Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 721: Gu Junye’s Heart Devil

“Next.”

Conscious of his role as a guardian, Lu Yang called out the next candidate like a sycophantic lackey.

The person after the Innate Daoist Priest was naturally the Vast Sea Daoist Lord.

However, Dai Bufan was unaware of this. He only knew that the Innate Daoist Priest was participating in the entrance trials.

The Vast Sea Daoist Lord carried himself with the demeanor of an expert—reticent and ice-cold.

Dai Bufan gently placed two fingers on the Vast Sea Daoist Lord’s wrist and quickly ascertained the results. “Variant Spirit Root—Thunder Spirit Root? What’s your name?”

“Fang Ya.”

Dai Bufan rummaged through his memories. This person isn’t in the character observation list. Did he come because of the sect’s reputation?

“Fang Ya? I’ve remembered you. Perform well.”

Dai Bufan placed the Vast Sea Daoist Lord in high regard. If he gets meticulously nurtured by the Dao-Seeking Sect, he could reach at least the Apex Fusion Stage in the future and become a mainstay of the sect.

As a mortal, Fang Ya did not yet realize what a great fortune it was to earn Dai Bufan’s favor. He showed not a hint of gratitude for the goodwill extended to him, simply standing up and proceeding to the second round.

Only after joining the Dao-Seeking Sect would Fang Ya find out about the tremendous fortuitous opportunity he had missed today.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy looked at Lu Yang in surprise, not understanding why he had suddenly launched into an internal monologue.

“Next.” This time, it was Meng Jingzhou’s turn to call out.

The corner of Dai Bufan’s eye twitched. He couldn’t help but feel like an emperor seated upon the throne, with two little eunuchs on either side announcing the arrival of various officials in a shrill voice.

When he instructed Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou to drag away the person with the fake spirit root earlier, he had considered the idea of replacing the two beside him. Unfortunately, his plan didn’t succeed.

The person behind the Vast Sea Daoist Lord was the Myriad Spells Daoist Lord.

Originally, the Myriad Spells Daoist Lord had planned to simply fake a Dual Spirit Root. But the three people in front of me all had a Single Spirit Root. Wouldn’t faking a Dual Spirit Root make me seem inferior?

No, that won’t do.

The Myriad Spells Daoist Lord extended his arm, allowing Dai Bufan to examine him.

Dai Bufan’s cultivation technique could probe another’s physical condition, but it was ineffective against an opponent of the Myriad Spells Daoist Lord’s caliber.

The Myriad Spells Daoist Lord was confident no one would detect anything amiss with him. This is my confidence as a half-immortal.

The look of astonishment on Dai Bufan’s visage grew more pronounced. “Longevity Immortal Physique?”

As the name suggested, this was an immortal physique with an extremely long lifespan. From antiquity to the present, it was exceedingly rare that fewer than five such cases could be found.

Dai Bufan mumbled inwardly, What’s going on? Having high-quality candidates for this cohort is one thing, but why are they appearing in succession?

Starting from Gu Junye, this is already the fourth one.

The person waiting behind grew restless, glancing at the Myriad Spells Daoist Lord with envy. This is the kind of constitution even the Five Great Immortal Sects will fight over!

“What’s your name?” Dai Bufan asked.

“Gu Xie.”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy stared at Gu Xie for a moment. “Why does something feel off?”

“Is there something wrong with this person?” Lu Yang asked.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy glanced at him again and stated with certainty, “This person is a half-immortal.”

“Half-immortal?!” If not for Lu Yang being used to seeing immortals and half-immortals, this matter alone would have made him exclaim aloud.

“That’s right, he has an Incipient Dao Fruit—he’s definitely a half-immortal,” the Everlasting Immortal Fairy asserted.

“It looks like we have to report this matter to Big Senior Sister.” Lu Yang contemplated. This is beyond Senior Brother Dai’s ability to handle. The other party has hidden his identity to enter the Dao-Seeking Sect, likely with ill intentions.

However, Lu Yang didn’t return directly to Heaven’s Gate Peak, for it might alert Gu Xie.

After that, Dai Bufan tested roughly two hundred more individuals.

“Water-Wood Dual Spirit Root and a natural affinity for cultivating spirit plants?” Dai Bufan found yet another promising seedling. “I believe your name is Zhou Xing’er?”

This was also one of the mortals from the character observation list.

The mission report had recorded that Zhou Xing’er was born in a mountain village where sons were commonly favored over daughters, and she was no exception. Until a year ago, she happened to obtain a storage ring that could grow grains and vegetables inside it, and the crops planted in the storage ring grew exceptionally well. With this special storage ring, Zhou Xing’er avoided the fate of being married off.

