Cultivation Nerd (xianxia)

Being born with talent, one would expect a nice life ahead of them. However, what could be considered talent had changed as he traveled the White Tiger Continent.

Hu Jin rubbed his hand through his crimson hair as the inner disciple in front of him examined his pockets, clothes, and everything else.

"Are we done?" Hu Jin asked, trying to hide the nervousness.

But the inner disciple glanced at him with an unreadable look before saying, "What's with the weird reaction? We're just checking for any poisoned injuries or tracking methods left on you. It's suspicious how jittery you are."

Damn it!

Hu Jin gritted his teeth and tried to force a smile. "Nothing, it's just been a tiring day."

"Good. Now that the elders are done putting down the array, go walk in there," the inner disciple said, pointing at a stone platform that had appeared out of nowhere.

Hu Jin could have sworn that the platform had never been there before!

But he chalked it up to someone probably using a storage ring.

"What's with the copper coin?" asked the inner disciple as he retrieved a small box from Hu Jin's pocket and opened it.

Hu Jin's heart jumped into his throat. That was the coin where his master's soul was trapped.

"Just some change," Hu Jin quickly said. Without his master to reassure him of these things, acting confident and putting on a face like he knew everything was pretty tricky.

If this had been six years ago, when he still had his talents, it would have been a different story. He had an ego back then when he was constantly told he was the best talent the Hu Clan had created in the last half a millennia. But after his cultivation was crushed, the Hu Clan bullied him for years. Then, his fiancée broke off their engagement.

Life had kicked him down and then kicked him again while he was down.

It was lucky he had even stumbled upon the coin in the first place. Because after his cultivation was crushed, his clan no longer invested in him. So Hu Jin was going around searching for a way to recover his cultivation, and this bronze coin was something he had acquired as a chance to buy some Spirit Rejuvenating Grass.

Despite his cultivation barely recovering due to his master's power, Hu Jin was still cultivating at a snail's pace. However, he had been able to regain the cultivation, and that was something many didn't get the chance to do.

However, even with that, he had barely passed the exam to join the Blazing Sun Sect. While he had recovered his ability to cultivate, his talent had not recovered.

The exam had been separated into four parts.

The first part was when they tested raw talent; if one was talented enough, they would immediately go to the inner sect. Hu Jin barely had nineteen spirit root branches; his talent was trash, incomparable to the seventy-nine spirit root branches before his cultivation was crushed.

Unlike his declining Hu Clan, the Blazing Sun Sect was the prime example of power. So, while nineteen spirit roots could have been considered average in his clan, here it was trash. There were disciples here at Qi Gathering, while the Hu Clan only had his father, the Clan Leader, and a handful of elders at that stage. But here, Qi Gathering was as common as the grass in a field.

Anyway, the second part of the exam involved many tests to test intelligence. Hu Jin was not the most academically inclined guy. Enough said about that.

The third test had been to see if any talents were promising at arrays or alchemy. The old master had helped with the alchemy part since he had dabbled in the art while still alive. But barely using a pill recipe over a thousand years out of date did not constitute enough potential to be worth the investment.

Since, with his cultivation talent, he was unlikely to ever reach Qi Gathering. Only by being able to use Qi could alchemists, array masters, or artifact makers could show their usefulness.

So that had only left the fourth and last exam of showing battle powers. Usually, it was just the riff-raff. But he did well enough to keep his badge from getting stolen.

Despite the difficulties in his path, he would never allow himself to fail!

That promise he had made to that haughty ex-fiance of his was still valid and would come in two years. So he had to get stronger fast and wipe the arrogant look off that bitch's face! Thinking she could come and humiliate the Hu Clan and his family like that!

Unconsciously Hu Jin tightened his hands into fists. He was going to win that fight in two years, no matter what!

With revenge on his mind, Hu Jin's gaze hardened, and all his nervousness disappeared. The inner disciple shrugged and returned his coin.

"Am I just supposed to walk through it?" Hu Jin asked one of the elders in green robes. Though they were called elders, most of them seemed to be middle-aged.

"Yes," the elder answered with a disdainful snort.

Hu Jin frowned but looked down and quickly walked through the array. These people were looking down on him just because, in their eyes, he would be a country bumpkin.

He would show them all!

After walking past the array, the elders pointed in the distance where other guys and girls his age had passed. He walked toward them, and as he got closer, he noticed just how tired these people were.

