The Veil of Clouds descended further and further until it came to a gentle stop just outside the gates of the Yun Zou Sect. The two disciples guarding it ran over and cupped their fists.

"Senior martial brother Wu!"

Wu Min Huan nodded at them, got up and put Jing Yi down again. "Did you have fun, little dumpling?"

Jing Yi nodded. "A lot!" He had had so much fun that he had completely forgotten about the mud monsters by now and hadn’t asked Wu Min Huan a single question about what it meant to be a hero either. He was a little sad thinking about that but then he cheered up. Wasn’t Wu Min Huan a disciple of the Yun Zou Sect too? In that case, he could just go and ask him later if there was something he wanted to know!

Seeing the boy smiled at him like this Wu Min Huan ruffled his hair again. "Come on. It’s time for all of you to take the test."

"There’s another test?" Jing Yi hurried after Wu Min Huan and grabbed onto his hand to make sure he wouldn’t be left behind.

Wu Min Huan raised his eyebrows. He somehow felt as if he had adopted a spiritual pet. Didn’t they also tend to follow you around when they were still little? Well, he didn’t mind. This was a cute child, after all. Haha! Just look at all the envious gazes of his junior martial sisters!

Wu Min Huan smiled even brighter and led Jing Yi and the bunch of other children to a square not far from the gates.

Jing Yi curiously looked around and noticed another drawing on the ground. "Big brother Wu! Your sisters drew their circles here too." Jing Yi looked at the big drawing on the ground in astonishment.

Of course, this drawing was also a formation and it was even more sophisticated than the one Wu Min Huan’s junior martial sisters had set up on the capital’s market square. This one had a hexagon as its base with another, smaller hexagon in the middle and six elongated rhombi pointing from one corner of the smaller hexagon to the corresponding corner of the larger hexagon. There were some other lines too but Jing Yi couldn’t make out what they should present. To him, all this seemed just like random scribbles.

Wu Min Huan laughed sheepishly when he saw how Jing Yi looked at the formation. The child wouldn’t get angry when he found out someday that those weren’t just simple drawings, would he? Well, this wasn’t the moment to explain. Elder Chu was already waiting next to it to start with the appraisal of the children’s spirit veins.

Wu Min Huan cleared his throat and squeezed Jing Yi’s hand. "Well, yes. They draw everywhere. You’re going to see many more of these on the sect grounds." With that, he led everyone closer and nodded at the Elder.

Jing Yi curiously looked at him. He was already middle-aged, absolutely not what Jing Yi had expected in a sect full of heroes. Shouldn’t he also be looking really handsome just like Wu Min Huan? Jing Yi tilted his head. Come to think of it … neither his father nor his grandfather was handsome either so maybe being handsome wasn’t as important as wearing a white robe? Because this one was wearing one too …

Elder Chu nodded at Wu Min Huan and directed a surprised gaze at Jing Yi who still held Wu Min Huan’s hand. It seemed this child was really close to Wu Min Huan? Well, whatever. He didn’t have to care about that.

He turned to the children with a dignified expression and glanced over all of them. About fifty children. Not bad at all! He could only hope that there would be some talents among them. They could use some new faces in the inner sect.

He cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind his back. "Welcome to the Yun Zou Sect. All of you were found to have an aptitude for cultivation and as thus have the right to enter our outer sect. Now, we are going to further test your spirit veins to ascertain whether you might be able to achieve a position in the inner sect or maybe even be eligible to find a Master. I will explain this shortly.

"Those with heavenly or paired spirit veins will be taken into the inner sect from the beginning and even have the chance to get a Master. The latter will happen only if you have fate with any of the Elders of our sect though. Those of you who are found to have assorted spirit veins will be allocated to a suitable adviser in the outer sect that will help you in your cultivation, making it more likely for you to be able to rise to the inner sect." Elder Chu unclasped his hands and motioned to the formation. "To test for your spirit veins please step into the middle of the formation and wait until the outer layer lights up."

He looked to Jing Yi, silently asking him to begin. Jing Yi didn’t notice his gaze though. He was looking up at Wu Min Huan, his doe eyes full of questions. Big brother Wu, what are those spirit veins? What does it mean if they are heavenly or paired or assorted? His eyes seemed to ask all of that at once and Wu Min Huan couldn’t help but rub Jing Yi’s head again.

Ah, he really wanted to adopt a spiritual pet! Or maybe he could ask his Master if he could accept a disciple of his own? He was a little young for that but he really liked this small dumpling.

Looking at this curious face, Wu Min Huan couldn’t help but pinch Jing Yi’s cheeks. "You’ll find out soon! Just go take the test, then big brother will explain, alright?"

Jing Yi nodded but by now Elder Chu had gotten the impression that Wu Min Huan didn’t want Jing Yi to go first and thus, he had waved over another child.

It was a boy wearing expensive brocade robes. He strode past Jing Yi, lifted his chin and threw him a superior look. He certainly didn’t like that boy that looked poor as piss and still dared to cling to such an important person!

Hmph. Who didn’t know that this Wu Min Huan was the favorite disciple of the Yun Zou Sect’s Sect Master Yuchi Bing Xia? Befriending him was advantageous but how come some poor boy had latched onto him like a leech onto naked skin before any of them had had the chance to even talk to him?

The boy swaggered over to the middle of the formation and raised his chin. He was certain that he’d have at least paired spirit veins while that one over there … Who knew where he had come from? His aptitude was probably bad. He’d totally show Wu Min Huan that he was much better than him!