According to the Dao-Seeking Sect’s investigation, the storage ring was crafted by Fifth Elder. He accidentally lost it while being pursued by the authorities for speeding with his flying shuttle.

After Fifth Elder learned of this, he explicitly stated there was no need to retrieve the storage ring.

“Alright, you may go ahead as well.”

“Thank you, True Lord.”

Seeing the timing was about right, Lu Yang transmitted an auditory message to Dai Bufan. “Senior Brother Dai, I have something to attend to. I’ll step away for a moment.”

Dai Bufan couldn’t be any more elated to see Lu Yang leave, and it would be even better if he dragged Meng Jingzhou along. Unfortunately, Lu Yang lacked such discernment and departed alone.

Man Gu took Lu Yang’s place.

“Next!”

Man Gu’s voice was loud and full of vigor, like an imperial guard at the palace gates announcing the arrival of various officials.

~~~

The first round concluded, with eight hundred people advancing to the second round.

If these eight hundred were placed in the outside world, second-class sects would scramble for them, while first-class sects would try to appear more reserved.

“Congratulations on passing the first round. We will now begin the second round.”

Dai Bufan continued to oversee the trials, while other sect disciples surrounded the eight hundred participants to maintain order.

The location for the second round was the bamboo forest—the River Spirit’s territory.

“As the saying goes, the path of cultivation is fraught with heart devils. In truth, before you even step into the cultivation world, the heart devils have already taken root in your hearts—the earnest expectations of parents, the deep affection of elders, the fear of failing this trial... All of these give rise to inner devils!

“This second round tests whether you can face your heart devils directly and overcome them!

“Of course, considering your minds are not yet fully mature, overcoming heart devils would be extremely difficult. Therefore, in this second round, you may choose to face your heart devils alone or form teams to overcome them together. After all, the companionship and assistance of friends are indispensable on the path of cultivation.”

The Innate Daoist Priest remarked with a smile, “All of you are so impressive—a Water Spirit Root and the legendary Longevity Immortal Physique!” He admired Gu Junye and Gu Xie. “I heard the Myriad Spells Daoist Lord possessed the Longevity Immortal Physique. Perhaps you can become a powerhouse like him one day.”

Gu Xie remained unmoved by the Innate Daoist Priest’s praise.

Gu Junye patted Gu Xie’s shoulder and exhorted like an elder mentoring a junior, “While one’s physique is important, what matters more is a steadfast Dao heart!”

Gu Xie snorted coldly, subtly evading Gu Junye’s hand.

“How about this? As they say, many hands make light work. It is fate that the four of us met at the mountain gate. Why don’t we form a team to overcome our heart devils?”

Gu Xie sneered inwardly. Fine, I’ll join your team. This will be an opportunity to eliminate all three of you, leaving only me to pass.

“Alright.”

In an instant, the bamboo forest was shrouded in a mist, obscuring vision beyond a distance of one zhang.

The River Spirit stood upon the water’s surface. Bubbles gurgled up from the water and floated into the air, growing larger and larger until they were finally the size of a person.

These giant bubbles enveloped everyone. For those who had teamed up, the bubbles collided and merged into larger ones, allowing the temporary squads to enter a single bubble together and face a shared heart devil.

~~~

“Looks like this is the illusory domain.”

When the Innate Daoist Priest and the other three regained consciousness, they found themselves in a desolate place and immediately knew they were inside an illusory domain.

Gu Xie laughed inwardly. I’d like to see what heart devils these three have. They’re probably nothing more than the reproach from parents or things that frighten only wimpy kids—nothing to be concerned about.

Let’s see you three make utter fools of yourselves!

Suddenly, the wind and clouds shifted. A thunderbolt struck a distant mountain peak and shattered it directly.

Gu Xie was startled. What’s happening?

Gu Junye stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His head was tilted at a forty-five-degree angle as he gazed indifferently at the sky and murmured, “It’s coming.”

“What’s coming?” Gu Xie couldn’t help but ask.

Gu Junye covered his restless right eye, calming the unruly Heaven-Swallowing Beast within it, and pointed toward the ominously dark sky.

In the sky, thunder roiled, its sound resembling the cry of dragons and phoenixes, with the momentum to destroy heaven and earth.

“I never imagined my heart devil to be this.”

“What exactly is this?” Gu Xie’s eyelids twitched, a sense of foreboding welling within him.

Gu Junye sighed softly. “The lightning tribulation that caused me to perish in my previous life—the Ninety-Nine Immortal Ascension Tribulation.”