But now that they had passed and gotten into the Blazing Sun Sect, they all had excited looks in their eyes.

However, someone with a gray robe stood out the most among the people wearing random clothes. He was talking to a pair of twins, one with long hair and the other with short hair.

The twins seemed to be excitedly talking to him, and the guy was smiling politely.

What were they talking about? Hu Jin wondered.

However, when he saw who the gray-robed guy was, he held back whatever curiosity he might have had. After all, that was one of the people his master had explicitly told him to stay away from. Hu Jin winced and looked the other way hurriedly.

What bad luck! Why was he seeing this guy again?

His old master was tired after using all his energy to deal with the monstrous beast about to kill them all—at least, that was what he hoped! It wasn't like his master had the time to explain anything when the giant monstrous beast was about to kill them all.

His master hadn't told him why he needed to avoid the masked guy. But the old ghost used to be a famous Nascent Soul Cultivator who was almost able to break through to become immortal but fell to a heavenly tribulation. So if he said someone was dangerous, it was better to keep their distance!

Also, despite his master reassuring him against it, Hu Jin was pretty sure that the guy had somehow been able to see his master when they were in the forest.
But soon enough, the guy left with the rest of the outer disciples. He did not look at Hu Jin once, making the latter sigh in relief.

But as soon as the guy was gone, Hu Jin approached the twins.

Their excited faces when the other guy was around were now gone, and they had the usual demeanor of a cultivator, which was a cold outlook.

"Excuse me," Hu Jin called out to them. "Do you know that guy?"

If it hadn't been for his teacher telling him, Hu Jin would have never known that this guy and the masked guy were the same.

The long-haired twin turned toward him and nodded, "Yes, he is our cousin. What, you have a problem with him or something?"

"No, nothing like that," Hu Jin shook his head. He would normally have responded differently to the rude words, but he wanted to prevent his master from having any more problems.

"Well, he is our cousin," said the short-haired twin, who seemed calmer among the two. "He is Liu Feng, and while he might be an outer disciple, honorable senior sister Song said he would soon be in the inner sect."

Why were they bragging about him like this? Hu Jin wondered. Although they were from the same clan, there was no rivalry in their eyes.

Weren't larger clans supposed to have more rivalry between their members so they could rise higher?

Hu Jin knew that cultivator clans' relationships were not always good despite technically being family. Even his declining Hu Clan had bullied him when he had lost his talents. Perhaps they were treating the masked guy well because he was clearly talented.

"Thank you very much," he nodded and walked away to a corner of the group.

Speaking so politely felt weird, as he was used to being headstrong and fighting back if anyone dishonored him in the Hu Clan. After all, he might be a cripple, but he did not want to bring shame to his father.

Hu Jin shook his head, dismissing any worries about the past.

...

It took time for everyone to be checked, and the sunset was in the distance, turning the sky a crimson-yellow color.

A blue-uniformed disciple came toward them. A blue uniform meant an inner disciple, Hu Jin had learned while observing the others.

"You all, follow me. I'm going to show you to your new dorms," he said, randomly separating the group into two. "The rest will have to go with someone else for the arrangements."

They followed the first inner disciple, and Hu Jin tried not to stand out. Thinking about how this blue-robed disciple was probably just as strong, if not stronger, than the clan leaders of the area he grew up in.

It was quite a thought. Hu Jin realized how insignificant his clan was in the grand scheme of things, even if there were legends that the Hu Clan was some big-shot clan from thousands of years ago.

"They're probably stronger, as the Blazing Sun Sect offers better techniques than the Hu Clan," suddenly, a misty figure formed next to him and slowly became a white-haired ghost with a bushy silver beard.

The old ghost rubbed his beard as if in deep contemplation while he also had a knowing smirk.

"Master, I thought you disappeared!" Hu Jin sighed in relief.

But as soon as he said that, Hu Jin halted and looked around. Those close to him were staring at him weirdly as they walked up some stone stairs and arrived at the giant gate.

The inner disciple said nothing, but the gates still loudly screeched open.

Two inner disciples stood guard behind the gate. Our guide nodded at them, and they returned the gesture. The sect grounds did not stand out as unique, and it looked like they had entered some forest with a stone road.

After some distance from the gates, the inner disciple who was leading them said, "You guys are lucky. Your dorm building will be quite close to the library."

