The yearly potential test, it’s a pretty big event. The different factions within the sect are forbidden from killing each other, so they compete with each other in all kinds of ways. It’s safe to say that if something can be turned into a competition, then it’ll be turned into a competition once the different factions get their hands on it. Normally, I wouldn’t bother attending something like this, but since Sophia’s involved, it means Lucia’s going to be here, and if Lucia’s here, I have to be here to make sure she doesn’t mess anything up. I can’t completely stop her if she chooses to do something weird, but at least, I think, I can mitigate the damage. So far, she hasn’t done anything drastic. She’s just abusing the radiating light from the immortal door to sell my darkening lenses. It’s not a bad idea, but we don’t really need money. There comes a point when money becomes just a number, and we’ve reached that point a long time ago.

“And now, the annual potential test shall proceed underway,” Passionate Cloud said. “We’ll begin with a few words from our academy’s principal herself, Principal Pentorn!”

Say what? This wasn’t on the agenda. It seems like I need to dump some more work onto Passionate Cloud. He’s free enough to think up these dumb ideas. Anyway, after that announcement, it’s not like I can refuse now, not in front of all these people. I’ll teleport onto the stage; as expected, everyone’s watching me. “Thank you all for coming. It’s been a little under a decade since the Shadow Devil Sect has taken charge of the Immortal Continent. I’d like to thank all of you for your contributions, and I’d like to remind everyone that the younger generation is our Immortal Continent’s future. Some of you are confused about my goals; some of you have suspicions. Today, I’ll tell them to you straight.” Now isn’t a bad time to announce my goals. I already learned immortals won’t take the risk to come down here unless they want to hamper their standing in the immortal realm. “The Shadow Devil Sect is going to form an army of immortals. Within the next thousand years, I hope our Shadow Devil Sect will produce a thousand immortals. I also have high hopes for our sect leader, Lucia Fluffytail. If she can break through to the next level, our army will have a leader. We’ll ascend at the same time and carve out a patch of land for the Immortal Continent.”

Murmurs broke out amongst the people on the ground. The experts flying in the sky were silent, communicating through telepathy instead.

Someone descended from the sky, stopping below the stage. It was Old Bai. He cupped his hands at me and said, “Principal Pentorn, I’m afraid your goals are a bit unrealistic. On average, the Immortal Continent produces one immortal every five thousand years or so. If you wish for a thousand immortals to emerge within the next thousand years, you’re bound to be sorely disappointed.”

Did he think I didn’t take that into account? I’ve already done the math. “Not quite. An immortal only appears every five thousand years because all of you are too damn bloodthirsty. The instant someone offends you, you squish them. There’s no upper mobility. The qi veins spread throughout the continent are perfectly capable of raising a thousand or so immortals within the next thousand years, given they don’t die and the resources are fully concentrated on them.”

There was another round of murmurs and silence. Old Bai’s brow furrowed. “Are you suggesting we should funnel every single resource into these thousand people?”

“That’s not entirely correct.” Monopolizing every resource and giving them to the chosen ones is one method. “The essence of qi can never be destroyed, only transformed into a different state. I’m sure you’ve all encountered the so-called demonic techniques—some of you probably even dabble in them. Think about it. If we know someone isn’t capable of becoming an immortal, simply plunder their qi and give it to someone else. Of course, we’ll keep them alive, guarantee a satisfying rest of their life as a consolation prize.”

“People would never accept that!”

“What Principal Pentorn is saying makes lots of sense!”

“How can we progress without some sacrifices?”

“Do you think you’re capable of being in the chosen thousand? Show your stand with your actions, not your words. Sacrifice yourself then, go on.”

It seems like there’s a few conflicting opinions. I’m not surprised. There’s a good number of demonic cultivators in the crowd, and they’d have no qualms about this. It’s their whole creed. The righteous sects that the Shadow Devil Sect incorporated are going to be the most vehement voices of opposition. I don’t want the sect to turn completely demonic; completely polarizing in one direction is dangerous for many reasons. I have to balance these two factions, or there’ll be a civil war before we can even get to the immortal realm. “Alright, alright, settle down. There’ll be plenty of time to talk in the next thousand years; for now, haven’t we all gathered here to witness the glory of the younger generation? Let’s proceed with the annual potential test.” And I’ll teleport away.

I wonder what Sophia’s potential is. A child’s potential solidifies at age six. The years before that are their formative years. Anything can affect a child’s potential: their environment, their food intake, their parents’ attitudes, their lack of parents. It’s very difficult to raise someone’s potential after they’re six. Some parents measure their children’s potential at birth, but I believe that’s setting them up for disappointment when they turn six. Sophia’s grown up in the best environment filled with an abundance of qi. She’s had the best food made of all kinds of spiritual ingredients that one could ask for. There’s nothing wrong with her environment, but it’s the people in the environment I’m worried about. Negative comments directed at children when they’re very young can lower their potential by decreasing their self-esteem. Abuse decreases potential as well. With a parent like Lucia, Sophia’s upbringing was a bit … unique, to say the least. Well, I’m sure she’ll turn out fine. She was partly brought up by myself as well after all.

