hearing this, the old man immediately fell silent.

With a disdainful glance at the old man and another at Ma Daoren, the ‘girl’ spoke up: “His fate aura is deep green, rated as B+. Do you have any objections?”

“None.”

“Let it be as Miss Dongfang says.”

Thus, Mu Lin’s rating was set at B+.

Once the assessment was complete, Ma Daoren returned alone to the Selection Class, while Mu Lin was taken to the Formal Class by the ‘girl’ surnamed Dongfang.

Recalling how she had spoken up for him, Mu Lin respectfully clasped his fists along the way and said, “Thank you.”

“Hmph, no need. You are this Spell Master’s (a respectful title in the Daoist Sect) student, so naturally, I won’t let you be bullied.”

“But don’t think I’ll show you favoritism either. In the Dao Palace, a single assessment isn’t enough to guarantee safety. Over the next three years, you’ll face countless evaluations. If you fail any of them, your rating will be lowered.”

Hearing this, Mu Lin felt a chill in his heart, and any trace of pride he had felt after his Spirit Awakening vanished without a trace.

“…Thank you for the reminder, Teacher. I won’t be careless.”

“Better not be.”

As they conversed, Mu Lin and the others arrived at the new Training Ground.

It was called a Training Ground rather than a classroom because the disciples of the Formal Class did not study indoors.

A serene and spiritually rich place, nestled among mountains and waters, served as their classroom.

Upon arriving, Mu Lin immediately felt a sense of ease and noticed that the air seemed fresher to breathe.

Soon, he realized this was no illusion.

There was a sizable Spiritual Spring here, its presence making the Spiritual Energy in the area exceptionally dense—so much so that it had condensed into a mist.

Even an ordinary person staying here would enjoy longevity and immunity to illnesses.

For a cultivator like Mu Lin, it felt as if his entire body was being cleansed.

“This is an excellent place for cultivation.”

While Mu Lin was delighted by the surroundings, the disciples who had arrived earlier also noticed him and Dongfang Ya leading the way.

As their teacher, Dongfang Ya’s arrival was unsurprising, but Mu Lin’s presence sparked curiosity among many.

Some even frowned.

“Mu Lin? Why is he here?”

“Delivering Paper-Folding Artworks?”

“Didn’t we already agree that from now on, we would hand over the Paper-Folding Artworks to Miss Yan Yunyu?”

“Is he still unwilling to give up?!”

Due to recent inquiries, everyone knew Mu Lin had a Third-Class Spirit Root. Thus, although many were present—whether his familiar friends, the wealthy youths who traded with him, or Yan Yunyu, who watched with interest—none had imagined that Mu Lin could succeed in Spirit Awakening so quickly and become their equal.

In their eyes, Mu Lin was merely a skilled craftsman.

Although his Paper Crafting was excellent, in this world, the status of a Qi Refiner was even higher than that of a scholar in the previous life.

The saying, “All pursuits are inferior; only cultivation is supreme,” perfectly applied here.

Thus, even with Mu Lin’s outstanding Paper Crafting skills and appealing Painting abilities, they still regarded him as beneath them.

This was also why those scions of noble families had never seen Mu Lin as a rival.

Now, however, such a lowly person had come to the place where they studied, which made many feel a sense of offense.

Among them, Qi Xiu felt the most offended, and at the same time, he was also the most delighted.

“Hmph, you had the road to heaven but chose not to take it, and now you’ve barged into Hell without an invitation. How dare you come to our cultivation area? This is the perfect opportunity to pin the charge of disrupting our cultivation on you.”

Thinking this, Qi Xiu, who had been harshly rebuked by Mu Lin and held a grudge, immediately stood up and made a report to Dongfang Ya.

“Teacher, I accuse Mu Lin, a mere idler, of repeatedly intruding into our cultivation area, greatly disturbing our practice. I request that the teacher punish him to serve as a warning to others.”

(End of Chapter)