...

Surprisingly, it took very little time and was uncomplicated as their rooms were assigned. After that, the inner disciple left them alone to their own devices.

Hu Jin sat on his new bed in his small room. A desk and a small chest were at the foot of the bed. At least the place was spotless.

He took out his bronze coin, and his master formed again; however, his form was unstable this time.

"Dumb brat, I waited for you to get away from others before you started sounding crazy again. I thought we had already curbed that bad habit!" The old master grumbled.

"I was just relieved," Hu Jin smiled.

Despite being scolded, he was happy that his master was at least alive.

"Well, no need to be worried. However, from now on, I will only be able to be out for two hours at a time, as taking care of that little snake took quite a lot out of me. It isn't like I can recuperate Qi so easily... if only a certain someone could reach the Qi Gathering realm faster," the old man rolled his eyes while sending a teasing smile. His figure sizzled out again before only his sound was left as he said. "This is my limit for the day. See you tomorrow, and make sure not to get into trouble."

Left in the eerie quiet of his room, with his neighbors as the only sound, Hu Jin let out a sigh of relief.

His master was someone who had helped him fix his cultivation. He was the only person who had decided to help even a dumb cripple like him.

Hu Jin was indebted to the old man a thousand times over.

He lay in bed, thinking about how this felt much more underwhelming than he thought it would be.

Perhaps since there had been that giant snake chasing them out of nowhere...

Well, it wasn't like the journey to the Blazing Sun Sect had been easy either.

But just as he was about to relax, Hu Jin jumped up and smiled. "I should go and check the library nearby!"

Hu Jin had stumbled upon a handful of Earth Grade Techniques on his way here, and his master had even handed him a technique that could grow into Sky Grade. So he had dreamt of just how many Earth Grade or higher techniques the Blazing Sun Sect must have.

Looking around, he found a box at the edge of the bed, inside which was a gray uniform. Hu Jin quickly changed into it before bolting out of the door, touching his chest and making sure the bronze coin was close to his heart.

After walking around a bit, Hu Jin ended up at a crossroads. With many roads, the signs thankfully had written where most roads read, and there was the library.

"That's just down the road I came from," Hu Jin winced as he looked at the stairs in the distance. "This is going to be a pain."

Despite vocal complaints, Hu Jin hurriedly climbed the stairs as the sun was almost set.

He had no idea whether the library was closed at night, but he knew he could only sleep tonight if he learned some new cool-looking technique! Or see some sights around the sect!

His master had said something along the lines that the number of techniques one learned did not matter, but mastery of one technique. Quality meant more than quantity.

Finally, he saw the library pagoda and an old man was dusting some leaves outside. Hu Jin ignored the old geezer, walked past him, and entered the library.

The place was filled with books, though there were no people around.

Was the place closed?

Hu Jin looked around, and his gaze landed on a man wearing green robes in front of the counter. He had large round glasses, dark hair, and whiskers of white that made it hard to pinpoint his exact age.

Hu Jin walked past the librarian and went to the library, his eyes wandering around for good techniques that sounded strong. But while Hu Jin was running about, he stumbled, and before he fell, he grabbed onto one of the books.

However, instead of grabbing the book and falling, the book extended like a lever and there was a sudden clicking sound.

"Huh?" He looked over and saw that a small compartment the size of a small box had opened on one of the shelves.

Hu Jin looked around cautiously, feeling a chill baring down his spine. Thankfully, no one was around. So he quickly looked into the box that had opened, and inside it was a dusty book.

"This looks like it hasn't been touched in a thousand years!" Hu Jin thought excitedly.

But as he pulled out the book and closed the secret compartment, he blew away the dust and read the title.

"Mountain Crushing Fist," he hurriedly opened the book and read through it, and a feeling of disappointment settled over him. "Tch, just another Earth Grade Technique."

He looked over other books, but there were only Mortal Grade Techniques. Then, his eyes settled on the stairs leading to the second floor.

But before he had any thoughts of going to the second floor, he heard someone speaking. A familiar voice.

"Sorry, I couldn't find anyone," he said.

It was that same guy! Liu Feng! How was he seeing this guy everywhere! Was he following him?

Hu Jin leaned in and tried to listen in to the conversation. However, as soon as he tried to, the words turned into buzzing sounds.

 

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