V4C5 - Part 3

This is so boring! Why are there so many brats!? I just want to see Sophia’s potential crush everyone else’s! Mm, but this reminds me of the Godking’s Brawl. There was supposed to be a talent testing thing, but it didn’t work for me. Talent is the same as potential, yeah? Wait a minute. If my talent couldn’t be measured, will this test work on Sophia? Mm, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Ilya should’ve done something to make sure it does.

“The heavens above! Look at that child’s potential!”

“Nine soaring phoenixes burst out of the pillar. As long as she doesn’t die, she’ll surely become an important figure.”

“Which family is that girl from? Why don’t I recognize her?”

Ah? Are they talking about my Sophia!? Who’s on the stage right now? I’m basically an immortal right now, so why am I standing on the ground instead of in the sky!? Oh, right, there was someone selling food on the ground, and I never bothered going back up, but still! I’ll fly up, and…, oh. That’s not Sophia! Who’s this imposter?

“How was your snack, Lucia?”

“Ah? It was pretty good.” Oh, it’s Ilya! “When did you get here?”

“I was always here,” Ilya said. “That child is Hong Tian Ji’s distant cousin.”

Hong Tian Ji…. Doesn’t ring a bell. “Who’s that?”

Ilya stared at me for a very brief moment. Then she turned away. “She was in the Holy Beasts Sect.”

Was in the Holy Beasts Sect? That means she isn’t anymore? “What happened to her?”

“We cut off her limbs, remember?” Ilya furrowed her brow. “Well, you cut off her limbs, and I preserved her life. It happened back when you thought Softie died, so you had everyone help you dismember people. Does that ring a bell?”

Oh yeah…. There was something like that, wasn’t there? “How come we didn’t cut off her limbs then?” This child is too impressive! Look at her potential! She has nine phoenixes bursting out of the pillar! …Whatever that means. What if Sophia is worse than her?

“She wasn’t even born yet.” Ilya rolled her eyes. “She’s the same age as Sophia, and Sophia was born after the whole limb-removing incident. We might not be good people, but we’re not completely evil, alright?”

Excuse you, Ilya. I’m a very good person! Also, isn’t this a bit of a problem? I might not think things through a lot, but I feel like keeping someone like this child around would be a very bad idea. It’s not because I hate her for making Sophia’s life harder or anything; this is for practical purposes. “Is it a good idea to let this kid inside our sect? Didn’t you take the limbs of her family members and turn them into weapons?”

Ilya shrugged. “I’m wiping out sects, enslaving the survivors, and letting the traitors convert to the Shadow Devil Sect. I think this one six-year-old kid is the least of our worries when it comes to problems with the sect. The Immortal Continent is a huge place, and diverse opinions exist amongst everyone. Trying to—”

Whew, Ilya talks a lot sometimes. I think she forgets I’m me, but luckily, my hand is there to remind her. All I have to do is cover her mouth, and she stops. Simple. “So, it’s not a problem, right?”

Ilya glared at me. “Why do I even bother?” she muttered and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. The only thing you have to worry about is becoming a supreme immortal. How’s your cultivation, anyway? Do you want to look through Baldie’s and Scarry’s memories to learn more about immortals?”

Cultivation…. I haven’t worked on that in a long time! I’ve already become the strongest here. Who cares about going to the immortal realm or whatever? I don’t have to cultivate anymore! Training was super-duper boring and monotonous, and training the Heart Devil Cultivation Technique was a little fun because of the tingles, but sitting still for so long is pretty annoying. Now, I have all the time in the world to cook, eat, and spoil Sophia!

“You haven’t been cultivating, have you?” Ilya asked and sighed.

How did she know!? “How many times do I have to tell you to stop reading my mind?” Ahem. “Anyways, enough about the unimportant stuff. What does the nine phoenixes mean, and can Sophia beat that?”

Ilya sighed again. “You see that pillar over there, right? When it tests potential, it lights up. It’s designed by the Holy Beasts Sect, so when there’s an exceptionally talented individual, images of the holy beasts appear. Nine phoenixes mean she has great potential with fire-based techniques, probably enough to become a quasi-immortal.”

That’s a lot of words to not answer my question. “So, can Sophia beat him?”

“Another projection!”

“Nine azure dragons! There’s another once-in-a-generation genius!”

What the heck? The crowd is really loud. Oh, it’s not Sophia again. “How come there’s so many once-in-a-generation geniuses? Isn’t there only supposed to be one per generation?” And that one is supposed to be Sophia!

“Huh. That’s Old Lan’s grandson. Looks like Sophia’s going to have a lot of competition.” Ilya rubbed her chin. “Well, once-in-a-generation geniuses is just a phrase people use. It doesn’t really mean anything since it’s overused. It’s similar to how the word literally came to mean figuratively.”

“The word what did what?” Ah! Sophia’s up! “It’s finally Sophia’s turn! How many dragons and phoenixes do you think she’ll have? Ten? Twenty? Three thousand?” She’s touching it. She’s touching the pillar! It lit up! Mm? Is that all? “Hey, Ilya, what’s that mean? How come the crowd isn’t going wild?”

“It looks like Sophia’s potential is pretty average, if not slightly below.” Ilya frowned and furrowed her brow. “That shouldn’t be right. How is that possible?”

Sophia’s below average? How!? “Redo! I demand a redo!”

“Stop.”

Eh? Why’s Ilya stopping me?

“Can’t you see Sophia’s disappointed? If you make such a huge fuss now, all you’ll do is make it even worse for her.”